2016 Movies: Looking Ahead

2016 Movies: looking ahead

With my 2015 recap out of the way, it’s time to look ahead and see what’s coming out this year. To be honest, it’s not as stacked of a year as the last couple have been, but there are a few heavy hitters, as well as many wild cards. Here we go!

JANUARY

As usual, January looks to be the dumping ground of the year—mostly PG-13 horror movies with crappy trailers and dumb comedies with equally crappy trailers. Disney’s The Finest Hours, which looks like a YA rendition of Titanic, might sink, and Jane Got a Gun starring Natalie Portman is finally getting released after much delay, which could be a good or bad thing.

Kung Fu Panda 3 (January 29^th): the only thing that seems to have any potential is this threequel. The first two movies were surprise hits with both critics and audiences, and though it’s disconcerting to see the third one getting a January release, it might end up being the Lego Movie of this year and be a solid animated hit amid a sea of garbage. The best bet will probably be to check out more award contenders (Revenant, Hateful Eight, etc.) as they continue to expand to more theaters over the month, or go see Star Wars a second or third or fourth or eleventh or hundredth time. 

FEBRUARY

Though it doesn’t look like it’ll be much better than January as a whole, there are a couple movies coming out that will likely be worth keeping an eye on, and one that really stands out to me. 

Hail, Caesar! (February 5^th): A new movie from the Cohen brothers with a fantastic cast including George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Jonah Hill, and Scarlett Johansson. Do I need to say more? I know very little about it, but it’s on my radar. 

Zoolander 2 (February 12^th): I really didn’t like Zoolander, and as we’ve seen with recent comedy sequels made years after the original (Dumb and Dumber To, Anchorman 2) they don’t often work out, but Zoolander 2 is worth mentioning, because most people have the opposite opinion of the first movie that I have, plus everyone is returning for the sequel, and it’s being written by a talented screenwriter (Justin Theroux). Is that a recipe for success? We shall see. Well, I won’t, because I’m not going to see it, but others will. So, I guess they’ll see, and I’ll hear about it. Moving on! 

Deadpool (February 12^th): This is the heavy hitter of the month, and the first movie of next year that I’m really looking forward to seeing. Looks like The Merc with a Mouth will be done justice after what happened to him in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Ryan Reynolds is perfect in the role, it looks extremely faithful to the comics, the writers also wrote Zombieland, a movie I adored, and the hard R-rating will hopefully be used to maximum effect. Looks like this shouldn’t end up being the Fant4stick of 2016!

MARCH

Some sequels begin popping up, such as the next Divergent and London Has Fallen, the follow-up to Olympus Has Fallen. The animated Zootopia is getting some positive buzz, and a couple live-action comedies also seem to have promise, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and The Brother’s Grimsby. But there’s really only one March movie that needs to be discussed.

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (March 25^th): the much-anticipated sequel to 2013’s Man of Steel will not only feature the iconic superheroes Batman and Superman on the big screen together for the first time ever, but they are going to go head-to-head! (And probably form some kind of Justice League by the end, too!) The trailers have been mixed in terms of quality and revealing too little or too much, but just the idea of these two legendary characters sharing the screen is too cool not to get a little excited about. Will Warner Bros. be able to launch their DC cinematic universe by laying down all their cards in 2016? Only time will tell.

APRIL

More silly sequels abound, from God’s Not Dead 2 to Rings, but as summer movie season nears, more big movies begin to pop up.

The Boss (April 8^th): Melissa McCarthy is back for what will hopefully be another hilarious comedy, which I know little about, but I do know the title changed from Michelle Darnell not long ago. 2013 wasn’t a bad year for her—we got The Heat and Identity Thief—but 2014 was bad, with the double disappointment of Tammy and St. Vincent. Last year she bounced back with Spy, so hopefully The Boss continues her resurgence. 

The Jungle Book (April 15^th): It seems The Jungle Book’s delay from 2015 to 2016 was a good thing, because from what the trailers have shown, it looks incredible. The Jungle Book is one of my favourite Disney classics, and this live-action adaptation seems like it’ll be faithful to the original story, and the visual effects look stunning. Even though the movie was filmed almost entirely on a sound stage and all of the characters with the exception of Mowgli are cgi, it looks totally convincing. Like Cinderella last March and Maleficent in 2014, this should be another example of an animated-to-live-action hit for Disney. 

The Huntsman: Winter’s War (April 22^nd): I’m not at all excited about this sequel to 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman, however, I noticed Charlize Theron is back as the Queen, and while she wasn’t great in the role, it’s always great to see her on screen no matter what, plus Chris Hemsworth is back as well, Kristen Stewart is not back, which is even better, a new director is helming this one, and the new cast members are all great, including Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain. It might turn out to be better than the original, though I’m not expecting much at all. 

MAY

Now we’re into the summer movie season, and big movies start popping up everywhere. A couple that are sure to be hits that I’m not looking forward to seeing are Alice Through the Looking Glass and The Angry Birds Movie. A comedy sequel I’m curious about is Neighbours 2, though not getting my hope up. Ultimately, there are only two movies I’m really excited for in May.

Captain America: Civil War (May 6^th): A year ago, I didn’t think it would be possible for the third Captain America movie to be better than Avengers: Age of Ultron, but after the disappointment of the second Avengers movie and the surprise of Ant-Man, it seems Civil War will be the perfect way to kick off Phase 3 of the MCU. All the heroes come back together for what will basically be another Avengers movie, but focused on Cap and Iron Man instead of everyone, with heroes fighting each other and the stakes hopefully being raised. With the same writers and directors from Captain America: The Winter Soldier returning, it should be awesome. 

X-Men: Apocalypse (May 27^th): Though the first trailer underwhelmed a lot of fans, I’m still really excited about the final installment in the unofficial trilogy of X-Men movies that started really strong with X-Men: First Class and continued even stronger with X-Men: Days of Future Past. Though the timeline is a little jumbled, it hopefully won’t matter, with the biggest, baddest villain in the X-Men universe coming to shake things up.

JUNE

Summer movie season plows on with even more big releases, most of them being sequels.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (June 3^rd): Despite a really dumb title and the same roided-out turtles as last time, this sequel actually looks like it’ll be an improvement over the previous Turtles adventure. While I didn’t love or even really like the last one, I found it fun enough, and from what was shown in the trailer, the fun has been amped up, and fan-faves Bebop and Rocksteady make their big screen debut (finally!). This one could go either way, but it looks like it’ll probably just be more mindless action. 

The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Poltergeist (June 10^th): Again, like the previous movie, a lame title, but will it be better than the first Conjuring? Horror sequels have been pretty hit or miss over the past few years, and the Annabelle spinoff was a failure, but with director James Wan returning, along with the original main cast, it might have a shot at being at least competently made, though I highly doubt it’ll top the original, just because the original was so unexpected and tension-fuelled. 

Warcraft (June 10^th): A movie I didn’t mention coming out in April is Ratchet and Clank, based on the video game. I didn’t mention it because it looks like complete garbage, but Warcraft, one the other hand, might be the first video game movie that is legitimately good (sorry, Mortal Kombat fans, it’s fun, but not actually good). Though the first trailer didn’t blow me away, it showed plenty of potential, and with an up-and-coming director taking the reins (Duncan Jones) and a huge fan base behind the game it’s based on, it might be one of the biggest movies of the summer. 

Finding Dory (June 17^th): I loved Finding Nemo when it first came out, and even all these years later, I still love it, despite no longer being a little kid. I never thought it needed a sequel, and I still don’t, but we’re getting one anyway. It sounds like it’ll be more or less the same as the first movie, with the roles of Nemo and Dory being reversed. Though the premise doesn’t entice me, I probably won’t pass up the opportunity to return to Pixar’s colourful undersea world once more. Also, it’s the only release from Pixar next year. 

Independence Day: Resurgence (June 24^th): I’m over director Roland Emmerich’s big dumb disaster movies. The first Independence Day is what put him on the map, but ever since then, he’s made increasingly stupid movies like The Day After Tomorrow, 2012, and White House Down. Now he’s coming back to do the much-delayed sequel which, from the look of the trailer, retains none of the fun from the original, nor will it feature Will Smith, arguably the best part of the original, and the cgi looks no better than it did in 1996. I could care less about this movie, but it’ll probably still make a killing at the box office. 

JULY

Lots of potential in this month, but there are a few I don’t know enough about to really offer many thoughts, so I’ll just mention them briefly. 

The BFG (July 1^st): It’s animated, and it’s directed by Steven Spielberg. I’ll probably get more excited once I find out more, but sign me up anyway! 

The Legend of Tarzan (July 1^st): Trailer looks impressive, good cast, were it not for the last two Planet of the Apes the cgi chimps would look really impressive. However, strong characters and a clever reinvention of the plot will be required to win me over, and the jury’s still out on whether it will feature either of those. 

The Secret Life of Pets (July 8^th): I don’t know anything about this one, but it’s an animated kids movie coming out in July, so it’ll probably be a big deal. 

Ghostbusters (July 15^th): Many people are looking forward to this all-female Ghostbusters reboot, but I really do not want to see it, and no, it’s not because of the all-female thing. Even if it was all-male, I still wouldn’t care. The original Ghostbusters movie is one of the best action comedies ever, and I think it’s going to be more pitiful than fun seeing the original cast members who are returning (Dan Akyroyd, Billy Murray, etc.) in cameo roles, while the top female comedy talents of today do the same old thing we’ve seen before. The upsides: the cast is, admittedly, very talented, and director Paul Feig has proven himself on multiple occasions as one of the best comedy directors working today. It might be too early to assume it’ll be a rehash of the original—what with there being no trailer or poster or official plot synopsis yet—but I just don’t need to see a new version of Ghostbusters, that’s all. 

Star Trek Beyond (July 22^nd): I loved both of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies (the first more than the second) and I was eagerly looking forward to the next installment, but when J.J. dropped out as director in favour of doing Star Wars for Disney, I got a little less excited (about Star Trek, not Star Wars). Then the pre-production troubles began: directors being attached then removed, writers stepping in to do re-writes, actor Simon Pegg taking a pass at the script, comments going around about the studio thinking the script was “too Star Trek-ey” (?) But finally Star Trek Beyond is coming! And…the first trailer kind of sucked. I’m actually pretty worried about this new Star Trek, especially with how great all the other spaces movies have been lately (the trailer bore an unfortunately uncanny resemblance to Guardians of the Galaxy), but with action director Justin Lin at the helm, hopefully it will deliver more of the fast-paced thrills that made the last two so much fun. 

Bourne 5 (July 29^th): I haven’t seen a trailer or a poster or a plot synopsis or even an official title for the next Bourne movie, I just keep seeing the same picture of Matt Damon wrapping his hands like he’s ready to fight someone. But hey, still excited! With Damon back in the title role and director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum) returning, I’d say it’s almost a guarantee it’ll be better than the last one, The Bourne Legacy. While not one of my most anticipated of 2016 yet, it might be once I see some footage.

AUGUST

There are a couple things in this final month of summer movie season that might be fun to check out, but with barely anything yet known about them, I can’t say much. There is one movie, though, that I do know a lot about, and it’s probably going to be one of the biggest of the entire year. 

Ben-Hur (August 12^th): I haven’t seen the original Ben-Hur, but I think I’ll check it out before this new rendition is released. I don’t know who’s in it, but I do know it’s from the director of Immortals, so I’m not sure if this will be a high quality remake or a quick cash grab. I’ll reserve judgement until the first trailer. 

Sausage Party (August 12^th): an animated movie about talking food from Seth Rogen and all his buddies, presumably the majority of the cast/crew from This is The End. I’m in. 

Suicide Squad (August 5^th): This will probably be the juggernaut of August. All eyes will be on DC next year, and if Batman v Superman fails to live up to expectations, then there will be even more pressure on Suicide Squad to deliver (if BvS is awesome, though, then anticipation for it will skyrocket even higher). A collection of DC’s villains team up to take on an even more ruthless villain, in an all-bad guy superhero movie with incredible talent, including Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, and Jared Leto as The Joker. We already know from the leaked trailer shown at Comic-Con that Ben Affleck’s Batman will be making an appearance, and Leto’s Joker will be yet another new portrayal of the character. I’m not going to get real excited about this movie until after I see Batman v Superman, but I’m definitely intrigued, just on the premise of an all-villains movie alone.  

SEPTEMBER

Only one remake coming out in the transitionary month from summer to fall/winter stands out to me, though there will likely be award contenders I missed that’ll start to pop up during this time as well.

The Magnificent Seven (September 23^rd): I almost forgot this movie was happening, but when I was reminded, I realized it’s one of my most anticipated of the year. The director? Antoine Fuqua, who’s directed successful action movies like Training Day and The Equalizer (also this year’s boxing drama Southpaw), and the star of both of those will be in this movie, the reliably great Denzel Washington. Starring alongside him? Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, and Vincent D’Onofrio, to name a few. It’s entirely possible this will end up a September dud, but I’m hoping the magnificent cast combined with a good director will prove to be a fun western remake.

OCTOBER

Few horror movies stand out in a good way in 2016, but I’m hoping we get a Babadook or It Follows at some point in the year. It seems unlikely we’ll get one in the actual month of October, unfortunately, but the month isn’t without some potential. 

The Girl on the Train (October 7^th): Based on the 2015 novel of the same name, starring Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, and Luke Evans, with this plot synopsis: “Rachel Watson, an alcoholic troubled woman whose husband left her for his mistress, witnesses a murder and starts to realize that she may have been involved in the crime.” Sounds like it might be the Gone Girl of this year. 

Underworld: Next Generation (October 14^th): The Underworld franchise started pretty strong, with an intriguing premise of vampires vs. werewolves on modern day earth, but then the sequel didn’t live up to the first, and then the third movie was a needless prequel which lost the series’ leading lady Kate Beckinsale, but then she returned for the fourth entry, Underworld: Awakening, which turned out to be the worst of the series. Now Beckinsale is back, again, in what will apparently be a continuation, not a reboot. Much like the Resident Evil franchise (also from the studio behind Underworld), they just keep making these movies, even though they keep getting worse. Unlike the last one, I’m not at all excited for this sequel. I won’t be surprised if it gets delayed to January. 

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (October 21^st): The first Jack Reacher, starring Tom Cruise, was not a great action movie, but it had flourishes of greatness, including a memorable car chase. The director went on to do this year’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, which I thought was the best Mission: Impossible yet. The disappointing part is Jack Reacher: Never Go Back has a new director attached, so I’m less excited about this sequel than I would’ve been if the same director had stayed on, but hey, it might still turn out better than the first one.

NOVEMBER

Two big releases for this month, one I’m really excited for, the other I could care less about, but I know a ton of other people will be looking forward to it, so I better at least mention it. 

Doctor Strange (November 4^th): Marvel Studios’ second release of the year, introducing another new hero in a new corner of the ever-expanding Marvel universe. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as the sorcerer supreme, which will likely combine elements of fantasy and horror, to create a new hero that is, once again, very different from the standard Avengers line-up we’ve grown to love. Scott Derrickson, who’s directed successful horror movies like The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Sinister, seems like a great fit as the one who will bring this mystical world to life, and the pics recently released of Cumberbatch in the Doctor Strange costume look perfect. As always, I can’t wait to see what Marvel has up their sleeve for this awesome hero, who isn’t yet well-known to the general public, but will be soon. 

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (November 18^th): J.K. Rowling returns to write a Harry Potter prequel, with Eddie Redmayne leading the adventure. The first teaser trailer barely gave anything away, but likely did its job: get fans aware and excited about a new movie, without spoiling anything. I’m not a Harry Potter fan, so I don’t have any interest in this movie, but I can guarantee it’ll be a major box office hit.

DECEMBER

Finally, at the end of 2016, two more of my most-anticipated movies get released, hopefully ending the year on a high note just like 2015. There’s also one other movie in there, a remake, I’ll mention briefly. 

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (December 16^th): One year after The Force Awakens, the first in a series of stand-alone Star Wars movies makes its way to the big screen. At this point, most people probably aren’t aware that a new Star Wars movie that isn’t the sequel to The Force Awakens is coming out soon. Rogue One is a prequel of sorts (though I think they’ll avoid using that word in the marketing) about the group of rebels who steal the plans to the Death Star, which occurs some time before the original Star Wars (Episode IV). Godzilla director Gareth Edwards is directing, and it features an impressive cast, including Felicity Jones, Alan Tudyk, Mads Mikkelsen, Forest Whitaker, and Ben Mendelsohn, and is rumoured to feature the return of the most-famous Star Wars villain of all (whom I will not name, because you can probably guess). Little else is known about it at this time, but with the gigantic success of The Force Awakens already, it’s almost a guarantee Rogue One will be huge, though not as huge as the aforementioned release. After the mind-blowingly satisfying return to the Star Wars universe in 2015, Rogue One instantly shot up to the number one position on my most-anticipated movies of 2016. 

Assassin’s Creed (December 21^st): There are three video game movies coming out next year. 2/3 have a shot at proving movies based on video games can work, and Assassin’s Creed is one of them. Starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard in the lead roles, and telling a new narrative not featured in any of the games, it definitely seems like it has great potential, especially if the quality and success of the game series is any indicator. Though this movie has been delayed a couple times, they were hopefully positive delays allowing for the script to be better developed or the director to have more time to prepare or whatever. If Warcraft knocks it out of the park, I’ll be really excited for Assassin’s Creed. If it fails as badly as 2015’s Hitman: Agent 47, then I’ll be a little more skeptical. 

Jumanji (December 25^th): Um, why? The original Jumanji is not a perfect movie, but it was a big part of my childhood, and I still have fun re-visiting it to this day. Robin Williams was great as the lead, there was exciting action, and it was an imaginative story. But do we need a remake? No, though to be fair, some things could be improved, mainly in terms of visual effects. Some of the cgi does not hold up today, and the movie itself isn’t some sort of classic. But still, it seems like it’s being made as a cash grab more than out of necessity. 

Well there you have it, that’s basically a general look at the movies coming out this year! Be sure to keep an eye for more C.C.C. lists, reviews, editorials, and more as the year progresses. Happy movie watching!