10 of the Most Highly Anticipated Movies of 2018

9. Isle of Dogs

This film will be coming out in March 2018 and is a bit of an oddity on this list, since it’s a stop-motion animated adventure film about… dogs. It is directed by the very talented Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel) and features an ensemble voice cast featuring some of the best actors in the world — Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Liev Schreiber, Scarlett Johansson and more.

The film is about a dystopian future Japan where “canine flu” has led to all dogs being quarantined on an island. They are unhappy with this turn of events, but as a young boy comes to the island to find his own lost dog, the team of dogs must protect him from authorities who try and take him away. This movie has the potential to be one of the best and most interesting of the year. And with so many sequels and spin-offs coming out this year, it is nice to have an original film get some hype and attention.

https://teaser-trailer.com/movie/isle-of-dogs/ Via teaser-trailer.com

8. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

In 2015, the much-anticipated Jurassic World was finally released — the franchise’s first sequel since 2001. This film was over a decade in the making and fans lined up like crazy to see it. In fact, the film went on to gross well over $1.6 billion at the box office, making it one of the most financially successful films of all-time.

With numbers like that, another sequel was quickly written and put into production. Given the subtitle Fallen Kingdom, the nest installment of everyone’s favorite dinosaur adventure is coming out in June 2018 and fans are ecstatic. Much of the cast is returning, including Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, B.D. Wong, and Jeff Goldblum. Plot details are kind of scarce, but it’s certainly going to deal with the fallout from the events of Jurassic World where — surprise! — dinosaurs got loose and ate people (shocking, we know). While it will be hard for this sequel to match the hype and box office numbers of the film released in 2015, look for it to still be a major hit and make hundreds of millions of dollars.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/22/15854662/jurassic-world-sequel-poster-title-jeff-goldblum Via The Verge

7. Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them 2

While it wasn’t a direct sequel to the original Harry Potter franchise, the 2016 prequel (kind of) Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them is set in the same wizarding world conjured in the mind of author J.K. Rowling. This gave it a sense of familiarity for Potter fans, and it helped the film be an immediate success. It made over $800 million at the box office and was nominated for (and won) a number of different awards.

In addition to making a pretty penny, the film was actually pretty decent, considering none of the usual Potter characters are really in it.  The unnamed sequel (the title it a little long) is set to release in late 2018 and will feature an expanded cast and is sure to be as good (if not better) than the original. Potter fanatics were thrilled to learn that Jude Law has been cast as a young Albus Dumbledore and that Johnny Depp will reprise his cameo role as Gellert Grindlewald. The setting also shifts back to the U.K. and Paris, instead of the United States like the original. Rowling has hinted that she has ideas for a total of five Fantastic Beasts films to fill in the Potterverse backstory, so this could be just the beginning.

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/1595080/fantastic-beasts-2-what-we-know-so-far Via CinemaBlend

6. Ready Player One

Despite the best-selling book by Ernest Cline only being released in 2011, there is already a feature film rendition of Ready Player One, scheduled to come out in March 2018. This film, like the novel, takes place in a dystopian future world that is in shambles, which leads people to engage and live/work in a virtual reality world.

The main character of the film takes on an “Easter Egg” challenge to try and win the $240 billion dollar fortune of the deceased owner of the virtual world. Of course, other people want to win the challenge as well. The film is directed by the masterful Steven Spielberg, so it should be a good one, since he has a great history with making great sci-fi and adventure films (E.T., Jaws, Raiders of The Lost Ark, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, etc.).

https://filmschoolrejects.com/ready-player-one-trailer-steven-spielberg/ Via filmschoolrejects.com

5. Black Panther

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to get a bit larger, as Black Panther is scheduled to release in February 2018. Based off the comic book character of the same name, the Black Panther has already been seen in the MCU before, appearing in Captain America: Civil War. However, this will the first feature film for the mysterious hero from Wakanda.

Black Panther takes place after the events of Captain America: Civil War where King T’Challa returns home to his mysterious (fictional) African nation, where two enemies are trying to take down his kingdom. Like all of their major movie projects, Marvel/Disney is heavily marketing this film and it is garnering a lot of hype. And like all of their films, Black Panther is sure to succeed at the box office and be another feather in the cap of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It should also lead directly into another movie further down this list.

http://2017castingcalls.com/marvels-black-panther-still-hiring-extras-battle-scenes/ Via 2017castingcalls.com

4. Deadpool 2

When Deadpool was released in 2016, it shocked everyone — both with glowing critical reviews and a massive box office haul. The film made nearly $800 million at the box office and won a ton of awards as well (well, not Oscars, but some fun other ones). The sequel is scheduled to be released in June 2018 and is sure to be another R-rated hit.

Much of the same cast is returning (T.J. Miller and Morena Baccarin chief among them) and you can be sure it will have more of the same crude jokes and over-the-top violence that made Deadpool unlike any other superhero movies of our time. Josh Brolin has signed on to play the villainous Cable and Zazie Beetz will give the mutant character Domino her big screen debut. Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Colossus will both be back, as well. The original Deadpool benefited from a very creative and successful marketing campaign, so don’t be shocked to see another viral marketing campaign crop up sometime after New Years.

http://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/deadpool/249068/deadpool-2-new-photos-of-cable Via DenOfGeek

3. Annihilation

Despite an overwhelming number of big sequels and superhero films being released in 2018 (and every year, it seems), one upcoming original film that has piqued a lot of interest is Annihilation. It stars Natalie Portman as a biologist who puts her name forward for an expedition that will take her and a team of other individuals into an environmental disaster zone. Part of her motivation is to find her missing husband, who made a similar expedition and went missing.

The area is cut off from the rest of civilization and other people who have visited in the past have disappeared, committed suicide, or had other unfortunate things happen to them. The film is based off of a very successful 2014 book by Jeff VanderMeer, which was awarded Best Novel award by a handful of different publications. The movie will be directed by Alex Garland, who wrote screenplays 28 Days Later and Dredd, and directed the excellent 2015 sci-fi hit Ex Machina.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzEBf-UWfOQ Via YouTube

2. The Incredibles 2

After waiting more than a decade for a sequel, Pixar and director Brad Bird is finally giving us The Incredibles 2. Back in 2004, the original animated film made $600+ million at the box office and won a number of impressive awards, including an Academy Award for “Best Animated Feature.” It follows a family of superheroes who are forced to hide their powers and live a normal life after a hefty lawsuit forces the government to ban all superheroes — this is, until a new villain threatens the safety of society.

Most of the cast is returning (Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson) and Brad Bird is once again writing and directing. The sequel will pick up right where the last one ended, however this film will focus more on Elastigirl going on her own adventure, while Mr. Incredible stays home to watch Jack-Jack, a baby with currently unknown super abilities. Like most Pixar films, this one should appeal to both children and adults. Plan to take your kids, younger siblings, or nieces and nephews to this one.

http://www.nme.com/blogs/the-movies-blog/incredibles-2-trailer-release-date-cast-plot-new-characters-2113050 Via nme.com

1. Avengers: Infinity War

The third Avengers film is set to release in 2018 and it’s a doozy. With all hype this franchise gets, it should be no surprise to see Avengers: Infinity War at the top of this list. As with every Avengers film, the cast is absolutely stacked — even more so this time — as all of your favourite Marvel superheroes will be included in this film. We’re talking Ant-Man, Black Panther, and the Guardians of the Galaxy… even Sony-owned character Spider-Man is making an appearance as everyone joins forces to confront Thanos.

That makes this cast one of the deepest and best we have seen in years, for any film. While it seems there are multiple Marvel superhero films coming out every single year, they continue to absolutely kill it at the box office. So until they start to fail, Disney will keep coming out with new ones and people will continue to watch in awe. In fact, despite the fact that this film isn’t even out yet, a “Part II” sequel has already been announced and will release one year later in May 2019.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/avengers-infinity-war-watch-the-leaked-trailer-that-won-comic-con Via thedailybeast.com