#10: Mary Magdalene (March 30, Universal)
The idea of retelling Bible stories from different perspectives has proven to work very well with films such as Risen (on my honorable mentions list for 2016) and the animated The Star. This time, the story of Jesus' ministry is told from the eyes of the most prominent woman out of His followers, Mary Madgalene (played by Oscar-nominee Rooney Mara). As long as they stay respectful to Biblical events and characters, I'm optimistic this will be a very interesting film. Fellow Oscar nominee Joaquin Phoenix plays Jesus, while Garth Davis (director of last year's Best Picture nominee Lion) directs.
#9: The Kid Who Would Be King (September 28, Fox)
The wild card choice of my list. Joe Cornish directs while the legendary Patrick Stewart plays Merlin and Rebecca Ferguson plays the villainous Morgana. I'm interested in this story because of its' kid-centric focus. The film looks to be a medieval cousin to the Spy Kids movies, which could be very promising.
#8: Mission: Impossible 6 (July 27, Paramount)
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation was, in my opinion, the best of the five Mission movies, with some of the most outrageous stunts and action scenes I've ever seen. I'm looking forward to this entry as I'm wondering if Tom Cruise can top his airplane stunt. Some of the new cast members, such as Henry (Superman) Cavill and Angela Bassett also make me excited. Christopher McQuarrie returns to direct.
#7: A Wrinkle in Time (March 9, Disney)
While I haven't read Madeline L'Engle's book, this live-action fantasy has impressed me with its first two trailers. It has a great cast, and the visual effects look stunning. It makes me happy that Disney is attempting to do other fantasy pics rather than just rehash and remake their animated catalog. Ava DuVernay (Selma) directs.
#6: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (December 14, Sony)
After three iterations of Spider-Man, who needs a fourth? Well, I thought that way until I saw the stunning teaser trailer. The animation on this film looks fantastic. I like how they are taking the Miles Morales version of the Spider-Man character, bringing it into a futuristic timeframe and also looking to explore other versions of the character. The animation plus the very intriguing ideas look to possibly make a very fascinating superhero movie (perhaps similar to that of The LEGO Batman Movie).
#5: The Grinch (November 9, Universal)
I'll be honest, the 2000 live-action version of How The Grinch Stole Christmas is not a personal favorite. Jim Carrey tried to bring the character to life, but couldn't escape putting in some decisively unnecessary and adult elements. In the meantime, Illumination Entertainment has a strong track record, from the entertaining Despicable Me movies to new classics such as Sing, and my personal favorite Dr. Seuss movie to date, the very memorable The Lorax. With all of this in mind, I'm fairly confident Chris Meladandri and co. will do a much better job here. Not to mention, Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange, TV's Sherlock) is an inspired casting choice for Mr. Grinch.
#4: The Incredibles 2 (June 15, Disney/Pixar)
For me, The Incredibles ranks in the upper third among all Pixar movies. It's an insanely-fun and very thoughtful movie. I'm pretty excited about this sequel (arriving 14 years later, as if people had to wait longer for other sequels lol), which brings back director Brad Bird and most of the cast. After Finding Dory was one of my favorite movies from 2016, I'm hopeful that Pixar will have another sequel success with this.
#3: I Can Only Imagine (March 16, Lionsgate)
One of the most interesting and exciting ideas for a Christian movie in the past several years. This drama tells the story of how MercyMe lead singer Bart Millard came up with the inspiration of writing the classic song, "I Can Only Imagine". The first trailer was impressive, using the familiar opening notes of the song to give a slightly haunting vibe. Andrew and Jon Erwin (directors of one of the best films of 2015, Woodlawn) direct.
#2: Avengers: Infinity War (May 4, Disney/Marvel)
Who honestly isn't excited to see this? 10 years of filmmaking all coming down to this. The first trailer was epic. The announcements have been huge. And on top of all of that, they are bringing back Anthony and Joe Russo, who directed two of the MCU's best films (Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War) to helm this Phase 3 finale (as well as its' upcoming 2019 sequel or continuation?). With Thanos (Josh Brolin) hinted at for years, we finally get to see him in all his bad guy glory. Bring it on!
#1: Christopher Robin (August 3, Disney)
What could even top Avengers? Why, some old friends from the Hundred Acre Wood of course! Winnie the Pooh was one of the touchstones of my childhood, and getting to see it get the live-action treatment is a dream come true. The concept is promising also. An adult Christopher Robin (played by Ewan McGregor) reunites with some old friends (some of the voice cast from 2011's Winnie the Pooh are returning) to get some imagination back in his life. Another fantastic choice, getting Marc Forster (Finding Neverland) to direct. This looks to be one of the biggest event films of the last 5 years for me.
Other Films I Am Looking Forward to in 2018
Black Panther (February 16) - Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa was one of the best things about Civil War. Looking forward to his origin story.
Early Man (February 16) - Aardman Animation's latest looks surprisingly fun, with a game voice cast that includes Eddie Redmayne and Tom ("Loki") Hiddleston.
Isle of Dogs (March 23) - Wes Anderson returns to animation with this visually-stunning looking stop-motion animated flick that reminds me equal parts of Aardman and Rankin-Bass classics.
Ready Player One (March 30) - Filled with impressive visuals, nostalgic character appearances, and Steven Spielberg directing, I'm already looking forward to see what this one has in store.
God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness (March 30) - Taking a very interesting direction for the film series. Could prove to be very promising. Shane Harper returns from the first film, while John Corbett (last year's All Saints) joins the cast.
Solo - A Star Wars Story (May 25) - While I am at odds with the directorial change, I am impressed with the casting of Aldren Ehrenrich (Hail, Caesar!) as a young Han Solo. Being Star Wars, it should be fairly entertaining.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (June 22) - I liked Jurassic World and the nostalgic approach it took. Fallen Kingdom's first trailer had an arguably different vibe, and I am interested in seeing where the characters and dinosaurs go next.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (November 2) - Disney brings the story of the Nutcracker to life with what was a visually-stunning first trailer.
Mary Poppins Returns (December 25) - I am cautiously optimistic about this. It has a great cast and team behind it, but I remain skeptical about making a sequel. Hoping it will be more nostalgic than modern-day.
