The Hunger Games
Lionsgate is hoping for a whopping Harry Potter-sized hit with its adaptation of Suzanne Collins’s best-selling sci-fi book. Jennifer Lawrence stars and rock star Lenny Kravitz has landed a supporting role. There is no British flavour to this franchise and its darkness and violence may count against it.
Release date: March next year.
The Hobbit
A decade ago, Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings was going hammer and tongs with Harry Potter at the box-office. Then came legal wrangling and a lengthy hiatus. Now, director Jackson is back at work on a two-part adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit with many of the same characters and cast members. The odds are it will do monster business, especially with no competition this time around from the Hogwarts crowd.
Release date (The Hobbit, Part 1) December next year.
The Three Musketeers
The much-filmed Dumas novel returns to the screen in 3D and with a youthful cast in a version directed by Paul WS Anderson. Logan Lerman is D’Artagnan and Juno Temple plays Queen Anne. The film will offer swordplay instead of magic, but might still appeal to Potter fans. There is plenty of scope for sequels here, too.
Release date October.
Horrid Henry: The Movie
Arguably aimed at too young an audience to have the universality of appeal of Potter, this adaptation of Francesca Simon’s stories about an unkempt and mischievous kid could still blossom into a franchise if the first film works at the box office. One hitch is it will be going head to head with The Deathly Hallows Part 2, so it’ll be tough.
Releases this year. – The Independent