We hope there will be plenty of original fare on offer at the box office, but at first glance it looks like 2011 will be the year of the sequel and the remake.
Last year we had the rather disappointing sequels Sex and the City 2 and Iron Man 2. Now the numbers at the end of titles get bigger, with the release of Transformers 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Twilight 4, Mission Impossible 4, Fast and Furious 5, Scary Movie 5, Final Destination 5 – and Harry Potter 8, with the final film in the wizard series.
We can also look forward to the second films in the Sherlock Holmes, Kung Fu Panda, Hangover and Cars series.
Then there’s a prequel, rather than a sequel, in X-Men: First Class, directed by Matthew ‘Kick-Ass’ Vaughn and featuring James McAvoy, Kevin Bacon and January Jones in the 1960s.
In terms of remakes, Matt Damon and Jeff Bridges take on the classic John Wayne Western True Grit.
Hollywood is remaking the hit Swedish Millennium Trilogy, replacing Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist with newcomer Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is to be directed by David Fincher after his success with The Social Network and will also feature Christopher Plummer, Geraldine James and Joely Richardson.
Until the main comic book superheroes – Batman, Superman and Spider-Man – return in 2012, we’ll have to put up with slightly less famous ones, starting with The Green Hornet. Not to be confused with Green Lantern, who makes his movie debut with Ryan Reynolds and Mark Strong in June.
