If the summer 2012 movie season were a film in its own right, there can be little doubt it would be a sequel-or a reboot-and in either case, it would likely feature a superhero. Hollywood’s summer season kicks off with the release of ‘The Avengers’ and as with recent years, the four-month period is dominated by superheroes, sequels and franchise reboots featuring epic battles between good and evil. Movies based on characters and stories that are well-known, such as those in comic books (‘The Avengers’ and ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’), or games (‘Battleship’), film sequels (‘Men in Black 3’) and remakes (‘Total Recall’) reach audiences of built-in fans that typically turn out in droves. Summer kicks off with ‘The Avengers’ combining popular Marvel characters such as Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor and Captain America among others into one adventure film that has so much pent-up demand box office watchers think its opening weekend sales could top $160 million. The studios hope ‘Avengers’ will set the tone for other comic book flicks to follow, including ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ and the third instalment of director Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. For the first time in 15 years, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones reprise their roles in ‘Men in Black 3’. Aliens wreak havoc throughout the summer in films as ‘Battleship’, based on the board game of the same name, ‘Prometheus’, Ridley Scott’s is-it-or-isn’t-it prequel to ‘Alien,’ and the comedy ‘Neighbourhood Watch’. ‘Total Recall’, ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ and Pixar’s ‘Brave’ also join the fray. Comedy always finds a place in summertime, too, with Johnny Depp starring in ‘Dark Shadows’ and Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg team up for ‘That’s My Boy’. Finally, on June 15, a film version of the smash Broadway musical ‘Rock of Ages’ debuts, boasting a cast including Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand rocking out to music from the ‘80s. “It’s the perfect musical for guys,” said director Adam Shankman, who also made ‘Hairspray’. “The music is all classic rock. It’s literally the only musical in history that every straight man will know all the words to when they walk in.”
