70. “John Wick 2”
Director: Chad Stahelski (“John Wick”)
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Common, Bridget Moynahan, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, Peter Stormare, Laurence Fishburne
Synopsis: Details are rather thin on the ground at the moment, just a kind of “continuing adventures of…” type deal.
What You Need To Know: All you really need to know to judge whether to be excited for “John Wick 2” is “John Wick” — the sequel brings back most of the original’s [surviving] cast and of course Keanu Reeves as the titular hitman. Chad Stahelski co-directed the first film with David Leitch, but he’ll be solo this time (the better for Leitch to concentrate on James McAvoy Cold War project “The Coldest City“). Sequels tend to have diminishing returns, especially those that come after a surprise sleeper action hit starring an actor on a bit of a downward slide (think of the Liam Neeson/”Taken” model), but we have faith that ex-stunt director Stahelski can bring the goods again. And anyway, if you’re going to “John Wick” films for story as opposed to slick gun stunts and cool noirish spectacle, you’re doing movies wrong.
Release Date: None yet and it’s supposedly still filming, so perhaps a similar October slot to the first one?
69. “Christine”
Director: Antonio Campos (“Afterschool,” “Simon Killer”)
Cast: Rebecca Hall, Michael C. Hall, Maria Dizzia, Tracy Letts, J. Smith Cameron
Synopsis: The true story of Christine Chubbuck, a Florida news reporter who committed suicide live on air.
What You Need To Know: They might not have a catchy name like mumblecore, but the Borderline Films crew — “Martha Marcy May Marlene” helmer Sean Durkin, “James White” helmer Josh Mond, and this film’s director Campos, who all produce each other’s movies — have been one of the most interesting things to happen to American independent film in a long time, with every one of their distinctive movies packing a serious punch. The latest is “Christine,” which promises to be just as provocative as their previous pictures. Telling the strange, sad, “Network”-esque true story of Christine Chubbuck, this has Campos’s biggest name cast to date, with what promises to be a killer role for Rebecca Hall and “Dexter” star Michael C. Hall as her colleague and crush.
Release Date: Playing at Sundance later this month; hopefully a distributor will step in swiftly.
68. “Captain America: Civil War”
Director: Joe & Anthony Russo (“Captain America: The Winter Soldier”)
Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Chadwick Boseman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Holland
Synopsis: After an incident with the Avengers causes collateral damage, the world’s government tries to regulate the world’s superheroes, pitting Captain America against his old ally Iron Man.
What You Need To Know: It’s weird to say about a pair of movies that grossed a cumulative $2 billion, but it felt like the luster came off the Marvel golden goose a little bit last year: “Avengers: Age Of Ultron” was lower-grossing and significantly less liked than its predecessor, and “Ant-Man” sold fewer tickets domestically than any film in the franchise since “The Incredible Hulk.” Can “Civil War” — theoretically a third “Captain America,” but essentially a third Avengers pic, and the beginning of Phase Three of the Marvel project — put them back on top in a year where “Star Wars” and DC are competing for the attention? It’s laden with cast members, with Black Panther and Spider-Man entering the universe and Martin Freeman and Daniel Brühl squaring off against them. We were underwhelmed by that first trailer, which was a bit drab, but the Russos (who’ll go on to the two-part “Infinity War” after this) gave us one of the better Marvels to date with their last go-round with Cap.
Release Date: May 6th
67. “Star Trek Beyond”
Director: Justin Lin (“Fast Five,” “Fast & Furious 6”)
Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, Idris Elba
Synopsis: Finally underway on their mission to explore the final frontier, the crew of the USS Enterprise are stranded on a distant planet where they’re attacked by a fearsome new enemy.
What You Need To Know: With J.J. Abrams having moved on to another franchise beginning with ‘Star’ that we can’t quite recall right now, Kirk, Spock and co. have a new captain, with “Fast & Furious” helmer Justin Lin taking over the helm, and cast member Simon Pegg co-writing the script. We’ve been promised something closer in spirit to the original series, with distant planets and, per the trailer, something of a post-colonialist vibe, with Idris Elba buried under prosthetics as the bad guy, and “Kingsman” star Sofia Boutella, “About Time” standout Lydia Wilson and “The Raid” actor Joe Taslim joining the cast. The Beastie Boys-scored trailer divided people, but to us, there was a pleasing “Galaxy Quest”-style vibe to it, and given that “Galaxy Quest” was the best “Star Trek” movie ever [ducks a hail of latex Spock ears], that can only be a good thing.
Release Date: July 22nd
66. “Free State Of Jones”
Director: Gary Ross (“Seabiscuit,” “The Hunger Games”)
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali, Keri Russell, Brendan Gleeson
Synopsis: The true story of the Knight Company, a group of anti-slavery Confederate deserters who turned to the union side, and their leader Newton Knight’s romance with a freed slave.
What You Need To Know: Having launched a multi-billion dollar franchise back in 2012 with the first “Hunger Games” movie, Gary Ross had the kind of momentum that can get a passion project greenlit, and “Free State Of Jones” is the result. It’s sort of remarkable that the story of the Knight Company hasn’t been brought to the screen since 1948’s “Tap Roots” (and even that glossed over the inter-race romance elements), but Ross has a big name to lead it, with Matthew McConaughey, whose comeback wasn’t injured too badly by “Sea Of Trees” last year, in the lead role, and the great Gugu Mbatha-Raw as his future wife. Ross is somehow undervalued as a director, but in the current climate, will this be welcomed, or seen as another cinematic example of white-savior syndrome?
Release Date: May 13th
65. “Little Men”
Director: Ira Sachs (“Keep The Lights On,” “Love Is Strange”)
Cast: Theo Taplitz, Michael Barbieri, Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Ehle, Paulina Garcia
Synopsis: A sensitive, artistic boy befriends a more extroverted kid at his grandfather’s funeral, but the friendship is put to the test when their parents become embroiled in a rent dispute.
What You Need To Know: Over time, director Ira Sachs has found an ever growing audience with his finely honed, nuanced movies: “Keep The Lights On” was a critical hit, and “Love Is Strange” even more so. His latest, premiering at Sundance later in the month, sees him return to NYC for another movie that looks to be compassionate and moving. Gentrification is the subject here (it was a subplot in “Love is Strange”), seen through the eyes of two young boys, but we’re not lacking in big-screen talent here, with Paulina Garcia, star of the great “Gloria,” making her English language debut, and Talia Shire and Alfred Molina joining Ehle, Kinnear and the two young newcomers. There’s always some risk involved at Sundance, but Sachs feels like one of the safest bets out there.
Release Date: Hits Sundance in a few weeks.
64. “Finding Dory”
Director: Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo,” “Wall-E”) and Angus MacLane (“Toy Story Of Terror!”)
Cast: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Diane Keaton, Ty Burrell, Idris Elba
Synopsis: Six months after Nemo was found, short-memoried Dory remembers something about her lost family, and sets out with her friends to find them.
What You Need To Know: Pixar’s return to original movies had mixed success last year — “Inside Out” was one of their biggest critical and commercial successes, but “The Good Dinosaur” was probably the company’s first flop. “Finding Dory” shouldn’t have them sweating though: It’s the sequel, 13 years on, to one of their best-loved pictures. Marking Andrew Stanton’s first Pixar movie since “Wall-E” (and his hopeful bounceback from “John Carter”), this shifts focus to Ellen DeGeneres’ Memento-brained Dory, and looks to introduce a whole new school of characters, with Eugene Levy, Kaitlin Olson, Ed O’Neill and Dominic West also involved. We do worry that it might be going through the motions, but if it’s closer to “Toy Story 3” than “Monsters University” or “Cars 2,” we’ll be happy.
Release Date: June 17th
63. “Top Secret Untitled Lonely Island Movie”
Director: Akiva Schaffer (“The Watch”) and Jorma Taccone (“MacGruber”)
Cast: Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone, Imogen Poots, Sarah Silverman
Synopsis: After his last album flops, a rapper reluctantly sets out to put his old boy band back together.
What You Need To Know: Few words send a shiver up the spine like the words ‘comedy-musician,’ but over several years at SNL, Lonely Island managed to pull it off, with several best-selling albums and a plethora of viral hits behind them. Separately, their big-screen careers haven’t quite taken off: Andy Samberg has found success in “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” but has faltered in theaters, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone directed comedy flops “The Watch” and “MacGruber.” But together, in this Judd Apatow-produced pic, it could be different. Rumored to be called “Conner4Real,” and apparently mocking music docs like “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never,” it’s got a prime summer release date, and if nothing else, should have the best/funniest original soundtrack of the year. Fingers crossed for a Michael Bolton cameo.
Release Date: June 3rd
62. “The Promise”
Director: Terry George (“Some Mother’s Son,” “Hotel Rwanda”)
Cast: Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon, James Cromwell, Jean Reno
Synopsis: A love triangle between an American journalist, a French woman and a medical student set against the backdrop of the last days of the Ottoman Empire and the 1915 Armenian Genocide.
What You Need To Know: Few people have had runs like Oscar Isaac recently: “Inside Llewyn Davis,” “A Most Violent Year,” “Ex Machina,” “Show Me A Hero” and, oh yeah, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” His next move, aside from blockbuster villainy in “X-Men: Apocalypse,” is sweeping period romance “The Promise,” which marks a return to directing for “Hotel Rwanda” helmer Terry George. Co-written with “Benjamin Button” pensmith Robin Swicord, it delves into a part of history that few have tackled cinematically, the genocide of as many as 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, something that the Turkish government still refuses to actually call ‘genocide.’ Unlikely to get a run in Istanbul multiplexes, then, but George did a fine job with “Hotel Rwanda,” and he’s got a killer trio here, with Christian Bale and “The Walk” star Charlotte Le Bon joining Isaac.
Release Date: None yet — could be at Cannes, Venice, Telluride or TIFF.
61. “Gold”
Director: Stephen Gaghan (“Syriana”)
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Edgar Ramirez, Bryce Dallas Howard, Corey Stoll, Toby Kebbell
Synopsis: Two down-on-their-luck men head out to find gold in the jungles of Borneo.
What You Need To Know: Though “Syriana” was moderately successful, it’s a decade since “Traffic” Oscar-winning screenwriter Stephen Gaghan directed a movie. But he’s back in 2016 with “Gold.” Michael Mann and Spike Lee were once attached to the project, penned by “Friday Night Lights” writer Patrick Massett and John Zinman, but it’ll be an interesting change of pace for Gaghan, seeming to be more of an action-adventure vibe. Matthew McConaughey (in a, um, striking bald set-up) and Edgar Ramirez topline; while the supporting cast includes ringers like Corey Stoll, Toby Kebbell, “Veep” standout Timothy Simons, Stacy Keach and Bruce Greenwood; and Robert Elswit shot it, so it should look great, if nothing else. And hopefully there’ll be a lot more too.
Release Date: The Weinstein Company are distributing, but haven’t set a date yet. Late summer or early fall seem most likely.
