Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Bill Nighy, John Hurt
Director: David Yates
Release Date: 15th July 2011
Some will be upset that this hasn’t been put higher on this list, but amongst the writers here there’s a feeling the series has dragged on for slightly too long (8 movies now). Nonetheless expect this to be a rousing finale to one of the most spectacular film series ever made. Harry, Ron, and Hermione go back to Hogwarts to find and destroy Voldemort’s final horcruxes, but when ‘Ol Snake Nose finds out about their mission you can expect to see school totally trashed by Harry and foe firing enough bolts at each other to keep local glaziers in work for years. In fact their fight sequence will reportedly expand on what’s witnessed in the book. Even though Part 1 missed out on 3D, Part 2 will probably be converted in time.
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris
Director: Guy Ritchie
Release Date: 16th December 2011
Guy Ritchie surprised a lot of people with the first Sherlock Holmes, a movie that was outside his comfort zone but managed to retain his sensibilities and be a fast paced, humourous adventure. In contrast to the staid adaptations of Holmes that have gone before, Ritchie managed to inject some real excitement into the proceedings. Unfortunately, because the movie wasn’t based on anything Conan Doyle had written, it deviated considerably from the structure of Holmes mysteries, and the actual mystery itself didn’t seem so important. But the interplay between all of the characters was great, Robert Downey Jr got to be Robert Downey Jr (which doesn’t seem to bother people) only this time with an English accent, and Jude Law got to shine for once in his supporting role as Watson. Now in the sequel the less-impressive Rachel McAdams is sidelined in favour of Noomi Rapace from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Stephen Fry will play Holmes’ smarter-but-lazier older brother (great casting). Ritchie has already surprised everybody by casting Jared Harris (who impressed on TV’s Fringe and Mad Men) as Moriarty, despite persistent rumours that former Snatch collaborator Brad Pitt would be taking the role.
Starring: Bailee Madison, Guy Pearce, Katie Holmes
Director: Troy Nixey (first timer, Guillermo del Toro ‘protege’)
Release Date: TBC 2011
It’s a conventional horror premise – young girl sent to live with her father (Pearce), and new girlfriend, discovers creatures in the home who want to claim her as one of their own. But the presence of Guillermo del Toro as hands-on co-writer/co-producer should elevate this to something genuinely unnerving. The filmmakers were going for a PG-13 but got rated R for ‘pervasive scariness.’ It’s a remake of a 1973 made-for-TV film that few will remember. Good to see Guy Pearce getting some mainstream work again.
Starring: Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Harrison Ford, Sam Rockwell
Director: Jon Favreau
Release Date: 29th July 2011
Most people were sold on this movie on its title alone – it’s about as high concept as it gets. Cowboys. Aliens. Throw in James Bond, Indiana Jones and Miss Tron and you have the kind of movie that makes geek crowds go nuts. Director Jon Favreau is coming off the lukewarm reception to the somewhat disappointing Iron Man 2. We’re hoping for a return to form. ‘Lost’ scribe Damon Lindelof has helped out in the writing department, so his nerdcore sensibilities should shine through too. Cowboys. Aliens.
Starring: James McAvoy, Kevin Bacon, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, January Jones
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Release Date: 3rd June 2011
The X-Men franchise wasn’t on the boil for long. Bryan Singer’s semi-good X-Men was the movie that kicked off the superhero boom at the turn of the century, its sequel remains one of the best superhero movies ever made, but the third movie was weak and spinoff Wolverine fared no better. But wait, here comes Matthew Vaughn, the director of the excellent Kick-Ass, to tackle an X-Men prequel. And Kevin Bacon is the villain. Ok they started shooting without a finished script. And the 60s set images look a bit Austin Powers. It’s hard to know how this will turn out, but there are more positives than negatives and we have a lot of faith in Vaughn.
Starring: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Gwenyth Paltrow
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Release Date: 21st October 2011
Think Swine Flu: The Movie. Action-thriller about a deadly disease and the international team of doctors contracted by the Center for Disease Control to deal with the spread. It’s also about howinformation spreads virally in the internet age. Contagion is a global story, filming in 10 countries, described as ‘procedural’ yet ‘breakneck tense’. With Steven Soderbergh directing, a script by the writer of The Bourne Ultimatum, and a cast this strong, we’re confident it’ll be more along the lines of 1971′s brainy The Andromeda Strain than Dustin Hoffman’s Outbreak. Also Gwyneth Paltrow’s character is the first to contract the horrible disease, so that’ll be fun to watch.
Starring: Jamie Bell, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Daniel Craig, Andy Serkis
Director: Steven Spielberg
Release Date: 23rd December 2011
The dream team of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are presenting us with an adaptation of Herge’s beloved comic book adventures of Tintin. The ginger-quiffed Belgian reporter is being portrayed by Jamie Bell, who previously collaborated with Peter Jackson on King Kong. You’ll never see Bell’s face though, because the whole thing is being done using the performance capture technology that made James Cameron’s Avatar possible. We’re curious to see what the 3D versions of Herge’s illustrations will look like, and intrigued to see what Spielberg does with the character and the technology. And Daniel Craig’s ‘camp bad guy’:
