5. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Release Date: December 18th 2015
Director: J.J. Abrams
Screenwriters: J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan
Starring: Harrison Ford, Andy Serkis, Anthony Daniels,Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill,Oscar Isaac, Max von Sydow, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley,Lupita Nyong’o, Crystal Clarke, Pip Anderson, Christina Chong, Miltos Yerolemou
Rating: PG-13 for sci-fi action violence
Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngElkyQ6Rhs
Plot Summary: “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will be set 30 years after the events of “Return of the Jedi.”
4. Silence
Release Date: *DELAYED UNTIL 2016*
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriter: Jay Cocks
Starring: Liam Neeson, Ken Watanabe, Andrew Garfield
Rating: R for some disturbing violent content
Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqrgxZLd_gE&t=1s
Plot Summary: The drama, based on the Shusaku Endo novel, is set in the 17th century as two Jesuit priests face violence and persecution when they travel to Japan to locate their mentor and to spread the gospel of Christianity.
3. Pitch Perfect 2
Release Date: May 15th 2015
Director: Elizabeth Banks
Screenwriter: Kay Cannon
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Katey Sagal, Anna Camp, Rebel Wilson, Alexis Knapp, Adam DeVine, Hailee Steinfeld, Ester Dean, Kelley Jakle, Hana Mae Lee
Rating: PG-13 for innuendo and language
Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBwOYQd21TY
Plot Summary: The Barden Bellas are back in “Pitch Perfect 2,” the follow-up to summer 2012’s smash hit. The comedy will be helmed by Elizabeth Banks, co-star and producer of “Pitch Perfect,” and produced by Paul Brooks, Max Handelman and Banks. Writer Kay Cannon returns to the team to pen the next chapter.
2. The Hateful Eight
Release Date: December 2015
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Screenwriter: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, ,Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kurt Russell, Bruce Dern, Demian Bichir, Walton Goggins, Channing Tatum
Rating: R for strong bloody violence, a scene of violent sexual content, language and some graphic nudity
Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnRbXn4-Yis
Plot Summary: In “The Hateful Eight,” set six or eight or twelve years after the Civil War, a stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth (Russell) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue (Leigh), race towards the town of Red Rock where Ruth, known in these parts as “The Hangman,” will bring Domergue to justice. Along the road, they encounter two strangers: Major Marquis Warren (Jackson), a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (Goggins), a southern renegade who claims to be the town’s new Sheriff. Losing their lead on the blizzard, Ruth, Domergue, Warren and Mannix seek refuge at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass. When they arrive at Minnie’s, they are greeted not by the proprietor but by four unfamiliar faces. Bob (Bichir), who’s taking care of Minnie’s while she’s visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray (Roth), the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (Madsen), and Confederate General Sanford Smithers (Dern). As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they may not make it to Red Rock after all…
1. Jurassic World
Release Date: June 12th 2015
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Screenwriters: Colin Trevorrow, Derek Connolly
Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Judy Greer, Chris Pratt, Ty Simpkins, Jake Johnson, Nick Robinson, Irrfan Khan, Vincent D’Onofrio, BD Wong, Omar Sy, Katie McGrath, Lauren Lapkus, Andy Buckley
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of science-fiction violence and peril
Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFinNxS5KN4
Plot Summary: This is a new sci-fi terror adventure set 22 years after the horrific events of the original “Jurassic Park.”
FINAL THOUGHTS: 2015 surely is an exciting year for film and has some of my favorite film makers releasing movies throughout the year. I hope if you aren’t already familiar with all of the films on this list that you can remember their names and then as time brings us closer to each film’s release, you can take a look at them all and give them a view. Let me know if you think my list was good or bad, which movies did I leave out, which films should have been higher/lower on the list, etc. What are your most anticipated films of the year? Shoot me some comments with your thoughts, have a great 2015 and be sure to take a break once in a while to get see a movie! God bless 🙂
P.S.- To quickly comment on some of my choices, Star Wars is #5 (and not higher) because as much as I WANT Episode 7 to be amazing, J.J. Abrams is a little overrated and this movie is still a huge gamble. I know it will be better than the prequels but I don’t want to put too much hope into it this early and risk getting burned again. Silence is #4 because it is Martin Scorsese and it is his passion project that has been in the making for YEARS. The original Pitch Perfect will always hold a special place in my heart and just gets more fun every time I watch it (probably the best replayability out of any film I have ever seen) so I am eagerly anticipating the sequel which looks just as fun if not more so. The Hateful Eight came in second because Tarantino has said he will probably stop after ten films. This will be his eighth (ironically titled, yes?) so I must cherish each and every Tarantino even more than I already would just because he is running out of time to make movies. I hope he changes his mind and goes past ten films but if he doesn’t, then that makes his last three films even more of an event. Lastly, Jurassic World. Jurassic Park was BY FAR my favorite film growing up as a kid. I plan on adding it to my list of movie themed tattoos that I have because it means so much to me. Not only did it make me fall in love with dinosaurs, it also sparked my love of film as a child and John William’s score is still one of the top 10 best ever. I believe I saw Jurassic Park III eight or nine times in theaters just so it would gross as much money as possible and therefore make greenlighting a sequel more likely. Well the second and third films were nowhere near as great as Spielberg’s ground breaking original (although they definitely have a bit to love in them) but I have finally waited 14 years to see where this beloved story continues to go next. I wish Richard Attenborough were alive to see the latest film in one of my favorite franchises. See you all next year 🙂
Top Pun Reviews 