Part 1: Our 20 most anticipated releases of the year

Below, our film editor selects his most-anticipated titles of the year (listed in alphabetical order).

Anchorman: The Legend Continues
Comedy | Directed by Adam McKay | Paramount | December 20

Hopefully, a recent wire theft is the last obstacle encountered in bringing Ron Burgundy back to the big screen. At one time Anchorman 2 was a musical, but that was years ago when Paramount didn’t believe it was worth spending money on a sequel to a film that grossed $85 million (though it has only grown in popularity since its 2004 release). Luckily, shooting begins March 20th, with the main cast—Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner, and Christina Applegate—returning. McKay has promised musical numbers and a slew of standout cameos as the Channel 4 News Team confronts the '80s and the 24-hour news cycle. Plot rumors include a custody battle and a game of bowling for dollars, and one new addition to the cast could be Kristen Wiig as Brick Tamland’s love interest, a major upgrade from carpet, desk, and lamp.

Before Midnight
Drama | Directed by Richard Linklater | Warner Bros. | date tbd

Given the quality of the first two films (Before Sunrise 77, Before Sunset 90), expectations are high for this third chapter in the Jesse and Celine story, which premieres this weekend at Sundance. Before Midnight picks up nine years after the Paris reunion of Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (July Delpy) left viewers wondering if Jesse missed his flight. The setting has moved to Messenia, Greece, where director Linklater shot the film on the sly last year. The threesome also collaborated on the screenplay, as they did for the Oscar-nominated script for Before Sunset. Will this be the last romantic encounter for the pair who met almost 20 years ago?

The Counselor
Thriller | Directed by Ridley Scott | 20th Century Fox | tbd fall

Take a Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s first original screenplay, attach a respected director whose last film was considered a disappointment by many, and add a cast that includes Michael Fassbender (one of the highlights of that disappointing film), Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, and Cameron Diaz, and you have a solid formula for one of the most anticipated films of the year. Sadly, director Ridley Scott had to deal with the passing of his brother while filming the Cormac McCarthy-penned Counselor, in which Fassbender plays a lawyer who learns that no one dabbles in the drug trade. In a role less menacing than his previous turn in McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men 91, Bardem plays the man with the connections, while Pitt stars as Fassbender’s guide to selling drugs across the border.

Elysium
Sci-Fi | Directed by Neill Blomkamp | Columbia | August 9

Writer/director Blomkamp follows his politically charged 2009 sci-fi film District 9 81 with another socially aware sci-fi action movie, albeit one with a much larger budget. The year is 2159, and the wealthy have moved to a man-made space station called Elysium, leaving the rest of humanity to fight for survival on a decimated Earth. Jodie Foster plays a government official committed to preventing immigration to Elysium, while Matt Damon and his shaved head take on a mission that could bring equality to the two worlds. The supporting cast includes District 9 lead Sharlto Copley as a villain as well as William Fichtner, Alice Braga, Diego Luna, and Talisa Soto.

Foxcatcher
Drama | Directed by Bennett Miller | Columbia | tbd fall

By our calculations, Bennett Miller (Capote 88, Moneyball 87) hasn’t made a bad film yet. Will that trend continue with Foxcatcher? The director’s passion project is similar to his previous films, so the odds are in his favor. Like those previous films, Foxcatcher is based on a true story, in this case the tragic murder of Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler David Schultz by his friend John du Pont, a mentally ill multimillionaire who had a training facility for wrestlers built at his family’s Foxcatcher estate. As he did with Jonah Hill, Miller will direct an actor known for comedy in a dramatic role, with Steve Carell playing du Pont. Channing Tatum co-stars as the wrestler Schultz, and the strong supporting cast includes Mark Ruffalo, Vanessa Redgrave, Sienna Miller, and Anthony Michael Hall.

The Grandmaster Watch trailer
Action/Drama | Directed by Wong Kar-Wai | date tbd

After two years of anticipation, it looks like 2013 will finally be the year for Wong Kar-Wai’s martial arts epic. And, with The Grandmaster given the opening slot at the Berlin International Film Festival and good early reviews praising the film's beautifully choreographed action scenes, fans can rest easy. It has been almost six years since My Blueberry Nights, and the story of legendary martial arts master Ip Man has been on the director’s mind for more than a decade, so it’s no surprise that the original cut was four hours long. The film, starring Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi, has been edited down to just over two hours, a difficult task according to the film’s director and stars. While the result might be a less cohesive narrative, beauty will surely abound.

Gravity
Sci-Fi | Directed by Alfonso Cuarón | Warner Bros. | October 4

Making our list for the second consecutive year is Alfonso Cuarón’s first feature since 2006’s Children of Men. The story of two astronauts (George Clooney and Sandra Bullock) struggling to return to Earth after debris cripples their space shuttle is the first film shot in 3D by Cuarón’s frequent collaborator, Emmanuel Lubezki (Tree of Life). The visual effects for the ambitious project were roughly 95% complete as of two months ago, and this week finally brought a firm release date that will include IMAX theaters. Let’s hope the multiple delays were due to the complexity of the effects and not the studio’s lack of support for the film.

The Great Gatsby Watch trailer
Drama | Directed by Baz Luhrmann | Warner Bros. | May 10

Another holdover from our 2012 list is Baz Luhrmann’s 3D adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. While fans of the book might be concerned by the early glimpses of the film provided by the trailers, fans of Luhrmann see that his imagination is once again running wild. Over-the-top? Sure. Disaster? Also possible, but Luhrmann has been a divisive director since his adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The star of that film, Leonardo DiCaprio, plays Jay Gatsby here, while Carey Mulligan is Daisy Buchanan, Tobey Maguire plays Nick Carraway, and Joel Edgerton is Tom Buchanan. Rumors of contemporary music being used in the film have been present ever since “Church in the Wild” appeared in the first trailer, and if Twitter is to be believed, Jay-Z is working on the score (which is currently credited to Craig Armstrong, who worked on Moulin Rouge!). With Luhrmann at the helm, it will be a visual and aural feast, but it might not be to everyone’s taste.

Inside Llewyn Davis
Drama | Directed by Joel & Ethan Coen | The Weinstein Company | date tbd

Relatively little is known about the new film from the Coen brothers, but the information out there is intriguing. Oscar Isaac plays the titular character, a struggling folk singer in the thriving early '60s folk scene of Greenwich Village. Isaac will be reuniting with his Drive co-star, Carey Mulligan, who will be married to another folk singer played by Justin Timberlake. The rest of the eclectic cast includes Coen brothers stalwart John Goodman as well as F. Murray Abraham, Garrett Hedlund, and Adam Driver. The original screenplay drew inspiration from The Mayor of MacDougal Street, the memoir of Bob Dylan's friend and lesser-known folk-singing contemporary Dave Van Ronk. The film will feature live performances by the lead actors and is rumored to have a documentary feel as it tracks one week in the life of the main character.

Iron Man 3 Watch trailer
Action | Directed by Shane Black | Marvel/Disney | May 3

Iron Man 2 was a bit of a disappointment, so it is exciting that in this post-Avengers world Marvel has decided to mix things up by bringing in Shane Black to co-write and direct this latest installment in the Iron Man franchise. Black’s feature directing experience might be limited to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but that underappreciated gem did feature plenty of quick quips from Robert Downey Jr.’s lead character. But if the trailer is any indication, Tony Stark will need more than his wit to deal with Sir Ben Kingsley’s the Mandarin. He’ll have a little help from returning cast members Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts), Don Cheadle (James Rhodes/War Machine), and Jon Favreau (Happy Hogan). Also joining the Marvel Universe will be Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian, Rebecca Hall as Maya Hansen, and James Badge Dale as Eric Savin (could Coldblood be appearing in the future?).

Man of Steel Watch trailer
Action | Directed by Zack Snyder | Warner Bros. | June 14

When producer Christopher Nolan announced that Zack Snyder would direct Man of Steel, Superman fans expressed their trepidation. The director’s work has been spotty, with his first film, Dawn of the Dead 58, holding his highest Metascore and his most recent, Sucker Punch 33, possessing his lowest, and lead actor Henry Cavill, relatively unknown at the time of his casting, hasn’t inspired excitement in his recent lead performances in Immortals and The Cold Light of Day (maybe we can blame that on the material). Early teasers narrated by Kevin Costner’s Jonathan Kent and Russell Crowe as Jor-El, hinted at a very different take on the Superman story, one focusing on a man in conflict with himself and his abilities. But then came the first full trailer with its soaring music and glimpses of Michael Shannon as General Zod, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, and the action that will accompany the question: Would the world accept Superman if they knew who he was?

The Monuments Men
Drama | Directed by George Clooney | Columbia | December 20

Clooney will direct and star in this adaptation of Robert M. Edsel’s book about a disparate group of art experts brought together to recover valuable artwork stolen by the Nazis during World War II. Going behind enemy lines across Europe between D-Day and V-E Day in a race to prevent the destruction of these cultural artifacts will be the impressive cast of Daniel Craig, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey), and Bob Balaban. As he did on The Ides of March and Good Night, and Good Luck, Clooney co-wrote the screenplay with producing partner Grant Heslov, and the late-December release date suggests awards-season hopes.

Nebraska
Drama/Comedy | Directed by Alexander Payne | tbd fall

Alexander Payne will be returning to the road (where he’s had plenty of prior success in About Schmidt and Sideways) with this dramedy about an alcoholic father and his underachieving son traveling from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska to cash in what the father believes is a million-dollar winning ticket from Publisher’s Clearing House. Playing father and son is the unlikely pair of Bruce Dern and Will Forte (MacGruber!). Bob Odenkirk will play Forte’s older brother, and Stacy Keach will also star in a film that Payne initially planned to shoot in black and white on a $13 million budget. Will Payne’s latest lead to multiple Oscar nominations like his last film, The Descendants?

Nymphomaniac
Drama | Directed by Lars von Trier | date tbd

Sure, he was banned from Cannes after certain comments following the premiere of Melancholia, and he claimed he would retire from public speaking, but let us hope that come mid-May, Lars von Trier is premiering his latest provocation and talking about it. (If it helps, the director has already described Nymphomaniac as a "porno film.") The film chronicles a woman’s erotic journey from birth to age 50, recounted over 8 chapters by Joe, a self-diagnosed nymphomaniac, to Seligman, a bachelor who finds her beaten body in an alleyway and tends to her wounds. Von Trier vets Charlotte Gainsbourg and Stellan Skarsgard will play the two leads. They will be joined by Christian Slater, Connie Nielsen, Uma Thurman, Willem Dafoe, Udo Kier, Jamie Bell, and Shia LaBeouf. Nymphomaniac, which may be divided into two separate films, will also be shot in both soft- and hardcore versions, with porn actors subbing in for those vital shots (as they did in Antichrist).

Only God Forgives
Thriller | Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn | The Weinstein Company | date tbd

Director Nicolas Winding Refn reunites with Ryan Gosling for what he has called a “Western in Asia” about a gangster exiled to Thailand, who, at the urging of his mother (Kristin Scott Thomas), seeks revenge for his brother’s murder. To settle the score, Gosling’s character challenges the murdering Thai cop to a kick-boxing match. From the poster and an early first glimpse of the film, it looks to be another piece of brutal, bloody, stylized mayhem from the man who brought us the Pusher Trilogy, Bronson, and Valhalla Rising, and won best director at Cannes (where he could be returning this year) for Drive.

Side Effects Watch trailer
Thriller | Directed by Steven Soderbergh | Open Road Films | February 8

Steven Soderbergh’s last theatrically released movie prior to his self-imposed retirement (he also has an HBO drama about the life of Liberace arriving this summer) is a thriller set in the world of the pharmaceutical industry. Rooney Mara, who replaced an initially cast Blake Lively, plays a woman struggling with anxiety related to her husband’s impending release from prison. Her psychiatrist (Jude Law) prescribes Ablixa which seems like it could use a few more rounds of FDA testing. Channing Tatum, making it three in a row with the director of Haywire and Magic Mike, plays Mara’s husband, while Catherine Zeta-Jones and Vinessa Shaw play supporting roles. The film is the second collaboration between screenwriter Scott Z. Burns (Contagion) and Soderbergh. Would the film land on our list if it wasn’t Soderbergh’s last? Possibly not, but it’s hard to find a director who is so consistently entertaining no matter what genre he’s tackling.

Star Trek Into Darkness Watch trailer
Sci-Fi | Directed by J.J. Abrams | Paramount | May 17

J.J. Abrams seems like a pretty good guy. He recently screened a cut of this sequel to 2009’s Star Trek for a dying cancer patient. So why does he continue to torture Star Trek fans by keeping the identity of Benedict Cumberbatch’s character a secret? Is his name really John Harrison, or is that just a red herring? Could he be Gary Mitchell? Could he be Khan? Does it really matter? Not really, because the strength of the first film was the crew of the Enterprise, and all—Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho and Anton Yelchin—are returning. The plot summary for Into Darkness vaguely speaks of a terrorist within Starfleet who has a personal grudge against Captain Kirk, and the trailer hints at a sacrifice that Kirk must make to save his crew. Abrams reluctantly acquiesced to 3D post-conversion after the studio threatened to kill the project without it, but we suspect the surprises Abrams has planned will work in all dimensions.

To the Wonder Watch trailer
Drama | Directed by Terrence Malick | Magnolia Pictures | April 12
also: Knight of Cups, Untitled Terrence Malick film (fka Lawless)

Three films from Terrence Malick in one year? Though announced, that seems highly unlikely, but at least one is guaranteed. April's To the Wonder already screened at TIFF and Venice last year, where it was booed by some and praised by others as Malick continued to stretch the conventions of narrative filmmaking. Malick’s first film set solely in contemporary times is a love story about a man (Ben Affleck) torn between two women (Olga Kurylenko and Rachel McAdams). Javier Bardem plays a local priest who is also in conflict with himself and his faith. Malick, as he does, cut many actors out of the film (including Jessica Chastain, Rachel Weisz, Michael Sheen, Amanda Peet, and Barry Pepper), but the first trailer reveals, at the very least, another beautifully shot film by Emmanuel Lubezki, which could be enough for some fans to overcome the lack of narrative.

Malick has also been shooting two other films over the past year. The formerly titled Lawless (now without a title after that name was taken by last year's John Hillcoat drama) is set in the Austin music scene, and stars Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Rooney Mara and Haley Bennett in a story of sexual obsession and betrayal. Knight of Cups takes place in the movie business and stars Christian Bale as a man tempted by celebrity and excess. The film also stars Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett and Isabel Lucas, but a number of additional actors have been seen on the beaches of California shooting scenes with Bale, including Wes Bentley, Imogen Poots, Freida Pinto, and Teresa Palmer. Who will end up in the final versions of these films, and when will we have a chance to see them? We are all at the mercy of Malick’s imagination and time, so don’t be surprised if these films also end up on next year’s “Most Anticipated” list.

Twelve Years a Slave
Drama | Directed by Steve McQueen | date tbd

Last year, Lincoln and Django Unchained looked at slavery in distinctly different ways, and in 2013 a third voice will be added to the discussion, that of Steve McQueen. His new film will tell the true story of Solomon Northup, a free man kidnapped in New York and sold into slavery in the South in 1841. The impressive cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor as Northup, joined by Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, Michael K. Williams, Paul Giamatti, Alfre Woodard, Sarah Paulson, Garret Dillahunt, Scoot McNairy, Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry from Beasts of the Southern Wild, and Michael Fassbender completing the trifecta with McQueen after starring in Hunger and Shame. Considering the talent behind and in front of the camera, expect an accurate and unnerving account of slavery.

The Wolf of Wall Street
Drama | Directed by Martin Scorsese | Paramount | date tbd

The fifth collaboration between Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio gets its title from Jordan Belfort’s memoir, the basis for Terence Winter’s script about the rise and fall of a hard-partying, drug-addicted stockbroker who led one of the most successful brokerage firms of the '90s before being indicted in 1998 for securities fraud and money laundering. If Winter can translate his success on The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire to the big screen, and Scorsese can wrangle a cast that includes Matthew McConaughey, Jonah Hill, Jon Favreau, Kyle Chandler, Jean Dujardin, Margot Robbie, Jon Bernthal, and Rob Reiner, then this digitally shot production (a first for Scorsese) should be another must-see from the team that brought us Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, and Shutter Island.

Part 2: Additional notable releases

Below are 50 additional noteworthy films—including both big-budget tentpoles and smaller indie and foreign films—that either have confirmed 2013 release dates or seem extremely likely to reach theaters this year.

August: Osage County
Drama/Comedy | Directed by John Wells | The Weinstein Company | date tbd

Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Cooper, and Ewan McGregor head an ensemble cast in a darkly comedic tale of a large Oklahoma family reunited by a funeral, the second directorial effort for noted TV and film producer Wells (The Company Men). Expect an awards-season release—and a long running time—for this adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tracy Letts.

The Bling Ring
Drama | Directed by Sofia Coppola | A24 | June tbd

Coppola's fifth film (following the enigmatic Somewhere) chronicles the true story of a group of fame-obsessed L.A. teenagers who robbed the homes of celebrities including Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, and Lindsay Lohan. Emma Watson, Leslie Mann, and Taissa Farmiga head a cast that includes several unknown newcomers and a few celebrity cameos.

Blue Jasmine
Comedy | Directed by Woody Allen | Sony Pictures Classics | tbd summer

Allen returns to the United States for the first time since 2009's Whatever Works, splitting time between San Francisco and Manhattan for the story of a fashionable New York housewife (Cate Blanchett) and a woman undergoing an acute crisis (Sally Hawkins). The ensemble includes Alec Baldwin, Louis C.K., Peter Sarsgaard, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Dice Clay, and Michael Stuhlbarg.

Breathe In
Drama | Directed by Drake Doremus | date tbd

Doremus, the director of Sundance Film Festival hit Like Crazy, returns to Park City this week for the premiere of his next film, a more ambitious ensemble drama about a dysfunctional family that centers on the father, a music teacher who yearns for his old life as a performer and who finds himself drawn to the family's new foreign exchange student. Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, and Amy Ryan star.

The Butler
Drama | Directed by Lee Daniels | The Weinstein Company | date tbd

After a detour with the divisive pulp thriller The Paperboy, director Daniels is back on awards-friendly terrain with this drama based on the story of real-life White House butler Eugene Allen, who served under eight different presidents. Forest Whitaker stars as the butler, while the ridiculously large ensemble includes Terrence Howard, Oprah Winfrey, Alex Pettyfer, Melissa Leo, Vanessa Redgrave, John Cusack (playing Nixon), James Marsden (JFK), Robin Williams (Eisenhower), Liev Schreiber (LBJ), Alan Rickman (Reagan), and Jane Fonda (Nancy Reagan).

Captain Phillips
Drama | Directed by Paul Greengrass | Sony | October 11

The first film in three years from Greengrass (a director with nothing but green scores on his resume) recounts the hijacking of the American-flagged cargo ship Maersk Alabama by Somali pirates in 2009. Tom Hanks stars as the vessel's titular captain, while Catherine Keener plays his wife.

The Double
Comedy | Directed by Richard Ayoade | date TBD

British actor/comedian Ayoade (The IT Crowd) impressed with his 2011 directorial debut Submarine, a quirky coming-of-age comedy not unlike the work of Wes Anderson but different enough to stake out its own ground. His second film is a loose adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's doppelgänger tale The Double, with the story transported to present-day America. Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, and Wallace Shawn star.

Ender's Game
Sci-Fi | Directed by Gavin Hood | Summit Entertainment | November 1

It could be this year's Hunger Games, though that title probably belongs to the actual Hunger Games film that is also due this fall. Based on Orson Scott Card's 1985 science fiction novel (though it departs from the original story in quite a few places), Ender's Game is set in a future where a bug-like alien race has attacked the Earth, and talented children are selected at an early age to train for battle through a series of war games. Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Abigail Breslin, Hailee Steinfeld, and Ben Kingsley star for writer-director Hood, who last helmed X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Frances Ha
Comedy/Drama | Directed by Noah Baumbach | IFC Films | May 17

Baumbach reunites with his Greenberg star Greta Gerwig (who stars and co-writes here) for this low-budget, black-and-white look at the post-college adventures of Frances (Gerwig), an apprentice dancer fumbling though life in New York City. (If that sounds a bit like HBO's Girls, well, that show's Adam Driver can also be seen here.) The film received rave reviews last fall when it screened at Telluride and TIFF.

A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III Watch red-band trailer
Comedy | Directed by Roman Coppola | A24 | February 8

Charlie Sheen, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Patricia Arquette star in this 1970s-set comedy about a successful playboy who begins questioning his life after he is dumped by his girlfriend. The belated second directorial effort from Moonrise Kingdom co-writer Coppola (CQ, his debut, was released back in 2002) is probably the closest thing we'll get to a Wes Anderson-style film this year, which makes the mixed early reviews a bit of a letdown.

The Hangover Part III
Comedy | Directed by Todd Phillips | Warner Bros. | May 24

Completing its transformation from unexpected comedy hit to billion-dollar trilogy, The Hangover brings back Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and writer-director Todd Phillips for one final (?) night out in May. Other returnees include Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, and Heather Graham, while new cast members include John Goodman and Melissa McCarthy, and the Vegas- and Tijuana-set story involves a road trip rather than a wedding.

The Heat Watch trailer
Action/Comedy | Directed by Paul Feig | 20th Century Fox | April 5

The rare buddy-cop action-comedy to feature female leads (you'll likely have to thank Bridesmaids, which Feig also directed, for that), The Heat stars Sandra Bullock as a no-nonsense FBI agent and Melissa McCarthy as her industry-standard "loose cannon" partner. Feig also wrote the script, while the cast also includes Michael Rapaport, Tony Hale, and Kaitlin Olson.

Her
Sci-Fi/Comedy | Directed by Spike Jonze | date tbd

The first film from Jonze since 2009's Where the Wild Things Are is also the first of the director's four features that he has written on his own. Billed as a surreal sci-fi romance and set in the very near future, Her stars Joaquin Phoenix as a writer who falls in love with his Siri-like operating system, which is designed to meet its user's every need. (OK, so it's not so Siri-like after all.) Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, and Samantha Morton also star.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Fantasy | Directed by Peter Jackson | Warner Bros. | December 13

Critics didn't love the first of Peter Jackson's three Hobbit films—though actual moviegoers certainly seemed to like it—but better things are expected of the second, now that the need for introductory exposition has been dispensed with. Smaug is expected to cover much of the remaining story in J. R. R. Tolkien's original novel, highlighted by a major battle with the titular dragon, while the third film (There and Back Again, due July 18, 2014) will focus on the Battle of Five Armies as well as materials found in Tolkien's notes and appendices.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Sci-Fi/Action | Directed by Francis Lawrence | Lionsgate | November 22

I Am Legend director Lawrence takes over from Gary Ross for this second of four planned films based on Suzanne Collins' best-selling book trilogy. (Only in Hollywood does "trilogy" mean "four.") Jennifer Lawrence, now a two-time Oscar nominee, returns as archer Katniss Everdeen alongside Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Sutherland, and newcomers Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Claflin, and Jeffrey Wright. A portion of the film was shot in large-format IMAX, and the final draft of the script comes from Michael Arndt, best known as the guy now responsible for not screwing up Star Wars: Episode VII.

The Hunt (Jagten)
Drama | Directed by Thomas Vinterberg | Magnolia Pictures | tbd May

A film that premiered at last year's Cannes (where star Mads Mikkelsen was named the festival's best actor) and landed on several best-of-2012 lists, The Hunt centers on a small-town kindergarten teacher who is falsely accused of sexual abuse. Danish director Vinterberg has been on a bit of a losing streak since his acclaimed 1998 film The Celebration, but some critics found this "unsettling" and "devastating" new film a return to form, and it will get a limited U.S. release this May.

Jack Ryan
Action/Thriller | Directed by Kenneth Branagh | Paramount | December 25

After being played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and, most recently (in 2002's The Sum of All Fears), Ben Affleck, the role of CIA agent Jack Ryan now falls to Chris Pine (Star Trek) in this reboot of the Tom Clancy-created spy franchise. Jack Ryan, however, is not based on a particular Clancy book, and actually pulls together pieces of various scripts written over the past decade, with the final result centering on Ryan's early days as a financial analyst, when he uncovers a terrorist plot against the U.S. economy. Kevin Costner and Keira Knightley also star for director Branagh (Thor), who has cast himself as the villain. Paramount has high hopes for the future of the franchise, reportedly signing Costner to reprise his role (as CIA veteran William Harper) in another upcoming Clancy adaptation, Without Remorse.

Labor Day
Drama | Directed by Jason Reitman | Paramount | date tbd

Reitman's fifth film (following 2011's somewhat under-the-radar Young Adult) is based on Joyce Maynard's novel of the same name. Set during a Labor Day weekend in the 1980s, the drama follows a single mom (Kate Winslet) and her 13-year-old son as they give a ride to a wounded drifter (Josh Brolin) who turns out to be an escaped convict. Tobey Maguire, Jacki Weaver, and James Van Der Beek also star, and a Labor Day-timed release is possible, though it may be held back for the festival circuit.

Like Someone in Love
Drama/Foreign | Directed by Abbas Kiarostami | IFC Films | February 15

In our recap of last year's Cannes Film Festival, we wrote that Kiarostami’s follow-up to Certified Copy "seems to have confused and exasperated most critics." Still, the Iranian director's Japanese-language debut (shot on location in Tokyo)—which traces the relationship between a student-turned-prostitute and her new client, a retired professor—had its admirers, and the award-winning director's work tends to win over critics in the end.

The Look of Love
Drama | Directed by Michael Winterbottom | date tbd

Good things tend to come when Michael Winterbottom works with star Steve Coogan (24 Hour Party People, Tristram Shandy, The Trip), so we're happy to see Coogan starring as infamous British pornographer, club-owner, real estate developer, multi-millionaire, and so-called "King of Soho" Paul Raymond in a dramedy that spans decades and includes scenes shot in black-and-white and color, constantly changing to match the film styles of each period. A U.K. release this year is a certainty, but there's no word yet on U.S. distribution (outside of its world premiere at this month's Sundance Film Festival).

Lowlife
Drama | Directed by James Gray | The Weinstein Company | date tbd

Expect a Cannes debut for the latest film (formerly titled The Nightingale) from the director of Two Lovers. Set in New York's immigrant community during the 1920s, Lowlife stars frequent Gray collaborator Joaquin Phoenix alongside Marion Cotillard and Jeremy Renner. A five-minute teaser that screened at Telluride last fall had fans of the director's work buzzing.

Monsters University
Animation/Family | Directed by Dan Scanlon | Pixar/Disney | June 21

Pixar's last two films—2011's Cars 2 57 and last year's Brave 69—were the lowest-scoring and (adjusting for inflation) lowest-grossing of the animation studio's impressive history. That means there is a bit more riding on this prequel to 2001's Monsters, Inc. 78 than would normally be the case, though Universal's Despicable Me 2 (out July 3) appears to be the only true challenger to Pixar's animation domination this year. John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi, Jennifer Tilly, Frank Oz, and John Ratzenberger all return from the first film's vocal cast, joined by Kelsey Grammer, Dave Foley, Ken Jeong, Rob Riggle, and J. B. Smoove.

Mood Indigo
Drama/Foreign | Directed by Michel Gondry | date tbd

Though Charlie Kaufman's own 2013 feature project (the odd Hollywood-set musical Frank or Francis) is delayed indefinitely, his frequent collaborators Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry each have films due this year. Gondry's entry, based on the oft-adapted 1947 novel Froth on the Daydream by Boris Vian, is a surreal French-language fantasy centering on a woman (Audrey Tautou) suffering from an unusual illness caused by a flower growing in her lungs, who is wooed by the wealthy inventor of the cocktail-mixing piano. The film will open in France this spring, but is still awaiting U.S. distribution.

A Most Wanted Man
Thriller | Directed by Anton Corbijn | date tbd

Another John le Carré adaptation? After Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Constant Gardener, we're already on board; having famed photographer/director Anton Corbijn (Control) at the helm is mere icing on the cake. Willem Dafoe, Rachel McAdams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Robin Wright star in a thriller set in present-day Germany, where a once-tortured Chechen Muslim appears, claiming to be the heir to a Russian fortune and a falsely accused terrorist; he is investigated by German and American spy agencies while being aided by a young lawyer.

Much Ado About Nothing
Comedy | Directed by Joss Whedon | Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions | June 7

After shooting the $220 million blockbuster The Avengers, Joss Whedon invited some friends to his Santa Monica home and, in less than two weeks, filmed this no-budget, black-and-white, contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's comedy. You'll spot plenty of Whedon regulars in the ensemble, including Nathan Fillion, Amy Acker, Clark Gregg, Fran Kranz, Alexis Denisof, Tom Lenk, and Reed Diamond. Most critics found the film funny and entertaining when it screened at Toronto last fall, and audiences will finally get to see it on June 7 (and in even more theaters on June 21).

Oblivion Watch trailer
Sci-Fi | Directed by Joseph Kosinski | Universal | April 12 (IMAX)/April 19 (others)

Tom Cruise stars in an adaptation of Kosinski's own graphic novel, set in the year 2073 when Earth is mostly abandoned after being devastated by war. Cruise plays a drone repairman who rescues a woman (Andrea Riseborough) from a downed spacecraft and runs afoul of resistance forces (led by Morgan Freeman); Olga Kurylenko, Melissa Leo, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau also star. It's Kosinski's first film since the mixed success of Tron: Legacy, but various drafts of the script were written by Oscar-winners William Monahan and Michael Arndt (the latter also has The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, above), and the score comes from French electronica band M83.

Oldboy
Action/Thriller | Directed by Spike Lee | FilmDistrict | October 11

This remake of Chan-wook Park's 2003 cult classic (itself an adaptation of the Japanese manga) stars Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Sharlto Copley, and Samuel L. Jackson. The story, about a man who is kidnapped and held captive for two decades and seeks revenge upon his sudden release, is very similar to the original, but just different enough to keep fans guessing; Lee has suggested that his film has an even darker ending than Park's.

Oz: The Great and Powerful Watch trailer
Fantasy | Directed by Sam Raimi | Disney | March 8

Don't expect any singing here. Raimi's first film since 2009's Drag Me to Hell (and first big-budget production since his Spider-Man trilogy) is a $200 million, visually dazzling, 3D prequel to the story told in 1939's The Wizard of Oz, chronicling the rise of said wizard from his humble beginnings as a small-time Kansas magician. James Franco stars as the title character, and he's joined by witches played by Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, and Rachel Weisz.

Pacific Rim Watch trailer
Sci-Fi | Directed by Guillermo del Toro | Warner Bros. | July 12

Giant monsters rise from the depths of the Pacific Ocean and must be stopped by equally massive, soldier-driven robots in a 3D, action-filled, big-budget spectacle starring Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Ron Perlman, and Charlie Day. (If monsters vs. robots wasn't already nerdy enough, Portal's GLaDOS also makes an appearance, albeit one without any mention of cake.) Pacific Rim seems to be borrowing a page from Prometheus' intensive viral marketing campaign, but hopefully it will fare better than last summer's major sci-fi disappointment; after all, this film is one of the major reasons del Toro left his Hobbit gig.

The Place Beyond the Pines Watch trailer
Drama | Directed by Derek Cianfrance | Focus Features | March 29

Cianfrance’s follow-up to the acclaimed Blue Valentine stars Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper as men—one a traveling motorcycle stuntman and new father, the other an ambitious young cop—whose decisions and families are destined to intertwine. Rose Byrne, Eva Mendes, and Ray Liotta also star. Reactions out of TIFF last fall were mixed, though, as with Valentine, the acting was highly praised.

Prisoners
Thriller | Directed by Denis Villeneuve | Warner Bros.| September 20

Another director looking to follow up an acclaimed drama (in this case, the Oscar-nominated Incendies), Canada's Denis Villeneuve will make his English-language debut with a Taken-esque thriller about a carpenter who takes the law into his own hands after police are unable to locate his kidnapped daughter. The film, from a Black List-ed script by Aaron Guzikowski (Contraband), features an impressive cast led by Hugh Jackman, Melissa Leo, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Paul Dano, Maria Bello, and Terrence Howard.

Saving Mr. Banks
Drama | Directed by John Lee Hancock | Disney | December 20

Yes, it's a Disney film about a Disney film. In this fictionalized chronicle of the making of Mary Poppins in the early 1960s, Tom Hanks stars as Walt Disney, while Emma Thompson plays author P.L. Travers. The cast also includes Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzman, Bradley Whitford, and B.J. Novak, and it's Hancock's first directorial effort since best picture nominee The Blind Side.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Comedy | Directed by Ben Stiller | 20th Century Fox | December 25

In his directorial follow-up to Tropic Thunder, Ben Stiller stars as a mild-mannered Life magazine photographer who gets lost in his own wildly adventurous daydreams—and one real-life adventure, when a negative goes missing. James Thurber's classic short story was previously adapted into a 1947 feature film starring Danny Kaye; Stiller's version features Kristen Wiig, Sean Penn, Adam Scott, Patton Oswalt, Kathryn Hahn, and Shirley MacLaine.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
Thriller | Directed by Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez | Dimension | October 4

Based, like its 2005 predecessor, on Miller's graphic novels, stylized noir thriller A Dame to Kill For is divided into four chapters, two of them original stories unique to the film; the result is both a prequel and a sequel to Sin City. Newcomers Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Brolin, Christopher Meloni, and Dennis Haysbert join returning stars Rosario Dawson, Michael Madsen, Jessica Alba, Jaime King, and Mickey Rourke; Clive Owen and Bruce Willis may or may not return as well. Co-director Rodriguez also has Machete Kills due September 13.

Something in the Air Watch trailer
Drama | Directed by Olivier Assayas | IFC Films | date tbd

Another holdover from the fall festival circuit that will finally reach American theaters this year, the latest from highly regarded filmmaker Olivier Assayas (Summer Hours, Carlos) is a semi-autobiographical look at young French activists in 1971 Paris. Something in the Air (also known as After May) won an award for its screenplay at the Venice festival, where critics liked the film, though perhaps not as much as Carlos.

Stoker Watch trailer
Thriller | Directed by Chan-wook Park | Fox Searchlight | March 1

While Park's Oldboy is getting the Hollywood remake treatment (courtesy of Spike Lee) this year, Park himself will make his English-language debut with this psychological horror tale starring Matthew Goode as one hell of a creepy uncle to a girl (Mia Wasikowska) whose father recently died in an auto accident; Nicole Kidman plays her unstable mother. Stoker, which premieres at Sundance, is also the screenwriting debut for actor Wentworth Miller, writing under the name Ted Foulke.

Stories We Tell Watch trailer
Documentary | Directed by Sarah Polley | Roadside Attractions | date tbd

Sarah Polley's third feature (following Take this Waltz and Away from Her) and first documentary so impressed critics when it premiered on the festival circuit last fall that it landed on several best of 2012 critic lists despite not yet reaching theaters outside of Canada. Stories We Tell is a deeply personal documentary about Polley's own family, with a mystery at its heart that should be kept secret to preserve its impact (though, if you want a spoiler, here's one from Polley herself).

This Is The End Watch red-band clip
Comedy | Directed by Evan Goldberg & Seth Rogen | Columbia | June 14

Not to be confused with Edgar Wright's end-of-the-world comedy (The World's End, below), this film marks the Superbad writing duo's directorial debut. Rogen also stars alongside James Franco, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, and Craig Robinson, and they all play fictionalized versions of themselves as an apocalypse brings an end to the world as we know it. (Yes, it's a comedy.) Expect lots of cameos, with Aziz Ansari, Michael Cera, Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, and Rihanna among the names revealed so far.

Trance Watch trailer
Thriller | Directed by Danny Boyle | Fox Searchlight | date tbd

Academy Award-winning director Boyle (last seen directing the opening ceremonies at the London Olympics) bounces around from genre to genre, but his upcoming art heist thriller Trance probably hews closest to his first feature, the small-scale modern noir Shallow Grave (which was also written by John Hodge). James McAvoy stars as an amnesiac art thief who enlists a hypnotherapist (Rosario Dawson) to help him relocate his last score and keep crime boss Vincent Cassel happy. Add a score by Underworld's Rick Smith and a kinetic, visually impressive trailer, and we're hoping that the film arrives sooner rather than later. (While Trance opens in the U.K. this March, no date has been announced for the U.S.)

Under the Skin
Sci-Fi | Directed by Jonathan Glazer | date tbd

The former music video director's first feature film since 2004's Birth is based on the satirical debut novel by Michel Faber, which centers on an extraterrestrial who comes to Scotland to pick up unsuspecting hitchhikers and bring them to her corporate bosses for use as meat. The film, which stars Scarlett Johansson as the alien, has been in production for a few years, but is finally expected to reach theaters this year, perhaps with a Cannes debut.

Untitled David O. Russell ABSCAM film
Comedy/Drama | Directed by David O. Russell | Columbia | date tbd

Over a 20-year career, Russell has evolved into a director of Oscar-nominated, crowd-pleasing fare (Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter) without losing his hold on critics. His next project (which, though it doesn't begin filming until next month, is currently slotted for an end-of-year release) is a New York-set period dramedy based on the stranger-than-fiction, real-life FBI sting operation (ABSCAM) that brought down numerous crime figures and corrupt government officials in 1980. Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Louis C.K. are expected to star.

Untitled Nicole Holofcener film
Comedy | Directed by Nicole Holofcener | Fox Searchlight | date tbd

The director's next project (and first since 2010's Please Give) will, like her four previous films, star Catherine Keener, who is joined here by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Gandolfini, and Toni Collette. The comedy will center on a divorced single mom (Louis-Dreyfus) who gets a new outlook on life after befriending a seemingly perfect woman (Keener), only to discover, to her horror, that her new boyfriend (Gandolfini) is the woman's hated ex-husband.

Upstream Color Watch trailer
Sci-Fi/Thriller | Directed by Shane Carruth | (Self-distributed) | April 5

The writer-director behind 2004 Sundance hit Primer—a cult classic in the time-travel genre—finally returns with a second film, which he stars in (in addition to writing, directing, producing, distributing, photographing, and composing the music for). What exactly the film is remains a bit of a mystery, despite (or because of) a trailer and an official synopsis that talks of a couple caught up in "a presence that permeates the microscopic world," but we'll know much more after Upstream Color debuts next week at Sundance.

The Way, Way Back
Comedy | Directed by Nat Faxon & Jim Rash | date tbd

The Oscar-winning screenwriting duo (along with Alexander Payne) of The Descendants step behind the camera for the first time with this coming-of-age story set at a water park. The 14-year-old protagonist, played by Liam James (The Killing), gets a job at the park to escape a terrible summer vacation with his mother, her boyfriend, and his daughter. Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Amanda Peet, Maya Rudolph, and Rob Corddry also star, and the film will premiere at Sundance, where it hopes to secure a distribution deal.

White House Down
Action/Thriller | Directed by Roland Emmerich | Columbia | June 28

The disaster master seems to be in comfortable territory here with a summer action film depicting a terrorist infiltration of the White House. Channing Tatum stars as the Secret Service agent leading an operation to rescue the President (Jamie Foxx), while Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Woods, Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins, and Lance Reddick round out the cast. Since disaster movies always come in pairs, 2013 also brings Antoine Fuqua's Olympus Has Fallen (March 22), which also depicts a terrorist infiltration of the White House, though one where Aaron Eckhart is the Commander in Chief and Gerard Butler is the bad-ass Secret Service agent.

The Wolverine
Action | Directed by James Mangold | 20th Century Fox | July 26

You'll have to wait until 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past to see the full roster of X-Men characters, but this summer brings an appetizer in the form of this Japan-set stand-alone installment featuring Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. Mangold, a replacement for original director Darren Aronofsky, is new to the superhero genre, and hasn't directed a film since the disappointing 2010 action-comedy Knight and Day, but his approach to The Wolverine (it sounds more like a samurai film than anything else) suggests it should at least be an improvement over X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

The World's End
Sci-Fi/Comedy | Directed by Edgar Wright | Focus Features | October 25

The comedy that has most fanboys most excited this year is the third and final installment in Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright's so-called "Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy" that began with zombie spoof Shaun of the Dead and cop comedy Hot Fuzz. The World's End finds a group of friends trying to finally complete an epic pub crawl that they first attempted two decades ago; along the way, they learn that the fate of the entire world could hinge upon their success. Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, and Eddie Marsan star.

You Are Here
Comedy | Directed by Matthew Weiner | date tbd

Much like The Sopranos creator David Chase did last year (with Not Fade Away), Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner will finally make the jump to feature directing this year with this comedy (which he also wrote) about a road trip taken by two longtime friends after one learns that he has inherited millions of dollars from his late father. (No, it's not set in the 1960s.) Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, and Amy Poehler star.

The Young and Prodigious Spivet
Adventure/Family | Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet | Momentum Pictures | date tbd

Jeunet, the imaginative French director behind such films as Amélie, Micmacs, and The City of Lost Children, turns to Reif Larsen's novel The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet as the source for only his second English-language feature (the first being Alien: Resurrection) and first shot in 3D. The film follows a 12-year-old map enthusiast (newcomer Kyle Catlett) from an eccentric family who sneaks onto a freight train to make his way to the Smithsonian.

The Zero Theorem
Sci-Fi | Directed by Terry Gilliam | date tbd

Gilliam's first sci-fi film since 12 Monkeys stars Christoph Waltz as a reclusive computer genius attempting to develop a formula to determine if life has any meaning. (No, this isn't the result.) Standing in his way is the excessively bureaucratic Management (Matt Damon), who sends distractions in the form of a beautiful woman (Mélanie Thierry) and a bothersome teen boy. Tilda Swinton, Peter Stormare, and Ben Whishaw also appear in a project that was aborted three years ago only to be revived (and actually filmed) last year.

Part 3: A few question marks

Each film in this penultimate group also sounds interesting enough on paper that we can't resist including it here, but is only tentatively scheduled for 2013 (or has yet to even begin filming). As a result, you may not see some or all of these movies in theaters until 2014.

Freezing People Is Easy
Comedy | Directed by Errol Morris

Lauded documentary filmmaker Morris (The Fog of War, The Thin Blue Line) makes the jump to narrative films with this darkly comedic adaptation of We Froze The First Man, the memoir by TV-repairman turned cryonics pioneer Bob Nelson. The script comes from Zach Helm (Stranger Than Fiction), This American Life's Ira Glass is on board as a producer, and the cast features Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, and Christopher Walken. All that's missing is a U.S. distributor and a release date.

The Grand Budapest Hotel
Comedy/Drama | Directed by Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson's follow-up to Moonrise Kingdom is set in the 1920s and features an impressive ensemble cast that includes Ralph Fiennes, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Jude Law, and F. Murray Abraham. Though filming began this week in Berlin, a 2014 release is most likely at this point, but the film could theoretically be completed in time for an award-season debut at the end of 2013.

The Man Who Sold The World
Drama | Directed by Bill Condon

One of two upcoming WikiLeaks-themed projects (the other is We Steal Secrets, a documentary by Alex Gibney that is also expected in 2013), the next film from Dreamgirls and Breaking Dawn director Condon stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Julian Assange, while Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens will be a hacker on his WikiLeaks team. Filming begins this month, so a late 2013 release is possible.

Reykjavik
Drama | Directed by Mike Newell

Filming is expected to begin in March for this period drama from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire director Newell, which depicts the 1986 Reykjavik summit between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. Michael Douglas plays Reagan, while Christoph Waltz stars as the Soviet leader.

Winter's Tale
Fantasy | Directed by Akiva Goldsman | Warner Bros.

Veteran screenwriter Goldsman (an Oscar winner for A Beautiful Mind, and definitely not one for Batman & Robin) has given himself quite a challenge for his directorial debut, taking on Mark Helprin's epic fantasy novel set in an alternative, magic-filled New York City (and spanning the entire 20th century) with a relatively low sub-$50 million budget. Hurricane Sandy added another obstacle, delaying filming and casting some doubt on the film's original 2013 release date. But he has a strong cast on board, including Russell Crowe, Colin Farrell, Will Smith, William Hurt, Jennifer Connelly, and Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey).

Part 4: This year's John Carter?

Finally, we pick five of this year's big-budget films with the potential to be major box office disappointments.

47 Ronin
Action/Fantasy | Directed by Carl Erik Rinsch | Universal | December 25

Delayed multiple times, from last November to February to (finally?) this Christmas, this 18th century 3D action-fantasy stars Keanu Reeves and a mostly Japanese cast in a retelling of one of that country's most famous samurai legends. Production has reportedly been a "nightmare" and, some sources reported that Universal considered pulling the film from overwhelmed first-time director Rinsch after the budget may have swelled by over $50 million more than the originally planned $170 million.

After Earth Watch trailer
Sci-Fi | Directed by M. Night Shyamalan | Columbia | June 7

In a year filled with big-budget sci-fi titles, genre fans seem to be least enthused by After Earth, and who could blame them; need we remind you of M. Night Shyamalan's recent record? Will Smith stars alongside his son Jaden, and the two are forced to land on a strange and alien Earth (a thousand years after it has been abandoned by humanity) after an asteroid damages their spacecraft. Once there, they must deal with the planet's evolved animal species and an alien creature if they wish to escape the movie planet. One encouraging sign: Shyamalan had help writing the screenplay.

Jack the Giant Slayer Watch trailer
Fantasy | Directed by Bryan Singer | Warner Bros. | March 1

Singer's first directing gig since Valkyrie in 2008 is a 3D, CGI-heavy take on the classic fairy tales "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "Jack the Giant Killer," the latter giving the film its original title. Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class) stars as the giant-battling Jack, and he's joined in the cast by Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane, Bill Nighy, and Ewan McGregor. Delayed nearly a year, Jack isn't the only adult-oriented fairy tale movie this winter—Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters opens next week—and we question how big the market is for either one. And the lackluster early trailers and reports of poor test screenings don't inspire confidence that Singer's film will slay the competition at the box office.

The Lone Ranger Watch trailer
Western | Directed by Gore Verbinski | Disney | July 3

Couple source material that hasn't been relevant in decades with a director willing to indulge Johnny Depp's every makeup and costume fantasy (oh, and did we mention he's playing a Native American?), throw in numerous delays, way too many rewrites, and a budget that's reportedly near $250 million, and the studio that brought you last year's John Carter could have this year's, too. Armie Hammer plays the masked man first introduced in radio serials in the 1930s, and while you can never rule the pairing of Verbinski and Depp out—their Pirates of the Caribbean films have grossed over $2.6 billion worldwide—industry experts are already pegging this long-delayed project as a commercial flop.

World War Z Watch trailer
Action | Directed by Marc Forster | Paramount | June 21

Last seen gracing the pages of our 2012 movie preview, Forster's adaptation of Max Brooks' acclaimed zombie apocalypse novel looks like it will finally reach theaters this summer. The book's non-linear, interview-based structure meant that World War Z was going to be a challenging project from the start, but the need last year to both re-write and re-shoot the film's third act (with the budget swelling to as much as $200 million in the process) suggests that it is a puzzle that hasn't quite been solved by the filmmakers. (And fans of the book have been upset with the trailer's fast-moving zombies and narrow-seeming scope.) Brad Pitt stars with Mireille Enos (The Killing), James Badge Dale (Rubicon), and Matthew Fox (Lost).

What are you looking forward to?

Which films are you most excited to see in 2013? Let us know in the comments section below.