When everyone else is doing year in review columns, I get to do a preview of the 2012 movies.
While this is not a complete list, it highlights what to expect over the next six months.
January starts with the re-release of Beauty and the Beast, the first of many 3D re-issues this year; Mark Wahlberg stars in the action-thriller Contraband; the funny and inspirational Joyful Noise stars Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton; Steven Soderbergh directs the thriller Haywire; George Lucas produces Red Tails; Kate Beckinsale returns as Selene in Underworld Awakening; Liam Neeson stars in The Grey; and Katherine Heigl stars in the action-comedy One for the Money.
February starts on an inspirational note with Drew Barrymore in a true story of trapped grey whales in Big Miracle; Dwayne Johnson stars in the sequel Journey 2: The Mysterious Island; Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds star in Safe House; The Vow will be a tearjerker starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum; Nicolas Cage returns as Johnny Blaze in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance; Reese Witherspoon and Chris Pine star in the action-comedy This Means War; Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston star in the comedy Wanderlust; and Star Wars: Episode 1—The Phantom Menace gets a 3D re-release.
In March, the creators of Despicable Me brings us Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax; the Brothers Grimm get a makeover with the action-thriller Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters; Eddie Murphy stars in A Thousand Words; 21 Jump Street jumps to the big screen with Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum; and two popular book series get the big-screen treatment: John Carter is based upon Edgar Rice Burrough’s classic A Princess of Mars and The Hunger Games is based upon Suzanne Collins’ best-selling novel of the same name.
In April, the American Pie cast returns for American Reunion; The Farrelly Brothers remake The Three Stooges; Zac Efron stars in the romantic drama The Lucky One; Jason Segel writes and stars in The Five-Year Engagement; and Titanic gets a 3D release.
May gets a blockbuster start with Marvel’s The Avengers; Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are together again with Dark Shadows; Sacha Baron Cohen is sure to cause controversy with the comedy The Dictator; Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez star in the comedy What to Expect When You’re Expecting; The Milton Bradley game Battleship gets a big budget sci-fi makeover; and J & K are back in Men in Black 3.
June has the annual Disney-Pixar release called Brave, but it has some pretty strong competition with DreamWorks’ Madagascar 3; based on the Broadway musical, Rock of Ages features an all-star cast; Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron star in another Grimm makeover called Snow White and the Huntsman; director Ridley Scott returns to science fiction with Prometheus; and Channing Tatum is joined by Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis in G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
Rick Davis is the manager of a movie theatre in West Kelowna. His column, Movie Guy, appears weekly in the Kelowna Capital News.
