By Neil Smith

Entertainment reporter, BBC News

Bradley Cooper (l) and Liam Neeson (r) head the cast of the A-Team film

Old favourites get a new look in 2010 with a raft of blockbuster releases featuring tried and tested characters. These include a 3D interpretation of Alice in Wonderland from director Tim Burton and a new take on the Robin Hood legend starring Russell Crowe. Actor Michael Douglas will reprise his Oscar-winning performance as corporate raider Gordon Gekko in a belated sequel to 1987 thriller Wall Street. And the stars of a big-screen version of 1980s TV show The A-Team will be hoping audiences still love it when a plan comes together. Sam Worthington plays Perseus in the Clash of the Titans remake Following the enormous success of New Moon, a third instalment in the Twilight franchise is sure to have box-office tills ringing when it arrives in July. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse will be followed towards the end of 2010 by the penultimate Harry Potter adventure and a third Narnia film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The 3D boom looks certain to continue with a third Toy Story, a fourth Shrek and a seventh Saw all making use of the format. Iron Man 2, meanwhile, will see Robert Downey Jr's comic book hero face a formidable new foe, played by Wrestler star Mickey Rourke. Computer game Follow-ups to Meet the Fockers, Cats & Dogs and The Bad Lieutenant will be hoping to cash in on residual affection for their predecessors. Disney, meanwhile, will be counting on gamers coming out in numbers to see its adaptation of popular computer game Prince of Persia. As usual the first few months of the year will be dominated by movies vying for honours in the Hollywood awards season. Sir Ridley Scott's Robin Hood film will be released on 14 May These include the George Clooney film Up in the Air, gruelling Cormac McCarthy adaptation The Road and hotly tipped Oscar contender Precious. Other potential prize winners include Clint Eastwood's Nelson Mandela drama Invictus and Peter Jackson's supernatural thriller The Lovely Bones. Cinemagoers will also get the opportunity in February to see Shutter Island and The Wolfman, two high-profile features originally slated for release in 2009. March sees a new version of 1981's Clash of the Titans reach our screens, with Avatar star Sam Worthington as mythical hero Perseus. April, meanwhile, sees the release of Kick-Ass, a comic book-inspired action comedy from Layer Cake director Matthew Vaughn. May finds Carrie Bradshaw and friends returning in the second film to be based on hit TV series Sex and the City. Hard-hitting It will be followed into cinemas by new versions of 1980s favourites Footloose and The Karate Kid, with Gossip Girl's Chase Crawford and Will Smith's son Jaden in roles originally played by Kevin Bacon and Ralph Macchio respectively. Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan is keeping people guessing about Inception, a science-fiction thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio that will hit cinemas in August. The Road tells of a father guiding his son through a post-apocalyptic world But punters should have some idea what to expect from The Expendables, a Sylvester Stallone opus that sees the Rocky man joined by a host of action stars from past and present. Foreign films set to make a stir in 2010 include hard-hitting French prison drama A Prophet and dark Swedish mystery The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Fans of Britain's Got Talent, meanwhile, will be keen to catch Streetdance 3D, a homegrown title featuring performances from winning dance troupe Diversity and runners-up Flawless. The prevailing trend, though, is towards established film titles from yesteryear given a hi-tech makeover. A case in point is Tron Legacy, a "re-imagining" of Disney's ground-breaking 1982 fantasy that will arrive in December. And yes, it's in 3D.



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