(MENAFN- Arab Times) "I'll be back," the line Arnold Schwarzenegger first uttered more than 30 years ago in that indelible manly monotone, belongs to the Terminator, of course. But it also might as well be the official slogan of the summer movie season.
It's the time of year when Hollywood's older, reliable brands, with the tenacity of Schwarzenegger's lethal cyborg, claw their way back onto the big screen in a popcorn parade of big-budget sequels, reboots and re-dos. That's nothing new, but the extent of the sequel spinning is.
The sequel expansion - as headlong as Tom Cruise in the "Mission: Impossible" movies - runs in all directions, stretching into prequels, second-try reboots, spinoffs and franchises that are less linear, roman-numeral progressions than (as in the brimming Marvel world) whole universes of overlapping characters: fantasy realms to visit, not just stories to follow.
To fuel the proliferation, Hollywood is dipping ever deeper into its vaults: 10 of this summer's most anticipated blockbusters have origins dating back more than three decades, including "Fantastic Four," ''The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," ''Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Terminator: Genisys," the fifth film in the series created by James Cameron in 1984. Schwarzenegger is back to say that he's back.
Nostalgia and familiarity mingle with updated special effects and new cast members in these films to render something that hopefully feels fresh to moviegoers. As the "Fast and Furious" series (more profitable in its seventh installment than ever before) has proven this spring, the lifespan of the sequels no longer adheres to the old rules of inevitable decay - at least for now.
The ever-lengthening life of franchises can make for some strange off-screen realities, and not just for 67-year-old Terminators. "Mad Max: Fury Road" (May 15), is returning decades later with its original creator, the Australian director George Miller.
"One of the most jolting experiences of my life was to go to SXSW and watch 'Road Warrior: Mad Max 2' in a newly minted print for the first time in 32 years and then showing scenes from 'Fury Road' all these years later," says Miller. "It was a kind of a time travel. It was a strange but powerful experience."
Sequels
There is blunt mathematics behind the proliferating franchises. The top six summer films at the box office in 2013 were sequels. Last summer, all of the top 10 movies were sequels, reboots or hailed from well-known properties.
This summer, the box-office seems nearly certain to be led by "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (May 1), the sequel to the 2012 superhero team-up original, the highest grossing-summer movie ever. With $1 billion-plus in box office assured, the financial imperative is, of course, enormous. "Age of Ultron" writer-director Joss Whedon says "making more money would be swell," but a creative purpose is still necessary.
"I wanted to do better," says Whedon. "I wanted to spend more time with these guys. I just introduced them, and the movie ended. I wanted to spend time with them as a team, as comrades, with them in conflict and the fun and the humor and the pain that comes with that. I wanted to go deeper."
While Marvel's "Avengers" marches forward (a two-part sequel is planned), other franchises have progressed less predictably.
"Magic Mike," made for just $7 million, opened in June 2012 with a remarkable $39.1 million and went on to gross $167 million worldwide. A male dancer romp that winks to the real past of producer-star Channing Tatum, it returns July 1 with "Magic Mike XXL." It's the classic kind of sequel - a road trip - albeit one with an especially untraditional destination: a Florida stripper convention Tatum attended before his acting career took off.
The premise still makes director Gregory Jacobs chuckle.
"We started thinking about a sequel, honestly, really early on," says Jacobs, a producer and assistant director on the first "Magic Mike," now taking over for director Steven Soderbergh. "We all loved this idea of a road trip with these guys; we just couldn't fit it into the first movie."
"Magic Mike XXL" is joined by a handful of sequels that come from fairly recent films: the teen musical "Pitch Perfect 2" on May 15; the "Despicable Me" spinoff "Minions" on July 10; Seth MacFarlane's comedy "Ted 2" on June 26.
But the bulk of the summer season will depend on older franchises, some of which are counting on moviegoer amnesia.
"Jurassic World" (June 12), stuck in development for a decade, is the fourth installment in the franchise that has been dormant (but not extinct) since 2001's "Jurassic Park III." Its star, Chris Pratt, led last summer's runaway hit, "Guardians of the Galaxy."
"Fantastic Four" (Aug 7), starring Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan, is an attempt to reboot the Marvel foursome after the little loved "Fantastic Four" gave it a go just 10 years ago, and was followed by a 2007 "Silver Surfer" sequel.
Massive
The futuristic "Tomorrowland" (May 22), directed by Brad Bird ("Ratatouille," ''The Incredibles") and co-starring George Clooney, comes from the producers behind "Pirates of the Caribbean" and hopes to turn another Disney theme park attraction into a massive franchise.
"Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation" (July 31), the fifth entry to the Tom Cruise action series, isn't the only film trading off an old television show. "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." (Aug 14) is Guy Ritchie's take on the '60s spy series. HBO's "Entourage" (June 5) will also get a big-screen swan song about four years after the show's finale.
With so many name-brand films clustered together in the summer, box-office analysts like Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Rentrak, predicts this season will lead Hollywood to a record year. That would be welcome news for the industry, following a limp 2014 summer.
If summer 2015 is to reverse last summer's downturn, it will need a few of the original films to pop, too. One thing 2015 has over 2014 is a Pixar movie. After a year off, Pixar will release "Inside Out," about the voices inside the mind of a young girl, on June 19. The comedy options, too, may be better. "Spy" (June 5) stars Melissa McCarthy in a spoof thriller, and "Trainwreck" (July 17), from director Judd Apatow, stars Amy Schumer as a monogamy-averse career woman.
This summer, Hollywood is digging deeper into its vaults to trot out a season full of sequels, reboots and spinoffs. Here are the ages of some of the most anticipated summer franchises:
59: "Tomorrowland." The Disneyland futuristic theme land opened in 1955.
53: "Fantastic Four." The superhero team first appeared in the 1961 comic book "The Fantastic Four No.1."
53: "Ant-Man." The diminutive superhero debuted the 1962 comic "Tales to Astonish No. 27."
51: "Avengers: Age of Ultron." The superhero team first appeared in the 1963 comic book "The Avengers No. 1."
50: "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." The NBC program debuted in 1964.
48: "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation." The CBS series debuted in 1966.
36: "Mad Max: Fury Road." George Miller's "Mad Max" originated in the 1979 film.
36: "Vacation." The comedy franchise originated with John Hughes' short story, "Vacation '58," published in the National Lampoon in 1979.
33: "Poltergeist." The original horror film debuted in 1982.
30: "Terminator: Genisys." James Cameron's original film was released in 1984.
24: "Jurassic World." Michael Crichton's novel "Jurassic Park" was published in 1990.
14: "Hitman: Agent 47." The "Hitman" video game series premiered with "Hitman: Codename 47" in 2000.
10: "Entourage." The HBO show premiered in July 2004.
4: "Minions." The little yellow ones originated in "Despicable Me," which opened in July 2010.
2: "Ted 2." The first Seth MacFarlane comedy was released in June 2012.
2: "Magic Mike XXL." The original "Magic Mike" opened in June 2012.
2: "Pitch Perfect 2." The first musical comedy came out in fall 2012.
The summer movie season isn't just sequels and reboots. OK, well, it mostly is. But there are originals trying to squeak through, too. Here are 10 to look for this summer:
1. "Inside Out" (June 19): By June, it will have been two years since the last Pixar release ("Monsters University"). They have been missed. The pressure will be on Pixar's latest, about the voices inside the mind of a young girl, to rekindle absolute faith in the animation studio. But with one of Pixar's top talents, Pete Docter ("Up," ''Monsters, Inc."), directing, hopes are deservedly high for "Inside Out."
2. "Spy" (June 5): Melissa McCarthy stumbled last summer with the poorly received "Tammy," but in "Spy," she's back with writer-director Paul Feig ("Bridesmaids," ''The Heat") for a European spy spoof. Expect a lot of wigs.
3. "Aloha" (May 29): Writer-director Cameron Crowe ("Jerry Maguire," ''Almost Famous") can be counted on for something hard to come by in the summer: funny, heart-warming tales about humans. His latest stars Bradley Cooper as a defense contractor in Hawaii, along with Emma Stone and Rachel McAdams.
4. "Ricki and the Flash" (Aug. 7): Meryl Streep stars as the aging lead singer and guitarist in a cover band, playing everything from Springsteen to Lady Gaga. Enough said?
5. "Straight Outta Compton" (Aug 14): With Death Row Records co-founder Mario "Suge" Knight awaiting trial for murder, there should be plenty of off-screen drama surrounding this film about the emergence of the revolutionary hip-hop group NWA.
6. "Me and Earl the Dying Girl" (June 12): This cancer drama, based on Jesse Andrews' novel, has more laughter than you'd expect and was a hit at the Sundance Film Festival.
7. "Southpaw" (July 24): A bulked-up Jake Gyllenhaal enters the ring in this gritty boxing drama from director Antoine Fuqua.
8. "Trainwreck" (July 17): That this is the first film Judd Apatow has directed that he hasn't also written is probably a testament to his faith in Amy Schumer. The "Inside Amy Schumer" star transitions to the big screen in this comedy Schumer also wrote about a commitment-averse woman.
9. "Good Kill" (May 15): In Andrew Niccol's drama, Ethan Hawke stars as an Air Force drone pilot, leading missions from a base outside Las Vegas.
10. "Dope" (June 19): One of the buzziest films at Sundance, Rick Famuyiwa's indie teen caper comes with the backing of producers Forest Whitaker and Pharrell Williams.
Others to remember: "Infinitely Polar Bear" (June 19); "Love and Mercy" (June 5); "Far From the Madding Crowd" (May 1); "Slow West" (May 15).
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