As we hit the home stretch of 2015, there’s still heaps of movies to get excited about and we’ve waded through the release schedule to pick out the 20 films we’re really psyched to see. We’re going off the Australian release schedule, so many of the big releases in the US (Hateful Eight, The Revenant) are missing, as they won’t be seen here until the New Year.
So journey with us as we count down our most anticipated movies still to come…
20. SICARIO
A gritty FBI drama starring Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, and Josh Brolin, directed by the man behind Prisoners… umm, yes please! Drawing raves out of Cannes, where it had it’s debut many months ago, we’ll finally get a glimpse of what all the fuss is about when it’s released later this month. Del Toro can do these kinds of morally questionable characters in his sleep, and after she stole Edge Of Tomorrow out from under Tom Cruise, Blunt has shown she’s got the goods when it comes to action. It’s nice to see this type of film anchored by a woman, as they can easily turn into a bit of a sausage fest, and Blunt should make for a strong, kick-ass heroine. Whether this is as heavy as Prisoners remains to be seen (a little lighter would be nice), but all the pieces are in place to deliver a rocking action crime drama.
RELEASE DATE: September 24th
19. JOY
Director David O. Russell has been in good form ever since he came out swinging with The Fighter, and a lot of that has to do with the strong performances he’s managed to harness from his actors. Two of those actors, Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, are back for a third outing with the director after garnering Oscar love for their turns in Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. If we get the same sparkling dialogue that was present in those two films, along with an effective mix of both drama and humour, we’ll be in for a treat.
RELEASE DATE: December 26th
18. PAN
One of the most beloved children’s stories gets the origin story treatment, as Pan takes us back to when Peter Pan first arrived at Neverland. We’ve got to admit mixed feelings about this one, as the trailer seems to be trying to straddle the kid friendly line without alienating the adults, but it all just comes off a bit like a Hook sequel. Add in the controversy over casting Rooney Mara as the Indian princess Tigerlily, and this could be shaping up as a Cutthroat Island level disaster. There are three things that could possibly save it from this fate though: 1) A script that made the Black List in 2013, so the foundation is good. 2) A star in Hugh Jackman that rarely puts a foot wrong, and at the very least is always watchable. 3) A director in Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement) who has shown an aptitude for great character work in the midst of big sweeping stories. If all three parts are firing on all cylinders, this could be well worth your time.
RELEASE DATE: September 24th
17. CREED
Normally we would scoff at the mere mention of yet another Rocky sequel, but this isn’t your normal run of the mill sequel. The central premise revolves around the son of Apollo Creed, who is being trained at the hands of one Rocky Balboa, the very man who once fought his own father. It sounds like a work of elaborate fan fiction, which is why director Ryan Coogler’s decision to make this his follow up to the critically acclaimed Fruitvale Station has us all the more intrigued. Another plus in the movie’s favour (aside from the involvement of Stallone) is actor Michael B. Jordan, who we know can do great things when given the right material. And god knows he’ll be working harder than ever to impress after the disaster that was Fantastic 4.
RELEASE DATE: November 26th
16. THE PROGRAM
It was the scandal that rocked the cycling world to its core, as their former poster-boy Lance Armstrong was finally outed as a drug cheat after years of persistent rumours. Titles were stripped, endorsements cancelled, and now the whole saga gets the big screen treatment. Far from a glossy biopic however, The Program instead takes the All The President’s Men route of a reporter’s quest to uncover the truth, with Armstrong cast as the villain of the piece. Director Stephen Frears (The Queen) knows a thing or two about how to make a cracking biopic, and we like the thriller angle that this is taking. With an excellent cast in Ben Foster, Chris O’Dowd, Lee Pace, and Dustin Hoffman, this could definitely be one to watch come Oscar time as well.
RELEASE DATE: November 26th
15. THE END OF THE TOUR
The plot might not sound explosive on paper, but this true account of a five day interview Rolling Stone journalist David Lipsky conducted with acclaimed novelist David Foster Wallace in 1996 looks set to bring the acting fireworks. We know Jesse Eisenberg can handle these types of roles, but the real buzz surrounding the film is centered around Jason Segel’s turn as the long-haired, contemplative Foster Wallace. This is Segel’s first dramatic leading role after appearing in light comedic fare ever since he got his start on Freaks and Geeks, and its good to see him branching out and showing what he’s capable of. It’s kind of what Eisenberg did with The Social Network. And we all know how that turned out.
RELEASE DATE: December 3rd
14. EVEREST
Great cast, based on a true story of survival… blah blah blah. This one is all about the visuals, and the sweaty palm creating, adrenalin shot-to-the-face that you’ll get being immersed in it. Based on the novel Into Thin Air, which recounts the events of the 1996 Mount Everest climbing disaster, if this is even half as good as the trailer makes it out to be it’ll be well worth the price of a ticket. It’s movies like this that the IMAX format was made for…
RELEASE DATE: September 17th
13. SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
We only really heard about this film a month ago, but since watching the kick-ass Red-Band trailer for this zom-com, our interest has officially been piqued. Whats most reassuring is the filmmakers choice to embrace practical makeup effects as much as possible, giving the zombie deaths an added level of gruesomeness. As our colleague Ryan suggested in an earlier article, this may be the closest thing we get to a Zombieland sequel, and as long as it delivers equal parts blood and belly laughs, that’s fine by us.
RELEASE DATE: November 5th
12. IN THE HEART OF THE SEA
Billed as a “historical biographical disaster drama-thriller”, director Ron Howard’s (A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code) latest is a dramatic retelling of the 1886 sinking of the whaling ship Essex by an enormous sperm whale, which also provided the basis for the literary classic Moby Dick. We were hesitant at first when this was announced (historical biographical drama doesn’t exactly scream “good time”), but the subsequent trailers have been suitably epic and thrilling, and Chris Hemsworth has the action-hero cred to pull this off. It seems to have a bit of a Life Of Pi vibe to the visuals as well, which definitely can’t hurt the moviegoing experience.
RELEASE DATE: December 3rd
11. THE WALK
There are three reasons to get excited about The Walk, and the first is its director Robert Zemeckis. When he’s on his game, the results are absolute movie magic, SEE: Forrest Gump, Back To The Future, Castaway. And when he’s not on his game? We get The Polar Express…but I digress. Witness exhibit B: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, an actor who by our reckoning has yet to make a bad film yet and will no doubt relish the chance to play the fearless Frenchman Philippe Petit, on whose hair raising story this is based. But the real clincher here is the vertigo-inducing visuals, which Zemeckis appears to have achieved to great effect through state of the art computer generated trickery. Much like Everest, this will be best experienced at IMAX.
RELEASE DATE: October 15th
Stay tuned over the coming days as we continue our countdown, with the Top 10 films yet to be released this year.