When it comes to writing about and rankning upcoming films of the year, it should be known that there is varying amounts of information available for these new movies. Some movies are about to be released and have already gone through plenty of marketing. Others aren't due until the end of the year and may still be in early production. In this case one may know the people involved in a film and a basic premise, but that's it. Some films have trailers out that you can base some of your excitement on. Because of this, what might sound like a good idea at the time might start releasing trailers and more information and you find out you don't really want to see this. I like going back to my previous lists and noticing which films I don't want to see anymore and which films surprised me. Also, each of the last two years I've included a film that ended up being pushed to the following year. One of those will be on this list. I'll probably write a retrospective of my 2011 Most Anticipated after I'm done with my 2012 list.
So this list is my personal most anticipated list of upcoming films for 2012.
25. Jack the Giant Killer/Snow White and the Huntsman/Mirror Mirror
I grouped these three films together as they are all film adaptations of classic fairy tales. Jack the Giant Killer takes on the British fairy tale of the same name and stars Nicholas Hoult, Ian McShane, Ewan McGregor and Stanley Tucci. Bryan Singer (X-Men) directs.
Snow White and the Huntsman provides a take on the classic Snow White tale where the evil Queen (Charlize Theron) sends the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to kill Snow White (Kristen Stewart) but he instead decides to help Snow White defeat the queen. I am most excited about the stellar casting of the dwarves, played by Ian McShane, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, Eddie Izzard, Bob Hoskins, Stephen Graham, Toby Jones and Eddie Marsan.
Where SWatH will be darker and more action-packed, Mirror Mirror looks like a lighter and more comedic fare for the Snow White tale. In Mirror Mirror, Julia Roberts plays the evil Queen who sends Snow White (Lily Collins) off to the woods to be killed. Of course Snow White ends up meeting the dwarves and they help her to get revenge on the queen.
24. Rock of Ages
Rock of Ages is a film adaptation of the hit musical with the same name. The story follows two young lovers during the 1980s. The music alone makes me interested in this film, but the ensemble cast doesn’t hurt (including Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Paul Giamatti, Russel Brand, Bryan Cranston, Malin Akerman and Tom Cruise).
23. Looper
Looper is a sci-fi film about a killer (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who works for a mob from the future and kills people that are sent back to his time. One target turns out to be his future self (Bruce Willis). That's about all I know. It's a tough concept to get behind, but having Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis (plus Emily Blunt) makes me at least interested.
22. The Five-Year Engagement
Speaking of Emily Blunt, The Five-Year Engagement stars Jason Segal and Emily Blunt as a California couple who gets engaged but keep having to push the wedding date due to various circumstances. This is the only film resembling a romantic comedy on my list and I’m ok with that. I love Jason Segal and Emily Blunt appears to be an up-and-coming young actress. I expect this to be a bit more funny than sappy, but it’s ok to have some of each.
21. This Means War
Two spies (Chris Pine and Tom Hardy) find out they’re dating the same girl (Reese Witherspoon) and decide not to tell her and battle each other over who gets her. Just reading about this movie didn’t intrigue me that much, but then I watched the trailer. This looks to be a good combination of action and comedy. Chris Pine and Tom Hardy appear to have good chemistry as well.