While 2005 was the year of the remake, 2006 is capitalizing off many of the past Hollywood successes with sequels to previous movies or just movies based off the events of the recent past. For instance, Notorious, the film that chronicles the deaths of rapper Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur, stars Sylvester Stallone as LAPD detective Russell Poole. This case has not even been solved yet, so the essence of the movie should draw audiences in, a la the success of many of television’s reality shows. Elsewhere, sequels have become a big deal again in 2006 with Mrs. Doubtfire 2, The Brazilian Job (sequel to The Italian Job), and Resident Evil: Afterlife all serving as follow-ups to previous films.

Amongst all of the sequels and reality-based films though is The Departed, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon, and directed by Martin Scorsese. Based on a Chinese gangster film titled Infernal Affairs, the movie is set against the backdrop of Boston with DiCaprio and Damon playing the roles of conflicting Irish-American mobsters and nemesis cops. While no release date has been announced for The Departed, expect that to hit theaters sometime in 2006.

Remakes of past events still top the list as one of the most released genres of films though with the Vin Diesel-led Hannibal recreating to story of the legendary European leader of many years ago. Ghost Rider, another film based around a comic book, should also make major waves in the industry as Nicholas Cage, Eva Mendes, and Peter Fonda join to tell the tale of the supernatural agent with revenge on his mind. Though many other films in the same vein as this are planned, expect Hollywood to, for the most part, stick with the recent trend of recreating older films or adapting comic books and regular books into feature films. These films seem to have had the most impact on the box office lately and should help Hollywood to recover from the monetary roadblock that illegal downloading of films has caused.