80. “Untitled Debra Granik Project”
Director: Debra Granik (“Winter’s Bone”)
Cast: Ben Foster, Thomasin McKenzie, Dale Dickey, Isaiah Stone, Jeff Kober
Synopsis: A 13-year-old girl and her father have been living in a rainforest in the Pacific Northwest, but are pulled out by the authorities.
What You Need To Know: One suspects that if an Oscar-nominated, much-acclaimed indie like “Winter’s Bone” had been directed by a man, that man would have directed a “Star Wars” movie by now. Instead, eight years have passed, and helmer Debra Granik has helmed only a single movie, and no fiction features (the doc “Stray Dog,” which is well worth checking out, by the way). But fortunately, her return is imminent: Granik shot this adaptation of Peter Rock’s novel “My Abandonment” last April. It feels like a darker spin on something like “Captain Fantastic” (would it surprise you that the novel is described as “harrowing?”), and while Foster (who replaced Casey Affleck) is the big name, given that Granik helped to break Jennifer Lawrence, all eyes are likely to be on newcomer Thomasin McKenzie in the lead role.
Release Date: Sundance.
79. “The Widow”
Director: Neil Jordan (“Interview With The Vampire”)
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Chloe Grace Moretz, Maika Monroe, Zawe Ashton, Stephen Rea
Synopsis: A young woman befriends an older widow after returning her purse, only to discover that her new pal might be dangerous.
What You Need To Know: Neil Jordan’s work isn’t always good, but it’s almost always interesting — none of “The Good Thief,” “Breakfast On Pluto,” “Ondine” and “Byzantium” were perfect, but they all had much to recommend them. But could a team-up with one of the world’s greatest actresses result in Jordan’s first home-run in a while? This thriller, co-written by “The Crazies” screenwriter Ray Wright, sees Jordan work for the first time with the freshly Oscar-nominated Isabelle Huppert, where she’ll face off against Moretz and, as her best friend, Monroe. It sounds a little potboilery on premise alone, but Huppert is picky, so we imagine there’s much more to this than meets the eye, and we’re excited to see what that might be.
Release Date: Filmed in the fall: Venice or TIFF seem most likely.
78. “Boy Erased”
Director: Joel Edgerton (“The Gift”)
Cast: Lucas Hedges, Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, Joel Edgerton, Cherry Jones
Synopsis: A pastor’s son is sent to conversion therapy camp after he’s outed as gay to his parents.
What You Need To Know: When we mentioned above that there was more than one Pence-baiting gay-conversion-therapy movie on the way? This would be the other one, the eagerly-awaited follow-up to Joel Edgerton’s unexpectedly excellent directorial debut “The Gift.” Adapted from Garrad Conley’s memoir, it sees Edgerton move from thriller to drama (dare we say awards territory, even?), with Hedges, Crowe, Kidman and, as the head therapist, Edgerton himself leading an… eclectic cast that also includes Xavier Dolan, erstwhile Billy Lynn/current Taylor Swift beau Joe Alwyn, YouTuber Troye Sivan and Flea from Red Hot Chilli Peppers. It could turn out to be a “Glass Castle” sort of situation, if you know what we mean, but Edgerton proved his mettle enough with his debut that we’re keen to see how this turns out.
Release Date: September 28th, 2018.
77. “On The Basis Of Sex”
Director: Mimi Leder (“The Peacemaker”)
Cast: Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, Kathy Bates, Jack Reynor
Synopsis: The story of future Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and her struggle to overcome gender bias to reach her position.
What You Need To Know: With another year until we can (hopefully) block any further Supreme Court Justice appointments by Donald Trump, we’ll all be thinking of and rooting for Ruth Bader Ginsburg over the next year, which makes it pretty good timing for a biopic of the legendary legal figure. Hailing from first-time screenwriter Daniel Stiepleman, it was originally set to team up Natalie Portman with “Diary Of A Teenage Girl” helmer Marielle Heller, but instead it’s the first post-“Rogue One” move for Felicity Jones, and the first movie in nine years from director Mimi Leder, who’s been doing the best work of her career recently with “The Leftovers.” Maybe it’ll be standard biopic fare, but given the talent that it’s attracted, we have a feeling this might be something a little different…
Release Date: Focus Features haven’t set a date yet, but expect it around awards season.
76. “Kursk”
Director: Thomas Vinterberg (“Festen,” “The Hunt.” “Far From The Madding Crowd,”)
Cast: Matthias Schoenaerts, Colin Firth, Lea Seydoux, Max von Sydow, Michael Nyqvist, Audust Diehl, Peter Simonischek.
Synopsis: The true story of the 2000 Kursk submarine disaster.
What You Need To Know: The only thing that could make us more on board (sorry) with this real-life disaster tale, given its exceptional cast (which includes “Toni Erdmann” superstar Peter Simonischek, and, sadly, the last performance from the brilliant, late Michael Nyqvist) is if Vinterberg’s regular collaborator Tobias “A Hijacking” Lindholm were involved, as Vinterberg’s Lindholm-less films, such as his recent “The Commune,” somewhat miss the mark for us. Still, we guess Robert Rodat, writer of “Saving Private Ryan” isn’t a bad substitute. And with Anthony Dod Mantle as DP, plus Alexandre Desplat on scoring duties, this is an all-round prestige package, that also boasts Luc Besson as a producer, lest you worry it might skimp on visceral impact. The story is a tragic one, but it has a political dimension too that could make it highly provocative.
Release Date: Vinterberg was in Berlin in 2016, so that’s a possibility if it’s done, but he’s also no stranger to Cannes…
75. “Private Life”
Director: Tamara Jenkins (“The Savages”)
Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Paul Giamatti, Molly Shannon, Kayli Carter, Denis O’Hare
Synopsis: Frustrated at being unable to conceive a child, a couple meet a young college drop-out who could be a potential surrogate.
What You Need To Know: We wish dearly that Tamara Jenkins was more prolific than she is, but given how good her two films to date are, maybe we’ll settle for her once-a-decade work rate, which makes Terrence Malick look like Hong Sang-Soo. Nine years came between debut “Slums Of Beverly Hills” and 2007’s “The Savages,” and a further eleven will have passed before “Private Life” emerges, but we’re sure that the wait will have been worth it. Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti take the lead roles, with rising “Godless” star Kayli Carter as the Juno to their Bateman and Garner, and Netflix have been kind enough to pick up the tab for the project, which could bring Jenkins to her widest audience yet.
Release Date: Not at Sundance, so probably TIFF.
74. “Holmes & Watson”
Director: Etan Cohen (“Get Hard”)
Cast: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Ralph Fiennes, Rebecca Hall, Hugh Laurie
Synopsis: A comedic spin on Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes
What You Need To Know: Surely, after Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes” films, Steven Moffatt’s beloved “Sherlock” series, and the CBS procedural “Elementary” (plus 2018’s Johnny Depp-voiced animated take “Sherlock Gnomes”), we don’t need another take on the genius detective? That’s what we thought until we found out that Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly were reteaming for the first time since “Step Brothers” to play the titular duo in this new comedy. And their supporting team promise plenty of comedic pleasures too — Ralph Fiennes as Moriarty, Hugh Laurie as Mycroft, Kelly Macdonald as Mrs. Hudson, Rob Brydon as Inspector Lestrade. The question mark here is writer/director Cohen, whose previous team-up with Ferrell, “Get Hard,” was pretty dreadful. Hopefully this will come closer to his writing work on “Idiocracy” and “Tropic Thunder” than to that.
Release Date: November 9th, 2018
73. “Mission Impossible 6”
Director: Christopher McQuarrie (“Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation”)
Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Henry Cavill, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames
Synopsis: Ethan Hunt and the IMF team again, with villain Solomon Lane still a thorn in their side.
What You Need To Know: There’s some stiff competition (all but John Woo’s entry have much to recommend them, making it one of the most consistent franchises going), but “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation” might be the most satisfying and well-crafted film in the now-22-year-strong spy series. So it’s not entirely surprising that that film’s helmer, Christopher McQuarrie, was the first M:I helmer to return for a second installment. As such, the gang (minus the consistently underused Jeremy Renner) are all back, including Michelle Monaghan as Hunt’s somewhat abandoned wife, Alec Baldwin as his cantankerous boss, and Sean Harris as sinister villain Solomon Lane. Plot details remain under wraps, but there’s some newcomers too, though: Angela Bassett will play an authority figure of some kind, Henry Cavill plays an IMF authority figure, and Vanessa Kirby and Sian Brooke (Margaret in “The Crown” and Benedict Cumberbatch’s psychotic sister in “Sherlock” respectively) are both on board too.
Release Date: Despite an extended suspension of the shoot after Cruise got injured in a stunt, things remain on track for a July 27th, 2018 release.
72. “Tully”/“The Front Runner”
Director: Jason Reitman (“Juno”)
Cast: Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Mark Duplass/Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, Kaitlyn Dever
Synopsis: A new mother hires a night nanny to help her get some sleep/the Presidential campaign of Gary Hart is undone by a sex scandal.
What You Need To Know: After an excellent four-film opening to his career with “Thank You For Smoking,” “Juno,” “Up In The Air” and “Young Adult,” Jason Reitman came somewhat undone more recently with the poorly received one-two punch of “Labor Day” and “Men, Women and Children.” But after a four-year gap and good notices for his Hulu series “Casual,” he’s ready to return to features in a big way, with two movies hitting in the next twelve months. First is a much-anticipated reunion with his “Young Adult” team of Diablo Cody and Charlize Theron, also starring Mackenzie Davis, and then a timely political satire starring Hugh Jackman as scandal-plagued Democrat Gary Hart. At least one, and hopefully both, should provide a return to form.
Release Date: Focus have set “Tully” for an April 20th, 2018 release, “The Front Runner” doesn’t yet have distribution, but seems likely to premiere at TIFF and maybe Telluride.
71. “Cold War”
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski (“Ida”)
Cast: Joanna Kulig, Agata Kulesza, Borys Szyc, Tomasz Kot, Adam Ferency
Synopsis: A love story set in Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris in the midst of the Cold War in the 1950s.
What You Need To Know: After his sublime “My Summer Of Love,” Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski virtually disappeared — withdrawing from filmmaking after his wife became ill and later died. But you couldn’t ask for a more remarkable comeback film than “Ida,” his 2013 black-and-white Polish-language drama that picked up the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Feature. “Cold War,” which has been picked up by Amazon Studios, is his follow-up: an ambitious sounding, politics-infused Romeo & Juliet-type romance spanning multiple years and countries. Co-written with the late Janusz Glowacki, it toplines a cast of mostly newcomers, with “Ida” standout Agata Kulesza also returning.
Release Date: The film shot early in 2017 so we could see it as early as Berlin.