We'll admit it: we had a hard time getting excited about many of the films released in 2011. Apparently, many of you felt the same way; U.S. attendance last year dropped to the lowest level in 16 years. But a quick glance at the 2012 release schedule is all that's needed to revive your interest in heading to the cineplex.
Indeed, the next 12 months look ready to provide an embarrassment of riches for movie fans. A new Batman movie? Check. A big-budget Ridley Scott sci-fi thriller? Sure. Quentin Tarantino's latest opus? Why not. Throw in Joss Whedon tackling The Avengers, the first of two Hobbit movies, James Bond's next adventure, the opening chapter of The Hunger Games, new films from Wes Anderson, David O. Russell, Judd Apatow, P.T. Anderson, Alfonso Cuarón, Whit Stillman, the Coen brothers (maybe), and more of our favorite directors, and we can't imagine a better year for movies. It may even rival 1999, the most recent year we can remember that boasted so many intriguing films.
Below, we run through 50 of our most-anticipated films that look likely to be released in 2012.
2 Days in New York
Dir.: Julie Delpy | distributor tbd | date tbd
French actress Julie Delpy proved her versatility with her 2007 comedy 2 Days in Paris 67, a film that found her not only starring, but also directing, writing, editing, and even composing the soundtrack. This follow-up finds Delpy's Marion living in New York with a new boyfriend (Chris Rock, replacing the first film's Adam Goldberg) when they are visited by her off-kilter family members for the weekend. A modest plot description, to be sure, but we are eager to see what funnyman Rock can do with good material for the first time in at least a decade. The film is still awaiting distribution in the U.S., but that should change when it premieres at Sundance this month.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Dir.: Timur Bekmambetov | 20th Century Fox | June 22
Okay, so you'll have to allow us one completely ridiculous film in our list of 50. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was published first, but it will be Seth Grahame-Smith’s second mash-up novel, Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, that will take the lead in theaters. In this re-writing of history, Lincoln, driven by his mother’s death at the hands of vampires, kills (and befriends) vampires on his path to the presidency. Benjamin Walker stars in his first feature, having earned the role in part due to his Broadway performance as another president, Andrew Jackson, in the musical Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson. Director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted 64) has promised historical accuracy (save for the vampires), along with plenty of bloody effects. Of the two Lincoln movies due in 2012, we're pretty sure this is the one with the most gore.
The Amazing Spider-Man View trailer
Dir.: Marc Webb | Columbia | July 3
So how do director Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer 76) and Sony hope to entice moviegoers back into theaters for a Spider-Man reboot five years after Sam Raimi wrapped up his trilogy? Here’s what we know: Andrew Garfield will play Peter Parker / Spider-Man, and if Comic-Con is any indication, the role is something he’s dreamed about his whole life. Emma Stone will co-star as new love interest Gwen Stacy, while her father, an NYPD captain, will be played by Denis Leary. For the first time on the big screen, Spider-Man will battle The Lizard (aka Dr. Curt Conners), who will be played by Rhys Ifans, and our hero's web-shooters will be mechanical, not organic. You can also expect his father, played by Campbell Scott, to play a key role. On the official website, Sony promises “a different side of the Peter Parker story,” but considering that the last trilogy grossed nearly $2.5 billion worldwide, how different do they really want it to be?
Argo
Dir.: Ben Affleck | Warner Bros. | September 14
Ben Affleck moves away from the comfortable confines of Boston, grows a beard, and tackles a true story in Argo, his third feature as director. The drama is based on the plainly titled Wired article by Joshuah Bearman, "How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran," and takes place during the 1979-80 Iran hostage crisis. Affleck stars as Tony Mendez, one of the architects of the “Canadian Caper,” and the strong supporting cast includes Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Kyle Chandler, Taylor Schilling, and Clea DuVall. Expectations are high considering the success of Affleck’s previous directorial efforts, The Town 74 and Gone Baby Gone 72.
The Avengers View trailer
Dir.: Joss Whedon | Disney | May 4
Avengers assemble! Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America have all been introduced in their own movies and are now joining up with their fellow Avengers in one of the biggest comic book movies of all time. Fan favorite Joss Whedon (Serenity, TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer) co-writes and directs this Marvel team-up that has Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, and Chris Evans joining Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), and Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) as they try to stop Thor’s angry brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his army from destroying Earth. And The Avengers won't be Whedon's only movie this year; you can also expect his quickly-shot take on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (starring Whedon veterans like Nathan Fillion, Reed Diamond, and Amy Acker) to surface on the festival circuit, while the delayed, Whedon-penned scarefest Cabin in the Woods will finally get a release on April 13.
The Bourne Legacy
Dir.: Tony Gilroy | Universal | August 3
Producing a fourth Bourne film has been quite a struggle for Universal. First they wanted another film with Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, but Damon would only work with Paul Greengrass, the director of The Bourne Supremacy 73 and The Bourne Ultimatum 85. When Greengrass was unable to produce a workable script, Tony Gilroy, who shared writing credit on all three Bourne films and directed the excellent Michael Clayton 82 and much less excellent Duplicity 69, was selected to write and direct a fourth film that would star a new operative but leave the door open for Damon’s Bourne to return in the future. So what we get in The Bourne Legacy is Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross, an operative spawned from the same system as Jason Bourne. Returning to the Bourne universe are Joan Allen, Albert Finney, and Scott Glenn and appearing for the first time are Edward Norton and Rachel Weisz. While it seems like a busy summer for Renner, it'll actually be lighter than originally planned; his Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters just got delayed until early 2013.
Brave View trailer
Dir.: Mark Andrews & Brenda Chapman | Pixar | June 22
While the cool critical reception to last year's Cars 2 57—a first for Pixar—didn’t hurt the studio’s bottom line, it falls to Brave to prove it was just a bump in the road. The story of a 10th century Scottish princess named Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) is the first Pixar film to have a female lead. It was to have a female director as well, but Brenda Chapman was replaced by Mark Andrews. The 3D Brave will be Pixar's first non-sequel since 2009’s Up 88 and the only one until 2014, since Monsters University will follow in 2013.
Cloud Atlas
Dir.: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Warner Bros. | tbd October
The Matrix creators The Wachowskis are teaming with Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer for an ambitious adaptation of David Mitchell’s acclaimed 2004 novel Cloud Atlas, comprised of six separate yet vaguely connected narratives that take place in locales as varied as the Pacific Ocean in 1850 and a clone-inhabited, post-apocalyptic future. The cast includes Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant, Halle Berry, and Susan Sarandon in what may be multiple roles (and genders). Sequels aside, the Wachowskis are never not ambitious—their last project was the winning yet overlooked Speed Racer 37—and Tom Tykwer mostly marches to the beat of his own drum. Projects this unpredictable and risky rarely come down the pike in Hollywood these days, and that alone is reason enough to be excited.
Cogan's Trade
Dir.: Andrew Dominik | The Weinstein Co. | date tbd
Director Andrew Dominik and star Brad Pitt, who teamed up on The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford 68, will reunite for this adaptation of George V. Higgins’ 1974 novel about a mob enforcer called in to hunt down the robbers of a high stakes, mob-sponsored poker game. Like Higgins’ other novel that made it to the theaters (The Friends of Eddie Coyle), Cogan’s Trade should provide an unflinching look at the Boston underworld. The strong cast includes James Gandolfini, Ben Mendelsohn, Ray Liotta, and Richard Jenkins.
Cosmopolis
Dir.: David Cronenberg | distributor tbd | tbd fall
A year with a new David Cronenberg film is usually a good year. Last year saw A Dangerous Method 76, his first historical drama, come to theaters; the year ahead will bring Cronenberg back to modern times as he attempts the difficult task of translating Don DeLillo’s 2003 novel Cosmopolis to film. The story looks at an eventful 24 hours in the life of a young billionaire asset manager as he traverses Manhattan in his luxury stretch limo. Robert Pattinson stars, and the supporting cast includes Paul Giamatti, Juliette Binoche, and Samantha Morton. Hopefully Cronenberg finds the cinematic key to a novel which received mixed reviews upon its release.
Damsels in Distress View clip #1 Clip #2 Clip #3
Dir.: Whit Stillman | Sony Pictures Classics | date tbd
Talk about a rare event. With just four features to his name in a decades-long career, Whit Stillman (Metropolitan, Barcelona) makes Terrence Malick seem like Woody Allen in comparison. Damsels in Distress, Stillman's first film since 1998's The Last Days of Disco 76, managed to sneak onto a few critic top 10 lists at the end of 2011 despite screening only at festivals. A theatrical release for 2012 should be announced soon for the unconventional comedy, which adds song and dance to Stillman's usual smart, stylized dialogue as it explores the lives of a group of college girls led by Greta Gerwig. Adam Brody also stars.
The Dark Knight Rises View trailer
Dir.: Christopher Nolan | Warner Bros. | July 20
Christopher Nolan follows his acclaimed Inception 74 with the final chapter of his Batman trilogy. The Dark Knight Rises picks up a few years after Batman’s depressing showdown with the Joker and Two-Face and finds Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) in an Occupy Gotham-like scenario in which he must save his hometown from the mush-mouthed Bane (Tom Hardy) and angry Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Anne Hathaway). The rumored $250 million production features even more scenes filmed in the IMAX format than 2008's The Dark Knight 82 and will once again see the return of Alfred (Michael Caine), Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), and Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman). They'll be joined by franchise rookies Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Juno Temple, Matthew Modine, and Aidan Gillen. Even thought the film's release is over six months away, some midnight screenings are already on sale and sold out.
Dark Shadows
Dir.: Tim Burton | Warner Bros. | May 11
If anyone (other than original creator Dan Curtis) is going to adapt the gothic soap opera that aired on ABC in the late 1960s, Tim Burton would seem the man to do it. With Burton, of course, comes star Johnny Depp (it's their eighth collaboration), and he'll be joined in the large cast by Eva Green, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, and Jonny Lee Miller, who play some of the many supernatural occupants of a run-down New England manor. The script comes from Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter author Seth Grahame-Smith. The subject matter may be a little too in his wheelhouse to break him out of his recent creative rut, but Burton also has a second film due in 2012: Frankenweenie (October 5), an impressive-looking, black-and-white, stop-motion animated remake of his own 1984 short.
The Dictator View trailer
Dir.: Larry Charles | Paramount | May 11
Yes, that's Sacha Baron Cohen dressed as the dictator of fictitious third-world country Wadiya in the third collaboration between the comedian and director Larry Charles (Borat 89, Bruno 54). Unlike their previous two films, The Dictator is structured as a conventional scripted comedy rather than a mockumentary, which comes as a relief after Bruno suggested the format had run its course. The story finds Baron Cohen's Gaddafi- and Saddam Hussein-inspired General Admiral Alladeen deposed from his leadership position and exiled to America. Ben Kingsley and Anna Faris also star.
Django Unchained
Dir.: Quentin Tarantino | The Weinstein Company | December 25
It’s a pretty safe bet to assume that only Quentin Tarantino could convince a studio to release a film set in the slave-owning South that follows a freed slave who, under the guidance of a German bounty hunter, becomes a deadly assassin hellbent on rescuing his wife from an evil plantation owner. While the script has been leaked online, don’t expect any spoilers here; this is one Christmas gift best kept a surprise. Tarantino’s typically eclectic cast includes Jamie Foxx as Django, the freed slave, Christoph Waltz as Dr. King Shultz, the German bounty hunter, Kerry Washington as Django’s wife Broomhilda, and Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie, head of the Candyland plantation. Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Don Johnson and Sacha Baron Cohen will also make appearances in this Southern revenge tale, the first Tarantino will direct without his friend and trusted editor Sally Menke.
Dog Fight
Dir.: Jay Roach | Warner Bros. | August 10
While the 2012 presidential election may not generate many laughs, a campaign showdown between aspiring congressmen played by Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis has our vote. True, director Jay Roach hasn't been associated with many winners recently, but a script by Eastbound & Down's Shawn Harwell and Chris Henchy, and a cast that also includes Dan Aykroyd (in his first live-action film in four years), John Lithgow, and Jason Sudeikis, is change we can believe in. We'd be surprised if this isn't the best election comedy since, well, Election.
The Gangster Squad
Dir.: Ruben Fleischer | Warner Bros. | October 19
With this true crime drama set in late 1940s Los Angeles, director Ruben Fleischer looks to make the jump from modestly budgeted action-comedy (Zombieland 73, 30 Minutes or Less 49) to serious dramatic filmmaking. His success may hinge on his impressive cast. Sean Penn plays gangster Micky Cohen whose hopes to bring the East Coast Mafia to Los Angeles sparks the formation of a special until of LAPD officers to oppose him. Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Anthony Mackie, and Emma Stone also star.
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III
Dir.: Roman Coppola | distributor tbd | date tbd
The identity of Sofia's next film isn't finalized yet, and Francis Ford's latest, Twixt, won't get much of a rollout in the U.S. (which may be a good thing, judging from the tepid response at last year's TIFF). That leaves Roman as the Coppola family's best representative in 2012. Returning to directing for the first time since 2002's underrated CQ 56, Sofia's older brother has enlisted an intriguing cast—including Charlie Sheen (in his first acting gig since Two and a Half Men), Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Aubrey Plaza—for a 1970s-set comedy about a successful graphic designer who's life falls apart when his girlfriend leaves him. It could be a big year for Roman; he's also the co-writer of Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, due this summer.
The Grandmasters
Dir.: Wong Kar Wai | distributor tbd | date tbd
Will Wong Kar Wai’s version of the Ip Man story finally reach theaters in 2012? Let’s hope. His last new feature was My Blueberry Nights 52, a rather disappointing effort from a director that created Days of Being Wild 96, Chunking Express, In the Mood for Love 85, and 2046 78. So far, we’ve only seen a rain-soaked teaser, but the film, which has been in production since 2009, did secure financing in 2011 that will hopefully lead to completion and a premiere at Cannes 2012. The Grandmasters stars the director’s frequent collaborator Tony Leung as the legendary martial arts master who instructed Bruce Lee, and features action sequences choreographed by Yeun Woo-ping (the man behind The Matrix, Kill Bill, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and countless other films).
Gravity
Dir.: Alfonso Cuarón | Warner Bros. | November 21
Alfonso Cuarón’s first feature since 2006’s thrilling Children of Men 84 returns the director to the science fiction genre. The ambitious thriller Gravity features two astronauts (Sandra Bullock and George Clooney) trying to get home to Earth after their space station suffers a crippling accident. Their journey will unfold in groundbreaking 3D that James Cameron, Guillermo del Toro, and David Fincher were all consulted on; having the incredible Emmanuel Lubezki (The Tree of Life) back as cinematographer doesn't hurt, either. The film also reunites Cuarón with his Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban producer David Heyman and was co-written by Cuarón, his son Jonás Cuarón, and writer/director Rodrigo García (Albert Nobbs).
The Great Gatsby
Dir.: Baz Luhrmann | Warner Bros. | December 25
The last (but not the first) time The Great Gatsby hit the big screen it was 1974. Francis Ford Coppola wrote the adaptation, Jack Clayton directed, and the film starred Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby, Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan, Bruce Dern as Tom Buchanan, and Sam Waterston as Nick Carraway. Of course, you've never seen the story in three dimensions. This year, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tragic look at love, class, and the American dream in 1920s Long Island gets the 3D treatment by director Baz Luhrmann (hoping to rebound from the disappointing Australia 53) along with a new set of stars including Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby, Carey Mulligan as Daisy, Joel Edgerton as Tom, and Tobey Maguire as Nick.
He Loves Me
Dir.: Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris | Fox Searchlight | date tbd
Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris have directed only one feature film, but it was a surprise critical and commercial hit: Little Miss Sunshine 80. Six years later, they're finally back with a second project, a quirky romantic comedy from first-time screenwriter Zoe Kazan. He Loves Me stars Paul Dano as a novelist suffering from writer's block who wills the woman of his dreams (played by Kazan, Dano's real-life girlfriend) into existence. The eclectic cast also includes Antonio Banderas, Alia Shawkat, Steve Coogan, Annette Bening, and Elliott Gould.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Dir.: Peter Jackson | Warner Bros. | December 14
Purists may be dismayed that the story has been split into two films (The Hobbit: There and Back Again follows in 2013), but there's no arguing with Peter Jackson's track record in adapting J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved fantasy novels; his three Lord of the Rings films earned Metascores of 92, 88, and 94 and collected 30 Oscar nominations combined. It remains to be seen how The Hobbit's more lightweight story and tone will translate to the big screen, but casting Martin Freeman (the original UK version of The Office) as a young Bilbo Baggins is certainly a great start. Freeman's Sherlock co-star Benedict Cumberbatch joins Richard Armitage, Stephen Fry, Bret McKenzie, and Evangeline Lilly among the new faces, while Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf, and Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Elijah Wood, and Orlando Bloom are among the other actors reprising their roles from the original trilogy. Despite a troubled production history that saw Jackson only reluctantly taking the reins after Guillermo del Toro dropped out, of the three 2012 movies featuring large groups of dwarves, this is the one on our calendar.
The Hunger Games View trailer
Dir.: Gary Ross | Lionsgate | March 23
Lionsgate hopes to capture some of Summit’s Twilight box office magic with this adaptation of the first book in Suzanne Collin’s best-selling young adult trilogy. While it doesn’t involve vampires or werewolves, the post-apocalyptic world that is home to main protagonist Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) does have room for two love interests: Gale Hawthorne, her friend and hunting partner, and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), her fellow tribute in the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death between two dozen kids aged 12-18. (It's not quite as dark as Battle Royale, but it's dark.) Director Gary Ross (Pleasantville 71, Seabiscuit 72) will be tasked with setting the visual tone of the planned three- or four-film series, whose next installment (Catching Fire) is already scheduled for release on November 22, 2013.
Hyde Park On Hudson
Dir.: Roger Michell | Focus | date tbd
Need more proof that 2012 is shaping up to be a great year for film? The coming 12 months should bring not one, not two, but three Bill Murray movies, and none features more of the actor than Hyde Park on Hudson, in which he stars as Franklin Delano Roosevelt (and certainly looks the part). The based-on-a-true-story drama takes place during an eventful 1939 weekend in upstate New York when England's King and Queen pay a visit to solicit America's help in the coming war with Germany, and FDR begins an affair with his distant cousin. Laura Linney and Olivia Williams also star for director Roger Michell (Notting Hill 66), who is attempting to rebound from a rare mediocre effort (Morning Glory 57).
Inside Llewyn Davis
Dir.: Joel and Ethan Coen | distributor tbd | date tbd
Out of the 50 films on this list, this one is the likeliest to get bumped into 2013, but it's too good not to mention here. The Coen brothers have already demonstrated that they could make an entertaining, music-oriented period film (the underrated O Brother, Where Art Thou? 69, one of our favorites), so the idea of the pair chronicling the Greenwich Village folk scene during the 1960s sounds like a winner. Inside Llewyn Davis is based on real life musician Dave van Ronk (played by Drive's Oscar Isaac) and his memoir, The Mayor of MacDougal Street. Throw in a great cast supporting the relatively unknown Isaac—John Goodman, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, Garrett Hedlund, F. Murray Abraham—and the brothers could be back in the Oscar game. The movie doesn't go in front of cameras until February, but a fall festival debut isn't out of the question.
John Carter View trailer
Dir.: Andrew Stanton | Disney | March 9
Taylor Kitsch stars as John Carter, a Confederate captain who wakes up on Mars and finds himself in the middle of another, completely different civil war in this adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars, the first novel in his 11-volume Barsoom series. The film, originally titled John Carter of Mars, went through reshoots in April, but the results seemed to be worth it as early test screenings have been positive. We're hopeful that Pixar vet Andrew Stanton (WALL-E 94) will have the same success that fellow animation-turned-live-action director Brad Bird had with Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol 73.
Les Miserables
Dir.: Tom Hooper | Universal | December 7
If 2011 was bereft of major movie musicals, 2012 makes up for it by bringing us a singing Tom Cruise (Rock of Ages, June 1) and this first-time adaptation of one of the most popular stage musicals of all time (based originally, of course, on Victor Hugo's novel). In development for over 20 years, Les Miserables retains its 19th century France setting and stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, and Anne Hathaway, who will be joined by Helena Bonham Carter, Eddie Redmayne, and possibly Amanda Seyfried and Sacha Baron Cohen as well. Combine that star power with director Tom Hooper (The King's Speech 88), and not even the rumored addition of Taylor Swift to the cast can dampen the film's Oscar hopes.
Life of Pi
Dir.: Ang Lee | 20th Century Fox | December 21
It's based on a popular book, comes from an acclaimed director, and is well positioned for awards season with a Christmas-week release. But a no-name cast, brutal competition at the cineplex, and a tricky path from page to screen means that Life of Pi could ultimately struggle as much as 2011's holiday-season flop We Bought a Zoo (a more than apt comparison given that Pi, too, features a zookeeper and his surprise menagerie). Yann Martel's fantasy adventure novel about a young boy who survives the sinking of a freighter by sharing a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger won numerous awards, and filmmakers from Alfonso Cuarón to M. Night Shyamalan have sought to direct the film adaptation. Ultimately, however, that job fell to Ang Lee (Taking Woodstock 55, Brokeback Mountain 87), who has opted to film the story in 3D (it will also screen in IMAX 3D), working from a script by Oscar nominee David Magee (Finding Neverland 67).
Lincoln
Dir.: Steven Spielberg | Touchstone | tbd December
It’s not the only film about Lincoln being released in 2012, but it is the only one directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Daniel Day-Lewis as the bearded 16th President of the United States. The film will not feature Lincoln killing vampires but instead will be based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Spielberg has revealed that the film will focus on the last four months of Lincoln’s life instead of trying to encompass his whole presidency. The strong supporting cast includes Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln, Jared Harris as Ulysses S. Grant, David Strathairn as Secretary of State William Seward, and Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens.
Looper
Dir.: Rian Johnson | FilmDistrict | September 28
In a year with several potential sci-fi standouts (Prometheus, Gravity), it could be the lesser-known Looper that turns out to be the most provocative of the pack. Writer-director Rian Johnson is known for a pair of highly stylized indie crime films (Brick 72, The Brothers Bloom 55), but here he moves on to a new genre and a larger budget for a thought-provoking, action-filled time-travel tale about a present-day mob hitman (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who kills people sent back in time from the future, only to hesitate when one of those targets turns out to be his older self (Bruce Willis). Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, and Jeff Daniels also star, and Shane Carruth, the director of the time travel cult classic Primer 68, consulted on the visual design. Time travel stories are always tricky to pull off (we're partial to another Willis film, 12 Monkeys), but positive buzz has been building around Looper for the past year (including some recent, well-received test screenings), and the worst-case scenario is that it'll be an interesting failure.
Magic Mike
Dir.: Steven Soderbergh | Warner Bros. | June 29
Director Steven Soderbergh will continue his prolific ways in 2012 with the release of the Gina Carano-led action thriller Haywire on January 20 followed by the male stripper story Magic Mike this summer. (And that doesn't even count the second-unit footage he shot for Hunger Games.) Starring Channing Tatum (who also appears in Haywire) and inspired by Tatum's real-life job as a stripper when he was 19, Magic Mike looks at the mentor relationship between Tatum’s Mike and Alex Pettyfer’s character, The Kid. Tatum insists that the film is meant to be a fun look at the world of male strippers, but if that doesn’t interest you, there's always the opportunity to see Matthew McConaughey, Matt Bomer, and Joe Manganiello shirtless ... again.
The Master
Dir.: Paul Thomas Anderson | The Weinstein Co. | tbd fall
Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson returns five (!) years after his the award-winning There Will Be Blood 92 with another epic drama that will almost certainly court controversy. Given his past critical success, the title could certainly refer to the director himself, but The Master is reportedly a thinly veiled dramatization of the life of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard (who, of course, also gave the world this gem). Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a returning World War II vet who creates a religion (known as “The Cause”) with his partner, played by Joaquin Phoenix in his first role since his fake documentary I’m Still Here. Hoffman (who previously worked with Anderson on Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch-Drunk Love) and Phoenix are also joined by Laura Dern and Amy Adams, and Anderson has once again recruited Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood to score the film. There's no way we're missing this one.
Men in Black 3 View trailer
Dir.: Barry Sonnenfeld | Columbia | May 25
In a belated third installment of this incredibly successful franchise (the first two combined to gross over $1 billion at the box office, though it has been a decade since the previous movie), Will Smith’s Agent J travels back to the 1960s to thwart a plot to kill his partner Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones). Josh Brolin plays the '60s version of Agent K, and Emma Thompson and Alice Eve join the cast as the old and young Agent O. While the expensive production began without a script (for tax purposes) and lost an actor due to delays (Alec Baldwin), the story was eventually worked out with the help of writer David Koepp. Director Barry Sonnenfeld, who also helmed Men in Black 71 and Men in Black II 49, shot the film in 3D, and Sony is planning a 3D IMAX release as well.
Moonrise Kingdom
Dir.: Wes Anderson | Focus | May 25
Wes Anderson returns with his first live-action movie since 2007’s The Darjeeling Limited 67 and his first full-length feature since 2009’s animated Fantastic Mr. Fox 83. Moonrise Kingdom, written by Anderson and his Darjeeling collaborator Roman Coppola (CQ), is about a modest New England town whose inhabitants must join forces to search for two missing young lovers. Set in the 1960s, the film is a rare period piece for Anderson (those vintage needle drops he's son fond of will feel right at home) and will feature two newcomers (Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman) as the young runaways. The remaining cast is filled with recognizable names, however: Tilda Swinton, Harvey Keitel, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, and Frances McDormand. And Anderson fans will be happy to hear that Rushmore stars Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray are also on board.
Nero Fiddled
Dir.: Woody Allen | Sony Pictures Classics | tbd
Woody Allen’s late-career resurgence peaked last year when Midnight in Paris 81 became his highest-grossing film and garnered almost universal critical praise. So what does Allen do as a follow-up? He goes to another beautiful European city—Rome—puts together another great cast including himself (appearing on screen for the first time since 2006's Scoop 48), Alec Baldwin, Penelope Cruz, Ellen Page, Greta Gerwig, Jessie Eisenberg, and Alison Pill, and writes four unconnected comedic vignettes. He titles the film The Bop Decameron, but then changes it to Nero Fiddled because no one knows what The Decameron is. But how many people know who Nero is and why he fiddled? The legend (most likely erroneous) claims that Nero, the Roman Emperor from 54-68, fiddled while Rome burned. Just another year in the filmmaking life of Woody Allen.
Only God Forgives
Dir.: Nicolas Winding Refn | FilmDistrict | date tbd
Metacritic users recently named Nicolas Winding Refn's first major American film Drive 79 the best movie of 2011, and critics weren't far behind in recognizing the stylish crime drama as one of the year's best films. So the news that the director is reuniting in 2012 with his Drive star Ryan Gosling certainly has us intrigued. Only God Forgives marks Winding Refn's return to writing (which he had done on every one of his films before Drive) in addition to directing, and the result—a Bangkok-set revenge tale involving drug smuggling and Muay Thai boxing—is a story that Gosling has described as "the strangest thing I've ever read." In a world of remakes, sequels, and formulaic storylines, "strange" is welcome, indeed. The only worry is that the film—which begins shooting this month—will not be finished in time for a 2012 release.
Prometheus
Dir.: Ridley Scott | 20th Century Fox | June 8
It’s exciting when a major director returns to a genre in which he produced two all-time classics (Alien and Blade Runner) 30 years prior. When that filmmaker is Ridley Scott and that new film is rumored to be an Alien prequel, well, movie lovers begin to lose it. His new film Prometheus is not technically an Alien prequel (as of now), but it does possess the DNA of the Alien universe. What does that mean? All it means for the time being is that the title in the teaser trailer reveals itself the same way as in the Alien films. Little else is known except that there will be no xenomorphs (the alien in the previous quadrilogy) in the film. The script has been rewritten by Lost's Damon Lindelof, and the cast includes Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, and Michael Fassbender (as an android). Will he be more like Ash or Bishop? We’ll have to wait and see.
Savages
Dir.: Oliver Stone | Universal | September 28
Some might think that Oliver Stone’s peak as a director was long ago (and others may think he never had a peak), but his 2012 thriller, Savages, has promise, at least on paper, finding the director working in a genre that has allowed him to produce solid work in the past. The film is based on the book of the same name by best-selling crime novelist Don Winslow and centers on two successful Laguna Beach marijuana growers, played by Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson, who attract the attention of the Mexican drug cartel. After the cartel kidnaps Ophelia, their sometimes girlfriend, they devise a plan, with the help of a DEA agent played by John Travolta, to rescue her. Blake Lively plays their girlfriend while Salma Hayek is the head of the Mexican cartel, and Benicio del Toro is her main enforcer.
The Silver-Linings Playbook
Dir.: David O. Russell | The Weinstein Co. | November 21
Writer/director David O. Russell makes his speediest return to cinemas yet—a mere two years after his Oscar-winning The Fighter 79—with his adaptation of Matthew Quick’s novel about an ex-teacher/mental patient who moves back home with his mother and attempts to make amends with his loved ones. Bradley Cooper plays the lead (replacing the originally planned Mark Wahlberg) and joins a stellar cast that includes Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence, Julia Stiles, Chris Tucker (in his first non-Rush Hour movie since the late ’90s), and Animal Kingdom’s Jacki Weaver. We like Russell best in comedy mode, and there’s still a remote chance that Russell’s troubled, unreleased, post-I Heart Huckabees comedy Nailed (starring Jessica Biel) could surface this year if the film somehow gets completed. We guess the silver lining is that we’ll get one David O. Russell movie in 2012 no matter what.
Skyfall
Dir.: Sam Mendes | MGM/Columbia | November 9
The 23rd official James Bond film might have the best credentials of any film in the series. Sam Mendes (American Beauty 86, Revolutionary Road 69) will direct. Roger Deakins will shoot the film. Daniel Craig will return as Bond (I’m sure we all have our favorites, but he’s solid), and the main villain will be played by Javier Bardem (Anton Chigurh, anyone?). Ralph Fiennes and Albert Finney will also appear in undisclosed roles. Naomie Harris and newcomer Bérénice Marlohe are the female leads, and Q returns (after a two-film absence) in the form of the much younger Ben Wishaw. Few plot details are available, but we do know that it centers on long-buried secrets involving Judi Dench’s M. Die-hard Bond fans have another thing to look forward to this fall: a massive 50th anniversary Blu-ray box set containing all 22 Bond films to date, with over 100 hours of bonus content (including plenty of new extras).
Take This Waltz
Dir.: Sarah Polley | Magnolia | date tbd
Actress Sarah Polley made her directorial debut in 2007 with the impressive Away from Her 88, and her belated sophomore effort Take This Waltz already made a splash on the festival circuit last fall. Much of the praise has been directed at star Michelle Williams, who plays Margo, a married woman whose eyes begin to wander, landing on her neighbor Daniel, whom she happens to meet while on a work trip. Seth Rogen, Luke Kirby, and Sarah Silverman also star in a film that walks a fine line between humor and drama, and though some critics felt it too quirky for its own good, many admired Polley's insightful observational skills. Expect the film to finally arrive in American theaters this summer, while Polley moves on to her next project: an adaptation of Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace.
Ted
Dir.: Seth MacFarlane | Universal | July 13
There's no guarantee that this will turn out well. But how can you not be curious about the first live-action feature film from Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane? Especially when that film is a raunchy R-rated comedy about a middle-aged man who is still dealing with the repercussions of a wish he made as a young boy (which then came true): that his teddy bear would come to life. MacFarlane himself voices the cursing, smoking bear (which is motion-capture animated), while Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Giovanni Ribisi, and Joel McHale star. Will MacFarlane's rapid-fire, pop culture-referencing humor translate well to live action and a bigger venue? Probably not, but here's hoping it does.
This Is Forty
Dir.: Judd Apatow | Universal | December 21
Writer/director Judd Apatow is returning to cinemas after 2009’s somewhat disappointing Funny People 60 with his first sequel. This Is Forty, a follow-up to his 2007 hit Knocked Up 85, shifts the focus from that film’s lead characters of Ben (Seth Rogen) and Alison (Katherine Heigl) to Alison’s sister Debbie (Apatow’s real-life wife Leslie Mann), her husband Pete (Paul Rudd), and their two kids Charlotte and Sadie (played by Iris and Maude Apatow). It’s not completely a family affair, as Charlyne Yi and Jason Segel reprise their roles from the first film; also joining the cast are Albert Brooks, Megan Fox, John Lithgow, and Bridesmaids co-stars Melissa McCarthy and Chris O’Dowd. We especially like the scheduling: Even if the new film is only so-so, it'll still be far better than what has passed for comedy over the past few Decembers.
Tim & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie Red-band trailer
Dir.: Tim Heidecker & Eric Wareheim | Magnet | March 2
The stars of Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, are bringing their peculiar (if you are unacquainted, we use that word as an understatement) comedic stylings to the big screen for the first time. Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie will attempt to take the antics of their 15-minute Adult Swim series and expand them into a feature-length opus with appearances by show vets Zach Galifianakis, Will Forte, Will Ferrell, and Jeff Goldblum. Even cooler are appearances by villainous character-actor VIPs Robert Loggia (Scarface, Lost Highway), William Atherton (Real Genius, Ghostbusters, Die Hard) and Ray Wise (Robocop, Twin Peaks) as well an ’80s-esque shopping mall setting that recalls VHS classic Chopping Mall. The film arrives in theaters in March after premiering at Sundance, but will be available via video on demand starting January 27th. Shrim!
Total Recall
Dir.: Len Wiseman | Columbia | August 3
It’s a tough task to remake a film beloved by fans, especially one that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and was directed by Paul Verhoeven, but that is exactly what director Len Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard 69) and star Colin Farrell have signed up to do. Based on the Philip K. Dick story We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, Verhoeven's original Total Recall 57 took the kernel of the story—a man getting memories implanted in his brain—and then created the Mars section from scratch. While the new film won’t be going to Mars, Farrell has admitted the remake will still be closer in tone to the original film than to Dick’s story, and Wiseman promises there will be a three-breasted woman. (Otherwise, how would you know it's the future?) For fans of two-breasted women, the film stars Kate Beckinsale as Farrell’s wife Lori and Jessica Biel as the resistance fighter Melina. Fans of Breaking Bad will also be excited to see Bryan Cranston play the evil Vilos Cohaagen, portrayed so well in the original by Ronny Cox.
Untitled Kathryn Bigelow project [fka Kill Bin Laden]
Dir.: Kathryn Bigelow | Columbia | December 19
Spoiler alert: American Navy SEALs capture and kill terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. Interestingly, that was basically the plot of Kathryn Bigelow's follow-up to her Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker 94 even before such a thing happened in real life last year. Bigelow and returning screenwriter Mark Boal have had to re-tool the story so that it reflects actual events (the original screenplay was about a near-miss Black Ops mission a decade earlier), while Sony has delayed the fall release to December so that it won't affect the presidential election. Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, and Jason Clarke are among the actors confirmed for the thriller, while Jessica Chastain, Guy Pearce, and Idris Elba couldalso join the cast. If filming doesn't start soon, hitting that December 19 release date could be an impossible mission in itself.
Untitled David Chase project [fka Twylight Zones]
Dir.: David Chase | Paramount Vantage | October 19
Over the past three decades, Sopranos creator David Chase has worked exclusively in television. But that changes this fall when his first, still-untitled feature film arrives in theaters. Chase wrote and directed this coming-of-age drama set in 1960s New Jersey, which focuses on the teenaged lead singer (John Magaro, of of many relative unknowns in the cast) of a rock band. Sopranos star James Gandolfini stars as the teen's father, who has problems coping with his son's lifestyle, while another Sopranos vet—E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt—handles the music. There's already some Oscar buzz for the film, though audiences will just be glad that the movie doesn't end with a black screen.
The Wettest County
Dir.: John Hillcoat | The Weinstein Co. | August 31
The move last week to a release date of August 31 didn’t bode well for John Hillcoat’s The Wettest County, but Harvey Weinstein quickly went into spin mode while talking to 24 Frames and clarified that their hope is to capitalize on Tom Hardy’s post-Dark Knight popularity and take the film to the Venice Film Festival. Let's hope this is true, because Hillcoat’s last feature The Road 64 never got any marketing push and died a quick box office death, and while his latest film isn’t a post-apocalyptic death march, a story about bootlegging brothers in Depression-era Virginia isn’t an easy sell either. The new movie is again based on a novel (The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant), and it finds the director reuniting with rocker-turned-screenwriter Nick Cave (The Proposition 73). Good reviews and a strong cast including Shia LaBeouf, Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska will hopefully lure viewers to the theater.
World War Z
Dir.: Marc Forster | Paramount | December 21
Max Brooks’ acclaimed zombie apocalypse novel World War Z has been adapted into a big-budget Hollywood movie starring Brad Pitt. While zombies could not be bigger right now, an adaptation was no sure thing; the book's tricky structure (which instead of featuring a linear narrative took the form of a series of journalistic-style interviews that described individual experiences in the new world inhabited by the undead) means that the film will need to take major liberties with the source material. So who dares to take on such a challenge? The film will be directed by Quantum of Solace helmer Marc Forster and was co-adapted by comic book writer and Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski. AMC series stars Mireille Enos (The Killing) and James Dale Badge (Rubicon) lend support in what promises to be one the most expensive zombie films ever made. (In other words, the characters won't be stuck on a farm for weeks on end.)
Even more? Why not
Missing the cut only because they are iffy for 2012 (this year is possible, but 2013 is likelier) are Spike Lee's remake of Oldboy, whatever it is Terrence Malick is currently working on (since two films in two years from Malick just doesn't seem possible), Noah Baumbach's While We're Young (likely starring Ben Stiller and Jesse Eisenberg), and a still-untitled, mostly under-wraps political satire that reunites director Spike Jonze with writer Charlie Kaufman. While we'd love to see all of those films as soon as possible, it might be nice to save something back for 2013.
A second Coen brothers film, a remake of the 1966 comedy Gambit (which they wrote but did not direct), should surface this year, as should Joe Wright's take on Anna Karenina, Walter Salles' long-gestating adaptation of On the Road, Martin McDonagh's follow up to In Bruges (Seven Psychopaths), and new films by Robert Redford (The Company You Keep), Michel Gondry (The We & The I) and the duo of Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (Imogene, starring Kristin Wiig and Annette Bening). Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance will also return (and reunite with star Ryan Gosling) with the crime drama The Place Beyond the Pines. We've also heard good things about Morgan Spurlock's next documentary, Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope, which will likely arrive in the spring.
Of the year's two competing Snow White films, the more serious Snow White and the Huntsman (due June 1) has the most potential, though Tarsem Singh's Mirror Mirror (March 16) looks like it could have some camp value. On the comedy front, the Nicholas Stoller-Jason Segel collab The Five-Year Engagement (April 27) boasts a stellar supporting cast, while the older-skewing Great Hope Springs (December 14) has three strong leads in Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, and Steve Carell. We're also looking forward to seeing how Sundance crowds react later this month to the oddball Wrong (from the mad genius behind Rubber), Spike Lee's Red Hook Summer, Stephen Frears' Lay the Favorite (starring Bruce Willis), the Rashida Jones/Andy Samberg comedy Celeste and Jesse Forever, and the Kirsten Dunst/Lizzy Caplan comedy Bachelorette, all of which sound promising.
What about our least anticipated film?
Well, Eddie Murphy's A Thousand Words opens April 20th. Our page for the film has a handy countdown clock so you know how much time you have left to prepare yourself.
What do you think?
Which movies are you looking forward to this year? Let us know in the comments section below.