Film Tue Feb 18 2014

Chicago-based Films of 2014

By Rima Mandwee

Chicago's film industry had a blockbuster year in 2013, which means that many Chicago scenes will be on the big screen in 2014. We've pulled together some trailers to the big budget Chicago-based films set to release this spring and summer.

Grand Piano

Tom Selznick, played by Elijah Wood, is widely known as one of the most talented pianists of his time, but he no longer performs live due to debilitating stage fright. Nearly five years after his most shattering experience at a public performance, Selznick returns to the stage in Chicago and tries to perform again. As Selznick begins playing in front of a packed, eager audience, he discovers a message written on his score: "Play one wrong note and you die." Selznick must attempt his most difficult performance yet and look for help without detection by the anonymous man behind the sniper, played by John Cusack.

Release date: March 7, 2014

Divergent

In a futuristic Chicago society, every individual must take a test that divides people into various divisions based on the results that identifies their personalities. Tris Prior, played by Shailene Woodley, has distinctive results: Tris will never fit into any one faction. They call those who do not fit into any faction "Divergents." After discovering the plan to destroy all Divergents, Tris embarks upon a journey to uncover the dangers of her kind before it's too late. Based on the book Divergent by New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, who lives in the Chicago area, the film tells the tale of a secret that threatens to tear an entire city apart.

Release date: March 21, 2014

Jupiter Ascending

Mila Kunis plays Jupiter Jones, an individual born destined for the extraordinary, but living in a reality where she is a struggling woman trying to make ends meet in Chicago. When Caine, a genetically engineered ex-military hunter played by Channing Tatum, arrives on Earth to find Jones, she learns that her instincts spoke the truth after all. Her genetic make-up places her next in line for an incredible inheritance in a far off galaxy. Written and directed by the Wachowski siblings, Jupiter Ascending is an original science fiction epic showcasing the newest technology in visual effects, a benchmark of Wachowski films. John Gaeta, visual effects designer behind The Matrix, also contributed to the design of this epic.

Release date: July 18, 2014

Transformers: Age of Extinction

Transformers: Age of Extinction is the fourth installment of the Transformers film series. The first in the series to not include Shia LaBeouf, this film follows Mark Wahlberg as the protagonist mechanic dueling alien Autobots and Decepticons. The story takes place four years after the invasion of Chicago in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

Release date: July 27, 2014