With every new year comes a new slate of previews, those lists of upcoming motion picture attractions that publications trot out at the beginning of January to get you excited about all the tie-in content said publications will inevitably produce for the next 365 days. I used to like reading these articles, but I used to live in a world without the internet, in which anyone who was interested in upcoming movies couldn’t just Google that information and receive it immediately, free of anything resembling a sales pitch.
Because when we use expressions like “The Most Anticipated Movies of 2017,” what are we doing but already giving these films a tacit endorsement? With a few exceptions – that is to say, films that screened for critics in late 2016, or which have already played in festivals – none of us have seen these movies yet. So we have no reason to believe they’ll necessarily be good, other than perhaps an encouraging idea, reliable filmmaker, a piece of (frequently unreliable) marketing, or worse… our blind fealty to a franchise, the sort of admiration that makes certain fans defend the quality of a motion picture sight unseen, before they have any idea if it’s any good or not.
Also: A Year of Empathy | The 16 Best Movies of 2016
It would be tempting, then, to fall down a well of cynicism, and present a preview of all the movies that DON’T look very encouraging this year, but we have to ask ourselves what good that could possibly do. There’s no sense in dwelling in the negative, especially when so many people just had a very difficult 2016.
So instead let’s stay positive but make a concerted effort to be rational about it. Here is a list of 20 films that we have coming up on the horizon, which we have at least reasonable reason to believe might be pretty darned good. We’re not going to go nuts about this, and we’re all going to agree to withhold our opinions until we have actually watched these movies (right?). But let’s just say that we think that – in these instances – it’s okay to be cautiously optimistic and hope for the best.
In other words, the future holds no guarantees, but holds a great deal of promise.
20 Movies To Be Cautiously Optimistic About In 2017:
Top Photos: Warner Bros. / 20th Century Fox / Columbia Pictures
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved, Rapid Reviews and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
20 Movies That Will Make You Cautiously Optimistic for 2017
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John Wick: Chapter Two (February 10)
One of the most unexpectedly awesome action movies of the decade gets a follow-up that might - just might - be as good as the original. It's a chance we're willing to take.
Photo: Lionsgate
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The LEGO Batman Movie (February 10)
Warner Bros.' live-action superhero movies have been pretty disappointing so far, but the energetic and amusing LEGO version of Batman was one of the best parts of The LEGO Movie and it looks like his first solo movie might be pretty danged funny too.
Photo: Warner Bros.
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Get Out (February 24)
Jordan Peele transitions from comedy to serious horror with the promising Get Out, a film about a black man visiting his white fiancée's parents, and who becomes convinced that he's discovered a sinister, racist conspiracy. A great and timely idea, and the trailer looks pretty damned great.
Photo: Universal Pictures
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Kong: Skull Island (March 10)
King Kong is back and he looks more badass than ever in the marketing materials for Kong: Skull Island, in which a squad of soldiers finds themselves on the giant ape's territory. It's an action-centric version of the character, but if the last reboot taught us anything, it's that maybe adhering closely to the classic original film isn't the best idea ever. So we're willing to give this one a shot.
Photo: Warner Bros.
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The Fate of the Furious (April 14)
The Fast and Furious movies have kind of a free pass at this point, to be dumb as they want to be so long as the action is awesome. The last three films have been action spectaculars of the highest order, so for now the ludicrously titled The Fate of the Furious feels like a damn near sure thing. It'll probably be rock stupid but entertaining. Probably.
Photo: Universal Pictures
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 5)
Can lightning strike twice? James Gunn turned some of Marvel's weirdest and most obscure superheroes into an acclaimed blockbuster sensation back in 2014, and now the sequel will determine whether or not that was a fluke. Fortunately the trailer looks funny, James Gunn is talented and the cast is also great, so we're not TOO worried.
Photo: Marvel Studios
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Alien: Covenant (May 19)
Ridley Scott's Prometheus prequel seems to have transmogrified into a full-blown Alien movie with - if the first trailer is any indication - stylish but repetitive shout-outs to the classic original sci-fi shocker. So on one hand, we're getting a new Alien movie. On the other, we're getting an Alien movie that looks REALLY familiar so far. So long as that's just a marketing strategy designed to make hardcore fans feel comfortable and not some sort of mission statement, Alien: Covenant might be great.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
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Baywatch (May 26)
Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron co-star in Baywatch, a broadly comedic adaptation of a TV drama that was pretty damned funny to begin with (albeit unintentionally). This looks like the sort of comedy that Johnson and Efron were made for. If Baywatch is half as funny as the similarly-themed 21 Jump Street, we'll be happy. And if it's crappy, even that will kind of be in the overall spirit of Baywatch, won't it...?
Photo: Paramount Pictures
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Wonder Woman (June 2)
We've lost all faith in Zack Snyder's vision of the DC superheroes (his Justice League isn't on this list, you'll notice), but Patty Jenkins is behind the camera for Wonder Woman and everything we've seen so far looks encouraging. Tons of action, a sense of humor, a positive message and Gal Gadot, who seems to have been very well cast as the greatest female superhero in history. And hey, it HAS to be better than Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, right? Er... right?
Photo: Lionsgate
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The Mummy (June 9)
Universal's third attempt in the last 12 years to revitalize their shared universe of horrorifying monsters kicks off with The Mummy, which looks like an epic modern day adventure about a zombified Tom Cruise waging war against Dr. Jekyll (played by Russell Crowe) and an all-powerful Egyptian wizard. That sounds kinda fun. Hopefully The Mummy works as its own, interesting movie as opposed to a bloated launchpad for one spinoff after another.
Photo: Universal Pictures
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Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7)
Spider-Man has finally come to Marvel, and their first solo film with the character looks - according to the first trailer - like a buddy comedy with Iron Man. Regardless of how you feel about that, at least it probably won't be as repetitive as the Amazing Spider-Man movies were. Tom Holland earned a lot of fans in his debut as the character in Captain America: Civil War, and he might even be able to carry a wonky storyline all by his charismatic lonesome. With a little luck that won't be necessary.
Photo: Sony Pictures
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War for the Planet of the Apes (July 14)(
Against all odds, the rebooted Planet of the Apes series turned out to be one of the most successful and interesting franchises of the century, with ambitious storylines, amazing visual effects and challenging ideas. If War of the Planet of the Apes is as good as its predecessors we'll be extremely happy, and if it capitalizes on that epic title it might even be one of the most exciting movies of the year. (Those are big "ifs" of course...)
Photo: 20th Century Fox
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Dunkirk (July 24)
Christopher Nolan is one of the most interesting big budget filmmakers in history, who takes exciting ideas and translates them into impressive imagery and unforgettable moments. So a World War II film from Nolan sounds pretty promising until you remember that he's not the best at capturing human emotions, and that his best protagonists tend to be cold, intellectual types. Can he capture the overwhelming ideas of WWII without downplaying the human element? We're VERY curious to find out.
Photo: Warner Bros.
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Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Luc Besson is back with another sci-fi spectacular in the vein of The Fifth Element, based on an iconic European comic book filled with crazy ideas and sexy characters. The trailer is the most impressive thing we've seen from 2017 so far, and it seems likely that even if Valerian isn't "great" it will at least be weird enough to justify a ticket price. The real question is, if this movie IS as good as it looks, will audiences stay away because it's not based on an intellectual property with which they're already familiar? (Gosh, let's hope not...)
Photo: EuropaCorp
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The Dark Tower (July 28)
Stephen King's epic fantasy adventure finally comes to the big screen, with Idris Elba playing the Gunslinger tracking down the villainous Man in Black, played by Matthew McConaughey. Fans of the books will be excited but will the rest of us get sucked into this complicated fantasy world? With sequels and a tie-in television series already in the works, the studio is counting on it. Let's see if they're right.
Photo: Columbia Pictures
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Baby Driver (August 11)
Edgar Wright is back with his first feature film in four years with Baby Driver, an action-comedy about a getaway driver played by Ansel Elgort. Very few filmmakers have the track record Wright does, so he could be working on a Smurfs movie and we'd probably buy a ticket on sheer principle. Baby Driver could be his worst movie and still be completely fantastic. Then again, that's a lot of pressure. Let's hope he lives up to his reputation again.
Photo: Columbia Pictures
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It (September 8)
Horror fans might balk at any filmmaker who tries to replace Tim Curry as the scariest clown in movie history but this remake of the horrifying Stephen King tv mini-series (both of them based on the hit novel) has the potential to do the trick. It's the story of a monster that preys on children, who must muster their courage to defeat the beast... for a while, anyway. With the chance to skew even darker than the original adaptation, there seems to be a chance that this new It will be a worthy new addition to the library of Stephen King movies. A "chance," anyway.
Photo: New Line Cinema
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Blade Runner 2049 (October 6)
It's pretty danged encouraged to consider that the long-awaited sequel to Blade Runner is being directed by Denis Villeneuve, a director famous for stylish genre films that ask big questions. Even so, living up to Blade Runner - and telling a new story that doesn't invalidate the mysteries of the original - would be a big challenge to any filmmaker. Can Villeneuve pull this off? We hope so. We really do.
Photo: Warner Bros.
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Thor: Ragnarok
After the grim and fractured Thor: The Dark World, the next film in the fantastical Marvel superhero series pairs Thor with the Hulk for a sci-fi buddy comedy, and that's a pretty fun concept. With a fun director like Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows) involved, this new Thor might very well be the best one yet. Then again, Thor: The Dark World proved that this franchise is anything but infallible...
Photo: Marvel Studios
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Star Wars: Episode VIII
It's another Star Wars. We'll see it, you'll see it, and with a little luck it will be genuinely good instead of just "good enough to get fans excited until about a year later when the flaws suddenly seem undeniably obvious." We want a great Star Wars movie and you do too. And since we're getting a new one every year until we die, we might as well hope that this will be that film, so that we won't be waiting long.
Photo: Walt Disney
