In 2009, Fox released James Cameron's Avatar, an absurdly expensive, but also absurdly profitable, science fiction adventure featuring cutting-edge special effects. Its success provided further confirmation to what had already become entrenched conventional wisdom in Hollywood: Movies should be big because big makes money. That same year, Paramount distributed Paranormal Activity, a horror movie shepherded by the then–little-known Blumhouse Productions. Directed by the unknown Oren Peli, it originally cost $15,000, was shot on consumer-grade video cameras, and had already been kicking around festivals for a couple of years. It went on to gross nearly $200 million, confirming that conventional wisdom didn't always apply.

Logan Marshall-Green stars in the upcoming ultra-violent sci-fi/horror/action film, Upgrade, directed by Australia's own Leigh Whannell. The film follows Marshall-Green's quadriplegic character Grey, as he's upgraded with a new form of artificial intelligence chip that restores all of his former functions – as well as turning him into a killing machine. He then uses his newfound gifts to seek revenge on the men that killed his wife. Here is another science-fiction premise that may have some actual future plausibility, with a mix of gory violence to spice up the entertainment factor. Judging by this trailer, Whannell looks to have hit the mark. While I think the red band trailer below may be revealing too much awesome action already, it does do plenty to get action/sci-fi/horror fans excited.