Movie trends for 2011 are opting on the safe side as studios look to bring audiences back to the theaters. Sequels will be everywhere this year. Look for the Scream franchise to come back to life again with Scream 4 (April 15). Johnny Depp is back as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (May 20). Jack Black and Angelina Jolie are back as the voices behind Kung Fu Panda 2 (May 27). Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, Cheech Marin and John Ratzenberger are back in Cars 2 (June 24).
Older kids are likely to appreciate Transformers: Dark of the Moon (July 1) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (July 15). Another trend is bringing beloved childhood favorites to the big screen. Parents who grew up on The Smurfs (July 29) and Winnie the Pooh (July 15) will be able to introduce their kids to these childhood icons.
Family fare has proven to be a lucrative box office draw. Toy Story 3 was the biggest movie of 2010 and 2011 will bring more magic from Disney/Pixar and other creative teams looking to charm over audiences. Some will be better than others, but that is the case with any genre. Thankfully, the 3D trend is dying down. Not that 3D doesn’t have its place, but do we really need every image to jump off the screen at us? In some cases, its more of a distraction than an attraction.
In recent years, the term reboot has become a common movie term. It refers to a movie that was made before and is remade from scratch. Nightmare On Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Fame and The Karate Kid have all been “rebooted” to varying degrees of success. In 2011, Footloose (Oct. 14) and The Muppet Movie (now called The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever, due out Nov. 23) get polished up for a new generation.