Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Director: David Yates

Harry Potter fans will already have a fairly good idea of what happens in this, the sixth film in the hugely popular boy wizard film adapted from JK Rowling’s all-conquering books. It was an early script draft of this film that prompted Rowling to ‘out’ Dumbledore while promoting the final Potter book.

Red Sonja

Director: Douglas Aarniokoski

Despite months of rumour about a new Conan movie, it’s his female counterpart Red Sonja who seems to be returning to the big screen first. Planet Terror and Sin City director Robert Rodriguez (as producer) re-teams with Grindhouse alumna Rose McGowan, who seems a somewhat unlikely choice as the Xena-type who fights her way across a sword-and-sorcery Hyborian landscape wearing as little as the censors will allow.

Night at the Museum 2:

Battle of the Smithsonian

Director: Shawn Levy

A repeat of 2006’s ‘museum comes to life’ cameo jamboree with more or less everyone except Robin Williams. The film will need something very special in terms of advance reviews to give it any commercial visibility in what promises to be a very busy month at the movies. Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson and Ricky Gervais are already crossing their fingers.

Nine

Director: Rob Marshall

In a year packed with remakes, this is perhaps the bravest of all: taking on Fellini’s hugely influential 8½ but going just that little bit further, it’s behind-the-scenes story of an Italian movie director featuring a stellar cast (including Nicole Kidman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Sophia Loren, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson and Dame Judi Dench), some of whom will be singing. The purists will be furious, the rest of us merely sceptical.Mamma Mia! it isn’t.

Fast & Furious

Director: Justin Lin

Fourth in the franchise but (and pay attention, there will be a test) occupying the number three slot in the series narrative, the movie will take the story back to its very beginnings. Paul Walker and Vin Diesel reunite in the franchise that inspired a million minor motoring offences.

Knowing

Director: Alex Proyas

A teacher (Nicolas Cage) opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son’s elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions — some that have already occurred and others that are about to — that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are due to unfold.

The Proposal

Director: Anne Fletcher

A rom-com based on the morally rather questionable premise of a book editor (hence the title) forcing one of her subordinates to marry her so that she can gain US citizenship. Sandra Bullock is probably due another hit, and Malin Akerman still be surfing on the huge wave of excitement about Watchmen. But whether audiences will buy this rather dubious plot (remember Green Card?) remains to be seen.

Planet 51

Directors: Jorge Blanco,

Javier Abad

A classic 1950s B-Movie plot — alien lands among the white picket fences

of a fearful, simple small-town community. The twist is that the alien is an earthly astronaut and the small town folk are little green men. A promising CG-animated caper for younger cinemagoers in the 2009 Christmas

holiday.

Underworld: Rise of

the Lycans

Director: Patrick Tatopoulos

Rhona Mitra takes over from Kate Beckinsale as the female lead in the third instalment of the Vampires versus Werewolves saga. A prequel, it’s set before the birth of Beckinsale’s character, neatly sidestepping complaints about the regrettable absence of her PVC clad form. Unlikely to attract quite as many cinemagoers as its predecessor, it might still fill a dull winter’s evening. Public Enemies

Director: Michael Mann

Creator of Miami Vice, Michael Mann guides the apparently tire- less Christian Bale (who appears to be in every movie of any note these days) and Johnny Depp in a period gangster romp about the FBI’s search for John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd that is perfectly timed to chime with the new Great Depression.

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra

Director: Stephen Sommers

G.I Joe is a bigger name in the US: the toy line that we called Action Man gave rise to a popular 1980s cartoon series and long-running comics franchise. Without the solid bed of nostalgia that will give it a running start in its homeland, the movie’s appeal over here stands or falls on its star director — Stephen Sommers from the enjoyably silly Mummy films — and stellar cast, including Christopher Eccleston and Sienna Miller as well as Sommers’s old Mummy pals Brendan Fraser and Arnold Vosloo.

Inkheart

Director: Iain Softley

Brendan Fraser, fast becoming Hollywood’s go-to guy whenever kiddie-friendly action is required, joins with Andy Serkis, the man who brought Gollum and King Kong to life, in this umpteenth attempt at the now-traditional ‘storybook miraculously comes to life’ plot. A little early for the half term crowd, but Fraser’s undeniable charm should bring in a few viewers.

The Surrogates

Director: Jonathan Mostow

A promisingly thoughtful sci-fi concept. Humanity is housebound and relies on remote-controlled drones to handle all the outdoors work. Bruce Willis stars as a futuristic detective investigating the apparent murder of these ‘surrogates’alongside former Bond Girl Rosamund Pike and charismatic bruiser Ving Rhames.

The International

Director: Tom Tykwer

What could be more timely than a drama about the international banking system? Clearly, the producers didn’t appreciate the serendipity because it was delayed while additional, more action-packed, scenes were added. Will the world be tired of hearing about bankers by February? Naomi Watts and the thinking woman’s action man Clive Owen rather hope not.

The Wolf Man

Director: Joe Johnston

We’ve had modern takes on Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster and The Mummy, so it was only a matter of time before The Wolfman was disinterred for another howl around the moors. More important than star Benicio Del Toro will be the inclusion of everybody’s favourite wolfman, makeup supremo Rick Baker who provided the eye-popping transformations in American Werewolf in London and The Howling. Anthony Hopkins turns up as the unfortunate lycanthrope’s father. Art Malik and Hugo Weaving will also be along for what promises to be a dark and disturbing ride.

The Spirit

Director: Frank Miller

Will Eisner was one of the first comics writers to achieve personal fame and his best known creation, The Spirit, is considered by aficionados to be one of the great heroes of comics’ Golden Age. It’s surprising that we’ve had to wait this long to see the lighthearted noir detective on the big screen. The director who has brought The Spirit to life is Frank Miller, himself a star comics writer (he wrote 300 and completely reinvigorated the industry in the 1980s with his Dark Knight Batman miniseries). Featuring Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson and Eva Mendes the movie is shot in the same stylised hyper-realistic way that characterised Miller’s previous movie, Sin City.

The Box

Director: Richard Kelly

Set, apparently, in the Seventies, The Box is the story of a young married couple who are given a mysterious box that has uncanny, deadly powers. Somehow connect- ing time travel, the 1976 Viking Mars lander, teleportation and kip- per ties.With former X-Man James Marsden, the always watchable Cameron Diaz and the sinister presence of Frank Langella it’s an intriguing prospect indeed.

A Perfect Getaway

Director: David Twohy

A complex twisty-turny chase thriller filmed in Puerto Rico but set in Hawaii and starring Milla Jovovich and, in a rare lead role, Hitman star Timothy Olyphant. Ideal for movie fans who like to be kept guessing until the final scene, it’s about a honeymooning couple pursued across the picturesque island by a pair of relentless killers. Expect the unexpected.

The Birds

Director: Martin Campbell

Few details are available about this re-make of Hitchcock’s strangest movie. Naomi Watts is reputedly playing Melanie Daniels, the mischievous socialite portrayed by Tippi Hedren in the 1963 film, and there’s talk of George Clooney for the role of Mitch Brenner, the smoothly irresistible lawyer who draws her to the doomed township of Bodega Bay.

Hannah Montana —The Movie

Director: Peter Chelsom

Dolly Parton, Tyra Banks, Heather Locklear and of course Billy Ray Cyrus help Destiny ‘Miley’ Cyrus bring the massively popular tween pop character to the big screen. In the wake of the vast box office for High School Musical 3, Hannah Montana looks like a safe bet for the big cinema smash of the Easter school break.

Dorian Gray

Director: Oliver Parker

The classic Oscar Wilde fable retold by an impressive collection of British thespian eye-candy including Colin Firth and Emilia Fox. Ben Barnes, little known outside the Narnia cognoscenti, plays the dissipated fop with the magical portrait.

Sherlock Holmes

Director: Guy Ritchie

Some extraordinary casting distinguishes the umpteenth Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jr. as a tough, sword-flourishing Holmes and Jude Law as an even tougher, no-nonsense Watson in Guy Ritchie’s ‘reimagining’ of the ultimate sleuth. Based on Lionel Wigram’s comic book about the consulting detective rather than directly upon Conan Doyle’s books, the film also features Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, the captivating femme fatale introduced in an 1891 Holmes story A Scandal in Bohemia.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Director: Terry Gilliam

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a curiosity even among Gilliam films, containing as it does the final per- formance of Heath Ledger. Because Ledger did not survive to complete the movie. Gilliam has enlisted Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law to share the lead role with the departed star. Adding an extra surreal twist to the Faustian fanta- sy, this is sure to be one of the most talked-about films of 2009.

Nottingham

Director: Ridley Scott

Russell Crowe plays dual roles in this revision of the Robin Hood legend. If you can trust anyone, it’s cinema genius like director Ridley Scott but Hood and Nottingham with the same face sounds like a recipe for chuckles rather than thrills.

Bride Wars

Director: Gary Winick

Bride Wars is evidence that blockbuster movies aren’t always for the boys. With a near-unbeatable chick flick cast (Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Candice Bergen), it’s an implausible tale of best friends clashing over a wedding day scheduling conflict. With the release date close enough to Valentine’s Day to warrant inclusion on the schedule of a fair percentage of early February dinner dates, it stands a reasonable chance of a strong mid-table performance on the box-office charts for the year.

2012

Director: Roland Emmerich

Master of disaster Roland Emmerich (The Day After Tomorrow, Godzilla, Independence Day) assembles an impressive cast including John Cusack, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson and Danny Glover for an apocalyptic epic based on a 7th Century Mayan prophecy. Never one to do things by halves, Emmerich will apparently open the film with the end of the world as we know it and let things escalate from there.

The Lovely Bones

Director: Peter Jackson

Saoirse Ronan narrates from beyond the grave in this brave adaptation of Alice Sebold’s practically unfilmable novel. A fine cast (not only Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon but also Stanley Tucci, former Soprano and now Life on Mars star Michael Imperioli and winner of the ‘most unpredictable career choices’ award Mark Wahlberg) added to Lord of the Rings and more importantly Heavenly Creatures director Peter Jackson’s formidable talent promise a thoughtful, thought-provoking gem.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Director: Michael Bay

The inevitable sequel to last year’s surprise hit features more action, more laughs, and more shape-shifting robots.

The Taking of Pelham 123

Director: Tony Scott

If there’s a unifying trend to 2009 it’s the classic remake, and The Taking of Pelham 123 is nothing if not a classic. A major influence on new genre filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino the 1970s original doesn’t seem in much need of an update. Nevertheless director Tony Scott has recruited old pal Denzel Washington as well as John Travolta and James Gandolfini to revisit the brilliantly improbable tube train hijack caper.

The Informant

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Matt Damon and Scott Bakula star in Steven Soderbergh’s promising black comedy based on a true story about the ostensibly dull world of agribusiness price fixing. If you enjoyed The Insider and would like to see much the same film again, but this time laced with some mordant humour and featuring a bipolar hero, this might be just the movie for you.

Inglourious Basterds

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino returns with an eclectic cast (Brad Pitt, Mike Myers and star of Hitcock’s The Birds Rod Taylor) and another one of his playful reinventions of 1970s genre cinema. This time he moves from the American underworld to World War 2, with a team of Jewish- American special forces operating behind German lines, terminating Nazi commanders with extreme prejudice.Anyone who likes Taran- tino war movies in the vein of The Dirty Dozen, or Nazis getting their comeuppance will undoubtedly love this movie. Fans of correct spelling may be less thrilled.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Director: Carlos Saldanha

Playing fast and loose with the ac- cepted chronology of the age of the dinosaurs this third instalment of the CGI school holiday favourite has the primitive mammal heroes of the first two films somehow getting mixed up with a ‘lost world’ of sur- viving dinosaurs trapped beneath a glacier. John Leguizamo, Queen Lati- fah, and Denis Leary provide voices for the computer created critters. Certain to both entertain undemand- ing under-fives and infuriate palaeontologists in equal measure, this has the air of being the last film in the series.

Terminator Salvation

Director: McG

The long-awaited ‘future war’ segment of the Terminator saga, previously only hinted at in the first three movies, dominates proceedings in Charlie’s Angels director McG’s bold reawakening of the killer robot franchise. Christian Bale, fresh from his spectacular triumph as one fanboy hero in Dark Knight essays another — John Connor, charismatic leader of the anti-Skynet forces who the Terminators have been trying to eliminate for the last three films. Roland Kickinger will be the principal Terminator in this because Arnold Schwarzenegger is said to be too busy running California to appear as the iconic cyborg killing machine. Anton Yelchin, Sam Worthington and Helena Bonham-Carter are along for the ride.

Monsters vs. Aliens

Directors: Rob Letterman,

Conrad Vernon

A CGI mock-B-movie with a distinctly eclectic cast list — Kiefer Sutherland, Hugh Laurie, and Stephen Colbert lend their voices. Monsters vs Aliens will go some of the way towards satisfying the enormous demand for a second Incredibles movie. Reese Witherspoon provides the voice of a young Californian woman who grows to gigantic size, after a freak meteorite encounter, and is recruited into a secret agency of super-freaks who are sent to battle a gigantic alien robot.

Avatar

Director: James Cameron

James Cameron’s long-awaited high-technology blockbuster shares some basic ideas with The Surrogates (Humans use humanoid remote drones, in this case to explore an alien planet) and some with Planet 51 (we are the invaders). In terms of technological ambition and cinematic reach though, this movie should be without equal. Sigourney Weaver, who combined so well for Cameron in the past reunites with her Aliens director As long as Cameron doesn’t allow the story to become too cerebral for mainstream audiences Avatar stands a fair chance of being the biggest movie of the year.

Angels & Demons

Director: Ron Howard

Ewan McGregor comes on board this time for a breakneck chase around Vatican City in search of some antimatter, the Illuminati and a decent haircut. The critics will snigger, and Dan Brown fans will ignore them and make May one of the busiest months at the box office.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Director: Gavin Hood

Hugh Jackman’s back for an X-Men prequel set 17 years before the action of the first movie.The film traces the early career of Logan, the indestructible mutant who will one day be X-Man Wolverine. Cameos from future X-Men and the chance to see how Logan acquired his deadly claws and curious hairdo give the film a geek power that will set the internet buzzing.

The Pink Panther 2

Director: Harald Zwart

Moviegoers might well be tempted by the impressive cast lining up for this wholly unnecessary sequel to a completely superfluous continuation of the once mighty comedy franchise. Steve Martin, Jean Reno, John Cleese and Andy Garcia may be acting greats, but for signing up to this they should hang their heads in shame. (Aishwarya Rai plays Sonia in the film)

Watchmen

Director: Zack Snyder

Alan Moore’s superlative comic book finally, against the author’s will, reaches the big screen. There’s little doubt for anyone who’s read the original comic that this movie will be a huge triumph. We know the ending has been amended but every scene that’s been seen so far is slavishly faithful to Dave Gibbons’s original drawings, with just a few costume tweaks to make Nite Owl look a little less ridiculous and Silk Spectre a little bit sexier.

Star Trek

Director: J.J. Abrams

J.J. Abrams attempts to reinvigorate the slightly tired Star Trek franchise with a story set immediately before the action of the first TV series. Winona Ryder looks set for a return to the big league as Amanda Grayson — Spock’s mum. British geek god Simon Pegg turns up as Scotty, and Zachary Quinto the dark presence certainly looks the part as a young Spock.

Which of these films would you surely watch and why? Tell t2@abpmail.com