1. Epic (Fox, 3,882 Theaters, 102 Minutes, Rated PG): This film has a bigger theater count than either The Hangover Part III (3,555) or Fast & Furious 6 (3,658). That tells me that Fox is expecting a lot of moms to bring their kids to see this film while dad sees one of the other two.

This film is based on William Joyce’s children’s books The Leaf Men and The Brave Good Bugs. It deals with a teenager who finds a war going on amongst the small plants in her local woods. Soon, she shrinks down to take part in the battle between good and evil she finds there.

So, it sounds like a Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, The Ant Bully, Antz megamix, with A Bug’s Life, which Joyce worked on, added in for good measure. While I’m sure that Fox is hoping their attempt at counter programming works, other computer animated films based on Joyce’s works (Meet the Robinsons, Rise of the Guardians) haven’t really set the box office on fire. I expect the same here.

When it comes to casting rumors for comic book films, it’s never too early for speculation. And if the forthcoming project is a reboot of a series that left a bad taste of comic book fans, that speculation will start sooner. Even if the genesis of the speculation is a throw-away comment made by a film website journalist.

That journalist is Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr. In a small blurb about Allison Williams entering talks for the film Rosaline (her first starring role), Fleming casually mentions that the star of HBO’s Girls and daughter of NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams is on the short list for the Fantastic Four reboot. This, of course, starts sites such as Comingsoon.net and ComicBookMovie.com to wonder if she is being considered for Sue Storm,the Invisible Woman.

This is not that great of a leap. There is a dearth of female roles in the FF franchise, and I’d doubt Alicia Masters or Frankie Raye would be short list worthy. However, as Deadline points out, Williams has no lead film roles to her credit. Heck, she has no film roles to her credit, period. As a matter of fact, before Girls came along, her acting resume was a couple of web series and a handful of guest appearances.

But this could all play into the direction Fox is going with the reboot. If she is up for Sue Storm, Williams’ inexperience in big film roles could make her a cheap hire, while her being on a highly talked about TV series each week will bring a boatload of press with it. Could be a win/win from a budgeting standpoint.

Of course, she is only on the shortlist of a film that is still in the talking stages. We have no idea who else is on that short list, who else ranks above her, and if she will stay on the list when casting actually begins. But, as I said before, it’s never too early to speculate.

I will say this if Williams is actually up for the Invisible Woman: Really, Hollywood? You can’t find one blonde actress in all of Tinseltown who could make a run at this role? Really?

1. The Croods (Dreamworks/Fox, 4,046 Theaters, 98 Minutes, Rated PG): So, like the Flintstones, only with a bigger family and as a road picture? Okay then.

Dreamworks has always been a step or two behind Pixar when it comes to their animated films. It’s not as though they haven’t had successes. Heck, at the box office, they might be way ahead when it comes to grosses. But in the quality of what they put upon the screen, they are definitely second to Pixar.

Although, I doubt even Pixar would have been able to do much with this subject. The film focuses on a prehistoric family that has to travel to new lands when their home is destroyed.

The film is co-directed by the director of Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon, which is a good sign. . But the other co-director worked on Space Chimps, which isn’t.

2. Olympus Has Fallen (FilmDistrict, 3,098 Theaters, 120 Minutes, Rated R): And now, we come to the Die Hard knock-off. Not only that, but it’s the first of two “Die Hard in the White House” films coming this year (the other, White House Down, starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx, will be along in June).

They both have similar plots too: terrorists take over the White House and it’s up to one man to save the president. What separates this one is that the one man is Gerard Butler, the president is Aaron Eckhart, and Butler’s character is a disgraced former Secret Service Agent instead of a current one.

I always find it interesting when two movies make it so far into production with such a similar premise. Of course, based on the trailers, this one seems to really be working from the Die Hard template. It will be interesting to see how different White House Down turns out to be.

3. Admission (Focus Features, 2,160 Theaters, 117 Minutes, Rated PG-13): Tina Fey is now at a crossroads of her career. 30 Rock is done, and now the question is what she will do next.

It’s not like she doesn’t have options. She is a successful author, a great comedian, and has the makings of a good film career. But will she be a movie star? Can she be a movie star?

In this film Fey plays a strict Princeton admissions officer whose world is turned upside down when she is introduced to a potential student who might be the son she gave up for adoption years earlier. The things she does might cost her job, but might garner her so much more.

1. A Good Day to Die Hard (Fox, 3,552 Theaters, 97 Minutes, Rated R): There was 12 years between Die Hard with a Vengeance and Live Free or Die Hard. There was a little under six years between that one and this one. So, by that count, does that mean Die Hard 6 will hit in 2016?

Well, a sixth volume has been confirmed so why the heck not? So what if Bruce Willis will be in his sixties when it comes out or that the character in that installment will bear little resemblance to the character in this film, let alone the original. The concept is evergreen and adaptable to every type of story. The only thing that needs to happen is that the story needs to get bigger.

This time around, we are introduced to John McClane Jr in, of all places, Russia. Daddy has gone over there to straighten his son out. Turns out that Junior is a government operative investigating the sale of nuclear weapons. Things turn hairy, as they do whenever papa is around, and the two must team up to save the world and bring in the bad guys.

2. Safe Haven (Relativity, 3,223 Theaters,115 Minutes, Rated PG-13): What is Valentine’s Day with out a romance? And I guess a Nicholas Sparks adaptation meets the barest minimum requirement.

Sparks’ brand of treacly, star-crossed lover starring romance novels have been hitting the big screen since 1999′s Message in the Bottle (bet you didn’t know that was one of his) but really hit the big time with 2004′s The Notebook, which, along with his abs, is the main reason why women find Ryan Gosling so dreamy. The success of that movie has caused producers to scour Sparks’ back catalogue for more weepy romances to bring to the big screen.

This one seems to owe a lot to 1991′s Julia Roberts vehicle, Sleeping With the Enemy. Julianne Hough (see, even the name is similar) plays a woman who relocates to a sleepy North Carolina town. She is constantly looking over her shoulder, waiting for someone to over take her, all the while trying not to make any contact with any of her fellow neighbors and townsfolk. That doesn’t last long as the sensitive and hunky Josh Duhamel breaks down her guard and makes her want to love again. But, unfortunately, her past catches up with here. Here’s where the films diverge–she’s not being stalked by an abusive husband, but and obsessive policeman! See, she might have killed a man in her hometown of Boston. Okay, you know she really didn’t do it, but yet that’s is what she is running from.

What shocking is the shlock is directed by Oscar-nominated Lasse Hallström. What’s even more shocking is that its his second Sparks adaptation! What is the world coming to?

3. Beautiful Creatures (Warner Brothers, 2,950 Theaters, 124 Minutes, Rated PG-13): Oh, look. It’s a gender-reversed Twilight with witches instead of vampires! Only with more Oscar winners/nominees!

I’d imagine that the producers of this film would take umbrage to this comparison if that’s they whole impression they were trying to sell. This film is intended to be the first installment of a franchise based on a successful book franchise (one which was getting a lot of promotion at last year’s New York Comic Con). I’m sure they hope that a lot of Twi-hards become BeaCreaFreaks™ and spend inordinate amounts of cash on Beautiful Creatures merchandise and movie tickets.

This film focuses on a young girl who just happens to belong to a family of witches. Her sixteenth birthday is coming up and that’s when her witchly powers are going to be amped up. But will she become a good witch or a bad witch? The family moves to a small town in the hopes of nudging her to the good side. But a relationship with a muggle…er…non-magical human might tip the balance in the other direction.

1. The Last Stand (Lionsgate, 2,913 Theaters, 107 Minutes, Rated R): Conan the Barbarian. Commando. Predator. Total Recall. Terminator. True Lies. Say what you want about him, Arnold Schwarzenegger has an impressive resume of quality action films to his credit. He also has a number of questionable choices in his later career as well, so it is with great interest to see what the former California governor chooses for his return to acting after the end of his political career.

What he chose, well, I guess we’ll have to see what category it falls in. He plays a small town sheriff in a California border town that is faced with a big challenge–he must stop a drug lord and his heavily armed cartel from making it to the Mexico border with only a inexperienced and short-handed staff.

On one hand, it could be the simple kind of plot that Arnold pulls off so well. On the other hand, it could be considered silly and implausible if not done well. The early reviews have been somewhat favorable. We’ll have to see if Arnold’s return to lead roles is a sign that he is back.

2. Mama (Universal, 2,647 Theaters, 100 Minutes, Rated PG-13): Two young girls are found in the woods, more feral than human, five years after being abandoned by their homicidal father. They are taken to their uncle and his girlfriend (played by a deliciously gothy Jessica Chastain) to begin the healing process. But the couple finds out that two young children do not survive in the wilderness alone, and their protector is none too happy that they were taken away. What happens when the protector comes to take the children back?

The film both has a lot going for it (it was produced by Guillermo del Toro,  stars the twice Oscar-nominated Chastain in the lead role, and the director of the Argentinian short film it was based on, Andres Muschietti, is back to direct the full-length ) but also has a lot going against it (the plot stretches credibility for even a horror film, the film was supposed to open in the more horror friendly October but instead was pushed to the film wasteland that is January, and–personal preference here–it is a PG-13 horror film). It doesn’t seem like a slam dunk horror flick to me.

3. Broken City (Fox, 2,620 Theaters, 109 Minutes, Rated R): Now, a film featuring some of the greatest actors in film today–and Mark Wahlberg.

Okay, that might not be entirely fair. While Russell Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones might have Oscars, Wahlberg does have a nomination. But his work here as seen in the ads for the film seem worthy of a SNL mocking (when he says in the trailer “Your husband set me up. And I’m going to destroy him for it,” my mind keeps adding “Say hello to your mother for me” at the end of it).

Wahlberg play an ex-NYC cop who is hired by the city’s mayor (Crowe) to find out who is sleeping with his wife (Zeta-Jones). What was a simple trail and surveillance operation gets far trickier when a dead body shows up. Wahlberg realizes that he was set up by the mayor, and decides to bring him down.

One of the best things about Mark Millar being name Chief Creative Consultant role for all of Fox’s Marvel properties is that he loves to talk. And when he talks, he is usually giving juicy tidbits of information as a means of promoting himself and the things he does.

Case in point: his recent interview for the podcast of the British film magazine, Empire (which the folks at SuperheroHype were nice enough to partially transcribe). In it, he describes what his job duties entail and what he expects to see from the Fox’s Marvel properties.

One of Millar’s primary duties will be to expand the line:

So they brought me in to oversee that really. To work with the writers and directors to suggest new ways we could take this stuff and new properties that could spin out of it because the X-Men alone feels like a universe of itself. There’s so many characters in there and so many great potential spin-off characters.

Fox has been doing fairly well with spinning off films from its X-Men film franchise already, with the Wolverine films and X-Men: First Class tying into that mythology. Millar’s job will then probably be getting dormant or slow-moving mutant projects such as Deadpool, Gambit and New Mutants up and running. In addition, he will probably be looking for new films from other characters from the movies. Let’s hope that he shows more restraint than the comic arm of Marvel did, as anyone who has ever been an X-Man has had one or more series to their own (And that is only a slight exaggeration).

One presumes Millar will also be trying to wring as many spin-off possibilities out of the Fantastic Four franchise, but that might be a bit harder because most of the properties that spun out of the comic book (Black Panther, Inhumans) are owned by Marvel Studios.

Millar also is tasked with having both of Fox’s Marvel licenses play well together:

They asked me to come in and work out a plan. So unfortunately at this point I can’t get too specific. I do have a three to four year plan of where things could go, but you know, I’ll be working with guys like Matthew and Josh Trank, who’s the new director on Fantastic Four, and just figuring out how everything can work together and not contradict each other. But I also don’t want to make it too much of a mess either, with everyone showing up in everyone else’s films.

While this does not mean that Wolverine will be taking a swipe at Ben Grimm’s face, it appears nothing in either franchise will go against the other. It seems to me that if they can find a way for the properties to intermingle in a non-awkward way (like say Reed and Sue Richards son being born a mutant), they’ll pursue it. But at the very least, it will be clear that the X-Men and the Fantastic Four live in the same world on the same planet.

But what about a sense of continuity with the Marvel Studios’ films?:

What my dream is, as a fan, is that when you go and see any Marvel movie that it feels as if they’re all taking place in the one universe like when you pick up a Marvel comic. You should feel as if they’re all taking place in one big kind of cohesive place.

This could be just a continuing of the above thought, but it could also be Millar stating that the Fox Marvel films will have the same “non-contradiction” viewpoint towards the Marvel Studios films. Again, we probably won’t be seeing Wolverine join the Avengers, or Tony Stark and Bruce Banner help Reed Richards with a particularly prickly scientific problem, the Fox films will be more similar in tone to the Marvel Studio films, and fans will have nothing to lead them to believe they don not all reside in the same version of New York City.

1. Taken 2 (Fox, 3,661 Theaters, 91 Minutes, Rated PG-13): You can’t say he didn’t warn them. “ I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”

They took his daughter anyway and, well, Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) looked for them, found them and killed them (in Taken). But the parents of the original kidnappers Mills killed don’t really care that their son was warned, they’re out for vengeance. When the Mills’ take a family vacation in Istanbul (Really? Who vacations in Istanbul? And why would you go back to Europe after what happened in the first film?), it Mills and his ex-wife who are taken. Big Mistake.

2. Frankenweenie (Disney, 3,005 Theaters, 87 Minutes, Rated PG): It’s not often that I direct has the opportunity to go back and remake a film that got him fired. But that’s what is happening this week.

Way back in 1984, Tim Burton made a live-action short about a boy who brings his dog back to life for Disney. In a classic case of a director’s style not meshing with a studio’s public image, Disney fired Burton for wasting their money and buried the film. Well, buried it until Burton made a name for himself with Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice and Batman. Then Disney decided to release it on home video.

Now, Burton and Disney have mended their fences and the director is is revisiting that short via stop motion animation.

1. Hotel Transylvania (Sony/Columbia, 3,349 Theaters, 91 Minutes, Rated PG): See, I’m conflicted about this one. I have a natural aversion to any film that features both Adam Sandler and David Spade in it, even if they are only providing voices. However, Genndy Tartakovsky has done Samurai Jack and the Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV cartoons, some quality stuff.

When it’s this much of a toss up,I go to the plot: Dracula’s idyllic life running a resort for monsters looking for a break from humanity comes to an end when his hotel is discovered by a human boy. No, it’s not that the secret is out, it’s because the boy develops feelings for Drac’s teenage daughter.

It is a unique twist on a rather common premise. But it’s also Sandler and Spade.  If only there was a good time travel movie coming out this week instead.

2. Looper (TriStar, 2,992 Theaters, 118 Minutes, Rated R): What I love about this movie is that writer/director Rian Johnson came up with this film with the idea to cast his friend Joseph Gordon-Levitt. By some casting miracle, Bruce Willis decided to join the film as the future version of Gordon-Levitt’s character. One problem: They don’t look anything alike. So, even though he was with the project from the very beginning, Gordon-Levitt is the one going through hours of make-up to look like Willis and not the other way around, because, well, I guess Willis doesn’t wear make-up.

Of course, as good as the make-up is, it has the unfortunate disadvantage of having ample examples of how a younger Bruce Willis look easily available on Netflix. But Gordon-Levitt’s acting as a pseudo-Willis is spot on.

But what about the film? Oh, it is a futuristic thriller where Gordon-Levitt is a hitman for the mob. Only with a twist–the mob sends their victims back in time so there isn’t a dead body in their present day. Things go swimmingly until the assassin looks an older version of himself in the eye as his next victim.

3. Won’t Back Down (Fox, 2,515 Theaters, 121 Minutes, Rated PG): Let’s do the rundown, shall we? Hot button topic that is in the news today? Check. Two women fighting against all odds against an unmovable system? Check. Cast loaded with Oscar nominees and/or winners? Check. Based on a true story? Well, it says it was based on actual events, so, close enough. Check.

What we have here is an Oscar-bait movie that is also trying to be a financially successful film as well. Typically, films like these succeed in neither goal.

The film centers on a young mother (Maggie Gyllenhaal) who teams up with an educator (Viola Davis) to try to make their inner city school better.

Okay, do you want the good news first, or the bad news? Bad news? Okay, then.

The bad news is that Variety is reporting that Marvel is negotiating with Fox to extend the studios rights on Daredevil, which are set to expire if Fox doesn’t start a Daredevil film by October 10 of this year.

The good news is that in exchange for the rights being extended, the Marvel will get the right to use some Fantastic Four characters, which Fox owns the rights to for the foreseeable future, in order to use said characters in the cosmic themed Phase II of the Marvel film franchises.

Don’t get your hopes up too high. Variety suggests that the FF themselves aren’t the characters Marvel wants, so we won’t be able to see Chris Evans play Captain America and Human Torch in the same film (darn it!).  The industry journal states that Marvel wants Galactus and Silver Surfer from Fox to use in the new “cosmic” path the Marvel films are taking.

While the space-faring Silver Surfer and the planet-eating Galactus would definitely fit in with the intergalactic films Marvel will be making, they don’t seem to be that great of a fit with the direction the films are taking. Galactus is as, if not more, powerful than Thanos, so including him and Thanos in The Guardians of the Galaxy or Avengers 2 might be a bit of overkill. And having the character simply make a cameo probably wouldn’t be worth this much effort. However, there are two other Fantastic Four supporting characters that Marvel might have their eye on that would be a better fit.

Annihilus is a villain who first appeared in Fantastic Four Annual #6 and fought the team numerous times over the years. He is an alien being who lives in an antimatter universe called the Negative Zone. Fanatical about staying alive, he is fixated with killing anything that he considers a threat to his life. Unfortunately, this means just about every other living thing.

Annihilus was the main villain in the Annihilation miniseries, the series where members the current version of the Guardians of the Galaxy united to stave off his invasion of our universe. Since he played a part in the origin of the team in the comic books, it seems natural that Marvel might want him to serve the same role in The Guardians of the Galaxy film as well, considering many of the same characters have been carried over.

The next character might not be part of the Fantastic Four characters that Fox owns, but his not being included in the plans for Phase II leads me to believe his rights are owned by someone other than Marvel, and if not Fox, then who?

Adam Warlock made his first appearance in Fantastic Four #66 as “Him,” a genetic creation of a cadre of mad scientist called The Enclave, who were endeavoring to create the ultimate humanoid life form that they could clone into an army and use to conquer the Earth.   Unfortunately for them, their creation was imbued with immeasurable cosmic power and was too powerful control. “Him” eventually left Earth for the stars, took the name Adam Warlock, and fought to make the galaxy safe.

If Thanos has an arch-nemesis, it would be Adam Warlock. Many a legendary comic book arc feature those two going at it, often times with one of both characters dying (or being brought back). Having Thanos in the the films without Warlock is like having a movie with Laurel but not Hardy. Just doesn’t seem right. By the way, Warlock was also a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Of course, Deadline is reporting that their sources at Fox are denying the talks of the trade, and that they are really excited about the Josh Trank take on the Fantastic Four characters and that the talks are about Fox and Disney co-financing the Daredevil film, yada yada yada. I wonder if they are the same sources that told Deadline that Jessica Biel was a lock for Viper in The Wolverine, a fact that I’ll repeat with every Deadline news item because it was totally wrong.

I guess we’ll have to see which news organization’s sources are more connected. As they say, the story is developing.

1. Total Recall (Sony/Columbia, 3,601 Theaters, 118 Minutes, Rated PG-13): Hey, kids, this is what it’s like getting old. Upon thinking of this remake, one thought stuck in my head: why are they remaking this film? The original didn’t come out that long ago. Then I realized that the original came out 22 years ago. At one time, when I was much younger, 22 years seemed like a much longer period of time. Sigh.

Anyway, it might be outlandish to call the original a “classic,” but it certainly was a great movie–one of the better Phillip K. Dick adaptations. But that film was an example of the sci-fi action flick of the day, and the concept can stand some reinterpretation.

This new time around, there are changes (there is no going to Mars in this one) and similarities (Rekall, and all it does to our hero, still exists) to the original, but it does appear to be an interesting new look at the source material.

One change I’m interested in seeing is what the change of rating has affected the film. The original was an R, almost and X, for its gore and violence. This one is PG-13. Can’t wait to see of this means this version was toned down or if the rating standards has changed that much over that time.

2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (Fox, 3,392 Theaters, 94 Minutes, Rated PG): Yes, this film, which is aimed squarely at kids, is rated just one strata below Total Recall. What is this world coming to?

This is the next installment of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series, based on the successful book series by Jeff Kinney. Just so you know, even though this film shares the same title as the fourth book of the series, its plot combines the fourth book with the third. So, really, you won’t be missing anything.

The plot involves things not going according to plan for our hero over his summer vacation. Yep, that all IMDB gave me to work with. But if you are a fan of these movies you were probably a fan of the books, so you probably have a better idea what this film will be about than either me or IMDB.