The 2015 "Spy Craze" is ON...dear Bond laddies ;-)

edited July 2015 in General Movies & TV Posts: 11,119
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Just have a look at this list for 2015 guys. I think we should consider ourselves spoiled little kids for the upcoming year 2015. Our apetites will be wetted on many occasions with movies that have "espionage" written all over them. From a few spoofs, action plots in which a villain needs to be fought, a comic book adaptation, to realistic espionage thrillers.

Moreover, it's especially funny to see how big name actors and directors suddenly love to be associated with spy movies. From Director Steven Spielberg to British actors Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson and Henry Cavill.

The "Spy/Action" movies of 2015 ("SPECTRE" included):
09.01.2015: "Taken 3" (action, thriller) --> with Liam Neeson, already very good reviews
16.01.2015: "Blackhat" (espionage, thriller) --> with Chris Hemsworth
13.02.2015: "Kingsman: The Secret Service" (action, spy spoof) --> director Matthew Vaughn
20.03.2015: "The Gunman" (espionage, thriller) --> with Javier Bardem
03.04.2015: "Furious 7" (action, thriller) --> with the late Paul Walker
08.05.2015: "Spooks: The Greater Good" (espionage, thriller) --> with Game Of Thrones' Kit Harington
22.05.2015: "Spy" (spy spoof) --> with Melissa McCarthy as Susan Cooper
26.06.2015: "Big Game" (adventure, action) --> with Samuel L. Jackson
31.07.2015: "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" (espionage, thriller) --> with Tom Cruise
14.08.2015: "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." (espionage, action) --> directed by Guy Ritchie
28.08.2015: "Hitman 2: Agent 47" (action, thriller) --> with Zachary Quinto
04.09.2015: "The Transporter Refueled" (action, thriller) --> written & produced by Luc Besson
16.10.2015: "Bridge Of Spies" (espionage, thriller) --> director Steven Spielberg
06.11.2015: "Bond 24: SPECTRE" (espionage, thriller) --> directed by Sam Mendes
12.11.2015: "Survivor" (espionage, thriller) --> with Pierce Brosnan, director James McTeigue
25.12.2015: "Snowden" (biography, espionage) --> directed by Oliver Stone, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt

in blue --> The movies that could pass the $1.50 Billion Dollar mark
in green --> The movies that could pass the $1.00 Billion Dollar mark
in purple --> The movies that could pass the $750 Million Dollar mark
in red --> The movies that could pass the $500 Million Dollar mark

So which of the above 17 "spy" movies will be in your "TOP 5 Must See List"? Please post your list. For me 2015 is already one "hell of a spy" year ;-).


"Taken 3": Liam Neeson returns in his 3rd outing as ex-covert operative Bryan Mills. This time he's out on revenge as his ex-wife (Famke Janssen) gets killed.
Also starring: Forest Whitaker, Dougray Scott
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"Blackhat": A man (Chris Hemsworth) is released from prison to help American and Chinese authorities pursue a mysterious cyber criminal. The dangerous search leads them from Chicago to Hong Kong.
Also starring: Viola Davis, William Mapother
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"Kingsman: The Secret Service": Directed by Matthew Vaugh. A veteran secret agent takes a young upstart under his wing. Based on the succesful comic book series "The Secret Service".
Also starring: Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine
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"The Gunman": An international spy (Sean Penn) must clear his name in order to save himself from the organization that he used to work for. Only then so he can settle down with his longtime love.
Also starring: Idris Elba (rumored to play James Bond), Javier Bardem
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"Furious 7": The 7th and last installment of the franchise featuring the late Paul Walker as Brian O'Connor. But it is Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) who seeks revenge for the death of his brother.
Also starring: Kurt Russell, Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson
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"Spooks: The Greater Good": When a terrorist escapes custody during a routine handover, Will Crombie (Kit Harington: "Game Of Thrones", "Pompeii") must team with disgraced MI5 Intelligence Chief Harry Pearce to track him down before an imminent terrorist attack on London.
Also starring: Peter Firth, Jennifer Ehle, Elyes Gabel
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"Spy": Actress and comedian Melissa McCarthy ("The Heat", "Saturday Night Live") is becoming troubled secret agent Susan Cooper. Usually a deskbound CIA-analist, but now she needs to take over work from a compromised spy.
Also starring: Jude Law, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne
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"Big Game": What happens when the US President (Samuel L. Jackson) teams up with a young kiddo who knows how to hunt, how to protect and how to fight? This happens when the Air Force One crashes somewhere in Canada.
Also starring: Felicity Huffman, Jim Broadbent, Victor Barber
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"Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation": It is the fifth film in the Mission: Impossible-franchise. Tom Cruise reprises his role as IMF secret agent Ethan Hunt. He will be joined by his IMF-team once again in an impossible mission against the sinister "Syndicate".
Also starring: Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames
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"The Man From U.N.C.L.E.": After 50 years absence, secret agent from U.N.C.L.E., Napoleon Solo (an Ian Fleming character), returns. It is the early 1960s, and Solo joins KGB operative Illya Kuryakin to participate in a joint mission against a sinister syndicate. Directed by Guy Ritchie
Also starring: Henry Cavill, Jared Harris, Hugh Grant
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"Hitman 2: Agent 47": Rupert Friends steps in the shoes of hitman, secret agent 47, after Timothy Olyphant left. Agent 47 teams up with a woman to help her find her father and uncover the mysteries of her ancestry.
Also starring: Ciarán Hinds, Zachary Quinto
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"The Transporter Refueled": When transporter Mr Martin is hired by cunning femme fatale Anna and her three stunning sidekicks, he quickly discovers he's been played. Anna and her cohorts have kidnapped his father (Ray Stevenson) in order to coerce Frank into helping them take down a ruthless group of Russian human traffickers.
Also starring: Anatole Taubman ("Quantum Of Solace")
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"Bridge Of Spies": It is based on the 1960 U-2 Incident, in which James Donovan (Tom Hanks) is thrust into the center of the Cold War when he is given a mission to negotiate the release of Francis Gary Powers, a pilot whose plane was shot down in the Soviet Union. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Written by the Coen Brothers
Also starring: Sebastian Koch, Amy Ryan, Mark Rylance
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"SPECTRE": The 24th Bond film starts with a cryptic message from Bond's past. It sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal a terrible and sinister truth behind S.P.E.C.T.R.E.
Also starring: Daniel Craig, Léa Seydoux, Christoph Waltz, Dave Bautista. Directed by Sam Mendes
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=12&v=GvQJbF2CXLQ




"Survivor": A Foreign Secret Service Officer in London (Milla Jovovich) tries to prevent a terrorist attack set in New York, but is forced to go on the run after she is framed for crimes she didn't commit.
Also starring: Pierce Brosnan, Emma Thompson, Angela Bassett
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"Snowden": The much talked about biopic about the life of Richard Snowden, and how he turned against the USA and its secret intelligence agencies NSA and CIA. Expect some 'entertaining untrue' elements from director Oliver Stone.
Also starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Wilkinson, Melissa Leo & Zachary Quinto
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"London Has Fallen": Gerard Butler (TND) returns for his 2nd outing as US agent Mike Banning. This time he discovers a plot during the funeral of the British PM to assassinate all the attending world leaders.
Also starring: Gerard Butler, Melissa Leo, Morgan Freeman
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Comments

  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    Posts: 10,586
    1. SPECTRE (obviously)

    2. Taken 3

    3. The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

    4. Spy

    5. Mission Impossible 5

    P.S. @Gustav_Graves I'm starting to doubt SPECTRE will even surpass 1 billion, with all the leaks and exposed information.
  • jake24 wrote: »
    1. SPECTRE (obviously)

    2. Taken 3

    3. The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

    4. Spy

    5. Mission Impossible 5

    P.S. @Gustav_Graves I'm starting to doubt SPECTRE will even surpass 1 billion, with all the leaks and exposed information.

    At first I thought the same @jake24 . Such leaks are never good. And there has been a great deal of criticism about the leaked "draft" screenplay.

    Still, I am quite happy to see that the storm has settled now. The negativity about the 3rd act of the draft screenplay didn't gain traction on the internet.

    All attention is focused on Sony's "The Interview". And in a weird kind of twist that movies is now slowly becoming a cult hit. Cinemas now start showing the movie again. And some cinemas even offer food and snacks and sell them as "freedom poipcorn" or "freedom hot dogs" :-O.

    And everyone has seen the wunderful return of Dr Evil in SNL. It's all wunderful free viral marketing for "SPECTRE" by now.

    So I'm still predicting a 1.2 Billion worldwide gross for "SPECTRE". One side note though, "SPECTRE" will not be released in IMAX format, and that could perhaps prevent it from a 1.2 Billion Dollar gross....and could maintain the counter on 1.1 Billion.

  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    edited December 2014 Posts: 10,586
    jake24 wrote: »
    1. SPECTRE (obviously)

    2. Taken 3

    3. The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

    4. Spy

    5. Mission Impossible 5

    P.S. @Gustav_Graves I'm starting to doubt SPECTRE will even surpass 1 billion, with all the leaks and exposed information.

    At first I thought the same @jake24 . Such leaks are never good. And there has been a great deal of criticism about the leaked "draft" screenplay.

    Still, I am quite happy to see that the storm has settled now. The negativity about the 3rd act of the draft screenplay didn't gain traction on the internet.

    All attention is focused on Sony's "The Interview". And in a weird kind of twist that movies is now slowly becoming a cult hit. Cinemas now start showing the movie again. And some cinemas even offer food and snacks and sell them as "freedom poipcorn" or "freedom hot dogs" :-O.

    And everyone has seen the wunderful return of Dr Evil in SNL. It's all wunderful free viral marketing for "SPECTRE" by now.

    So I'm still predicting a 1.2 Billion worldwide gross for "SPECTRE". One side note though, "SPECTRE" will not be released in IMAX format, and that could perhaps prevent it from a 1.2 Billion Dollar gross....and could maintain the counter on 1.1 Billion.
    @Gustav_Graves didn't the early draft of the script leak though? Did people forget it was rewritten drastically afterwards?
  • SarkSark Guangdong, PRC
    Posts: 1,138
    I'd take the under on 1.2b
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited December 2014 Posts: 23,883
    Definitely under $1.2b for SP, due to the US $ staying strong and hurting box office receipts, and the very competitive release schedule of action driven movies during that timeframe late in 2015. The script leak will not have any effect at the end of the day in my estimation. It's almost forgotten about, as I expected it would be.

    The competition is ridiculously intense this year. I think the movie with the most free run time without competition is likely to do the best.

    PS: I'm really looking forward to all these releases mentioned above, as the 'spy' genre is my favourite by far.
  • SarkSark Guangdong, PRC
    Posts: 1,138
    You're looking forward to Fast and Furious 7? I have to say that's one I'll be happy to miss.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    Sark wrote: »
    You're looking forward to Fast and Furious 7? I have to say that's one I'll be happy to miss.

    Sorry, I missed that one. No, Furious 7 is not something I'm looking forward to all that much, although that girl talking to Vin Diesel in the above photo is very tempting indeed.

    I'm not looking forward to Spy either. At all. I don't know who that lady is but she's in a lot of movies lately and I'm not a fan of hers, having seen some trailers of other movies she's done.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,449
    I am looking forward to Furious 7. Ever since Fast 5, this series is very dear to me.

    Obviously Spectre is what I'm looking forward to most. M:I 5 too. Kingsmen? I'm there. I think that comic series totally rocks!! And I have fond memories of U.N.C.L.E from my childhood so count me in. Hitman 2? Not sure about that. The first one failed to impress me...
  • I'm also curious what Sacha Baron Cohen will do with "Grimsby". And especially since Penelope Cruz and Mark Strong are in it, the two actors who were rumoured to star in "SPECTRE"
  • Posts: 2,491
    I totally forgot about Grimsby..I hope this movie will do good, and I hope that it will make money. I really like Cohen's humour. The DIctator was one of the better comedies in the last few years
  • M_BaljeM_Balje Amsterdam, Netherlands
    edited December 2014 Posts: 4,416
    Mi5 no longer be 2015 movie in The Netherlands, stil iam looking forward too it..

    Bond 24. At the end i always have seen all 7 movies in cinema. If Cinema time not make it impossible to watch i wil see this 8th movie too. 10.15 PM (Til 00.50 AM) whas way to late, so i hope the movie wil have 2 rooms.

    Warner is always very later with promotion movie's or no promote them enough and that will kill The Man From U.N.C.L.E. besides the unknown of it or lucky shot like Iron Man or Sherlock Holmes.

    Kingsmen. Trailers from Vaughn always give wrong feeling about the final movie, but moost of time turn out better then expect.

    Taken 3 and Furious 7 are not Spy movies. But if we count those.. then mabey you should at those two too:

    ''London Has Fallen aka Olympis Has Fallen 2''

    ''Survivor'' Milla Jovovich version of Salt
  • Posts: 1,693
    Count me in for U.N.C.L.E.

    [img][/img]newsoloampillyainwarehouse_zps92e35a3b.jpg
  • M_Balje wrote: »
    Mi5 no longer be 2015 movie in The Netherlands, stil iam looking forward too it..

    Bond 24. At the end i always have seen all 7 movies in cinema. If Cinema time not make it impossible to watch i wil see this 8th movie too. 10.15 PM (Til 00.50 AM) whas way to late, so i hope the movie wil have 2 rooms.

    Warner is always very later with promotion movie's or no promote them enough and that will kill The Man From U.N.C.L.E. besides the unknown of it or lucky shot like Iron Man or Sherlock Holmes.

    Kingsmen. Trailers from Vaughn always give wrong feeling about the final movie, but moost of time turn out better then expect.

    Taken 3 and Furious 7 are not Spy movies. But if we count those.. then mabey you should at those two too:

    ''London Has Fallen aka Olympis Has Fallen 2''

    ''Survivor'' Milla Jovovich version of Salt


    Small update, now with some plot summaries. Thanks @M_Balje ;-). I'm actually quite surprised that there is absolutely no plot summary available yet for "M: I 5". That doesn't bode well for the 5th film no? Does anyone know if the cast/crew started filming with a completely unfinished screenplay?
  • edited December 2014 Posts: 4,622
    Uncle and Bond in the same year!
    Fabulous!
    It's 1964 1965 1967 and 1983 all over again!

    The new Broz film looks good too, plus Kingsman!
  • timmer wrote: »
    Uncle and Bond in the same year!
    Fabulous!
    It's 1964 1965 1967 and 1983 all over again!

    The new Broz film looks good too, plus Kingsman!

    Plus "M:I 5". We're spoiled bratd @timmer in 2015 :-P
  • edited December 2014 Posts: 4,622
    That's a great list @graves.. I will probably see most, if not all of them. And for sure MI5!
  • I am looking forward to most of them @timmer. Also don't forget Sean Penn and Javier Bardem in the espionage thriller "The Gunman" and Tom Hanks in "St. James Place", a cold war spy thriller based on real events, from a screenplay of the Coen Brothers.

    Together with "SPECTRE", I think the above two spy thrillers could be among the most intelligent ones.
  • M_BaljeM_Balje Amsterdam, Netherlands
    edited December 2014 Posts: 4,416
    In The Netherlands released on 16 March 2016, but it December 2015 movie in China, is the new Spy movie with Jack Chan ''Skiprace'' http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2238032/ from directer of Die Hard 2, 12 Rounds and 3 episodes of Burn Notice. The directer who turn down Goldeneye http://www.mi6community.com/index.php?p=/discussion/2502/renny-harlin-turned-down-goldeneye-directors-job/p2 the movie also include ''Bingbing Fan'' who mabey can known from Iron Man 3 and X-men Feature Past and ''Lily Ji'' who start with Transformers 4. Possible movie wil play in Shangai too, because Sylvia Liu work on Skyfall!! as assistent directer Shangai.
  • Great article from our colleagues from HMSS weblog, titled "The Year Of The Spy" ;-): https://hmssweblog.wordpress.com/2014/12/26/preview-of-2015s-year-of-the-spy/
  • edited December 2014 Posts: 11,119
    YES, the HitFix "TOP 40 Most Anticipated Movies of 2015" is online :-D! Good news for "SPECTRE": http://www.hitfix.com/motion-captured/2015s-most-anticipated-movies-from-star-wars-to-spectre . I have shortened the list down below by only including action/spy/thriller/spy-spoof films ánd the TOP 5:

    #40: "The Man From U.N.C.L.E."
    #31: "Mission: Impossible 5"
    #26: "Furious 7"
    #24: "Spy"
    #21: "Kingsman: The Secret Service"
    #12: "St. James Place" (Coen Brothers/Steven Spielberg cold war spy thriller)
    #05: "Bond 24: SPECTRE" (only non-sci-fi, non-fantasy film in the TOP 5)
    #04: "Mad Max 2: Fury Road"
    #03: "Avengers 2: Age Of Ultron"
    #02: "Tomorrowland"
    #01: "Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens"

    Also important to note, in the attached HitFlix-poll "SPECTRE" is on 3rd place, only behind "Avengers 2" and "Star Wars 7". I'm still not sure which movie will do better: SW or Avengers. But I think I'm changing my opinion soon.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    It's going to be quite a year that 2015! :)
  • Posts: 12,506
    Love the fact that next year we have a glut of spy films to look forward too!!! \:D/
  • Posts: 11,119
    Anddddd, the first look at the revamped U.N.C.L.E.-logo. It looks very cool :-D!!:
    photosol.JPG
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,687
    Aside from the obvious ones, I'm looking forward to Survivor because I like the director, and oh look- that dude from November Man's in it!
  • Posts: 2,341
    If we just go by Spy genre, looks like 2015 is more promising than 2014.
    SPECTRE, I'm all in, nuff said.

    Man From UNCLE looks interesting and I used to love th TV show. Can't wait.

    Taken 3 loved the first one, second was so so, looking forward to the third.

    Jury still out on the rest...
  • Posts: 11,119
    OHMSS69 wrote: »
    If we just go by Spy genre, looks like 2015 is more promising than 2014.
    SPECTRE, I'm all in, nuff said.

    Guy Ritchie's "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." looks interesting and I used to love th TV show. Can't wait.

    "Taken 3": loved the first one, second was so so, looking forward to the third.

    Jury still out on the rest...

    Same as yours, but I do think "Kingsman" is highly underestimated in here. I think this movie could set a standard. For me it's already a near perfect combination of gritty action, a spy-spoof and an exciting comic book adaptation. Quite original really.

    He gave yesterday this interview: http://hollywoodreporter.com/news/matthew-vaughn-dark-superhero-films-761096. In which he is off course selling his movie as the opposite of Nolan's "The Dark Knight" franchise. I disagree with him on parts, as I think both Vaughn's approach and Nolan's approach are loved by audiences.

    I think "Kingsman" will be big. It has already some raving reviews.

    BUT, what about the more "realistic" spy thrillers? "The Gunman" has Javier Bardem and Sean Penn. "Blackhat" already had some good reviews from screeners. And I'm really interested in Spielberg's/Coen Brothers cold war spy thriller "St James Place".

    And well guys...."Mission: Impossible 5". Come onnnn, see it ;-)! "Taken 3" already has a whopping 8.4 on IMDB. Perhaps because the story has more drama?:
    Liam's wife Famke Janssen will be killed off
    .
  • 1. SPECTRE
    2. M:I 5
    3. Kingsmen
    4. The man from UNCLE
    5. Survivor? Taken 3?
  • I thought Taken 3 looked brilliant when I saw the trailer but reviews haven't been very good and after the second one, I think I'll give it a miss. I'll watch it when it's on Sky Premiere.

    Kingsman is going to be brillliant. Everyone on here was slagging it off, saying it looked crap, but I notice everyone has gone quiet now when reviews were posted in that thread :P It's got really good reviews, it's Matthew Vaughn, Samuel Jackon is in it, there are tons of Bond references, it's basically Kick Ass with spies, etc.

    I've been really excited for it ever since I read about it in Empire a few months ago and I'm really pleased that it's apparently as good as I thought it'd be.
  • Posts: 11,119
    I thought Taken 3 looked brilliant when I saw the trailer but reviews haven't been very good and after the second one, I think I'll give it a miss. I'll watch it when it's on Sky Premiere.

    Kingsman is going to be brillliant. Everyone on here was slagging it off, saying it looked crap, but I notice everyone has gone quiet now when reviews were posted in that thread :P It's got really good reviews, it's Matthew Vaughn, Samuel Jackon is in it, there are tons of Bond references, it's basically Kick Ass with spies, etc.

    "Taken 3" indeed got a lot of bad reviews lately, though it is funny to see that the movie brought in $40 Million in its opening weekend last week. Apparently it's the 3rd highest January opening weekend in the USA ever.

    And then we haven't discussed "Kingsman" yet. I also said that this movie was going to create excitement and re-fuel its own excitement. Reviews have been staggering. Matthew Vaughn is heavily selling this movie as opposed to darker and grittier films like "The Dark Knight". Perhaps Vaughn is a realistic option to direct a future Bond film?

    Right now I predict that this movie can earn more than $500 Million globally at the box office. But I wouldn't be surprised if it's going to "touch" the $650 Million mark.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    I'll be eagerly watching all these films ! I love the
    Whole spy genre. :)
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