Such is movie marketing these days that it begins even before cameras roll, with studios and filmmakers teasing everything from casting decisions to location photos to fan the flames of excitement early. For two big tentpole sequels coming in 2014, they are following that playbook in the hopes of a big payoff.
First up, Matt Reeves has posted the first official photo from the set of “Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes.” And it’s a pretty good pre-CGI pic, showing off lead Jason Clarke along with Andy Serkis in his mo-cap suit in an image that serves as a pretty decent tease. It would appear the apes have now learned to ride horses, and there will surely be other advances as this movie is set fifteen years after the events of ‘Rise.’ Boasting a better-than-expected cast including Kodi-Smit McPhee, Gary Oldman and Keri Russell, you can go ape on May 23, 2014.
Next up is “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” which is ambitiously stacking the movie with a ton of new characters. Among them is Paul Giamatti as Aleksei Mikhailovich Sytsevich/Rhino, who in the comics teams up with Max Dillon/Electro, as played by Jamie Foxx. How much we’ll see them as their alter-egos is not quite clear, but either way, Aleksei looks pretty pissed off already in this first look from the movie (via director Marc Webb himself). And with the Green Goblin appearing/being set up as well, are we looking at villain overkill in ‘Spider-Man 2’? Well, you can read our thoughts about it right here. Spidey swings on May 2, 2014. 