1. The Seventh Son
For fantasy fans that enjoyed Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, but arent enjoying the 18 month wait 'til the end of the tale, look no further than Sergey Bodruvs The Seventh Son. It stars Jeff Bridges as a bad-tempered wizard fighting a coven of shape-shifting witches led by Julianne Moore with the help of apprentice Ben Barnes, the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. The film looks like an old school fantasy with creepy dungeons, medieval trappings and possibly a buxom wench or two. Bodruv made the critically acclaimed Genghis Khan story Mongol in 2007, which proves he can handle a period setting and big scale action - this film, therefore, has the potential to offer an entertaining alternative to Middle-Earth. The main attraction though has to Bridges, hopefully channeling The Dude via Rooster Cogburn as the curmudgeonly old wizard mentoring a young apprentice. If it all works this could be the start of a new fantasy series that may be competing with The Hobbit again in the (distant) future. That is the last film on the list but certainly not, I suspect, the last one that will offer cinema goers an alternative to more well-known or financially backed films this year. I hope you enjoyed it and please let me know what you think will be the surprise packages in the next 12 months.
Looking forward to these films? Let us know in the comments section below.