2011 was a pretty amazing year for us FilmBuffs. We discovered a love for Elizabeth Olsen, bid farewell to our favorite boy wizard and embraced the return of some of films most popular characters (Jack Sparrow, Alan from The Hangover). Now that we have entered 2012, it is time to prepare you ‘Buffs for what treats Hollywood will shower us with in the next 12 months.
Here are 12 things we are excited for in 2012:
12) We love the Sundance Film Festival, period. Anything is possible there, which is why we’re bringing you fantastic coverage from Park City in the next couple of weeks. If you’re a studio exec, get your checkbook and pen ready, because every film premiering has yet to find a studio to call their own. Here are some of the films looking to get picked up: the rockstar drama This is The Place; the road trip drama Predisposed; and the wedding comedy Bachelorette.
11) Some sequels and prequels franchises need to take a chill pill already (some on our list rhyme with The Mangover Part II, Scars II, and Fransformers 3). Let’s take a break from Decepticons and Pirates and make way for the next big franchises to launch.
On our list? Katniss Everdeen fights to survive in The Hunger Games in March, and Peter Jackson puts an end to the Middle Earth fanatics’ long wait for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey just in time for Christmas. And keep your eyes open in June for Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, the rumored prequel to Alien that could relaunch the franchise.
10) All this Oscar talk has finally come to a head, and filmbuffs around the world want to know which 2011 film will be named “Best Picture .” If the precursor winter awards shows are teasers of what we can expect to see nominated, look for The Artist, The Descendants and maybe (hopefully!) even Bridesmaids to be taking home our favorite gold statue in February.
9) With skin white as snow, hair dark as night, and lips red as blood, how has Snow White evaded decades of Hollywood adaptations? This year two different Snow White films are hitting theaters. In March, Relativity Media will release Mirror, Mirror, a comedic take starring Julia Roberts, Lily Collins and Armie Hammer. Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman starring Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth hopes to gain traction in the summer with a more grim take and plenty of action. The real question, though: which movie will be the fairest of them all?
8 ) In 2012, we will laugh at Hollywood’s desperate attempts to make board games and pregnancy books into box office hits. Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez and Elizabeth Banks star in What to Expect When You’re Expecting. That’s right: the advice book mommys-to-be swear by wants to be this summer’s ensemble rom-com. And people might be getting nostalgic when they hear the sure-fire phrase of the summer from Hasbro’s next big flick: “You sunk my battleship!” Yes, the board game has been made into a movie starring Rihanna and Liam Neeson. So if the film brings in the big guns, should we expect to see Candyland and Monopoly on the big screen next year? (insert hint of sarcasm… except they both have IMDB pages)
7) Since 2008, tabloids have not stopped yappering about Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner or the teen phenomenon that is The Twilight Saga. Four years and millions of screaming Twi-Hards later, this year will put the final nail in the coffin of the franchise with the November release of Breaking Dawn Part 2. Why did this make our list? We’re just excited that it’s finally ending.
6) Brad Pitt’s good streak can’t be stopped, even in 2012! After 2011′s Moneyball and The Tree of Life, Pitt stars in the film adaptation of a zombie war, World War Z. Talk about sick timing; the film is hitting theaters on December 21st, the day the Mayan calendar predicts the world to end!
5) Our hearts have gone on for almost 15 years with our DVDs of Rose and Jack’s epic love story. This April, on the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s first and final voyage, visionary James Cameron brings his blockbuster film back to theaters for a limited 3D and IMAX 3D rerelease. For the naysayers of the schmaltzy affair, remember that James Cameron is behind all this, and the man did give us Avatar, after all.
4) Speaking of Leo, be prepared next Christmas to travel back to the roaring 1920s with your favorite high school English lit piece, The Great Gatsby. We’re stoked for the reunion of Leo and his Romeo & Juliet director Baz Luhrmann. The 3D adaptation also stars Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan, and if it meets our expectations, we’ll see DiCaprio receive his first Oscar in 2013. And that, old chaps, would be a sight to see.
3) With recent scandals tarnishing their images, there are some actors hoping 2012 is the year for a fresh start. Perhaps this is the year Lindsay Lohan can stay out of prison long enough to finally star in films again. Maybe Arnold Schwarzenegger’s role in The Expendables 2 will put him back into the public’s good graces after all his 2011 scandal. And can Sacha Baron Cohen’s turn in The Dictator help us to forget the horrific offense that was Bruno? We hope so for at least one person on this list.
2) Okay, we just bashed prequels and sequels, we know. But we’re still holding out hope that this year can deliver some quality continuations of blockbuster franchises we still hold dear. Nearly 20 percent of 2012′s releases stem from an already-flourishing franchise; maybe the top grosser will be one of the following: American Reunion, Men in Black 3, The Amazing Spiderman, The Bourne Legacy, James Bond: Skyfall and This is 40.
1) 2012 might be forever remembered as the year Batman dies. Sorry to get grim, ‘Buffs, but don’t say you’re not anticipating and dreading Christopher Nolan’s final installment, The Dark Knight Rises. Literally everyone has been kept on their toes with the recently released trailer and top-secret storyline, and any leak of new information has the world begging for more. The seven-minute prologue shown before Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol has IMAX viewers even more pumped than Bane’s steroid-filled muscles (here’s hoping they do something about that voice, though…).
So what are you guys excited about in 2012? Don’t think Arnold can make a comeback? Love/Hate your childhood board games coming to life, or coming to an end? Sound off below!
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