The Raid 2 Berandal Trailer

Here’s the first official trailer for The Raid 2 Berandal, the much anticipated follow up to the violent 2011 cult classic The Raid: Redemption. The original saw a S.W.A.T. team trapped in an apartment tower block controlled by a ruthless mobster. Leaving them no choice but to fight their way through countless floors full of killers and vicious thugs.

The sequel picks up several hours after the end of the events of the first film and takes the action back outside and to another level. Armed with a bigger budget and fan expectations Gareth Evans seems to have continued the entertaining carnage that made the first film a word of mouth sensation.

You always know exactly what you’re getting when a film’s imdb cast list includes characters with names like ‘Hammer Girl’. Check out the trailer below for a glimpse of the blood, mud and inevitable bruises.

Iron Man 3 Tops 2013 Box Office

As 2013 draws to a close  the box office results for the year have finally been counted, with Marvel sequel Iron man 3 topping the list as the year’s official highest grossing film. Taking over $1.2 billion in cinemas worldwide the third outing for Robert Downey Jr as the iconic iron suited superhero comfortably surpassed competition from Despicable Me 2 and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. 

Full top ten list below:

1. Iron Man 3 – $1,215m (£734m)
2. Despicable Me 2 – $918m (£555m)
3. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – $795m (£480m)
4. Fast & Furious 6 – $788m (£476m)
5. Monsters University – $743m (£449m)
6. Man of Steel – $662m (£400m)
7. Gravity – $653m (£395m)
8. Thor: The Dark World – $629m (£380m)
9. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – $614m (£371m)
10. The Croods – $587m (£355m)

For some it may be a slightly worrying sign that all but two of the top ten highest grossing films of the year are sequels, prequels or remakes. Only Gravity and The Croods at number 7 and 10 respectively are entirely original efforts.

Depending on your viewpoint it’s either a symptom of Hollywood’s increasingly risk adverse attitude towards making original content, or alternatively it’ a pretty firm financial vindication of the studios reliance on proven box office commodities.

Rio 2 Launches New Year In Brazil

Animated sequel Rio 2 helped welcome the New Year in the heart of Brazil, celebrating the end of 2013 and the exciting start of 2014. Check out some festive video highlights below, including the spectacular fireworks display and all the atmosphere of the world’s party capital.

Rio 2 soars into cinemas this April with returning stars Jesse Eisenberg & Anne Hathaway alongside newcomers Andy Garcia, Bruno Mars, Kristin Chenoweth and Rita Moreno.  Rio 2 also features new Brazilian artists and original music by Janelle Monae and Wondaland.

Rio 2 finds lovebirds Blu and Jewel taking their three children back to the wilds of the Amazon for a family reunion. Out of his element in a land he doesn’t know, Blu must face his most fearsome adversary – his father in law – while evading Nigel’s fiendish plans for revenge.

Official Rio 2 Trailer Below: 

Fast & Furious 7 Release Date Confirmed

Vin Diesel has official confirmed the release date for delayed sequel Fast and Furious 7. The future of the high speed project had been thrown into some doubt by the tragic death of star Paul Walker, following a real life car crash.

Posting a picture of himself with Walker on his official Facebook page Vin Diesel added that the seventh instalment in the popular franchise will be released on 10^th April 2015.

Commenting on the news Vin Diesel also added

“There was a unique sense of completion, of pride we shared… in the film we were now completing… the magic captured… and, in just how far we’ve come… P.s. He’d want you to know first.”

In related news Universal Pictures has also announced plan to donate some of the proceeds of DVD & Blu-Ray sales for Fast and Furious 6 to Paul Walker’s charity Reach Out Worldwide. 

The Grand Budapest Hotel Trailer

Here’s the first official trailer for The Grand Budapest Hotel, the latest film from diligently quirky director Wes Anderson. Featuring a host of familiar faces the new film sees Ralph Fiennes playing a notorious Hotel Concierge who takes on a young protege whilst handling an increasingly madcap series of adventures.

Here’s what star Saoirse Ronan had to say about working with Wes Anderson: