The 49 Films That Will Define 2010
Next year's high hopes, big hits and hype magnets
BY Nov 30th 2009 11:11AMFILED UNDER: Features
User Comments (14)
Black Death (26 February)
The Talent: Directed by Chris Smith of Severance fame. Starring Sean Bean.
The Pitch: Bean leads a band of medieval men-on-a-mission as they hunt down a necromancer (yes!) in plague-hit England.
The Hook: You read the pitch, right? Sheffield's finest cine-son is back in leather and chain-mail for the first time since the Rings trilogy, and the plot is a deliciously brooding, dark-ages adventure yarn.
A Couple Of Dicks (26 February)
The Talent: Written by the Cullen brothers, directed by Kevin Smith and starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan.
The Pitch: A classic buddy cop comedy, with Willis and Morgan as partners tracking down a stolen collectable baseball card.
The Hook: The script has enjoyed big buzz for years, and Smith (directing someone else’s writing for the first time) describes it as "Dante and Randal as cops". Sold! Also, everything Tracy Morgan does, says or thinks is funny.
I Love You Phillip Morris (February)
The Talent: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa direct, Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor star.
The Pitch: Carrey’s salesman nobody has a life-changing car crash, convincing him to come out as gay and to lead a fraud-filled life which lands him in jail. Where he meets the love of his life…
The Hook: Brave and bizarre, Phillip Morris tackles gay romance with a straight face and no small measure of poignancy. Plus, the last time Carrey mixed dark comedy and hearbreak we got Eternal Sunshine.
Alice In Wonderland (5 March)
The Talent: Directed by Tim Burton, starring Johnny Depp
The Pitch: Remake of the classic Disney animation and children’s book about a little girl who takes a twisted trip into the surreal backwaters of her imagination.
The Hook: Burton is the king of subversive Hollywood fairytale, and Depp always gets the best out of his long-time friend and collaborator/shapeshifter.
Official site here.
Clash Of The Titans (26 March)
The Talent: Hulk and Transporter 2’s Louis Leterrier directs Sam Worthington and Ralph Fiennes.
The Pitch: Update of the 1981 sword-and-sandaller about Greek hero Perseus - the fella who killed the snake-haired Medusa and flew on a horse with wings.
The Hook: Less stop-motion, more non-stop classical action. Plus, as Terminator Salvation proved, Sam Worthington is watchable even in average action flicks.
Official site here.
Next: Cemetary Junction, Kick-Ass
Print Comments (14)
1: Blyman says
Awesome feature, 2010 is looking hella good, loving the retro 80s vein with the A-Team, Expendables and Predators. BUT where's Green Zone????? It's my most anticipated film followed by Inception and Robin Hood.
Posted: Nov 30th 2009 // 2:01PMAlert a moderator
2: somewhatfrail says
As if my list of films to see/buy wasn't big enough already. :D
Posted: Nov 30th 2009 // 6:26PMAlert a moderator
3: chaneladele says
Should've made it 50 and put The Lovely bones in there
Posted: Nov 30th 2009 // 6:31PMAlert a moderator
4: Ali1748 says
I am excited for
The Wolfman
Clash Of The Titans
Iron Man II
Robin Hood
Prince Of Persia
Jonah Hex
Inception
Toy Story 3
The Lovely Bones
the Deathly Hallows I.
Posted: Nov 30th 2009 // 7:56PMAlert a moderator
5: Agent69 says
The Danish Girl
Rabbit Hole
Greenberg
The Fighter
Legion (looks dumb but fun)
Posted: Nov 30th 2009 // 8:45PMAlert a moderator
6: dthardcore says
I'm looking forward to "The Last Airbender" should have been titled "Avatar" but Cameron named his movie that...
Posted: Nov 30th 2009 // 11:45PMAlert a moderator
7: gtbernstein says
I'm disappointed LEGION wasn't on the list. I think this may be a bigger movie than many realize. It will definitely start the year off with a bang.
Posted: Dec 1st 2009 // 12:46AMAlert a moderator
8: simevidas says
You guys totally forgot The last airbender :)
It will most likely be in the top 10 of 2010 by total gross.
Posted: Dec 1st 2009 // 1:56AMAlert a moderator
9: darjeelingmike says
Seems typical that ALL the films I want to see don't yet have release dates:
Love And Other Drugs
Mute
Never Let Me Go
Paul
Scott Pilgrim Vs The World
Somewhere
Having said that though:
Shutter Island
I Love You Phillip Morris
Kick a*s
Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps
Iron Man 2
Predators
Inception
Toy Story 3
The Expendables
The Town
The Ward
Hereafter
Should all be awesome :D
And Prince Of Persia, Jonah Hex, The A-Team and Salt should be good fun!
Posted: Dec 3rd 2009 // 6:53PMAlert a moderator
10: sanddancer says
I love Paul Rudd so I am looking forward to "How Do You Know" with Reese Witherspoon & Owen Wilson.
Posted: Dec 4th 2009 // 8:39PMAlert a moderator
11: joeymac says
Excited for films? Excited "FOR" films? Not "ABOUT" films? Let's get our prepositions sorted out.
Posted: Dec 5th 2009 // 11:42PMAlert a moderator
12: hughjass1970 says
Still no sign of a UK release for Fanboys then...
Posted: Dec 8th 2009 // 10:12PMAlert a moderator
13: DQ17E says
If by "define" you mean will get a two week release and most people will not remember then I can say that, yes the following will "define" 2010; Daybreakers, The Book of Eli, The Wolfman, Black Death, Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans, Cemetary Junction, Wall Street 2, Last Night, Robin Hood, Prince of Persia, The Eagle of the Nines, Jonah Hex, Eclipse, Cats & Dogs 2, Priest, Harry Potter 7.1, Life and Death of Charlie St Cloud, Love and Other Things, Columbus Circle and Oobermind. Come this time next year none of the above will be remembered (apart from the two franchise films). Remember Dragonball this year? No, you didn't because it sank like a stone, like most of the films released in a year. At most you can have six films "define" a year, you get a (1) comic book film (Iron Man 2), you get (2) the Oscar winner (released in December in the US, January or even February here), you get (3) Harry Potter, you get the (4) Pixar film (Toy Story 3), you get the (5) "surprise" comedy hit (this year was The Hangover, and Year One and Land of the Lost flopped because $150m don't do well) and you get (6) the chick flick (which is Sex and the City 2). In conclusion the top ten films in a year's time will include 1. Harry Potter, 2. Eclipse, 3. Toy Story 3, 4. Iron Man 2 and 5. surprise comedy break out hit which makes $200m and beats a blockbuster that should have done well (I will pick Prince of Persia to flop against it). And Harry Potter 7.2 will be in 3D.
Posted: Dec 14th 2009 // 12:01AMAlert a moderator
14: littlebocuk says
- The Wolfman
- Shutter Island
- I Love You Philip Morris
- Alice in Wonderland
- Clash of the Titans
- Iron Man II
- Robin Hood
- Prince of Persia
- Inception
- Toy Story 3
Wow, it's going to be a great year for me!!
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