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n o v e m b e r . d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 5 c g w 2 1 stunts, creatures, and, of course, the environments. The London cityscape is rich and expansive. The ride through the clouds is magical. Tinkerbell's CG double performs amazing tricks. A partial ship set becomes whole and is placed in a rolling sea. Neverland is wondrous. Indeed, digital magic helps transport audiences to the pirate ship and to Neverland, making believers of us all. S A N A N D R E A S RELEASE DATE: May 29 PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Village Roadshow Pictures, New Line Cinema, RatPac Dune Entertainment, Flynn Picture Company What's summer without a Mother Nature destruction movie? San Andreas serves up the natural disaster well, thanks to the work by a number of visual effects houses, including Cinesite and Method Studios. A heart-racing, cliff-side car acci- dent kicks off the movie action, and Method follows it up with downtown destruction of LA. S P E C T R E RELEASE DATE: November 6 (US) PRODUCTION COMPANIES: B24, Columbia Pictures, Danjaq, Eon Productions, MGM No one can shake things up with a stirring performance like James Bond. In his latest mission, he faces off against the sinister organization known as Spectre. Of course, there are amazing stunts and gadgets, ultra extravagance, and chilling backgrounds, many of which required the touch and talent of digital artists. The Bond films are always fan favorites, gen- erating high box-office totals. Could this one top the VFX lists during awards season? S T A R W A R S – T H E F O R C E A W A K E N S RELEASE DATE: December 18 PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Lucasfilm, Bad Robot You can bet that the force will be with Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens when it comes to the awards circuit. Fans have waited years – light-years to some – to be immersed in this sci-fi universe once again. With ILM behind the scenes, you can bet on amazing imagery from start to finish. Galactic battles, creatures large and small, unusual landscapes, tense chases…all surely will be bigger and better than ever before. Expect a lot of practical work and in-camera effects, alongside cutting-edge CGI. The budget is estimated at $200 million, and undoubtedly that will be returned quickly back into the studio's coffers. Although the film was not released as of press time, no one doubts for a single moment that this film will be hard to beat. (Dare we expect less?) T E D 2 RELEASE DATE: June 26 PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Universal Pictures, Bluegrass Films, Fuzzy Door Productions, Media Rights Capital Life has changed dramatically for the characters John and Ted since we were last introduced to them in the original Ted, and not in a good way, according to the plot line of this sequel featuring a talking teddy bear as one of the main characters. Once again, artists were able to bring the stuffy Ted to life, having him act alongside human actors in such a way as to make audiences believe that Ted is indeed capable of emotions (good and bad). While Ted does not reach celebrity status this time around as he did during his initial debut, the work by the VFX crew of Iloura, Locktix, Tippett Studio, and Weta was nevertheless spot on. T E R M I N A T O R G E N I S Y S RELEASE DATE: July 1 PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Paramount Pictures, Skydance Productions The Terminator returns to 1984 in this past summer's installment of the franchise, and along with the plot's return to the '80s is Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger's return in the role of the Guardian. MPC spent a year producing the visual effects, tasked with creating a much younger version of the ac- tor, who battles in an epic scene with his current self (or should I say future self?). Double Nega- tive, meanwhile, generated the various Terminators and scenes with explosives and destruction. T H E H U N G E R G A M E S : M O C K I N G J A Y – P A R T 2 RELEASE DATE: November 20 PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Color Force, Lionsgate, Studio Babelsberg The books have a legion of fans, as do the movies about the heroine Katniss Everdeen as she fights for first her sister, then District 13, and now the citizens of Panem, against the autocratic Capitol. In this final installment in the widely suc- cessful series, we will continue to see dystopian backdrops, wild costumes, destruction, large-scale fighting, and more, all powered by digital imagery. Will the franchise end with some prestigious hardware? T H E M A R T I A N RELEASE DATE: October 2 PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Twentieth Century Fox Film PAN STAR WARS: EPISODE VII – THE FORCE AWAKENS