May kicks off the summer blockbuster season

After a drought in the box office, Hollywood hopes to draw movie theatregoers back with a series of blockbusters for the summer movie season. The month of May kicks off the series of high budget films that the films. The first blockbuster to see the silver screen will be Mission: Impossible 3. An aging Tom Cruise reprises his role as Ethan Hunt on May 5. Audiences will have to wait and see what type of film this is going to be. While the first Mission: Impossible was a fast paced espionage thriller with an intelligent plot line pushing it forward, the second veered towards hard-to believe James Bond stunts. Fortunately, the film boasts a strong supporting cast including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Laurence Fishburn and Billy Crudup. The next costly blockbuster on the menu is the remake of the classic 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure. The remake, now simply called Poseidon, tells the story of a capsized luxury liner and the story of a number of survivors, led by actor Josh Lucas, as they fight for survival. Wolfgang Peterson directs this film. Peterson is no stranger to large budget movies as well as tales of fighting for survival on the open sea. His recent films include Troy and The Perfect Storm. Poseidon hits theatres on May 12. Perhaps the most anticipated movie of this summer season is also the film that will cause the most controversy. Opus Dei, the Roman Catholic group portrayed inthe film The Da Vinci Code, has requested that the movie bear a disclaimer stating that the film is a work of fiction. This psychological thriller, starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou, is based on Dan Brown’s popular novel by the same name. With 161 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list, there are already a number of fans from which the film can draw viewers. The film focuses on Robert Langdon’s investigation into a murder that leads him on to discover the mysterious truth behind the “Holy grail” and secrets held within the paintings of Da Vinci. In today’s day and age, no movie season would be complete without a film based on a comic series. Ever since Marvel’s X-Men met amazing success, film studios have been scooping up filming rights to comic books left and right. Many have been met with success, including the X-Men series, the Spider-Man films, V for Vendetta and Batman Begins. Other comic films have come up short including Catwoman and The Fantastic Four. Returning to the point which jump-started the comic book-to-film craze, Hugh Jackman states this will be the “final X-Men film.” In X-Men: The Last Stand, the film has switched hands from fan favorite director Bryan Singer to Rush Hour’s Brett Radner. The film pits X-Man versus X-Man when a cure for genetic mutation is discovered.The month of May will kick off the summer blockbuster season with two sequels, one remake and one book made into a movie. It may not be an entirely original way to start the season, but these pricey films are sure to bring movie-goers to the theatre.