80. “The Book Of Henry”
Director: Colin Trevorrow (“Jurassic World”)
Cast: Jaeden Lieberher, Jacob Tremblay, Maddie Ziegler, Naomi Watts, Dean Norris
Synopsis: A young boy with a crush on his neighbor sets out to rescue her from her abusive father with the help of his mother and brother.
What You Need To Know: Few directors have had more meteoric rises than Colin Trevorrow, who went from million-dollar indie “Safety Not Guaranteed” to one of the most successful movies of all time with “Jurassic World” in a single step, and this time next year will be about to get behind the camera on “Star Wars: Episode IX.” But he’s been careful not to disappear completely to blockbuster world, squeezing in this little indie from a script by crime writer Gregg Hurwitz. It looks to mash up the coming-of-age fable with something more mystery-inclined, and Trevorrow has a strong young cast, with Jaeden Lieberher from “St. Vincent,” Jacob Tremblay from “Room” and the mini-Sia doppelgänger who we literally have nightmares about being murdered by “Don’t Look Now”-style. This got pushed back to the summer by Focus not long before its September date, but the delay seems to be bullishness rather than fear, as it’s apparently been testing well.
Release Date: Rolling out from June 16th.
79. “Wilson”
Director: Craig Johnson (“The Skeleton Twins”)
Cast: Woody Harrelson, Laura Dern, Isabella Amara, Judy Greer, Margo Martindale
Synopsis: A neurotic middle-aged-man learns that he has a teenage daughter, and sets out with his estranged ex-wife to meet her.
What You Need To Know: He’s been in the business for nearly three decades now, but Woody Harrelson continues to go from strength to strength with every year that passes, and 2017 is poised to be a big one for the veteran star. Along with the Rob Reiner-directed biopic “LBJ,” he has four movies on this list, though “Wilson” is the only one which he toplines, which is reason enough to be excited. But when it’s a comedy adapted from comics great Daniel Clowes from his own graphic novel, produced by Alexander Payne and directed by Craig Johnson, who made a strong debut with “The Skeleton Twins,” there’s reason to believe it’s the kind of showcase that its star deserves. The trailer suggests something broader than we were expecting, but it looks like vintage Harrelson nevertheless.
Release Date: March 24th
78. “Paddington 2”
Director: Paul King (“Paddington”)
Cast: Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Hugh Grant, Brendan Gleeson
Synopsis: The lovable bear tries to buy a pop-up book for his great-aunt’s 100th birthday, but has to track down the thief when it’s stolen.
What You Need To Know: Few surprises in recent years have been as joyous as “Paddington.” On the surface, the adaptation of the beloved children’s character looked like it could be a “Garfield”-style monstrosity, but actually, writer-director Paul King treated it with such care, resulting in a children’s film of almost Pixar-ish levels of magic and delight. It also proved a massive success, the biggest non-studio kids movie of all time, so a sequel is on the way, and while we fear diminishing returns in cases like this, there’s every reason to suggest this won’t be a step down. For one, King has returned, co-writing the script with Simon Farnaby, while almost all the original cast are returning, with the additions of Hugh Grant as a villainous, vain fading actor called Phoenix Buchanan, and Brendan Gleeson as safecracker Knuckles McGinty. Hopefully, the sequelization won’t mean the messages about immigration get left behind — lord knows we need Paddington more than ever right now.
Release Date: November 10th in the UK, no firm date in the U.S. yet.
77. “God Particle”
Director: Julius Onah
Cast: David Oyelowo, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Daniel Bruhl, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris O’Dowd
Synopsis: After performing a scientific experiment on board a space station, a group of astronauts are horrified when Earth appears to disappear.
What You Need To Know: J.J. Abrams and his team pulled off an impressive coup right at the start of this year, when they revealed that a little movie sitting on the Paramount schedule called “Valencia” was actually called “10 Cloverfield Lane,” part of an effort to create a sort of “Twilight Zone”-ish branding for original sci-fi stories. It worked — the film was excellent and proved a modest hit. And while “God Particle” doesn’t have surprise on its side (it’s already been revealed that it’s going to be a “Cloverfield” movie), we certainly hope it’ll be another winner. While it’s easy to make space movies generic, this has a intriguing premise, and a diverse, fascinating cast (also including Zhang Ziyi, John Ortiz and Askel Hennie). At time of going to press, it’s still tightly under wraps (expect it to be retitled, for one), but the brand’s built up enough goodwill that we’re excited anyway.
Release Date: February 24th
76. “Lady Bird”
Director: Greta Gerwig
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Lucas Hedges, Tracy Letts, Timothée Chalamet
Synopsis: A year in the life of a high-school senior in Sacramento, California.
What You Need To Know: Only recently we wrote about our favorite Teen Movies of all time, but as “The Edge Of Seventeen” proved recently, there’s always room for another good one. Could the one to watch in 2017 come from the solo directorial debut of Greta Gerwig (who co-helmed 2008’s “Nights And Weekends” with Joe Swanberg), the indie darling who, it sometimes seems, can do no wrong (though those people probably haven’t seen “Lola Versus”). After a great 2016 that took in “Maggie’s Plan,” “Jackie” and “20th Century Women,” Gerwig stepped behind the camera for this seemingly semi-autobiographical at high school life, with Saoirse Ronan in the lead. Not every actor is meant to direct, but having already written co-written the great “Mistress America” and “Frances Ha,” Gerwig surely knows what she’s doing.
Release Date: Filmed at the end of August, so Telluride and/or TIFF seem the most likely.
75. “Journeyman”
Director: Paddy Considine (“Tyrannosaur”)
Cast: Paddy Considine, Jodie Whittaker, Paul Popplewell, Tony Pitts, Anthony Welsh
Synopsis: A boxer suffers a serious head injury during a fight, and must deal with the consequences.
What You Need To Know: After the last few years, we definitely feel like we could go a long while without seeing another boxing movie. Except every so often, a prospect comes along that makes up for all the “Southpaw”s and “Hands Of Stone,” and that’s why we’re still excited about “Journeyman,” because it’s the second directorial feature from actor Paddy Considine. The star made a startling debut behind the camera with 2011’s brutal “Tyrannosaur,” and if anyone can bring new grit and power to the boxing drama, it’s him, especially with Considine directing himself in the lead role for the first time (especially as it seems like there won’t be that much time spent in the ring, either). Don’t expect it to be an easy watch, though.
Release Date: Cannes, maybe?
74. “Mute”
Director: Duncan Jones (“Moon”)
Cast: Alexander Skarsgard, Paul Rudd, Justin Theroux, Florence Kasumba, Sam Rockwell
Synopsis: In near-future Berlin, a mute bartender searches for a woman, aided and abetted by a pair of sinister American surgeons.
What You Need To Know: After kicking off with one of the best directorial debuts of the last decade with “Moon,” and following it up with the very enjoyable “Source Code,” Duncan Jones became something of a cropper with his fantasy blockbuster “Warcraft,” a movie not quite as bad as its reputation, but pretty bad regardless. Fortunately, he looks to be getting back on track with this long-time passion project, a “Blade Runner”-style near-future noir compared to “Casablanca” and the like. Netflix were the ones that finally stepped up with the cash, and the result is sure to be one of their most high profile movies to date, and one that will hopefully return Jones to the sci-fi brilliance of “Moon” (a film that this is rumored to exist in the same universe as: Sam Rockwell’s long been rumored to cameo as Sam Bell here in some respect). It’ll be intriguing to see how Paul Rudd does in a dramatic, semi-villainous role, too.
Release Date: Still filming as we go to print, so it’ll likely be towards the end of the year.
73. “The Florida Project”
Director: Sean Baker (“Tangerine”)
Cast: Willem Dafoe, Caleb Landry Jones, Macon Blair, Karren Karagulian, Sandy Kane
Synopsis: A 6-year-old girl has the holiday of her life at Disney World while her parents struggle with difficulties.
What You Need To Know: Having made a startling breakthrough with “Starlet,” Sean Baker made one of the best lo-fi indie triumphs of the last few years with “Tangerine,” a raucous, melancholy comedy. While that film was famously filmed with iPhones, he’s shot his latest on anamorphic 35mm film, by Carlos Reygadas’ regular cinematographer, but we’re sure his inventive visuals and proven facility with actors both old and new will carry through to this family drama which appears to have been shot at least partly at Disney World itself. While many of the leads are children — Baker’s brilliant with non-professional actors, so we’re unusually confident about that — it should also provide a welcome showcase for Willem Dafoe, who we always enjoy getting the chance to see play a non-maniac.
Release Date: Filmed in the summer — Sundance might be a stretch, but SXSW or TIFF are more likely.
72. “Logan”
Director: James Mangold (“Walk The Line”)
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook, Richard E. Grant, Stephen Merchant
Synopsis: In a bleak future where mutants have been all but wiped out, an aged Wolverine, his powers on the wane, must protect a young girl with similar gifts to his own.
What You Need To Know: In a reboot-happy superhero culture, Hugh Jackman’s longevity as the X-Men’s Wolverine is sort of remarkable: he’s played the feral Canuck eight times across seventeen years, a span that’s seen three Hulks and three Spider-Men. But now on the edge of 50, Jackman swears he’s hanging up his claws after this ninth movie (and third solo film), which will also mark Patrick Stewart’s last turn as Professor X. It’s inspired by the “Old Man Logan” storyline, with “Narcos” actor Boyd Holbrook and Richard E Grant on villain duties (the latter reportedly as comic fave Mr. Sinister), and for the first time, the safety claws are off, with the film getting a “Deadpool”-inspired R-rating. The trailer was impressive, and James Mangold did a pretty good job with “The Wolverine” until it went all robo-suit at the end — if he can stick to his guns this time, this could finally be the Wolverine movie we deserve.
Release Date: March 3rd
71. “Dark River”
Director: Clio Barnard (“The Selfish Giant”)
Cast: Ruth Wilson, Sean Bean, Mark Stanley
Synopsis: After her father dies, a young woman returns to her Yorkshire village for the first time in 15 years to claim the family farm she believes is hers.
What You Need To Know: She’s not yet as well-known among cinephiles as Lynne Ramsay or Andrea Arnold, but on the basis of her first two features — powerful drama-documentary hybrid “The Arbor” and wrenching coming-of-age drama “The Selfish Giant,” it can’t be long until Clio Barnard has a similar reputation. And we suspect that her latest could be the one to do it — it’s apparently got some thriller-ish overtones, and has the biggest-name cast she’s ever worked with, in the shape of the excellent Ruth Wilson, and “Game Of Thrones” and “The Martian” veteran Sean Bean. It should look great as well — “Sin Nombre” and “The Crown” DP Adriano Goldman is shooting it. If you don’t know Barnard’s name right now, you should get used to it.
Release Date: Nothing firm, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see at Cannes — “Selfish Giant” premiered at Directors’ Fortnight, so maybe a move to UCR is likely.
