The Big 2013 Preview

With an end to 2012, and what a year it’s been at the movies, we now look to the future. Sequels and remakes, fantasy adaptations and superheroes continue to dominate the list of releases this year, but which ones will fair and triumph? Which ones will stumble and bomb? Let’s look ahead to see what audiences have in store this year.

Fairy tales continue to strike a chord with audiences and this year will be no exception as we are flooded with more in 2013.

First up this spring sees two treasured fantasies adapted and transformed into big budget flicks. Hansel and Gretel get the bad ass treatment in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (released 27^th February), while a famous Jack and his beanstalk gets his first taste of silver screen action in Jack the Giant Slayer (22nd March) starring About A Boy and X-Men: First Class alumni Nicholas Hoult as our titular cow-swapping hero.

If that’s not enough to wet your fantasy appetite, Wizard of Oz fans will be treated to a new story charting the events when the wizard was carried away in his balloon to the famous land of witches and munchkins in Sam Raimi’s Oz: The Great and Powerful (8^th March), while Romeo and Juliet (25^th October) returns once again for a romantic classical telling with a superb collection of acting talent, including Damien Lewis, Stellen Skarsgard and Hailee Steinfield.

2014 is not that far away, and in the pipeline we also have Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella getting the magical treatment with Angelina Jolie getting her nasty on as Maleficent in Disney’s reimagining of the romantic tale, while Cate Blanchett has been secured as the mean stepmother stomping on Cinderella and her glass shoe.

Book adaptations are continuing to dominate the box office, and it seems teenage fiction is the must-see of 2013. After the phenomenal success of the first film, the second in the Hunger Games trilogy Catching Fire is currently in production (due for release 22^nd November). Young teens still pining for the loss of Twilight can welcome not one but two new heroes to root for, with Stephanie Meyer’s The Host and the first in The Mortal Instruments Series City of Bones both set to be released this year.

However for the adults out there, for all of you who have been caught sneaking it in into your bag on the train to work or downloading in onto your kindle, and im guessing it’s quite a few, Fifty Shades of Grey has been given the green light and has bagged some scriptwriters. They’re currently working out all the ‘kinks’ to bring the biggest selling book of 2012 to life. How they do it considering the risky content remains to be seen.

Superheroes and action stars are back in abundance once again as they swoop the boxoffice to steal all your hard earned cash, and more likely than not, in 3D.

X-Men fans will be delighted after the news that members of the original trilogy cast have signed on to the reboot sequel X Men: Days of Future Past, seeing the return of Anna Paquin’s Rogue, Halle Berry’s Storm, Ellen Page’s Shaddowcat and many more adding to the already superb cast of newcomers, and that is on top of Hugh Jackman’s solo outing once again in The Wolverine (26^th July).

The summer looks set to be a scorcher with the usual blockbuster releases. Fans of Batman will be offered some comfort for the loss of their hero when Superman returns with a fresh new cast and fresh take, bringing the story back to its original gritty dark roots in Man Of Steel (14^th June), starring Henry Cavill, Kevin Costner and Russell Crowe, while Star Trek Into Darkness (15^th May) released a breath-taking 3D trailer just before Christmas.

Both Iron Man and Thor will take time out from their Avenger duties to concentrate on their own problems when Iron Man 3 (26^th April) and Thor: The Dark World (30^th October) are both released this year.

2014 in the superhero world continues at a steady pace, with an Avengers sequel currently in production, as is a sequel to the new rebooted Spiderman franchise, with The Amazing Spiderman 2 catching more cast talent in the form of Jamie Foxx and Paul Giamatti.

Both the Transformers series and Captain America have further sequel projects in the works, most likely pushing next year.

Finally for anyone who enjoyed the first, which might be very few of you as it was a stinker, G.I Joe: Retaliation (27^th March) steals Bruce Willis and Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson for another bite at the action hero series. Will this one live up to better expectations than the previous?

Further releases everyone is getting excited about:

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (15^th March)

The Great Gatsby in 3D (10^th May)

The Hangover: Part III (24^th May)

World War Z (21^st June)

Monster University (24^th July)

The Lone Ranger (9^th August)

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (13^th December)

Anchorman: The Legend Continues (20^th December)

Naturally though, it’s the little films that will also delight and enchant, future sleeper hits that we can look forward to and beautiful foreign surprises that continue to impress and dazzle. After the success at the Toronto, London and Cannes Film Festivals last year, it’s the smaller independent films on tiny budgets that I’m looking forward to the most.