Here are a few of the films, I'm most looking forward to in 2016:
THE REVENANT - JANUARY 8
The scenery may be the star of this film which was filmed on location in the rugged Canadian wilderness. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, it is the true story of legendary explorer Hugh Glass who after being brutally attacked by a bear is left for dead by his own hunting party. Guided by his sheer will to live, Glass must struggle to survive through the uncharted American wilderness in the 1800s era.
THE 5THE WAVE - JANUARY 22
Following in the popularity of Sci-Fi young adult novels like The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games being turned into hit movies is this adaption of Rick Yancey's 2013 book The 5th Wave. In this movie, the Earth has been devastated by an alien invasion. A teenage survivor searches for her brother, who may or may not have been abducted by human-looking extra-terrestrials. She is helped in her search by a boy who also might be an alien in disguise.
THE FINEST HOURS - JANUARY 29
On February 18, 1952, a massive nor’easter struck New England, pummeling towns along the Eastern seaboard and wreaking havoc on the ships caught in its deadly path, including the SS Pendleton, a T-2 oil tanker bound for Boston, which was literally ripped in half, trapping more than 30 sailors inside its rapidly-sinking stern. As the senior officer on board, first assistant engineer Ray Sybert (played by Casey Affleck) soon realizes it is up to him to take charge of the frightened crew and inspire the men to set aside their differences and work together to ride out one of the worst storms to ever hit the East Coast. Meanwhile, as word of the disaster reaches the U.S. Coast Guard station in Chatham, Massachusetts, Warrant Officer Daniel Cluff (Eric Bana) orders a daring operation to rescue the stranded men. Despite overwhelming odds, four men, led by Coast Guard Captain Bernie Webber (Chris Pine), set out in a wooden lifeboat with an ill-equipped engine and little, if any, means of navigation, facing frigid temperatures, 60-foot high waves and hurricane-force winds.
DEADPOOL - FEBRUARY 12
Expanding on the X-Men mutant universe that it has the rights to, Twentieth Century Fox brings one of Marvel Comic books most popular characters to the silver screen. Deadpool tells the origin story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson, who after being subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopts the alter ego Deadpool. Armed with his new abilities and a dark, twisted sense of humor, Deadpool hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life. This film is full of smart ass humor and like this trailer is something you probably don't want younger children to see.
ZOOLANDER 2 - FEBRUARY 12
10 years have passed since the events in the first movie. Derek and Hansel are no longer relevant anymore in the fashion world. Then Interpol contacts them for help when the world's most beautiful people are being killed one-by-one and they need to infiltrate the modeling scene to catch the murder. If you want to go see a silly, goofy comedy that's charm is it doesn't take itself seriously this movie promises to be full of laughs.
LONDON HAS FALLEN - MARCH 4
Olympus Has Fallen was a surprisingly good movie that reminded me of the Die Hard movies that I really enjoyed in my high school and college years. This 2013 story of the White House being taken over by terrorists did respectfully well at the box office grossing over $161 million at the box office worldwide. So of course they made an action packed sequel -- London Has Fallen. The plot really isn't important, if you enjoy action movies filled with explosives and stunts you'll want to see this film.
BATMAN VS SUPERMAN - MARCH 25
This isn't just a battle between two larger than life super heroes, this film is the beginning of a smack down duel between two gigantic corporations as Warner Brothers' DC Comics subsidiary battles Disney's Marvel Entertainment subsidiary by creating its own comic book inspired cinematic universe to compete for the hearts, and dollars, of movie goers. Batman vs Superman consider each other a danger to society, but an even larger villain looms that could prove to doom the world. Will this movie be the Doomsday for Warner Brothers comic book movies or just the beginning of a series of successful films that ties together DC Comics characters through the Justice League similarly to what Disney has done with Marvel's Avengers. I can't wait to find out!
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR - MAY 6
Disney counters Warner Brothers Batman vs Superman with its next mega-Marvel movie. In this Captain America movie, when the government sets up a governing body to oversee the Avengers, the team splinters into two camps -- one led by Steve Rogers and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark’s surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability. With all the appearances by various Marvel superheroes this movie could really also be called Avengers 3 though of course they have another film already planned coming up by that name. The script for the film is based upon one of Marvel Comics all time most popular story arcs which was also titled Civil War.
X-MEN APOCALYPSE - MAY 27
Twentieth Century Fox isn't letting Warner Brothers and Disney have all the fun when it comes to the current comic book craze in the movie industry. 2016 really is the year of comic book movies with Batman vs Superman, Civil War and Twentieth Century Fox adding Deadpool and a new X-Men movie into the mix.
Since the dawn of civilization, Apocalypse was worshipped as a god. He was the first and most powerful mutant from Marvel’s X-Men universe, and amassed the powers of many other mutants, becoming immortal and invincible. Upon awakening after thousands of years, he is disillusioned with the world as he finds it and recruits a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto (Michael Fassbender), to cleanse mankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign. As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) with the help of Professor X (James McAvoy) must lead a team of young X-Men to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES - JUNE 3
I find these Mutant Ninja Turtles really creepy but really like this souped up garbage truck in the trailer. This sequel based upon the comic books created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman looks better than the 2014 film it follows.
WORLD OF WARCRAFT - JUNE 10
Comic book inspired movies have become hits the last few years can video games have the same pop culture success? This movie based upon the popular video game franchise World of Warcraft aims to find out.
The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people and their home. So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something.
INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE - JUNE 24
Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet. But nothing can prepare us for the aliens’ advanced and unprecedented force. Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction.
Will this sequel live up to the popularity of the original Independence Day?
THE LEGEND OF TARZAN - JULY 1
Author Edgar Rice Burroughs' characters were all the rage when it came to adventure stories during the first half of the 20th century but Disney's failed John Carter showed that they've since lost their luster. Can Warner Brothers renew interest in these once popular characters with its upcoming Tarzan movie?
It has been years since the man once known as Tarzan (Skarsgård) left the jungles of Africa behind for a gentrified life as John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke, with his beloved wife, Jane (Robbie) at his side. Now, he has been invited back to the Congo to serve as a trade emissary of Parliament, unaware that he is a pawn in a deadly convergence of greed and revenge, masterminded by the Belgian, Captain Leon Rom (Waltz). But those behind the murderous plot have no idea what they are about to unleash.
GHOSTBUSTERS - JULY 15
In this reboot of the original Ghostbusters movie, Erin Gilbert and Abby Bergman are a pair of unheralded authors who write a book positing that ghosts are real. A few years later, Gilbert lands a prestigious teaching position at Columbia University, but her book resurfaces and she is laughed out of academia. Gilbert reunites with Bergman and others when ghosts invade Manhattan and try to save the world. If you liked Bridesmaids this film will have a lot of the same players in it with an all-female cast.
STAR TREK BEYOND - JULY 22
This film will mark the 50th anniversary of the airing of the original Star Trek TV series and features the continuing adventures of the re-imagined crew based upon the cast and stories from that show. This will be the third installment of the new rebooted Star Trek cinematic story arc starring Chris Pine as Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock.
SUICIDE SQUAD - AUGUST 5
The next edition of Warner Brothers comic book cinematic universe based off of a popular DC Comics series of the same name. In it a mix of well-known and unknown villains (Deadshot, King Shark, Captain Boomerang and Harley Quinn) are recruited by the government to accomplish a task deemed too dangerous for superheroes. The historically independent operators must bury their own interpersonal conflicts and agendas to form a cohesive unit to take on a singular task.
INFERNO - OCTOBER 28
Tom Hanks returns as Robert Langdon tries to stop a global genocide scheme by following clues in Dante Alighieri's "The Divine Comedy" which take him to Florence and Venice, Italy. He battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science.
DOCTOR STRANGE - NOVEMBER 4
If this movie based upon the classic Marvel comic book character is as good as Disney's 2015 Ant-Man it should be a real treat to watch.
FANTASTIC BEASTS & WHERE TO FIND THEM - NOVEMBER 18
Warner Brothers is trying to keep the magic of Harry Potter alive with this new film. With a script by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and the director of the last four Potter movies, David Yates, this film aims to transport people back to wizarding world portrayed in the popular book and movie franchise. This film though features all new characters and places set in a time period decades before Harry Potter was born. The idea for the film was inspired by a Harry Potter Hogwart's textbook called "Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them" written by a "magiczoologist" named Newt Scamander who is the principal character in what is expected to be the first in a trilogy of films.
STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE - DECEMBER 16
This is the movie I'm most looking forward to seeing in 2016! Director Gareth Edwards promises to put in the "War" in "Star Wars" with this film that will have a gritty battle vibe to it reminiscent to Saving Private Ryan. In this film, that is a prequel to Episode IV: A New Hope, a band of resistance fighters unite for a daring mission to steal the Death Star plans in what may be the first R rated movie in the Star Wars saga.
Comic books and Sci-Fi really dominate this year's movie releases, but eventually the pop culture interest will move on, so if you are a fan of these type adventure movies like I am enjoy the ride while it lasts. Which of these movies are you most looking forward to seeing this year or is there one not mentioned that is at the top of your must see list for 2016?
