LOS ANGELES-The most exciting movies set to drop in the coming months.
As always, there are far too many sequels, spin-offs, remakes and reboots clogging the cinemas, but surely some will be worth the effort. Release dates are subject to change, of course, but there’s still an exciting bunch spread throughout the year. Here are our most highly-anticipated films (not in chronological order).
1. Solo: A Star Wars Story (May)
This film may have been mired in production chaos, but we still want to see this origin story about Han, Chewie and Lando. And that cast is superb.
2. Widows (Nov)
Steve McQueen directs this female heist thriller starring Viola Davis and Michelle Rodriguez. More girl power: Red Sparrow (Mar), Ocean’s 8 (Jun), Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (Jul), Mary Poppins Returns (Nov).
3. Avengers: Infinity War (Apr)
Pretty much everyone appears in this superhero behemoth. And there’s more: Black Panther (Feb), The New Mutants (Apr), Deadpool 2 (Jun), Ant-Man and the Wasp (Jul), Venom (Oct), X-Men: Dark Phoenix (Nov), Aquaman (Nov).
4. Sicario 2: Soldado
Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin are back in action on the US-Mexico border. More manly action: Robin Hood (Sep), Tom Cruise returns for Mission: Impossible 6 (Jul).
5. Annihilation (Feb)
Alex Garland follows up Ex Machina with an intriguing sci-fi thriller starring Natalie Portman. More glimpses of the future: Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One (Mar), Mortal Engines (Dec).
6. First Man (Oct)
Ryan Gosling and Damien Chazelle reteam for this biopic about astronaut Neil Armstrong. More true stories: Spike Lee’s Black Klansman (tbc), 7 Days in Entebbe(Mar), Mary Queen of Scots (Sep).
7. Isle of Dogs (Mar)
Wes Anderson returns to stop-motion animation for what looks like another furry gem. More animation: Early Man (Jan), Incredibles 2 (Jul), How to Train Your Dragon 3 (Jul), Wreck-It Ralph 2 (Nov).
8. A Wrinkle in Time (Mar)
Ava DuVernay directs this long-awaited film adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s classic time-travel adventure. More fantasy: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Jun), Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Nov).
9. Everybody Knows
Award-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi heads to Spain for a drama starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. And acclaimed French filmmaker Jacques Audiard takes on the Wild West in The Sisters Brothers with Jake Gyllenhaal and Joaquin Phoenix.
10. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
Terry Gilliam has been trying to get this film made for more than 20 years, and it’s finally here, starring Adam Driver. More literary-based drama: Mary Shelley (Jul), Mowgli (Oct), The Girl in the Spider’s Web (Oct).