And… we’re back! Here’s the second batch of movies that may or may not have us jumping for joy at having seen them in 2018. There’s a pleasing mix of genres, some movies have really great casts, and some that may go on to win copious awards. Whatever happens these are all – at this moment in time – movies that are capable of finding a place in our hearts and in our Top 10 lists for the year – or maybe not. We’ll just have to wait and see.

26 – Mortal Engines – Come December this might be the movie we’re all waiting to see if the teaser trailer released a little while ago is anything to go by. With a script by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, itself an adaptation of the novel by Philip Reeve, this steampunk fantasy (with solid echoes of Terry Gilliam’s work already on display) promises to be raucous, action-packed, funny, and visually arresting, along with its cast, which includes Robert Sheehan, Hugo Weaving, and Stephen Lang as an ancient undead cyborg warrior called Shrike. And besides, what other movie of 2018 will have the city of London as its principal villain?

27 – Mary Magdalene – In the four canonical gospels, Mary Magdalene is a woman who had seven demons cast out of her by Jesus. She was also the first witness to Jesus’ resurrection from his tomb. But in the Middle Ages she came to be regarded as a repentant prostitute. Which approach this new movie will adopt has yet to be discovered, but either way, and with Rooney Mara in the title role, it’s likely that Mary will endure a lot of suffering on her way to becoming a saint. With Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus, and direction from Garth Davis (Lion), this could be a compelling portrait of one of biblical history’s most famous, and yet overlooked individuals.

28 – Isle of Dogs – Wes Anderson returns to the world of animation – and stop-motion animation at that – with this tale set in a future Japan where dogs have been quarantined on the remote titular island. When a young boy arrives on the island (somewhere he shouldn’t be) looking for his own dog, five of the canine residents decide to help him – in return for his helping them. This project is practically oozing quality, from Anderson’s involvement as writer and director, to the visuals (inspired by the holiday specials made by Rankin/Bass Productions), and a terrific voice cast that includes Bill Murray, Bryan Cranston, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, and if you can spot her (no pun intended), Yoko Ono.

29 – Entebbe – The fourth recounting of the events that led up to and became known as Operation Entebbe, José Padilha’s attention grabbing true life thriller looks like it’s a gripping account that will focus on the tensions both inside the Airbus A300B4-203, and within the corridors of Israeli power as they debated whether or not to give in to the hijackers’ demands. Rosamund Pike and Daniel Brühl are members of the Revolutionäre Zellen, the terrorist cell responsible for the hijacking, while Eddie Marsan provides a stand-out turn as Shimon Peres, and there’s further sterling support from Vincent Cassel, Nonso Anozie (as Idi Amin), and Lior Ashkenazi.

30 – Born a King – An historical drama that borders so much on fiction that it can only be true, the movie tells the story of fourteen year old Arab Prince Faisal who is sent to England by his father in order to secure the formation of his country. Set in 1919, this movie sees Prince Faisal facing up to the likes of Winston Churchill and Lord Curzon in his efforts not to be outmanoeuvred. British Colonial rule has become one of the hot topics at the cinema in recent years, along with World War II, but Agustí Villaronga’s first English language movie seeks to focus on a period and a sequence of events that have rarely been examined. However this turns out, that at least is to be applauded.

31 – Little Italy – It’s Romeo and Juliet again, but this time the two young lovers (played by Hayden Christensen and Emma Roberts) have to contend with their families’ and the on-going war between the pizza restaurants both have in common. With the likes of Danny Aiello and Andrea Martin on board to provide some Italian “seasoning”, this could be the kind of unexpected hit that My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) was. Director Donald Petrie has a lot of experience with romantic comedies, and if the script is as sharp as it should be – and avoids as many clichés as possible – then this could be a surprise breakout hit for all concerned.

32 – The Front Runner – Director Jason Reitman has two movies due for release in 2018. One is a comedy/drama called Tully, the other is this one, a black comedy and political satire about the rise and fall from grace endured by Democratic Senator Gary Hart (played by Hugh Jackman) when his extramarital affair was revealed during his campaign for the Presidency in 1988. Based on the 2014 book All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid, Reitman’s often acerbic approach to his projects should stand him in good stead here, and Jackman is provided with more than able support from the likes of Vera Farmiga, Ari Graynor and J.K. Simmons.

33 – A Simple Favor – A mystery thriller is the way in which director Paul Feig moves on from the debacle that was Ghostbusters (2016), as a mom blogger (Anna Kendrick) investigates the sudden disappearance of her best friend (Blake Lively), and whether or not her friend’s husband has anything to do with it. If Feig keeps it straight and maintains a consistent tone, this could be as good as Gone Girl (2014) and much better than The Girl on the Train (2016). What mustn’t happen? For Kendrick to play her usual ditsy cutesy character. But let’s hope that doesn’t happen – shall we?

34 – The Last Full Measure – Another true story of bravery and valour, this involves William H. Pitsenbarger (played by Jeremy Irvine), a United States Air Force Pararescueman who was instrumental in ensuring the survival of at least nine men during an enemy assault in Vietnam in April 1966. It’s a movie with another very impressive cast – Peter Fonda, Christopher Plummer (not replacing Kevin Spacey at the last minute), Samuel L. Jackson and William Hurt amongst others – and has the potential to be a rousing, patriotic endorsement of the kind of selfless heroism that is always so hard to ignore.

35 – The 15:17 to Paris – And… yet another true story of bravery and valour, this time involving three friends, two of whom were in the military, who foiled a terrorist attack on a train bound for Paris from Amsterdam in August 2015. In what feels like something of a coup for director Clint Eastwood, all three friends, Anthony Sadler, Alex Skarlatos and Spencer Stone are playing themselves. Whether or not this will add a degree of verisimilitude to proceedings remains to be seen, and whether they provide performances is another matter, but it will add to the charge that will be felt when the terrorist begins to make himself known on the train.

36 – Every Day – On what sounds like a convoluted romantic twist on Groundhog Day (1994), Angourie Rice’s shy teenager, Rhiannon, falls in love with a travelling soul called “A”, who each day inhabits a different body. What is a girl to do to ensure she finds true (and lasting) love? The answer lies in the screenplay by Jesse Andrews (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), which has been adapted from the novel by David Levithan. If the movie can maintain a sense of magical realism that doesn’t collapse under the weight of being too fantastical, then this could be both charming and effective, and the new favourite movie of thousands and thousands of lovestruck teenage girls.

37 – Gringo – In what is only Nash Edgerton’s second feature, the well-known stuntman and brother of Joel directs David Oyelowo as a mild-mannered businessman who finds himself assailed on all sides by back-stabbing business colleagues back home, local drug lords and a morally conflicted black-ops mercenary. This action comedy should be a refreshing change of pace for Oyelowo, and he has impressive support from the likes of Charlize Theron, Thandie Newton, Sharlto Copley, and Joel himself. The question that remains is a simple one: can Oyelowo bring the heat when he needs to?

38 – Winchester – A rare horror that doesn’t have connections to either Blumhouse or James Wan’s Conjuring universe, this sees Helen Mirren as the firearms heiress who comes to believe that she is haunted by the souls of the people who have been killed by the Winchester repeating rifle. Writers and directors The Spierig Brothers gave us the less than overwhelming Jigsaw (2017), but this is such an off the wall concept (albeit based on rumour and legend) that it will be interesting to see how they make this work effectively. Let’s hope at least that there’s a deficit of ghostly faces popping up out of nowhere all the time.

39 – Billionaire Boys Club – A remake of the 1987 mini-series about the titular group and their get-rich-quick scam (a Ponzi scheme) that led to murder, this has been delayed due to late reshoots and an extended post-production schedule (filming began in December 2015). Whether or not this is to ensure that the best version possible is released or not remains to be seen but it does have an attractive cast headed by Ansel Elgort, Taron Egerton and Emma Roberts, and its tale of financial recidivism is still as apt today as it was back in the 1980’s.

40 – Dragged Across Concrete – In just the space of two features, S. Craig Zahler has made a name for himself for making tough, uncompromisingly violent movies. Those movies are Bone Tomahawk (2015) and Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017), and this movie promises more of the same, as it deals with the issue of police brutality through the actions of two over-zealous cops whose pursuit of justice sees them adrift from the law and in over their heads in the criminal underworld. Zahler’s unflinching approach to his writing and directing should be to the fore and he should be ably supported by Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn as the cops who find themselves in really big trouble, making this one of the most anticipated movies of 2018.

41 – Serenity – Another crackerjack cast – Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jason Clarke, Diane Lane, Djimon Hounsou – is assembled for this noir thriller about a fishing boat captain whose past comes back to haunt him (surprise, surprise). The brainchild of writer Steven Knight (Locke), this is a movie that will stand or fall on the nature and credibility of its mystery premise, but even though Knight has had a rocky career so far in terms of quality, this still has the potential to be the kind of movie that leaves viewers scratching their heads – but in a good way.

42 – Widows – Of all the projects you might have expected Steve McQueen, the Oscar-winning director of 12 Years a Slave (2013) to have chosen as his next feature after that triumph, it’s a safe bet that it wouldn’t have been a remake of a 1983 UK TV series based on a novel by Lynda La Plante. Nevertheless, that’s what he’s done, and he’s written the script in conjunction with Gillian Flynn, the author of Gone Girl. With Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez, and Cynthia Erivo as the widows of the title, and the action transported to contemporary Chicago, it will be interesting to see just how much of La Plante’s original story remains, and how easily McQueen adapts to the story’s criminal milieu.

43 – The House With a Clock in Its Walls – A fantasy horror directed by Eli Roth, and starring Cate Blanchett and Jack Black (now there’s a trio), this is adapted from the first in a series of novels for children by John Bellairs. The house in question was once owned by a couple who practiced black magic, and the clock is a magical McGuffin that could bring about the end of the world. Roth may not be the first choice for this kind of material, and neither Blanchett or Black have appeared in an out and out horror movie before, but if the script retains the novel’s sense of gloomy wonder then this could well be the beginning of a new franchise.

44 – The Grinch – Illumination! (best said or read Minions style) The makers of the Despicable Me trilogy turn their attention to Dr. Suess and his classic tale, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! With Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role, this latest animation bonanza should be full of inspired visual gags, some adult humour in amongst all the child-friendly absurdities, and a number of cute secondary characters for the Grinch to pick on. And with the advance poster warning, He Gets Meaner, it seems clear in which direction Illumination are planning to take this.

45 – Alita: Battle Angel – So long in development you could be forgiven for wondering if it was ever going to be made, this adaptation of the manga by Yukito Kushiro has been a passion project for James Cameron since 2000. Now it’s almost here, with Robert Rodriguez in the director’s chair and Rosa Salazar having her eyes manipulated digitally to play the title character. There will be action, mind-bending visuals, and probably more talking points than the majority of movies released in 2018, but however it turns out, this will be another highly anticipated movie that should provide fanboys with all that they need from a big budget anime adaptation.

46 – The Meg – Jason Statham vs a seventy foot white shark. ‘Nuff said.

47 – Backseat – As in most years terrific ensemble casts crop up in plenty of movies, but this one is a contender for the year’s best. With Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Bill Pullman, and Sam Rockwell (as George W. Bush!), this biopic of Dick Cheney (Bale), and his tenure as the Vice President of the United States has been put together by Adam McKay (The Big Short), and has the potential to be as excoriating and hard to watch as any movie about a proto-despot should be. With the title meant to be ironic – did anyone ever think Bush was really in charge? – this could be one of the best political commentary movies seen in a very, very long while.

48 – Bohemian Rhapsody – Directors come and directors go and still (as Queen themselves would say) the show must go on. Whether Dexter Fletcher is still the director when this is released is probably worth a bet, but a biopic of Freddie Mercury is a movie a lot of people have waited for, and now that it’s nearly with us, the sense of anticipation is growing steadily. Early pictures of Remi Malek do show a marked resemblance to the flamboyant singer (though Malek’s eyes are a bit of a giveaway as to his identity), but it’s the movie’s structure and how truthful it is to all concerned will be of paramount importance, but if the movie does get it right then this should prove to be a joyous celebration of a much-missed and much-loved star.

49 – Where’d You Go, Bernadette – Richard Linklater’s latest movie is a comedy and a drama (surprise) about the titular character (played by Cate Blanchett) and what happens when she disappears one day, something that causes her daughter, Bee, to try and find her. The original novel by Maria Semple that this is based on is quirky and appealing, and the material should suit Linklater down to the ground. With support from the likes of Kristen Wiig, Billy Crudup and Laurence Fishburne, there’s little doubt that this will be another of Linklater’s joyous odes to smalltown America and all its little foibles and social animosities.

50 – Captive State – Much of the plot of this movie, the latest from Rupert Wyatt (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), is under wraps, but what is known is that it’s set in Chicago a decade after its occupation by an alien force. John Goodman heads up a cast that also includes Vera Farmiga and Alan Ruck, and it’s good to know that this was a project for which there was a bidding war, which for a science fiction movie concerned with that hoary cliché, the alien invasion, is cause for anticipation rather than concern. If anyone can make this sort of thing of work, though, Wyatt is definitely someone to have faith in.

It’s that time again, when we look ahead to the coming year and hope against all previous experience that things will get better, that Hollywood will launch itself wholeheartedly into making original, entertaining, thought-provoking movies that aren’t creatively moribund. Well, perhaps, but in the continuing spirit of past changes on thedullwoodexperiment the movies highlighted here and in Part 2 won’t feature very many of the tentpole movies that will be hyped to death between now and their release next year, because, well, that’s what everyone else will be doing. So, here’s the first batch of contenders looking to conquer our hearts and minds in 2018. How many will you see, and how many will become new favourites?

1 – Annihilation – The first part of Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy arrives courtesy of Alex Garland, whose Ex Machina (2014) showed that there’s room for intelligent, character-driven sci-fi on our screens. Focusing on the search for a biologist’s missing husband within an environmental disaster zone, Garland has assembled a cast that includes Natalie Portman (as the biologist), Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac (as the missing husband), and the movie promises to be as visually inventive as his previous foray into the genre, and a little mindbending too.

2 – Red Sparrow – Jennifer Lawrence reunites with her Hunger Games director, Francis Lawrence, for this action thriller that sees a Russian ballerina recruited into the titular intelligence service and trained to target a CIA agent on her first mission. But, inevitably, things don’t go as planned… After Atomic Blonde (2017), this could be another action heroine franchise starter, but even with Darren Aronofsky and David Fincher having passed on the project in its early stages, the movie is still an intriguing prospect, and features a supporting cast that includes Joel Edgerton, Jeremy Irons and Charlotte Rampling.

3 – The Commuter – Another director-star reunion, this time between Jaume Collet-Serra and Liam Neeson, that sees Neeson’s businessman finding himself caught up in a criminal conspiracy while on his daily commute home. Neeson’s an old hand at this sort of thing now so should bring the necessary gravitas to his role (as well as kicking ass in a heavily edited way), while Collet-Serra’s confident staging and visual flair should make the confines of the commuter train seem less restrictive in terms of the action, something that will contribute heavily to the movie’s potential success.

4 – A Wrinkle in Time – A family-friendly adventure involving three strange beings – played by Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling and Oprah Winfrey – who help a young girl find her missing father, something that requires them to travel through space. Adapted from the well regarded children’s novel by Madeleine L’Engle, this has the potential to be a firm favourite in years to come, but much will rely on director Ava DuVernay’s approach to the material, as this is a complete change of pace for her after 13th (2016), and Selma (2014).

5 – Christopher Robin – Another exploration of the world of A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh (after 2017’s Goodbye Christopher Robin), this sees Ewan McGregor as the titular character, now an adult and weighed down by the responsibilities of work and family. An encounter with the honey-loving bear leads to a return to the Hundred Acre Wood and a search for Pooh’s missing friends. Will Christopher learn to love life again? (Don’t bet against it.) Part animation, part live-action, this looks and feels like a love letter to forgotten childhoods, but should avoid being overly sentimental thanks to the presence of Marc Forster in the director’s chair.

6 – 12 Strong – originally titled Horse Soldiers, this tells the story of the first Special Forces team to be deployed in Afghanistan after 9/11, and their attempts to tackle the Taliban with the aid of an Afghan warlord. Director Nicolai Fuglsig has only made one feature before this, so is a bit of an unknown quantity, but he has a solid cast that includes Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon and William Fichtner, and a story that sounds very much like it’s from the “truth is stranger than fiction” camp. Whether this is a gung-ho war movie or something much more grounded remains to be seen, but just the images already seen of Hemsworth et al on horseback makes this look like it could defy expectations.

7 – The War With Grandpa – It’s a comedy and it stars Robert De Niro – not always a joyous combination – but this could be the movie where he finally loosens up and doesn’t look like he wants to flee the set at any given opportunity. The war of the title arises between a grandfather and his grandson (played by Colin Ford) when they have to share a room. There’s support from Christopher Walken, Uma Thurman and Jane Seymour, and director Tim Hill has a track record with family movies that should mean this can be sentimental and age-appropriately brutal all at the same time.

8 – The Peanut Butter Falcon – This indie movie tells the story of Zak, a young man with Downs Syndrome who runs away from the nursing home where he lives to pursue his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. Along the way he meets a small-time criminal called Tyler (played by Shia LaBeouf), and their separate journeys become one. Zak is played by Zakk Gottsagen, a real-life Downs Syndrome sufferer, and though he’s surrounded by a terrific cast that includes Thomas Haden Church, Bruce Dern, Dakota Johnson, and WWE legend Mick Foley, it’s highly likely that it’s his performance that we’ll all be talking about in 2018.

9 – The Sisters Brothers – Jacques Audiard, the director of A Prophet (2009) and Rust and Bone (2012), makes his English language debut with this tale set in 1850’s Oregon about a gold prospector, the wonderfully named Hermann Kermit Warm (played by Jake Gyllenhaal), who finds himself the target of the titular brothers, a pair of assassins. Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly are the brothers, and there’s support from Riz Ahmed and Rutger Hauer, but Audiard is the main draw here, a director whose skill behind the camera could make this an awards contender across the board.

10 – The Man Who Killed Don Quixote – A movie that could and should be filed under “Finally!”, Terry Gilliam’s ode to Miguel de Cervantes’ famous knight-errant reaches our screens after several previous attempts have either ended in disaster or failed to get off the ground due to a lack of financial backing. With the basic plot of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court added for good measure, this sees Jonathan Pryce in the role of Don Quixote and Adam Driver as the advertising executive who finds himself travelling back and forth to 17th century La Mancha and encountering fiction’s most famous “tilter at windmills”. Let’s hope that Gilliam has finally been able to realise his vision for this story.

11 – The House That Jack Built – Jack (played by Matt Dillon) is a serial killer, and over the course of twelve years (beginning in the 1970’s) we see Jack evolve as a killer, and witness the increasing risks he takes as he strives to create art out of murder. Lars von Trier’s latest promises to be as controversial as any other movie he’s made so far, but its dark subject matter also promises to be leavened by both a philiosophical approach to the material as well as a degree of humour. von Trier always seeks to challenge his audience, and this looks as if it’s been assembled to do just that, but how violent or uncompromising it will be remains to be seen. However it turns out, this has the potential to be one of the most talked about movies of 2018.

12 – Mowgli – Delayed due to the release of Disney’s version in 2016, and originally called The Jungle Book, Andy Serkis’s imagining of Kipling’s classic tale promises to be darker and more confrontational than Jon Favreau’s take. Serkis has also managed to assemble an impressive voice cast that includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett (as Shere Khan, Bagheera and Kaa respectively), while directing and taking on the role of Baloo. If it isn’t as self-congratulatory as Disney’s version, then this could be a treat indeed, because if anyone can bring a degree of realism to a fantasy story, then it’s the King of MoCap himself.

13 – Early Man – Aardman are back! Nick Park and co return to our screens with the tale of a Stone Age tribe that finds itself transported to the Bronze Age, and having to take on their future era oppressors at a game of… football. If it’s Aardman then you can expect wonderful sight gags, physical comedy, hilarious dialogue, and a top-notch voice cast that includes Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Miriam Margolyes and Timothy Spall. Park is making his first solo outing as director since Chicken Run (2000), but don’t expect him to be feeling any pressure: this is a movie maker who has won six BAFTAs and four Oscars already.

14 – Robin Hood – Do we really need another version of the Robin Hood story? Possibly not, but whether this turns out to be as gritty as promised, what does it make it interesting is the casting. Taron Egerton as the titular hero seems to imply a younger take on the character, while Ben Mendelsohn as the Sheriff of Nottingham seems like perfect casting. But it’s the supporting roles that are intriguing, with Jamie Foxx as Little John, Jamie Dornan as Will Scarlet, and comedian Tim Minchin as Friar Tuck. This could go either way, but there’s life in the old legend yet, despite the number of times he’s graced our screens, but as long as this production doesn’t go all Lock, Stock and Three Smoking Arrows on us (like a certain other revisionist take on British myths did in 2017), then this could be an action adventure movie everyone can enjoy.

15 – The Black Hand – An historical crime drama about the origins of the Mafia in the US, this adaptation of Stephan Talty’s 2017 novel of the same name, is set to feature Leonardo DiCaprio as real-life policeman Joe Petrosino as he went about trying to stop the Black Hand from establishing a foothold in New York City back in the 1900’s. There’s no director attached at present, and production hasn’t fully begun, so this may end up being released in 2019, but if we are fortunate enough to see this by the year’s end then unless things go very, very badly wrong, this could be another strong contender come awards season.

16 – Mary Queen of Scots – The story of Mary Stuart, cousin to Elizabeth I, has been told several times before, but this account of her efforts to overthrow the Virgin Queen features Saoirse Ronan as the doomed Mary, and Margot Robbie as the object of her displeasure. Neither actress is likely to be most people’s first choices for the roles, but both are more than capable actresses, and if the screenplay focuses more on Mary than Elizabeth, then this could be one of the better historical dramas coming our way. It will also be a test of director Josie Rourke’s abilities, as her main role is as the artistic director of London’s Donmar Warehouse theatre, a role that should see her ideally placed to make this a gripping piece of English history.

17 – White Boy Rick – Another story taken from the pile marked, “truth is stranger than fiction”, this is about Richard Wershe Jr (the White Boy Rick of the title), and is the second feature from Yann Demange after ’71 (2014). Wershe Jr became the FBI’s youngest ever informant when he was just fourteen, but the ensuing years saw him become a drug dealer, and he was eventually arrested – ironically – by the same FBI that he had worked for. Newcomer Richie Merritt plays the unfortunate teenager, while Matthew McConaughey plays Richard Sr, and Jennifer Jason Leigh is his mother.

18 – Fighting With My Family – A WWE Films production in conjunction with Film4 may not seem like a movie to look forward to (let’s face it, WWE’s movie track record isn’t something to shout about), but this may be the movie that bucks the trend. Featuring Dwayne Johnson, Lena Headey, Vince Vaughn and Stephen Merchant (who also writes and directs), this wish fulfilment tale of a former wrestler and his family who eke out a living peforming at small wrestling venues – while his kids naturally want to join the WWE – should prove to be better than expected thanks to its having Merchant at the helm, and in the DoP’s seat, Remi Adefarasin.

19 – A Rainy Day in New York – Woody Allen’s latest (his 50th) features another great cast – Jude Law, Elle Fanning, Timothée Chalamet, Diego Luna, Rebecca Hall, Liev Schreiber amongst others – and is a romantic comedy about a young couple who come to New York for the weekend and find themselves embarking on a series of adventures while coping with the bad weather of the title. Expect a wistful charm running throughout the movie, along with several quotable lines of dialogue, an air of sophistication, a great jazz-based soundtrack, and beautiful cinematography courtesy of the great Vittorio Storaro.

20 – Ophelia – Taking a break from the Force and lightsabre duels, Daisy Ridley plays the title character in a re-imagining of the story of Hamlet but told from Ophelia’s perspective. Adapted from the young adult novel by Lisa Klein, director Claire McCarthy has assembled a great supporting cast including Naomi Watts as Gertrude, and Clive Owen as Claudius, and if all goes well, this could be as entertaining in its semi-revisionist way as any other Shakespeare adaptation, and remind us that even when his work is being used as a launch pad for further artistic expression, the Bard is still as relevant today as he was over four hundred years ago.

21 – A Futile & Stupid Gesture – The poster states: If You Don’t Watch This Movie, We’ll Kill Will Forte. Whether or not Netflix really intend to go through with this threat remains to be seen (they probably won’t though), but it’s entirely in keeping with the movie’s subject matter, the building of a new media empire in the 1970’s and 80’s that came about thanks to the success of National Lampoon while under the guidance of Doug Kenney (Forte). Whether or not this is as wacky and laugh out loud as National Lampoon itself was during this period, we won’t find out until 26 January, but with a cast that also includes Domhnall Gleeson, Emmy Rossum and Joel McHale as Chevy Chase, this has a good chance of being a memorable Netflix movie – and for the right reasons for a change.

22 – The Women of Marwen – The latest from Robert Zemeckis is a fantasy drama based on the true story of Mark Hogancamp (played by Steve Carell), who after being nearly beaten to death in 2000, left hospital with little memory of his life up til then. Unable to afford therapy, and forced to find an effective alternative, he created a 1/6 scale World War II-era Belgian town in his back yard he called Marwencol. Just what approach to the fantasy elements Zemeckis has adopted, of course remains to be seen, but as a special effects pioneer over the years, the visual style of the movie is sure to be impressive, while the darker aspects of Hogancamp’s story should allow Zemeckis to examine what drives Hogancamp to do what he does.

23 – Three Seconds – Another literary adaptation, this time from the novel of the same name by the Swedish crime writing duo, Roslund/Hellström, the movie centres on an ex-con working for the FBI and attempting to infiltrate the Polish mob in New York. But when he has to return to the very prison he thought he’d left behind, and his identity is put at risk, it becomes a race against time to get out. Joel Kinnaman plays the lucky ex-con, while there’s support from Clive Owen, Rosamund Pike, and Ana de Armas. With its urgent, tense scenario and threat-filled location, this has all the hallmarks of being a muscular action thriller, but if the adaptation is locked in, then with a great deal of intelligence woven throughout as well.

24 – The Happytime Murders – More crime, but this time with laughs attached, as the cast of a 1980’s children’s TV show are murdered one by one, and the principal suspect is the disgraced LAPD detective turned private eye who is best placed to investigate the murders. The only problem? He’s a puppet, and he’s soon on the run with his human ex-partner (played by Melissa McCarthy). As scenarios go, it’s a little like The Muppets’ Murder Case (if such a movie had ever been made), but the movie will stand or fall on the way it integrates puppets and humans into a fully realised and convincing world. With Brian Henson directing, though, it stands a very good chance indeed.

25 – Mary Poppins Returns – Fifty-four years after she first graced our screens, (almost) everyone’s favourite nanny (played by Emily Blunt) returns to provide sympathy and understanding when tragedy strikes the now adult Jane and Michael Banks (Emily Mortimer, Ben Whishaw). Disney has been prepping this one for a while now, and as sequels go it appears to be in safe hands, with Rob Marshall in the director’s chair (let’s hope Into the Woods (2014) was an unfortunate one-off disaster), Lin-Manuel Miranda providing new songs, and a cast that also includes Julie Walters, Colin Firth, Meryl Streep, and providing a link to the original, Dick Van Dyke. The only question that remains is how long it will be before a certain thirty-four letter word is spoken.

And… we’re back! Here’s the second batch of movies that may or may not have us jumping for joy at having seen them in 2017. There’s a pleasing mix of genres, some movies have really great casts, and some that may go on to win copious awards. Whatever happens these are all – at this moment in time – movies that are capable of finding a place in our hearts and in our Top 10 lists for the year – or maybe not. We’ll just have to wait and see.

26 – Hidden Figures – The tagline is clever – “Meet the women you don’t know, behind the mission you do.” – and perfectly sums up the true story of the African-American women who were pivotal in ensuring that NASA were able to launch their space programme in the Sixties. It’s one of those inspiring true life tales that will no doubt pick up some Oscar buzz, but with a cast that includes Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Costner and Mahershala Ali, this should be a fascinating look behind the scenes of an equally fascinating period in NASA’s history.

27 – Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets – Luc Besson has wanted to make this adaptation of the French comic series by Pierre Cristin and Jean-Claude Mézières for a very long time. With Dane DeHaan in the title role, and the city in question providing a home to thousands of different species from across the universe, this could well be a riotous, visually spectacular movie replete with Besson’s quirky humour and operatic leanings. Like so many other movies in this list, there’s a great cast that includes Cara Delevingne, John Goodman, Clive Owen and Rihanna, and at €197 million, it’s also the most expensive French movie ever made.

28 – Despicable Me 3 – Steve Carell has stated that this will be his last feature outing as the not-quite-so-villainous Gru. If so, then it’ll be a shame as Carell’s vocal performance has been one of the series’ several high spots. Perhaps knowing this, the producers and writers have come up with a storyline that gives Carell twice as much to do as he plays both Gru and his long-lost brother Dru. Add to the mix the inclusion of Trey Parker as definitely villainous Balthazar Bratt, alongside the usual madcap humour of the Minions, and you have a second sequel that might just be better than expected.

29 – Tully – An original screenplay by Diablo Cody is brought to the screen by Jason Reitman for the third time – after Juno (2007) and Young Adult (2011) – and reteams them with Charlize Theron in a tale of a single mother with three kids who’s “gifted” a night nanny (the Tully of the title and played by Mackenzie Davis) by her brother. If Cody’s script is sharper than some of her more recent efforts then this could be a winning combination of comedy and drama that tugs at the heartstrings while also keeping audiences highly amused.

30 – Untitled Darren Aronofsky Project – This isn’t due for release until the very end of 2017, and Aronofsky is keeping details about his latest movie very close to his chest, but what we do know is that it features Michelle Pfeiffer, Ed Harris, Javier Bardem and Jennifer Lawrence, and concerns a couple whose relationship is put to the test by some uninvited guests. With extensive special effects still to be completed, just how the couple’s relationship is tested is an intriguing question, but in Aronofsky’s hands this is unlikely to be a standard home invasion thriller.

31 – The Dark Tower – Stephen King’s sprawling eight-volume tale set in Mid-World concerns the pursuit of a mysterious Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey) by an equally mysterious Gunslinger (Idris Elba). An adaptation has been on the cards in various forms since 2007, but this production has been somewhat rushed, which may not prove to be a good thing. Still it’s highly anticipated by fans, and the main casting shows a willingness on the producers’ part to add some weight to proceedings, but it will be the strength of the adaptation that will decide if this succeeds or fails.

32 – Dunkirk – The latest from Christopher Nolan recounts the evacuation of British, Canadian, French and Belgian troops from the beaches of Dunkerque in Northern France, and in the midst of an intense onslaught from surrounding German forces. This promises to be suitably epic, but whether Nolan has opted for Saving Private Ryan-style realism, or something a little less hard-hitting remains to be seen, but what will need to be seen is the movie in its IMAX 65mm format, which should make the movie look as spectacular as Nolan is probably intending.

33 – Baby Driver – Having departed from Ant-Man (2015), director Edgar Wright moved on to this comedy-action-thriller about a getaway driver (Ansel Elgort) who works for various bank robbers and finds himself in deep trouble when a heist goes badly wrong. Wright directs his own script so expect the humour to be spot on, and he’s assembled a great cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx and Lily James. However it all turns out, one thing is for sure: it’ll look and sound completely different from any other movie out there.

34 – A Cure for Wellness – If you’ve already seen the first trailer for Gore Verbinski’s first movie since The Lone Ranger (2013), then you’ll know that A Cure for Wellness is likely to be the most visually arresting movie of 2017. With a succession of stunning visuals allied to the mystery of a “wellness centre” located high in the Swiss Alps that is definitely not all that it seems, Verbinski has created a psychological mindbender of a movie that is likely to draw audiences in and then pull the rug out from under them – and not just the once.

35 – Murder on the Orient Express – It could be argued that we don’t exactly need another version of one of Agatha Christie’s most famous stories, but with Kenneth Branagh directing and starring as Hercule Poirot, and surprisingly, with Johnny Depp as the murder victim, there’s a good possibility that it will transcend the more “stage-bound” versions we’ve seen before. A mixed supporting cast that includes Judi Dench and Daisy Ridley should lend some gravitas to proceedings, all of which leaves one last question to be asked: will Branagh lean towards Peter Ustinov or David Suchet in his interpretation of the Belgian detective, or will he find his own approach to the sleuth?

36 – How to Talk to Girls at Parties – From the title you might be expecting another teen comedy about lustful boys chasing beautiful girls, but while Neil Gaiman’s original short story starts off very much like that, where it takes you from there is another matter entirely. John Cameron Mitchell adapts and directs which should ensure that this will be one of the more interesting movies of 2017, and he’s supported by the likes of Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning and Matt Lucas.

37 – Downsizing – If your life is getting you, well, down, what if you had the chance to be shrunk to a much smaller size and lead a better life; would you take the opportunity? That’s the question inherent in the latest from Alexander Payne, which sees Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig as the couple granted such an opportunity, only for her to back out at the last moment and leave Damon stranded as 2017’s version of The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957). Payne has been working on this project for some time, so expect his trademark wry humour and heartfelt drama to shine through, and provide one of the more affecting movies of the coming year.

38 – Hostiles – A Western drama that sees Christian Bale’s army captain reluctantly escort a Cheyenne chief (Wes Studi) and his family through dangerous territory, Hostiles could well be a dark, brooding affair touching on racist attitudes and the concept of self-determinism in amongst more familiar Western staples (which would be good), but if it isn’t then a good old-fashioned oater with lots of gunfights, Indian attacks and galloping about on horseback will do just fine.

39 – Andorra – Veteran director Fred Schepisi returns with an adaptation of the novel by Peter Cameron, about a man, Alexander Fox (played by Clive Owen), who leaves the US and settles in Andorra, only to find himself the prime suspect in a murder case. With Toni Collette and Gillian Anderson as the two women he finds himself involved with, it remains to be seen if Schepisi and Cameron (adapting his own novel) have retained the disturbing eeriness of the novel, and the country’s reimagining as one with a coastline and several other differences.

40 – John Wick: Chapter 2 – John Wick was both a pleasant surprise and something of a comeback for Keanu Reeves, and it may need to be again as Reeves has returned to making sub-standard DTV movies as the main part of his “day job”. With Reeves back again, along with directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch and writer Derek Kolstad, the action is relocated to Rome as Wick agrees to combat a former associate with plans to seize control of the assassins’ guild both belong to. Expect plenty of gunplay, gratuitous headshots, and bone-cracking fight scenes as Reeves does what he does best: play a focused, hell-bent killing machine.

41 – An Interview With God – Questions of faith and belief are challenged when a young journalist (Brenton Thwaites) finds himself interviewing a mysterious man who claims to be God (David Strathairn). Quite how much of this will be a two-hander remains to be seen but there’s something to be said for a drama where God may just be in the room, and can be asked anything at all. This puts much of the pressure on Ken Aguado’s script, but if he’s been careful and thought things through, then this could be a movie that gets people talking about faith for all the right reasons.

42 – Wonder – It’s Jacob Tremblay again, grabbing all the good pre-teen roles before it’s too late, and playing Auggie Pullman, a young boy with a facial deformity that has all sorts of effects on the children at the school he goes to. This adaptation of the novel by R.J. Palacio features Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson as Auggie’s parents, and sounds like the kind of feelgood, triumph-over-adversity movie that awards are made for. But Palacio’s novel isn’t as easily transferable to the screen as some might think, so director Stephen Chbosky and co-screenwriters Steve Conrad and Jack Thorne have their work cut out for them.

43 – Submergence – Another literary adaptation, this time from the novel by J.M. Ledgard, this sees Alicia Vikander and James McAvoy as separated lovers who look back over their time together while both deal with different kinds of confinement: he in a windowless room at the mercy of jihadists, she in a submersible heading for the bottom of the Greenland Sea. A heavyweight romantic drama then, and the latest from Wim Wenders, this may not set the box office alight, but it has the potential to pick up awards by the bucket load.

44 – Logan Lucky – In Hollywood, even in the independent sector, retirement is usually just a word bandied about by writers, directors and actors when they feel they’ve done enough and can sit back and relax. Steven Soderbergh hasn’t exactly relaxed since Behind the Candelabra (2013), but this is his first feature since then, and it’s good to know he’s back. Telling the tale of two brothers (Channing Tatum, Adam Driver) who decide to pull off a robbery during a NASCAR race, this should be a clever comedy where nothing goes right for the brothers, and everything goes wrong.

45 – Annihilation – Following on from the success of Ex Machina (2015), writer/director Alex Garland continues with another sci-fi drama, this time an adaptation of the first novel in Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy. Telling the story of an expedition to the mysterious Area X, and what happened to several previous expeditions, the movie has attracted a great cast that includes Natalie Portman, Oscar Isaac and Jennifer Jason Leigh, and if Garland is on form, should be the year’s most thought-provoking sci-fi movie.

46 – Untitled Paul Thomas Anderson Fashion Project – Details are scarce at this point in time, but what we do know is that Anderson’s latest movie is set in the London fashion world of the 1950’s and features Daniel Day-Lewis. Just the fact that Anderson and Day-Lewis are reuniting on this project is enough for now, but whatever the movie is about, it’s sure to be an intense, mesmerising drama that grabs the attention and doesn’t let go, and should include another (potentially) award-winning performance from Day-Lewis.

47 – The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara – After going all family-friendly with The BFG (2016), Steven Spielberg returns to the arena of historical drama with this true story about a young Jewish boy in Italy in 1858 who was secretly baptised and then abducted by the Papal States and trained to become a priest. A massive political and religious scandal in its day, Spielberg is working from a script by Tony Kushner, and reuniting for the fourth time in as many movies with Mark Rylance, who plays Pope Pius IX.

48 – Kingsman: The Golden Circle – An inevitable sequel for the surprise hit of 2014, this sees Matthew Vaughn returning to the director’s chair, while he and Jane Goldman collaborate on the script. Also returning are Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, Sophie Cookson, and surprisingly, Colin Firth, whose character was killed off in the first movie… or was he? This time round the Kingsmen have to team up with their US rivals the Statesmen, when their headquarters is attacked. Expect lots of action, lots of comedy, and lots of sharply tailored suits, as well as a cameo from Elton John.

49 – Untitled Woody Allen Project – With his recent movies pointing towards a kind of late-career renaissance, Woody Allen keeps things moving with this drama set in 1950’s New York. With the likes of Kate Winslet, Juno Temple and Justin Timberlake on board, there’s little doubt that whatever Allen has come up with story-wise, the movie should be further proof that late-career Allen is more than a match for most everyone else.

50 – God Particle – A sci-fi movie involving a team of astronauts who find themselves completely alone aboard a space station when the Earth disappears, this has yet another great cast – Chris O’Dowd, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, and Ziyi Zhang amongst others – and if Internet gossip/predictions are to be believed, is the third movie in the unofficial Cloverfield trilogy. Whether that’s true or not, the idea of the Earth vanishing is potent enough, and the involvement of J.J. Abrams as producer should help bring audiences into cinemas. Let’s just hope the ending isn’t as awkwardly tacked on as the one in 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016).

Is it really that time again, to look ahead to the coming year and hope against all previous experience that things will get better, that Hollywood will launch itself wholeheartedly into making original, entertaining, thought-provoking movies that aren’t creatively moribund? Well, yes it is, but in the spirit of recent changes on thedullwoodexperiment the movies highlighted here and in Part 2 won’t feature very many of the tentpole movies that will be hyped to death between now and their release next year, because, well, that’s what everyone else will be doing. So, here’s the first batch of contenders looking to conquer our hearts and minds in 2017. How many will you see, and how many will become new favourites?

1) Loving Vincent – A project that has literally taken years to accomplish (more than it takes Pixar or Dreamworks to produce one of their movies), Loving Vincent is the world’s first painted animation feature. It also incorporates traditional 2D animation and rotoscoping into its visual structure, and features the voice talents of Saoirse Ronan, Chris O’Dowd and Aidan Turner amongst others. The Vincent in question is Van Gogh, and the movie explores the mysteries surrounding his life and death, and will do so in a way that promises to expand the possibilities of animation in a whole new, breathtaking way.

2) Granite Mountain – In June 2013, a wildfire ignited south of Prescott, Arizona that would later claim the lives of nineteen firemen as they fought to bring the blaze under control. The men were members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, and Joseph Kosinski’s tribute to them and their valiant efforts has attracted a stellar cast that includes Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, James Badge Dale, and the ever-reliable Jeff Bridges.

3) The Death and Life of John F. Donovan – Xavier Dolan directs a hopefully compelling drama that examines the consequences and moral contradictions that arise when a movie star, John F. Donovan (played by Kit Harington) is revealed to have corresponded with a child actor (who’s eleven). Assumptions are made, and Donovan’s career and reputation are put at risk. Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon and Jessica Chastain round out the cast, and for the eagle-eyed. there’s a cameo from Adele.

4) Tulip Fever – A project that was filmed in 2014 and has sat on the shelf since then doesn’t sound like a movie with much to recommend it, but Justin Chadwick’s adaptation of Deborah Moggach’s novel of 17th Century romance and drama amongst the art scene in Amsterdam, and based on a script by Tom Stoppard no less, doesn’t have to mean it’s a turkey ready-basted for the oven. It also features an eclectic cast that includes Zach Galifianakis, Alicia Vikander, Jack O’Connell, Christoph Waltz, and Judi Dench, but however it turns out, this should be interesting to watch if nothing else.

5) The Coldest City – Based on the graphic novel by Antony Johnston, The Coldest City sees James McAvoy’s undercover MI6 agent sent to Berlin during the Cold War to recover a list of double agents that’s gone missing while also investigating the death of a fellow agent. It’s highly likely that the two things will be connected, but with the likes of Toby Jones, Charlize Theron and John Goodman to help muddy the waters, it’s also likely that McAvoy’s character will be fighting for his own life before the movie’s over.

6) The Circle – Originally due to hit our screens this year, James Ponsoldt’s adaptation of the novel by Dave Eggers features Emma Watson as a young woman who lands a job at a powerful tech company and finds herself involved in a wide-ranging conspiracy that could hasten the way in which surveillance technology erodes personal privacy. With Tom Hanks as a mysterious colleague whose loyalties Watson’s character can’t be completely certain of, this has the potential to be a whip-smart thriller, and quite timely as well.

7) War for the Planet of the Apes – Very little is known about this third entry in the new Apes franchise, but the good news is that Andy Serkis is back as Caesar, and Woody Harrelson is on board as the movie’s chief villain. Whether or not the title means there’ll be more action this time round remains to be seen, but as long as the dramatic threads of Rise… and Dawn… are maintained, then there’s no reason to expect anything but another intelligently handled entry in a series that’s been a surprise success from day one.

8) T2: Trainspotting – A sequel that many, many people have been waiting for, the awkwardly titled T2: Trainspotting reaches us with Danny Boyle returning to the helm, and reunited with the original cast (less Kevin McKidd). Based on Irvine Welsh’s novel, Porno, this promises to be as scabrous and deliciously crude as its predecessor, and if the tone is right, could be one of the more deliberately unapologetic movies released in 2017.

9) Yeh Din Ka Kissa – It’s an indie movie with a classic indie set up: an estranged family gathers for an event to celebrate the father’s work. What long-lasting emotional traumas will be brought up, and which long-buried secrets will be disinterred? Only writer/director Noah Baumbach knows, but with the likes of Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson taking part, Yeh Din Ka Kissa has all the potential to be a must-see dramedy.

10) The Shape of Water – Guillermo del Toro returns after the disappointment of Crimson Peak with this eerie fantasy set against the backdrop of the Sixties and the Cold War between Russia and America. Sally Hawkins is the janitor working in a lab where a mysterious “amphibious man” is being held. Cue elements of romance, danger, and (no doubt some) horror as Hawkins’ character decides that the “amphibious man” should be freed. Del Toro seems to be walking a bit of a tightrope in achieving the necessary credibility for his tale, but it’s a project he’s been working on for some time, so let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.

11) Molly’s Game – The directorial debut of Aaron Sorkin, this adaptation by the man himself of Molly Bloom’s memoir, features the ubiquitous Jessica Chastain as the writer who set up and ran an international high stakes poker game, and became the subject of an FBI investigation. Expect a screenplay liberally strewn with Sorkin’s trademark intelligent dialogue, and a close examination of a world that few people get to experience.

12) Battle of the Sexes – It’s true story time as husband and wife directing team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris take on the media circus that surrounded the 1973 tennis match between World No. 1 Billie Jean King (played by Emma Stone) and ex-champ Bobby Riggs (a well-chosen Steve Carell). It’s an event that cries out for comedic treatment, and hopefully the true absurdity of both the reasons for the match and the eventual game itself will be highlighted in such a way that audiences unfamiliar with it all will be wondering, How on earth?

13) Same Kind of Different As Me – A story that focuses on faith and how much it can transform a person’s life, Same Kind of Different As Me features Greg Kinnear as an art dealer whose relationship with a dangerous homeless man (played by Djimon Hounsou) could be the key to saving his marriage. With Renée Zellweger as the wife, and supporting roles for Jon Voight and Olivia Holt, this drama may not attract a wide audience, but it does appear to have enough going for it to be a strong alternative to the usual mainstream fare.

14) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – James Gunn and crew return with a sequel that, if handled properly (and there’s no reason to suspect otherwise), will prove to be just as energetic and enjoyable as its predecessor. There will be other superhero movies released in 2017 – inevitably – but it’s this that has the best chance of rising above its competitors and showing them how superhero movies should be made (and yes, that means you, Warner Bros.).

15) Weightless – Set against the music scene in Austin, Texas, this could be veteran director Terrence Malick’s Nashville, but it’s just as likely that he’ll give us yet another elliptical, narrative-lite exploration of a character’s angst-ridden ennui that’s driven by their inability to connect with the people around them. As usual, Malick has assembled an amazing cast that includes Michael Fassbender, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Cate Blanchett, Benicio Del Toro, and Natalie Portman, but while his recent, prolific output is to be welcomed, let’s hope this outing has more of a story than some recent releases.

16) The Book of Henry – Naomi Watts is the mother of a child genius (played by child star du jour Jacob Tremblay), who learns that something terrible is happening in the house next door, and that her son is not only aware of it, but has come up with a plan to deal with it and put things right. But her decision to put her son’s plan into action (inevitably) doesn’t go as planned. Directed by Colin Trevorrow from a script by Gregg Hurwitz, this could be a dark horse in the thriller stakes.

17) Shock and Awe – Ostensibly a drama that hopefully sees a return to form for director Rob Reiner, the title refers to the term used by George Bush to allude to the US Army’s approach to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. But the movie itself concerns a group of journalists who begin to doubt the President’s claim that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, and that the War in Iraq is as legitimate as he claims. Reiner’s assembled another great cast, including Woody Harrelson, Milla Jovovich, Alec Baldwin, and Tommy Lee Jones, and if the script points up the irregularities and misinformation the US government fed to the media, then this could be as pertinent a look at government perfidy now as it was then.

18) The Zookeeper’s Wife – Another true story, another Jessica Chastain movie, this sees her play Antonina Zabinski, who with her husband, Jan, was a keeper at the Warsaw Zoo during World War II. Determined to save as many of the zoo animals, and people, as she could, Antonina took tremendous risks in avoiding detection and capture by the Nazis, and in the hands of Niki Caro, this has all the potential of being a gripping thriller about personal courage against tremendous odds.

19) American Made – It’s had its fair share of problems – two wrongful death lawsuits so far – and the concept: a pilot working for the CIA also works for a cartel running drugs, has potential at least, but American Made‘s success will hinge entirely on two men: director Doug Liman and star Tom Cruise. It’s a great combination, and should result in an action thriller that provides jaded action junkies with enough adrenaline-fuelled sequences to keep a perma-smile on their faces, but it’s the story that really needs to be solid if it’s all going to work properly.

20) The LEGO Batman Movie – The movie that’s most likely to be the best DC superhero movie released in 2017, The Lego Batman Movie sees the brick-solid Caped Crusader (once again voiced by Will Arnett) battling a horde of enemies including the Joker (Zach Galifianakis) and Harley Quinn (Jenny Slate), while also trying to raise his adopted son Dick Grayson (Michael Cera). This will be cool, funny, action-packed, and in a weird not-weird way, able to make grown men – okay, fanboys – cry.

21) Bright – This is one of the more out there movies coming out in 2017, as David Ayer directs a script by Max Landis that references a world where fantasy characters such as elves and orcs have become integrated into human society and everyone gets along. It gets generic though as Will Smith’s LAPD cop is assigned an Orc partner, and while details are being kept under wraps, it’s likely that they’ll have to investigate a murder, or a case of corruption, that ultimately leads to a behind the scenes villain who hates the status quo. But Landis has promised the action will be incredible, and Ayer is no slouch in that department, so we’ll just have to wait and see just how batshit crazy it all is.

22) Jungle – “If you go down to the jungle today…” – it’s bound to end badly. And that’s the likelihood in a thriller directed by Greg McLean that stars Daniel Radcliffe as one of a group of friends who go trekking through the Bolivian jungle with a guide who isn’t all he says he is. Based on a true story, with Radcliffe playing Yossi Ghinsberg, who ended up lost and alone in said jungle back in 1981, this could well be a nerve-shredding experience, but only if McLean puts the hugely disappointing The Darkness behind him and trusts in the material.

23) My Cousin Rachel – An adaptation of the novel by Daphne Du Maurier (and which was previously filmed in 1952 with Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton), this romantic drama spiced with intrigue and revenge features Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin as the cousins whose relationship becomes increasingly more intimate even though he suspects her of murdering his guardian. Roger Michell directs, and sensibly, the period setting is retained, making this a rare historical drama in amongst all the other releases in 2017.

24) Rebel in the Rye – A biopic of renowned, and reclusive, author J.D. Salinger, with Nicholas Hoult taking on the role, this also features Kevin Spacey as Whit Burnett, Salinger’s mentor at Columbia University, Zoey Deutch as Oona O’Neill, who had a short romance with Salinger in the late 40’s, and Sarah Paulson as Dorothy Olding, who was his agent. It remains to be seen if Danny Strong’s examination of Salinger’s life will reveal anything new about the writer, but he’s an intriguing character, and one worth taking a closer look at.

25) Beauty and the Beast – With the success of Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book, Disney adds another live-action adaptation of one of their animated classics to the roster. Emma Watson is Belle, Dan Stevens is the Beast, while the likes of Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci put flesh on the “bones” of all those ornaments and dinnerware we’ve come to know and love. But as with The Jungle Book, it remains to be seen just how many of the original animated classic’s wonderful songs will be kept in place.

Yes, it’s already that time again when we look ahead to some of the movies coming our way in 2016. You might notice a slight bias towards superhero movies, but that’s not my bias, it’s the studios, all of whom seem to feel there’s a lot of life in the old genre yet. That remains to be seen, of course, but there are plenty of other movies worthy of our attention next year, and here are the first twenty-five out of fifty. See how many you’re looking forward to.

1) Alice Through the Looking Glass – The storyline is being kept under wraps for now, but what we do know is that most of the cast from Alice in Wonderland are back, although James Bobin is sitting in the director’s chair instead of Tim Burton (who’s now only a producer). Magical, fantastical, charming – if it’s any of these things then there’s a good chance it’ll be as successful at the box office as its predecessor.

2) The Magnificent Seven – One of many remakes for 2016, Antoine Fuqua’s take on the classic Western (itself based on Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai) features a great cast as the titular mercenaries for hire – including Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke and Chris Pratt – and promises to be as compelling and authoritative as John Sturges’ 1960 version. Let’s hope that John Lee Hancock and Nic Pizzolatto’s screenplay is up to the task.

3) Snowden – Oliver Stone makes a welcome return to the big screen with another confrontational look at the state of US politics, and the shady secrets America’s government would rather we didn’t know about. With CITIZENFOUR (2014) already acting as a primer for audiences interested in Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing exploits, it’ll be interesting to see if Stone can bring his usual outrage and savage condemnation of political hypocrisy to the table without it being watered down.

4) Doctor Strange – Marvel introduce yet another of their vast stable of superheroes, with actor of the moment Benedict Cumberbatch assuming the mantle of Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme. Expect spells and other dimensions and supernatural threats tempered with knowing humour, and a nod to the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe popping up (probably) after the end credits.

5) Ghostbusters – They’re back, only this time they’re all female! This gender variation on the classic Eighties comedy has all the potential to be as funny as the original and just as successful at the box office. With Paul Feig ensuring things go bump in the night, and a role for Bill Murray (though not as Peter Venkman), the only important box left to be ticked is the theme song. Now, who they gonna call?

6) The Secret Life of Pets – The trailer is fantastic, and features some of the cleverest animal-related jokes that Illumination Entertainment can come up with. Without a Minion in sight, can this do as well as expected? Let’s hope so, because if the Internet has taught us anything, it’s that seeing animals getting into trouble when they think we’re not looking is often the funniest thing ever.

7) The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins’ impressive novel is given the big screen treatment with a screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson, whose previous work includes Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006) and Chloe (2009). With Emily Blunt taking on the central character who becomes embroiled in the mysterious disappearance of a woman she doesn’t know, only the choice of Tate Taylor as director is any cause for concern.

8) Zoolander 2 – Long-awaited sequel finally arrives and finds male supermodel Derek Zealander still as vain (and stupid) as he’s always been. With a strong supporting cast including Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell and Penélope Cruz, director and star Ben Stiller appears to have retained the comic energy that made the original such a good movie, and throws in a few cameos to keep the audience on their toes.

9) The Bad Batch – Ana Lily Amirpour follows up The Girl Who Walked Home Alone at Night (2014) with another nightmarish fantasy that focuses on a love story set in a community of cannibals living in a Texas wasteland. However this turns out, Amirpour is a clever, talented director with a fascinating visual style, and a unique way of looking at the world. With luck we’ll get something bizarre, quirky, strange and amazing.

10) Independence Day: Resurgence – Twenty years after the world successfully fought off an alien invasion, they’re back, and more destructive than before. Director Roland Emmerich assembles several members of the original cast (including, surprisingly, Brent Spiner), but has to rely on Liam Hemsworth to fill Will Smith’s shoes (and is that really fair?). Expect devastation on a global scale once more, but how much will have been done with scale models?

11) Deadpool – After his less than thrilling introduction in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), the self-styled Merc With a Mouth gets his own movie, and is portrayed by big fan Ryan Reynolds. The anarchic humour and intense violence associated with the character is firmly on display in the trailer, and Reynolds seems to have nailed the character’s mix of arrogance and charm, and if the storyline’s right then we can say hello to another superhero franchise.

12) The Light Between Oceans – A beautifully written novel is hopefully translated into a beautifully made movie, as Derek Cianfrance adapts and directs this tale of a lighthouse keeper and his wife – the ever-reliable Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender – who raise a baby they rescue from a drifting rowboat. Set off the coast of Western Australia, this has all the potential of being an awards winner down the line, and an audience favourite.

13) The Great Wall – The latest from Yimou Zhang – Raise the Red Lantern (1991), House of Flying Daggers (2004) – is a mystery centred around the construction of China’s Great Wall. With a cast that includes Willem Dafoe, Matt Damon and Andy Lau, this may be one of Yimou’s more mainstream movies, but there’s no doubting it will be spectacular to see as well.

14) Nocturnal Animals – Adapted from Austin Wright’s novel of the same name, Tom Ford’s second movie after A Single Man (2009) is a tale within a tale that sees a woman sent a manuscript by her ex-husband whom she left twenty years before. He wants her opinion on the manuscript, and as she reads it, she’s forced to confront a number of dark truth about herself. Amy Adams is the lucky woman, and the cast also includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon and Armie Hammer. This could be one of the most fascinating, and stylish, dramas of 2016.

15) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – The J.K. Rowling bandwagon carries on rolling along with this adaptation of her companion book to the Harry Potter series. Focusing on the adventures of writer Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) as he navigates the secret world of New York’s wizards and witches, a chance to relive the magic of the world of young Mr Potter may not be as successful as the eight-movie series, but will be a welcome contribution to the year’s releases.

16) The Huntsman – A prequel to Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), this promises to be an origin story for the Huntsman character to come, and a chance to expand the universe that’s already been created, thanks to the inclusion of Emily Blunt as the Snow Queen, Freya. With Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth reprising their roles, and directing duties handed over to Cedric Nicolas-Troyan (who worked as a second unit director on the first movie), this could go either way, but should still remain an entertaining fantasy.

17) Clerks III – The final part of the trilogy that began back in 1994, this sees Kevin Smith return to his roots as a movie-maker, and reunites the original cast plus Rosario Dawson from Clerks II (2006). Fans expecting scabrous dialogue and enough witty banter to sink a battleship are unlikely to be disappointed, and they should thank their lucky stars that Tusk (2014) was as successful as it was, because without that success, this probably wouldn’t have been made.

18) The Adventures of Tintin: Red Rackham’s Treasure – Now that he’s able to leave Middle Earth behind and concentrate on something else, it’s Peter Jackson’s turn to make a Tintin movie, and the second of the planned trilogy. With this being two firsts for the director – first animated feature, first movie where the screenplay hasn’t been written by him – and with Steven Spielberg’s entry receiving a lukewarm response from critics and audiences alike, Jackson has his work cut out for him. But if anyone can maximise mo-cap animation to its full potential then it’s Jackson.

19) USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage – The true story of the sinking of the US warship Indianapolis in the Philippine Sea during World War II, and the five days the survivors spent waiting for help, was memorably recounted by Robert Shaw in Jaws (1975). Hopefully this will be as emotive and heart-stopping as the circumstances require, and even though Nicolas Cage is the star, here’s hoping his recent track record is sidelined on this occasion.

20) Captain America: Civil War – Already hyped to the stars and back because of the likely inclusion of a certain web-slinger, Chris Evans’ fourth outing as Steve Rogers (five if you include his cameo in Thor: The Dark World) ups the stakes considerably as superheroes takes sides against each other. With pretty much everyone involved except the Hulk and Thor, this could crumble under the weight of trying to tell too many individual stories all at once, but one thing’s for certain: it won’t skimp on the spectacle.

21) Kung Fu Panda 3 – The continuing adventures of unlikely kung fu warrior Po (voiced again by Jack Black) sees our rotund hero on the verge of meeting his real father, and discovering there’s an imminent supernatural threat to everyone’s safety, a threat only he and the Famous Five can defeat. The usual cast return, augmented by Bryan Cranston as Po’s real father, and there’s a sense that the stakes have been upped to provide a more exciting visual experience.

22) Star Trek Beyond – The third in the rebooted series is currently shrouded in secrecy, the makers perhaps having learned their lesson after Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and the difficulty in keeping some cast members from blabbing various facts about the plot. So far, everything is under wraps, but if the template established by J.J. Abrams is followed, then this will still be a mission to remember, and should translate into box office gold.

23) Imperium – Daniel Radcliffe is the FBI agent tasked with infiltrating a group of white supremacists who plan to build – and use – a dirty bomb. Based on a true story, and giving Radcliffe one of his meatiest roles to date, this should be scary and fascinating all at the same time, while also examining issues of trust, fatalism and homegrown revolution.

24) Ben-Hur – Lew Wallace’s love letter to the early days of Christianity gets its fifth screen outing with Jack Huston and Timur Bekmambetov stepping into the particular shoes of Charlton Heston and William Wyler respectively. As ever, all eyes will be on the chariot race (and any riders wearing wrist watches), while it will be interesting to see if Wallace’s religious beliefs translate well with today’s audiences.

25) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – Just for those Star Wars fans who can’t wait until 2017 for Episode VIII, Disney has come up with this semi-prequel set between Episode III and Episode IV. Details are as sketchy as you’d expect but the cast does include Ben Mendelsohn and Felicity Jones, and the prospect of Darth Vader making an appearance has already had fans practically creaming their Millennium Falcon-patterned underwear.

The original idea seemed simple enough: pick out fifty movies due in 2015, provide a brief overview of each one, and settle back in the knowledge that the most intriguing, most interesting, and most looked-forward-to movies were included. But as with the best of best laid plans, more and more movies keep popping up that deserve to have been included in the original posts – 50 Movies to Look Forward to in 2015 – Part 1 and 50 Movies to Look Forward to in 2015 – Part 2. So here are ten more movies coming in 2015 that, hopefully, will tempt audiences into their local multiplex.

1) Tomorrowland – A sci-fi fantasy starring George Clooney and Under the Dome alumni Britt Robertson about a place that exists somewhere in Robertson’s consciousness (or maybe space and time – or both), this is the movie that Brad Bird turned down Star Wars Episode VII for. Now if that’s not intriguing…

2) The Revenant – Set in the untamed American West in 1822, this revenge thriller sees Leonardo DiCaprio’s left for dead frontiersman out to get the two men who abandoned him. Co-starring Tom Hardy, Will Poulter and Domhnall Gleason, this adaptation of a true story by Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros (2000), this year’s Birdman) looks set to attract awards by the bucket load.

3) San Andreas – Dwayne Johnson is the rescue chopper pilot who finds himself making a perilous journey to rescue his daughter after a massive earthquake devastates California. With Ioan Gruffudd and Kylie Minogue along for the ride, this could be either 2015’s premier disaster movie, or just a plain, flat-out disaster.  Here’s hoping it’s the former.

4) Macbeth – Adapted by Todd Louiso – remember him from High Fidelity (2000)? – and starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, this promises to be a gritty, heavily psychological interpretation of the Bard’s most accessible play. With a supporting cast that includes David Thewlis and Paddy Considine, the only potential drawback is relative newcomer Justin Kurzel in the director’s chair. But as the Bard quite rightly points out, “The play’s the thing…”

5) Aloha – With only We Bought a Zoo (2011) having come along from Crowe since 2005, this look at a military contractor involved in a love triangle features a dream cast that includes femme du jour Emma Stone, Bradley Cooper and Bill Murray, and will no doubt feature yet another of Crowe’s quirky, idiosyncratic screenplays.

6) The Finest Hours – This dramatisation of a true story set in 1952 after two oil tankers were destroyed in a blizzard off Cape Cod, and the Coast Guard rescue operation that followed, looks set to be a tense nail biter of a movie. Craig Gillespie (Million Dollar Arm) directs a cast that includes Chris Pine and Eric Bana, so expect plenty of testosterone amongst the waves.

7) Spotlight – A powerful retelling of the Boston Globe’s exposé of the cover up of child molestation in a local Catholic archdiocese in 2002-3, Spotlight has an impressive cast (2015 seems set to be the year of great ensemble casts) that features Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Michael Keaton and Stanley Tucci. Grim subject matter aside, this should still be gripping stuff.

8) By the Sea – Set in the 70’s, this romantic drama sees married couple Vanessa and Roland struggling to keep their marriage going while staying in a small French seaside town. Uniting Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt for the first time since Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), and directed by Jolie, this could be more rewarding than it seems at first glance (plus Pitt has been making some great choices in recent years).

9) La La Land – It’s a romantic musical comedy drama and stars rising star Miles Teller as a jazz pianist who falls in love with Emma Watson’s aspiring actress. With writer/direcotor Damien Chazelle building on the promise shown by Whiplash (2014), this has all the hallmarks of an engrossing, emotionally charged drama.

10) Rock the Kasbah – Barry Levinson continues to chop and change genres with this comedy surrounding a music producer (played by Bruce Willis) who aims for one last shot at the big time with a golden-voiced young girl from Afghanistan. With support from the likes of Kate Hudson and Bill Murray, this could be a mordant satire or a crazy parody of shows like The X Factor; either way it should be a treat.

That’s all for now!

And… we’re back!  Here are the rest of the movies that will (hopefully) make 2015 a bonanza year for going to the movies.  Again, in no particular order…

26) Jurassic World – A long time coming (always a worry), but if the makers have managed to reinvigorate the franchise this could be a welcome addition to the series.  The only problem will be in replicating the “Wow!” factor of the first movie’s convincing mix of CGI and live action dinosaurs (and the script, of course).

27) The Hateful Eight – Quentin Tarantino’s latest venture is a Western by nature but expect the usual florid dialogues, startling camerawork, and as many movie references as one writer/director can cram into one movie.  Oh, and there’s the usual top notch cast as well, including Tarantino favourite Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell and Bruce Dern.

28) The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – The first movie was such a delightful surprise (in that it was so much fun), that reuniting with Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy (plus newcomers Richard Gere and David Strathairn) is something to look forward to.  Plus a gentler movie in amongst all the superhero/action shenanigans of the rest of the year isn’t a bad thing, either.

29) Avengers: Age of Ultron – And speaking of superhero/action shenanigans, here’s the daddy of them all for 2015, with Marvel once again seeking to dominate the box office and remind DC just how it’s done.  Loud, brash, colourful, funny – this will be all these things and more, and all under the expert guidance of returning writer/director Joss Whedon.

30) Fifty Shades of Grey – Not to be confused with Wallace & Gromit’s 50 Sheds of Grey, E.L. James’ bestseller gets the big screen treatment after failing to land several potential leading men (including Charlie Hunnam) before settling on Jamie Dornan.  Expect glossy, stylised versions of the book’s “romantic interludes”, and very little critical acclaim.

31) The Man from U.N.C.L.E. – Guy Ritchie takes time out from rebranding Sherlock Holmes to do the same for the classic 60’s TV series.  With Henry Cavill as Napoleon Solo and Armie Hammer as Ilya Kuryakin, it remains to be seen if this updated version will be as “bromantic” as the Holmes movies, but audiences can expect some whip-smart action scenes and some glamorous settings.

32) Blackhat – Back in the director’s chair for the first time since Public Enemies (2009), Michael Mann’s latest thriller focuses on the hunt for a cybercrime network and is headed up by Chris Hemsworth and Viola Davis.  No doubt there’ll be plenty of stunning visuals, and Mann making crime look both cool and ruinous at the same time.

33) Heart of the Sea – Chris Hemsworth again in the true story, set in 1820, of a whaling ship preyed upon by a sperm whale that leaves the crew stranded thousands of miles from land.  With Ron Howard in the director’s chair, this tale of human endurance has Oscar-worthy written all over it but should be powerful stuff nevertheless.

34) Ant-Man – Marvel take a chance on one of their lesser-known superheroes, and pin their hopes on Peyton Reed to shepherd the movie to completion after the departure of Edgar Wright.  Have they made the right decision?  Maybe, but Marvel do have a knack of choosing their directors wisely, so they may know something we don’t.

35) Insurgent – The sequel to Divergent continues the story of Beatrice as she begins to uncover the conspiracy that governs the world she lives in.  Everyone except for Ashley Judd and Tony Goldwyn are back on board (so no surprise there), and they’re joined by newbies Naomi Watts and Octavia Spencer.  Will this be darker than the first? Let me think…

36) Pixels – The latest from Chris Columbus sees video game players recruited by the military to fend off an invasion of 80’s-era video game characters.  Adam Sandler heads the cast but this looks like it could be a blast if they’ve gotten the tone right.  And besides, any movie where Kevin James plays the President has got to be worth a look.

37) The Good Dinosaur – Pixar return to our screens after a break in 2014 with two movies; this, the second, is a tale about a 70-foot dinosaur that befriends a young boy called Spot.  The departure of director Bob Peterson is as concerning as that of Edgar Wright leaving Ant-Man, but as long as the movie’s heart is in the right place, and the animation is up to Pixar’s usual standard, this will still be pulling in the audiences.

38) The Woman in Black: Angel of Death – The first movie showed that shocks and scares added to the right story (Susan Hill’s novel) can make audiences jump over and over (and then come back for more).  Set during World War II, this sequel will hopefully deliver the same balance (though Daniel Radcliffe will be missed).

39) High-Rise – Brit helmer Ben Wheatley returns with an adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s cult novel about the residents of a tower block and what happens when their daily lives spiral out of control.  How much of Ballard’s novel remains is still to be seen but if enough of the weirdness is present, this could be one of the year’s most disturbing movies.

40) Bridge of Spies – The world’s biggest box office star, Tom Hanks, reunites with Steven Spielberg, playing a lawyer recruited by the CIA to rescue a pilot detained in the Soviet Union.  With a script co-written by the Coen brothers, and strong support from the likes of Alan Alda and Amy Ryan, this has class and style written all over it.

41) The Fantastic Four – The casting has caused no end of fan base uproar – Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm anyone? – but director Josh Trank is a great choice to steer this reboot to the screen, and one piece of casting should prove to be inspired: Toby Kebbell as Dr Doom – nuff said.

42) Ted 2 – At present there aren’t any plot details, or signs of a returning Mila Kunis (or Sam Jones for that matter), but Seth MacFarlane’s follow-up to his 2012 original should be high on belly laughs and low on subtlety – just how we like it.

43) Kingsman: The Secret Service – Colin Firth as a super-spy?  Newcomer Taron Egerton as the young tearaway he takes under his wing?  Matthew Vaughn back in the director’s chair after reinvigorating the X-Men franchise?  Samuel L. Jackson as the villainous Valentine?  Is there anything not to like about this movie?

44) Everest – Another great ensemble cast – Jake Gyllenhaal, Keira Knightley, Josh Brolin, and John Hawkes to name but a few – add extra drama to the tale of a climbing expedition that runs into trouble thanks to a severe snow storm.  Expect this to be compelling, gruelling and chilling in equal measure.

45) Absolutely Anything – The remaining members of Monty Python reunite (albeit as the voices of extraterrestrials) for Terry Jones’ tale of a teacher who discovers he has magical powers.  Featuring Robin Williams’ final performance (as the voice of Dennis the Dog), this should be laugh out loud funny and suitably poignant at the same time.

46) Igor – Yet another version of Mary Shelley’s classic tale, this focuses more on the relationship between Victor Von Frankenstein (James McAvoy) and his assistant Igor (Daniel Radcliffe).  Originally titled Frankenstein, the name change may turn off some potential viewers but with McAvoy and Radcliffe on board this should be arresting stuff nevertheless.

47) Inside Out – The other (and first) Pixar movie of 2015 is shaping up to be their best since Toy Story 3 (2010).  The tale of a young girl called Riley guided by her emotions – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness – who all live in the central part of her mind, this has all the hallmarks of classic Pixar.

48) Pan – J.M. Barrie’s much-loved children’s classic gets the origin treatment with Hugh Jackman as Blackbeard, and relative newcomer Levi Miller as the young boy fated to become Peter Pan.  With Joe Wright in the director’s chair this could well be one of the most handsomely mounted movies of the year.

49) Trainwreck – The latest from Judd Apatow is being kept well under wraps at present, but it does feature Daniel Radcliffe, Tilda Swinton and Bill Hader amongst others, so however it turns out, this will still be one to watch.

50) Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens – It might be okay.  I guess.  Probably.

If I’ve missed any movies you think we should be looking out for in 2015, feel free to let me know.  Happy Viewing!

With 2015 fast approaching, here’s the first 25 in a list of 50 movies coming our way next year that may or may not prove to be as successful as we, or they, may hope, but which are certain to have a level of expectancy attached to them.  So, in no particular order…

1) Spectre – How the series continues following the death of M (Judi Dench) in Skyfall could mean a whole new world for everyone’s favourite secret agent, but whatever returning director Sam Mendes and screenwriter John Logan have come up with, it’s sure to be a hit at the box office.

2) Cinderella – With Kenneth Branagh in the director’s chair, and a cast that includes Helena Bohnam Carter, Stellan Skarsgård, Derek Jacobi and Cate Blanchett, this fairy tale romance has all the hallmarks of being a lavish reimagining of the classic story.

3) Mad Max: Fury Road – The trailer looks like this long-awaited reboot is one long chase sequence (no bad thing), but with Tom Hardy stepping into Mel Gibson’s boots, and with support from Nicholas Hoult and Charlize Theron, this retread looks suitably gritty and dramatic.

4) Kung Fu Panda 3 – Dreamworks’ other ongoing animation franchise (the other features a dragon or two), builds on the groundwork laid in the first two movies and introduces us to Po’s biological father (Bryan Cranston).  Is he villain or hero?  Only Shifu knows…

5) Mortdecai – Johnny Depp?  Nazi treasure?  A character called Jock Strapp?  However this comedy thriller turns out, it won’t be for want of trying, and may well be a pleasant surprise at the start of the year.

6) Terminator: Genisys – As promised, he’s back.  Arnold Schwarzenegger returns to the role that made him an icon, aided and abetted by a great cast including Jason Clarke, Matt Smith and Emilia Clarke.  Who wants to bet if he says, “Come with me if you want to live”?

7) The Jungle Book – A live action version of Kipling’s classic tale, directed by Jon Favreau, and featuring a top-notch voice cast including Scarlett Johansson and Ben Kingsley (not to mention Bill Murray as Baloo), this is intriguing to say the least, but will it have the warmth the animated version has?

8) The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 – And so we bid farewell to Katniss Everdeen and her struggle to stay alive against all the odds.  As plucky heroines go, Katniss is up there with the best, but will this final instalment give viewers anything different from what readers of the book are already aware of?

9) Holland, Michigan – The feature film debut of legendary documentarian Errol Morris, this sees the ubiquitous Bryan Cranston and Naomi Watts as a married couple hiding secrets from each other.  But whose secret is more dangerous than the other’s?

10) Regression – A twisty thriller from Alejandro Amenábar (The Others) about a father who’s accused of a crime he has no memory of committing, this has Ethan Hawke and Emma Watson heading up the cast, and could well be a surprise hit with audiences if it gets the right exposure.

11) Sea of Trees – It could be a case of inspired teaming, but this drama set in Japan’s Aokigahara (suicide forest) unites director Gus Van Sant and star of the moment Matthew McConaughey.  If Van Sant reins in his experimental side, this could be one of the most powerful and moving movies of 2015.

12) London Has Fallen – The sequel to Olympus Has Fallen gets a sappy title but reunites Messrs. Butler, Freeman, Eckhart and Bassett for what will no doubt be another risible but hugely enjoyable action-fest that sees Butler single-handedly saving the day.  It’ll be interesting to see how much of London actually gets trashed, though.

13) In a Valley of Violence – Horror director Ti West broadens his horizons with this revenge Western set in the 1880’s starring Ethan Hawke and John Travolta.  If it’s even half as intense as The Sacrament, then this should be compelling stuff.

14) The Minions – As promised, they’re back, with an origin story that shows how they met Gru (Steve Carell) at a villains convention in the 60’s.  The little yellow guys(?) have a worldwide following, so this should be as successful at the box office as Despicable Me 2 was (but hopefully funnier).

15) Silence – The latest project from Martin Scorsese sees Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver as two Jesuit priests in 17th Century Japan trying to spread the gospel of Christianity against continual persecution.  Oscar may like this a lot, but it may prove a tough sell at the box office.  It’s Scorsese, though, and that could mean something astonishing.

16) Crimson Peak – Guillermo del Toro returns to his horror roots with this tale of a young woman, played by Mia Wasikowska, who discovers her husband is not who he appears to be.  Expect startling visuals and the kind of creeping suspense few others directors pull off so well.

17) Triple Nine – With a great cast including Kate Winslet, Woody Harrelson and Chiwetel Ejiofor, John Hillcoat’s crime drama about a group of corrupt cops forced to carry out an impossible heist looks set to be gritty and compelling, and setting audiences on the edge of their seats.

18) Magic Mike XXL – The sequel to Magic Mike features a story by Channing Tatum, some returning cast members (but not Matthew McConaughey), and photography and editing chores handled by a certain Steven Soderbergh.  Whether this adds up to a movie that is as fun as its predecessor, only time and some slick dance moves will tell.

19) Entourage – The hit TV series transfers to the big screen with the gang all present and ready to take on Hollywood.  If the movie is as funny as the series, then audiences are in for a treat, but for a shot at real success it needs to bring in enough non-fans to make it soar at the box office.

20) Mission: Impossible 5 – With locations including the Vienna Opera House and London’s Houses of Parliament (never filmed in before), this latest outing for Ethan Hunt and the M:I team has a considerable challenge in trying to top the success of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

21) Fathers and Daughters – A Pulizer Prize winning author played by Russell Crowe struggles to raise his daughter in the wake of his wife’s death, and we see the effects of that on her as an adult (played by Amanda Seyfried).  A more obvious Oscar contender would be hard to find, but Crowe is ideally suited to this type of movie, and he’s supported by the likes of Aaron Paul, Quvenzhané Wallis and Jane Fonda.

22) Knight of Cups – Set against the backdrop of the music scene in Austin, Texas, this has possibly the best ensemble cast of 2015 – Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling and Cate Blanchett to name but a few – and is likely to be one of the most eagerly awaited movies of the year.

23) Jupiter Ascending – Delayed from 2014 (not usually a good sign) the Wachowskis’ latest sci-fi blockbuster features Channing Tatum with pointy ears and genre-bending visuals.  Whether the story is as compelling remains to be seen but any movie by such visionary filmmakers deserves a fair chance.

24) The Martian – More sci-fi, with Matt Damon’s stranded astronaut forced to improvise a lifestyle that will enable him to survive on the Red Planet until his rescuers arrive.  The book is a page-turner, let’s hope Ridley Scott’s adaptation is the filmic equivalent.

25) Fast & Furious 7 – With Parts 5 & 6 upping the action stakes and the sad loss of Paul Walker in November 2013 pushing back the release date by a year, this latest instalment needs to pull out all the stops.  Vin Diesel is confident it’s the best F&F yet, and with Jason Statham, Kurt Russell and Lucas Black added to the cast (Black reprising his role from The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift), this promises more macho strutting than it seems possible for one movie to cope with.

Movies 26-50 will follow soon.  If you have a movie that you’re looking forward to in 2015, please feel free to let me know.