Prometheus (Alien prequel)

Starring: Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba
Director: Ridley Scott
Out: 8th June 2012

Ridley Scott returns to the Alien universe, but somewhere in development this turned from a straight prequel into ‘something else’. Indeed it sounds like the Aliens we know may now turn out to be little more than cameos. Still, Ridley Scott’s directing a deep space thriller and that’s something to relish. Rapace (Girl With’ Dragon Tattoo) will play a scientist on board the ‘Prometheus’ alongside explorer Charlize Theron. Michael Fassbender will play an android. Scott has said it’ll be set 30 years before Alien and include the origins of the ‘space jockey’ creature seen near the alien eggs in the original.

Dredd (Judge Dredd reboot)

Starring: Karl Urban, Lena Headey, Olivia Thirlby
Director: Pete Travis
Out: 21st September 2012

A day in the life of Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) as he puts his rookie, Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), through her paces to see if she’s worthy of becoming a Judge. Lena Headley plays villain Madeline Madrigal, the leader of a gang who overrun a City Block where the majority of the action takes place. Unlike Stallone’s ’95 version, Dredd won’t take his helmet off. The costumes and set photos are fairly disappointing so far, as is the slightly dull sounding plot. But the creative team behind this are strong (it was developed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland), so we expect to be pleasantly surprised with the finished product. It’s great source material if they can get it right.

The Expendables 2

Starring: Stallone, Statham, Arnie, Willis, Li, Lundgren, Van Damme, Norris, Couture, Crews
Director: Simon West
Out: 17th August 2012

The general feeling about the first movie was that it wasn’t as good as its line-up. That may change here with Stallone handing over directing duties to Simon West (Con Air, Tomb Raider). This time Schwarzenegger will do a full week’s shooting, Bruce Willis will do two weeks as the expected villain. With the addition of Van Damme and Chuck Norris this is now the greatest action cast ever assembled. Let’s hope they can do it justice with a compelling story or at least some stunning fight scenes.

Gravity

Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Out: 21st November 2012

A space mission to repair the Hubble telescope meets disaster when satellite debris collides with the space station, destroying most of it and killing all but two astronauts. The remaining pair must now fight for survival and try to find a way home. This will be shot in the same style as the director’s Children Of Men, and anyone who saw that will know just how visually amazing it should be in a space setting. In fact, it’s said to be even more ambitious with new rigs to create subjective immersion in space – James Cameron says it’s “5 years ahead of its time” on a technical level. That’s some hype. Can’t wait to see it, even if Sandra Bullock isn’t the most interesting leading actress

Django Unchained

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Out: 25th December 2012

Spaghetti western set in America’s Deep South, which Tarantino calls “a southern”. The plot follows a slave-turned-bounty hunter (Foxx) who, with the help of his German mentor (Waltz), sets out to rescue his wife (Washington) from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner (DiCaprio). A plantation owner who forces his slaves to fight in twisted death matches. The fantastic cast also includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sacha Baron Cohen, Kurt Russell, Don Johnson, James Remar, Anthony LaPaglia, RZA and Tom Savini. It will be very interesting to see DiCaprio in a villain role, especially such a nasty one.

World War Z

Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, Lucy Aharish
Director: Marc Forster
Out: 21st December 2012

A UN representative (Pitt), writing a report at the end of the great zombie war, interviews survivors who are starting to wonder if survival is a victory of any kind. Based on the novel (which reads like a UN report and doesn’t really have a lead character), this $125m movie has a large international scope, and a political emphasis. Stylistically it is rumoured to be similar to Children of Men. It’s potentially an interesting return to the big star horror of the ’70s, and the best chance a zombie movie ever has of being mentioned at Oscar time. Can’t wait.

Titanic 3D

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane
Director: James Cameron
Out: 6th April 2012

“Neeear. Faaaar. Wherever you arrre.” Don’t pretend you didn’t cry. The biggest grossing movie of all time (until Avatar) returns with the top end 3D conversion treatment. James Cameron is overseeing this whole thing personally so you can be sure he won’t let a shoddy 3D product slip through. How will world audiences respond to this second time round? It’s a movie that feels, strangely, of its time. I guess this means Kate Winslet will be nude in 3D, wonder how she feels about that.