The Top 5 Hollywood Franchise Releases For 2015

The New Year is almost into its third week and this year is going to be relished by all the movie franchise junkies, as there are not just two or three, but five Tentpole movie sequels that are set to release this year.

AnimationXpress.com takes a look at these five flicks that you really can’t miss out on this year.

Mad Max: Fury Road (15 May)

An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and almost everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order. There’s Max, a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos. And Furiosa, a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland.

It would be interesting to see how this movie turns out and whether it can really live upto the cult status that its predecessors managed to achieve.

Jurassic World (12 June)

Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park (1993), Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond. After 10 years of operation and visitor rates declining, in order to fulfill a corporate mandate, a new attraction is created to re-spark visitor’s interest, which backfires horribly.

This Steven Spielberg classic never grows old and still sits pretty in many households in their home video gallery. It would be interesting to see how advanced technology is now being put to use for the feature film and how will it be received from its fans.

Terminator Genisys (1 July)

After finding himself in a new time-line, Kyle Reese teams up with John Connor’s mother Sarah and an aging terminator to try and stop the one thing that the future fears, “Judgement Day”.

Arguably the best sci-fi actioner franchise starring the evergreen hunk Arnold Schwarzenegger; this reboot is certainly looking like one of the most anticipated comebacks of the old brute (who has now put on a little weight). It would be interesting to see whether he still delivers his most iconic dialogue “I’ll be back!” one more time.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (20 November)

This upcoming 2015 science fiction war film directed by Francis Lawrence with a screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong, is the second of two cinematic parts based on the novel Mockingjay, the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy, written by Suzanne Collins, and the fourth and final installment in The Hunger Games film series, produced by Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik and distributed by Lionsgate. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Robert Knepper, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman in his final appearance, and Donald Sutherland. It is the sequel to the first part of the Mockingjay adaptation, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, which was released on 21 November, 2014.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (18 December)

A continuation of the saga created by George Lucas set thirty years after Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983); Star Wars: The Force Awakens, directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan & Abrams, features a cast including actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Andersen, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. They will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker.

The film is being produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk, and John Williams returns as the composer.

Being the Episode VII in the Star Wars Saga, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has some amazing VFX and other CG elements in the film which all the fanboys will get to witness in the winter of this year, the film opens in theaters 18 December, 2015.

May the force be with all of us!