Christmas is long gone, the new year has begun and with that we definitely look forward to what films are coming out in 2018; there’s big movies, small movies, some no one asked for (we’re looking at you Death Wish). But even so, we at No Majesty are presenting you with the 2018 edition of what to look out for in the year ahead.
JANUARY
MOLLY’S GAME
History / Drama / Crime
dir. Aaron Sorkin
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Jeremy Strong, Bill Camp, Chris O’Dowd, Brian d’Arcy James, Grahame Greene
Plot: The true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world’s most elite high stakes poker game and became an FBI target.
Expect: Quick talking, quick hands, quick thrills.
Read: Molly’s Game review
ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD
Crime / History / Mystery / Drama
dir. Ridley Scott
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Williams, Charlie Plummer, Christopher Plummer, Stacy Martin, Timothy Hutton, Charlie Shotwell, Olivia Grant
Plot: When J. Paul Getty, the richest man in the history of the world, is told his grandson John Paul Getty III has been kidnapped he shocks the world, and earns the ire of his daughter-in-law, by refusing the pay the ransom.
Expect: Zero Kevin Spacey.
Read: All the Money in The World review
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Black comedy / Drama / Crime
dir. Martin McDonagh
Starring: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Abbie Cornish, Peter Dinklage, Kerry Condon, Lucas Hedges, John Hawkes, Caleb Landry Jones, Zeljko Ivanek, Amanda Warren, Clarke Peters
Plot: A mother personally challenges the local authorities to solve her daughter’s murderer when they fail to make progress on the case.
Expect: Foul language. Fouler play.
Read: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri review
DARKEST HOUR
History / Drama / War / Biography
dir. Joe Wright
Starring: Gary Oldman, Lily James, Ben Mendelsohn, Kristin Scott Thomas, Stephen Dillane, Hannah Steele, Samuel West, Adrian Rawlins, Ronald Pickup
Plot: During the early days of World War II, the fate of Western Europe hangs on the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Hitler, or fight on against incredible odds.
Expect: Awards Victory! Fight them on the beaches…
COCO
Animation / Adventure / Comedy / Musical
dir. Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina
Starring: Anthony Gonzalez, Gael Garcia Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renee Victor, Jaime Camil, Alfonso Arau, Grabriel Iglesias, Lombardo Boyar
Plot: Aspiring musician Miguel, confronted with his family’s ancestral ban on music, enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer.
Expect: Beautiful music, incredible animation, a visual treat.
DOWNSIZING
Comedy / Drama / Sci-Fi
dir. Alexander Payne
Starring: Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, Rolf Lassgård, Udo Kier, Jason Sudeikis, Kristen Wiig
Plot: A social satire in which a man realises life might be much better if he were to shrink himself.
Expect: Tiny Matt Damon.
THE POST
Biography / History / Drama
dir. Steven Spielberg
Starring: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenwood, Matthew Rhys, Alison Brie, Carrie Coon, Jesse Plemons, David Cross
Plot: A cover-up that spanned four U.S. Presidents pushed the country’s first female newspaper publisher and a hard-driving editor to join an unprecedented battle between journalist and government.
Expect: None of the President’s Men.
THE COMMUTER
Crime / Drama / Thriller / Action
dir. Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring: Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Sam Neill, Patrick Wilson, Jonathan Banks, Elizabeth McGovern, Letitia Wright, Andy Nyman, Clara Lago, Killian Scott
Plot: A businessman is caught up in a criminal conspiracy during his daily commute.
Expect: A commute still better than the 8:25 into London Victoria.
Read our review of The Commuter
12 STRONG
Action / Drama / War
dir. Nicholas Fuglsig
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, William Fichtner, Elsa Pataky, Taylor Sheridan, Michael Pena, Rob Riggle, Trevante Rhodes, Austin Stowell, Ben O’Toole
Plot: After 9/11 the first Special Forces team deployed to Afghanistan find themselves under new leadership and allying with an Afghan warlord to take down the Taliban.
Expect: A story so strange it must be true.
LAST FLAG FLYING
Comedy / Drama / War
dir. Richard Linklater
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburne, Steve Carell, J. Quinton Johnson, Deanna Reed-Foster, Yul Vazquez, Graham Wolfe, Jeff Monahan
Plot: Thirty years after they served together in Vietnam, a former Navy Corpsman Larry “Doc” Shepherd re-unites with his old buddies, former Marines Sal Nealon and Reverend Richard Mueller, to bury his son, a young marine killed in the Iraq War.
Expect: A touching, haunting story.
EARLY MAN
Animation / Adventure / Comedy
dir. Nick Park
Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Eddie Redmayne, Maisie Williams, Miriam Margolyes, Richard Ayoade, Timothy Spall, Mark Williams, Rob Brydon, Kayvan Novak, Johnny Vegas
Plot: Set at the dawn of time, when prehistoric creatures and woolly mammoths roamed the earth, Early Man tells the story of Dug, along with sidekick Hobnob as they unite his tribe against a mighty enemy, Lord Nooth and his Bronze Age City to save their home.
Expect: A welcome return from them at Aardman.
FEBRUARY
PHANTOM THREAD
Drama
dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Vicky Krieps, Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, Sue Clark, Joan Brown, Harriet Leitch, Cailla Rutherford, Gina McKee,
Plot: Set in 1950’s London, Reynolds Woodcock is a renowned dressmaker whose fastidious life is disrupted by a young , strong-willed woman, Alma, who becomes his muse, and his lover.
Expect: Daniel Day-Lewis to take out his big Gold Oscar Penis and wave it in our faces.
Read our review of Phantom Thread
ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ.
Crime / Drama
dir. Dan Gilroy
Starring: Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell, Carmen Ejogo, Amanda Warren, Hugo Armstrong, Tony Plana, Sam Gilroy, DeRon Horton
Plot: Roman J. Israel, Esq., a driven, idealistic defence attorney, finds himself in a tumultuous series of events that lead to a crisis and the necessity of extreme action.
Expect: Washington to get all Jimmy Stewart on our asses.
WINCHESTER: THE HOUSE THAT GHOSTS BUILT
Biography / Fantasy / horror
dir. Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Starring: Helen Mirren, Jason Clarke, Sarah Snook, Angus Sampson, Tyler Coppin, Eamon Farren, Laura Brent, Dawayne Jordon
Plot: Eccentric firearm heiress Sarah Winchester believes she is haunted by the souls of people killed by the Winchester repeating rifle.
Expect: A “true-story” with ghosts.
FIFTY SHADES FREED
Drama / Romance / Thriller
dir. James Foley
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Arielle Kebbel, Luke Grimes, Kim Basinger, Tyler Hoechlin, Max Martini, Eloise Mumford, Eric Johnson, Marcia Gay Harden, Callum Keith Rennie, Michelle Harrison, Rita Ora, Dylan Neal
Plot: Christian and Ana attempt to get married when forces around them converge to stop their blissful life.
Expect: Worst pornhub compilation ever.
Read our review of Fifty Shades Darker.
CLOVERFIELD MOVIE (FORMERLY GOD PARTICLE)
Horror / Mystery / Sci-Fi
dir. Julius Onah
Starring: Elizabeth Debicki, Daniel Bruhl, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris O’Dowd, Ziyi Zhang, David Oyelowo, John Ortiz, Aksel Hennie, Roger Davies
Plot: After a scientific experiment aboard the space station involving a particle accelerator has unexpected results, the astronauts find themselves isolated. Following their horrible discovery, the space station crew must fight for survival.
Expect: Given how the other two were absolute bangers, this should be awesome.
THE MERCY
Biography / Drama
dir. James Marsh
Starring: Colin Firth, Rachel Weisz, David Thewlis, Andrew Buchan, Jonathan Bailey, Genevieve Gaunt, Sebastian Armesto, Tim Fownie, Adrian Schiller, Sam Hoare, Kit Connor
Plot: Yachtsman Donald Crowhust’s disastrous attempt to win the 1968 Golden Globe Race ends up with him creating an outrageous account of travelling around the world alone by sea.
Expect: The Middle Aged Man and the Sea.
THE 15:17 TO PARIS
Drama / History
dir. Clint Eastwood
Starring: Jenna Fischer, Judy Greer, Lillian Solange Beaudoin, Bryce Gheisar, Jaleel White, Thomas Lennon, Tony Hale, Sinqua Walls, P.J. Byrne, Gary Weeks
Plot: American soldiers discover a terrorist plot on a Paris-bound train.
Expect: Minor delays on the action line.
BLACK PANTHER
Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi
dir. Ryan Coogler
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Andy Serkis, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown, John Kani, Florence Kasumba
Plot: T’Challa, after the death of his father – the King of Wakanda – returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation to succeed to the throne and take his rightful place as king.
Expect: The most important MCU entry to date.
Read our review of Black Panther
THE SHAPE OF WATER
Adventure / Drama / Fantasy
dir. Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Sally Hawkins, Doug Jones, Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Michael Stuhlbarg, David Hewlett, Nick Searcy
Plot: In a 1960s research facility, a mute janitor forms a relationship with an aquatic creature.
Expect: Gone with the Wave.
Read our review of The Shape of Water
LADY BIRD
Comedy / Drama
dir. Greta Gerwig
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet, Odeya Rush, Laurie Metcalf, Lucas Hedges, Kathryn Newton. Beanie Feldstein, Jake McDornan, Tracy Letts, Danielle Macdonald, Lois Smith, Laura Marano
Plot: In the early 2000s, an artistically-inclined seventeen year-old comes of age in Sacramento, California.
Expect: By the time it comes out, it’ll probably have a few Oscar nominations to it’s name, but hopefully, a fun sense of time and place.
Read our review of Lady Bird
JOURNEYMAN
Drama / Sport
dir. Paddy Considine
Starring: Paddy Considine, Jodie Whittaker, Paul Popplewell, Tony Pitts, Anthony Welsh
Plot: After boxer Matty Burton suffers a serious head injury during a fight, it has an impact of his marriage, his life and his family.
Expect: Considine’s best performance to date.
I, TONYA
Biography / Sport / Drama
dir. Craig Gillespie
Starring: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney, Bobby Cannavale, Mckenna Grace, Caitlin Carver, Julianne Nickolson, Catherine Dyer, Paul Walter Hauser
Plot: Competitive ice skater Tonya Harding rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the activity is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes.
Expect: Vicious war of words, and a true story like none other.
Read our review of I, Tonya
ANNIHILATION
Adventure / Drama / Fantasy
dir. Alex Garland
Starring: Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Oscar Isaac, Gina Rodriguez, Benedict Wong, David Gyasi, Cosmo Jarvis, Sonoya Mizuno, Tiva Novotny
Plot: A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition where the laws of nature don’t apply.
Expect: The best Sci-Fi movie of the year.
Read our review of Annihilation
MARCH
RED SPARROW
Thriller
dir. Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Mary-Louise Parker, Ciaran Hinds, Jeremy Irons, Charlotte Rampling, Matthias Schoenarts, Joely Richardson, Douglas Hodge
Plot: Ballerina Dominika Egorova is recruited to “Sparrow School” a Russian intelligence service where she is forced to use her body as a weapon. But her first mission, targeting a CIA agent, threatens to uravel the security of both nations.
Expect: Basically, it’s a Black Widow film.
Read our review of Red Sparrow
THE MEG
Action / Horror / Sci-Fi
dir. Jon Turteltaub
Starring: Jason Statham, Ruby Rose, Robert Taylor, Rainn Wilson, Jessica McNamee, Bingbing Li, Cliff Curtis, Olafur Darri Olafsson, Masi Oka
Plot: After escaping an attack by what he claims was a 70-foot shark, Jonas Taylor must confront his fears to save those trapped in a sunken submarine.
Expect: Jason Statham vs. A Big Damn Shark.
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
Drama / Mystery / Thriller
dir. Lynne Ramsay
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov, Allesandro Nivola, Judith Roberts, Alex Manette, John Doman
Plot: A missing teenage girl. A burtal and tormented enforcer on a rescue mission. Corrupt power and vengeance unleash a storm of violence that may lead to his awakening.
Expect: Ramsay to deliver another face kick of a movie – still the best female director working.
7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE
Crime / Drama / Thriller
dir. Jose Padilha
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Daniel Bruhl, Eddie Marsan, Ben Schnetzer, Nonso Anozie, Denis Menochet, Jamil Lemieszewski, Mark Ivanir, Lior Ashkenazi, Andrea Deck
Plot: Inspired by the true events of the 1976 hijacking of an Air France flight en route from Tel Aviv to Paris, and the most daring rescue mission ever attempted.
Expect: Nail biting tension, and great acting.
GRINGO
Action / Comedy / Drama
dir. Nash Edgerton
Starring: David Oyelowo, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Joel Edgerton, Thandie Newton, Shalto Copley, Kenneth Choi, Harry Treadaway, Alan Ruck, Michael Angarano
Plot: Businessman Harold Soyinka battles for survival when he finds himself crossing the line from law-abiding citizen to wanted criminal.
Expect: A timely, sharp, very funny satirical comedy.
LOVE, SIMON
Drama
dir. Greg Berlanti
Starring: Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, Alexandra Shipp, Talitha Eliana Bateman, Keiynan Lonsdale, Logan Miller, Tony Hale
Plot: Everyone deserves a great love story. But for Simon, it’s complicated: nobody knows he’s gay and he doesn’t know who the anonymous classmate is that he’s fallen in love with.
Expect: A fun coming of age film with a message about being yourself. There will probably be a decent joke about masturbation in there too, because… you know, high school and the like.
TOMB RAIDER
Action / Adventure
dir. Roar Uthaug
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Hannah John-Kamen, Walton Goggins, Kristin Scott Thomas, Dominic West, Nick Frost, Daniel Wu
Plot: Lara Croft, the fiercely independent daughter of a missing adventurer, must push herself beyond her limits when she finds herself on the island where her father disappeared.
Expect: We said this about Assassin’s Creed, but the best video game movie – ever.
Read our review of Tomb Raider
PACIFIC RIM UPRISING
Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi
dir. Steven S. DeKnight
Starring: John Boyega, Tian Jing, Scott Eastwood, Adria Arjona, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman, Rinko Kikuchi, Nick E. Tarabay, Dustin Clare, Cailee Spaeny, Karan Brar, Daniel Feuerriegel
Plot: Jake Pentecost, son of Stacker Pentecost, reunites with Mako Mori to lead a new generation of Jaegar pilots, including rival Lambert and 15-year-old hacker Amara, against a new Kaiju threat.
Expect: Jaeger Meister.
A WRINKLE IN TIME
Adventure / Family / Fantasy
dir. Ava DuVernay
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Levi Miller, Zach Galifianakis, Mindy Kaling, Michael Pena, Rowan Blanchard, Bellamy Young, Oprah Winfrey, Storm Reid, Daniel MacPhearson, Andre Holland, Will McCormack
Plot: After the disappearance of her scientist father, three peculiar beings send Meg, her brother, and her friend to space in order to find him.
Expect: An exciting film for the whole family from one of the best rising voices in American cinema.
PROUD MARY
Action / Thriller
dir. Babak Najafi
Starring: Taraji P. Henson, Neal McDonough, Danny Glover, Xander Berkley, Billy Brown, David Chen, Leah Procito, Margaret Avery, Jahi Di’Allo Winston, Owen Burke
Plot: Mary is a hitwoman working for an organised crime family in Boston. Her life is completely turned around when she meets a young boy whose path she crosses when a professional hit goes awry.
Expect: Blaxploitation at it’s finest.
UNSANE
Drama / Horror / Thriller
dir. Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Claire Foy, Juno Temple, Aimee Mullins, Amy Irving, Jay Pharaoh, Joshua Leonard, Colin Woodell, Sarah Stiles, Erin Wilhelmi
Plot: A young woman is involuntarily committed to a mental institution where she is confronted by her greatest fear — but is it real or a product of her delusion?
Expect: More proof retirement is not for Steven Soderbergh.
READY PLAYER ONE
Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi
dir. Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Hannah John-Kamen, Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance, Lena Waithe, Ralph Ineson, Julia Nickson, Letitia Wright
Plot: When the creator of a virtual reality world called the oasis dies, he releases a video in which he challenges all OASIS users to find his Easter Egg, which will give the finder his fortune. Wade Watts finds the first clue and starts a race for the Egg.
Expect: BEST. MOVIE. EVER.
Read our review of Ready Player One
ISLE OF DOGS
Animation / Adventure / Comedy
dir. Wes Anderson
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, Bryan Cranston, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Live Schreiber, Harvey Keitel, Kara Hayward, F. Murray Abraham, Courtney B. Vance, Ken Watanabe
Plot: Set in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy’s odyssey in search of his dog.
Expect: Homeward Bound III: I Think I’m Turning Japanese.
APRIL
A QUIET PLACE
Drama / Horror / Thriller
dir. John Krasinski
Starring: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Noah Jupe, Millicent Simmonds, Evangelina Cavoli, Cade Woodward
Plot: A family live an isolated existence in utter silence, for fear of an unknown threat that follows and attacks at any sound.
Expect: The most tense experience of the year.
Read our review of A Quiet Place
THE NEW MUTANTS
Action / Horror / Sci-Fi
dir. Josh Boone
Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Maisie Williams, Alice Braga, Happy Anderson, Henry Zaga, Blu Hunt, Thomas Kee
Plot: Five young mutants, just discovering their abilities while held in a secret facility against their will, fight to escape their past sins and save themselves.
Expect: A great new chapter in the X-Men movie saga.
RAMPAGE
Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi
dir. Brad Peyton
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kake Lacy, Malin Akerman, Joe Manganiello, Naomie Harris, Breanne Hill, Marley Shelton, Jack Quaid, P.J. Byrne
Plot: Based on the classic 1980s video game featuring apes and monsters destroying cities.
Expect: Uncle D kicking the crap out of some big damn monsters.
Read our review of Rampage
GHOST STORIES
Drama / Horror
dir. Jeremy Dyson, Andy Nyman
Starring: Martin Freeman, Alex Lawther, Andy Nyman, Jill Halfpenny, Nicholas Burns, Paul Whitehouse, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Daniel Hill, Derren Brown, Amy Doyle
Plot: Arch skeptic Professor Phillip Goodman embarks upon a terror-filled quest when he stumbles across a long-lost file containing details of three cases of inexplicable “hauntings”.
Expect: Scariest film of the year.
THE CHILDREN ACT
Drama
dir. Richard Eyre
Starring: Emma Thompson, Fionn Whitehead, Stanley Tucci, Ben Chaplin, Jason Watkins, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Rupert Vansittart, Rosie Cavaliero, Nicholas Jones, Anthony Calf
Plot: As her marriage to Jack founder, eminent High Court judge Fiona Maye has a life-changing decision to make at work – should she force a teenage boy, Adam, to have a blood transfusion that will save his life?
Expect: Intriguing drama, and a barnstorming central performance by Thompson.
TULLY
Comedy
dir. Jason Reitman
Starring: Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Ron Livingston, Mark Duplass
Plot: A comedy about motherhood.
Expect: Razor sharp dialogue.
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
Action / Adventure / Fantasy
dir. Joe Russo, Anthony Russo
Starring: Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Chris Pratt, Tessa Thompson, Josh Brolin, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth, Sebastian Stan, Zoe Saldana, Tom Holland, Chris Evans, Dave Bautista, Robert Downey Jr., Benedict Cumberbatch, Cobie Smulders, Jeremy Renner, Jon Favreau, Chadwick Boseman, Bradley Cooper, Paul Bettany, Vin Diesel, Peter Dinklage, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, Benicio Del Toro, Danai Gurira, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sean Gunn, Anthony Mackie, Benedict Wong, Terry Notary, Don Cheadle, Letitia Wright, Isabelle Amara, Winston Duke
Plot: The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to stop the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the world.
Expect: A film event a decade in the making.
Read our review of Avengers: Infinity War
MAY
GAME NIGHT
Action / Crime / Comedy
dir. John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman, Jesse Plemons, Kyle Chandler, Billy Magnussen, Kylie Bunbury, Joshua Mikel, Lamorne Morris, Sharon Horgan, Camille Chen
Plot: A group of friends who meet regularly for game nights find themselves trying to solve a murder mystery.
Expect: Jason Bateman being on his usual deadpan form, and possibly the comedy of the year.
Read our review of Game Night
SLENDER MAN
Horror
dir. Sylvain White
Starring: Joey King, Julia Goldani Telles, Annalise Basso, Jaz Sinclair, Javier Botet, Kevin Chapman, Michael Reilly Burke, Kayla Caulfield, Jessica Blank,
Plot: Unknown
Expect: Nosebleeds, shivers, sleepless nights.
Read our review of Slender Man
SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY
Action / Sci-Fi
dir. Ron Howard
Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, Paul Bettany, Joonas Suotamo, Warwick Davis, Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton, Clint Howard, Phoebe Waller-Bridge,
Plot: Han Solo and Chewbacca’s adventures before joining the Rebellion, including their early encounters with Lando Calrissian.
Expect: A bad feeling about this.
Read our review of Solo: A Star Wars Story
JUNE
UNTITLED DEADPOOL SEQUEL
Action / Adventure / Comedy
dir. David Leitch
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, T.J. MIller, Brianna Hildebrand, Zazie Beetz, Eddie Marsan, Karan Soni, Jack Kesy, Stefan Kapicic, Leslie Uggams, Julian Dennison
Plot: After surviving a near fatal knee boarding accident, a disfigured guidance counsellor struggles to fulfill his dream of becoming Poughkeepsie’s most celebrated French Bulldog breeder while also learning to cope with an open relationship. Searching to regain his passion for life, as well as a new stuffed unicorn, Wade must battle ninjas, tight assed metal men, and babysit a group of stereotypical side characters as he journeys around the world to discover the importance of family, friendship, and creative outlets for his very open-minded sex life. He manages to find a new lust for life being a do-gooder, a sparkly Hello Kitty backpack, all while earning the coveted coffee mug title of World’s Best 4th Wall Breaking Superhero.
Expect: X to gon’ give it to ya.
JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM
Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi
dir. J.A. Bayona
Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Jeff Goldblum, BD Wong, Daniella Pineda, Ted Levine, Toby Jones, James Cromwell, Geraldine Chaplin, Justice Smith, Rafe Spall
Plot: When the island’s dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen and Claire must mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event.
Expect: Life to… uh… find a way.
Read our review of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
OCEAN’S 8
Action / Crime / Thriller
dir. Gary Ross
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Olivia Munn, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Dakota Fanning, Anne Hathaway, Sarah Paulson, Richard Armitage, Katie Holmes, Helena Bonham Carter, Rihanna, James Corden, Mindy Kaling
Plot: Debbie Ocean, sister of Danny, puts together a team in order to mount the impossible heist of the yearly Met gala.
Expect: Heist thrills, and twists aplenty.
Read our review of Ocean’s 8
SOLDADO
Action / Crime / Drama
dir. Stefano Sollima
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Catherine Keener, Isabela Moner, Jeffrey Donovan, Matthew Modine, Christopher Heyerdahl, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ian Bohen,
Plot: A follow-up to the 2015 film “Sicario” which centers around the escalating war against drugs along the border of the United States and Mexico.
Expect: The Donald Trump seal of approval.
JULY
MARY SHELLEY
Biography / Drama / Romance
dir. Haifaa Al-Mansour
Starring: Elle Fanning, Maisie Williams, Douglas Booth, Stephen Dillance, Joanne Froggatt, Ben Hardy, Bel Pwley, Tom Sturridge, Hugh O’Conor
Plot: The love affair between poet Percy Shelley and 18 year old Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, which resulted in Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein
Expect: A gothic romance which a horror tinge.
INCREDIBLES 2
Animation / Action / Adventure
dir. Brad Bird
Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, John Ratzenberger, Samuel L. Jackson, Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener, Sarah Vowell
Plot: Bob Parr is left to care for Jack-Jack when Helen is out saving the world.
Expect: Having waited over ten years, who cares what it’s like, it’s going to be great!
SKYSCRAPER
Action
dir. Rawson Marshall Thurber
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Pablo Schreiber, Roland Møller, Kevin Rankin, Paul McGillion, Adrian Holmes, Byron Mann, Chin Han
Plot: A hostage-action-thriller set in China.
Expect: Dwayne “The Wok” Johnson.
Read our review of Skyscraper
ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL
Action / Adventure / Romance
dir. Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Rosa Salazar, Jennifer Connelly, Eiza Gonzalez, Christoph Waltz, Michelle Rodriguez, Ed Skrein, Mahershala Ali, Elle LaMont, Jackie Earle Haley, Casper Van Dien, Lana Condor
Plot: An action-packed story of one young woman’s journey to discover the truth of who she is and her fight to change the world.
Expect: Akira: Battle Royale Dark Angel
Read our review of Alita: Battle Angel
M:I 6 – MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
Action / Adventure / Thriller
dir. Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Vanessa Kirby, Rebecca Ferguson, Henry Cavill, Michelle Monaghan, Simon Pegg, Alec Baldwin, Angela Bassett, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris
Plot: Unknown
Expect: Tom Cruise running, and that catchy theme tune.
MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN
Musical / Comedy
dir. Ol Parker
Starring: Meryl Streep, Lily James, Christine Baranski, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard, Dominic Cooper, Julie Walters, Andy Garcia, Cher, Jeremy Irvine, Hugh Skinner
Plot: A follow-up to the 2008 smash hit.
Expect: Abba songs. Very camp versions of Abba songs.
Read our review of Mamma Mia! Here we go again
AUGUST
THE PREDATOR
Action / Adventure / Horror
dir. Shane Black
Starring: Boyd Holbrook, Olivia Munn, Jacob Tremblay, Yvonne Strahovski, Thomas Jane, Sterling K. Brown, Jake Busey, Keegan-Michael Key, Niall Matter, Edward James Olmos, Alfie Allen, Trevante Rhodes,
Plot: Follow up to 1987’s Predator.
Expect: One ugly muddafucka.
Read our review of The Predator
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP
Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi
dir. Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Hannah John-Kamen, Michelle Pfeiffer, Judy Greer, Michael Douglas, Walton Goggins, Michael Pena, Laurence Fishburne, Randall Park, David Dastmalchian, Abby Ruder Fortson
Plot: As Scott Lang balances being both a superhero and a father, Hope van Dyne and Dr Hank Pam present an urgent new mission that finds the Ant-Man fighting alongside The Wasp to uncover secrets from their past.
Expect: BIG MOVIE. TINY ACTION. MODERATE THREAT.
Read our review of Ant-Man and The Wasp
CAPTIVE STATE
Sci-Fi / Thriller
dir. Rupert Wyatt
Starring: Vera Farmiga, John Goodman, Madeline Brewer, Alan Ruck, Machine Gun Kelly, James Ransome, Kevin K. O’Connor, Kevin Dunn, Ashton Sanders, D.B. Sweeney
Plot: Set in Chicago neighbourhood nearly a decade after an occupation by an extra-terrestrial force, Captive State explores the lives on both sides of the conflict – the collaborators and dissidents.
Expect: A visually striking, intelligent science fiction thriller that poses big questions.
THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS
Comedy / Crime / Mystery
dir. Brian Henson
Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Joel McHale, Jimmy O. Yang, Leslie David Baker, Cynthy Wu, Colleen Smith.
Plot: When the puppet cast of an ‘80s children’s TV show are murdered one by one, a disgraced LAPD detective-turned-private eye puppet takes on the case.
Expect: Homocide – Life on the Sesame Street.
THE EQUALIZER 2
Action / Crime / Thriller
dir. Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, Ashton Sanders, Sakina Jaffrey, Mickey Gilmore, Jonathan Scarfe
Plot: Plot Unknown. Sequel to the 2014 film about a retired agent turned hired gun.
Expect: Denzel to mess up some dumb fools.
Read our review of The Equalizer 2
DISOBEDIENCE
Drama / Romance
dir. Sebastian Lelio
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Rachel Weisz, Alessandro Nivola, Anton lesser, Nicholas Woodeson, Cara Horgan, Alexis Zegerman, Allan Corduner
Plot: A woman returns to her Orthodox Jewish home after the death of her rabbi father and stirs up controversy when she shows an interest in an old childhood friend.
Expect: A powerful, touching drama.
Read our review of Disobedience
WHITE BOY RICK
Crime / Drama
dir. Yann Demange
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Eddie Marsan, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bruce Dern, Rory Cochrane, Piper Laurie, Brian Tyree Henry, RJ Cyler
Plot: A teenage, Richard Wershe Jr., becomes an undercover informant for the FBI during the 1980s and was ultimately arrested for drug-trafficking and sentenced to life in prison.
Expect: Alright… alright… al— shit.
SEPTEMBER
SLAUGHTERHOUSE RULEZ
Comedy / Horror
dir. Crispian Mills
Starring: Hermoine Corfield, Simon Pegg, Michael Sheen, Asa Butterfield, Finn Cole, Nick Frost, Jo Hartley
Plot: An illustrious British boarding school becomes a bloody battleground when a mysterious sinkhole appears at a nearby fracking site unleashing unspeakable horror.
Expect: Hogwarts of the Living Dead.
Read our review of Slaughterhouse Rulez
THE DARKEST MINDS
Sci-Fi / Thriller
dir. Jennifer Huh Nelson
Starring: Gwendoline Christie, Mandy Moore, Amandla Stenberg, Harris Dickinson, Patrick Gibson, Wallace Langham, Catherine Deyer, Mark O’Brien
Plot: After a disease kills 98% of America’s children, the surviving 2% develop superpowers and are placed in interment camps. A 16-year-old girl escapes her camp and joins a group of other teens on the run from the government.
Expect: The best that the YA subgenre has to offer.
CADAVER
Horror
dir. Diederik Van Rooijen
Starring: Stana Katic, Shay Mitchell, Grey Damon, Jacob Ming-Trent, Louis Herthum, James A. Watson Jr.
Plot: When a cop who is just out of rehab takes the graveyard shift in a city hospital morgue, she faces a series of bizarre, violent events caused by an evil entity in one of the corpses.
Expect: A nerve wracking series of things going bump in the night.
THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING
Adventure / Fantasy
dir. Joe Cornish
Starring: Rebecca Ferguson, Patrick Stewart, Tom Taylor, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Joey Ansah, Nick Mohammed, Eileen Davies
Plot: A band of kids embark on an epic quest to thwart a medieval menace.
Expect: Goonies for a new generation.
OCTOBER
VENOM
Action / Horror / Sci-Fi
dir. Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Jenny Slate, Woody Harrelson, Riz Ahmed
Plot: Unknown
Expect: Does whatever a monstrous version of a spider-man can, probably.
Read our review of Venom
SMALLFOOT
Animation / Comedy / Family
dir. Karen Kirkpatrick, Jason Reisig
Starring: Channing Tatum, Zendaya, Gina Rodriguez, Danny DeVito, James Corden, Common, Ely Henry, LeBron James, Yara Shahidi, Jimmy Tatro
Plot: A Yeti is convinced that the elusive creatures known as “humans” really do exist.
Expect: A charming animated adventure.
HALLOWEEN
Horror
dir. David Gordon Green
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak
Plot: Laurie Strode comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.
Expect: The catchy theme tune.
MOWGLI
Adventure / Family / Drama
dir. Andy Serkis
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Andy Serkis, Christian Bale, Benedict Cumberbatch, Naomie Harris, Eddie Marsan, Freida Pinto, Tom Hollander, Peter Mullan
Plot: An orphaned boy is raised in the wild.
Expect: Not to be like you-oo-oo.
THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN IT’S WALLS
Fantasy / Horror / Mystery
dir. Eli Roth
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, Kyle MacLachlan, Colleen Camp, Owen Vaccaro, Renee Elise Goldsberry
Expect: Possibly the strangest of all the releases this year.
NOVEMBER
X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX
Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi
dir. Simon Kinberg
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Tye Sheridan, Jessica Chastain, Olivia Munn, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Sophie Turner, Evan Peters, Nicholas Hoult, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alexandra Shipp
Plot: Jean Grey begins to develop incredible powers that corrupt and turn her into a Dark Phoenix. Now the X-Men will have to decide if the life of a team member is worth more than all the people living in the world.
Expect: Either a great film or the worst… probably the worst though.
Read our review of Dark Phoenix
FIRST MAN
Biography / Drama / History
dir. Damien Chazelle
Starring: Claire Foy, Jon Bernthal, Ryan Gosling, Pablo Schreiber, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Lukas Haas, Brian d’Arcy James, Patrick Fugit
Plot: A look at the life of the astronaut Neil Armstrong and the legendary space mission that lead him to become the first man to walk on the Moon.
Expect: Oscars, probably.
HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS
Animation / Comedy / Family
dir. Peter Candeland, Yarrow Cheney
Starring: Benedict Cumerbatch
Plot: A grumpy Grinch plots to ruin Christmas for the villagers of Whoville.
Expect: Once in a snowflake like the one on your sleeve there happened a story you must see to believe.
HOLMES AND WATSON
Adventure / Comedy / Mystery
dir. Etan Cohen
Starring: Will Ferrell, Noah Jupe, Rebecca Hall, Ralph Fiennes, Kelly Macdonald, John C. Reilly, Hugh Laurie, Lauren Lapkus, Pam Ferris, Rob Brydon
Plot: A humourous take on Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic mysteries featuring Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.
Expect: A lot more jokes about bodily functions than Basil Rathbone ever had.
WIDOWS
Crime / Drama / Thriller
dir. Steve McQueen
Starring: Elizabeth Debicki, Jon Bernthal, Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell, Daniel Kaluuya, Michelle Rodriguez, Carrie Coon, Garret Dillahunt, Robert Duvall, Viola Davis, Lukas Haas, Jacki Weaver, Andre Holland
Plot: Set in contemporary Chicago, amidst a time of turmoil, four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands’ criminal activities take fate into their own hands and conspire to forge a fortune on their own terms.
Expect: Best crime movie of the year – sorry Ocean’s 8.
Read our review of Widows
FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD
Adventure / Family / Fantasy
dir. David Yates
Starring: Johnny Depp, Ezra Miller, Katherine Waterston, Jude Law, Zoe Kravitz, Eddie Redmayne, Alison Sudol, Carmen Ejogo, Callum Turner, Don Fogler, Claudia Kim, Olfar Darri Olafsson
Plot: The second instalment of the Fantastic Beasts series which follows the adventures of Newt Scamander.
Expect: Johnny Depp to be his usual terrible self.
Read our review of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET: WRECK-IT RALPH 2
Animation / Adventure / Comedy
dir. Phil Johnston, Rich Moore
Starring: John C. Reilly, Jane Lynch, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Anika Noni Rose, Kristen Bell, Mandy Moore, Alan Tudyk, Kelly Macdonald, Idina Menzel, Auli’i Cravalho, Anthony Daniels, Taraji P. Henson, James Corden, Ming-Na Wen
Plot: 6 years after the events of the first film, Ralph and Vanellope – now friends – discover a wi-fi router in their arcade, leading them into a new adventure.
Expect: A thrilling, often silly, animated adventure.
DECEMBER
MORTAL ENGINES
Fantasy / Sci-Fi
dir. Christian Rivers
Starring: Hugo Weaving, Stephen Lang, Robert Sheehan, Jihae, Colin Salmon
Plot: Many years after the “Sixty Minute War” cities survive a now desolate Earth by moving around on ginat wheels attacking and devouring smaller towns to replenish their resources.
Expect: Visuals that will make you believe in the power of cinema.
AQUAMAN
Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi
dir. James Wan
Starring: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe, Dolph Lundgren, Patrick Wilson, Graham McTavish, Temuera Morrison, Michael Beach, Ludi Lin, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Patrick Cox
Plot: Arthur Curry learns that he is the heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis and must step forward to lead his people and to be a hero to the world.
Expect: The Dothraki to stop fearing water.
Read our review of Aquaman
MARY POPPINS RETURNS
Family / Fantasy / Musical
dir. Rob Marshall
Starring: Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Dick Van Dyke, Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Emily Mortimer, Ben Whishaw, Julie Walters, Angela Lansbury, David Warner
Plot: In Depression-era London, a now-grown Jane and Michael Banks, along with Michael’s three children, are visited by the enigmatic Mary Poppins following a personal loss.
Expect: Spoons full of sugar.
Read our review of Mary Poppins
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
Biography / Drama / Music
dir. Bryan Singer, Dexter Fletcher
Starring: Rami Malek, Aiden Gillen, Mike Myers, Lucy Boynton, Joseph Mazzello, Tom Hollander, Allen Leech, Ben Hardy, Gwilym Lee, Aaron McCusker
Plot: A chronicle of the years leading up to Queen’s legendary appearance at the Live Aid concert in 1985.
Expect: MOUSTACHES. QUEEN. ROCK MUSIC. BICYCLES.
Read our review of Bohemian Rhapsody
