The Most Anticipated Films of 2011 (Pt. 1)

With every upcoming year in films. There is always something for film buffs and audiences to figure out what they want to see. Yet, it is now becoming harder as more trends such as 3D and mindless blockbusters continue to give filmgoers a hard time to actually put something that is worth the money they’re paying. Even such art house luminaries are either unable to get funding for a new project or are still working on their next big project. It’s often a gamble of what is coming for the year 2011. Even as some 2010 festival film releases like Kelly Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff and Gregg Araki’s Kaboom are going to be seen to American audiences but only to a small amount of people. Yet, there is another film that is finally going to be released in 2011 and it could be said that it’s the most anticipated film of 2011 but really, it’s the most anticipated film of the decade.

That is Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life which was finally screened (as an early cut) at the 2010 Telluride Film Festival for a private screening with a very small audiences. What took so long to get it to come out was largely due to distribution troubles when its original studio Apparitions started to fall apart. At Telluride, Fox Searchlight won the rights to distribute the film which would finally be released on May 27, 2011.

Special Notice

Mildred Pierce

Directed by Todd Haynes. Based on the novel by James M. Cain. Teleplay by Todd Haynes, James M. Cain, and Jonathan Raymond. Starring Kate Winslet, Evan Rachel Wood, Guy Pearce, Mare Winningham, Bryan F. O’Byrne, Halley Feiffer, James LeGros, Melissa Leo, and Hope Davis.

A five-part TV mini-series for HBO, Todd Haynes’ adaptation for James M. Cain’s Depression-era novel will be a deconstruct of sorts of the period film. Though it will recall some of the melodramatic elements of Haynes’ 2002 film Far from Heaven. The story of a mother’s attempt to maintain her family’s social status in the Great Depression as her work would eventually leave to tension between her eldest and ambitious daughter. With Kate Winslet in the title role along with Evan Rachel Wood as her eldest daughter Veda. It’s definitely going to reveal what the controversial and subversive Haynes would do with a period film like Mildred Pierce.

The 25 Most Anticipated Films of 2011

1. Melancholia

Written and Directed by Lars Von Trier. Starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kirsten Dunst, Alexander Skarsgard, Stellan Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling, Kiefer Sutherland, Brady Corbet, Jesper Christensen, Udo Kier, and John Hurt.

No director in cinema today provides more debate on whether he’s a genius or a psychotic madman better than Danish bad boy Lars von Trier. Since his first feature film with 1984’s The Element of Crime, von Trier remains the enfant terrible of European Cinema. In 2009 after a period of films that received lackluster attention, von Trier returned with a bang with a film entitled Antichrist. The film polarized audiences on whether it was a sick joke or a confrontational masterpiece with some in the middle. Thanks to the film’s reception, von Trier will return once again with what is possibly his most ambitious project to date entitled Melancholia.

With a huge budget of $52 million in Danish currency, Melancholia will be a sci-fi film about the upcoming destruction of Earth from the perspective of two sisters as they become more distant in the days ahead. Playing the two sisters will be Kirsten Dunst and von Trier’s Antichrist maiden Charlotte Gainsbourg. Along with appearances from von Trier regulars Udo Kier and Stellan Skarsgard. The film will also feature Skarsgard’s son Alexander, who is already gaining fame for his work on the hit HBO TV show True Blood. Whatever the outcome of von Trier’s film, there is no doubt it will be an interesting one though the famed prankster will claim that the film will have no happy endings.

2. Your Highness

Directed by David Gordon Green. Written by Danny McBride & Ben Best. Starring James Franco, Danny McBride, Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel, Justin Theroux, Rasmus Hardiker, Michael Clarke Duncan, Toby Jones, Damian Lewis, & Charles Dance.

Originally slated for a 2010 release, the fantasy-epic comedy is Green’s return to filmmaking following the success of 2008’s Pineapple Express. Green delayed the film due to more time to edit the film while working on the HBO TV comedy Eastbound & Down with longtime cohorts Danny McBride, Ben Best, and Jody Hill. A homage to the early 80s fantasy films like Krull, the film will also include some raunchy humor courtesy of McBride and Best. With McBride and James Franco playing the heroes trying to find Zooey Deschanel’s princess character, the film will also feature Natalie Portman as female warrior who helps McBride and Franco. The film will be the first of two possible releases from Green. The other being a comedy called The Sitter starring Jonah Hill, Ari Graynor, and Sam Rockwell.

3. Restless

Directed by Gus Van Sant. Written by Jason Lew, based on his play. Starring Mia Wasikowska, Henry Hopper, Schuyler Fisk, Ryo Kase, and Jane Adams.

No director in the past decade had a great run of films such as Gus Van Sant did. Since his return to experimental filmmaking with 2002’s Gerry, Van Sant had been on a roll. 2008’s Milk about gay rights legend Harvey Milk gave Van Sant his second Oscar nomination for Best Director. Now going for a mixture of both his experimental and mainstream filmmaking style. Van Sant goes for a coming-of-age love story about two death-obsessed teens. While the trailer has left some fans with mixed reviews, anyone who knows Van Sant’s work will know that it’s not going to be a typical teenage love story.

4. Hugo Cabret

Directed by Martin Scorsese. Screenplay by John Logan. Based on the novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. Starring Chloe Moretz, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Jude Law, Ray Winstone, Helen McCroy, Frances de la Tour, Richard Griffiths, Marco Aponte, and Christopher Lee.

Though 2010’s Shutter Island wasn’t well-received with some audiences, Martin Scorsese was still able to gain interest with filmgoers for his thriller. While Scorese is planning to release a documentary about that late George Harrison of the Beatles entitled Living in the Material World: George Harrison for 2011. Hugo Cabret will be Scorese’s first foray into the world of 3D filmmaking. While some skeptics are wondering if the 3D technology will be necessary for this tale of an orphan boy going into a magical world. It’s clear that Scorsese isn’t going to make some typical 3D film just because it’s a gimmick.

5. La Piel que Habito (The Skin I Live In)

Written for the Screen & Directed by Pedro Almodovar. Based on the novel Mygale by Thierry Jonquet. Starring Antonio Banderas, Elena Ayana, Marisa Paredes, Roberto Alamo, & Blanca Suarez.

Spain’s premier auteur has remained one of the key figures in international cinema as his 2009 film Los Abrazos Rotos with Penelope Cruz became another art house hit. For his eighteenth feature film, Almodovar reunites with his longtime leading man from the mid-80s in Antonio Banderas. More than 20 years since their last collaboration 1990’s Atame!, the film is also Almodovar’s first adaptation since 1997’s Carne Tremula. The story of a plastic surgeon’s obsession to create a new type of skin that could’ve saved his wife’s death following a tragic car accident. While it will a very dark Almodovar film, it’s definitely going to a captivating film from the great Spaniard.

6. The Grandmasters

Directed by Wong Kar Wai. Written by Wong Kar Wai, Xu Haofeng, and Jingzhi Zou. Starring Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Zhang Ziyi, and Chen Cheng.

A film that was originally set for a 2010 release, Wong Kar Wai’s story about Bruce Lee’s trainer Ip Man had been delayed for years due to casting and other things. While the film is slated to premiere at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, everyone will know that Kar Wai will always cut his films to the last minute. Many even hope the film will restore some of the acclaim Kar Wai had lost with 2007’s My Blueberry Nights. While not much else has been known about who else will appear in the film.   It will also be the second feature film to not feature longtime Kar Wai collaborator Christopher Doyle shooting the film. Whatever will happen, a Wong Kar Wai film will always be exciting to wait for.

7. Sucker Punch

Directed by Zack Snyder. Screenplay by Zack Snyder & Steve Shibuya. Story by Zack Snyder. Starring Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Jon Hamm, Carla Gugino, Oscar Issac, & Scott Glenn.

While 2009’s adaptation of the Alan Moore graphic novel Watchmen wasn’t the big blockbuster many had anticipated. Snyder still remained a hot director with a stylish look. His 2010 animated film Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga-Hoole wasn’t a big hit either. It did however confirm that Snyder had more to offer than just stylish action films. For his fifth feature film, Snyder goes into the world of more stylish violence as it is set in 1950s insane asylum where a young girl attempts to escape the asylum with her fellow inmates. A mixture of fantasy and action, the film will be a rare action film as all the leads are young female actresses.

8. A Dangerous Method

Directed by David Cronenberg. Screenplay by Christopher Hampton based on his play The Talking Cure. Based on the non-fiction novel A Most Dangerous Method by John Kerr. Starring Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender, Sarah Gadon, and Vincent Cassel.

Since 2005’s A History of Violence, David Cronenberg had suddenly captured the attention of the mainstream despite his dark take on violence. The film starred Viggo Mortensen as they teamed up again for 2007’s Russian-mob crime drama Eastern Promises. The duo will team up once again as Mortensen will play Sigmund Freud in the story of Freud’s turbulent relationship with Carl Jung that is shattered by the appearance of Sabrina Spielrein. While it will be a more dramatic film from Cronenberg, if anyone will make a film about Freud, Jung, and Spielrein interesting. It’s David Cronenberg.

9. The Descendants

Directed by Alexander Payne. Screenplay by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash. Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings. Starring George Clooney, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Michael Ontkean, and Robert Forster.

2004’s Sideways was a huge triumph for Alexander Payne as he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay with longtime writing partner Jim Taylor. Following a split with wife and Sideways co-star Sandra Oh, Payne took a low profile as he shot a short segment for the 2006 anthology film Paris Je T’aime. In 2007 Payne and Taylor wrote an early draft for the 2007 Adam Sandler comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry that they later disowned as Payne focused on producing. For his fifth feature film, Payne tells the story about a land baron trying to reconnect with his daughters following the death of his wife while trying to save the land he had inherited for many years. Though it will be in the style of Payne’s quirky comedy-drama style, Payne’s track records already shows that he can deliver.

10. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Directed by David Fincher. Screenplay by Steve Zaillian. Based on the novel by Stieg Larsson. Starring Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Robin Wright Penn, Stellan Skarsgard, Steven Berkoff, Joely Richardson, and Christopher Plummer.

Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy of three books entitled The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest was a massive worldwide bestseller for the late Swedish author. The novels’ popularity led to a trilogy of film adaptations that were released in 2009 with the first film directed by Niels Arden Oplev and the last two directed by Daniel Alfredson. For the English-language adaptation, David Fincher will helm the project as the casting search for Lisbeth Salander went to many actresses such as Natalie Portman and Carey Mulligan. Instead, Fincher went with the lesser-known Rooney Mara who had appeared in Fincher’s The Social Network in 2010.

11. The Green Hornet

Directed by Michel Gondry. Screenplay by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg. Based on the TV show by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker. Starring Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz, Edward James Olmos, Angela Bassett, and Tom Wilkinson.

Another film that was originally set for a 2010 release, Michel Gondry’s adaptation of the famed TV series had been in development for many years until Gondry officially came on board in early 2009. While the film will feature some of the juvenile comedy of Seth Rogen, Rogen and co-writer Evan Goldberg wanted to update the story by setting into present time while mixing it with elements of humor. Even as the film will give Taiwanese actor-singer Jay Chou a chance to break through into the American market as he plays the famed role of Kato that was made famous by Bruce Lee in the TV series.

12. The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

Directed by Steven Spielberg. Screenplay by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish. Based on The Adventures of Tintin by Herge`. Starring Jamie Bell, Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, Nick Frost, and Daniel Craig.

The 2000s was a very tough decade for Steven Spielberg. Though he has been able to churn out hit films like Minority Report and Catch Me If You Can. He also received some mass criticism for the he handled other films such as A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, a remake of War of the Worlds, Munich, and 2008’s Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Now hoping to restore some of reputation as a top director, Spielberg teams up with Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson for a 3D motion-capture film version of The Adventures of Tintin. With a planned trilogy of films to be made with Jackson optioning to direct the second one and while both Spielberg and Jackson will direct the third. It’s the kind of high-profile blockbuster project Spielberg needed. Even as he will have another film be released around the same time called War Horse based on Michael Morpurgo’s novel of the same name that will star Peter Irvine, Emily Watson, Peter Mullan, David Thewlis, and Benedict Cumberbatch.

13. Paul

Directed by Greg Mottola. Written by Simon Pegg & Nick Frost. Starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Jane Lynch, Sigourney Weaver, and the voice of Seth Rogen.

Another 2010 film that got delayed, Greg Mottola’s comedy about two British friends going on a road trip all over America where they encounter an alien named Paul. While the film will have the comedic antics Pegg and Frost have brought with their films with Edgar Wright. It’s likely to be a mixture of the juvenile comedy that Mottola has worked on with Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow. The film will also be a stop-gap release for the upcoming Pegg-Frost-Wright collaboration for The World’s End which was delayed due to the production of Paul and Wright’s 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

14. Contagion

Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Written by Scott Z. Burns. Starring Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Marion Cotilliard, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Laurence Fishburne.

Steven Soderbergh had an amazing decade in the 2000s releasing all sorts of films. The prolific director continues to go into different styles of films as he will have two possible releases for 2011. Contagion is an action-thriller that stars longtime Soderbergh cohort Matt Damon as a doctor who tries to stop an outbreak of a deadly disease with the help of other doctors. Soderbergh’s other 2011 project Haywire will be an action film written by Lem Dobbs that will star Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, and MMA fighter Gina Carano making her film debut as a soldier seeking revenge against her betrayers. Whether either project will be successful or not, at least Soderbergh will keep filmgoers intrigued.

15. Captain America: The First Avenger

Directed by Joe Johnston. Screenplay by David Self, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, and Joss Whedon. Based on the Marvel comic by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Starring Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Sebastian Stan, Hayley Atwell, Toby Jones, Stanley Tucci, Tommy Lee Jones, and Samuel L. Jackson.

With the comic book heroes franchise still bringing in money, there is a much bigger project with two Marvel related films that are linked to an upcoming franchise for The Avengers that will be helmed. The first is for Captain America with Chris Evans in the title role as the film will be set in 1942 during World War II. While it’s going to be an origin story, some are hoping that it will just be a straightforward film that won’t have too many references to The Avengers that was a distraction for Jon Faverau’s Iron Man 2.

16. Thor

Directed by Kenneth Branagh. Screenplay by Mark Protosevich, Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz, and Don Payne. Screen Story by J. Michael Straczynski. Based on the comic book by Stan Lee, Larry Leiber, and Jack Kirby. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Jaimie Alexander, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba, Rene Russo, and Ray Stevenson.

The second film that will be linked to The Avengers film franchise, Thor is about a mighty warrior who is outcast to Earth where he would face a great enemy trying to destroy his new home. While it will be another origin story, it will Kenneth Branagh’s first foray into the action blockbuster film while he will also add some elements of 3D to some of the visual effects despite his feelings towards 3D.

17. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2

Directed by David Yates. Screenplay by Steve Kloves. Based on the novel by J.K. Rowling. Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Alan Rickman, Helena Bohnam Carter, Jason Issacs, Tom Felton, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, David Thewlis, Gary Oldman, Michael Gambon, Bonnie Wright, Matthew Lewis, Evanna Lynch, Ciaran Hinds, and Ralph Fiennes.

While the first part of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows was released in November to great box office success. Some fans are still unhappy with Warner Brothers’ decision to split the film into two parts. With the second part set to be released in July, it will be the last Harry Potter film to come out. The second film will have Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger continue their journey to find the remaining Horcruxes to destroy Voldemort as it will lead to the climatic Battle of Hogwarts.

18. Bernie

Directed by Richard Linklater. Screenplay by Richard Linklater and Skip Hollandsworth. Based on the 1998 Texas Monthly article Midnight in the Garden of East Texas by Skip Hollandsworth. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, and Rip Torn.

While 2008’s Me and Orson Welles was not seen by a lot of people due to poor distribution, it did help expand the filmography of Richard Linklater showing he can do more than just experimental films and straight comedies. For Bernie, Linklater goes into a black comedy about a mortician’s relationship with a widow whom he later murders. Months later, a district attorney begins the investigation. The film will mark a reunion between Linklater and Matthew McConaughey since their last collaboration with the 1998 flop The Newton Boys while Jack Black had previously collaborated with Linklater with the 2003 hit film School of Rock.

19 X-Men: First Class

Directed by Matthew Vaughn. Screenplay by Jane Goldman, Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz, and Jamie Moss. Screen story by Bryan Singer. Based on the Marvel comic by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, January Jones, Rose Byrne, Nicholas Hoult, Jason Flemyng, Jennifer Lawrence, and Ray Wise.

When the X-Men comic finally came into the big screen by Bryan Singer in 2000, it was a surprise hit while its sequel in 2003 became a bigger hit. Then when Singer left the franchise to do 2006’s Superman Returns, Brett Ratner took over for the third film that received mixed reviews despite good box office receipts. Things got worse for the X-Men franchise when a spin-off film for Wolverine was released in 2009 to negative reviews despite being a box office hit. With Singer now returning as a producer, Matthew Vaughn will now tell the story of the X-Men as a prequel of how Charles Xavier meets Magneto that would lead to the formation of X-Men and how their rift would begin.

20. Moneyball

Directed by Bennett Miller. Screenplay by Stan Chervin, Aaron Sorkin, and Steve Zaillian. Based on the book by Michael M. Lewis. Starring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Chris Pratt, Stephen Bishop, Kathryn Morris, and Robin Wright.

Originally a project to be helmed by Steven Soderbergh, Sony Pictures stopped the project just a few days before filming began in June of 2009. Soderbergh dropped out of the project as he was replaced by Capote director Bennett Miller with Aaron Sorkin rewriting the screenplay. The controversial story former Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane and his attempt to create a competitive team despite the team’s financial trouble. With Miller set to create a more straightforward approach to the film than Soderbergh’s own art-house ideas. At least it will give fans of baseball movies a chance to see a new world that they haven’t seen.

21. Dream House

Directed by Jim Sheridan. Written by David Loucka. Starring Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts, Marton Csokas, Jane Alexander, and Elias Koteas.

While Jim Sheridan is a name that film fans love. His post-In America choices have been quite baffling for some of his fans. Among them was the 50 Cent semi-biographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin’ and his 2009 remake of Susanne Bier’s film Brothers. For his next film, Sheridan will tackle the world of horror films as it tells the story of a couple whose new dream home is inhabited by ghosts who were previously murdered. While it’s not clear what Sheridan will do but some hope he doesn’t go entirely conventional with the genre.

22. We Bought a Zoo

Directed by Cameron Crowe. Screenplay by Cameron Crowe & Aline Brosh McKenna. Based on the memoir by Benjamin Mee. Starring Matt Damon, Thomas Haden Church, Scarlett Johansson, Colin Ford, Patrick Fugit, and Elle Fanning.

After 2000’s Almost Famous, Cameron Crowe seemed to have finally achieved success as a filmmaker. Though 2001’s Vanilla Sky received mixed reviews and good box office, it would be his 2005 film Elizabethtown that would become Crowe’s biggest failure. Though it would recoup its $45 million budget through worldwide grosses of $52 million, the film drew massive negative reviews as Crowe went into hiding. After a six-year hiatus, Crowe will finally return with a new film about Benjamin Mee’s purchase of a zoo that he restored in the middle of the English countryside.

23. We Need to Talk About Kevin

Directed by Lynne Ramsay. Screenplay by Lynne Ramsay and Rory Kinnear. Based on the novel by Lionel Shriver. Starring Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Siobhan Fallon, and Ezra Miller.

After two stellar films with 1999’s Ratcatcher and 2002’s Morvern Callar, Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay was already becoming one of the new voices for British cinema. When Ramsay was attached to direct Alice Sebold’s adaptation for The Lovely Bones, expectations were high until Ramsay left the project altogether. After years of development, Ramsay will return with another adaptation. This time for Lionel Shriver’s novel about a mother dealing with her son’s massacre against students and teachers at a local high school. With Ramsay’s exploration about characters, it is definitely a film that art house fans will be excited for.

24. One Day

Directed by Lone Scherfig. Written by David Nicholls, based on his novel. Starring Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Romola Garai, Rafe Spall, Ken Stott, Jodie Whittaker, and Patricia Clarkson.

2009’s An Education brought Denmark’s Lone Scherfig some unexpected attention as it gave Carey Mulligan an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. For her take on David Nichollls’ One Day, Scherfig will explore the relationship between two people who would met at the University of Edinburgh only to see each other on the same day for the next 20 years. While the film is likely to be a romantic comedy, Scherfig will be able to bring something more than what is expected for the genre.

25. Midnight in Paris

Written and Directed by Woody Allen. Starring Adrien Brody, Rachel McAdams, Owen Wilson, Kathy Bates, Elsa Pataky, Michael Sheen, Marion Cotilliard, Lea Seydoux, and Carla Bruni.

While Woody Allen in recent years is a hit-and-miss, there is always something about a film from Woody Allen that keeps people intrigued when it comes out. For his next film, Woody goes to Paris as he explores a traveling family coming to Paris for business while an engaged couple rethink their own lives. While some hope Allen will do something with a cast this big and in a romantic comedy. Let’s hope it won’t be another disaster that he’s churned lately in the past 10 years.

5 Possible 2011 Releases

Untitled Dardenne Brothers Project

Written and Directed by Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne.

While there is no idea what the next project by the Dardenne Brothers will be nor who is in it. Any one who is a fan of European will always find something that is worth waiting from the Belgian brothers.

Looper

Written and Directed by Rian Johnson. Starring Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, and Paul Dano.

While 2008’s The Brothers Bloom wasn’t a major hit with audiences as well as some critics. It did prove that Rian Johnson isn’t some one-trick pony. Reuniting with his Brick star Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Johnson will tackle sci-fi as Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis will play the same characters in different ages as they battle the same foe in a world of time travel. While it’s likely to be Johnson’s most ambitious project to date. The interest will be big not because it will feature a major star like Bruce Willis but also for the fact that Gordon-Levitt is becoming a star on the rise.

Moonrise Kingdom

Directed by Wes Anderson. Written by Roman Coppola & Wes Anderson. Starring Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, and Bruce Willis.

Wes Anderson’s seventh feature film will be his first attempt in creating a period film that is set in the 1960s. It will revolve around the relationship of two young kids who fall in love and run away while adults try to find them. While it will be shot on location in New England, the film will mark a departure of sorts for Anderson as his protagonists will be children. Even as it features one regular in Bill Murray as the father of the girl who is dealing with his own problems. Though shooting will begin in the spring, it’s unclear whether it will come out in 2011 or 2012.

J. Edgar

Directed by Clint Eastwood. Written by Dustin Lance Black. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Charlize Theron, and Arnie Hammer.

A project set for a 2011/2012 release, anyone who understands Clint Eastwood’s directing style knows that he works quite fast and can get a project done in good time. The film will be about J. Edgar Hoover with Leonardo DiCaprio playing the famed FBI director and his possible homosexuality. While it’s likely to be a straightforward bio-pic, the film’s screenwriter Dustin Lance Black of Milk fame is not a conventional writer in some respects. Even as the more conservative Eastwood will take a chance to explore the world of repressed homosexuality.

Life of Pi

Directed by Ang Lee.

Yann Martel’s bestselling 2001 novel about a young Indian boy’s exploration of spirituality while surviving a shipwreck. The project had been in development for many years as several directors were attached to the project such as art-house auteurs like Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Alfonso Cuaron to blockbuster hack M. Night Shyamalan. With Lee attached to the project with Martel’s blessing, the film will star unknown actors as some hope it will bring Lee back some acclaim following the lukewarm reaction towards his 2009 film Taking Woodstock.

End of Part 1

Part 2

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