The 49 Films That Will Define 2010

Next year's high hopes, big hits and hype magnets

Cemetery Junction (7 April)

The Talent: Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant direct Emily Watson, Ralph Fiennes and three promising unknowns.

The Pitch: A coming-of-age comedy set in an insurance office in '70s Reading.

The Hook: Gervais himself has described it as "The Office meets Mad Men". We’d watch anything Gervais does at least once, anything he does set in an office twice.

Official site here.


Kick-Ass (16 April)

The Talent: Matthew Vaughn directs, Nicolas Cage, Mark Strong and Aaron Johnson (currently John Lennon in Nowhere Boy) star.

The Pitch: An adaptation of the comic book series – Johnson’s comic-reading high-school nobody decides to become a superhero, despite lacking any superhero powers.

The Hook: He’s a superhero with a MySpace account – Kick-Ass is costumed crusading for the social networking generation. And hopefully funnier than that sounds.

Official site here.


Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps (23 April)

The Talent: Oliver Stone directs, Shia LaBeouf and Michael Douglas star.

The Pitch: Douglas’ Slick ‘greed is good’ supervillain Gordon Gekko turns uncomfortable hero as he partners with LaBeouf’s young Wall Street trader during the stock market crash of 2008.

The Hook: Stone and Douglas lend the film the weight it needs to be more than just a lazy rehash, and we'll be watching closely to see how LaBeouf develops, post-Transformers...


Iron Man 2 (30 April)

The Talent: Directed by Jon Favreau, starring Robert Downey Jr., Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke.

The Pitch: More of the box office gold hammered out by last year’s smart metal man adventure, this time with Rockwell and Rourke also filling out battle suits.

The Hook: The last one was great, and this one will have more money, more bad guys, and more ass-kicking. Expect it to be the blockbuster of the year - particularly in a distinctly blockbuster-light year.

Official site here.


Stone (7 May)

The Talent: Starring Ed Norton and Robert De Niro.

The Pitch: A psychological drama with Norton a convicted arsonist who encourages his wife to have an affair with De Niro’s parole officer.

The Hook: Their stars may have faded a little, and their first pairing in The Score is mostly forgotten, but should Norton and De Niro hit their stride, Stone could be exceptional.

Next: Last Night, Robin Hood

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Comments

    • Blyman

      Nov 30th 2009, 14:01

      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.

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    • somewhatfrail

      Nov 30th 2009, 18:26

      As if my list of films to see/buy wasn't big enough already. :D

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    • chaneladele

      Nov 30th 2009, 18:31

      Should've made it 50 and put The Lovely bones in there

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    • Ali1748

      Nov 30th 2009, 19:56

      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.

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    • Agent69

      Nov 30th 2009, 20:45

      The Danish Girl Rabbit Hole Greenberg The Fighter Legion (looks dumb but fun)

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    • dthardcore

      Nov 30th 2009, 23:45

      I'm looking forward to "The Last Airbender" should have been titled "Avatar" but Cameron named his movie that...

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    • gtbernstein

      Dec 1st 2009, 0:46

      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.

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    • simevidas

      Dec 1st 2009, 1:56

      You guys totally forgot The last airbender :) It will most likely be in the top 10 of 2010 by total gross.

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    • darjeelingmike

      Dec 3rd 2009, 18:53

      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!

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    • sanddancer

      Dec 4th 2009, 20:39

      I love Paul Rudd so I am looking forward to "How Do You Know" with Reese Witherspoon & Owen Wilson.

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    • joeymac

      Dec 5th 2009, 23:42

      Excited for films? Excited "FOR" films? Not "ABOUT" films? Let's get our prepositions sorted out.

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    • hughjass1970

      Dec 8th 2009, 22:12

      Still no sign of a UK release for Fanboys then...

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    • DQ17E

      Dec 14th 2009, 0:01

      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.

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    • littlebocuk

      Jan 8th 2010, 21:16

      - 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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