2012 Preview
We take a look at the cinematic treats lined up for a 2012 release.
The last 12 months have been a solid year in cinema – for all the disappointment the blockbusters provided (Green Lantern, Cowboys and Aliens, Transformers 3), there have been some real gems from elsewhere, with Kill List, Drive, and Attack the Block providing semi-unexpected thrills.
Whilst the coming year may have the odd shaky prospect (mentioning no names, *ahem* Battleship...) there are more than a few exciting films on the horizon, with intriguing trailers, epic productions, and a few potential classics lined up for release before next Christmas. Here are the ones we are most looking forward to.
Prometheus
There really is just one place to start, with the film we’ve been gushing about for what feels like forever finally set to land on the July 1st. Billed as sharing the “Same DNA” as the Alien universe, the franchise which was started with director Ridley Scott’s seminal sci-fi, this sort-of prequel has suffered many a leak, which we’ve chosen to ignore. With the incredible cast of ScreenGeek favourites, including Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba, and Charlize Theron, iconic director Scott at the helm and a script headed up by Damon Lindelof (Star Trek, Lost), excited does not even begin to describe how we feel about Prometheus. Check out the amazing first Poster here.
The Avengers
An ensemble film which looks set to be considerably more than the sum of its already excellent parts, Joss Whedon’s The Avengers has had us bouncing up and down ever since we saw the full trailer a couple of months back. With the cream of the Marvel heroes thrust together to collectively beat down the enemies of Earth, we can’t wait to see Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye, Captain America, and Black Widow do the business. Whedon can practically do no wrong in our eyes, and with the able support of Robert Downey Jr., Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson and more, this should be epic. The Avengers comes out on the 27th April, be there.
The Dark Knight Rises
Christopher Nolan’s third Batman film, and the culmination of the superb Dark Knight trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises has had more leaks than a News of the World phone-tapping conspiracy. Tom Hardy steps to the Caped Crusader as the formidable Bane, a villain criminally misused in Joel Schumacher’s Batman and Robin. Anne Hathaway is set to smoulder as Catwoman, and as the series reaches its sure to be huge conclusion, anticipation is at an incredible level. It’s out on the 20th July, and we can’t wait.
Skyfall
The next edition of the Bond franchise is set to be a biggie when it is released on the 26th October, with the addition of some serious talent in the form of director Sam Mendes and actor Javier Bardem, who is set to play the villain. Not a lot is known about the project so far, but Daniel Craig’s third outing as the iconic spy will hopefully consign the disappointing Quantum of Solace to history, and recapture the glories of Casino Royale. Any new Bond is a huge cinematic event, and the introduction of new bond girl Berenice Marlohe, as well as the return of Q (albeit in a much younger form, played by Ben Whishaw) mean we’re humming the theme tune already.
The Hunger Games
OK, so for those of you who live comfortably under a rock, The Hunger Games is an immensely successful novel by Suzanne Collins. The dystopian tale of a future United States, now named Panem, which is divided into 12 districts, each of which must provide 2 teenage combatants for the titular games every year, is coming to the big screen.We doubt the adaptation will be keeping the blood and guts approach of the book, but it is a good story which was clearly written with a film in mind. A great cast includes Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, Liam Hemsworth and Lenny Kravitz, and the weird news that Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh shot second unit on this film gives us reason to believe that this will translate beautifully - as long as that change that awful ending. Check out the trailer here, ahead of the movies release on 23rd March.
The Hobbit
Finally released on December 14th, 2012, Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey cannot possibly be bad. As disappointed as we were that Guillermo Del Toro dropped out of the project – his Smaug would have been breathtaking – Jackson is the logical choice to take the reins, as he didn’t exactly do a bad job with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a series you may have heard of. Sure to be an epic, sprawling tale, and shot in what we are assured is superb 3D (a rare beast indeed), this is one of the biggest events of next year, and almost certain to be the film of Christmas 2012.
The Cabin in the Woods
The second Whedon film on the list, this sees a group of teens head to the titular lodge for a chiled out summer break. However, the locals don’t take too kindly to them. So far, so obvious, but the trailer takes such a sharp turn as to totally wrong-foot the viewer, so who knows what the final film will do. It’s a little spoiler-y, and we would probably rather go into the film having not seen the trailer, which is ironically what got us interested in the first place. This seems like it could be a quiet hit, and we look forward to seeing what Buffy creator Whedon and Cloverfield writer Drew Goddard have done with the film which has been in post-production hell since the dawn of time. Find out on the 13th of April.
The Woman in Black
What Daniel Radcliffe did next. The Harry Potter star will be the main draw for many here, but early whispers have reached us that the Hammer horror is a real frightener, containing jumps aplenty. The novel has already been made into a TV film, which was horrifying, and a stage show, which is simply the most terrifying live performance ever put on. This version is sure to deliver, and we are very, very intrigued as to what Radcliffe can bring to a new project. The film is released on the 10th February.
John Carter
This is a real wildcard. The first trailer was atrocious, the second pretty good. We’ve seen some spectacular effects work, astonishing creature designs and huge scale battle scenes in the artwork so far, and with a rich, established source material to draw from – Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars series, we are very interested to see what the Disney action adventure can do on the 9th of March.
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