2015 Preview: March

Nearly a quarter of a way through the year now. Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s year-long preview of the films that are set to come out in 2015. This is Part 3 of 12 and today we’ll be looking at the films that’ll be hitting theaters this March. It looks to be a pretty simple month with only two new major releases a week. Still, there are quite some promising films coming out this month. So let’s not waste any more time and get started as we look into the films of March 2015.

MARCH 6- The month begins with two films; the latest from the director of ‘District 9’ and a Vince Vaughn comedy.

*After his second film ‘Elysium’ ended up receiving a rather polarizing reaction from both critics and audiences back in 2013, ‘District 9’ director Neill Blomkamp brings us his third feature film, ‘Chappie’, which is actually based off of a 2004 short film he did called ‘Tetra Vaal’. Taking place in the future, where a mechanized police force patrols crime, the film centers around the titular Chappie, one of these police robots who is given new programming that gives him the ability to think and feel for himself. Blomkamp regular Sharlto Copley portrays Chappie via motion capture and the film also stars Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver, and the members of the South African rap group Die Antwoord.

*In ‘Unfinished Business’, Vince Vaughn stars as a small-time business owner who travels to Europe with his two associates (played by Dave Franco and Tom Wilkinson) in order to close out an important business deal. The film also stars Sienna Miller and Nick Frost.

MARCH 13- Disney brings us their latest live-action fantasy flick, which opens alongside a new Liam Neeson film.

*Director Kenneth Branagh helms the new live-action adaptation of ‘Cinderella’, inspired by the classic Disney animated film of the same name from 1950. Similar in plot to that film, it follows a young girl named Cinderella (Lily James) who is put into the care of her wicked stepmother Lady Tremaine (Cate Blanchett), who along with her two daughters mistreats her day in and day out, following the death of her father. The film’s cast also includes Richard Madden as Prince Charming and Helena Botham Carter as Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother.

(Note: The film will be paired in theaters with the short film ‘Frozen Fever’, a mini-sequel to the hit animated film ‘Frozen’)

*Liam Neeson reunites once again with director Jaume Collet-Serra (‘Unknown’, ‘Non-Stop’) for ‘Run All Night’. He stars as an aging hit man who must protect his estranged son (Joel Kinnaman) and his family from his old boss (Ed Harris).

MARCH 20- Sean Penn takes on the action genre while the ‘Divergent’ series continues with its second installment.

*After his film ‘Taken’ made Liam Neeson a major action star, director Pierre Morel looks to do the same thing for Sean Penn with ‘The Gunman’, based on the book ‘The Prone Gunman’ by Jean-Patrick Manchette. Penn stars as a former soldier who goes on the run from his organization when he intends to settle down with the love of his life. The film also stars Idris Elba, Ray Winstone, and Javier Bardem.

*Robert Schwentke takes over directing duties from Neil Burger for ‘Insurgent’, the second film in the ‘Divergent’ film series based on the popular book series of the same name by Veronica Roth. In this film, Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) find themselves on the run after the uprising amongst the factions of their dystopian future. The majority of the cast from the previous film, including Kate Winslet, Jai Courtney, Miles Teller, and Ansel Elgort (among others) reprise their roles from the last film and are joined here by Naomi Watts and Octavia Spencer.

MARCH 27- Finally to close out the month, a Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy and the latest DreamWorks Animation film.

*Screenwriter Etan Cohen makes his directorial debut with ‘Get Hard’. Will Ferrell stars as a businessman who gets wrongly convicted for tax evasion as he enlists his best friend (played by Kevin Hart) to help him prepare for his prison sentence.

*Finally we have the only DreamWorks Animation release of the year (following a recent change of release dates for some of their other upcoming films in response to recent financial problems), ‘Home’, based on the book ‘The True Meaning of Smekday’ by Adam Rex. Jim Parson stars as Oh, a misfit alien who befriends a young girl named Tip (Rihanna) on Earth when he finds himself being hunted by his own race. The film’s voice cast also includes Steve Martin and Jennifer Lopez.

And those are the films that are hitting theaters this March. Check back next month for Part 4 where we’ll be looking at the April lineup.