Toby Kebbell

What’s more unlikely than a gritty, edgy remake of Ben-Hur (of all things)? It might be the moment in the new trailer when Toby Kebbell, in the role of the titular hero’s nemesis, shouts, “Are we having fun yet, brother?!” It’s a line that belongs in an episode of Party Down (RIP), and one that seems hilariously out of place in a movie that features chariots.

A lot of people were disappointed by last summer’s Fantastic Four. The reboot, directed by Josh Trank, was supposed to relaunch one of the most popular comic-book series in history, and erase the memory of two previous, unpopular Fantastic Four movies in the process. It had a great cast, including Miles Teller, Kate Mara, and Michael B. Jordan. It had Trank, coming off his acclaimed superhero film Chronicle. It should have been the start of something huge.

If you found yourself a little underwhelmed by the previous Warcraft trailer, the latest one is definitely more action-centric, offering plenty of new footage and lots of that crazy fantastical magic-and-creatures-and-orcs business that made the original game series so popular. And if that doesn’t sound like your cup of mead or whatever, then this new trailer probably won’t sway you.

Let’s take a break from Batman and Superman for another epic battle — the Alliance vs. the Horde, aka Warcraft. The international trailer for Duncan Jones’ adaptation of the hit MMORPG has arrived, bringing lots of new footage as the two factions prepare for all-out war, and two races unite to protect their future. Orcs and humans fighting together, mass hysteria, etc.

In the midst of our excitement for all the new superhero movies hitting theaters this year, it’s easy to forget another major blockbuster: Warcraft. The latest TV spot for Duncan Jones’ adaptation of the hit game is action-packed and features some new footage, and while we’re still a bit skeptical of how successfully the series will translate to the big screen, one thing is for certain: at least it looks interesting.

Liam Neeson is exchanging his leather jacket and kidnap rescue mission for his next film, in which he plays a gravelly-voiced CG tree monster. You don’t get to see too much of him in the first trailer for A Monster Calls, but you can hear his Tom Waits impression as he narrates with the story of an invisible monster who doesn’t want to be invisible and alone anymore. It’s like The Iron Giant, but with a tree creature.

Director Duncan Jones dedicated a long time to Warcraft, the upcoming film based on the wildly popular MMORPG. Whether he successfully adapted the long-running PC game into a worthwhile movie remains to be seen, and following last week’s reveal of the first official teaser trailer comes some additional footage via an international TV spot which highlights the film’s interesting species and epic landscapes in short bursts.

It’s been a long road for Duncan Jones’ Warcraft movie — Jones signed on for the ambitious project almost three years ago, and today brings the first actual footage from the epic blockbuster in anticipation of Friday’s full trailer. Although brief, the teaser is a bit more revealing than most of its annoying “teaser for a teaser trailer” brethren, and given how long we’ve waited to see something from Warcraft, it’s better than nothing at all.

Here’s a hot tip for anyone not currently enjoying gainful employ: now might be a good time to look into opportunities at Legendary Pictures. They’ve had a banner year, with a pair of hits of the “franchise behemoth” and “homegrown original concept” varieties in Jurassic World and Straight Outta Compton, and they released one of the finest pictures of the year just a few weeks ago with Crimson Peak. (They also released Steve Jobs, which made peanuts and drew mixed-to-positive reviews, but we’re trying to draw a narrative here.) And with all this success in the studio’s rearview, they’re still looking ahead to what could be the most successful year in their brief history.

Toby Kebbell isn’t a hugely well-known actor in the U.S. — although he did impress audiences last year in the mo-cap role of Koba in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the actor was somewhat wasted in Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four. Hopefully his immense talents will be far better utilized next year, as Kebbell goes from Koba to Kong in Kong: Skull Island.