Fall VFX Movie Preview 2011

Rick DeMott breaks down the big vfx flicks coming at the end of 2011.

By Rick DeMott | Friday, August 26, 2011 at 4:43 pm

Posted In | Magazines: VFXWorld | Site Categories: 3D, CG, Films, Visual Effects

Summit's The Three Musketeers and Columbia's Anonymous bring 17th century action to the screen.

This fall we have boxing robots, ancient Greek wars, cunning detectives, super spies, 1930s Paris, singing chipmunks, alien invasions, aging-themed sci-fiers, an epic vampire marriage and two period adventures. Visual effects work range from the big to the subtle. Let's see the top 10* films on VFXWorld's radar.

10-tie. Anonymous (Columbia Pictures, Oct. 28) and The Three Musketeers (Summit Ent., Oct. 21)
Watch the trailer for Ânonymous
Watch the trailer for The Three Musketeers
Ten films were just not enough to capture the full score of the fall so the number 10 slot has two films. Both take place in the 17^th century so it's fitting.

Roland Emmerich dials down from his usual spectacle work for this conspiracy thriller, which proposes that Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford, actually penned Shakespeare's plays. Adding suspense, the film is set against the succession of Queen Elizabeth I and the Essex Rebellion. Just from the trailer we can see the extensive set and crowd work on display. Volker Engel and Marc Weigert were the lead vfx supervisors on this intriguing historical caper. Uncharted Territory was the primary visual effects house.

Paul W.S. Anderson's brings his signature action style to an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' classic adventure tale. For those not familiar with the story, the hotheaded D'Artagnan teams with three musketeers to stop a female double agent and the Cardinal from stealing the French crown. Of course there is going to be some swashbuckling going on here, but vfx augments the physical action, ramping it up to today's standards. Mr. X and Rodeo FX provided visual effects work.

Sex and birth come to Summit's Twilight series.

9. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (Summit Ent., Nov. 18)
Watch the trailer.
Bill Condon returns for the first part of the final chapter of the Twilight Saga. Could this film feature the first major visual effects enhanced sex scene? And then there is the birth scene. We can assume that there will be more vampire-on-werewolf violence for this installment too. In alpha order, vfx come from Halon Ent. Legacy Effects, Lola Visual Effects, Method Studios, Modus Fx, Soho VFX, Tippett Studio and Wildfire Visual Effects.