2003 is over and the year brought us some very good and some very bad films. For every Solaris, there was a Gigli. The commercial successes of the year included Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean and of course Return of the King. But what will be popular in the coming year? With no Lord of The Rings film to dominate the box office, the floor is left wide open.
The year may be taken over by three big budget epics. With a reported budget of $200 million, Troy (trailer here) leads the way with a cast that includes Brad Pitt (pictured left) and Orlando Bloom. Execs are hoping for another Gladiator and with a prime summer release date, expectations are very high. Another summer adventure is King Arthur, with Clive Owen and Keira Knightley starring. With Hollywood hitmaker Jerry Bruckheimer behind it, this one could be huge yet released two months after Troy, it may suffer slightly. Nearer the end of the year, you can expect the newly blond Colin Farrell in Oliver Stone's Alexander. With a cast that also includes Oscar Winners Angelina Jolie and Anthony Hopkins, this one may be searching for more than just commercial success.
A surefire bet for the top is the third Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Released in June, the film promises to be the darkest of the three, yet this shouldn't damage its huge potential to be one of the biggest films of the year. Another film aimed towards a younger audience is The Incredibles. Made by the unstoppable Pixar, the company behind Finding Nemo and Toy Story, this animated adventure centres on an unlikely family of superheroes. Expect their string of success to continue with this one. 
Sequels dominated much of last year and it looks as is 2004 will be no different. Kill Bill Volume 2, although not strictly a sequel, will surely attract millions, all hoping for a resolution to Volume 1's cliff-hanger. Tarantino promises shocking plot twists and more sickening violence. Released near Christmas, Bridget Jones' Diary 2: The Edge of Reason will undoubtedly be the biggest brit hit of the year and The Ring 2 should hopefully continue the first one's resurgence of classy horror films. Shrek 2 will surely be a runaway success but whether it can live up to the originals status is questionable. The most successful sequel of the year will probably be Spiderman 2 (pictured left). The original still holds the record for the biggest opening ever in the US and with early positive buzz it looks like the follow-up (trailer here) could surpass it.
For horror fans, 2004 promises plenty of potential thrills. The most exciting of which has to be the new film from M Night Shyamalan, acclaimed director of The Sixth Sense and Signs. It's called The Village and is a period tale about mythical creatures surrounding a small community. Expect big things.
The new film from the team behind Scream also promises to be great. Cursed is a werewolf flick starring Christina Ricci, which could raise Wes Craven back to his former glory. Although recent reshoots could suggest otherwise. One word names for horror films seem to be in this year so look out for Colin Firth in Trauma, a chiller from the director of My Little Eye, Nicole Kidman in Birth, where a boy claims to be the spirit of her dead husband and also Robert De Niro in Godsend, a thriller about cloning.
Adaptations and remakes continue to dominate in the new year. The remake of Starsky and Hutch (trailer here) is playing things more for comedy with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson headlining. Another remake, The Stepford Wives is also aiming for humour, with Nicole Kidman and Bette Midler. Plenty of geeks are excited by the big screen version of Thunderbirds. A rather bizarre choice for an update is the conspiracy classic The Manchurian Candidate. Yet with Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep on board it could be a nice surprise.
When it comes down to Oscars there's plenty of Oscar-bait both early and late in the year. You can soon catch Charlize Theron's much vaunted portrayal of a real-life serial killer in Monster, where she is sure to win this year's Best Actress Oscar. But she'll be competing against Diane Keaton who is also gaining buzz for her role in the romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give, alongside Jack Nicholson. When looking at next year's awards it seems like Martin Scorcese's Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator could do well, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett and Jude Law starring. Hoping to repeat the success of A Beautiful Mind, Ron Howard is re-teaming with Russell Crowe for Cinderella Man, a true story also starring Oscar nominee Renee Zellweger.
On the Indie front, Dogville promises to be an interesting film. A powerful drama about the depression shot entirely on a stage with Nicole Kidman should be an arthouse hit. 21 Grams, a tough character thriller, is already winning awards for its stars Sean Penn and Naomi Watts and should be a guaranteed gem on its release. A small thriller starring Ryan Phillipe, The I Inside, is gaining some buzz from the festival circuit and so is Courteney Cox in November.
As well as Scorcese and Stone returning next year there are also projects from other renowned directors on the way. Steven Spielberg follows up Catch Me If You Can with Terminal, yet more Oscar-bait, starring Oscar winners Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta Jones in a plot about immigration. The Coen Brothers remake of The Ladykillers also stars Tom Hanks and should be very popular with the critics. Plus Cameron Crowe follows up Vanilla Sky with the odd pairing of Jane Fonda and Orlando Bloom in Elizabethtown.
On the miscellaneous front, the makers of Independence Day are again showing their complete lack of regard for humanity with an apocalyptic tale titled The Day After Tomorrow (view trailer here). It stars Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal and should be hugely popular this summer. An interesting oddity is The Passion of Christ, Mel Gibson's faithful retelling of the last hours of Jesus. Filmed entirely in Arabic and with extreme violence, this one may have trouble pulling in the crowds. Plus, for all the Gigli fans, there's another chance to see J-Lo and Ben Affleck together on screen again in Jersey Girl. But there is good news? apparently she bites it in the first 20 minutes.
Phew! If those 30 odd films aren't enough to whet your appetite for the coming months then a quick look at 2005 should do the job. A new Batman film, a Pirates of the Caribbean sequel, the final Star Wars film, a new King Kong remake, James Bond 21 and a new version of Willy Wonka will surely leave you all panting for more. Have a good one!
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