As 2011 is rapidly coming to an end, it has proven to be one of the most profitable years in film history. 2011 will forever be known as The Year of the Sequel, as 8 out of the top 10 grossing movies of the year were sequels, and the other two were superhero movies. This growing influx of sequels and superhero movies clearly shows one thing: Hollywood has run out of ideas. The Inception s, Black Swan s, and Shutter Island s of 2010 have disappearing, paving the way for top grossing 2011 movies such as Fast Five , Harry Potter 8 , and Twilight 4. The future of the film industry looks bleak at this time, but hopefully in 2012 Hollywood can develop some original ideas that don’t get turned into Disney movies. Even though most of them are sequels, these look to be the best movies of 2012. The Dark Knight Rises – July 20 th , 2012 Christopher Nolan’s epic conclusion to his critically-acclaimed Batman trilogy hits theatres on July 20 th . This looks to be one of the best, if not the best, movie of 2012. The bar has already been set extremely high for these movies, as Batman Begins and The Dark Knight have already been dubbed as two of the best superhero movies of all time. These movies have had a reputation for being high-budget, star-studded films, and this years addition certainly looks to be no exception. Returning actors Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman are joined by this year’s new additions of Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard and Anne Hathaway. Based on the 250 million spent of this movie, the star-studded cast, and the fact that it is directed by Christopher Nolan, this movie looks to be the best Batman movie ever made, and certainly the best movie of 2012. Skyfall – November 9 th , 2012 Skyfall will be the third James Bond movie featuring leadman Daniel Craig. This highly anticipated sequel will certainly not be the last Craig collaboration Bond movie, as the 43 year old actor has signed on to do 5 more sequels. Producer Michael G. Wilson stated that he loves Craig as Bond, and would love him to do 5 more Bond movies to surpass the currently record of 7 held by Roger Moore. Surprisingly, Skyfall will not follow the storyline set up by prior movies Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace , instead it will offshoot into a new storyline mainly centered around Judi Dench’s character of M. Famous antagonist-playing actors Ralph Fiennes and Javiar Bardem have signed on for this movie, but it is not yet released which famous Bond characters they will be playing. Also new to sign on to this movie is Sam Mendes, the Academy-Award winning director of movies such as American Beauty and Jarhead. Mendes will be the first Academy-Award winning James Bond director, a huge achievement for the long-lasting franchise. With great additions to acting, directing, and writing, this looks to be one of the best Bone movies ever made, and hopefully Skyfall can live up to its expectations. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – December 14 th , 2012 The fourth installment of Peter Jackson’s Academy Award winning Lord of the Rings franchise hit theatres on December 14 th . This long awaited chapter has been in production for the last year and a half, and will finish filming in March 2012. This series is regarded by many critics as the best film series of all time. With a huge returning cast and a blank check for a budget, this movie has the potential to revive the madness caused by its prequels. This movie went through countless obstacles during pre-production, as one-time director Guillermo del Toro quit, present director and producer Peter Jackson was hospitalized with an perforated ulcer, and as the project was weaving in and out of bankruptcy. With all of these obstacles out of the way, it looks to be smooth sailing for the production of this movie, and hopefully it will be as good as or better than any of its last three prequels. Honorable Mentions: For Super – Hero Fans: The Amazing Spider-Man (July 3 rd ), The Avengers (May 4 th ) For Sci-Fi Fans: Total Recall (August 3 rd ), Prometheus (June 8 th )