A batch of upcoming films have found their release date haven. First up, our most anticipated out of the batch is the long-delayed gritty action thriller from Steven Soderbergh, Haywire. It has finally landed a release date of January 20th, 2012 from Relativity Media. Haywire stars MMA Fighter Gina Carano, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Bill Paxton, Michael Angarano, Matthieu Kassovitz and Antonio Banderas. The film follows “a black ops super soldier seeking payback after she is betrayed and set up during a mission.” The January release date seems to indicate more of a fun action film, rather than any sort of awards potential. Save that for his next film Contagion, hitting theaters this October.

As for the rest of Soderbergh’s career, he spoke with Deadline, restating his intent to retire by the age of 50, in just a few years. He is happy with the choice of pushing Haywire after Contagion, since it will help him promote the former, while the latter has more mass appeal. He will next direct Magic Mike, the the stripper story starring Channing Tatum and Alex Pettyfer, then move on to The Man From U.N.C.L.E. starring George Clooney in February. His last film will be Liberace, staring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. Don’t fear his filmmaking career is completely over just yet though, as he wrapped up with: “maybe this turns out to be an extended sabbatical, where I recharge myself, but I need an extended break.”

In other release date news Universal has scheduled a few of their upcoming films. First up is Oliver Stone‘s next crime drama Savages, based on the novel by Don Winslow. The film stars Blake Lively, Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Emile Hirsch, and has set a date of Sept. 28th, 2012.

The next effort from Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski, Oblivion, stars Tom Cruise and will hit theaters in the prime summer slot of July 19th, 2013. Scripted by William Monahan, the fantasy film follows “a former solider who is the last person left on Earth after a war with an alien race. When he encounters a crashed spacecraft with a lone survivor, the two set off on an epic adventure.”

Lastly, the sequel studio’s 2010 mega-hit Despicable Me, aptly titled Despicable Me 2, will hit theaters July 3rd, 2013. No story details are known, but we can expect Steve Carell to return. Check out a promo poster for the film below.

What film are you most looking forward to? Are these good slots for the respective films?

Source: The Wrap