14. Warcraft
Based on the legendary franchise of video games from Blizzard Entertainment, including the incredibly popular World of Warcraft, Warcraft will portray the origin story of the initial encounters between the humans and the orcs, with an emphasis upon both sides of the conflict, and will take place in a variety of locations established in the video game series. The film was first announced as a collaboration between Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary pictures.
The film is directed by Duncan James and written by Chris Metzen and will star Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell, Ben Schnetzer, Robert Kazinsky, Daniel Wu, Ruth Negga, Anna Galvin and Clancy Brown. A budget of $100 million and over 1,000 visual effects shots add to the appeal of this potential blockbuster.
The built-in fan based from the very popular video games series should make the film a success. Warcraft was set for a release date of December 18, 2015, but it would’ve had to compete with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, so it was moved to June 10, 2016.
15. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will be the first live-action film to feature both Batman and Superman, and will be the first theatrical film to feature Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Aquaman, and the Flash. It is the sequel to Man of Steel and is the second installment in the DC Extended Universe.
Directed by Zack Snyder (Watchmen, Man of Steel) and with a screenplay written by David S. Goyer and Oscar winner Chris Terrio, Dawn of Justice was first announced at the San Diego Comic-Con International.
Snyder stated that the film would take inspiration from the Batman limited series The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, but that it would follow an original premise.Henry Cavill will reprise his role as Superman, while Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, and Diane Lane among others will reprise their roles from Man of Steel. Ben Affleck will star as an aged Batman, with Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. The $200 million blockbuster will be released on March 25, 2016.
16. The Founder
Did you want the story of the rise of the golden arches? You’re getting it. John Lee Hancock will direct a Robert D. Siegel script about the acquisition and success of the McDonald’s fast food chain restaurant by Ray Kroc. Kroc will be played by the comeback kid, who is now in everything, Michael Keaton, and his wife Ethel Fleming will be played by the amazing Laura Dern.
Additional cast include Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch as Dick and Mac McDonald respectively and supporting performances from Patrick Wilson and B.J Novak. In further detail the plot centers around the rise of McDonald’s fast food empire, The Founder tells the true story of how Illinois salesman Ray Kroc met brothers Mac and Dick McDonald, who were operating a hamburger restaurant in southern California in the 1950s.
Kroc subtly maneuvered himself into a position to take control of their company, which grew into one of the world’s best-known brands after he bought the chain for $2.7 million in 1961. The film is scheduled for release on November 25, 2016 and will be distributed by The Weinstein Company.
17. X-Men: Apocalypse
The sequel to the best-reviewed entry in the X-Men film franchise, Days of Future Past, Apocalypse has some big shoes to fill. The ninth installment in the X-Men film series will be directed by Bryan Singer with a screenplay by Simon Kinberg from a story conceived by Singer, Kinberg, Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris.
The film features an ensemble cast starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Olivia Munn and Lucas Till. Many of those actors reprising roles from previous X-Men films.
In X-Men: Apocalypse, the first and most powerful mutant, Apocalypse, awakened after thousands of years and disillusioned with the world he finds, recruits a team of powerful mutants to destructively “cleanse” humanity and create a new world order. Raven, along with Professor X, must lead the X-Men to stop Apocalypse. The next installment in the X-Men saga will be released on May 27, 2016 in 2D and 3D. Stan Lee will of course make a cameo appearance.
18. Passengers
We don’t know too much about this film yet, but its concept and participants are building excitement for Hollywood and filmgoers alike. Passengers is an upcoming science fiction, romance film that is written by Jon Spaihts, one of the writers behind Prometheus and the upcoming Dr. Strange movie.
It will be directed by Morten Tyldum, who just received a great deal of acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for Best Director for his work on The Imitation Game. Starring are two of the hottest actors in Hollywood, Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt. The cast also includes Laurence Fishburne and Martin Sheen.
Principal photography began in September 2015, and the film is set for a December 21, 2016 release date. Judging by the people involved and its release date, it could be a player in next year’s awards race. Only time will tell with a film with no cohesive plot release and no trailer out yet. Cross your fingers.
19. Independence Day: Resurgence
From the man who has brought you the second most explosions since 1995, Roland Emmerich, number one obviously being Michael Bay, comes the sequel to one of the most explosive of those films Independence Day. Directed by Emmerich and written by Emmerich, Dean Devlin and Carter Blanchard.
The film stars Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox and Brent Spiner, reprising their original roles, along with newcomers Liam Hemsworth, Jessie Usher, Maika Monroe, Sela Ward, Angelababy, Joey King, Charlotte Gainsbourg and William Fichtner.
The premise is as follows: Twenty years after the War of 1996, the international community recovers and builds up Earth’s defenses using technology salvaged from remains of the alien forces, with some military forces assembled on the Moon. However, the aliens were able to send a distress signal before their final defeat while others went into hiding elsewhere around the world.
The aliens in deep space receive the signal and threaten the human race once more with a new, even larger and more powerful battle fleet. With no Will Smith, it loses some of its box office draw, if he is much of one now, but I think that many people are excited about another popcorn friendly summer blockbuster from Emmerich. The film will be released on June 24, 2016.
20. Silence
Our wait may finally be over for the next film from the legendary Martin Scorsese. Written by Jay Cock who wrote The Age of Innocence and Gangs of New York for the screen, Silence will follow Two Jesuit Portuguese Catholic priests face violent persecution when they travel to Japan to seek out their mentor and spread the teachings of Christianity.
The film is based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Shusaku Endo. Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, and Liam Neeson will star alongside Ciaran Hands, Shinya Tsukamoto,Yōsuke Kubozuka, and Issey Ogata.
This film has been a long time coming. Scorsese has constantly put it on the backburner to film other things, like Shutter Island, Hugo, and The Wolf of Wall Street. There was also casting uncertainties after the film kept getting delayed, so long story short, this has been a long time coming. We are not entirely sure that we’ll get it, but reports are that we are finally getting Silence on the big screen.
Author Bio: Ryan Anderson is a sophomore at Miami University in Oxford Ohio, where he is studying Zoology and Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies. His love of classic cinema and film history keeps his love for film strong and ever-present in his life.