Kickstarter Movies:
In 2009, a crowdfunding platform was created to give creative projects the opportunity to grow.
In 2013, Zach Braff turned to Kickstarter to get his film "Wish I Was Here" off the ground. Braff directed, co-wrote and is featured in the movie, which centers on a 35-year-old man still searching for his purpose in life. "Wish I Was Here" is set to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in February and hit theaters in September.
Fans of the TV series "Veronica Mars" funded a Kickstarter project to create a movie featuring the original cast. The movie has Veronica Mars trying to prove her ex's innocence while dealing with people from her past at her high school reunion and will be released in March.
These two films are the first fan-funded movies to get a shot at the big screen, so whether or not they succeed, their fans still spent the money.
Divergent:
Another book-based action-adventure-romance is set to hit theaters in March. "Divergent," starring Golden Globe-nominated Shailene Woodley, as well as Theo James and Kate Winslet, is set in a futuristic dystopia where there are five paths for teenagers to take as determined by a test. Beatrice Prior (Woodley) falls into none of those, forcing her to hide her results in order to save herself. "Divergent" will likely be the next big young adult book-to-screen adaptation, following in the footsteps of "The Hunger Games."
Neighbors:
Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne and Zac Efron star in the upcoming comedy "Neighbors" where a young couple is surprised to find a fraternity moving in next door. The new frat's antics and the couple's responses are likely to generate big laughs when the movie comes out in May. Rogen being portrayed as a father is funny enough, whether or not that was the intent.
Taylor Swift:
After the American Music Awards, Swift mentioned working on an album and said it was ahead of schedule. Though no release date is set, Swift admits to wanting to give a unique sound to this album and focusing on that in all stages of creating it. Though "Red" still seems relatively new, it's been almost two years since its release, giving Swift the perfect opportunity to release her new album without falling into a lull between release dates.
True Detective:
HBO's newest drama casts Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as Louisiana detectives following a serial killer for 17 years. Rather than focusing purely on the crime aspect, this show promises to give a deeper look at the investigative process and the toll it takes on the investigators. The show aired its first episode on Jan. 12.
Penny Dreadful:
Showtime's attempt to match FX's "American Horror Story" and AMC's "The Walking Dead" will be seen in the horror-drama series titled "Penny Dreadful" airing this year. The show attempts to weave together the stories of classic, horror-based characters (Frankenstein, Dorian Gray) in Victorian London. Timothy Dalton, Eva Green and Josh Hartnett will star in this upcoming thriller.
The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon:
Fallon is moving up from "Late Night" and taking "The Tonight Show" from Jay Leno in February. Fallon is bringing his announcer/sidekick Higgins and "the greatest band in 'Late Night,'" The Roots. Though this is Leno's second retirement, Fallon has been successful with his shenanigans on "Late Night," making his transition to an earlier time slot something to look forward to.
Samantha Giedris can be reached at samantha.giedris@student.shu.edu
