Darren Blair

Shop the Insanity

Well folks, 2017 is coming to an end, so it’s time for the annual look at what’s coming up in the year ahead.

Now, while movie studios do indeed broadcast ahead of time what they intend to debut when, release dates are indeed ultimately tentative; I’ve seen movies get bounced around for years before finally coming out. That being said, let’s just take a peek at Box Office Mojo’s listings (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/schedule/?view=bydate&release=theatrical&yr=2018&p=.htm ) and…

…Uh…

January brings us a new Liam Neeson film in “The Commuter” (12th), but otherwise the month’s highlights appear to be franchise numbers. We have a new “Insidious” film (5th), a “Paddington” sequel (12th), and a “Maze Runner” sequel (26th). This does not present a good start to the year…

February is slightly better, however, as we have some possibly strong original contenders: an adaptation of the “Peter Rabbit” books (9th) and Pure Flix’ “Samson” (16th). Franchise films and whatnot include a new “Cloverfield” movie (2nd), a new “Fifty Shades” movie (9th), and Marvel Cinematic Universe number “Black Panther” (16th). I guess if you can make it through January, February will be your reward.

March brings with it a number of religious films, including “God’s Not Dead 3” (30th), “Mary Magdalene” (30th), and “Paul, Apostle of Christ” (28th). Beyond that, we have the “Death Wish” remake (2nd), an adaptation of the book “A Wrinkle In Time” (9th), a new “Tomb Raider” movie (16th), and an adaptation of “Ready Player One” (30th). A bit more diverse in the way of offerings, at least.

April is a mixed bag, in that we have a variety of topics covered but few actual wide releases. This includes “Chappaquiddick” (6th), Marvel’s “New Mutants” (13th), an adaptation of the video game “Rampage” (20th), and a sequel to “Super Troopers” (20th).

May is even sparser, but it’s got three films to watch out for: “Avengers: Infinity War” (4th), “Slenderman” (18th), and “Solo: A Star Wars Story” (25th).

June is when things truly get rolling. “Deadpool 2” (1st). “Ocean’s 8” (8th). “The Incredibles 2” (15th). Another “Jurassic” franchise movie (22nd). July follows it up with a new “Purge” movie (4th), another “Ant Man” movie (6th), “Hotel Transylvania 3” (13th), an adaptation of the Japanese franchise “Battle Angel Alita” (20th), “Mission: Impossible 6” (27th), and a pair of DC Comics projects (27th both), one of which is currently unnamed.

I’m leery of August’s listings, as they still have the live-action “Barbie” film (8th), which I was led to believe was comatose after Amy Schumer was forced to bow out. But we’ve also got “The Equalizer 2” (3rd), a new “Predator” movie (3rd), and a new Tyler Perry movie (3rd).

From there?

September’s big highlight appears to be a new “Goosebumps” movie (21st). October has Spider-Man’s nemesis “Venom” (5th). November begins the end of the year movie onslaught, with Marvel’s “Dark Phoenix” and a live-action “Mulan” dropping on the second, a new “Grinch” movie on the ninth, a “Fantastic Beasts” sequel on the 16th, and a “Wreck-It Ralph” sequel on the 21st. December will also be busy, with an animated “Spider-Man” movie (14th) and three big ones for the 21st: DC’s “Aquaman”, a new “Transformers” movie, and “Bohemian Rhapsody”, a biopic of the band Queen.

January and September are questionable, and I’ll have to check on “Barbie”. But otherwise, there might actually be reason to be optimistic about the year. Assuming, of course, that nothing comes up to tank it for everyone.