Predictions for 2008: Movies Edition

Time now for the movie edition of predictions for 2008. As with the political predictions, we shall approach them in the spirit of often in error but never in doubt.

First, the writers' strike will be settled by the early spring. The tactic employed by the WGA to negotiate separate deals with individual production companies coupled with the rapid deterioration of the bottom lines of both the studios and the writers will finally compel serious negotiations. It could well be that the final deal, which will satisfy no one entirely, will be hammered out by the Governator, thus giving Arnold a rare and much needed PR boost.

American Gangster will pick up an Oscar for Best Picture. Tom Hanks will get an Oscar for Best Actor for his role as Charlie Wilson in Charlie Wilson's War. Cate Blanchett will get Best Actress for playing Bob Dylan in I'm Not There. Paul Thomas Anderson picks up a statue for Best Director for There Will Be Blood. Aaron Sorkin gets Best Screenplay for Charlie Wilson's War.

To no one's surprise, Indian Jones IV will be a smash hit. Spielberg, who has had a series of near misses and a couple of absolute bombs since Saving Private Ryan, will be back in his game and ready to do his Lincoln biop and his space epic.

The new Star Trek, however, while it will do well enough, will be considered something of a disappointment. Time travel scenarios on Star Trek have become a little passé, considering how the "temporal cold war" story arc blighted the first three years of Enterprise and likely truncated the series. But a second reimagined Trek will be greenlit and the story will go back to "exploring strange new worlds" etc. The second Trek will be a smash hit.

The Dark Knight, Hell Boy II, The Mummy III, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and Prince Caspian will also do very well.