Film aficionados and casual movie-goers alike will be pleasantly surprised to hear that there is much to look forward to in the coming months and plenty of hope for the 2012 box office.

The Hunger Games hits theaters in March. Adapted from the dystopian novels by Suzanne Collins, the film (and franchise) is sure to delight both young adults and those adults who act like they’re young.

Soon after, Ridley Scott (director of Blade Runner and Alien) is back in the sci-fi arena with Prometheus, a kind-of-sort-of Alien prequel that is being kept firmly under wraps.

Pixar’s Brave has the potential to redeem the embarrassing mess that was Cars 2 and it will feature the innovative studio’s first female heroine.

Having lost his Joker, Christopher Nolan will be hard put to top the furor created by The Dark Knight. But by adding a slinky Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) and a muscle-bound super villain, Bane (Tom Hardy), The Dark Knight Rises is going to give it a shot.

Skyfall, the latest in the Bond series, is due to premiere in late autumn. The plot, a rescue caper centered around Bond’s harsh-yet-lovable boss, M (Judi Dench), has the potential to be as emotionally gripping as the romance in Casino Royale.

With that we come to December, the permanent residence of Oscar bait.

The new adaptation of The Great Gatsby looks promising both because Baz Luhrman (Moulin Rouge) is at the helm and because he recruited a stellar cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio as the quintessential playboy of the 20’s and Carey Mulligan as his