These are from io9.com, but is a more compact form:
January
Insidious: The Last Key (Jan. 5)
The Insidious franchise is back and this
time, Elise (Lin Shaye) will have to deal with the demons not just from the
Further, but her past too. We’ve seen it and it’s very different from what
you’re expecting—in a good way.
Paddington 2
(Jan. 12)
The first Paddington was a very solid,
entertaining, and ultimately underrated piece of family entertainment. Warner
Bros. purchased the rights to the sequel, which is a very good sign.
Mary and the Witch’s Flower (Jan. 19)
If you ever wondered, “What would a Harry
Potter movie look like if it was made by Studio Ghibli?” then you are
going to need to check out Mary and the Witch’s Flower. It’s a
delightful, bright animated film about a young girl who mysteriously finds
herself in a world of magic.
Maze Runner: The Death Cure (Jan. 26)
After a major delay due to star Dylan O’Brien’s on-set
injury, the final film in The Maze Runner trilogy
is finally coming out. Some may dismiss the franchise as a Hunger Games ripoff,
but the mix of mythology, action, and great young cast really have made this
one of the most solid YA film series out there. We’re hoping it goes out with a
bang.
February
Untitled Cloverfield Movie (Feb. 2)
As of press time, Paramount hasn’t yet announced the title
to this film, though it was once rumored to be called God Particle.
And like 2016's 10 Cloverfield Lane, it won’t be directly connected
to that original monster movie (we think). The rumored plot revolves around a
group of astronauts who watch the world vanish beneath them.
Winchester
(Feb. 2)
Loosely based on a true story, Helen Mirren stars as the
heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune who has been retrofitting her mansion
non-stop for years. Turns out, though, she keeps building sections to the house
to keep the ghosts hidden away.
Bilal: A New Breed Of Hero. (Feb. 2)
An inspirational animated film featuring the voices of Ian
McShane and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Bilal is a young boy with a dream to
become a warrior. However, he’s kidnapped and enslaved, forcing him to struggle
first for his freedom, then his dreams, then his people. Originally released in
2015 internationally, it won numerous awards at various film festivals and is
just now getting a U.S. release
Peter Rabbit
(Feb. 9)
James Corden provides the voice of the title character in
this blend of CG and live-action. Peter will compete with a human, played by
Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux himself) for the affections of an animal-loving
woman, played by Rose Byrne. It sounds cheesy but the trailer isn’t half-bad,
plus Daisy Ridley and Margot Robbie provide voices.
Black Panther
(Feb. 16)
Holy shit are we ready for this one. Ryan
Coogler’s take on the famous Marvel superhero looks amazing, with a cast that’s
even better. We’ve been waiting forever to see Wakanda on the big screen and as
the last Marvel film before the release of Infinity War, the
stakes couldn’t be any higher.
Early Man
(Feb. 16)
The company behind Wallace and Gromit is
back with this animated family comedy about a caveman (Eddie Redmayne) who
teams up with a friend to defend their tribe against an evil Lord, voiced by
Tom Hiddleston. Aardman, the company in question, is one of the best at making
top-flight stop-motion animation for all ages, so Early Man is
worth keeping an eye on.
Annihilation
(Feb. 23)
Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, and
Jennifer Jason Leigh play a team of scientists who go into an alien landscape
here on Earth that no one has ever come back from. Oscar Isaac co-stars and
it’s directed by Alex Garland, the mind behind Ex Machina. It’s
easily one of our
most anticipated films of 2018.
Every Day
(Feb. 23)
Based on a best-seller by David Levithan, Every Day is
about a 16-year-old girl who falls in love. Awww. But the next day, the person
she fell in love with isn’t the same. Turns out she’s falling in love with a
spirit that changes bodies every single day, which raises some problems—and
some issues.
March
Alpha (March
2)
Set during the Ice Age, a young boy is left for dead after a
violent hunt. To survive, he befriends a wolf and the two set off an epic adventure
across a rough road home. While the story sounds like something might have
watched as a kid in the ‘80s, the visuals in the film look incredibly
impressive. This one has our curiosity.
Red Sparrow
(March 2)
Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence plays an exceptional woman
who loses everything but picks herself back up to become a Russian super-spy.
Reuniting with her Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence, the
other Lawrence going for her James Bond is obviously intriguing. Plus, the
scope and style of the film looks legit.
A Wrinkle In Time
(March 9)
Ava DuVernay’s family adventure is based on the Madeleine
L’Engle book everyone read growing up, about a young girl who goes on an epic
adventure through time and space to find her lost father. Featuring Storm Reid,
Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine and others, A
Wrinkle In Time has the cross-generational appeal that could make it a
classic.
Strangers: Prey at Night (March 9)
A sequel to the cult 2008 film The Strangers,
Strangers: Prey at Night follows the same bad guys from the first
film, but on a larger scale. That time they just terrorized a family in a
house. Now they are terrorizing them on a road trip. Christina Hendricks
of Mad Men fame is the film’s biggest star and while the whole
thing doesn’t sound particularly exciting to people who haven’t seen the
original, if you’ve seen the original, this is cool.
Tomb Raider
(March 16)
It’s been 15 years since the last Tomb Raider movie,
but now Lara Croft is back and played by Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander
in a story that’s rumored to dive a little bit deeper into the character’s
origins. Trailers haven’t exactly been mind-blowing but anyone who has ever
played the recent (and excellent) Tomb Raider video game knows
the potential here.
Pacific Rim Uprising (March 23)
John Boyega stars in the sequel to the 2013 film about
humanity building giant robots to fight giant monsters. Daredevil’s Steven
S. DeKnight is at the helm and if the trailers are any indication, the massive
action audiences saw in the first film will be nothing compared to this. The
biggest question, though, is will U.S. audiences who didn’t fully embrace the
original get on board for the sequel?
Sherlock Gnomes
(March 23)
A sequel to 2011's Gnomeo and Juliet, the couple
head to London and are forced to call none other than Sherlock Gnomes to help
solve a case. Which, we know, sounds so dumb, but the voice cast is wild:
There’s James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Maggie Smith, Michael
Caine, Stephen Merchant, Mary J. Blige, and more.
Isle of Dogs
(March 23)
New Wes Anderson Movie alert! And better yet, if you’re a
fan of Fantastic Mr. Fox, New Wes Anderson Stop-Motion Animated
Movie alert! With a voice cast that beats Sherlock Gnomes (Bryan
Cranston, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Yoko Ono, Ken Watanabe, and
so many more) one of this generation’s best filmmakers tackles a story about a
boy on an island of dogs trying to find his pup. Anything Anderson does is
worth watching and this will likely be no exception.
Ready Player One
(March 30)
The GOAT, Steven Spielberg, directs an adaptation of the
popular, but divisive, pop culture novel by Ernie Cline. Ready Player
One is about a future where people spend their lives in virtual
reality. However, when the creator of that world dies, a generation competes to
solve the mysteries he left behind that are worth billions—mysteries only
solved by an encyclopedic knowledge of ‘80s pop culture... including
Spielberg’s own movies. Balancing the high-tech visuals and overload of
nostalgia with character and story will be difficult but, if anyone can do it,
it’s Spielberg. Here’s hoping he can fix the story’s other
problems, too.
The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales (March TBD)
The creators of the Oscar-nominated short Ernest
& Celestine have made a feature about three interlocking stories
on a farm that blends slapstick humor with important messages. Or so we’ve
read. We don’t know much about this one but anytime animation strives to be
more than simple family fodder, it’s nice.
April
A Quiet Place
(April 6)
John Krasinski directs and co-stars with his wife Emily
Blunt in this eerie-looking thriller about a world where, if you make noise,
something will come and kill you. What is it? No clue, but we’re definitely
interested in finding out.
The New Mutants
(April 13)
Another delightfully unique film set in the X-Men movie
universe, director Josh Boone places a bunch of young mutants in a mental
hospital. It looks more like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest than
a superhero movie, and that’s exactly what we love about it. The Witch’s
Anya Taylor-Joy, Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton and Game
of Thrones’ Maisie Williams co-star.
Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero (April 13)
The true story of a dog who walked off the street during
World War I and, somehow, became a hero. It’s a charming story to make a movie
out of and if you’re a pet lover, the trailer will kind of melt your heart. But
in a year of major animated films, it feels like Sgt. Stubby is
going to get overlooked.
Rampage (April
20)
Hey, kids from the ‘80s—remember that arcade game where you
and your friends took control of an ape, a lizard, and a werewolf and used them
to destroy buildings as fast as you could? Well that’s now a movie starring
Dwayne Johnson. The
trailer looks like it has way too much story and not nearly enough
smashy but it’s a Rock movie, so we’ll give it the benefit of the doubt for
now.
May
Avengers: Infinity War (May 4)
This is it. The film everything every Marvel movie since
2008 has been leading towards. All of the Avengers, the Guardians of the
Galaxy, and more come together to battle Thanos, who’s on the hunt to complete
his Infinity Gauntlet. It actually gives us a headache to think about how big
this movie could be but we
couldn’t be more excited.
How to Talk to Girls at Parties (May 11 UK)
Based on a story by Neil Gaiman and directed by John Cameron
Mitchell, How to Talk to Girls at Parties in a story about
British boys who meet some strange girls at a party, who turn out to be aliens.
Unfortunately, buzz on the film off the festival circuit hasn’t been great and
it doesn’t yet have a U.S. release date, but we’re still curious.
Slender Man
(May 18)
The creepy internet myth that resulted in some kids actually
committing murder is being given its very own (fiction) movie. Whether the film
goes the literal route, with Slender Man gaining notoriety online, or more
mythological, with him just being an ancient terror, we don’t know.
Solo: A Star Wars Story (May 25)
Yes, a new Star Wars movie may currently be
in theaters, but another one is coming in a few short months. The second “Star
Wars Story” will tell the tale of a young Han Solo, played by Alden Ehrenreich,
and how he became the beloved smuggler. Donald Glover plays Lando Calrissian,
Woody Harrelson is in it, Thandie Newton is in it, Paul Bettany’s there, the
list goes on and on. Now, if only we could see a trailer...
June
Untitled Deadpool Sequel (June 1)
That’s not the final title, at least we don’t think. Knowing
Deadpool, it could end up that way, though. Either way, Ryan Reynolds returns
as the Merc with the Mouth and this time he’s brought along Domino (Zazie
Beetz), Cable (Josh Brolin), and God knows what else. Expect a lot of jokes
about sequels and plenty of ridiculous shit, as you can see from one of the
most unconventional teasers in film history.
The Incredibles 2
(June 15)
Picking up where the 2004 masterpiece left off, Incredibles
2 continues the adventure of everyone’s favorite family of
superheroes. Brad Bird is back directing and though we don’t know much about
the plot just yet, we know part of it will revolve around the youngest
Incredible, Jack Jack, figuring out just what powers he has.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (June 22)
When last we left our favorite previously extinct species,
they were once again set free to roam a suddenly defunct theme park. In this
sequel, though, the former employees of that park must now travel back to save
the dinosaurs from a volcano that could wipe them out for good. Again. Why
that’s a bad thing when they are obviously so dangerous? We’ll have to wait and
see. But Jeff Goldblum is back, so it can’t be all bad.
July
The Purge: The Island (July 4)
The fourth film in the Purge franchise
won’t go forwards, it’s going backwards—it’s about the first Purge,
which was isolated only to Staten Island as a test. Obviously, we know from the
three sequels that the test went pretty well, so hopefully there’s more to it.
Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 6)
Little is known about the story Ant-Man and the Wasp is
going to tell, especially since it’s coming after Infinity War. We
do know that Evangeline Lilly takes a starring role as the Wasp and Michelle
Pfeiffer joins the cast as her mother Janet van Dyne, long thought lost to the
Quantum Realm. The first film was all right but this one will end up better.
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (July 13)
What if monsters who owned a hotel went on their own
vacation? Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, that’s what. For
the sequel, the monster family with the famous voices (Adam Sandler, Andy
Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Mel Brooks) sets off on a cruise to get away
from their worries but, wouldn’t you know it? Things don’t go according to plan
for the Drac Pack.
The Nun (July
13)
The Nun is the latest film in the Conjuring Cinematic
Universe. Demian Bichir and Taissa Farmiga play a priest and a soon-to-be nun
sent to Romania to investigate the case of a nun who killed herself. There they
find themselves tangled up with the terrifying spirit audiences saw in The
Conjuring 2. Horror in the summer usually works, so The Nun could
be a sleeper hit.
Alita: Battle Angel (July 20)
Director Robert Rodriguez and producer James Cameron team up
to bring the popular manga to life. A cyborg, seemingly thought to be trash,
soon realizes that she’s much more important and deadly than she ever thought.
Rosa Salazar is the assassin cyborg, Alita, and she’s joined by Christoph
Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, and Jackie Earle Haley.
Yes the eyes are unnaturally big, but so is the potential—hopefully.
Mission: Impossible 6 (July 27)
Director Christopher McQuarrie becomes the first Mission:
Impossibledirector to do two films in a row as he brings back Tom Cruise
and the rest of the team for another big-time action blockbuster. New additions
to the case include Henry Cavill as well as Henry Cavill’s mustache, which
caused so
many problems for Justice League.
Teen Titans Go! to the Movies (July 27)
In a meta twist on the popular show, the Teen Titans head to
Hollywood to get a movie made, because every other superhero is getting a movie
made. However, their plan is derailed by a supervillain trying to take over the
world. Oh, and there’s musical numbers.
August
The Predator
(Aug. 3)
Shane Black, who helped write and co-starred in the
original Predator, is now in control of a brand new chapter of the
storied franchise. This time, the alien hunter is rumored to be terrorizing a
more suburban setting. How, or if, this film fits in with the original series
we don’t quite know, but Black’s return alone is enough to get us pumped.
Untitled Christopher Robin Project (Aug. 3)
Ewan McGregor plays the boy who used to be Winnie the Pooh’s
best friend, now all grown up. However, years later, he has to go back to the
Hundred-Acre Wood to see Pooh, Piglet, and the gang. Hayley Atwell plays his
wife and Marc Forester (Finding Neverland) directs.
The Meg (Aug.
10)
Jason Statham vs. a 75-foot megalodon. What more do you need
to know? Okay, well, a submarine has been trapped underwater after an encounter
with the largest, fiercest, shark imaginable. The clock is ticking so, in order
to save them, a deep-sea rescue expert (Statham, obviously) is recruited to
take the mega-shark down.
Captive State
(Aug. 17)
John Goodman and Vera Farmiga star in the latest film from
Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) where aliens have taken up
residence in future Chicago. The film explores how that impacts the lives on
humans and aliens alike. Not much is known about it beyond that but it’s
obviously a ripe premise.
The Happytime Murders (Aug. 17)
Brian Henson, son of the late, great Jim Henson, is back
where he belongs, making puppet movies. This one is an R-rated caper starring
Melissa McCarthy, a cop who, along with her puppet partner, must solve a series
of murders tied to a famed ‘80s puppet TV family. So, imagine if like the cast
of The Brady Bunch started getting killed, but they were
puppets. That’s this movie.
Cadaver (Aug.
24)
Cadaver is about a young cop who is forced to
work in a morgue, where things start to go very bad when a mysterious new
corpse is brought in. The problem here is that the film was supposed to be
released last August. So, a one-year delay probably means it’s either
bad, really bad, or so good they wanted to finish it right and
give it a prime release date.
Kin (Aug. 31)
Two brothers are on the run from a vicious criminal. Their
only protection? A mysterious, possibly alien, weapon. Based on a 2015 short
film, Kin stars James Franco as the villain, Jack Reynor is
one of the brothers, Dennis Quaid as the father, and Zoë Kravitz as the woman
who ends up on the run with them. It’s a very cool premise with a very cool
cast but it’s too soon to know much more than that.
September
The Darkest Minds
(Sept. 14)
Based on the YA novel by Alexandra Bracken, The
Darkest Minds sounds like a kind of post-apocalyptic, Maze
Runner-esque version of the X-Men where a disease has killed
most of the kids on Earth. Some of the ones who survived, however, have
developed mysterious powers. Most of the stars are younger but Gwendoline
“Captain Phasma” Christie plays a bounty hunter.
The House With a Clock In Its Walls (Sept. 21)
Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Kyle McLachlan, and others star
in this Eli Roth-directed adaptation of a gothic fantasy young adult novel by
John Bellairs. It’s set in a world with witches, warlocks, magic and more, much
of which hinges on a mysterious clock. Which is indeed in the walls of a house.
Robin Hood
(Sept. 21)
Yup. A new Robin Hood movie. But before you skip and scroll
down, though, listen to this cast. Kingman’s Taron Edgerton as
Robin. Jamie Foxx as Little John. Jamie Dornan as Will Scarlett. Ben Mendelsohn
as the Sheriff of Nottingham. Right?!
The Kid Who Would Be King (Sept. 28)
Attack the Block director Joe Cornish finally
helms another film, this one a family adventure about a group of kids fighting
some kind of medieval threat. Little is know about the film but rumor has it it
might be about a young boy discovering Excalibur and then being forced to save
the world. But really all we need to know is “The follow-up to Attack
the Block.”
Smallfoot
(Sept. 28)
What would a Bigfoot call a human? Smallfoot, of course, at
least in this animated film that flips the Bigfoot legend on its head. Channing
Tatum is the lead voice and he’s joined by Zendaya, Lebron James, Danny DeVito,
and others.
October
Venom (Oct. 5)
The first film in Sony’s Spider-Man-less, Spider-Man Movie
Universe stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, a man who is infected by an alien
symbiote to become the supervillain Venom. The cast for this Marvel offshoot is
impressive (Riz Ahmed, Michelle Williams, Woody Harrelson, etc.) but we’re
still confused how Venom can exist without Spider-Man.
Halloween (Oct.
19)
John Carpenter’s iconic horror franchise returns to the big
screen with Jamie Lee Curtis reprising her role as Laurie Strode, would-be
sister to ultra-killer Michael Myers. The film is rumored to take place after
the first and maybe second Halloween films to try and smooth
out the timeline, but also act as a reboot. There’s no way the original could
be topped but, if this even comes close, it’ll be excellent.
Mowgli (Oct.
19)
Two years ago, Disney had a huge hit with their digital
remake of The Jungle Book, but at the same time Andy
Serkis was directing a different take on the Rudyard Kipling story.
Employing performance capture over fully digital creations, Serkis has
assembled an insane cast to play the animals, including Christian Bale, Cate
Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Naomie Harris, Eddie Marsan and, of course,
Serkis himself.
Overlord (Oct.
26)
This J.J. Abrams-produced period horror film is about two
American soldiers shot down behind enemy lines in World War II. But they don’t
just have to worry about Nazis, they have to worry about Nazis who are zombies.
Wyatt Russell is one of the soldiers and Julius Avery directs.
November
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (Nov. 2)
The classic holiday tale gets a “dark” retelling that looks
pretty vibrant if we do say so ourselves. Lasse Hallström directs
Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, Keira Knightley, and others in a new adaptation
that takes the story—and the ballet— to a new level.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix (Nov. 2)
Producer and writer Simon Kinberg makes his directorial
debut with the latest main story X-Men film. Professor X,
Magneto, and Mystique are back along with the younger versions of Cyclops,
Nightcrawler, and Jean Grey—the last of whom will become the ultra-powerful
destroyer of worlds called the Dark Phoenix. Not only is it based on one of
the most famous and most loved comic storylines of all time, it’s the movie
promising to finally take the X-Men into space.
The Grinch
(Nov. 9)
A new spin on the classic Dr. Seuss story, Benedict
Cumberbatch provides the voice of the Grinch in this computer-animated film.
Though we don’t know exactly how it’s going to adapt the near-perfect holiday
classic, it seems that part of it will explain how the Grinch grew up and got
so damn mean.
Holmes & Watson (Nov. 9)
Will Ferrell is Sherlock Holmes. John C. Reilly is John
Watson. Really, not much more needs to be said than that. It’s two of the
funniest men in the world, working together again, in a mystery comedy setting
that’s sure to get completely weird and bananas. We can’t wait.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Nov. 16)
Newt Scamander is back, but this time he’s teaming up with a
young Albus Dumbeldore to tangle with the great dark wizard, Grindelwald. Or,
something like that. All the original cast is back, including Johnny Depp as
the title villain (sigh),
and Jude Law as Dumbledore. The first movie was fine but forgettable, but maybe
J.K. Rowling can keep the Harry Pottermagic alive.
Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 (Nov. 21)
The sequel to Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph finds
Ralph and Vanelope on the search for a part to fix the game Sugar Rush,
when they get sucked into the wild, infinite world of the internet. Expect
cameos galore from all of Disney’s franchises, every tech company you can
imagine, and goodness knows what else.
December
Mortal Engines
(Dec. 14)
Peter Jackson and his team are great at building worlds, and
they’re going to have a build a bunch for Mortal Engines. That’s
because it’s literally about building worlds. Well, cities at least. Cities
that travel around the world and suck up smaller settlements. The fact that
there’s a teaser trailer a year from release bodes well for the studio’s
confidence in the film and we trust in Jackson’s ability to pick and help
facilitate great stories.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Dec. 14)
While Peter Parker is fighting an Infinity War, Miles
Morales is entering the Spider-Verse. This big-screen animated Spider-Man film,
produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, will finally bring Morales to life on
the big-screen, and tell a story where he, and others, all have spider-based
abilities. It’s a new spin on the story, pun intended, but the teaser trailer
looks amazing.
Aquaman (Dec.
21)
The next film in the DC universe will tell us the story of
Arthur Curry, a.k.a. Aquaman, who was one of the most fun elements in
2017's Justice League. Now we’ll get to visit his underwater world
as he struggles with being the half-human, rightful prince of Atlantis.
Director James Wan assembled a great cast, and though DC has struggled,
hopefully this solo superhero film will be more Wonder Woman and Justice
League.
Bumblebee
(Dec. 21)
For the first time, a Transformers movie
opens in the winter instead of summer, maybe in hopes of enjoying a non-Star
Wars-dominated holiday season. However, not all the Transformers are taking
the trip. Just Bumblebee, now as lovable VW Bug. And Michael Bay isn’t
directing; instead, it’s Travis Knight who made Kubo and the Two
Strings. That alone has us ultra-curious about this one, and a more focused
story couldn’t hurt either.
Mary Poppins Returns (Dec. 25)
Both a sequel to, and a reboot of, the iconic 1964 film.
Emily Blunt takes on the title role as Mary returns, obviously, to help the
kids of the kids of the first movie. Early glimpses at the D23 Expo looked
excellent and having Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda along for the
ride as the new chimney sweep can only help with the film’s nigh-impossible to
live-up-to-legacy.
TBD
Mute (Netflix)
Moon and Warcraft director
Duncan Jones finally gets to make his dream film, which stars Alexander
Skarsgård as a mute bartender in futuristic Berlin who has to find his missing
girlfriend. Paul Rudd co-stars and, somehow, this links to Moon.
All you needed to tell us was “Duncan Jones scifi” though, and we were going
there anyway.
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