2018 is shaping up to be a banner year for
sci-fi enthusiasts. From a new entry to the
Star Wars franchise to big-budget book-to-screen
adaptations to some very novel property ideas,
here's a look at what the next year holds
in store for the cinematic genre.
The Beyond
This feature-length debut from Haz Dullul,
who previously worked as a visual effects
artist on films like The Dark Knight and Hellboy
2, will be a loose adaptation of his 2013
short film Project Kronos.
The Beyond is set in the near future when
robotically augmented astronauts embark on
an interstellar journey through a recently
discovered wormhole. Judging by the trailer,
we're in for a wild ride when this premieres
on digital streaming services on January 9th.
Maze Runner: The Death Cure
The third adaptation of James Dashner's dystopian
Maze Runner novels, The Death Cure has been
a long time coming. The film was originally
slated for a 2017 release, but a severe on-set
injury to lead actor Dylan O'Brien temporarily
halted production on the pic and delayed its
release 'til next year.
"It stops when we find a cure."
"There is no cure!"
It's since been completed, and The Death Cure
will follow the Gladers' continued battle
with WCKD in one spectacular final showdown
that hits theaters January 26th.
Annihilation
Based on the acclaimed 2014 novel of the same
name by Jeff VanderMeer, and directed by Ex
Machina's Alex Garland, Annihilation follows
a biologist as she goes searching for answers
about her husband's disappearance by joining
an expedition into an environmental disaster
zone.
With a trailer that's already packed with
stunningly eerie imagery, there are sure to
be a lot of surprises when this movie lands
in theaters on February 23rd.
A Wrinkle in Time
For fans of Madeleine L'Engle's classic 1962
science-fiction/fantasy novel, Ava DuVernay's
live-action take on A Wrinkle in Time can't
come soon enough.
The novel has been adapted for film once before,
in a 2003 Disney-distributed TV movie which
was poorly-received by most viewers, including
L'Engle herself, who said, "I expected it
to be bad, and it is."
But with an all-star cast and the Selma director
at the helm, the new take is already shaping
up to be an out-of-this-world experience when
it appears on March 9th.
Pacific Rim: Uprising
Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim may not have
been a box office smash, but it was well-received
by critics and audiences alike and has finally
gotten its long-overdue follow-up by way of
Uprising.
The sequel is helmed by Stephen DeKnight,
and while plot details are scant so far, we
do know that John Boyega will feature as Jake
Pentecost—the son of Idris Elba's character
Stacker from the first film. There'll also
be three new Jaegers featured in the movie,
and it'll take place several years after the
events in the first installment, so brace
for impact, giant mech fans, when this monster
hits theaters on March 23rd.
Ready Player One
Steven Spielberg is giving science fiction
fans something to salivate over with his adaptation
of Ernest Cline's buzzy book Ready Player
One.
"In 2045, there's nowhere left to go. Nowhere,
except the Oasis."
The story follows its young hero through a
virtual reality maze of pop culture references
as he fights to find an Easter egg that will
earn him a fortune in the midst of a global
energy crisis. And from the looks of early
footage, the movie promises to be a mind-blowing
experience when it treks to the silver screen
on March 30th.
Rampage
Monster movies may have fallen out of vogue
in recent years, but Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
may change all of that with the big screen
adaptation of Rampage. The film is based on
the classic 1980s arcade game of the same
name, which features three gigantic monsters
rampaging through cities around North America.
The producers of the movie have confirmed
that the main monsters from the franchise
will be back for the film, which means we'll
soon be watching The Rock face off against
a giant crocodile, a mega-gorilla, and an
enormous wolf.
"Oh, you didn't know about the 30-foot wolf?"
While this sounds like a goofy action blockbuster
on the surface, director Brad Peyton also
promises that Rampage will be
"...a lot more emotional, a lot scarier and
a lot more real than you'd expect."
We'll have to wait and see whether The Rock
can work his box office magic again when Rampage
drops on April 20th.
"I think we'll be alright."
Solo: A Star Wars Story
The upcoming Star Wars film about Han Solo
has hit some bumps along the way, but, if
it's anything like its predecessors, this'll
be one out-of-this world experience for audiences.
The standalone movie will follow a young Han
Solo, played by Alden Ehrenreich who takes
over for Harrison Ford, and will showcase
the character's exploits before the events
of A New Hope. He'll be joined by Donald Glover
as a young Lando Calrissian and Joonas Suotamo
as Chewbacca, taking over for Peter Mayhew.
In addition to these established Star Wars
characters, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke,
Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and
more will all appear in supporting roles.
While shooting was underway in early 2017,
production was halted after Lucasfilm fired
co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
due to ongoing creative conflicts with both
Lucasfilm executive Kathleen Kennedy and screenwriter
Lawrence Kasdan. However, Lucasfilm quickly
hired Ron Howard to complete principal photography
and reshoots. Judging by his willingness to
sprinkle the fanbase with clues already, having
Howard at the helm will make this one outstanding
intergalactic adventure when Solo hits theaters
on May 25th.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
While many other reboots have floundered in
recent years, Jurassic World took the world
by storm and earned over $1.6 billion dollars
in the global box office while reintroducing
scary dinosaurs to the mainstream once again.
Round two of the revived franchise is Jurassic
World: Fallen Kingdom, which promises a return
to its roots with a much darker tone than
the first installment.
Plot details on Fallen Kingdom are still slim,
but we do know that stars Chris Pratt, Bryce
Dallas Howard, and B. D. Wong will reprise
their roles from the first installment, while
Jeff Goldblum will return as the philosophical
Dr. Ian Malcolm—which is his first return
to the franchise since 1997's The Lost World.
Malcolm's importance in this sequel is hinted
at strongly in the film's tagline:
"Life, uh, finds a way."
Hints from those involved with the movie indicate
that the plot may involve multiple competing
labs hatching their own dinosaurs off the
island, the ethical issues in how they're
using them, and how they'll coexist with humans
in the rest of the world.
The movie will return to Isla Nublar for at
least part of the film, and keep a watch out
for the original Jurassic Park T-Rex, which
will also be making a comeback. With a promise
that this sequel will be "more suspenseful
and scary" than previous installments in the
franchise, and with horror film director J.A.
Bayona at the helm, it sounds like Jurassic
World: Fallen Kingdom will be a must-watch
when it finally arrives on June 22nd.
Alita: Battle Angel
Following in the footsteps of Oldboy and Ghost
in the Shell, Alita: Battle Angel will bring
us the latest science fiction movie based
on a manga. The movie is directed by Robert
Rodriguez, and will feature Rosa Salazar in
the title role, with a supporting cast including
Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein,
Michelle Rodriguez, Keean Johnson, and Jennifer
Connelly, among others.
Plot details have been scarce so far, but
we do know that it will focus primarily on
the plot of the manga's first four volumes,
particularly on the futuristic sport of "motorball."
The film has been a passion project of producer
James Cameron, who became a fan of Yukito
Kishiro's original manga nearly two decades
ago. He's been trying to get the film made
ever since, although he's had to delay production
along the way in order to finish his Avatar
films and develop the additional technology
needed to do Alita correctly. With Cameron
and Rodriguez leading the way, Alita: Battle
Angel is sure to please science fiction fans,
action fans, and manga fans alike when it
reaches the silver screen on July 20th.
The Predator
While The Predator is actually the fourth
film in the core Predator series, chronologically,
it's set in the present day, between the events
of 1990's Predator 2 and and 2010's Predators.
The film will star Boyd Holbrook as an ex-Marine
who discovers that the Predators exist, and
recruits a team to help hunt them down. Rounding
out his team include castmates Olivia Munn,
Trevante Rhodes, Keegan Michael-Key, Sterling
K. Brown, Alfie Allen, and child actor Jacob
Tremblay, who will play Quinn's son. The other
supporting cast members include Yvonne Strahovski
and Edward James Olmos, as well as Jake Busey—who
will make an appearance as the son of "Peter
Keyes" from Predator 2, who was played by
his real-life father, Gary Busey.
Shane Black, who played "Hawkins" in the original
Predator, has returned to the franchise—this
time as the director. Black wants to keep
the spirit of the original film alive for
this sequel, and has made it clear that it
won't be rated PG-13. Cast member Sterling
K. Brown has also dropped hints that The Predator
will have many "wicked" funny moments, much
like the original film. If Black can truly
capture the nostalgia of Predator while keeping
the story fresh, Predator should be a true
blockbuster when it hits theaters on August
3rd.
Captive State
Based on the buzzy screenplay written by Rupert
Wyatt and Erica Beeney, Captive State will
star John Goodman, Vera Farmiga, Ashton Sanders,
Jonathan Majors, Kevin Dunn, and Machine Gun
Kelly, among others.
The official description tells us the movie
will be:
"Set in a Chicago neighborhood nearly a decade
after an occupation by an extraterrestrial
force, [and] explores the lives on both sides
of the conflict—the collaborators and dissidents."
You can catch the film in theaters on August
17th.
The Darkest Minds
This upcoming science fiction/superpowers
movie is based on the novel of the same name
by Alexandra Bracken. The Darkest Minds is
being directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson in her
her live-action directorial debut.
The story centers on the years after a disease
sweeps America, killing nearly all of the
children, as the surviving kids develop uncontrollable
superhuman abilities and are confined to internment
camps around the nation. Hunger Games star
Amandla Stenberg will star as Ruby, a girl
who decides to break out of the camp and join
a group of rebel teens in a plot to bring
down the government which wants them kept
under lock and key.
Joining Stenberg are Harris Dickinson, Mandy
Moore, Patrick Gibson, Skylan Brooks, and
Gwendoline Christie, who will play a brutal
bounty hunter tasked with tracking down the
missing teens. Since it's based upon a young-adult
novel, the live-action adaptation of The Darkest
Minds will likely be a PG-13 film that will
appeal to teens and adults alike and will
premiere on September 14th.
Mortal Engines
Based on the novel of the same name by Philip
Reeve, Mortal Engines will take us into a
futuristic steampunk world following the ravages
of a "Sixty Minute War." In this future, cities
are now mobile, moving around the world propelled
by gigantic engines and wheels. Along the
way, the cities cannibalize smaller towns
to replenish their own resources.
Long-time Peter Jackson storyboard artist
and collaborator Christian Rivers will make
his feature-film directorial debut with Mortal
Engines, while Jackson will produce. The screenplay
was also written by Jackson, along with his
frequent writing partners Philippa Boyens
and Fran Walsh.
Starring Robert Sheehan, Hera Hilmar, Ronan
Raftery, and Hugo Weaving, Mortal Engines
should be a visual extravaganza with a compelling
story that will blow viewers away when it
floats into theaters on December 14th.
Code 8
Not only is Code 8 the first feature film
from actors Robbie and Stephen Amell, it also
was nearly completely crowdfunded via an Indiegogo
campaign. In 2016, the Amells—who are cousins—released
a 10-minute-long short film, which they were
seeking to expand to feature-length. In it,
the Amells take a different view on the "mutant/superpower"
trope. In their future, approximately four
percent of people have various supernatural
powers, but they're mostly shunned by the
rest of the population. Forced to live on
the fringes of society, "specials" struggle
with poverty and have to take low-paying jobs
as day laborers to make ends meet. When two
of the specials get into a confrontation with
militarized police, things go violently wrong.
Starring Robbie and Stephen Amell, Sung Kang,
Aaron Abrams, and Chad Donella, principal
photography on Code 8 began in June 2017,
and is tentatively slated for a December 2018
release.
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