With Super Bowl XLVI right around the corner, most fans are getting geared up for the game that will pit the New England Patriots against the New York Giants. However, a particularly large number of watchers are more excited for the Super Bowl commercials than the football game. This year’s line-up of commercials hosts a plethora of funny advertisements, not to mention several hard-hitting trailers for spring and summer blockbusters.

Joss Whedon’s ‘The Avengers’ is first on the list as it is quite possibly the most highly anticipated superhero movie of the year, next to Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. ‘The Avengers’ combines nearly all of Marvel studios’ superheroes—Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Hawkeye, and Black Widow—into one film to face a dire threat by the likes of Loki and other villains that have yet to be revealed. Marvel released a 17-second peek of the Super Bowl TV spot on Youtube on January 31, and it has already accumulated more than one million views. ‘The Avengers’ is soaring into theaters May 4, 2012.

Not far behind ‘The Avengers’ is Jon M. Chu’s ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’, thanks to a successful Twitter campaign from its new star Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. The sequel features vast improvements from its lukewarm, semi-faithful predecessor, including Bruce Willis as the titular Joe and a darker tone overall. ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’ explodes into theaters June 29, 2012.

Disney throws its magical hat in the ring with ‘John Carter’, an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ ‘Barsoom’ series about a former Confederate captain transported to Mars right in the middle of an alien conflict. Disney hopes to generate public interest in the film as it approaches its March 9, 2012 release date.

Alongside ‘John Carter’ in the adaptation department is ‘The Hunger Games’, based on the novels by Suzanne Collins. The wildly successful series about a teenage girl and boy in a post-apocalyptic world forced into a televised battle by their oppressive government will be in theaters March 23, 2012.

Sasha Baron Cohen’s next comedy, ‘The Dictator’, a “mockumentary” and parody of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, also heads for a Super Bowl spot, hoping to tickle the funny bones of his fans. Like ‘Borat’ (2006) and ‘Bruno’ (2009), the film promises outrageous interviews, offensive humor, and plenty of jokes to keep its audience happy. ‘The Dictator’ is slated for release May 11, 2012.

Surprisingly, two other superhero titans, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and Sony’s ‘The Amazing Spider-Man,’ are staying out of the Super Bowl trailer game. However, there is a large difference between the two films as ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ made a huge splash in 2011 as a trailer in front of Brad Bird’s ‘Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol’, while ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ has not been seen since San Diego Comic Con 2011 this past July. If Sony wants the public to embrace the Spider-Man reboot by its release date, July 3, 2012, it had better have a stellar marketing plan to compensate for missing one of the most-watched television events of the year.

As the final days count down, fans can eagerly speculate about which trailer will win the coveted title of Most Talked About Trailer once the game is over. Like Super Bowl XLVI itself, the competition will be brutal, merciless, and winner-take-all.

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Paramount Pictures announced it ended 2011 in the No. 1 position among all studios, having achieved the highest total combined gross of any studio for the year, earning a record $5.17 billion worldwide. The studio, which released a total of 16 new releases domestically this year, placed first in the North American market share with $1.96 billion, while also amassing record grosses at the international box office with $3.21 billion.

“This achievement reflects the combined efforts of our entire team across the globe and the careful process by which we select the projects and partners we believe in,” said Paramount Pictures Chairman & CEO Brad Grey. “We produce pictures that aspire to entertain audiences around the world, while at the same time we have sought to find innovative ways to reach movie-goers in this changing entertainment environment.

“This year our studio reached some key milestones, including the release of three vibrant Paramount franchise pictures and our first original CGI animated film. Our studio had its first ever $1 billion worldwide grossing film in Michael Bay’s hit ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’; we successfully re-launched our ‘Mission Impossible’ franchise with Tom Cruise, JJ Abrams and Brad Bird; our latest installment in the ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise had another $100 million dollar success; our first original animated film ‘Rango,’ from director Gore Verbinski, earned rave reviews and more than $100 million at the domestic box office; and  we released global phenomenon ‘Super 8,’ directed by JJ Abrams, who will now direct the newest ‘Star Trek’ for 2013. We also benefited from our distribution partnerships with DreamWorks Animation and Marvel and I want to thank them both.”

“Film President Adam Goodman and his team in production and development, and Vice Chairman Rob Moore and his team in marketing and distribution, did outstanding work and truly delivered. As we prepare to celebrate Paramount’s 100th year in 2012, we are all grateful to be part of this wonderful institution as it continues to prosper,” added Grey.

In 2012, Paramount’s release slate highlights include ‘World War Z,’ a zombie thriller starring Brad Pitt and directed by Marc Forster, ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation,’ the next installment in the global franchise starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Channing Tatum, a new chapter in the ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise, and ‘The Dictator,’ starring Sacha Baron Cohen and directed by Larry Charles, the team behind ‘Borat.’

The 2011 box office results seen from the studio were built on a wide reaching range of titles, including the following (with current domestic grosses): ‘True Grit’ ($85 mil this year, $171.2 million total), Ivan Reitman’s ‘No Strings Attached’ ($70.7 mil), Jon Chu’s ‘Justin Bieber: Never Say Never’ ($73 mil), Gore Verbinski’s ‘Rango’  ($123.5 mil), Marvel Studio’s ‘Thor’ ($181 mil), DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’ ($165.2 mil), JJ Abrams ‘Super 8’  ($127 mil), Michael Bay’s ‘Transformers:  Dark of the Moon’ ($352.4 mil), Marvel Studio’s ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’  ($176.7 mil), Craig Brewer’s ‘Footloose’ ($51.7 mil), the third installment in the hit ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise ($104 mil), DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Puss In Boots’ ($145.8 mil), Sundance prize-winner ‘Like Crazy’ ($3.4 mil), Martin Scorsese and GK Films’ ‘Hugo’ ($50.2 mil), Jason Reitman’s ‘Young Adult’ ($12.8 mil), Brad Bird’s ‘Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol’ ($142.8 mil) and Steven Spielberg’s ‘Tintin’ ($51.4 mil).

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