SUICIDE SQUAD
Are you tired of the heroes getting all the screen time? Well then 2016 is your year as DC Comics’ band of anti-heroes, The Suicide Squad, are getting their own stand alone movie. Starring Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Cara Delevigne as Enchantress, Will Smith as Deadshot, and Jared Leto as The Joker, the film focuses on this band of supervillains being recruited by the government for a top secret mission. Ben Affleck will also reprise his role as Batman from ‘Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice’ and, since Leto is the first actor to take on the live action role of The Joker since Heath Ledger’s mesmerising turn in ‘The Dark Knight’, we are looking forward to seeing what he does with the role.
INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE
Director Roland Emmerich returns in 2016 to end the world one more time with ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’. Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Liam Hemswortyh, Vivica A. Fox and Charlotte Gainsbourg star in this follow on from 1996’s ‘Independence Day’. The story takes place two decades after the first attack on Earth, where the new defences created to stop an extra-terrestrial disaster are tested when a new threat arises.
BATMAN VS SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE
Zack Snyder returns to the story of Superman later this year after 2013’s ‘Man of Steel’. Superman (Henry Cavill) is loved and feared in equal measure after the events of ‘Man of Steel’ made him a public figure and, while the world tries to decide what kind of hero it needs, Batman (Ben Affleck) decides to take on the man from Krypton once and for all. The trouble is that while the two heroes fight one another, a new villain arises in the shape of Lex Luthor.
FINDING DORY
In Disney Pixar’s next outing, the forgetful blue tang fish Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) sets out to find the family that she briefly remembered in 2003’s ‘Finding Nemo’. Six months after Dory and Albert saved Nemo from a fish tank in 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney, Dory’s memories suddenly come back to her, prompting her to try and reunite with her family. Of course things are not as easy as all that, and Dory finds new friends in Bailey (Ty Burrell) a white beluga whale; Destiny (Kaitlin Olson), a whale shark; and Hank the octopus (Ed O’Neill).
DOCTOR STRANGE
While Captain America and the rest of the Avengers fight out their differences in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ the Marvel cinematic universe turns its eyes of the brilliant but arrogant surgeon Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). After his career is destroyed, Strange finds a new direction in life after a sorcerer decides to train Strange to defend the world against evil. ‘Doctor Strange’ also stars Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One, Mads Mikkelsen and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
Fans of the Harry Potter films will already know that Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) is the author of the book “Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them”, which Harry reads in school. In this prequel, set 70 years before the Harry Potter films, Scamander arrives in New York City and quickly loses the magical animals under his care, sending the American magical authorities after him. F’ Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them’ is the first film of a trilogy and marks author J.K. Rowling’s screenwriting debut.
ZOOTOPIA
directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore, ‘Zootopia’ plays with the classical Disney idea of anthropomorphic animals, and is set in a fantastic world where humans never happened, and animals have designed and built their own city. The film sees a cunning fox named Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) team up with a bunny cop called Judy (Ginnifer Goodwin) to race against time and solve a missing mammal case. The world of the film looks beautiful and with Bateman and Goodwin behind the scenes, is sure to be a lot of fun.
ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY
The first ever Star Wars film not to be part of a trilogy, not to have an episode in its title but be stand alone – ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ – is released in Irish cinemas later this year. As you may imagine, details of the film are shrouded in mystery but we do know the film will focus on a band of rebels trying to prevent the Death Star from ever being built, and will be directed by ‘Monsters’ and ‘Godzilla’ helmer Gareth Edwards. As well as this, the film will star Alan Tudyk, Felicity Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, Ben Mendelsohn and Forest Whitaker.
FREE FIRE
Just one of two films by Ben Wheatley to be released in 2016 – the other being ‘High Rise’ starring Tom Hiddleston – ‘Free Fire’ focuses on a gang of UK and Irish who travel to America to buy weapons to fight their cause, but soon find themselves caught up in a bloody fire fight that could cost them all their loves. ‘Free First’ looks to be a slice of 1970s nostalgic fun, and stars Sharlto Copley, Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Michael Smiley and Cillian Murphy.
ASSASSIN’S CREED
Justin Kurzel, the man who directed Michael Fassbender in last year’s ‘Macbeth’, brings his star with him onto his next project; a cinematic version of the game ‘Assassin’s Creed’. The story is about Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) who explores the memories of his ancestor Aguilar and gains the skills of a Master Assassin. While doing so, however, Lynch also learns that he is a descendant of the secret Assassins society. ‘Assassin’s Creed’ also stars Marion Cotillard, Brendan Gleeson, Jeremy Irons and Ariane Labed.
Which 2016 films are you excited about seeing? Let us know in the comments below.
Words: Brogen Hayes