Will this be the year we finally see a movie adapted from a video game (or even two!) that doesn't suck? How will Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence gel on-screen together? Will DC be able to steal some of Marvel's thunder? These and other questions abound as we finish off our list of 20 movies to be excited about this year.
Be sure to check the other 10 flicks in part 1 of our list.
10. The Nice Guys
May 20
The Nice Guys takes place in 1970s Los Angeles, when down-on-his-luck private eye Holland March (Ryan Gosling) and hired enforcer Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) must work together to solve the case of a missing girl (Margaret Qualley) and the seemingly unrelated death of a porn star. During their investigation, they uncover a shocking conspiracy that reaches up to the highest circles of power.
So Russel Crowe is back to "fightin' 'round the world", and from the first trailer, this one looks to have a healthy dose of comedy thrown in with the action.
9. Assassin's Creed
May 20
I was expecting this to be another video game adaptation bust (2010's Prince of Persia comes to mind) until I heard Michael Fassbender would be playing the role of Callum the assassin. The synopsis below doesn't sound all that enticing, but Michael Fassbender has yet to turn out a dud. Well okay, there was Jonah Hex.
Callum Lynch discovers that his ancestor Aguilar, from 15th century Spain, was an Assassin. Callum relives Aguilar's memories to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to confront the Templars — age-old enemies of the Assassins — in the present day.
8. Story of Your Life
May 20
When alien craft land across the world, a linguist expert is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat. As she learns to communicate with the aliens, she begins experiencing vivid flashbacks that become the key to unlocking the greater mystery about the true purpose of their visit.
The film, based on an award-winning short story by Ted Chiang, stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whittaker. And it's directed by Denis Villeneuve, whose track record (Prisoners, Enemy, Sicario) has our expectations very high.
7. The Jungle Book
April 15
Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is a human boy raised by the Indian wolves Raksha (Lupita Nyong'o) and Akela (Giancarlo Esposito) ever since his baby form was brought to them by Bagheera the black panther (Ben Kingsley). When the fearsome Bengal tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba) threatens his life, Mowgli leaves his jungle home. Guided by Bagheera and Baloo the bear (Bill Murray), he sets out on a journey of self-discovery while evading the man-hunting Shere Khan. Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who do not exactly have his best interests at heart. Scarlett Johansson and Christopher Walken also star.
6. Passengers
December 21
A spacecraft traveling to a distant colony planet and transporting thousands of people has a malfunction in one of its sleep chambers. As a result, a single passenger (Chris Pratt) is awakened 60 years early. Faced with the prospect of growing old and dying alone, he eventually decides to wake up a second passenger (Jennifer Lawrence) from cryogenic sleep.
If you're going to choose one person to hang out with on a lonely spaceship, you could do a whole lot worse than Jennifer Lawrence. You'd imagine her character won't be thrilled about it, but Lawrence had this to say of Chris Pratt: "He's cotton candy in human form."
5. Jason Bourne
July 29
Matt Damon returns to his most iconic role in Jason Bourne. Paul Greengrass, the director of The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, once again joins Damon for the next chapter of Universal Pictures’ Bourne franchise, which finds the CIA’s most lethal former operative drawn out of the shadows.
Little is known about the plot of this one, but the teaser trailer shows police in riot gear, a chase in Vegas, and a beefed up Damon laying some smackdown.
4. Warcraft
June 10
Blizzard first announced their plans to bring the uber-popular Warcraft games to the big screen back in May 2006. 10 years and a couple big investments from Chinese firms Tencent and China Film Group, and we've got our movie.
Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization, led by the humans, faces a fearsome race of invaders: orc warriors fleeing their dying world of Draenor to find their place in another. As a gateway known as the Dark Portal opens to connect the two worlds, the humans face destruction while the orcs face extinction. Anduin Lothar (Travis Fimmel), leader of the humans, and Durotan (Toby Kebbell), leader of the orcs, are then sent on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people and their home.
3. X-men: Apocalypse
May 27
Since ancient times, the first and most powerful mutant, Apocalypse—immortal and invincible—has been worshipped as a god. But when Apocalypse awakens from hibernation of thousands of years and decides to end humanity, Professor Xavier and co. have something to say about it.
This is the ninth (wow, we're old) installment of the X-Men franchise, and is a sequel to the stellar Days of Future Past. Hugh Jackman's Wolverine will be absent for the first time, but newcomers Sophie Turner (as Jean Grey), Tye Sheridan (as Cyclops), Kodi Smit-McPhee (as Nightcrawler), and Lucas Till (as Havok) give the X-Men some added firepower.
2. Suicide Squad
August 5
What happens when you recruit a bunch of supervillains to save the day? A whole lot of chaos, from the looks of it.
There are plenty of reasons to be excited about Suicide Squad, one of which is the ensemble cast that includes Will Smith (a deadly sniper) and Jared Leto (as Joker), a character whose go-to weapon is a boomerang, Killer Croc, and the bubble-gum-popping-lunatic Harley Quinn. But what really gets us amped is hearing "Bohemian Rhapsody" amid all the destruction in the trailer.
1. Captain America: Civil War
May 20
You might as well consider this one Avengers 3, given that Iron Man, Black Widow, Bucky Barnes and others are joining the action.
One year after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, politicians form a system of accountability and a governing body to determine when to call in the Avengers team. When Steve Rogers attempts to protect his friend Bucky Barnes from this act, he is brought into conflict with Tony Stark. This results in the fracturing of the Avengers into two opposing factions–one led by Rogers, who wishes to operate without regulation, and the other led by Stark, who supports government oversight. Meanwhile, the world is threatened by a new enemy.
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