The first three months of the year are often known as the dumping ground that follows the loaded awards season, but we here at Collider found plenty to look forward to in the releases from January to March.  As part of our Most Anticipated series, Matt, Adam, Brendan, and Dave each picked their top 5 and included a brief explanation of why these movies are noteworthy, and what has us excited.  All in all, we selected ten films that represent a variety of genres including drama, comedy, action, horror, sci-fi, and animation.  Hit the jump for our picks, along with information on the cast and plot for each film.

A new trailer has gone online for Joe Carnahan’s survival-action flick The Grey.  Once again, Liam Neeson plays a man with a very special set of skills, but this time it’s about surviving against the wild rather than surviving Paris.  Neeson’s character must help a group of oil-rig roughnecks after their plane crashes in the Alaskan wilderness.  I’ve enjoyed all of Carnahan’s previous movies (Narc, Smokin’ Aces, and The A-Team) and I can’t remember the last time we saw a solid men-vs-wild movie (maybe The Edge?  It has Anthony Hopkins rasslin’ grizzly bears).  I continue to hope that this movie delivers with the force of broken-bottle knuckles.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney, Dallas Roberts, Joe Anderson, James Badge Dale, and Nonso Anozie.  The Grey opens January 27, 2012.

New posters have been released for the family holiday flick Arthur Christmas (click here for Steve’s recent footage recap/interview), the men-vs-wolves survival thriller The Grey, the crime drama Contraband, and the horror sequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D.  Today’s a busy day so let me just break down the respective posters: bad puns, Neeson’s mug sells tickets, Wahlberg is fake scratching an itch so he can show off his sweet new moneybelt, and slightly better pun.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.  Arthur Christmas opens November 23rd, The Grey opens January 27th, Contraband opens January 13th, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D opens October 5, 2012.

The first trailer for Joe Carnahan’s men vs. wolves drama The Grey has gone online.  The story centers on a group of oil-rig roughnecks who are stranded in the Alaskan wilderness after their plane crashes.  They must battle to survive their injuries, the cold, hunger, and wolves.  The wolves apparently play a big role.  This trailer mostly highlights Liam Neeson and distributors Open Road are hoping they can net him an Oscar nomination for his performance.  There’s also a little bit of Carnahan’s trademark insanity on display when you see Neeson breakout the broken-bottle knuckles to fight wolves.  The trailer is selling the film as a drama but there’s definitely some fun to be had.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer who leads a cast that includes Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney, Dallas Roberts, Joe Anderson, James Badge Dale, and Nonso Anozie.  The Grey opens January 27, 2012, but there may be a brief Oscar-qualifying run in December if Open Road thinks it has a serious shot at putting Neeson in the awards race.

Open Road Films has slated Joe Carnahan’s men vs. wolves thriller The Grey for January 27, 2012.  However, Deadline reports that Open Road is considering a limited-release at the end of this year in order to mount an Oscar campaign for star Liam Neeson.  Carnahan is still working on the film and so it won’t be ready in time for the major festivals (Toronto, Telluride, and New York) but there will be advanced screenings to determine whether or not there’s a serious chance for Neeson to nab his first Oscar nomination since 1993′s Schindler’s List.  Buyers who bid on the film—(Open Road won with $8 million and a $25 million P&A commitment for U.S. rights)—saw thirty minutes of The Grey and considered Neeson’s performance “Oscar-bait”.

The film’s plot concerns a group of oil-drilling roughnecks who crash land in the wilds of Alaska and must brave the elements and fend off a pack of wolves in order to survive.  The Grey also stars Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney, Dallas Roberts, Joe Anderson, James Badge Dale, and Nonso Anozie.  Hit the jump for the press release and other films opening on The Grey‘s release date.

The first image from Joe Carnahan’s upcoming wolf-vs-man thriller The Grey has gone online.  The film stars Liam Neeson, Dallas Roberts (Rubicon), James Badge Dale (Rubicon), Dermot Mulroney (Inhale), Frank Grillo (My Soul to Take), Nonso Anozie (RocknRolla), and Joe Anderson (The Crazies) as a group of oilmen who have crash landed in the hunting zone of a rogue pack of wolves in the Alaskan tundra.  As for making the wolves come off as threatening, Carnahan says he plans to take the “I know that if you look at a wolf for too long, it’s just a [cuddly] malamute. So we’re doing the Jaws approach. They’re like the slasher in a slasher movie.”

Hit the jump to check out the image and for Carnahan’s explanation of why wolves should scare the bejeezus out of you.

Opening this weekend is director Jaume Collet-Serra’s (Orphan) Unknown and it stars Liam Neeson, January Jones, Diane Kruger, Bruno Ganz, Aidan Quinn and Frank Langella.  The film is about a man who awakens from a coma (Neeson) only to discover that someone has taken on his identity and that no one believes him. With the help of a young woman (Kruger), he sets out to prove who he is.  You can watch some clips here.

While I only got to cover the press conference for Unknown, our partners at Omelete landed TV interviews, so hit the jump to watch their interview with Liam Neeson.  He talks about visiting Brazil, how does Unknown compare to Taken, his feelings on being an action star, The Grey with Joe Carnahan, and more.

After the big-budget, dumb-fun fare of The A-Team, director Joe Carnahan is going back to gritty indie fare with The Grey.  The film centers on a group of oil-rig roughnecks who survive a plane crash.  Normally, that makes you one of the luckiest people on the planet.  Unfortunately for this group, their plane happens to crash right in the middle of a hunting zone of a rogue pack of wolves in the Alaskan tundra.  As we previously reported, Liam Neeson will lead the film, and according to Deadline, he’ll be joined by Dallas Roberts (Rubicon), James Badge Dale (Rubicon), Dermot Mulroney (Inhale),  Frank Grillo (My Soul to Take), Nonso Anozie (RocknRolla), and Joe Anderson (The Crazies).

The film now has a green light and production will begin next week.  Hit the jump for what Carnahan had to say about the film.

Joe Carnahan’s adaptation of 1980’s The A-Team was met on release with a certain amount of derision from both critics and audiences unsure of what to make of the film. I’ll admit that on first viewing I found The A-Team to be silly and cartoony. But upon further reflection, the film has begun to grow in my eyes. My initial complaints of the film as silly and/or cartoony seem downright moot, if not just plain misguided. For the film is a silly live action cartoon. Scenes that initially bugged me in theaters – like the heavily promoted tank drop sequence or the climax wherein The A-Team perform three-card Monte with freights – become downright hilarious on repeat viewings. My initial skepticism has given way to a newfound respect and enjoyment towards the film.

So it was my great fortune to attend a press event for the upcoming release of The A-Team on DVD and Blu-ray. At the event, Carnahan spoke of his approach to The A-Team and how the film was meant to be viewed, as well as showed a couple of behind-the-scenes features on the disc and a deleted sequence that can be found included in The A-Team Extended Cut (also included within the DVD and Blu-ray). Afterwards I was able to interview Carnahan one on one – where he talked of other cut sequences now included in the extended cut, the thematic undercurrents of his filmography, the future of The A-Team, and his upcoming Liam Neeson vs. wolves film The Grey. Hit the jump for more.

Bradley Cooper is 35.  His A-Team co-star, Liam Neeson is 58.  Their A-Team director Joe Carnahan (41) finds Neeson to be a perfectly suitable replacement for Cooper in his survival drama, The Grey.  This isn’t the most drastic retooling Hollywood has ever done (a pre-Jolie Salt was originally intended for Tom Cruise), but I find it significant.  Maybe in return, Cooper can fill in for Neeson on Steven Spielberg’s Abraham Lincoln biopic.

Per Heat Vision, the script from Carnahan and Ian Jeffers (Death Sentence) begins with a plane crash in Alaska: “A man (Neeson) and his oil drilling team find themselves struggling to survive in the wild.  The men come under attack by large, vicious, aggressive wolves who see the humans as intruders who must be killed.”  Though Cooper may have the vitality of youth on his side, I actually buy Neeson more as a badass wolf killer.  I’m sure Carnahan and Cooper would have made a fine movie together.  But Neeson takes it to a different level… for me.  Anyone not on board with this development?

Joe Carnahan and Bradley Cooper must have developed a strong rapport on the set of The A-Team because Variety is reporting that the two will be getting back together for the survival-thriller The Grey.  Ridley and Tony Scott will produce through their production company, Scott Free.  Not much is known about the project beyond the awesome tagline:

“The Grey” concerns survivors of plane crash who are then hunted by a pack of wolves.

I wholeheartedly support any film that has people vs. wolves.  I tend to root for the wolves.