2011: Biggest Geek Year Ever?
Dozens of genre offerings are coming to the screen in the next 12 months, and Parallel Universe gives you the lowdown 2011 is upon us, and it could very well be the biggest year for geek movies since, well, 2009. Let's face it, 2010 was kind of a bust, but it appears the studios are about to make up for it with a deluge of films steeped in the genres of sci-fi, horror, fantasy, comic books, toys and video games. Of course, some of these will hit big and some will flop; a few unexpected surprises will emerge while other highly anticipated titles will fail to live up to their hype (many of these are also coming out in either converted or real 3-D -- a gimmick which might have its make-or-break moment this year as well). We've assembled a guide to 25 of the biggest geek movies coming out this year, along with the basics about each and how highly they rate on Parallel Universe's very own Geekometer. Take a look, make your own choices and let the moviegoing begin!
'The Green Hornet' (Jan. 14)
Who's in it: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz
Directed by: Michel Gondry
'I Am Number Four' (Feb. 18)
Who's in it: Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer, Alex Pettyfer
Directed by: D.J. Caruso
'Drive Angry' (Feb. 25)
Who's in it: Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner
Directed by: Patrick Lussier
'Battle: Los Angeles' (March 11)
Who's in it: Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Pena
Directed by: Jonathan Liebesman
'Paul' (March 18)
Who's in it: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kristin Wiig, Seth Rogen (voice)
Directed by: Greg Mottola
'Sucker Punch' (March 25)
Who's in it: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens
Directed by: Zack Snyder
'Source Code' (April 1)
Who's in it: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga
Directed by: Duncan Jones
'Thor' (May 6)
Who's in it: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman
Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' (May 20)
Who's in it: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Ian McShane
Directed by: Rob Marshall
'X-Men: First Class' (June 3)
Who's in it: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, January Jones
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
'Super 8' (June 10)
Who's in it: Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Noah Emmerich
Directed by: JJ Abrams
'Green Lantern' (June 17)
Who's in it: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Mark Strong
Directed by: Martin Campbell
'Rise of the Apes' (June 24)
Who's in it: James Franco, Freida Pinto, Andy Serkis, John Lithgow
Directed by: Rupert Wyatt
'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' (July 1)
Who's in it: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Tyrese Gibson
Directed by: Michael Bay
'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2' (July 15)
Who's in it: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
Directed by: David Yates
'Captain America: The First Avenger' (July 22)
Who's in it: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell
Directed by: Joe Johnston
'Cowboys & Aliens' (July 29)
Who's in it: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde
Directed by: Jon Favreau
'Fright Night' (Aug. 19)
Who's in it: Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin, David Tennant, Imogen Poots
Directed by: Craig Gillespie
'Real Steel' (Oct. 7)
Who's in it: Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Kevin Durand
Directed by: Shawn Levy
'The Thing' (Oct. 14)
Who's in it: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Directed by: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
'Paranormal Activity 3' (Oct. 21)
Who's in it: Unknown
Directed by: Unknown
'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1' (Nov. 18)
Who's in it: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
Directed by: Bill Condon
'Hugo Cabret' (Dec. 9)
Who's in it: Chloe Grace Moretz, Jude Law, Sacha Baron Cohen, Christopher Lee
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
'Sherlock Holmes 2' (Dec. 16)
Who's in it: Robert Downey Jr. Jude Law, Noomi Rapace
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
'The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn' (Dec. 23)
Who's in it: Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, Jamie Bell
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
The Rest:
In "The Rite" (Jan. 28), Anthony Hopkins plays an elder priest showing a younger recruit the proper way to perform an exorcism. Matt Damon and Emily Blunt are on the run from "The Adjustment Bureau" (March 4) in this adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story that was delayed from last summer. Remember the 18th Apollo moon mission? Neither does anyone else, because it never happened. But in "Apollo 18" (March 4), it does reach the moon, and its crew discovers that something else is there with them.