Fifteen Big Movies Yet to Come in 2016
The first six months of 2016 brought us a ton of great movies and a few blockbusters that brought in over $300 million in box office revenue. From Deadpool to X-Men, it is going to be very tough for the next six months to compete and give us as many hits. There were also a slew of movies that could not live up to the hype and fell far short of their goal like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and The Huntsman: Winter’s War.
But thanks to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (December 16th) and Suicide Squad (August 5th), the second half of the year looks to be primed for an even better run. Is it possible the second half of the year could out perform the first half in both quality and box office? Let’s take a quick glance at the films we’re most looking forward to over the last six months of 2016.
15. Ghostbusters
- Release Date: July 15th
- Directed By: Paul Feig
- Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Chris Hemsworth
- A Look Ahead: After waiting 27 years, fans of the Ghostbusters franchise are finally given sweet relief of the forever rumored third film in the franchise. Following the death of Harold Ramis in 2014, the franchise’s original director, Ivan Reitman, finally backed out fo the project for good. He was on board with doing it except it became extremely difficult to sign Bill Murray. When Paul Feig signed on, he decided to avoid the norm and went with an all-woman cast. It appears risky but this is a very funny group of ladies who could bring the franchise back to an entirely new audience.
14. Star Trek Beyond
- Release Date: July 22nd
- Directed By: Justin Lin
- Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Idris Elba
- A Look Ahead: The reboot Star Trek movie franchise was already doing a phenomenal job at the box office compared to its previous films but with the sudden death to the actor who plays one of the most beloved characters in the Star Trek universe recently, Pavel Chekov, the film could see a tiny boost at the box office. From the looks of the trailers, this film doesn’t need any help to be a success this summer, it should do just fine.
13. The BFG
- Release Date: July 1st
- Directed By: Steven Spielberg
- Starring: Mark Rylance, Ruby Barnhill, Penelope Wilton, Rebecca Hall, Jermaine Clement
- A Look Ahead: The first time we saw the teaser trailer for The BFG, there were several thoughts that popped up in our minds. First off, there is no way your first thought wasn’t to say something dirty when you saw those initials. Secondly, Roald Dahl might have literally titled it this way as a joke and just didn’t tell anyone that. The only reason it is on the list is because Steven Spielberg directed it and he rarely creates sub-par movies.
12. Moana
- Release Date: November 23rd
- Directed By: Ron Clements and John Musker
- Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Auli’i Cravalho, Phillipa Soo
- A Look Ahead: The Walt Disney company doesn’t just produce animated films, it creates a giant marketing campaign that turns the star of the movie into the newest Disney fan-favorite character in all their parks. Anyone remember Frozen?
11. Jason Bourne
- Release Date: July 29th
- Directed By: Paul Greengrass
- Starring: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Alicia Vikander, Tommy Lee Jones
- A Look Ahead: Matt Damon is back! Let’s keep this one short and sweet, this movie is going to be great. If you have seen any of the previous Bourne films, then you will agree with us.
10. The Magnificent Seven
- Release Date: September 23rd
- Directed By: Antoine Fuqua
- Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Peter Sarsgaard, Byung-hun Lee
- A Look Ahead: The original film, from 1960, gave us one of the best ensembles in Western movie history with Yul Brynner, Steven McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, and Eli Wallach. This one just might be the newest incredible ensemble that we have seen in this genre.
9. Hacksaw Ridge
- Release Date: November 4th
- Directed By: Mel Gibson
- Starring: Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington, Hugo Weaving, Luke Bracey, Ryan Corr, Teresa Palmer
- A Look Ahead: The last time Mel Gibson directed a film about war and patriotism, he gave us Braveheart. We aren’t expecting this movie to be the next Braveheart but it would be difficult to imagine him directing a war film that was terrible.
8. Snowden
- Release Date: September 16th
- Directed By: Oliver Stone
- Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Tom Wilkinson, Scott Eastwood
- A Look Ahead: As you have already figured out by now, a movie is only as good as its script and the director. Oliver Stone is the mind behind Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, JFK, and Wall Street. But he can’t carry this film alone, so he went out and casted Joseph Gordon-Levitt, one of the most amazing performers since Gene Kelly. This is and will be his chance at reaching that next level in his career and it comes out very soon.
7. Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them
- Release Date: November 18th
- Directed By: David Yates
- Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton
- A Look Ahead: Are you ready for a prequel to Harry Potter? It has grown in popularity since the final film hit theaters thanks to Universal Studios giving us an entire land dedicated to the book series. This movie is destined for greatness because J.K. Rowling wrote the books.
6. Sausage Party
- Release Date: August 12th
- Directed By: Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon
- Starring: Seth Rogen, Kristen Wig, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, Michael Cera, James Franco, Danny McBride, Paul Rudd, Salma Hayek, Edward Norton
- A Look Ahead: The main behind Thomas the Tank Engine is directing an R-rated animated film starring foul mouthed food products trying to avoid their impending doom? How does this not make you want to hug a homeless person and donate money to the public library?
5. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
- Release Date: December 25th
- Directed By: Tim Burton
- Starring: Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Chris O’Dowd, Allison Janney, Rupert Everett, Judi Dench, Samuel L. Jackson
- A Look Ahead: It sounds like a children’s book but it isn’t. The movie is a depiction of the young adult story by Ransom Riggs and it is one of the best books any teenager or young adult can read this year. Tim Burton is the best choice to direct this film and he will turn it into a big hit before we head into 2017.
4. The Founder
- Release Date: August 5th
- Directed By: John Lee Hancock
- Starring: Michael Keaton, Laura Dern, Nick Offerman, Patrick Wilson
- A Look Ahead: Michael Keaton was the best Batman and a perfect Beetlejuice. He made us all laugh as Mr.Mom and in The Dream Team but he never showed us his real talent until Birdman which won him an Academy Award for Best Actor. So what is next? How about a biopic about Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s? Everything about that last sentence sounds amazing.
3. Doctor Strange
- Release Date: November 4th
- Directed By: Scott Derrickson
- Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Michael Stuhlbarg, Tilda Swinton
- A Look Ahead: Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange? That sounded very odd when it was announced but then the trailer hit theaters and we got to see his portrayal of the best Marvel character ever and the buzz flew through the roof. Doctor Strange has now become one of the most anticipated Marvel films ever.
2. Suicide Squad
- Release Date: August 5th
- Directed By: David Ayer
- Starring: Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Scott Eastwood
- A Look Ahead: The DC Comics Universe is off to a mediocre start following the good-not-great Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice release earlier this year. If the DCU has a chance of working like the Marvel Universe works, Suicide Squad is going to be the reason. This movie looks amazing and could undo a lot of the damage Batman and Superman did a few months ago. Besides, casting Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn just might have been the second best decision of the casting director. The first? Jared Leto as the Joker.
1. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
(Turn your speakers way up before watching this one, trust us!)
- Release Date: December 18th
- Directed By: Gareth Edwards
- Starring: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Forest Whitaker
- A Look Ahead: Darth Vader was recently confirmed to be in this movie and his voice will be played by James Earl Jones. How are you not freaking out about this movie way more than you have already? This film could be the biggest hit of the franchise and it is a stand-alone project.