20 Movies We’re Looking Forward to in 2013 (and 5 We’re Definitely Not)

These are the movies we most want to see this year. We know there are a bunch missing (yes, The Hobbit, we get it). So tell us what you would have chosen

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Warner Bros. (2); Walt Disney Pictures

Star Trek into Darkness (May 17)
In director J.J. Abrams’ follow-up to the 2009 Star Trek, Chris Pine returns as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Simon Pegg as Scotty and John Cho as Sulu. Benedict Cumberbatch, once rumored to be cast as Khan, has said he will play a terrorist. Either way, we can’t wait for the explosive action thriller.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diP-o_JxysA]

Man of Steel (June 14)
Director Zack Snyder reportedly worked closely with producer Christopher Nolan to reimagine Superman for this summer blockbuster. Nolan also shares a story credit with David Goyer (another Dark Knight vet), so expect this superhero reboot to be dark and its soundtrack ominous. Henry Cavill stars as Superman, Kevin Costner and Diane Lane play the Kents, Russell Crowe is his alien father, Michael Shannon is General Zod and Amy Adams is Lois Lane.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVu3gS7iJu4]

World War Z (June 21)
More zombies! Brad Pitt stars in the adaptation of the 2006 Max Brooks (son of Mel) novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcwTxRuq-uk]

Monsters University (June 21)
Pixar’s only prequel to date will feature Sulley (John Goodman) and Michael (Billy Crystal) as college-going monsters trying to hit the books and earn their way to the Monsters Inc. headquarters.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sED6FRXIHJc]

The Lone Ranger (July 3)
In the most unsurprising movie news of the year, Johnny Depp — who received an Oscar nomination for his role as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean and who loves to star in movies based on old television shows — reteams with Pirates director Gore Verbinski to play Tonto in this big-screen update. We’re excited to see Armie Hammer as the masked hero after his knockout performance as the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlrQD8Kvk6M]

Pacific Rim (July 12)
Guillermo del Toro hasn’t directed a movie since 2008’s Hellboy II, but Pacific Rim may just be the big-budget film to bump him from cult hero (see also: Pan’s Labyrinth) to action direction. Starring Idris Elba — who replaced Tom Cruise — and Son of Anarchy’s Charlie Hunnam, the sci-fi flick is set in a future in which malevolent creatures threaten earth and giant robots piloted by humans must fight off the menace.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vKz7WnU83E]

Elysium (Aug. 9)
Neill Blomkamp’s follow-up to District 9 is set in the year 2159, where the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined earth. Matt Damon in all his bald glory stars as a man who takes on a mission that could bring equality to the polarized worlds.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-cYgf6WyGA]

The World’s End (Oct. 25)
Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman and Rosamund Pike attempt a pub crawl on their last night alive. Fans of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead can start salivating now.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Nov. 22)
Jennifer Lawrence was one of 2012’s breakout stars (The Hunger Games, Silver Linings Playbook), and we’re just a wee bit excited for the next film installment of Suzanne Collins’ best-selling trilogy. Francis Lawrence is the new director, and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jeffrey Wright are the first-class actors joining the cast.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpfs7VPKMpg]

Anchorman: The Legend Continues (Dec. 20)
The next Anchorman will star Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Christina Applegate and potentially Kristen Wiig. Adam McKay will return to direct the film, which takes place during the rise of the 24-hour news cycle and will follow our favorite San Diego news team as they try to keep up with the times. Though not much else is known about the sequel, Judd Apatow, a producer on the film, recently told MTV that he read the script a few weeks ago and “people were laughing so hard that at about 40 minutes in, we all just ran out of gas.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdh4dXfhvls]

And Movies We Are Not Looking Forward To:

Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters (Jan. 25)
Jeremy Renner and forgettable Bond girl Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace) are the fairy-tale brother and sister turned bounty hunters. Need we say more?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9246msCh7x4]

G.I. Joe Retaliation (March 29)
Did you see the first G.I. Joe movie? True, the sequel has a new director, but it’s Jon Chu, who is best known for Step Up 2 and Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2YMu52MfqA]

Scary Movie 5 (April 12)
Unless you want to gawk at the train wrecks that are Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen …

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMDZ8M47j0I]

After Earth (June 7)
Everyone loves to hate on Jaden Smith, who stars alongside dad Will Smith in this sci-fi thriller about a father-son team who explore a planet evacuated by humans. We’re more concerned that M. Night Shyamalan directs.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZIt20emgLY]

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Dec. 13)
We sat through the nearly three-hour trudge that was this year’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and that just got us to the foot of the Lonely Mountain and page 103 of the book. Only 184 pages to go.

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