2018 is shaping up to be a banner year forsci-fi enthusiasts. From a new entry to the Star Wars franchise to big-budget book-to-screenadaptations to some very novel property ideas, here's a look at what the next year holdsin store for the cinematic genre. The Beyond This feature-length debut from Haz Dullul,who previously worked as a visual effects artist on films like The Dark Knight and Hellboy2, will be a loose adaptation of his 2013 short film Project Kronos. The Beyond is set in the near future whenrobotically augmented astronauts embark on an interstellar journey through a recentlydiscovered wormhole. Judging by the trailer, we're in for a wild ride when this premiereson digital streaming services on January 9th. Maze Runner: The Death Cure The third adaptation of James Dashner's dystopianMaze Runner novels, The Death Cure has been a long time coming. The film was originallyslated for a 2017 release, but a severe on-set injury to lead actor Dylan O'Brien temporarilyhalted production on the pic and delayed its release 'til next year. "It stops when we find a cure." "There is no cure!" It's since been completed, and The Death Curewill follow the Gladers' continued battle with WCKD in one spectacular final showdownthat hits theaters January 26th. Annihilation Based on the acclaimed 2014 novel of the samename by Jeff VanderMeer, and directed by Ex Machina's Alex Garland, Annihilation followsa biologist as she goes searching for answers about her husband's disappearance by joiningan expedition into an environmental disaster zone. With a trailer that's already packed withstunningly eerie imagery, there are sure to be a lot of surprises when this movie landsin theaters on February 23rd. A Wrinkle in Time For fans of Madeleine L'Engle's classic 1962science-fiction/fantasy novel, Ava DuVernay's live-action take on A Wrinkle in Time can'tcome soon enough. The novel has been adapted for film once before,in a 2003 Disney-distributed TV movie which was poorly-received by most viewers, includingL'Engle herself, who said, "I expected it to be bad, and it is." But with an all-star cast and the Selma directorat the helm, the new take is already shaping up to be an out-of-this-world experience whenit appears on March 9th. Pacific Rim: Uprising Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim may not havebeen a box office smash, but it was well-received by critics and audiences alike and has finallygotten its long-overdue follow-up by way of Uprising. The sequel is helmed by Stephen DeKnight,and while plot details are scant so far, we do know that John Boyega will feature as JakePentecost—the son of Idris Elba's character Stacker from the first film. There'll alsobe three new Jaegers featured in the movie, and it'll take place several years after theevents in the first installment, so brace for impact, giant mech fans, when this monsterhits theaters on March 23rd. Ready Player One Steven Spielberg is giving science fictionfans something to salivate over with his adaptation of Ernest Cline's buzzy book Ready PlayerOne. "In 2045, there's nowhere left to go. Nowhere,except the Oasis." The story follows its young hero through avirtual reality maze of pop culture references as he fights to find an Easter egg that willearn him a fortune in the midst of a global energy crisis. And from the looks of earlyfootage, the movie promises to be a mind-blowing experience when it treks to the silver screenon March 30th. Rampage Monster movies may have fallen out of voguein recent years, but Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson may change all of that with the big screenadaptation of Rampage. The film is based on the classic 1980s arcade game of the samename, which features three gigantic monsters rampaging through cities around North America.The producers of the movie have confirmed that the main monsters from the franchisewill be back for the film, which means we'll soon be watching The Rock face off againsta giant crocodile, a mega-gorilla, and an enormous wolf. "Oh, you didn't know about the 30-foot wolf?" While this sounds like a goofy action blockbusteron the surface, director Brad Peyton also promises that Rampage will be "...a lot more emotional, a lot scarier anda lot more real than you'd expect." We'll have to wait and see whether The Rockcan work his box office magic again when Rampage drops on April 20th. "I think we'll be alright." Solo: A Star Wars Story The upcoming Star Wars film about Han Solohas hit some bumps along the way, but, if it's anything like its predecessors, this'llbe one out-of-this world experience for audiences. The standalone movie will follow a young HanSolo, played by Alden Ehrenreich who takes over for Harrison Ford, and will showcasethe character's exploits before the events of A New Hope. He'll be joined by Donald Gloveras a young Lando Calrissian and Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca, taking over for Peter Mayhew. In addition to these established Star Warscharacters, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, andmore will all appear in supporting roles. While shooting was underway in early 2017,production was halted after Lucasfilm fired co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Millerdue to ongoing creative conflicts with both Lucasfilm executive Kathleen Kennedy and screenwriterLawrence Kasdan. However, Lucasfilm quickly hired Ron Howard to complete principal photographyand reshoots. Judging by his willingness to sprinkle the fanbase with clues already, havingHoward at the helm will make this one outstanding intergalactic adventure when Solo hits theaterson May 25th. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom While many other reboots have floundered inrecent years, Jurassic World took the world by storm and earned over $1.6 billion dollarsin the global box office while reintroducing scary dinosaurs to the mainstream once again. Round two of the revived franchise is JurassicWorld: Fallen Kingdom, which promises a return to its roots with a much darker tone thanthe first installment. Plot details on Fallen Kingdom are still slim,but we do know that stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, and B. D. Wong will reprisetheir roles from the first installment, while Jeff Goldblum will return as the philosophicalDr. Ian Malcolm—which is his first return to the franchise since 1997's The Lost World.Malcolm's importance in this sequel is hinted at strongly in the film's tagline: "Life, uh, finds a way." Hints from those involved with the movie indicatethat the plot may involve multiple competing labs hatching their own dinosaurs off theisland, the ethical issues in how they're using them, and how they'll coexist with humansin the rest of the world. The movie will return to Isla Nublar for atleast part of the film, and keep a watch out for the original Jurassic Park T-Rex, whichwill also be making a comeback. With a promise that this sequel will be "more suspensefuland scary" than previous installments in the franchise, and with horror film director J.A.Bayona at the helm, it sounds like Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom will be a must-watchwhen it finally arrives on June 22nd. Alita: Battle Angel Following in the footsteps of Oldboy and Ghostin the Shell, Alita: Battle Angel will bring us the latest science fiction movie basedon a manga. The movie is directed by Robert Rodriguez, and will feature Rosa Salazar inthe title role, with a supporting cast including Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein,Michelle Rodriguez, Keean Johnson, and Jennifer Connelly, among others. Plot details have been scarce so far, butwe do know that it will focus primarily on the plot of the manga's first four volumes,particularly on the futuristic sport of "motorball." The film has been a passion project of producerJames Cameron, who became a fan of Yukito Kishiro's original manga nearly two decadesago. He's been trying to get the film made ever since, although he's had to delay productionalong the way in order to finish his Avatar films and develop the additional technologyneeded to do Alita correctly. With Cameron and Rodriguez leading the way, Alita: BattleAngel is sure to please science fiction fans, action fans, and manga fans alike when itreaches the silver screen on July 20th. The Predator While The Predator is actually the fourthfilm in the core Predator series, chronologically, it's set in the present day, between the eventsof 1990's Predator 2 and and 2010's Predators. The film will star Boyd Holbrook as an ex-Marinewho discovers that the Predators exist, and recruits a team to help hunt them down. Roundingout his team include castmates Olivia Munn, Trevante Rhodes, Keegan Michael-Key, SterlingK. Brown, Alfie Allen, and child actor Jacob Tremblay, who will play Quinn's son. The othersupporting cast members include Yvonne Strahovski and Edward James Olmos, as well as Jake Busey—whowill make an appearance as the son of "Peter Keyes" from Predator 2, who was played byhis real-life father, Gary Busey. Shane Black, who played "Hawkins" in the originalPredator, has returned to the franchise—this time as the director. Black wants to keepthe spirit of the original film alive for this sequel, and has made it clear that itwon't be rated PG-13. Cast member Sterling K. Brown has also dropped hints that The Predatorwill have many "wicked" funny moments, much like the original film. If Black can trulycapture the nostalgia of Predator while keeping the story fresh, Predator should be a trueblockbuster when it hits theaters on August 3rd. Captive State Based on the buzzy screenplay written by RupertWyatt and Erica Beeney, Captive State will star John Goodman, Vera Farmiga, Ashton Sanders,Jonathan Majors, Kevin Dunn, and Machine Gun Kelly, among others. The official description tells us the moviewill be: "Set in a Chicago neighborhood nearly a decadeafter an occupation by an extraterrestrial force, [and] explores the lives on both sidesof the conflict—the collaborators and dissidents." You can catch the film in theaters on August17th. The Darkest Minds This upcoming science fiction/superpowersmovie is based on the novel of the same name by Alexandra Bracken. The Darkest Minds isbeing directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson in her her live-action directorial debut. The story centers on the years after a diseasesweeps America, killing nearly all of the children, as the surviving kids develop uncontrollablesuperhuman abilities and are confined to internment camps around the nation. Hunger Games starAmandla Stenberg will star as Ruby, a girl who decides to break out of the camp and joina group of rebel teens in a plot to bring down the government which wants them keptunder lock and key. Joining Stenberg are Harris Dickinson, MandyMoore, Patrick Gibson, Skylan Brooks, and Gwendoline Christie, who will play a brutalbounty hunter tasked with tracking down the missing teens. Since it's based upon a young-adultnovel, the live-action adaptation of The Darkest Minds will likely be a PG-13 film that willappeal to teens and adults alike and will premiere on September 14th. Mortal Engines Based on the novel of the same name by PhilipReeve, Mortal Engines will take us into a futuristic steampunk world following the ravagesof a "Sixty Minute War." In this future, cities are now mobile, moving around the world propelledby gigantic engines and wheels. Along the way, the cities cannibalize smaller townsto replenish their own resources. Long-time Peter Jackson storyboard artistand collaborator Christian Rivers will make his feature-film directorial debut with MortalEngines, while Jackson will produce. The screenplay was also written by Jackson, along with hisfrequent writing partners Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh. Starring Robert Sheehan, Hera Hilmar, RonanRaftery, and Hugo Weaving, Mortal Engines should be a visual extravaganza with a compellingstory that will blow viewers away when it floats into theaters on December 14th. Code 8 Not only is Code 8 the first feature filmfrom actors Robbie and Stephen Amell, it also was nearly completely crowdfunded via an Indiegogocampaign. In 2016, the Amells—who are cousins—released a 10-minute-long short film, which they wereseeking to expand to feature-length. In it, the Amells take a different view on the "mutant/superpower"trope. In their future, approximately four percent of people have various supernaturalpowers, but they're mostly shunned by the rest of the population. Forced to live onthe fringes of society, "specials" struggle with poverty and have to take low-paying jobsas day laborers to make ends meet. When two of the specials get into a confrontation withmilitarized police, things go violently wrong. Starring Robbie and Stephen Amell, Sung Kang,Aaron Abrams, and Chad Donella, principal photography on Code 8 began in June 2017,and is tentatively slated for a December 2018 release. Thanks for watching! Click the Looper iconto subscribe to our YouTube channel. Plus check out all this cool stuff we know you'lllove, too!
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