This year was a pretty damn impressive one for movies, featuring Richard Linklater’s 12-years-in-the-making masterpiece Boyhood, revered filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson’s gonzo neo-noir Inherent Vice, and Laura Poitras’s eye-opening, history-capturing documentary Citizenfour chronicling the plight of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. But 2015 promises to be one of the best years in quite some time at the cinema, featuring everything from hotly anticipated blockbusters like Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Avengers: Age of Ultron to new movies by celebrated directors Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Gus Van Sant, and a pair of movies courtesy of reclusive filmmaker Terrence Malick. Here are all the movies we’re looking forward to this year.
Marvel Studios
Liam Neeson reportedly agreed to do a third and final chapter of the Taken trilogy on the condition that no one gets taken, so this flick offers a different spin. Neeson’s former superagent Bryan Mills is accused of the murder of his wife, Lenore (Famke Janssen), and scours Los Angeles to find the people responsible and clear his good name. Forest Whitaker joins the fray as Frank Doztler, an inspector on Mills’ tail, and Dougray Scott features as the porny-named Stuart St. John, Lenore’s filthy-rich husband. Expect Neeson’s “particular set of skills” to get plenty of use here.
YouTube
It’s strange for a Michael Mann film starring People’s Sexiest Man Alive Chris Hemsworth to be dumped in the movie graveyard of January, but here we are. Though strangely titled, Blackhat is pretty timely in the wake of the Sony hacking. It centers on Nicholas Hathaway (Hemsworth, no relation to Anne), who’s tasked by the authorities with stopping an international cybercriminal, pursuing his target from Chicago to Hong Kong. The film also stars the incomparable Viola Davis and Tang Wei.
Frank Connor/Universal Pictures
Adapted from The Mortdecai Trilogy series of novels, this ribald action-comedy is directed by David Koepp, who helmed the underrated films Premium Rush and Ghost Town, and stars Johnny Depp as Charlie Mortdecai—a slick, mustachioed art dealer who finds himself on a globetrotting mission in search of a stolen painting said to contain a code to a lost bank account full of Nazi gold. Lionsgate hopes it will launch a franchise, and Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Olivia Munn, Jeff Goldblum, Paul Bettany, and Aubrey Plaza round out the impressive cast.
David Appleby/Lionsgate
The fifth film (!) from 25-year-old wunderkind Quebecois filmmaker Xavier Dolan is also his most impressive. Set in a future Montreal where law dictates that parents must take care of their emotionally disturbed children or ship them off to detention centers, the film centers on a trashy, middle-aged widow (Anne Dorval) who struggles to control her hyper, hot-tempered, sexy son (Antoine-Olivier Pilon). When a neighbor (Suzanne Clement) takes a shine to the family, a strange ménage-a-trois of sorts forms. Like all of Dolan’s works, Mommy is beautifully rendered—an intriguing mixture of close-ups and wide-frames that correspond seamlessly with the characters’ expanding or contracting prospects. This is awe-inspiring, vibrant cinema.
Les Films Séville
This $175 million blockbuster from The Wachowski’s—the brother/sister duo responsible for The Matrix trilogy—was meant to be released last summer, but got postponed due to alleged reshoots and special effects tweaking. It’s set in a futuristic world where Earth has been “seeded” by alien royalty so that they can harvest humans for a youth serum. When their alien matriarch dies, her three children, including the evil Balem (Eddie Redmayne), fight for her inheritance—including Earth. When another heiress, Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis), a lowly, Earth-born janitor, emerges, Balem puts a bounty on her head. Thankfully, she finds herself protected by her would-be assassin, Caine Wise (Channing Tatum), a warrior with both human and wolf DNA.
Warner Bros.
Yes, the trailer looked pretty awful and the casting of the two leads (relative unknowns Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson) is questionable at best, but the series of erotic BDSM-lite novels has sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson (Nowhere Boy), Dakota Johnson stars as Anastasia Steele, a literature student who one day interviews dashing business exec Christian Grey (Dornan) as a favor to her roommate. She finds herself seduced by Grey’s power and sexual proclivities (see: BDSM), and the two engage in a psychosexual tussle of sorts. The cast also includes pop singer Rita Ora, Jennifer Ehle, Marcia Gay Harden, and a rumored cameo by the director’s husband, Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
YouTube
This British spy flick by Matthew Vaughn, the director of X-Men: First Class and Kick-Ass, is based on the comic books series The Secret Service. The action-comedy centers on Harry Hart (Colin Firth), a veteran secret agent takes a young protégé, Eggsy (Taron Egerton), under his wing and shows him the espionage ropes—just as an evil tech wizard (Samuel L. Jackson) unleashes a nefarious plot. The ultraviolent flick also stars Mark Strong, Michael Caine, and Mark Hamill, and features cameos by Adele, Lady Gaga, and David Beckham.
Jaap Buitendijk/20th Century Fox
Following in the footsteps of Liam Neeson, Oscar winning actor Sean Penn will try his hand as a grizzled, middle-aged action star. Directed by action guru Pierre Morel, who helmed the first Taken, the film stars Penn as Martin Terrier, an international operative who wishes to retire with his love (Jasmine Trinca), and has the blessing of his mentor (Ray Winstone). But the organization has other plans, and dispatches two of their best agents (Idris Elba, Javier Bardem) to track him all over Europe and take him down.
Joe Alblas/Studio Canal
Directed by filmmaking duo Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who helmed Crazy, Stupid, Love, this romantic comedy stars Will Smith as Nicky Spurgeon, a veteran con-man who takes a young, attractive protégé (Margot Robbie) under his wing. But when sparks fly between the two, he breaks it off. Three years later, the two both find themselves on opposite sides of a confidence scam in Buenos Aires involving a billionaire race car owner (Rodrigo Santoro).
YouTube
The great filmmaker David Cronenberg has reunited with his Cosmopolis star Robert Pattinson for this searing portrait of Hollywood’s dark, narcissistic underbelly. It follows the Weiss Family, an archetypal Tinseltown clan led by Dr. Stafford Weiss (John Cusack), a TV psychologist and self-help guru, and includes his 13-year-old child star son Benjie (Evan Bird), who went to rehab at 9; their scarred, pyromaniac daughter Agatha (Mia Wasikowska) who takes a job as an assistant to a fading star (Julianne Moore) and falls for a limo driver/aspiring actor named Jerome (Pattinson); and Olivia (Olivia Williams), a hands-on stage mom to Benjie. Moore won the Best Actress award at Cannes for her performance.
YouTube
Following the disappointing Elysium, South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp (District 9) is back with this sci-fi flick based on his 2004 short Tetra Vaal. It centers on CHAPPiE (mocap Sharlto Copley), the world’s first sentient robot, who’s kidnapped by a pair of criminals (Die Antwoord’s Ninja and Yo-Landi) as a baby and raised as a dysfunctional—but loving—family. He’s eventually pursued by Vincent (Hugh Jackman), who wishes to exploit CHAPPiE’s abilities for his own evil ends. The film also stars Sigourney Weaver and Dev Patel.
YouTube
Directed by Kenneth Branagh, this is a live-action version of Disney’s animated fairy tale classic. It stars Downton Abbey actress Lily James as Ella (“Cinderella”), an orphan raised by her evil stepmother, Lady Tremaine (Cate Blanchett) and watched over by her Fairy Godmother (Helena Bonham Carter), who takes the form of a beggar woman. Ella meets Kit (Game of Thrones’ Richard Madden), a prince, who disguises himself as a palace employee. Eventually, Ella must conquer her wicked stepmother and, with the help of her Fairy Godmother, find romance with her prince.
Jonathan Olley/Disney
Filmmaker Ron Howard and actor Chris Hemsworth’s last outing was the underrated car racing drama Rush. This time, they’ve moved from land to the sea. Set in 1820, it tells the tale of the whaleship Essex, and its crew—First Mate Owen Chase (Hemsworth), Captain George Pollard Jr. (Benjamin Walker), Second Mate Matthew Joy (Cillian Murphy), and others. When the ship is rammed by a sperm whale and destroyed, the crew must survive for 90 days shipwrecked at sea—and eventually, turn to cannibalism to survive. The film also stars Tom Holland, Ben Whishaw, Brendan Gleeson, and Michelle Fairley.
YouTube
The second chapter in the YA dystopian film series sees filmmaker Robert Schwentke (Red) take over in the director’s chair. It picks up where the last film left off, as Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) are on the run following the uprising from Jeanine Matthews (Kate Winslet) and the Erudite faction. They’re trying to uncover why Erudite wanted to commit genocide against the Abnegation faction. Ansel Elgort and Miles Teller will reprise their roles as Caleb Prior and Peter Hayes, and joining the cast will be Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, and model Suki Waterhouse.
Lionsgate
The latest from acclaimed filmmaker Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale, Frances Ha) centers on a couple suffering through a midlife crisis—a failed documentary filmmaker (Ben Stiller) and his adoring wife (Naomi Watts), who live in the shadow of her Maysles-like father (Charles Grodin). When the child-less couple befriends a Brooklyn hipster couple (Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfriend), they begin to expand their horizons, from taking hip-hop dance classes to tripping on Ayahuasca.
Jon Pack
The seventh installment in the Fast and the Furious franchise has received a bunch of press due to the passing of its star, Paul Walker, who died in a car accident while the movie was filming. Due to Walker’s death, the film was postponed a year for re-writes and re-shoots, with Walker’s brothers Caleb and Cody serving as stand-ins for his remaining scenes. Directed by James Wan (Saw), this chapter sees Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and pal Brian O’Conner (Walker) and the rest of their crew return to the States only to be hunted down by Ian Shaw (Jason Statham), the brother of the late Owen Shaw. When he kills Han (Sung Kang), the crew goes on a mission to track down Ian. The film also features Dwayne Johnson reprising his role as Luke Hobbs, as well as newcomers Kurt Russell, Tony Jaa, Djimon Hounsou, and a cameo by pop star Iggy Azalea.
YouTube
This mega-sequel to the $1.5 billion grossing Marvel superhero extravaganza sees Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) return to do battle against Ultron—a sentient AI program based off Iron Man with a messiah complex who wishes to extinguish the human race. The film, directed once again by Joss Whedon, also features Paul Bettany as The Vision, Don Cheadle as Col. Rhodes, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver, and Elizabeth Olsen as his telekinetic twin sister, Scarlet Witch.
Jay Maidment/Marvel
The trailer to this, the fourth film in George Miller’s Mad Max series, was far and away the best of 2014. Once again helmed by Miller, the first Max flick in 30 years stars Tom Hardy as Mad Max Rockatansky, a loner in a post-apocalyptic desert world tasked by Furiosa (Charlize Theron) with guiding her across the treacherous desert to her homeland so that order can (hopefully) be restored. The eye-catching film, which was shot in Namibia, also stars Nicholas Hoult, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, and Zoe Kravitz.
Jasin Boland/Warner Bros.
Star Anna Kendrick described the plot of this musical-comedy as “bigger in scale and outside the world of college a capella,” and as “very Mighty Ducks 2.” The film sees the Barden Bellas enter into an international a capella competition that no American team has ever won, and features Skylar Astin, Rebel Wilson (aka Fat Amy), Brittany Snow, Adam DeVine, and Anna Camp reprising their roles from the previous film. Actress Elizabeth Banks will make her directorial debut, and the movie will also feature Hailee Steinfeld as a new, young Barden Bella, and Married with Children’s Katey Sagal as her overprotective mother.
Richard Cartwright/Universal Pictures
Directed by the gifted Brad Bird (Ratatouille, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), co-written by Lost’s Damon Lindelof, and named after the futuristic land at Walt Disney theme parks, this mystery-adventure stars George Clooney as Frank Walker, a grizzled inventor who, along with his daughter, Casey (Britt Robertson), travels to an imaginative world called Tomorrowland where their actions affect the world at large. The Disney blockbuster also stars Hugh Laurie, Kathryn Hahn, Judy Greer, and Keegan-Michael Key.
Disney
This action-comedy reunites filmmaker Paul Feig with his Bridesmaids and The Heat star Melissa McCarthy, who is Susan Cooper—a deskbound CIA analyst and the unsung hero behind many of the agency’s biggest missions. When a couple of top agents are compromised, Cooper is forced to enter the field and infiltrate a deadly arms dealing ring. The cast also includes Rose Byrne, Jason Statham, Jude Law, Allison Janney, Morena Baccarin, and 50 Cent, as himself.
Christopher Polk/NBC/Getty Images
Though the hacked Sony emails revealed that this Cameron Crowe romcom might be a troubled project, the as-yet-untitled film centers on Brian Gilcrest (Bradley Cooper), a 37-year-old disgraced military contractor who’s deployed to a Hawaiian base to oversee the launch of a covert spy satellite. There, reconnects with a long-lost love (Rachel McAdams), while also falling for the Air Force watchdog (Emma Stone) assigned to him. The film also stars Bill Murray, Jay Baruchel, Alec Baldwin, and Danny McBride.
via Twitter
Yes, there will be a film version based on the acclaimed HBO series of the same name. Directed by series creator Doug Ellin, it centers on Vinny Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his superagent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), who bankrolls Vinny’s directorial debut with a $100 million budget—which goes $15 million over. The project is being bankrolled by a Texan billionaire and his socialite son (Billy Bob Thornton and Hailey Joel Osment), who butt heads with Vinny and Ari. Cast members Kevin Dillon, Kevin Connolly, and Jerry Ferrara will reprise their roles as Johnny Drama, E, and Turtle, and the film will also feature tons of cameos, including producer Mark Wahlberg, Tom Brady, Liam Neeson, and more.
via Youtube
The fourth installment in the Jurassic Park franchise is directed by Colin Trevorrow, who helmed the overlooked 2012 comedy Safety Not Guaranteed, and set 22 years after the events of the original. Isla Nublar is now a dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, owned by the Masrani Global Corporation. Owen (Chris Pratt) is a scientist on staff conducting behavioral research on various dinosaurs—including a new, genetically modified hybrid dinosaur species that’s been created by the park’s team of geneticists to boost attendance. Soon, however, the beast breaks free and wreaks havoc on the island. The $150 3D film also stars Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jake Johnson, BD Wong, Irrfan Khan, and Judy Greer.
Chuck Zlotnick/Universal Pictures
Novelist John Green became a star after the film adaptation of his book The Fault in Our Stars became a blockbuster hit. His latest novel will once again be adapted by the Fault screenwriting team of Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, and features Fault actor Nat Wolff in the lead. He’ll play Quentin Jacobsen, a high school kid with a hopeless crush on the adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman (supermodel Cara Delevingne, in her first leading role). One evening, she climbs through his window and summons him for an all-night road trip. When she mysteriously goes missing after, Q must piece together a series of clues that have been left for him about her disappearance.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Pete Docter, who directed the brilliant Toy Story 3, will helm this original Pixar 3D animated film. It centers on Riley Anderson (voiced by Kaitlyn Dias), a young girl guided by her five emotions—Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Sadness (Phyllis Smith). When Riley’s father (Kyle MacLachlan), moves the family from the Midwest to San Francisco, her five emotions holed up inside her fertile mind (dubbed “Headquarters”) are sent into overdrive, and struggle to navigate a new city, house, school, and friends.
Pixar
Seth MacFarlane’s 2012 comedy Ted, featuring Mark Wahlberg and a raunchy talking teddy bear come to life, was a left field smash, grossing $550 million worldwide. So naturally, it would spawn a sequel. While plot details are unknown, what we do know is it will once again be helmed by MacFarlane, who will return to voice the bong-ripping teddy. Wahlberg is also back, as is his love interest, played by Mila Kunis. And there have been several major additions to the cast, including Amanda Seyfried, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, John Slattery, David Hasselhoff, and a cameo by New England Patriots QB Tom Brady.
Valerie Macon/Getty Images
The trailer looked, well, terrible, and fanboys are up in arms about how the film basically negates the plot of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, but we’ll see how it turns out. Directed by Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World), the fourth film in the Terminator franchise is a “reboot.” Set in 2029 Los Angeles, John Connor (Jason Clarke) is on the verge of winning the battle against the machines and Skynet. So, he sends his best lieutenant, Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney), back in time to save his mother, Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke), and ensure his own survival. Sarah, meanwhile, has been raised by a Terminator T-800 that’s been programmed to protect her and train her. When Skynet sends a T-1000 (Lee Byung-hun) back in time to kill her, Sarah and Kyle team up with the old T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to stop it.
via Youtube
Directed by longtime Steven Soderbergh AD Gregory Jacobs, shot and edited by Soderbergh, and co-written by Channing Tatum, this McConaughey-less sequel to the 2012 flick sees the male stripping gang from the first outing embark on a road trip from Tampa to Myrtle Beach for a national stripping convention. Tatum will reprise his role as Magic Mike, as will Joe Manganiello as Big Dick Richie and Matt Bomer as Ken. Rounding out the cast will be Amber Heard as Tatum’s love interest, Jada Pinkett Smith, Andie MacDowell, Elizabeth Banks, and Donald Glover.
Claudette Barius / AP Photo
Overshadowed by the controversy surrounding filmmaker Edgar Wright leaving the project at the 11th hour over “creative differences,” and replaced by The Break-Up director Peyton Reed, this Marvel superhero flick stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, a petty thief who is taken under the wing of Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas)—an entomologist and physicist who developed Ant-Man technology, which allows its user to decrease in size but increase in strength. Eventually, Lang takes over for Pym as Ant-Man, and does battle against Darren Cross/Yellowjacket (Corey Stoll), a former protégé of Pym’s. The film also stars Evangeline Lilly, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Pena, Judy Greer, and Tip “T.I.” Harris.
Marvel
Directed by Joe Wright (Atonement), this origin tale of Peter Pan and Captain Hook features newcomer Levi Miller as an orphan who’s spirited away to magical Neverland, where he’s groomed to become the boy-hero Peter Pan. Along the way, he clashes with Hook (Garret Hedlund), the villainous Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman), and is aided by Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara). Wright’s film also stars Amanda Seyfried as Mary and supermodel Cara Delevingne as a mermaid.
Warner Bros. Pictures
Filmmaker Judd Apatow’s last two movies, Funny People and This Is 40, were disappointing, but this one should be a return to form. Co-written by and starring comedienne Amy Schumer, this ensemble comedy is based on events from her wacky life. Plot details are currently under wraps, but the film stars Tilda Swinton as her mother and Brie Larson as her sister, and also features the talents of Bill Hader, Barkhad Abdi, Vanessa Bayer, Ezra Miller, LeBron James (yes, that one), Method Man, Daniel Radcliffe, and Marisa Tomei.
Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty
Back in 2010, Patrick Jean released a short film online about classic 8-bit video game characters attacking modern-day New York City. This feature, directed by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone helmer Christopher Columbus, is a 3D feature adaptation. When Pac-Man, Tetris, Space Invaders, and other video game characters invade Earth, the President (Kevin James) enlists the services of a 1980s video game champ (Adam Sandler) to lead an “elite” team of old-school arcade game experts (Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad) and a military weapons expert (Michelle Monaghan) to defeat the characters and save the planet.
George Krychyk/Columbia Pictures
This franchise reboot by Chronicle director Josh Trank will (hopefully) let us forget about the crappy Fantastic Four flicks in the mid-aughts featuring a WASPy Jessica Alba and ditzy Chris Evans. Trank’s film centers on four people who are transported to an alternate universe where their forms mutate, blessing them with superhuman powers. There’s the elastic Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic (Miles Teller), Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman (Kate Mara), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Michael B. Jordan), and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Jamie Bell), who team up to stop the evil megalomaniac Victor Domashev, aka Doom (Toby Kebbell), an evil computer programmer.
Steve Mack/FilmMagic
Directed by Rob Letterman, who’s trying to rebound from the godawful Gulliver’s Travels, this adventure-comedy is based on the celebrated series of children’s books by R.L. Stine. Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) is a young boy who’s new to the tiny town of Greenland, Maryland. He soon befriends his neighbor, Hannah (Odeya Rush), whose father is Goosebumps author R.L. Stine (Jack Black). Stine keeps the ghosts and monsters from his stories locked up in his books, but when Zach accidentally releases all of them, the trio must team up to return all the evil beings from whence they came.
Hopper Stone, SMPSP/Columbia Pictures
Directed by F. Gary Gray (Friday) and produced by Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, this biopic of the rise and fall of rap supergroup N.W.A. traces their journey from humble beginnings in Compton, California, in the mid-1980s to the top of the charts. The film stars Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E, Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre, and O’Shea Jackson Jr. as Ice Cube, and Aldis Hodge as MC Ren. It also features Paul Giamatti and Keith Stanfield, and was shot on location in East Los Angeles by famed cinematographer Matthew Libatique (Black Swan).
Universal Pictures
Directed by Gavin O’Connor, who helmed Miracle and the highly underrated flick Warrior, this action-western stars Natalie Portman as Jane Hammond, a woman who’s started a new life on the frontier with husband Bill (Noah Emmerich) after being tormented by the Bishop Boys gang. When her husband gets shot up by the gang, led by notorious leader John Bishop (Ewan McGregor), Jane is forced to reach out to her ex-lover, gunslinger Dan Frost (Joel Edgerton), to protect the family against the Bishop Boys.
Isaac Brekken/Getty Images
Directed by John Hillcoat, who helmed the overlooked Aussie western The Proposition and the post-apocalyptic drama The Road, this heist flick boasts a massive cast, and centers on a group of corrupt cops who are blackmailed into performing a massive heist by staging the death of a rookie cop (code “999”), in order to loot a place across town. The movie’s impressive ensemble includes: Woody Harrelson, Kate Winslet, Aaron Paul, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Norman Reedus, Casey Affleck, Anthony Mackie, and your future Wonder Woman Gal Gadot. A bit odd to release a movie about corrupt cops on September 11, but oh well.
Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
Written and directed by Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) and adapted from the bestselling book of the same name, Black Mass features Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger, the brother of a U.S. senator who becomes the most violent and notorious crime boss in Boston history. Eventually, he turns FBI informant. The movie also stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Whitey’s brother, Bill Bulger, Sienna Miller as Whitey’s love interest, Catherine Greig, as well as Kevin Bacon, Joel Edgerton, Jesse Plemons, Dakota Johnson, Corey Stoll, Peter Sarsgaard, and Adam Scott.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
This 3D adventure film is directed by Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormakur (Contraband) from a screenplay by Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire), and chronicles the real-life 1996 Mount Everest disaster where several climbers were killed. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as expedition group leader Scott Fischer (The Day After Tomorrow flashbacks, anyone?), along with Keira Knightley, Jason Clarke, Sam Worthington, Josh Brolin, Robin Wright, John Hawkes, and Emily Watson.
via Youtube
Not to be confused with The Internship, the crappy Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson feature-length ad for Google, this comedy from romcom guru Nancy Meyers (Something’s Gotta Give, It’s Complicated) stars Anne Hathaway as Jules Ostin, the hard-nosed founder of an e-commerce fashion website who reluctantly agrees to participate in a charitable community outreach program whereby a senior (Robert De Niro) would intern at the company. Naturally, hijinks ensue. The New York-set film also stars Rene Russo, Adam DeVine and Anders Holm (from Workaholics), Andrew Rannells, Nat Wolff, and—yes—Snoop Dogg.
Ernesto Ruscio/Getty Images
Remember the thrilling, Oscar winning documentary Man on Wire that chronicled the amazing life of Philippe Petit, a French tightrope walker who walked across a wire between the Twin Towers? Well, The Walk is a feature film adaptation of Petit’s story, helmed by Back to the Future filmmaker Robert Zemeckis, and shot by Oscar winning DP Dariusz Wolski. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Petit, and Ben Kingsley will play his mentor, Papa Rudy. The film also stars James Badge Dale, Charlotte Le Bon, and Ben Schwartz.
TriStar Pictures
If you’ve got a nasty taste in your mouth from the craptastic Aaron Eckhart-starrer I, Frankenstein, well, this should help wash that out. Directed by Paul McGuigan (Sherlock), this horror flick is told from the perspective of Igor (Daniel Radcliffe), the hunchbacked assistant to a young medical student by the name of Victor Frankenstein (James McAvoy), who eventually creates his monster. The film also stars Downton Abbey’s Jessica Brown Findlay and Andrew Scott.
Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images
Visionary filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro’s (Pan’s Labyrinth, Pacific Rim) long-gestating passion project will finally see the light of day. It’s set in Cumbria in a dilapidated mansion in northern England in the 19th century. A young author, Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska), is swept away and marries the debonair Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), but Sharpe and his mansion are not all that they appear to be. Del Toro has described the film as a “modern day ghost story,” and it also stars Charlie Hunnam, Jessica Chastain, Doug Jones, and Burn Gorman.
Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images
Right in the thick of awards season comes this Cold War spy thriller directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Joel and Ethan Coen. The historical film is based on the 1960 U-2 Incident, wherein an American lawyer, James Donovan (Tom Hanks), finds himself in the middle of the Cold War when he’s tasked with negotiating the release of Francis Gary Powers, an American pilot whose CIA U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. The film also stars theater legend Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, Alan Alda, and Eve Hewson—who is, ironically, the daughter of U2 singer Bono.
Steve Sands/GC Images
Hot on the heels of the $1 billion grossing Skyfall, the 24th entry in the James Bond franchise will see Sam Mendes return to the director’s chair. Agent 007 (Daniel Craig) is tasked with investigating a sinister organization dubbed SPECTRE, as well as a nefarious character by the name of Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz). Meanwhile, the new M (Ralph Fiennes) is forced to ward off political pressures threatening MI6. The film also stars Lea Seydoux and Monica Bellucci as Bond girls, Guardians of the Galaxy’s Dave Bautista as a vicious henchman, Ben Whishaw as Q, and Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny.
Karwai Tang/WireImage
The final chapter in The Hunger Games franchise is one again directed by Francis Lawrence, and picks up where Part 1 left off. Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), now enshrined as “The Mockingjay,” leads District 13 in a revolution against the tyrannical Capitol, and President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Meanwhile, Katniss must deal with an unpredictable, PTSD-inflicted Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), a skeptical Gale (Liam Hemsworth), and President Coin (Julianne Moore), whose motives she begins to question. Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, and Natalie Dormer will all reprise their roles, and are joined by newcomers Michelle Forbes, Elden Henson, and Game of Thrones’ Gwendoline Christie.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
We’ve never had two 3D animated Pixar films in the same year—until now. The Good Dinosaur is directed by longtime Pixar animator Peter Sohn, and explores an alternate future in which the cataclysmic asteroid actually missed Earth, and dinosaurs never became extinct. It tells the tale of Arlo (voiced by Lucas Neff), a 70-foot-tall teen Apatosaurus who, along with a young human boy, Spot, hopes to bring peace to his community. The movie also features the voice talents of Frances McDormand, John Lithgow, Neil Patrick Harris, Bill Hader, and Judy Greer.
Pixar
Putting aside the myriad problems of Prometheus, anytime Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner) directs a sci-fi flick is cause for celebration. Based on Andy Weir’s 2012 novel of the same name and adapted by hot screenwriter Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods), the film stars Matt Damon as Mark Watney, a NASA botanist and mechanical engineer who finds himself stranded on Mars, and forced to use his knowledge of the planet to survive. The movie’s all-star cast includes Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Kristen Wiig, Donald Glover, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
The latest from acclaimed American filmmaker Jeff Nichols (Mud) is a 1980s-style sci-fi flick about a father and son who are forced to go on the run after discovering that the child has special powers. Nichols’ movie, which he describes as “a sci-fi chase film” in the vein of “a 1980s John Carpenter film like Starman,” features Adam Driver, Michael Shannon, Kirsten Dunst, Joel Edgerton, Sam Shepard, and Scott Haze.
Ian Gavan/Getty Images for Jaeger-LeCoultre
This as-yet-untitled comedy film reunites 50/50 director Jonathan Levine with stars Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It centers on a trio of friends (Rogen, Gordon-Levitt, Anthony Mackie) whose annual tradition of Christmas Eve insanity might soon be coming to an end, so they set out to find the biggest Xmas Eve rager of all-time. The movie also stars Lizzy Caplan, Lorraine Toussaint, and Jillian Bell, and reportedly features a cameo by none other than Kanye West.
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for The New Yorker
Directed by Jason Moore (Pitch Perfect) and written by Saturday Night Live scribe Paula Pell, this comedy flick stars pals Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as a pair of estranged sisters who get together to throw the mother of all parties at their parent’s house, which is about to be sold. The movie also features the comedy talents of Ike Barinholtz, Samantha Bee, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Kate McKinnon, and John Leguizamo.
Steve Sands/GC Images
The highly anticipated seventh installment in the Star Wars film series is directed by J.J. Abrams (Star Trek), and is reportedly set approximately 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi. It centers on Finn (John Boyega), a Stormtrooper who deserts the Dark Side and teams up with Rey (Daisy Ridley) to square off against the Empire. The film will also see original cast members Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker reprise their roles as Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, C-3PO, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 respectively, and also features newcomers Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow, Lupita Nyong’o, and Gwendoline Christie.
YouTube
Directed by David O. Russell and written by Annie Mumolo (Bridesmaids), this comedy-drama sees Russell reunite with his Silver Linings Playbook cast of Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, and Robert De Niro. Lawrence stars as Joy Mangano, a struggling single mother from Long Island who, through her home inventions like the Miracle Mop and Huggable Hangers, becomes one of the country’s most successful entrepreneurs.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
There’s renewed interest in this spy franchise thanks to the excellent fourth installment Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Christopher McQuarrie, who won an Oscar for his screenplay to The Usual Suspects, directs the fifth film in the series and Tom Cruise will reprise his role as spy Ethan Hunt. The plot is unknown, but we do know that the movie filmed in Vienna, Austria, Rabat, Morocco, London, and Monaco. Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, and Ving Rhames will all reprise their roles from the previous film, and are joined by Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson as the female lead, Alec Baldwin as the head of the CIA, and Chinese actress Zhang Jingchu.
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
Directed by Justin Kurzel, who helmed the harrowing 2011 Aussie drama Snowtown, the film is based on Shakespeare’s tragedy of the same name about a Scottish general named Macbeth (Michael Fassbender) who receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that he will be King of Scotland. So, at the urging of his manipulative wife (Marion Cotillard), he murders King Duncan and takes the throne—only to be consumed by paranoia. The Oscar bait film also stars Sean Harris, Paddy Considine, and David Thewlis.
Weinstein Co.
Directed by Drake Doremus (Like Crazy), this sci-fi romantic drama is set in a futuristic utopian world without human emotions. One day, an illustrator named Silas (Nicholas Hoult) becomes a pariah when he becomes infected with a new disease and develops romantic feelings for his co-worker, Nia (Kristen Stewart), who’s also infected. The two outcasts go on the run from the authorities. The film also stars Guy Pearce and Jacki Weaver.
Danny Moloshok/Reuters
There isn’t a fixed release date yet for Quentin Tarantino’s western follow-up to Django Unchained, but reports say it will hit theaters sometime in December 2015. Set in post-Civil War Wyoming, the film centers on a group of bounty hunters seeking shelter during a nasty blizzard who become embroiled in complicated plot rife with betrayal. The film stars Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Demian Bichir, Walter Goggins, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, and—yes—Channing Tatum. It will also hopefully shine a light on the career of Russell, who remains one of the more underappreciated movie badasses ever.
Weinstein Co.
Directed by the great Martin Scorsese and adapted from Japanese author Shūsaku Endō’s novel of the same name, the film centers on a young Portuguese Jesuit priest in the 17th century, Father Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield), who’s sent to Japan to investigate reports that his mentor, Father Ferreira, has committed apostasy. There, he and Father Garrpe (Adam Driver) are forced to witness the Kakure Kirishitan (“Hiddn Christians”) persecution campaign, where Japanese authorities forced suspected Christians to trample on a carved image of Christ or face anazuri—death by being hung upside down and slowly bled out. Given the controversy surrounding his The Last Temptation of Christ, this one should surely stir up plenty of noise as well.
Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
Birdman director Alejandro Inarritu has been a very busy man of late, promoting his awards bait flick while also shooting this $60 million western-thriller from October to March. The 19th century-set film centers on Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), a fur trapper who’s attacked by a bear during a hunting expedition. His three pals (Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, Domhnall Gleeson) rob him and leave him for dead, but he manages to survive and vows to seeks vengeance on the three who betrayed him. Will The Revenant finally score DiCaprio his long-overdue Oscar?
Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty
The Internet went absolutely ape for the eye-catching trailer to filmmaker Terrence Malick’s latest, a globetrotting drama centered on a young Hollywood prince (Christian Bale) who finds himself seduced by excess. Featuring lensing by ace Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, the film’s A-list cast also includes Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Brian Dennehy, Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto, Wes Bentley, Teresa Palmer, Imogen Poots, Jason Clarke, and the voice of Ben Kingsley.
Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
Terrence Malick didn’t direct a film in between 1978’s Days of Heaven and 1998’s The Thin Red Line, but he’s become surprisingly prolific of late, directing this as-yet-untitled film back-to-back with Knight of Cups. Details are slim, but we know it’s a love story of sorts set amid the music scene of Austin, Texas, with sequences shot at SXSW and Fun Fun Fun Fest. The film stars Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Val Kilmer, and Michael Fassbender—though both Bale and Fassbender said they may have been edited out of the final cut (as is Malick’s wont).
Eric Gaillard/Reuters
Written and directed by Angelina Jolie, whose WWII epic Unbroken is getting some awards buzz, this drama stars real-life couple Jolie and Brad Pitt. It’s reportedly set in France during the mid-1970s, and the couple plays Vanessa, a former dancer, and Roland, an American writer, who are traveling through the countryside together but seem to be drifting slowly apart—that is, until they settle in a secluded seaside town and become seduced by its fascinating inhabitants. The film also stars the fetching Melanie Laurent, Niels Arestrup, and Melvil Poupaud.
Luke MacGregor/Reuters
Not to be confused with the 1999 Eddie Murphy/Martin Lawrence race relations comedy of the same name, this drama is directed by Anton Corbijn (Control), and centers on Life magazine photographer Dennis Stock (Robert Pattinson) who’s assigned to trail and photograph reclusive movie star James Dean (Dane DeHaan). The film also stars Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley, Kristen Hager, and Kelly McCreary.
via Film4
Directed by Gus Van Sant, this drama stars Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey as Arthur Brennan, a suicidal American tourist who befriends Takumi Nakamura (Ken Watanabe), a Japanese man lost in a forest near Mt. Fuji, and the two pool their resources together and help each other find a way out. The film, which is currently in post-production, also stars Naomi Watts, The League’s Katie Aselton, and Orphan Black’s Jordan Gavaris.
Luke MacGregor/Reuters
Filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallee might be the busiest man in Hollywood. In 2013, his Dallas Buyers Club won a ton of awards, and this year, the Reese Witherspoon-starring drama Wild has also received its fair share of plaudits. His flick Demolition, currently in post-production, is scheduled to hit theaters in 2015. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal as an investment banker who struggles to regain his footing following the tragic death of his wife—that is, until he meets a mysterious woman (Naomi Watts) who helps nurse him back to health. The film also stars Chris Cooper, Polly Draper, and Wass Stevens.
Kevork Djansezian/Reuters
Director Harmony Korine’s follow-up to his excellent surrealist drama Spring Breakers marks the renegade filmmaker’s first major Hollywood production, which will be interesting to see. While plot details are scarce, it allegedly involves a notorious crime family in the American South, and stars Jamie Foxx, Benicio Del Toro, and others.
Olivia Harris/Reuters
Filmmaker Richard Linklater is a workaholic. After releasing his 12-years-in-the-making masterpiece Boyhood in 2014, he went write back to shooting this “spiritual sequel” to his 1993 classic Dazed and Confused. The film is set in the 1980s and follows the lives of a group of freshmen college baseball players, played by Glee star Blake Jenner, Ryan Guzman, Teen Wolf’s Tyler Hoechlin, and 22 Jump Street’s (and son of Kurt) Wyatt Russell. It will also feature Zoey Deutch and others.
