By Gary Dowell
Evil Dead: Five friends head to a remote cabin for vacation, unwittingly release an evil force, and are gruesomely picked off by it one at a time. This remake of the 1981 cult classic has fans divided over its merits, even with director Sam Raimi overseeing it as executive producer. (Hiring Diablo Cody to co-author the screenplay didn’t help either). Early buzz says it favors hardcore fans, but didn’t Cabin in the Woods skewer this sort of thing already?
Release Date: April 5
Trance: Danny Boyle (127 Hours, Slumdog Millionaire) returns after a brief hiatus with this sleek thriller about an art auctioneer (James McAvoy) who becomes involved with a gang and partners with a hypnotherapist (Rosario Dawson) to recover a stolen painting. The premise sounds like Hitchcock-lite, but a mindbending red band trailer and the fact that Boyle is re-teaming with screenwriter John Hodge (Trainspotting) make this a must-see.
Release Date: April 5
Upstream Color: Richardson’s very own Shane Carruth made a name for himself on the indie circuit in 2004 with the trippy time travel drama Primer. He returns to theaters with this layered, abstract science fiction/thriller/drama that recently made waves and sparked a bidding war at Sundance. Critics have likened it to Tree of Life, meaning it’s for the cinematically adventurous only.
Release Date: April 5
42: Brian Helgeland (screenwriter of L.A. Confidential) wrote and directed this biopic about legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson, who rose from the Negro Leagues to the majors by signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking the sport’s color barrier in the process. The cast features Harrison Ford, Christopher Meloni, and Alan Tudyk, plus newcomer Chadwick Boseman as Robinson.
Release Date: April 12
Oblivion: After a bit of a dry spell, Tom Cruise earned some audience cred with the surprisingly fun Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol, and then promptly pissed it away with the recent bore Jack Reacher. He seems poised to bounce back with this science fiction adventure from Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski. The trailer, a closely guarded plot, and cast that includes Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Melissa Leo, and Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau make this one highly anticipated.
Release Date: April 19
Pain and Gain: Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson star as Floridian bodybuilders who find themselves deltoids-deep in an extortion ring and kidnapping scheme gone awry in this comedy from none other than ACTION!!!! director Michael Bay. This could be the closest thing to an actual screenplay Bay has ever directed, but Coen Brothers-esque premise – based on a true story, no less — could be a bold move for the oft-maligned filmmaker. At least it’s not another Transformers movie.
Release Date: April 26