Trailer Roundup: Jungle Book, Tom Hanks, Ron Howard & Divergent

An exciting, eclectic bunch of trailers dropped this week, the highlights of which have been gathered here for your viewing ease and pleasure.

Of all the trailers that dropped this week, Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book was the most buzzed and talked about. Favreau has such an impressive and varied resume, and the fact that he can jump from an Indie hit like Chef to a massive blockbuster like The Jungle Book shows why he’s destined to go down as one of the great directors. The teaser trailer for the forthcoming live-action adaptation of the Disney classic only clocks in at 1:45, but the epic scale and impressive motion capture work on display are incredibly exciting. WB also has an adaptation of Kipling’s work planned for 2017, but Favreau has set the bar incredibly high. Disney has set an April 16 release date.

On paper, Bridge of Spies has a lot of promising things going for it. It marks the fifth collaboration between Tom Hanks and Spielberg in 11 years, their fifth altogether. In addition to having the Coen brothers’ name on its script, it boasts an Oscar-winning editor, cinematographer and production designer. For all it’s tremendous talent behind the film, Bridge of Spies has yet to release a trailer that doesn’t look by the numbers. Hanks stars as American layer James Donovan, who was chosen by the CIA during the Cold War to rescue and defend a Soviet pilot. Trailers can be deceiving (the trailers for Lincoln looked dull and by the numbers as well while the actual film was anything but), so here’s hoping that one of the greatest living directors has something amazing in store. Bridge of Pies opens October 16.

In 2013, Ron Howard’s Rush wasn’t even able to break even at the domestic box office, and went on to become more of a financial hit overseas. Based on the true story that inspired Moby Dick, In the Heart of the Sea reunited Howard with his Rush star Chris Hemsworth. Originally slated for a March release but moved to December 11 to be an Oscar contender, the film also features Cillian Murphy, Ben Wishaw and Brendan Gleeson. The trailer boasts some intense whale attack scenes, but hopefully the movie also features some underlying examination of humanity. If not, it may be hard not to root for the whale.

The Hunger Games franchise may be coming to an end this November, but the Divergent series if far from over. Summit Entertainment released their first look at the upcoming Allegiant, which follows Tris and Four as they journey into the world outside of the fence only to be taken into protective custody by a mysterious agency known as the Bureau of Genetic Welfare. The film opens March 18, 2016.