It's a double feature this weekend for Ryan Reynolds and Mary-Louise Parker. Both actors have two movies opening, one of which they star in together -- what are the odds?
First up is Reynolds. DreamWorks' "Turbo" got a head start this week, opening ahead of the competition on Wednesday, July 17. Reynolds voices the titular character in the animated film about a snail who dreams of racing in the Indy 500. The unlikely speedster's fantasy becomes a reality after a freak accident lands him in an engine filled with nitrous oxide, morphing him into the world's first supercharged mollusk. Samuel L. Jackson, Paul Giamatti, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph, and Snoop Lion also lend their pipes to the film.
We can assume Reynolds's snail tale was pushed out a few days early to ensure attention would be paid to his other box office offering, "R.I.P.D.," which also stars Parker, as well as Jeff Bridges. In this adaptation of the Dark Horse comic by the same name, Reynolds plays a cop who is killed in the line of duty and is then recruited into the Rest in Peace Department, an afterlife organization dedicated to tracking down souls who've managed to escape judgement and live in secret among the living. He gets partnered up with a lawman from the Wild West (Bridges) who teaches him the ropes of soul wrangling.
As for Parker, she also appears in "Red 2" this weekend alongside Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, and John Malkovich. The follow-up to 2010's "Red" catches up with the same crew of retired CIA agents, who are far from ready to settle down in an adult community somewhere in Florida. This time, the team sets out on a mission to recover a missing portable nuclear device, a quest that takes them to Paris, Moscow, and London.
In non-Parker/Reynolds-related news, "The Conjuring" also hits theaters this Friday. The horror flick tells the true story of Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), paranormal investigators who are called upon to help a family rid their house of menacing dark spirits. The Warrens also worked on the "Amityville Horror" case and the ghostly experiences that inspired "The Haunting in Connecticut."
"Girl Most Likely," starring Kristen Wiig, Annette Bening, Matt Dillon, and Darren Criss, and Ryan Gosling's "Only God Forgives" open in limited release on Friday.
Which movie is on your must-see list?