Friday nights are all right for movies. After a great geeky year for movies in 2017, can the next 12 months top it? We’ll have to wait and see.
The first Friday in 2018 isn’t a big day for new movie releases, with only one major wide release hitting theaters today. The latest chapter of the horror franchise, INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY, is the only real new offering coming out this week. But that doesn’t mean the next six months won’t provide a lot of reasons to go out to the movies.
January
Next week seems to be the hot week of a cold, snowy January, highlighted by the latest flick pitting senior citizen Liam Neeson in the position to be an action star, THE COMMUTER. The sequel, PADDINGTON 2 is also set for release. Finally, Taraji P. Henson is a hitwoman whose life gets turned upside down by a young boy in PROUD MARY.
Also looking at a January release is 12 STRONG (Jan. 19), about a special forces team sent to Afghanistan after 9/11; THE FINAL YEAR (Jan. 19), a documentary about the last year of Barack Obama’s presidency; and MAZE RUNNER:THE DEATH CURE (Jan. 26).
February
Things start to pick up in February, with Clint Eastwood’s THE 15:17 TO PARIS coming out on February 9, alongside PETER RABBIT, an animated adaptation of the Beatrix Potter tale, and FIFTY SHADES FREED, the final film in the trilogy.
The big release for the month, though, is most certainly the latest Marvel movie, BLACK PANTHER, starring Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan. The movie has the chance to really break out the character after a wonderful debut in Captain America: Civil War.
There are some other intriguing movies coming out in February. NOSTALGIA (February 16) is a series of vignettes about love and loss starring Jon Hamm and Nick Offerman. GAME NIGHT (February 23) stars Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams as a part of a group of friends coming together for a game night and end up having to solve a murder mystery. Finally, THE WAR WITH GRANDPA (February 23) has an intriguing cast (Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken and Jane Seymour) in a flick about a kid who is upset he has to share his room.
March
Jennifer Lawrence kicks off a packed March with RED SPARROW, a spy thriller about a ballerina recruited to a Russian intelligence service. Also on March 2, the Bruce Willis remake of DEATH WISH is released.
Ava DuVernay’s adaptation of A WRINKLE IN TIME (March 9) for Disney is set to make a big splash with fans of the classic novel. The cast includes Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine and Mindy Kaling.
A new adaptation of the classic video game franchise, TOMB RAIDER, gets a release on March 16, with Alicia Vikander coming on a Lara Croft. PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING, a sequel to the 2013 film, is set for a March 23 release. Finally, Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of READY PLAYER ONE closes out the month on March 30.
April
A slower month for new releases features what may be the first comic book superhero adaptation to also be a horror movie with THE NEW MUTANTS (April 13), about five young mutants trying to save themselves in a secret facility. Then, there’s another video game adaptation, as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stars in RAMPAGE, based on the 1980s video game about people turned into giant monsters destroying buildings.
The same week, we have SUPER TROOPERS 2, a sequel to the 2001 movie about Vermont State Troopers, and OVERBOARD, a remake of the Kurt Russel-Goldie Hawn comedy classic, now starring Anna Farris.
May
The summer blockbusters start in May, as Disney starts and ends the month with a couple of huge releases. On May 4, Marvel assembles its premiere superteam for AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, with the heroes of the Marvel Universe heading into space to battle Thanos, who’s finally gathered all the Infinity Stones.
Later that month, we head back to A Long Time Ago, In A Galaxy Far Away, as Ron Howard’s origin tale about the galaxy’s best-known rogue gets a May 25 release with SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY.
June
We close out the first half of the year with a slew of big releases, so start saving up now for all the movie tickets, popcorn and other snacks you’re going to have to buy in June. The currently untitled DEADPOOL sequel is planned for June 1 and the female-led remake OCEAN’S 8 comes out the following week.
Finally, Disney and Pixar are back with THE INCREDIBLES 2 (June 15), the long-awaited sequel to the hit movie from 2004, and Chris Pratt is back to the dinosaur grind with JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM (June 22).