London, UK (5 January 2015): Global diversified media firm Alpha1Media International on January 5 launched its acclaimed annual list of the top films from around the world which cinema audiences can look forward to watching in 2015.
The A1Film Preview List for 2015 highlights 10 essential and x interesting films from Hollywood, Bollywood, the Middle East, Latin America and the Far East that audiences can look forward to in the coming year, Alpha1Media said.
In the Quintessential category, the top 10 films from across the categories chosen, are ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, ‘Spectre’, ‘Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens’, ‘Blackhat’, ‘Ant-Man’, ‘Mission Impossible 5’, ‘The Hateful Eight’, ‘Knight of Cups’, ‘Focus’ and ‘A Hologram for the King’.
In The Blockbuster category, the first film selected is ‘Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens’, marking a revival of the George Lucas-created franchise, now owned by Disney and with J.J. Abrams at the helm, and many of the original cast such as Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher returning for the installment. J. J. Abrams also helped to revive the Star Trek franchise after a hiatus, the last installment of which, ‘Star Trek: Into the Darkness’ was No. 8 on the A1Film List 2013. Other films in the category include ‘Jupiter Ascending’, ‘San Andreas’ and ‘Pixels’.
In The Blockbuster – Superheroes category, the two films selected, both Marvel, are, ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ and ‘Ant-Man’. ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ marks the sequel to the third-highest grossing film in history, ‘The Avengers’, featuring the Marvel Superheroes ensemble of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Hulk, which was No. 3 on the A1Film List 2012. ‘Ant-Man’ is a new franchise for Marvel featuring Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas. Another film in the category includes the reboot of ‘The Fantastic Four’. Alpha1Media™ met with Stan Lee, the creator of Spider-man, and The Avengers, in London at the London Film and Comic Con on July 11 and July 12 and also are the final guest for signing by at his last ever-signing appearance in Europe
In The A1-Vehicles category, the first film selected is ‘Focus’, marking the return of global acting superstar Will Smith to the screen in a major role since ‘After Earth’, which was featured on the A1Film Preview List 2013. Other films in the category include ‘Tomorrowland’ with George Clooney, ‘Everest’ with Jake Gyllenhaal and Christian Bale, ‘Black Mass’ with, ‘Scarpa’ with Sylvester Stallone, ‘Maggie’ with Arnold Schwarzenegger, ‘Vice’ with Bruce Willis, ‘Hands of Stone’ with Robert De Niro, ‘Danny Collins’ with Al Pacino and ‘Ithaca’ with Tom Hanks.
In The Franchise category, the first film selected is ‘Spectre’, marking the return of Daniel Craig as British superspy, James Bond 007 for the fourth time. Alpha1Media™ ranked ‘Skyfall’, the previous James Bond 007 film, at No. 6 in the A1Film 2012 list, and were VIP guests at the Royal World Premiere of ‘Skyfall’, the at the Royal Albert Hall, London, UK on 23 October 2012 (the 50th anniversary of the first James Bond film, Dr. No, in 1962). The second film selected is ‘Mission Impossible 5’, the fifth installment in the Tom Cruise superspy franchise, directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote ‘The Usual Suspects’. Alpha1Media™ were VIP Guests at the World Premiere of ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’ in Dubai, UAE, on 7 December 2011. Other films in the category include ‘Insurgent’, ‘Taken 3’, ‘Furious 7’, ‘Pitch Perfect 2’, ‘Hot Tub Time Machine 2’, ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2’, ‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2’, ‘Ted 2’, ‘Magic Mike XXL’, ‘London Has Fallen’ and ‘Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials’.
In The Franchise – The Reboot category, the films are ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, ‘Terminator Genisys’, ‘Jurassic World’, ‘Point Break’, ‘Kickboxer: Vengeance’, ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ and ‘Pan’. In The Holy Epic, the two films are ‘Last Days in the Desert’ and ‘Mary’. In 2011, Alpha1Media™ created its list of A1-Genre Films for the development of its own film projects, citing The Holy Epic as a chosen genre with archetypes including ‘The Ten Commandments’, ‘The Message’ and ‘The Passion of the Christ’.
In The Directorial Cut category, films which focus on famous directors, the two films selected are ‘Knight of Cups’ directed by Terrence Malick, starring Christian Bale and Natalie Portman and ‘The Hateful Eight’ directed by Quentin Tarantino. Special mention in this category is given to ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ directed by Oscar-winning American director Ron Howard and starring Chris Hemsworth, who previously worked together on ‘Rush’, which featured on No. 9 on the A1Film List 2013, and which Ron Howard publicly thanked Alpha1Media™ on Twitter. Another film of note is ‘Joy’ which was directed by David O. Russell, who also previously directed ‘American Hustle’; Alpha1Media were VIP Guests at the Closing Gala Premiere of ‘American Hustle’ at the tenth Dubai International Film Festival in Dubai, UAE on 14 December 2013, and also recognised the film at No. 4 on the A1Film List 2013. Other films include ‘The Visit’, by M. Night Shyamlax, ‘The Walk’ directed by, ‘The Martian’ directed by Ridley Scott, ‘Chappie’, ‘By The Sea’, directed by Angelina Jolie and also starring Brad Pitt and an ‘Untitled Terrence Malick Project’.
In The Thriller category, films included are ‘The Gunman’, starring Idris Elba, Javier Bardem and Sean Penn, ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’, directed by Matthew Vaughn, ‘Untitled Cold War Spy Thriller’, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks, ‘High Rise’, ‘Autobahn’, ‘50 Shades of Grey’, ‘Bus 657’ with Dave Bautista, recognised in the A1Film Awards 2014 as the Best Newcomer for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, and Robert De Niro, whom Alpha1Media met at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival in 2011.
In the Cultural Crossover/ Global Cinema, the first film selected is ‘Blackhat’, directed by Michael Mann, produced by Legendary, and featuring an American and Chinese cast led by Chris Hemsworth. Legendary’s film ‘Interstellar’ was the Best Picture in the A1Film Top 10 2014 and won four awards in the A1Film Awards 2014. The second film selected is ‘A Hologram for the King’ starring Tom Hanks and set, though not produced or filmed in Saudi Arabia. Alpha1Media was officially approached for advisory services on the film on the fact that in March 2012, it conceived, advised and launched the first film premiere in Saudi Arabia in modern history, a milestone acclaimed by Variety. Other films include ‘Silence’, ‘Shamitabh’ and ‘Piku’ staring Indian film legend Amitabh Bachchan, ‘Baby’ directed and written by Neeraj Pandey, ‘Fan’ and ‘Raees’ featuring Indian leading actor, Shahrukh Khan, and ‘From A to B’, Emirati director Ali Mustafa’s second film after ‘City of Life’ based on Dubai, UAE.
Alpha1Media™ on 27 December 2014 published the A1Film List 2014, which, in order by best film, includes, ‘Interstellar’, ‘Gone Girl’, ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ , ‘The Expendables 3’, The Amazing Spider-Man 2’, ‘The Raid 2: Berandal’, ‘Transcendence’ , ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ , ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’.
Alpha1Media™ on 29 December 2014 published the A1Film Awards 2014, which in order of awards, includes; the A1Film 2014 Cross-Cultural Lifetime Achievement Award given to Marvel and Spider-Man comic creator, Stan Lee; the A1Film 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award is given to American actress Ellen Burstyn; the A1Film 2014 Best Original Screenplay given to American-British writer Jonathan Nolan for ‘Interstellar’; the A1Film 2014 Best Producer given to American-British producer Christopher Nolan for ‘Interstellar’; the A1Film 2014 Best Newcomer is given to American actor Dave Bautista for his scene-stealing role in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’; The A1Film 2014 Best Actor in a Non-English Picture is given to Indonesian actor Iko Uwais, in ‘The Raid 2: Berandal’; the A1Film 2014 Best Non-English Picture is given to British auteur Gareth Evans for ‘The Raid 2: Berandal’; the A1Film 2014 Best Actor Award given to American actor Ben Affleck for his lead role in the David Fincher-directed film, ‘Gone Girl’; the A1Film 2014 Best Actress Award is given to British actress Rosamund Pike for her leading role in ‘Gone Girl’; and the A1Film 2014 Best Picture is given to is given to American-British auteur Christopher Nolan for ‘Interstellar’.
Alpha1Media™ met with Sylvester Stallone, world-famous iconic writer, actor, director and producer on 1 August 2014, during his launch for ‘The Expendables 3’, No. 4 on the A1 Film Top Ten List 2014, and were VIP front row guests at two events with the superstar in the UK, firstly on at the Palladium in London 11 January 2014 and secondly celebrating the A1Film Lifetime Achievement Award on 1 August 2014.
Alpha1Media™ met with Stan Lee, the creator of Spider-man, in London at the London Film and Comic Con on July 11 and July 12 and also are the final guest for signing by at his last ever-signing appearance in Europe on July 13. Alpha1Media™ was also the only company to also attend Stan Lee’s first ever webcast in the Middle East at the Middle East Film and Comic Con in Dubai on April 5. Alpha1Media™ were also VIP guests at the World Premiere of The Amazing Spider-man 2, at No 5 on the A1 Film Top Ten List 2014, at the Odeon, Leicester Square, London, UK on April 10, having been VIP guests at the Gala European and UK Premiere of ‘The Amazing Spider-man’, in London on 18 June 2012 (the 50th anniversary of the creation of Spider-man in 1962).
At the London Film and Comic Con in July 2014, Alpha1Media™ also met with Helen Slater, the first major actress to portray ‘Supergirl’, Jeff East, the first actor to portray Clark Kent in ‘Superman’, Michael Biehn, the first choice actor from ‘The Terminator’, ‘Aliens’ and ‘The Rock’, for James Cameron’s cinematic version of Spider-man, and Milo Ventimiglia, the actor who portrayed Rock Junior in Sylvester Stallone’s ‘Rocky Balboa’.
Alpha1Media™ is a global diversified media firm. Alpha1Media™ produces and advises on media creation using 10×10 types of media including phone, print, TV, radio, billboard, computer, cinema and futuristic media based on scale, motion and holograms.
In the film sector, Alpha1Media™ focuses on film development, production, financing and cultural advisory services. It currently has four film projects in development with production value estimated at over USD $300 million from 2015-2025.
