2006 was an interesting year for film, offering us a multitude of blockbuster hits such as X-Men 3, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and perhaps most importantly, Casino Royale. There was also a delectable selection of indie movies, a case in point being Brick. But, with 2007 already upon us it is hard not to look ahead and think about just how much better this year is shaping up to be. So, in alphabetical order, here is my list of 2007’s most anticipated films.

300
Zack Snyder’s Spartan epic wowed audience’s with its recent trailer and has been an object of keen excitement ever since. It pits 300 “hard as nails” Spartans against a vast army of Persian warriors in what will essentially be, a fight to the death - a good premise I’m sure you’ll agree (its based on the Battle of Thermopylae which happened in 480BC). Combine that with a good cast, a good director and a visual style that is sure to hit as hard as the one we saw in Sin City and you have one hell of a thriller on your hands.
Release Date: March 9 in US, March 30 in UK.

Diary of the Dead
This is a bit of personal addition. It signifies my hope, nay, my yearning for this movie to be a hell of a lot better than Land of the Dead was. Hopefully George Romero will indulge his fans and deliver a gorefest with a bit of narrative finesse; much like his movies of old. Diary of the Dead follows a bunch of young college students who are out in the wilderness filming an amateur horror film when they are attacked by zombies.
Release Date: No exact date as of yet, but it should be rather early on in 2007.

Grind House
Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino have once again joined creative forces to bring us a two-part horror movie dubbed Grind House (complete with fake trailers in between features). Split into two segments - Rodriguez’s Planet Terror and Tarantino’s Death Proof - Grind House will supposedly deliver an amalgamation of classic horror action. Death Proof is a slasher in which Kurt Russell plays a psychotic killer (and a stuntman !!) who stalks two actresses during a movie shoot and Planet Terror is a zombie flick set in a small town which experiences an outbreak of murderous beings known as “sickos”. The fake trailers connecting the two features will be directed by other proficient horror directors including Eli Roth, Edgar Wright and Rob Zombie. Tom Savini has been quoted as saying that “The world is not ready for this movie.” Such praise must not be taken lightly!
Release Date: April 6 in US.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The fifth movie in the Harry Potter saga and one of the least anticipated. Based on the book widely regarded as the least exciting in the series thus far, it will be interesting to see how David Yates handles the situation. Of course, box office success is ensured not matter what due to the millions of hardcore Potter fans out there. I, for one, will probably not see it in the cinema, but shall cast my eyes over it when it hits DVD.
Release Date: 13 July.

Hot Fuzz
The team from Shaun of the Dead have returned to do something extremely rare: a film about the UK police force. We see movies about American cops every day, yet the glamorous action never seems to translate for the old bill, hence the reason why we’ve never seen ‘Portsmouth Vice’ or ‘Yorkshire Hills Cop’. Anyway, Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are here to change all this and redefine justice cinema forever! Pegg plays a competent cop who is conspired against by his colleagues and relocated to a small village in Somerset due to the fact that he is too good at his job. There he meets an incompetent Police force (Frost being his assigned partner) who have been writing off recent deaths as “accidents”, accidents which Pegg suspects may be otherwise.
Release Date: February 16 in UK.

Live Free or Die Hard
John McClane is coming out of cinematic retirement to treat us, once again, to his adrenaline fueled exploits in the name of justice. Personally, I feel that bringing Die Hard back is a big mistake, the risk of marring the trilogy’s (well, it won’t be a trilogy anymore) excellent reputation is too high. The plot isn’t exactly inspiring either, McClane will be battling, as Wikipedia puts it, “internet terrorists”…oh dear. Anyway, its still on this list due to the fact that I could be entirely wrong!
Release Date: July 4 in USA, July 6 in UK.

Pirates of the Caribbean at World’s End
The sequel to last year’s biggest movie (Dead Man’s Chest) and Spiderman’s biggest rival, At World’s End is another final chapter in 2007’s book. Capping off a bit of a hot-and-cold trilogy, At World’s End sees Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann attempt to rescue Captain Jack Sparrow with the help of the Tia Dalma and the recently resurrected Captain Barbarossa. The journey takes them to what they believe is the “World’s End” - hence the film’s title. This is definitely one of 2007’s must-see films, mainly just to see whether they can finish the trilogy with dignity after last year’s over ambitious effort.
Release Date: May 25.

Rush Hour 3
Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker are back in another Rush Hour. This is how IMDB describes the plot: “While in Paris, Lee and Carter inadvertently get mixed up with the Chinese Triad crew.” Sounds…err…fun? Sadly Jean Claude Van-Damme will not be making an appearance, despite recent rumours (I say sadly, but I guess some of you may not appreciate 80’s/90’s action cinema) but don’t lose all hope just yet, Vinnie Jones is in it! Judging by the scale of its previous box office success (absolutely phenomenal, if you were wondering) Rush Hour 3 will no doubt go down as a commercial hit.
Release Date: August 10 in US. Other dates to be announced soon.

Shrek the Third
What’s this? Another third in a series? This is getting to be a bit tiresome! Well, actually, its not, because its Shrek. Shrek and Shrek 2 were, without a doubt, some of the best cg films of recent years, eclipsing the likes of Ice Age and Finding Nemo and elevating themselves to an exclusive plateau occupied by masterpieces such as Toy Story and Monsters Inc. Shrek’s father-in-law, the King, has fallen ill and it is up to Shrek and Fiona to look after the Kingdom, which includes the installation of a rebellious Prince and the actual physical defence of the Kingdom against an attempted coup d’etat by the not so pleasant Prince Charming. This one will be for kids and adults alike.
Release Date: May 18 in US, June 29 in UK. The size of the gap is just disrespectful!

Spiderman 3
I’m not sure I even need to write anything about this one, after all, it is undoubtedly going to be the biggest movie of the year (I say that, but Pirates of the Caribbean is also in the running). Anyway, our friendly neighbourhood Spiderman is back and hopefully for the greater good. As most of us already know he will be fighting Harry Osborn, who has assumed his fathers previous role as the Green Goblin and the Sandman, who may have been involved in Parker’s Uncle’s death. And whats more, a strange alien entity has fused with Peter’s Spiderman suit causing him to change into something that appears to be the complete antithesis of what Spiderman stands for. Parker eventually manages to expel the evil force, only to have it attach to someone else and create yet another arch-enemy, Venom. Expect this to be a film that goes above and beyond to earn the label ‘Blockbuster’.
Release Date: May 4.

The Bourne Ultimatum
The third and final instalment in the surprisingly awesome action series written by legendary novelist Robert Ludlum and brought to life on our screens by Paul Greengrass. Matt Damon will once again star as the seemingly invincible Jason Bourne as he desperately tries to uncover the shrouded mystery of his past. I predict that this one will be another underrated gem.
Release Date: August 3.

The Golden Compass
The Golden Compass is a big-screen adaption of the first book (Northern Lights) in Philip Pullman’s globally revered ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy. Set in a world where dimensions can be traversed and written with an intelligently philosophical edge, I believe this will be one of the year’s most interesting films to follow. I, having read and thoroughly enjoyed the books, will certainly take some time out to peruse Chris Weitz’s cinematic take on the series.
Release Date: December 7 in US.

The Simpsons Movie
The constant cries for a feature length Simpsons effort finally resulted in success as Groening’s crew succumbed to the pressure and took the plunge (yeh, and not just because Family Guy has been dominating the cartoon scene as of late…ahem). No plot details have been revealed as of yet and if there were some available I wouldn’t be trusting them thanks to the fact that James L. Brooks has been recently quoted as saying that they will “put some fake plots out there, just to make it interesting.” Nevertheless, the lack of details just makes me more interested and having watched and enjoyed the show during most of its 18 season run, I think I owe the folks behind it the price of a cinema ticket.
Release Date: July 27.

Transformers
“Transformers, robots in disguise.” Who doesn’t know the all too familiar theme tune to the unbelievably popular 80’s cartoon? And who amongst you isn’t going to head to theatres to see how well the concept translates to live action? Exactly, cha-ching! (Please don’t heckle my poor attempt at onomatopoeia). This is going to be a far cry from The Transformers: The Movie of 1986, but hopefully it will similarly good. IMDB lays down the plot outline in rather concise fashion: “Dueling alien races, the Autobots and the Decepticons, bring their battle to Earth, leaving the future of humankind hanging in the balance.” There’s also a comprehensive description at Wikipedia, which I couldn’t hope to match.
Release Date: July 4 in US, July 27 in UK.

I’m sure I will have missed some right crackers, so if you believe something should be added to the list or if you know any information here to be innacurate please e-mail me at enquiries[at]freshvisual.co.uk with the subject “2007 List” and I shall either consider adding it or deal with the issue asap.

Sources: IMDB, Wikipedia, Rotten Tomatoes