"On The Road" among The Playlist’s 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2011 - Part 1

The Playlist’s 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2011 - Part 1

That’s right, 2010 is already in our rear view and we’re looking far, far ahead into 2011. If 2010 was the year of audiences rewarding original, smart blockbusters (“Inception”) and punishing glossy, but empty big-budget tentpoles (“The Tourist,” “Tron: Legacy”) the new year will find studios hoping once again that comic franchises and sequels can bring in the big bucks. No less than five comic-book movies are on the way with “Thor,” “Captain America,” “Green Lantern,” “Green Hornet” and “X-Men: First Class” all swinging into theaters, while tried-and-true franchises get sequels with “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” “Transformers 3,” “The Hangover 2” and “Sherlock Holmes 2” among the films looking to bank on previous successes.

But for those you (like us) looking for a little more substance, 2011 will be a dream for new, director-driven fare as Alexander Payne, Tom McCarthy, Steven Spielberg, Cary Fukunaga, Andrea Arnold, Lars von Trier, Pedro Almodóvar, (hopefully) Wong Kar-Wai, Nicolas Winding Refn, David Fincher, Cameron Crowe and Steven Soderbergh (x2!) will all arrive with new films under their arms. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It certainly bodes well that for every amped up franchise, we’ll have some other worthy options at the multiplex.

So grab a pen, sit back, and mark your calendar for what’s coming in 2011. Here’s 100-something of our picks for Most Anticipated films of the year. Relax if you don’t see your favorite tentpole/superhero film in here, as per our usual m.o., we’ll be doing a Most Anticipated Escapist Films feature as well where you’ll see things like “Thor,” “Captain America,” and more summer tentpoles.

“On The Road” - TBD - dir. Walter Salles

Synopsis:  An adaptation of the iconic Beat Generation novel which follows Dean Moriarty and Sal Paradise on a journey across the North American landscape in pursuit of self-knowledge and experience.
What You Need To Know: After years in development hell, Jack Kerouac’s iconic novel finally gets the big screen treatment courtesy of the major team behind 2004 Che Guevara road film “The Motorcycle Diaries,” including director Walter Salles, writer Jose Rivera, DP Eric Gautier, production designer Carlos Conti and composer Gustavo Santaolalla. Filling out the lead roles of Moriarty and Paradise—surrogates for Neal Cassady and Kerouac himself—are the rising duo Garrett Hedlund and Sam Riley. They are joined by an illustrious supporting cast which boasts the likes of Kristen Stewart, Viggo Mortensen, Amy Adams, Kirsten Dunst, Tom Sturridge, Steve Buscemi, Terrence Howard, Alice Braga and Elisabeth Moss. Early B&W photography from the production possibly hints at the film’s aesthetic style, a notion Salles has previously described as a must for any adaptation of Kerouac’s novel.
Release Date: Fall (we assume anyhow)

Source => Indie Wire / Via =>  @KStewAngel---RobStenation