2011 Holiday Movie Season: The Biggest in History?

The holiday season is a Hollywood hotspot for big movies. With the Oscars right around the corner and people taking extended vacations, the month of December has become a breeding ground for studios looking to highlight their best films of the year, but this winter is shaping up to be one of the most crowded seasons in recent memory. In today's NY Times, writer Michael Cieply looks at the upcoming slate of projects over the next two months. His conclusion? There are a lot of movies coming out! As Cieply points out, there were four major studio releases on or around Christmas Day in 2010, and three in 2009. This year, six major movies will come out "with a total production and marketing cost approaching $1 billion, from directors who have 25 past Oscar nominations among them." This list includes 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,' 'Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol,' 'The Adventures of Tintin,' 'War Horse,' 'We Bought a Zoo' and 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.' In addition, Meryl Streep's 'The Iron Lady' will be released on December 30. The end of this month will see the premiere of even more highly anticipated movies: 'The Artist,' My Week With Marilyn,' 'The Muppets' and 'Hugo' to name a few. Will the crowded slate of movies be too much for audiences to handle? With the number of films coming out, you would have to assume at least a few big budget projects will stumble. Either that, or the holiday season will break Hollywood out of its two-month long box office malaise. If you're still confused at what to see, our Holiday Movie Preview below may help out. Or you could always stay at home and watch the TNT 24-hour marathon of 'A Christmas Story.' [via NY Times] Moviefone 2011 Holiday Movie Preview 'Tower Heist''A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas''J. Edgar''Jack & Jill''Immortals''Happy Feet Two''Breaking Dawn Part 1''The Descendants''Arthur Christmas''Hugo''The Muppets''The Artist''My Week With Marilyn''A Dangerous Method''Shame''New Year's Eve''The Sitter''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy''W.E.''Young Adult''We Need to Talk About Kevin''Alvin and the Chipmunks 3''Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows''Carnage''Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol''The Adventures of Tintin''The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo''We Bought a Zoo''In the Land of Blood and Honey''War Horse''Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close''The Iron Lady' See All Moviefone Galleries » Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook