As 2008 approaches its end and we think back on all the big films of the year, we must take time to look forward at what is to come. That is exactly what we will do now – And I don’t use the term “we” lightly as I enlisted the help of the entire Screen Rant team to help me share with you our individual and collective thoughts of what movies to look forward to in 2009.
We began the tradition last year with the most anticipated movies of 2008, and here’s your bright, shiny 2009 version!
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This was not an easy task to say the least. While there are several obvious big-name titles coming out next year, there are also 765 movies planned to debut next year in total (according to Movieweb). Narrowing that down to just ten is not the easiest of tasks especially when certain films have shared little information with us so far (wink wink nudge nudge to James Cameron’s Avatar).
Using all of our individual choices and an elaborate scoring system that took hundreds of hours to deliver its results (OK, I made up that last bit), I summed up and calculated our overall most anticipated movie of 2009 list for the Screen Rant team.
I present to you, Screen Rant’s Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2009:
10. Monsters vs. Aliens – March 27, 2009
Dreamworks’ big 3D-animated film of 2009
Featuring an abundance of well-known voice talent and a hilarious plot, this film looks like fun for all. Along with Disney’s Up we expect a pair of solid animated films next year. I’ll also be seeing this one in 3D!
9. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – June 26, 2009
The sequel to the loved and hated Summer blockbuster of 2007.
Can Michael Bay turn some of those frowns upside down with this sequel that he co-wrote? Will there be more robots, less people, better story, less corniness and better characters? We hope so and some of us are looking forward to finding out from this action-adventure.
8. Up – May 29, 2009
Disney Pixar’s next 3D-animated experience.
The beautiful-looking 3D-animated film about a 78 year-old man and a young boy stuck together on a wondrous journey into a lost world. I’m definitely seeing this one in 3D.
7. Public Enemies – July 1, 2009
The notorious life of gangster John Dillinger brought to the big screen.
Starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and several other stars featured in other big films next year, this 1930s-style crime and dime movie should be awesome. Little has been shown so far, but we have high expectations from the cast and story alone.
6. Inglourious Basterds – June 2009 (exact release date still to be determined)
Quentin Tarantino’s World War 2 Epic is finally arriving.
Tarantino’s been subject to some mixed reviews on his most recent projects – can this be the one to turn it around? We’re certainly hoping and looking forward to it and its interesting cast includes Brad Pitt, Mike Myers and Eli Roth.
5. X-Men Origins: Wolverine – May 1, 2009
Wolverine’s origins are detailed in this prequel to the X-Men trilogy.
Hugh Jackman – Sexiest Man of the Year – is back in his career-making and fan-favorite invulnerable adamantium-laced claw-sharpening mutant. I’m sold on the support characters alone – this movie should be tons of fun – but will the story be any good?
4. Terminator Salvation – May 22, 2009
The fourth Terminator feature film starts a new trilogy.
The franchise hits the big screen again in this sequel/prequel to the Terminator Franchise. Starring Christian Bale as John Connor and a plethora of new Terminator designs, we look forward to McG’s new direction for the franchise.
3. Star Trek – May 8, 2009
The rebirth of the franchise is upon us thanks to J.J. Abrams.
Can this prequel/reboot of a film bring Star Trek back to the mainstream and make it “cool” once again? While Star Wars dwindles in the aftermath of the prequels and animated Clone Wars, Star Trek has the opportunity to nab the Sci-Fi throne.
2. Avatar – December 18, 2009
James Cameron’s epic bleeding-edge film that we know nothing about.
Even though we have seen literally (almost) nothing from the film, hopes and hype are high for this potential industry-changing film. We put our faith in James Cameron and his notion of quality of quantity film-making.
1. Watchmen – March 6, 2009 (pending trial?)
Warner Brothers’ next blockbuster DC Comics film.
Can it compare to this year’s The Dark Knight? Will Fox Studios’ litigation proceedings delay or harm the film? We hope that Fox stops interfering and playing this money-grabbing game.
And now for our regular readers, I thought you’d be interested in the breakdown on what each of the writers here at Screen Rant picked as their most looked forward to movies…
To start, I’ll share my Top 10 most anticipated for next year and give a little explanation of my choices:
1. Watchmen
2. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
3. Star Trek
4. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
5. Inglourious Basterds
6. Terminator Salvation
7. Avatar
8. Public Enemies
9. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
10. G.I. Joe
The Wolverine origins flick recently made the jump into my top three simply because of the trailer that was released two weeks ago. I’m a huge Gambit fan and seeing some amazing scenes with him made me super excited for the film. The caveat to this is that if I find out Gambit does not have his Cajun accent in the film – then this movie will no longer by featured in my list.
We know very little about James Cameron’s Avatar and we’ve seen even less so it’s very difficult to gauge where it should rank but I threw it in there anyways because of the hype of the film, the crazy technology being employed to produce it, and the fact that it’s Cameron’s baby. I also threw in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus for the simple fact that it is Heath Ledger’s last film ever and the casting additions that were made to complete Ledger’s role in the film were pretty astonishing.
For fun, I also threw in G.I. Joe as my last pick even though we’ve not seen any real footage and there is some negative press surrounding some pre-screenings of the trailer for the film.
Next, we have Screen Rant Master Vic Holtreman’s Top 10 list:
1. Star Trek
2. Watchmen
3. Avatar
4. Terminator Salvation
5. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
6. Up
7. Monsters vs. Aliens
8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
9. The Surrogates
10. The Road
Vic is a massive Trek fan so his number one choice is a given. His top three can easily shift around depending on what kind of marketing the three films get and it’s the top six in the list he really looks forward to – with the last four added to round off the top 10.
Vic is looking forward to the fourth installment to the Terminator franchise and has confidence that McG will do a good job. He’s also hoping that Up will make up for his disappointment with Wall-E. On the other hand, Vic is also anticipating the Wolverine-centric movie but is not sure if it will be that good.
Next up, we have the master of television, Bruce Simmons:
1. 2012
2. Sherlock Holmes
3. Star Trek
4. Knowing
5. Public Enemies
6. Terminator Salvation
7. Watchmen
8. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
9. The Surrogates
10. Fast & Furious
Bruce’s list is quite unique with him being the only one to include 2012, Knowing and Fast & Furious. Those two choices have him on shaky ground here as a continuing writer (JUST kidding!).
The following is Heath McKnight’s most anticipated films of 2009.
1. Watchmen
2. Avatar
3. Up
4. Monsters vs. Aliens
5. Terminator Salvation
6. The Road
7. X-Men Origins Wolverine
8. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
9. Sherlock Holmes
10. The Wolf Man
Heath shows some favor to the two big animated films of next year and does not include Star Trek in his list.
Next up is Niall Browne and his Top 10:
1. Edge of Darkness
2. The Surrogates
3. The Wolf Man
4. Public Enemies
5. The Taking of Pelham 123
6. Avatar
7. Watchmen
8. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
9. Terminator Salvation
10. Inglourious Basterds
Niall has Edge of Darkness starring Mel Gibson in comeback-mode as his unique #1 choice for next year.
The most anticipated films of 2009 for Jamie Williams:
1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Avatar
3. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
4. Ashecliffe (also known as: Shutter Island)
5. Up
6. Star Trek
7. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
8. Observe and Report
9. Terminator Salvation
10. The Lovely Bones
Jamie’s list includes several unique picks such as Ashcliffe and The Lovely Bones and is the only one that does not include Watchmen. Despite that, for some reason we continue to let him write for the site…
The following is Carl Lee’s Top 10 list for next year otherwise know as his “Top-5 Comic Films” as he points out:
1. Watchmen
2. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
3. Push
4. Kick Ass
5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
6. Public Enemies
7. Inglourious Basterds
8. Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
9. Monsters vs. Aliens
10. Assassination of a High School President
Carl makes the unique picks of having Push and Assassination of a High School President in his Top 10.
Next up is the Top 10 list for Kofi Outlaw:
1. Avatar
2. Watchmen
3. Terminator Salvation
4. Star Trek
5. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
7. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
8. Up
9. Monsters vs. Aliens
10. Friday the 13th
Kofi admits that Friday the 13th is his guilty pleasure. I forgive him as I put G.I. Joe as my number ten.
Last but not least we have Screen Rant’s newest writer, Ross Miller, and his most anticipated films of 2009:
1. Watchmen
2. Inglourious Basterds
3. Public Enemies
4. The Soloist
5. Terminator Salvation
6. Up
7. Star Trek
8. Sherlock Holmes
9. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
10. Notorious
Ross includes the unique Top 10 movie picks of The Soloist and Notorious.
That’s it for our individual lists.
So there you have it, sliced every which way! Special mentions also go out to The Surrogates, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Sherlock Holmes, The Wolf Man and the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus for all being included in several of our individual top-10 lists. Some of those just barely missed out on being included in the finalized top-10 and we are certainly looking forward to them as well, among others.
What movies are you looking forward to in 2009? Are you as excited for next year’s slate of films as I am?
And here’s a final question for you: Which of our writers’ movie tastes best match yours?
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80 Comments
I don’t know about you folks but is anyone else sick of Hugh Jackman looking up to the sky and screaming NNNOOOOOOO while sobbing over someones corpse..we get you can play sensitive but WOlverine is about as cuddly as a cactus and as charming as an eel…
I am ready for Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock Holmes. I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan and cannot wait. i only hope it dosen’t turn into a Jason Bourne series as the latest version of james Bond, The Quantum of Solace did.
LOL @greenknight
Vic
@greenknight: Amen ta that!
In all honesty tho, I’m looking forward to 2010’s movie year more than 2009. Yes, Watchmen looks awesome (loved the book), as does the new Star Trek, but as a comics fan I’m much more excited about 2010 because of Green Lantern (hopefully), Iron Man 2, and Thor…and possibly another DC film later that year.
What is up with people’s anticipation for Watchmen? I have watched previous movies like this that were graphic novels like Sin City and I don’t see the hype. I thought they were over the top and pointless.
It’s true greenknight,
That’s basically wolverine all around nowadays – the goody-two-shoes
I had a rant about that on the gambit pic article
@ Jac
It revolutionized the comic industry and brought comic books into mainstream literature by bringing credibility to these characters and making them as flawed as everyday people.Prior to Watchmen this was a novel concept being explored by relatively few writers except for maybe Frank Miller and Dennis O’Neal and Neal Adams.It allowed artists and writers of comic books from that point on to be able to show heroes as flawed and capable of lapses in judgement as ordinary people are. IMO I think the current genre of the comic book movie would not have been possible without Watchmen…
Cheers
@greenknight
Indeed – those comics brought more “reality” into the superhero world, which is a better fit for the big screen.
However sometimes I do miss the old days of comics where things were more black and white and they consisted mainly of the good guy beating the heck out of the bad guy with massive collateral damage.
Seems like a lot of the time comics just aren’t “fun” or escapism any more with all the socio-political themes that are being injected into them.
Vic
@ Vic
Did you see the Justice League episode Season 2 (2005)Episode 20 called “Clash” where Superman and Captain Marvel have at it old school and destroy Lex City..that was some great escapism watching those two titans just pound the tar out of each other..I liked most of the Justice League stuff from that and the Unlimitied stuff..It seems the folks that made a lot of that remember the days of not worrying about collateral damamge and just letting the big guys duke it out…I think comics are trying to be too adult and have lost some of the pulp flavour that made them appeal to us as kids and teenagers…The Neal Adams Batman harken back to that time..Great artwork with great stories..
COmics are like every other medium these days and their influence on pop culture and the world in danger has been exploited by authors and artists because they use this medium to convey their sociopolitical agandas as well..Too bad but that is what has happened..Sometimes I just want to see HULK SMASH or SUpes pound the snot out of something , that is why I am loking forward to the Hulk Vs animated films coming from Marvel next month..Old School smash em up..true escapism..
Cheers
1. Watchmen
2. Watchmen
3. Transformers 2
4. X-men Origin: Wolverine
5. Terminator Salvation
6. Star Trek
7. Push
8. Sin City 2 (Whenever that takes form)
9. Oh Yeah! Watchmen
10. Fast & Furious
Not sure how I would rank them, but I’ll try anyhow, lol. I would say my most anticipated movies for 2009 would be:
1. Avatar
2. The Surrogates
3. Terminator Salvation
4. That Wolverine movie (don’t really like the name, lol)
5. Star Trek
6. Sherlock Holmes
7. Fast and Furious (never saw any of the other ones, but this on looks like it might actually have actual fast cars in it instead of just a bunch of rice burners)
And I’m looking forward to NOT watching Transformers 2, does that count? lol
@greenknight333,
I LOVED that episode! I wish they would’ve had the good Captain on the show at least one more time, it was great seeing Shazam getting some good animation treatment. The JL/JLU show was great, matter of fact, ALL the DC animated stuff with the Bruce Timm art style has been good. Hey, has anyone seen the new Batman: the Brave and the Bold show on Cartoon Network? I think it’s great, I love it. Green Lantern Guy Gardner was on it last night, it was hilarious.
I do agree that some comics are trying too hard to be the “next Watchmen” or whatever, with everyone telling grim and psuedo-political gritty stories and I get tired of it. But not all current comics are like that at all – ANYTHING Geoff Johns does is good stuff, I know Vic’s primarily a Marvel guy, but I strongly suggest reading the current GL title as well as Johns’ recent run on Action Comics. Personally, I can’t wait for Flash: Rebirth later this year which stars Barry Allen, my personal favorite and the greatest Flash; they’re doing for Flash what they did with GL which is great! And Geoff Johns has a “definitive” Superman origin story miniseries coming, I’m looking forward to that as well.
heres mine
10.Terminator Salvation
9.Star Trek
8.Transformers 2
7.Avatar
6.G.I. Joe
5.Wolverine
4.2012
3.Monsters vs Aliens
2.Doctor Parnassus(R.I.P. Heath)
1.Watchmen
And mine would be…
10.Shutter Island (this one could change I have not read the book and there is no trailer for it yet but it sounds .. interesting)
9.Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li
8.Star Trek
7.Alvin and the Chipmunks 2
6.Monsters Vs Aliens
5.Sherlock Holmes
4.G. I. Joe:Rise of Cobra
3.Avatar
2.X-men Origins: Wolverine
1.Transformers 2
it’s kind of hard narrowing it down after the top five.
@Alex
Dude, seriously? Alvin and the Chipmunks 2? More than Star Trek?
Vic
LMAO, wow, that is kind of out of nowhere…
More than Watchmen too
Watchmen isn’t even on my list, but then again, neither is Alvin and the Chipmunks 2…
there is alot of negative feedback for Transformers 2: RoF and i’m just not getting it. 1st one wasn’t the best movie ever, but Bay proved that the movie could be done and that he deserved a bigger budget for the next ones [which he got]. anyways, here’s mine:
10. Monsters v. Aliens
9. Coraline
8. Public Enemies
7. 9 [Burton is producing. trailer looks unreal]
6. Harry Potter & the H.B.P.
5. The Soloist
4. Wolverine: Origins
3. Up
2. Watchmen
1. Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
I guess it’s just too much to ask of me to put a film that I know nothing about like Avatar up there just because Cameron [who is great] is running the show. I enjoyed reading the column and everyone’s lists. regards.
@jb
Welcome to Screen Rant. I think you’ll find that this is kind of a gathering place for folks who weren’t exactly impressed with the Transformers movie.
As far as Avatar, you’re right, but we’re presuming it will be something major based on Cameron’s reputation.
Vic
yeah, when i was reading over some of the lists i was kind of reminded of cusack and jack black in High Fidelity[and i mean that in a good way] and figured Mr. “Big Explosions” Bay wasn’t exactly a reviewers choice here. but i liked the article and everyone’s lists so i figured i’d throw my perspective in the mix. plus i didn’t see mention of “9″ so i had to give Tim Burton some love.
My list would look a lot like the others only with 2 acceptions:
Harry Potter and the HBP at the top since the fans have been waiting forever since it was pushed back.
I would also have to add New Moon (sequel to Twilight) which they are trying to release in late November. there are A LOT of fans who are anticipating this so I expect it to be big.
I think they were stating THEIR own personal most anticipated movies, not what they think will be the biggest at the box office. It’s what they are anticipating the most.
1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
2. Watchmen
3. Star Trek
4. G.I. Joe
5. 9
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
7. Monsters vs. Aliens
8. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
9. Terminator Salvation
10.Coraline
1. I gotta agree with jb Transformers is probably the second greatest movie if all time and with the bigger budget I’m sure the sequel won’t disappoint
2. Watchmen as we all know will be AMAZING Zac Snyder is a genius and possibly the next Speilberg
3. Star Trek is just incredible visually and with JJ Abrams running the show its sure to have a great story
4. I really think that people are giving G.I. Joe a bad rep before we even see anything solid on it I love the characters and the story YO JOE!!!!
5. 9 just looks badass ive been waiting for an animated feature to appeal to me on more than just a humorous level and the trailer for this one does just that
6. What can i say i love Harry Potter
7. Monsters vs, Aliens just looks like a good time I really like the Dreamworks animated features and this one looks like its ready to be up there with Shrek 2
8. Wolverine has the best origin story of just about all of the X-Men and plus hes just a baaaad man
9.the last movie i wasnt so hot for but im willing to give this one a fighting chance the same way i will when spider-man 4 is released i have my doubts but i hope im wrong
10. Fanboys may end up being the funniest movie of the year im sure it will be better than Land of the Lost the only thing i see possibly beating it for years funniest is Funny People but i guess we’ll have to wait
excuse the mistake in my last post i meant to put Fanboys in the 10th spot
1) Watchmen(primarily because it comes out soonest)
Public Enemies(Depp and Bale-I got excited by the prospect when he was rumoured for the Riddler)
2) Wolverine movie(don’t care about the rest of the movie because, as its been said, we’ve already seen Wolverine 1, 2 and 3. Just wanna see how awesome Deadpool is)
3) The Soloist(looks way better than any Oscar-bait crap put out in 2008(Dark Knight got screwed))
4)Sherlock Holmes(read every adventure by the age of 15, and after Tropic Thunder, Downey is the man)
5)The Road(simply looks like the most original concept I’ve seen for a long time)
6) Star Trek(wasn’t around for the original, but after acquainting myself with Kirk and the rest of the crew via DVR, I want to see them updated for a new generation to boldly go)
7) Terminator 4(something to do while I’m not seeing the new Transformers)
9)9(not higher on the list because its too awesome this way)
10)The Jennifer Connoly Wonder Woman movie that has been playing in my head ever since I heard the suggestion(think about it, then change your pants)
lol huntthejest,
I’m not sure your #10 is coming out
My top 10..
1)Harry Potter and the half-blood prince
2)Fast and Furious
3)Cherrybomb
4)Avater
5)Monsters vs Aliens
6)2012
7)Watchman
8)x-men Origins:Wolverine
9)G.I.Joe
10)Wild Target
My Top Ten!
01. Avatar [A New Film From James Cameron]
02. Nine [A New Film From Daniel-Day Lewis]
03. Watchmen [The Trailer Looks Fantastic!]
04. Giallo [Dario Argento + Adrien Brody]
05. Funny People [Judd Apatow Will Overcome Adam Sandler]
06. Inglorious Basterds (Quentine Tarantino’s Masterpiece]
07. Shutter Island [A New Film By Scorsese + DiCaprio]
08. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World [Two Words: Edgar Wright]
09. The Boat That Rocked [Richard Curtis + All Star Cast]
10. 9 [The Trailer + Tim Burton Producing = Brilliant]
11. 500 Days of Summer [Looks Like The Return of RomCom]
12. Public Enemies [Any New Michael Mann Film Is Exciting]
13. Sherlock Holmes [RD, Jr. + Guy Ritchie = Excitement]
14. State of Play [Hate Remakes/Love Rusty and Affleck]
15. Taking Woodstock [Ang Lee = Great, Woodstock = Great]
16. Whatever Works [Larry David + Woody Allen]
17. A Christmas Carol [Jim Carrey As Ebenezer Scrooge]
18. New York, I Love You [All Star Cast and Directors]
19. Last Night [Eva Mendes + Keira Knightley = Exciting]
20. Race To Witch Mountain [Trailer Looks Cool]
My Top movie.
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*G* . *I* . *J* *O* *E*
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Its going to be the greatest thing to hit the world since the A bomb.
Whoo, who doesnt like super cool jumping and s**t
Its awesomeness is only slightly over shadowed by these movies
(In no particular order)
avatar
7) Transformers 2
2) 2012
6) terminator salvation
9) inglorius bastards
5) Push
1) Watchmen
3) star track
4) G I JOE
10) G I JOE (needed to fill up 2 spaces
Already seen knowing, definance , fast and furious and watchmen..
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