16. Spider-Man: Homecoming
Release Date: July 7, 2017
Director: Jon Watts
Cast: Tom Holland, Marisa Tomei, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau, Zendaya, Bokeem Woodbine, Logan Marshall-Green, Martin Starr, Donald Glover, Angourie Rice, Laura Harrier, Jacob Batalon, Tony Revolori, Hannibal Buress, Stan Lee
A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging super hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine – distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man – but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.
17. Fate of the Furious
Release Date: April 14, 2017
Director: F. Gary Gray
Cast: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Helen Mirren
If the appropriately absurd first trailer of F8 is to be believed, the eighth installment in the Fast franchise is about betrayal. It appears that Dom “MY FAMILY” Toretto becomes a bad guy (possibly because Charlize Theron is a witch who puts a hex on him), so the rest of the squad has to fight him/win him back. Let it be said that this plot, as a successor to seven movies, MAKES NO GODDAMN SENSE. There is nothing in any of the Fast movies to suggest that Dom would ever turn against his family. But therein lies the beauty and genius of this franchise: its lack of logic is its greatest strength. Did we ask questions when Vin Diesel and The Rock went through multiple walls during a fight in Fast Five? Did we take out calculators to figure out the real-life physics of jumping a car through skyscrapers when you saw Furious 7? Hell no. We watched with huge smiles on our faces. And there’s no doubt in my mind we’ll all do the same on April 14 when this movie comes out.
18. Transformers: The Last Knight
Release Date: June 23, 2017
Director: Michael Bay
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel, Peter Cullen, Anthony Hopkins, Laura Haddock, Isabela Moner, Stanley Tucci, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Liam Garrigan, Santiago Cabrera, John Goodman, Ken Watanabe, John DiMaggio, Frank Welker, Jess Harnell
Optimus Prime is back, Josh Duhamel is back, Megatron is back, and Michael Bay is back. Transformers 5 (Transformers: The Last Knight) is aimed to be a continuation of the mega Hasbro movie franchise but also a fresh start for newcomers that will launch – you guessed it – a share cinematic universe Marvel style) with the first spinoff coming in 2018 based on Bumblebee.
Official plot details have yet to be revealed, but piecing together the marketing materials and reports, it seems Optimus Prime is searching through the cosmos for the Quintessons, the beings believed to be responsible for the creation of the Transformers race. Meanwhile back at home, Wahlberg’s Cade Yeager will be facing a new alien threat that brings Lennox back into duty.
19. Ghost in the Shell
Release Date: March 31, 2017
Director: Rupert Sanders
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbæk, Michael Pitt, Takeshi Kitano, Michael Wincott, Juliette Binoche, Rila Fukushima, Chin Han, Chris Obi, Peter Ferdinando
Based on the internationally-acclaimed Japanese Anime property, Ghost in the Shell follows Major (Johansson), a special ops, one-of-a-kind human-cyborg hybrid, who leads the elite task force Section 9 devoted to stopping the most dangerous criminals and extremists. Directed by Rupert Sanders. We travelled to Japan to see the trailer debut and saw a few additional scenes from the film. It’s largely inspired by the original movie but mixes plot elements and its antagonist from multiple stories in the series.
20. Life
Release Date: March 24, 2017
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare, Olga Dihovichnaya, Alexandre Nguyen
From the writers of Zombieland and Deadpool (Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick) comes a sci-fi thriller set on a space station with an all-star cast. Life tells the story of the six-member crew of the International Space Station that is on the cutting edge of one of the most important discoveries in human history: the first evidence of extraterrestrial life on Mars. As the crew begins to conduct research, their methods end up having unintended consequences and the life form proves more intelligent than anyone ever expected.
