2012’s Most Tantalizing Movies

Flagging awesome movies before you've actually seen them constitutes an inexact science fraught with peril. Directors get distracted, stars stumble, brilliant scripts get watered down during "development" and exciting trailers cram all the good bits into 30 seconds, leaving in their wake cineplexes filled with disappointed audiences.

Still, hope springs eternal, and we've come up with nearly two dozen reasons to be psyched about films in 2012. For starters, Ridley Scott gets back to sci-fi, Batman fights off a new supervillain, Brad Pitt goes after a swarm of zombies, Johnny Depp plays a vampire (and Abraham Lincoln kills them).

Read on to get Wired.com's take on 2012's most tantalizing motion pictures.

Images courtesy movie studios unless otherwise noted.

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Must-See Flaming Pee: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Why it could be cool: The "requel" torches the lame first cinematic take on the Ghost Rider character, with Crank directors Neveldine/Taylor going for a much more ominous vibe. The 3-D footage they showed off at Comic-Con International last summer made the movie look totally hellacious — in a good way.

Cautionary note: Some film geeks got a sneak peek at the full movie at Butt-Numb-A-Thon, and most reports ranged from bad to horrible. But no amount of fanboy venom can douse my burning desire to see Nicolas Cage reprise the roll of Johnny Blaze — this time pulling off the Ghost Rider's wicked Penance Stare as well. —Lewis Wallace

Release date: Feb. 17

Best Naked Guy Escalator Fight: Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie

Story: Two smarmy idiots plow through a billion bucks trying to make a Hollywood blockbuster.

Why it could be cool: Professional doofus Tim Heidecker and partner Eric Wareheim get laughs with their preposterous short bits on Will Ferrell's FunnyorDie.com site. Judging from the funny, foul-mouthed red-band trailer, Billion Dollar Movie featuring Zach Galifianakis could become this year's Hangover.

Cautionary note: As Saturday Night Live star Andy Samberg learned the hard way inHot Rod, sketches are one thing, 90-minute features are another. —Hugh Hart

Release date: March 2

4-Armed Aliens: John Carter From Mars

Story: Civil War veteran does battle on the wounded planet of Mars.

Why it could be cool: Andrew Stanton crafted a spectacular wasteland in his Oscar-winning Wall*E and now follows Pixar colleague Brad Bird (Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol) into the live-action realm with a firm grasp on how to craft stunning wide-screen landscapes.

Cautionary note: The clips look great but raise a red flag: Zealous fidelity to Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1920s-era source material could strip John Carter of the quirky wit and sly performances that make Pixar stories so compelling. —Hugh Hart

Release date: March 9

Constant Craving: The Hunger Games

Story: Katniss Everdeen — a 16-year-old with serious archery chops — volunteers to take her younger sister Prim's place in The Hunger Games, an annual event held in a future North America called Panem, where a vicious Capitol forces teenagers from its poor districts to fight to the death on reality TV.

Why it could be cool: Don't be thrown off by the fact that it's based on Suzanne Collins' young adult novel: The Hunger Games is far darker and more compelling than anything involving lovelorn vampires and shape-shifters. If done right, the film version of the story should bring a whole new kind of dystopian sci-fi — and with it, thank goodness, a whole new kind of heroine — to the screen. And, as anyone who's seen Winter's Bone can attest, if anyone can pull off Katniss Everdeen's mix of vicious protectiveness with revolutionary vulnerability it's Jennifer Lawrence. The odds are in her favor. (Additional awesomeness: Producer T-Bone Burnett is working on the soundtrack along with folks from Arcade Fire and The Decemberists, who are contributing a song as well.)

Cautionary note: There have been rumblings that the film adaptation will focus more on Katniss' love triangle with her hunting partner Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and her main competition in the games, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). While an important part of the story, Katniss' man drama isn't the most interesting part of the books, by far, and heightening it for the film could make it seem a little too much like lovelorn vampires and shape-shifters. —Angela Watercutter

Release date: March 23

Self-Explanatory Horror Title: Cabin in the Woods

Story: Innocent vacationers chill out at an isolated shack before all supernatural hell breaks loose.

Why it could be cool: Joss Whedon co-wrote this variation on one of the oldest horror scenarios in the book. The trailer suggests that Cloverfield co-writer turned director Drew Goddard figures out an entertaining way to put a cheeky twist on the ancient clichés.

Clash of the Marvel Titans: The Avengers

Why it could be cool: America's most entertaining actor, Robert Downey Jr., spars in his Tony Stark incarnation with Chris Evans' Captain America and the rest of the Marvel superhero gang for a crossover bickerfest that should produce plenty of jokes and the welcome return of Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow en route to the inevitable CGI fireworks.

I Vant to Suck Your Blood Alert: Dark Shadows

Story: An 18th-century vampire awakens in 1972 New England and sinks his teeth into the job at hand.

Why it could be cool: Nobody does Goth like Tim Burton. Here, the director summons man muse Johnny Depp to go dark as Barnabas, lord of the Collinwood Manor. It's not the soap opera source material that merits excitement, but the chance to witness Depp and cast mates Helena Bonham Carter (live in psychiatrist — yikes) and Jackie Earle Haley (estate caretaker) put their twisted takes on a creepy mansion full of bad, bad people.

Cautionary note: Nobody's perfect: Burton took a dive with his Planet of the Apes remake while Depp struck out with his recent pet project The Rum Diary. —Hugh Hart

Release date: May 11

Moonrise Kingdom's Quirk Sets In

Story: Details are sparse, but what is every Wes Anderson movie about, from the immortal Rushmore to the repeatedly awesome Fantastic Mr. Fox? A band of quirky characters philosophically chasing their figurative tails, as audience members variously clap, laugh and/or scratch their heads. Moonrise Kingdom's '60s variation on that theme pits a pair of elopers from an island off the coast of New England against a gang of Anderson's ensemble-cast grads like the sublime Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman, who bumble around while tracking the young lovers down.

Why it could be cool: Island dramedy died after Lost's heinous finale, so we can thank Anderson for trying to make it cool again. Early photos from the set feature log cabins, pup tents and Harvey Keitel and Edward Norton goofily dressed as Boy Scout camp leaders. Throw in what we hope is another one of Anderson's deep-cut soundtracks mining the '60s sonic catalog and you've got another promising pathos laugher.

Cautionary note: Bruce Willis is part of Anderson's thick Moonrise Kingdom ensemble, but hopefully he won't bring any macho with him while he's playing the town sheriff. It's been awhile since he's showed off his underrated gift for comedy. Fingers crossed, campers! —Scott Thill

Release date: May 25

A Fairy-Tale Revamp: Snow White and the Huntsman

Story: Snow White (played by Kristen Stewart) threatens the fairest-of-them-all title of an evil queen (Charlize Theron). Said queen sends a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to kill her, but the whole thing gets out of hand when Snow White begins training with the huntsman in the art of war.

Why it could be cool: We were admittedly skeptical about this film, but then the first trailer (above) was released and we went from "meh" to "meep!" Not only did it take Snow White out of the flow-y dresses and put her in some serious armor, it turned the whole fairy tale on its head. Screenwriter Evan Daugherty has said his guiding principle was, "What if, instead of saving Snow White, the huntsman teaches Snow White to save herself?" That alone sets the tone for a fairly intriguing revamp, but throw in Hemsworth (aka Thor) doing his hammer-swinging thing with axes instead and we're all of a sudden more ready for a new Snow White movie than we ever thought we would be.

Cautionary note: It seems unlikely, but there is a chance everything worth seeing in Snow White and the Huntsman was in that first trailer. —Angela Watercutter

Release date:June 1

Screaming Alien Madness: Prometheus

Why it could be cool: Ridley Scott makes an epic return to sci-fi, judging from the sleek, spooky trailer that hit the web in December. As in Alien and Blade Runner, the visuals in the 3-D Prometheus universe should surpass all alt-universe rivals in 2012, but even more refreshing: In a genre that generally relegates female characters to eye-candy window dressing, Charlize Theron spearheads this story as a synthetic humandroid. Scott directed Thelma and Louise and immortalized Sigourney Weaver as nail-tough Ripley in Alien. Add original Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Noomi Rapace into the mix, and this Alien spinoff seems destined to become the best female-centric outer space epic since Avatar. —Hugh Hart

Release date: June 8

Insane High Concept: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Story: When 9-year old Abe sees his mom die in their one-room cabin from vampire attacks, he picks up an ax and secretly slays the undead — when he's not distracted by becoming president of the United States.

Why it could be cool: Boasting the goofiest premise of the year with a title to match, this 3-D action piece could turn out to be a one-joke disaster, but at least the filmmakers are trying something different. Reasons to be bullish: Russian director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) may go overboard with slo-mo gimmicks but he rarely bores. Also, cast member Dominic Cooper played Saddam Hussein's bodyguard last year. That's intense. —Hugh Hart

Release date: June 22

Weaving a Tangled Web: The Amazing Spider-Man

Story: A reboot of Webhead's origin story, The Amazing Spider-Man centers on a high-school aged Peter Parker (played by Andrew Garfield this time around) as he deals with his newfound superpowers.

Why it could be cool: Director Marc Webb previously made the sweet love story (500) Days of Summer so he could bring a little emotional depth to Peter Parker's journey to becoming Spider-Man and his romance with Gwen Stacy (played by the always-charming Emma Stone.) Rhys Ifans' portrayal of the Lizard promises some jolly good slithery villainy as well. Also, it's a Spider-Man movie. So there's that.

Cautionary note: The film could easily veer too far into a big teen angstfest, though that seems unlikely given Garfield's love of his character's geekier qualities. Not to mention things haven't been going so well for Spider-Man reboots lately. —Angela Watercutter

Release date: July 3

Bane Versus Bale: The Dark Knight Rises

Story: Batman, blamed for murder, bounces back to protect Gotham City from the villainous Bane.

Why it could be cool: Three words: Imax, Tom, Hardy. Pitted against Christian Bale's thankless straight man role as Bruce Wayne/Batman, bad guy Bane — played by a very convincing Tom Hardy — may not surpass Heath Ledger's Joker. But teaser clips indicate the bulked-up British actor, first cast by director Christopher Nolan in Inception, delivers the goods as a bad man with big brains.

Cautionary note:Anne Hathaway as Catwoman? —Hugh Hart

Release date:July 26

Shoot Me in the Future, Wound Me Now: Looper

Story: Time-traveling hit men from the year 2070 go back 30 years to knock off unwitting victims.

Why it could be cool: Writer-director Rian Johnson displayed virtuosic dialog skills and a deft way with character-driven plot twists in his 2005 thriller Brick, which imagined Orange County high-school students speaking as if they were characters in a 1940s film noir thriller. Here, Johnson casts Brick man Joseph Gordon Levitt as a "looper" hit man who kills people when they're sent back in time by criminals from the future.

Two Centuries, Three Directors: Cloud Atlas

Story: Six interlinked stories examine unintended consequences of actions taken by characters who share unwitting connections with each other.

Why it could be cool: Audacious experiment stars the artists formerly known as the Wachowski Brothers plus German Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) sharing the directing chores. Concept art suggests that Tykwer, Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski will conjure great-looking vistas to enliven this sprawling story based on British author David Mitchell's 2004 novel. Cloud Atlas also achieves must-see status because the crazily eclectic cast of heavyweights, including Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving and Halle Berry, can be counted on to generate offbeat chemistry.

Cautionary note: Two words: Speed Racer. The Wachowskis' last movie sported a compelling look but dragged on too long. Three directors invested in their own stories could make for narrative bloat. —Hugh Hart

Release date: October

Best-Looking Samurai Reboot: 47 Ronin

Story: Feudal Japanese warriors seek revenge on the rulers who triggered their master's suicide.

Why it could be cool: Many directors make the move from TV commercials to two-hour features, but few have produced a short film as hypnotic as Carl Rinsch's The Gift, embedded above. On the strength of that beautifully shot sequence alone, the helmer can be expected to wring some visual magic from the $170 million 3-D action saga.

Cautionary note: A lot rides on the shoulders of deceptively sleepy Keanu Reeves as the half-Brit, half-Japanese samurai. It remains to be seen if 47 Ronin helps The Matrix star regain his laconic mojo. —Hugh Hart

Release date: Nov. 21

Somber Science Fiction: Gravity

Story: The lone survivor of an outer space catastrophe tries to return home and reunite with her daughter.

Why it could be cool: Director Alfonse Cuarón (above) is one serious dude who thrives on adversity storylines. The Mexican filmmaker's moody Children of Men dramatized an end-of-the-world nightmare while his direction of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban produced the franchise's darkest installment. But Gravity merits anticipation precisely because Cuarón tells thought-provoking stories set against elegantly rendered ruins. Cuarón can be counted on to put star Sandra Bullock through the wringer in her role as the anguished mom-in-space.

Cautionary note: A thin line separates the profound from the ponderous, a point proved by Gravity co-star George Clooney when he tackled sci-fi in Steven Soderbergh's Solaris remake. —Hugh Hart

Release date: Nov. 21

James Bond Director Slays Zombie Genre: World War Z

Story: A globe-hopping U.N. staffer leads the resistance to a zombie epidemic that has decimated armies, overthrown governments and may soon bring an end to human life as we know it.

Why it could be cool: Bundle Brad Pitt, a $140 million budget and the guy who directed James Bond flick Quantum of Solace into a bloody, post-apocalyptic ball and the end result could elevate the perpetually low-budget zombie genre into a whole new level of CGI-fueled mayhem. Besides having a strong eye for spectacle, versatile director Marc Forster knows how to tell character-based stories dating back to his Monster's Ball days, while Pitt in 2011 reminded moviegoers, in Moneyball and The Tree of Life, that he's got depth to spare (although this battle will more likely see him channeling Inglorious Basterds-style action chops).

Cautionary note: Have we hit zombie overload yet? —Hugh Hart

Release date: Dec. 21

Return to Middle-earth: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Story: Bilbo Baggins and his cohort of dwarves travel to the Lonely Mountain and confront the dragon Smaug over stolen treasure.

Why it could be cool: Holograms anyone? Peter Jackson is filming on state-of-the-art Red cameras at 48 frames per second. Those who've seen test footage claim the format will yield hyper-crisp 3-D of unprecedented "you-are-there" quality. And then there's J.R.R. Tolkien's world-class source material and Andy Serkis' reprise of Gollum. Plus a drove of gnarly dwarves, with Sir Ian McKellan back on board as Gandalf.

Cautionary note: How could it not be cool? —Hugh Hart

Release date: Dec. 14

Dixie Revenge, Served Cold: Django Unchained

Story: A freed slave joins a German bounty hunter to track down his wife and liberate her from a plantation owner.

Why it could be cool: Quentin Tarantino, the most vivid writer-director of his generation, tackles the Civil War era with Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz voicing the dialog and dishing out the violence.

Cautionary note: Some gentle souls are quivering over how Tarantino will handle touch subjects like slavery and forced prostitution. —Hugh Hart

Release date: Dec. 25

Let's Take a Ride: Cosmopolis

Story: Taking place over 24 hours in Manhattan, Cosmopolis examines the heart and soul of the West through the story of a 28-year-old stock market millionaire (played by Robert Pattinson) who takes a drive across town in his limo to get a haircut.

Why it could be cool: The movie is being directed by the always-surprising-us David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises) and based on a novel by Don DeLillo. So if "movie about a car ride" doesn't sound exciting just yet, consider the sources. If nothing else, it should be visually stunning and rife with compelling dialog. The film is also being scored by Howard Shore, the Oscar-winning composer behind the Lord of the Rings films.

Cautionary note: Very little is known about this adaptation yet, so even though its creators are brilliant it's hard to anticipate exactly what they'll create, or how enthralling it might be. —Angela Watercutter

Release date: 2012

On the Road, and It's About Time

Story: Don't make us trot out the dunce caps. You should probably have read On the Road well before college, so we're all scratching our heads why it took this long to transform the book into a film. David Cronenberg already made the previously unfilmable Naked Lunch, for Mugwump's sake!

Why it could be cool: Jack Kerouac's timeless novel of geographical and metaphysical liberation in a '40s stuffed with sex, drugs, jazz and cars influenced everyone from Bob Dylan and The Doors to Hunter S. Thompson's gonzo journalism. Walter Salles' On the Road film adaptation will star Tron Legacy's Garrett Hedlund and the Twilight franchise's Kristen Stewart for post-millennial fanboys and girls. Plus, Viggo Mortensen as William S. Burroughs? Sold!

Cautionary note: Stream-of-consciousness is hard to contain. That's a philosophical way of saying that On the Road's 2012 release date has not been officially confirmed.—Scott Thill