This Week in Movie Trailers: Wolf of Wall Street, Anchorman 2, Snowpiercer, Salinger, and Diana, plus Hobbit and 300 sequels

This week we have another jam-packed selection of new movie trailers (15!) to share with you. So let's get started . . .

My favorite part of this maybe Ethan Suplee dancing in the background

This is a big one, so it automatically moves to the top of the list (this one & my Most Anticipated List) - the new trailer for Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street hit tonight. Needless to say, it looks awesome. I have already read so many comments saying the film looks Goodfellas-like - and that ain't a bad comparison.

The Wolf of Wall Street stars Leonardo Di Caprio, Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, John Favreau, Kyle Chandler, John Bernthal, Rob Reiner, Ethan Suplee, and Jean Dujardin. The film is based on the memoir by Jordan Belfort. It lands in theaters November 15.

Another update, this time it's the first trailer for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, which came online late last night. So of course, I had to add it to the list immediately!

The trailer looks . . . well, pretty funny. Needless to say, we are still really looking forward to it, regardless of the first impression. The whole gang is back - Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carrell, David Koechner, and Christina Applegate, plus a whole helluva lot of cameos that are far too many to list.

Third, we have the new trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the second film in the new trilogy from Peter Jackson based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkein. 

To be completely honest, I just got around to seeing the first film – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – and I was a little underwhelmed. By no means is it a bad movie, just not nearly as entertaining or enthralling as The Lord of the Ring series. The new films skew quite a bit more toward the family-entertainment side of things, but this trailer has gotten me a bit excited again. It looks a lot more enticing and I am excited to see some new blood (Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch), plus more Lee Pace and the return of Legolas (Orlando Bloom).

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smog hits theaters December 13.

Fourth, is a film I am pretty interested in seeing – Snowpiercer. In a future where, after a failed experiment to stop global warming, an Ice Age kills off all life on the planet except for the inhabitants of the Snowpiercer, a train that travels around the globe and is powered by a sacred perpetual-motion engine. A class system evolves on the train but a revolution brews.

Snowpiercer stars Chris Evans, John Hurt, Ed Harris, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, and Tilda Swinton. The film is based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige and is the English-language debut of South Korean director Joon-ho Bong (The Host, Mother).

Snowpiercer has no U.S. release date yet, but I would be surprised if you did not see it out by the end of the year.

Next, we have 300: Rise of an Empire, the seemingly unnecessary prequel/sequel to 2006’s ridiculously over-the-top and bro-tastic 300 (I am not a fan, in case you couldn’t tell). Both films are based on the graphic novels by Frank Miller (Sin City).

With original director Zack Snyder off making Man of Steel, the sequel turns to Noam Murro as director. Lena Headey returns as Queen Gorgo and Rodrigo Santoro is back as Xerxes. But other than that, it is brand new cast (and clearly, a brand new story) of lesser stars and relative unknowns, save Eva Green. 300: Rise of an Empire hits theaters in March of next year.
 

Check out more trailer after the jump:

It was only a matter of time before a film about Princess Diana was made, in fact, I am surprised it took this long. With the simply title Diana, at least they nailed the casting with Naomi Watts.

The film focuses on the last two years of her life, and by the looks of this teaser, focuses on the relentless nature of the paparazzi and the role they played in her death. Diana hits theaters later this year, likely in September. 

Next up, we have Runner Runner, a crime-drama/thriller set in the world online gambling. Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck star.  

I think Timberlake is a capable actor and Affleck is on high after Argo’s Oscar run, so the film has some upward traction, but you never really know with these kind of “thrillers.” On the plus side, the film is written by Brian Koppleman and David Levien, the duo who also wrote the cult poker film Rounders (and Ocean’s Thirteen), so they know the subject matter. We will just have to wait until September 27 to see if it all works out.

What do you get when you combine Nicholas Cage, John Cusack, 50 Cent, and Vanessa Hudgens? Well given their respective track record as of late, probably a shitty movie. But maybe their new combined effort The Frozen Ground will be a better offering.

Hard not to see similarities (kinda) with Insomnia (I guess it is the snowy climate and the cast-against-type actor playing a murderer mainly), but hey, John Cusack as a potential serial killer may work. The Frozen Ground comes to theaters August 23.

It is hard to have 10+ trailers in a write-up with a remake popping up. This time it is a new trailer for the Carrie remake starring Chloë Grace Moretz (who is admittedly awesome) and Julianne Moore (who is also awesome).

For the most part, I am against remakes, especially horror remakes because they are the most plentiful and typically pretty terrible. I want to like this one (because of Moretz and Moore), but I just don’t see it happening. I’ll find out when it hits theaters October 18.

Looks like Keanu Reeves is the next actor to try his hand at directing with his new action film Man of Tai Chi, about an underground fight club.

Reeves also stars in the film alongside Tiger Hu Chen (stuntman in The Matrix trilogy) and Iko Iwais (Raid: Redemption). No release date has been announced yet, but should hit theaters by the year’s end.

The phrase In A World . . . immediately conjures up the deep-toned voiceovers of classic movie trailers, so it is a more than appropriate title for a movie about that those people and the women who try to break into the male-dominated profession. 

When I first heard about this film, I was extremely skeptical – it seemed pretty thin and could very easily come across as silly. But the trailer really sells the film and it looks hilarious.

In A World . . . is written and directed by and also stars Lake Bell (the hilarious and under-appreciated Children’s Hospital). It also stars Nick Offerman, Jeff Garlin, Fred Melemed, Demetri Martin, and Bell’s Children’s Hospital co-stars Ken Marino and Rob Corddry.

Next, we have a really interesting trailer for a documentary about notoriously reclusive author J.D. Salinger (The Catcher in the Rye, Franny & Zooey) titled Salinger.

How mysterious and interesting does this movie look? Even if I wasn’t a fan of the book (which, of course, I am), I would definitely want to check this film out. It hits theaters September 6.

Next up, I have two indie movie trailers for you:

Touchy Feely (with Rosemarie DeWitt, Ellen Page, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, and Scoot McNairy)

Magic Magic (with Juno Temple, Emily Browning, and a completely against-type Michael Cera)

Both Touchy Feely and Magic Magic are currently making the rounds on the film festival circuit with clear release date set for either.

Finally, there is a new trailer to Elysium, a sci-fi action pic from the director of District 9 (Neil Blomkamp) and starring Matt Damon, Sharlto Copley, and Jodie Foster.

Elysium already ranks pretty high on my Most Anticipated Films list, but this new international trailer has only gotten me more excited. The film seems like a super-cool sci-fi action film with a social justice twist, just like the excellent District 9. Can’t wait for this one to hit theaters August 9.

Check out last week's THIS WEEK IN MOVIE TRAILERS for looks at Machete Kills, Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, The To Do List, Anton Corbijn's A Most Wanted Man, Insidious 2, Filth, and much more!

Until next time!