MARCH 6

Chappie

Director Neill Blomkamp picked the perfect time to sign on to make the next movie in the Alien franchise because his newest film, about a robot learning to be more human, is getting a lot of mentions in the press release. Will this be closer in quality to the universally praised District 9 or the less successful Elysium? Either way, the effects should look great.

MARCH 13

Cinderella

Disney is methodically churning out live action versions of their hit animated classics, but unlike last year’s Maleficent which took countless liberties with the source material, this appears to be as by the book as can be. This story has been regurgitated a lot in Hollywood, but the Disney seal might be the difference between a bomb and a hit.

MARCH 20

The Divergent Series: Insurgent

The first film was a lot of setup with very little payoff, and the trailer for the latest chapter looks to add even more convoluted mythology. I want to be more fair but I couldn’t help but laugh at the “who will be able to open the Magical MacGuffin Box” story instead. 

MARCH 27

Home

I think DreamWorks Animation does a great job of making their movies look pretty, but I honestly haven’t been able to sit through one in a while. Even the How to Train Your Dragon movies didn’t do it for me. Hopefully, this movie is more than just Jim Parsons doing an alien version of his Sheldon character from The Big Bang Theory, but the trailer isn’t helping.

APRIL 3

Furious 7

An example of a movie that could very well make a ton of money in the summer, as the previous sequel did, but they are going for a less competitive spring release instead and could make even more money due to the lack of competition. Factor in that this is a series that knows how to keep their fans happy and features Paul Walker’s final role, and this movie is going to be huge.

APRIL 10

Ex Machina

While the April releases start to shift towards big comedies like Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, I’m going to keep the focus here on the genre friendly options, even if they may not be the biggest hits. Ex Machina is a great example of a smaller scale sci-fi picture with some big ideas. It’s been getting raves from the people who’ve seen it, plus it gives another chance to watch Oscar Isaac before he becomes a household name in the new Star Wars sequel.

APRIL 17

Unfriended

This horror film was snatched up quickly after winning some big festival awards last summer. While the found footage sub-genre is growing stale, having the whole movie play out in series of browser windows is an interesting idea that could help, as long as the movie is more than just that one gimmick. 

APRIL 24

The Age of Adaline

Sort of a Benjamin Button but on pause, due to a fantastic accident worthy of a superhero the title character is conveniently stuck at the age of 29 forever, which everyone else already claims to be anyways. Lots of movies have tackled the immortality question before, but I always find that the difference is, appropriately enough, if the filmmakers can figure out how to resolve the story in a satisfying way.

Beyond the Brick: A LEGO Brickumentary

This movie has been in the can for a while, already having its festival debut last year, so I’m surprised they waited this long to release it since the boost from last year’s smash hit LEGO Movie may not be as strong. Then again it is LEGO, which has been proven to be a timeless commodity. As of this writing, there is no traditional trailer to be found for the movie, so I’ve posted a clip instead. The release date does appear to be legit according to a number of websites though, so I didn’t want to leave it off the list.


That’s all for the spring releases. Will it be the biggest spring ever, or a drop off following last year? Rank the movies below and don’t forget to check back in May for part 1 of the summer movie preview!