Summer 2011 Preview: 20 Movies We'll Be Talking About Next Year

Thor

Another summer, another summer movie season kicked off by a Marvel comic book adaptation. This time it's the hammer-wielding Thor, starring Australian hunk Chris Hemsworth as the god of thunder and directed by Kenneth Branagh. The teaser trailer shown at Comic-Con in late July was leaked and then promptly pulled, forcing fans to rely on still photography for a while longer.

Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Idris Elba

Priest

This year's Legion was pretty awful, so we didn't expect another religiously themed horror/thriller by director Scott Stewart and starring Paul Bettany, like, ever, but we're already getting one next summer. By the looks of the trailer, it features especially grotesque and terrifying vampires that look an awful lot like aliens.

Stars: Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q, Karl Urban

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

The Pirates franchise was running on fumes with 2007's extremely disappointing At World's End. But then the pic still made more than $300M, so the temptation to make another sequel was irresistible. Perhaps with the addition of Penelope Cruz and 3-D, the fourth time will be a charm, much like it was for Shrek Forever After.

Stars: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane, Geoffrey Rush

The Hangover 2

The Hangover is the highest-grossing R-rated comedy in movie history so a sequel was a certainty, though there are so many unanswered questions: Will Heather Graham return? Or Ken Jeong (the hilariously profane Mr. Chow)? And where will it take place? Vegas is out (been there, done that). Thailand too, and apparently so is Mexico.

Stars: Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms

Kung Fu Panda: the Kaboom of Doom

Marketed as "the continuing adventures of Po," this sequel to the popular 2008 kid pic Kung Fu Panda returns the stellar voice cast. However the director is major league rookie Jennifer Yuh, whose previous directorial filmography includes "unknown episodes" of the 1997 TV series Spawn.

Stars: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen

X-Men: First Class

This Marvel comic book adaptation is a prequel to the first three X-Men movies. Fans can only hope it will be as fun to watch as the drama involved in making it, with Bryan Singer jettisoned as the director (much to some people's pleasure) in favor of Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass), and Vaughn having to rewrite part of the script after seeing Inception.

Stars: Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Alice Eve, January Jones, Kevin Bacon

Fast Five

The Fifth movie in the Fast and Furious series returns Vin Diesel and Paul Walker but adds Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (sorry, it's ReelzChannel editorial policy to forever insert "The Rock" in between "Dwayne" and "Johnson"). Best we can tell, his most recent contract requires that he star only in movies containing "fast" or Faster in the title.

Stars: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker

Green Lantern

Another comic book adaptation, this time from the DC universe, featuring a power ring–wearing superhero played by Ryan Reynolds. Like X-Men: First Class, the pic has been in "development hell" for years, leaving fans wondering if all the off-screen drama and waiting will be worth it. Warner Brothers is betting "yes" since plans for a sequel are already in the works.

Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Tim Robbins, Blake Lively, Angela Bassett

Cars 2

With the exception of Toy Story, Pixar doesn't do sequels and Cars seems like an odd choice since it's arguably the weakest of all the Pixar pics. At any rate, director John Lasseter is back, this time with help from Brad Lewis (Ratatouille). Sadly, a voice replacement for Doc Hudson, mayor of Radiator Springs, will be required.

Stars: Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Tony Shalhoub

Rise of the Apes

This prequel to the original 1968 Planet of the Apes with Charlton Heston will be a cautionary tale against genetic engineering, as a doctor's tinkering leads to enhanced ape intelligence and then, of course, a battle against humans for planetary dominance. Direction from sci-fi rookie Rupert Wyatt is raising red flags far beyond enlarged ape brains.

Stars: James Franco, Tom Felton, John Lithgow, Andy Serkis

Transformers 3

Director Michael Bay and star Shia LaBeouf have both acknowledged the crappiness of Transformers 2 and promised Transformers 3 will be better. While that bar is set pretty low, they'll have to do it without the services of Megan Fox, who was unceremoniously dropped from the series in favor of 23-year-old Victoria's Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

Stars: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel

The Zookeeper

Fans of anthropomorphic flicks are hoping that 2011 is their year, as Furry Vengeance, Marmaduke, and Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore were three of the biggest turkeys of 2010. Kevin James essentially plays mall cop again as the zookeeper, along with an A-list of voice talent as the animals.

Stars: Kevin James, Sylvester Stallone, Rosario Dawson, Adam Sandler, Cher

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

After Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 1 opens on Friday, November 19, Potter fans will be forced to wait nearly eight months to see the conclusion of the long-running series. That will be painful, but probably not as painful as the withdrawal star Daniel Radcliffe is suffering from.

Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson

Captain America: the First Avenger

This superhero pic focuses on the early days of the Marvel Universe, when sickly Steve Rogers volunteers to participate in an experimental program that turns him into Nazi-fighting Super Soldier Captain America. Allaying fears he wasn't big enough for the role, Chris Evans showed up at Comic-Con with bulges his shirt could barely contain.

Stars: Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell

Cowboys and Aliens

A sci-fi western based on the graphic novel by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, it's been newsworthy this summer due to Robert Downey Jr. dropping out for scheduling reasons and Olivia Wilde apparently going full-frontal. Directed by Iron Man's Jon Favreau, who likes dropping production bits from his Twitter account.

Stars: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell

Horrible Bosses

A Jennifer Aniston-Jason Bateman rom-com about a woman who impregnates herself with the wrong sperm ... uh, nevermind ... that was summer 2010's Aniston-Bateman rom-com The Switch. Next summer they reunite for Horrible Bosses about workers who conspire to kill them.

Stars: Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Isaiah Mustafa

The Smurfs

Not to sound like a bunch of Grumpy Smurfs, but putting an '80s cartoon about small blue creatures on the big screen seems a big demographic miss. What's next? A Snorks movie? If anyone can help save the movie it's '90s television star Neil Patrick Harris (and also Katy Perry as the voice of Smurfette).

Stars: Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria, Katy Perry, Alan Cumming, Sofía Vergara

War Horse

Mr. Ed meets Saving Private Ryan in the first pic from super-director Steven Spielberg since 2008's so-so Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, as he adapts the popular WWI children's novel told from the horse's point of view.

Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Emily Watson

Conan

Sword-and-sorcery flick based on the Conan the Barbarian character made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Replacing The Ex-Governator is Jason Momoa — best known for his role in Baywatch Hawaii — who certainly looks the part.

Stars: Jason Momoa, Rose McGowan

Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World

It's been seven years since the brutally bad Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over clearly signaled it was Game Over for the spy kids series. But director Robert Rodriguez, spurred on by sons Rocket, Racer, Rebel, and Rogue, revives the franchise with #4.

Stars: Jessica Alba, Joel McHale

Final Destination 5

Just like in 2009, another Final Destination movie closes out the summer movie season. Will it be the grand finale or the crew picking up the elephant poop? At least it's no longer called 5nal Destination.

Stars: Emma Bell, David Koechner, P.J. Byrne, Arlen Escarpeta