Quite a few fantasy movies and series have been produced over the last couple of years that have been very successful in terms of critics, viewership and revenue. From the Lord of the Rings to the Batman trilogy (yes, I do consider superhero movies as fantasy), from Smallville to Lost to Game of Thrones – each had or has its qualities and flaws.
Since our society craves more and more entertainment, action and suspense, it’s no wonder the movie & series studios invest heavily. Let’s take a look at the estimated budgets of the Batman trilogy, Snow White and the Huntsman and Prince of Persia. Together, they add up to an estimated budget (source: IMDb) of $ 955.000.000! Now some of you might think these were exceptions. But let’s take a look at another statistic: the 50 highest-grossing films ever (worldwide gross). And of these 50 movies, all except for two were either fantasy, science-fiction or animated.
Since I am a huge fan of Smallville and Pirates of the Caribbean, I keep an eye on what the respective actors are up to. I stumbled upon two titles that are to be released soon: Hansel & Gretel – a movie, as well as Beauty and the Beast – a series on the CW Television Network, which aired successful shows like Smallville, Supernatural, Vampire Diaries and America’s Next Top Model.
Let’s take a look at Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. I think it’s safe to say that even kids outside of Germany know the famous fairytale of the two siblings, who got lost in the woods and get caught by a witch in a house made of candy and other delicious sweets. The latter of course, being every child’s dream, the former causing nightmares. Since fairytales recorded by the Brothers Grimm have already been made into a TV series (Grimm) and Snow White was such a success financially, it’s no wonder more fairytale blockbusters are to follow. The trailer promises a lot of action, the CGI scenes look great and it appears that a lot of work has been put into artwork. Sound effects are also quite intense in the trailer. The only scene that made me think “that’s silly” was the mini-gun. Check it out for yourself:
Also, Gemma Arterton is in it, which might be reason enough for quite a few guys to check it out 😉
The second title I discovered is called Beauty and the Beast and it starts on October 11th. As I mentioned before, I am a huge Smallville fan and the simple fact that Kristin Kreuk is in it will make me watch. But I have to admit, I don’t think this show is going to come anywhere near the quality of Supernatural or Smallville. The trailer scene where Kristin Kreuk is yelling in the subway tunnel definitely takes some getting used, since I have never seen her in such a masculine role. Even in Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li she seemed less of a bad-ass. Also, the narration sounds all wrong to me – it seems like too much attention is put on clear pronunciation and she speaks a bit too slow for my taste. I certainly hope it is only included in the trailer…
Anyway, you can check it out here:
Let’s hope for the best.
The Germafrican 