Take a look at our list for the 10 most highly anticipated films for 2018…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
As 2017 comes to a close, we are already looking ahead at the biggest movies that will dominate theaters in the next year including one of the most highly anticipated comic book features of all time as Thanos officially arrives in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with ‘Avengers: Infinity War’.
While superhero films will certainly dominate the box office in 2018 with several features on the way from Marvel, FOX and Warner Bros, there’s plenty more to get excited about including a new movie from director Martin Scorcese as well as the latest installment in the ‘Halloween’ franchise with Jamie Lee Curtis returning to her roots.
Steven Spielberg returns to the director’s chair next year while a second ‘Star Wars’ spinoff film will debut telling the history of one of the most famous characters in the series’ history.
With that said, let’s take a look at our top 10 most anticipated movies for 2018 as well as a long list of other films that you should probably check out next year!
10.) Ready Player One
Based on the novel by Ernest Cline that’s filled to the brim with pop culture icons from the 1980’s and beyond. Now director Steven Spielberg will adapt the book into this film due out next year and the footage thus far has looked outstanding.
If nothing else, ‘Ready Player One’ will taste like nostalgia with dozens of characters, places and even cars that will make your eyes pop while munching on a bucket of popcorn. Plus with Spielberg involved, ‘Ready Player One’ will be worth at least the price of admission because that guy rarely ever misses.
Release Date: March 30
9.) Halloween
There’s still not much known about what Danny McBride and David Gordon Green have in store for this ‘Halloween’ sequel/reboot but everything they’ve been saying sounds good thus far.
McBride and Green have promised that their version of ‘Halloween’ will serve as a direct sequel to the original film from 1978 with Jamie Lee Curtis reprising her famous role as Laurie Strode one last time. ‘Halloween’ creator John Carpenter is on board as a consultant and it sounds like the new creative team really wants to honor the original while returning the franchise to its frightening roots. That’s enough to get me in the theater.
Release Date: October 19
8.) Galveston
This might seem like a strange entry amongst a list of movies that will likely all land in the top 20 grossing films of 2018 but there’s a reason why ‘Galveston’ will be worth watching.
The movie is an adaptation of the book of the same name written by Nic Pizzolatto, which should sound familiar because he’s also the creator behind the HBO series ‘True Detective’. Now ‘Galveston’ was written before that series ever saw the light of day so it will be interesting to see how this is adapted for a feature film.
‘Galveston’ stars Ben Foster as hitman Roy Cady, who was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness while also finding out that his boss wants him dead. Roy may be destined for a pine box six feet under but that doesn’t mean he’s not going down without a fight. Imagine the noir, modern day Western feel of ‘True Detective’ combined with the pulse-pumping tension in ‘No Country for Old Men’ and that’s what you’ll get with ‘Galveston’.
Release Date: No Date Set Yet
7.) X-Men: The Dark Phoenix
FOX will take another shot at telling the classic comic book story ‘X-Men: The Dark Phoenix’ with this movie due out late next year. The previous attempt — ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ — is widely considered the worst film of that entire franchise but now the studio will try, try again with a new cast led by ‘Game of Thrones’ star Sophie Turner.
‘X-Men: The Dark Phoenix’ will also likely the be the final film already in production under 21st Century FOX before Disney officially takes over all the franchises. There’s no word yet if Disney will try to keep the current continuity in the X-Men film universe or if they will just scrap it all and start again. The latter is more likely, which means this could be the last time we’ll see any of these actors and actresses in these roles.
Release Date: November 2
6.) Venom
Sony will finally kick off the shared ‘Spider-Man’ universe films with this adaptation of ‘Venom’ starring Tom Hardy. Not much is known about how ‘Venom’ will be adapted from the comic books considering Spider-Man will not be appearing in this movie, but with Hardy starring and Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) on board to direct, this will definitely be one of the most intriguing films released next year.
The honest truth is ‘Venom’ may determine how invested Sony remains in a future Spider-Man universe outside of sharing the webslinger with Marvel in a series of films that will undoubtedly remain successful. If ‘Venom’ flops, it’s possibly Sony may can the entire franchise and just focus on ‘Spider-Man’ while leaving it up to Marvel guru Kevin Feige to head up the projects while they just rake in the cash.
Release Date: October 5
5.) Solo: A Star Wars Story
It’s tough to predict what we’ll get out of ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ considering the movie went through so much turmoil including a change of directors after filming had already started.
The movie follows future Rebel commander Han Solo long before he met Ben Kenobi and Luke Skywalker in that cantina on Tattooine as he’s working as a smuggler and vagabond throughout the galaxy. The cast for the film looks solid including Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) and Woody Harrelson having major roles but the jury will remain out on this movie until theater goers have a chance to see what actually resulted with the finished product.
Release Date: May 25
4.) Ant-Man and The Wasp
Marvel will return with a sequel to 2015’s ‘Ant-Man’ with a female superhero sharing top billing for the first time in the studio’s history as ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ will debut next summer.
Paul Rudd returns as the thief turned unlikely hero and this time he’s joined by Evangeline Lilly, who will get a co-headlining spot as Hope Van Dyne as she takes up the moniker of ‘The Wasp’ just like her mother was years before her.
Release Date: July 6
3.) Black Panther
Judging by the trailers, director Ryan Coogler has crafted a very unique story about a brand new world as he enters the mythical African nation of Wakanda for the first time. While the Black Panther was introduced during ‘Captain America: Civil War’, this will be the real introduction to T’Challa and his people in Wakanda.
Marvel pulled out all the stops for this cast and Coogler seems like the perfect person to lead this film after his work on ‘Creed’ and ‘Fruitvale Station’. It’s possible ‘Black Panther’ could have been one of those surprise hits similar to ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ but if the reaction to the little bit of footage shown thus far holds true, this film will enjoy a massive opening weekend when it drops in February.
Release Date: February 16
2.) Deadpool 2
‘Deadpool’ was once Ryan Reynolds’ passion project that it took him years to get made but once audiences were introduced to the ‘Merc with a Mouth’, the movie ended up as the highest grossing ‘R’ rated film of all time.
Now Reynolds is back with a much bigger supporting cast including Josh Brolin as time-traveling mutant Cable in ‘Deadpool 2’. The movie will be one of the last FOX projects produced in the ‘X-Men’ universe before Disney takes over but don’t expect much to change with ‘Deadpool’. So long as the sequel lives up to the original, ‘Deadpool’ will remain as brash and unapologetic as ever before whether he’s living in the Mouse House or not.
Release Date: June 1
1.) Avengers: Infinity War
The culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will begin with ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ as the Mad Titan known as Thanos arrives on Earth, hell bent on gathering all of the infinity stones, which will give him the ultimate power in the universe. Every hero will be gearing up to stop him including Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Black Panther and even the Guardians of the Galaxy.
‘Avengers: Infinity War’ is the first part of a two film series that is expected to set in motion the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while also likely saying goodbye to several stars who were a part of the building process almost since the beginning when ‘Iron Man’ was first released in 2008. This is a game changer and will likely end up as the biggest movie in 2018.
Release Date: May 4
BEST OF THE REST
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
First Man
Annihilation
Blockers
Bad Times at the El Royale
The Predator
Aquaman
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
Bohemian Rhapsody
The New Mutants
