UK FILM DISTRIBUTORS UNVEIL A WONDERFUL SUMMER OF COMEDY AND ADVENTURE

Earlier today the Film Distributors’ Association launched its Summer of film trailer. So just sit back and watch the below mother of all trailers.

London, 4 May 2011 --- The line-up of films for release in UK cinemas in summer 2011 was launched today at a Film Distributors’ Association (FDA) event hosted by Alex Zane. The peak season, running for four months through to August, is overflowing with comedy and adventure – and there is a strong showing by British actors.

The cluster of summer comedies includes: The Hangover 2, with Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis among the returning wolf pack; while Matt Lucas and Chris O’Dowd appear in the hotly tipped Judd Apatow production, Bridesmaids, starring Kristen Wiig and Rose Byrne. In Seth Gordon’s star-studded new comedy, Colin Farrell joins Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Spacey to form the trio of Horrible Bosses.

Favourite comedy stars take on fresh roles – Jim Carrey in Mr Popper’s Penguins, Cameron Diaz in Bad Teacher and Kevin James in Zookeeper. Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts reunite for Larry Crowne, while award-winning British sitcom, The Inbetweeners, expands its horizons for the big screen as the cast, including Simon Bird and James Buckley, head for a holiday in Crete.

In the adventure stakes: Johnny Depp (as Captain Jack Sparrow), Penélope Cruz and Geoffrey Rush star in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, partly filmed in London. There are epic superhero debuts from Green Lantern and Captain America, which features Dominic Cooper and Hayley Atwell and was shot partly on UK locations, while popular hits Spy Kids and Transformers blast back reinvigorated with cutting-edge action.

Daniel Craig stars in the spectacular Cowboys & Aliens alongside Harrison Ford; James McAvoy portrays young Professor Xavier in X-Men: First Class (also shot in the UK); and the record-breaking Harry Potter series reaches its magical finale with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

Saoirse Ronan is the perfect assassin in Joe Wright’s new thriller, Hanna, with Cate Blanchett, Tom Hollander and Olivia Williams. JJ Abrams’s explosive mystery, Super 8, introduces audiences to a cast of fresh young talent, while this year’s Sundance award-winning Senna brings shattering real-life action to the screen.

Combining comedy and adventure in state-of-the-art digital animation, Jack Black and Seth Rogen reprise the voices of Po and Mantis in Kung Fu Panda 2. Owen Wilson is Lightning McQueen racing on the fast track in Cars 2, which also features the voices of Sir Michael Caine as Finn McMissile, Jason Isaacs and Emily Mortimer. Neil Patrick Harris stars on screen in The Smurfs, whose voice cast has Alan Cumming and Katy Perry.

Kung Fu Panda 2, Cars 2 and The Smurfs are among the summer’s releases in digital 3D. Summer 2011 has 16 films in 3D, also including Priest, Green Lantern, Captain America, Spy Kids 4, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. FDA expects 42 3D releases in the full year 2011, a 50% increase from the 28 in 2010, as audiences continue to choose and savour the extra-immersive dimension. Last year 3D accounted for more than £1 in every £5 spent on cinema tickets in the UK.

FDA President, Lord Puttnam CBE, said: “This is the season when we all look forward to escaping, to sharing good laughs and experiencing new thrills, in air-conditioned comfort with iced drinks at our side. That’s exactly what is on offer in cinemas throughout the UK this summer. I’d urge everyone who loves extraordinary stories with heroic characters to make an extra cinema visit or two – the selection of new releases is really terrific!”

The 40 wide-ranging mainstream and specialised films included in the summer taster compilation trailer are: Attack the Block, Bad Teacher, The Beaver, Bridesmaids, Captain America, Cars 2, Cowboys and Aliens, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules, Green Lantern, The Hangover 2, Hanna, Honey 2, The Inbetweeners, Insidious, Julia’s Eyes, Kung Fu Panda 2, Larry Crowne, Mr Popper’s Penguins, Mother’s Day, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Potiche (‘Trophy wife’), Priest, Prom, Red Hill, Sarah’s Key, Senna, The Skin I Live In, The Smurfs, Something Borrowed, Stake Hill, Super 8, Taxi Driver (digital reissue), Thor, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, The Veteran, Viva Riva!, Water for Elephants, X-Men: First Class, Your Highness and Zookeeper. A subtitled version of the trailer will be shown on the dedicated UK website for sensory impaired cinemagoers, www.yourlocalcinema.com.