60. “Comancheria”
Director: David Mackenzie (“Young Adam,” “Starred Up”)
Cast: Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges, Katy Mixon, Melanie Papella
Synopsis: Two brothers plan a bank robbery to save their family farm, and are pursued by a Texas Ranger.
What You Need To Know: Playlist writers voted “Sicario” our second favorite movie of 2015, so to say that we’re interested in what writer Taylor Sheridan does next is an understatement — particularly when that next step, “Comancheria,” has so much else going for it. The latest from director David Mackenzie, who gave his career a kick of amphetamines with the tremendous prison drama “Starred Up,” it provides another chance for Chris Pine to show his serious chops after last year’s “Z For Zachariah,” gives a welcome lead role to Ben Foster, and has the always-welcome Jeff Bridges. The set-up sounds a touch generic, but the same was arguably true for “Sicario,” and with Mackenzie and a cast like this, we’re confident this can find a fresh spin on the idea.
Release Date: This was shot last summer, and CBS Films will be releasing it: maybe we’ll see at SXSW, or if not, TIFF seems likely.
59. “The Disaster Artist”
Director: James Franco
Cast: James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Josh Hutcherson, Ari Graynor
Synopsis: The strange true story of the friendship between actors Greg Sestero and Tommy Wiseau, who together would go on to make “The Room,” often called the worst film ever made.
What You Need To Know: James Franco has directed close to a dozen movies at this point, and yet we’d wager that you haven’t seen any of them unless you’re a dedicated film festival attendee or Franco-fetishist. But that’s likely to change with “The Disaster Artist,” his first mainstream studio movie, one that documents the making of cult so-bad-it’s-good classic “The Room.” Based on Greg Sestero’s memoir, with the director/star’s brother Dave as Sestero and Franco himself playing Tommy Wiseau, it collects both some of his regular collaborators, like Seth Rogen and Ari Graynor, and some more recent arrivals like Jacki Weaver, Hannibal Buress, Sharon Stone, Kate Upton and Alison Brie. “The Spectacular Now” scribes Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber wrote the script, and we’re expecting something closer to Franco’s comic starring roles, but given the kinship Franco may feel with the Ed Wood-ish polymath Wiseau, there could be something more, too.
Release Date: None yet, but expect it in the fall.
58. “Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them”
Director: David Yates (“Harry Potter” 5-8)
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Samantha Morton, Colin Farrell
Synopsis: Wizard Newt Scamander travels to New York with a case full of magical creatures, but when they’re let loose, he draws the attention of a sinister anti-magic group called the Second Salemers.
What You Need To Know: Given that it’s among the most successful franchises in history, Warner Bros. must have been pretty blue when the “Harry Potter” series wrapped up five years ago. Thankfully, J.K. Rowling came through, penning her first original screenplay that takes her wizarding world back in time and across the Atlantic. Promising to expand the Potter universe in a big way, this is intended to be the first of a new trilogy, with older leads than the previous movies, and an intriguing cast: Samantha Morton and Ezra Miller as the bad guys, Jon Voight and Ron Perlman as New York magic luminaries, and three exciting new leads, including Redmayne and Waterston. David Yates, director of the last four Potters, is in charge: we wish there’d been a more risky choice, but he’s a safe pair of hands that should make this live up to its predecessors.
Release Date: November 18th
57. “Untitled Robert Zemeckis World War 2 Project”
Director: Robert Zemeckis (“Back To The Future,” “Forrest Gump”)
Cast: Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard
Synopsis: During World War 2, an Allied spy discovers that the French agent he fell in love and started a family with might be a Nazi double-agent.
What You Need To Know: Since he walked away from the motion-capture world, Robert Zemeckis has had decidedly mixed success: “Flight” was a big hit but “The Walk” tanked hard. With two massive stars and a prime awards-season release, his latest, still untitled, film seems like it’ll be closer to the former category. Written by “Locke” and “Peaky Blinders” scribe Steven Knight, it’s an old-school espionage drama of a kind that seems to evoke “Casablanca,” “Notorious” and the like, though things remain mostly under wraps until then. This being Zemeckis, we imagine we’ll have some kind of big-scale effects element involved, but a return to something lower-key like “What Lies Beneath” might be a good palate cleanser. Either way, we hope it connects with audiences more than “The Walk,” which deserved better than its fate.
Release Date: November 23rd
56. “Love And Friendship”
Director: Whit Stillman (“Metropolitan,” “Damsels In Distress”)
Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny, Morfydd Clark, Stephen Fry, Xavier Samuel
Synopsis: In 1790s England, Lady Susan Vernon tries to find husbands for herself and her daughter, as rumors fly about her personal life.
What You Need To Know: There’s always been something Jane Austen-ish about Whit Stillman’s comedies of manners, so it was probably only a matter of time before the writer-director tackled one of the great writer’s works directly. But rather than go back to the familiar sources like “Emma” or “Pride & Prejudice,” Stillman’s taken an obscure work, “Lady Susan,” that wasn’t published until long after Austen’s death (and then named it after another little-known Austen work, “Love and Friendship”). Intriguingly, the cast is led by a “Last Days Of Disco” reunion, with Kate Beckinsale as Lady Susan and Chloe Sevigny as her confidante, with a mix of up-and-comers and familiar British faces joining them. The script is a lot of fun and we’ll find out in a few weeks if the film lives up to it.
Release Date: Screens later this month at Sundance.
55. “Kubo And The Two Strings”
Director: Travis Knight
Cast: Art Parkinson, Matthew McConaughey, Charlize Theron, Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes
Synopsis: In Ancient Japan, young Kubo must save his mother by tracking down his father’s old samurai suit.
What You Need To Know: Portland-based animation studio Laika have, from “Coraline” through “Paranorman” to “The Boxtrolls” been knocking out one beautifully crafted stop-motion animation after another, but while they’ve all been modestly successful, they haven’t yet had a breakout hit of the size of, say, “Despicable Me.” That could change with “Kubo And The Two Strings.” The first movie directed by the company’s head, Travis Knight, it seems to be a little more action-adventure-y than their previous pictures, with a Japanese-influenced fantasy style, though still just as beautifully designed. And it has easily their biggest-name cast yet, with Matthew McConaughey, Charlize Theron, Rooney Mara and Ralph Fiennes playing various characters. With Pixar just dropping another sequel this year, this could end up being this year’s big critical fave among the animated movies.
Release Date: August 19th
54. “The Girl On The Train”
Director: Tate Taylor (“The Help,” “Get On Up”)
Cast: Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux, Haley Bennett, Luke Evans
Synopsis: An alcoholic divorcée becomes obsessed with a woman she sees on her commute, only to get embroiled in a murder.
What You Need To Know: The book you see everyone reading on your commute? This year, that was, ironically, the commute-themed “The Girl On The Train,” which succeeded “Gone Girl” as the water-cooler thriller of the moment. Almost as soon as it was on the best-seller list, the film was in the works, with “Secretary” writer Erin Cressida Wilson penning the script, and “The Help” mastermind Tate Taylor directing. And boy, do they have a cast put together, with Emily Blunt in a role that could put her on the awards map this year, and “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” breakout Rebecca Ferguson as co-lead, with Justin Theroux and Luke Evans (who are fire-emoji in “The Leftovers” and “High-Rise” respectively) as the men in their life, while Edgar Ramirez and Allison Janney also pop up. We feel like Taylor’s unlikely to elevate this in the way Fincher did “Gone Girl,” but this could still end up a crackling thriller.
Release Date: October 7th
53. “Pete’s Dragon”
Director: David Lowery (“Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”)
Cast: Oakes Fegley, Oona Laurence, Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, Karl Urban
Synopsis: A young boy befriends an invisible dragon
What You Need To Know: Even if you didn’t love it, it was clear from “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” that director David Lowery was a serious new talent, and we’ve been eagerly anticipating his next movie. But the surprise came when it turned out to be a big-budget Disney movie, a remake of ’70s oddity “Pete’s Dragon.” Moving the setting to the Pacific Northwest and giving the film an environmental theme, this seems likely to be a far more soulful film than recent Disney remakes like “Alice In Wonderland” and “Maleficent.” So far, footage has been kept under wraps, but with an impressive team including “Southpaw” standout Oona Laurence, Bryce Dallas Howard and the great Robert Redford, we’re expecting something closer to “E.T.” than most modern blockbusters.
Release Date: August 12th
52. “Una” (formerly “Blackbird”)
Director: Benedict Andrews
Cast: Rooney Mara, Ben Mendelsohn, Tara Fitzgerald, Riz Ahmed
Synopsis: A young woman tracks down and confronts the man who sexually abused her when she was twelve, who went to prison for the offense and has been living under an assumed name ever since.
What You Need To Know: Adapted for the screen by David Harrower from his own play “Blackbird,” there’s practically no chance that the powerhouse duo of Mendelsohn and Mara will deliver anything less than riveting performances in this controversial and dramatic story. In fact really the only question mark is whether, with celebrated theater director Andrews making his film directorial debut, and the story’s origin as a two-hander 90-minute play set largely in one room, the film will expand into the medium or remain more theatrical. But frankly, even if it did all happen in a single flat two-shot, we’d be on board to see these two actors play off each other, and backers Film 4 have been on an amazing roll of late, so we wouldn’t be betting against this one figuring in awards conversations down the line too.
Release Date: No word yet, but it seems close to finished, and if it’s looking less likely for Berlin as the days tick by, that may very well be because it’s Cannes-bound.
51. “HHHH”
Director: Cédric Jimenez (“The Connection”)
Cast: Jason Clarke, Rosamund Pike, Mia Wasikowska, Jack O’Connell, Jack Reynor
Synopsis: The true story of Operation Anthropoid, the plan by British spies and the Czech resistance to assassinate senior Nazi Reinhard Heydrich.
What You Need To Know: This year’s equivalent to volanoes/meteors/Truman Capote appears to be the asssassination of Reynard Heydrich, with not one but two movies heading for release about it. One, “Anthropoid,” is directed by “Metro Manila” helmer Sean Ellis and stars Jamie Dornan, Cillian Murphy, Charlotte Le Bon and Toby Jones, and shouldn’t be dismissed. Right now, though, we’re a little more interested in “HHHH,” based on the novel of the same name by French writer Laurent Binet. We suspect that “The Connection” helmer Cédric Jimenez has dumped much of the book’s meta trickery, for better or for worse, but he’s also assembled a killer cast: Jason Clarke plays Heydrich, Rosamund Pike his wife, and rising stars O’Connell and Reynor his assassins.
Release Date: Unknown as yet, but the Weinstein Company picked up the rights, so don’t rule out an awards play in the fall.