Three major studio releases received official release dates over the weekend. The highest profile of the bunch is the hotly anticipated, 33-years-in-the-making “Top Gun” sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick.”
The film will feature the return of Tom Cruise as Maverick, who is now working as an experienced flight instructor for young pilots. It will be directed by Joseph Kosinski, whose previous directorial credits are frustratingly limited to “Oblivion” and “TRON: Legacy.” Tony Scott he is not. This situation is mighty familiar coming off of Cruise’s most recent project, “The Mummy.” That film was directed by Alex Kurtzman, a guy sporting a similarly unimpressive resume, who, if rumors are to be believed, served mostly as a pushover to Cruise. It would be disappointing to see Cruise develop a true pattern of working with relatively diminutive filmmakers whose decisions he can override, as it is not a particularly good formula for successful blockbuster filmmaking. Paramount plans to release “Top Gun: Maverick” on July 12, 2019.
READ MORE: ‘The Mummy’ Director Alex Kurtzman Says “We Made A Film For Audiences And Not Critics”
Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut “Molly’s Game” has been scheduled for November 22 of this year by STX Entertainment. I for one am excited to see what an Aaron Sorkin directed movie looks like. The film is based on the memoir by Molly Bloom that tells the true story of how an athlete and law student wound up running an exclusive high-stakes, celebrity-attended Hollywood poker game that, unbeknownst to her, included members of the Russian mafia. When 17 FBI agents raided her game, it all came crashing down. “Molly’s Game” also stars Kevin Costner, Idris Elba, Michael Cera, Jeremy Strong, and Chris O’Dowd — that’s one helluva cast.
Last (and kind of least) is the Melissa McCarthy vehicle “The Happytime Murders,” which seems to be a sort of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” but with puppets instead of cartoons. The film is set in a world where humans and puppets co-exist, but the latter are an oppressed minority. McCarthy will play a detective who teams up with her alcoholic puppet partner to solve a series of murders: someone is offing the stars of a 1980s children’s television show called “The Happytime Gang.”
The Brian Henson-directed film has been slated for Aug. 17, 2018 by STX Entertainment. [LA Times / Deadline]
Cruise has very rarely worked with directors who haven’t proven themselves beforehand which was why it was a surprise that Kurtzman was chosen to direct The Mummy. In fact, Cruise has the most impressive array of directors for his film that I can think of.
Curtis Hanson, Francis Ford Coppola, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott x 2, Martin Scorsese, Barry Levinson, Oliver Stone, Ron Howard, Rob Reiner, Sydney Pollack, Neil Jordan, Brian DePalma, Cameron Crowe x 2, Stanley Kubrick, Paul Thomas Anderson, John Woo, Steven Spielberg x 2, Ed Zwick x 2, Michael Mann, JJ Abrams, Robert Redford, Bryan Singer, James Mangold, Brad Bird, Christopher McQuarrie x 3, Doug Liman x 2,
In fairness to Kosinski, Oblivion wasn’t great but it was a long way from awful, and he’s also just directed this Granite Mtn firefighters movie, which has a great cast and I imagine bolstered Paramount’s confidence in him. That Tron movie was basically unwatchable though.
I liked Oblivion and if Granite Mountain Hot Shots is any good, I’d say Kosinski has a winning record. But the Kurtzman thing is still puzzling. Heck, even Cocktail was directed by Roger Donaldson who is a pretty good filmmaker in his own right.