Happy new year . . . if you’re into werewolves, wizards, and the world’s most famous detective, 2009 is going to be a great year at the cinema, writes Carl Jones.

If it’s originality you’re after, however, don’t hold your breath. The impact of last year’s Hollywood writers’ strike is clear to see in a schedule dominated by remakes, sequels and re-imaginings.

To be fair, though, some of them sound quite mouthwatering, like Benicio Del Toro in a remake of the Lon Chaney horror classic The Wolfman, with Anthony Hopkins as his dad and Emily Blunt as his love interest. You can see what looks like Del Toro’s amazing transformation in November.

Another vintage character making a big-screen return is famous sleuth Sherlock Holmes. Guy Ritchie directs Robert Downey Jnr in the title role, with Jude Law as his uptight sidekick Dr Watson.

The story is strictly under wraps, but producer Lionel Wigram admits it will shy away from previous portrayals of Holmes as a very stiff, Victorian gent.

“If you read the Conan Doyle books, actually Holmes is a man who spends two weeks lying on the sofa between cases, he looks rumpled, his hair’s a mess and he certainly hasn’t shaved for a while.”

John Travolta and Denzel Washington also head the cast in a remake of thriller The Taking Of Pelham 123, where a team of suited and booted criminals take over a subway train, due out in August.

Among the sequels, Tom Hanks reprises his role as The Da Vinci Code academic Robert Langdon in Angels And Demons, due out in May. Director Ron Howard promises a more “fun movie for people” than the rather static version of Dan Brown’s most famous novel. Ewan McGregor and Stellen Skarsgard co-star.

Vin Diesel was a key ingredient in the success of The Fast and The Furious, and after opting out of two fairly limp sequels, he’s been goaded back for the fourth chapter. Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster also return for one final race. Yes, ANOTHER one. Fast & Furious is due at Shropshire cinemas in June.

The biggest budget sequel, and no doubt the noisiest, is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Director Michael Bay had 200 million dollars to play with, in a noisy adventure set around the Pyramids of Egypt, plus trips to Paris, Jordan, Oman and Shanghai. Shia LaBoeuf heads the cast who look like they’ll be clocking up some serious air miles.

“You will definitely have never seen anything like it,” says Bay, whose films aren’t known for understatement!

Then, of course, we have Harry Potter 6, or Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince, which has had its release delayed until July to plug a gap in the schedule. This time Daniel Radcliffe is looking for a number of mysterious trinkets which hold the key to Voldemort’s soul.

They keep on coming . . . Hugh Jackman is back as Wolverine in X-Men Origins (May 1), Ben Stiller finds more late-night oddities in Night At The Museum 2 (May 22) and the month’s sequel-fest also includes JJ Abrams back to grass roots version of Star Trek, as well as horror shocker The Descent 2 – how on earth they plan to twist the plot to somehow reunite the original film’s cast is anyone’s guess.

Among the more intriguing offerings later in the year is Quentin Tarantino’s latest project, Inglorious Basterds, a World War Two movie starring Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger and Mike Myers in a tale of Nazi hunters seeking to take out the top tier of the Third Reich.

The year’s now obligatory superhero movie is Watchmen, based on the best-selling graphic novel and due out early March, where a team of outlawed, costumed crimefighters investigate the brutal murder of one of their own.

There will be an added poignancy to Terry Gilliam’s latest madcap creation, The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus, since this is the film Heath Ledger had begun working on when he so tragically died. Johnny Depp Colin Farrell, Christopher Plummer and Jude Law complete a mouthwatering cast.