12 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Movies (Not Featuring Superheroes) We Can’t Wait to See in 2017

Kong: Skull Island—March 10, 2017
There have been any number of King Kong-related films since 1933’s classic (and, as yet, unbeatable) original, including Peter Jackson’s fun-but-overstuffed 2005 take. They’ve almost all been standalone movies, but this one promises something different: it’s the second film in a planned giant-monsterverse series from Legendary Entertainment following 2014’s Godzilla. It follows a team of scientists and soldiers in the 1970s who happen upon a mysterious island. I’m sure that everything will be fine. Look for Kong and Godzilla to battle in 2020 following a new Godzilla movie.
Life—March 24, 2017
We don’t know much about this film set on the International Space Station, but it’s got an impressively big-name cast lead by Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, and Ryan Reynolds. A six-person team on ISS receives a sample from Mars which might be proof of extra-terrestrial life, and which also might be evidence of Martian intelligence.
 

Ghost in the Shell—March 31, 2017
Manga/anime mega-franchise GITS is finally making its way to live-action, following the 1995 animated feature that brought the story of public-security agency Section 9 to a broad audience. It’s an action story that also digs deep into themes relating to individuality in a technological world, ideas that are more relevant than ever—if the new movie goes there. The casting of Scarlett Johansson as the protagonist of the Tokyo-set story has already generated some controversy, so we’ll see.

April

The Circle—April 28, 2017
Eggers 2013 book of the same name brought Brave New World into the 2010s with its story of Mae Holland (played in the film by Emma Watson), a young woman who gets a dream job at The Circle, an internet company that brings all of your online activity together in one place, under one single identity. The suspenseful, satirical novel tackles a lot of heady themes about privacy and the utility of memory in an online world (so, relevant). The movie boasts an impressive cast of nerdy favorites: Watson, John Boyega, Doctor Who’s Karen Gillan, Patton Oswalt, Glenne Headly…oh, and Tom Hanks. Could be one of the year’s prestige pictures.

May

Alien: Covenant—May 19, 2017
Ridley Scott has two big sequels this year: Blade Runner 2049 (which he’s producing) and this one, a sequel to 2012’s Prometheus and a continuation of the Alien series (it sounds like it’s more of the former, but the latter has better name-recognition). Michael Fassbender is back in android form as the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers synthetic lifeform David,the only survivor of the Prometheus expedition (sorry, Noomi), on a dangerous world.

July

War for the Planet of the Apes—July 14, 2017
Has there ever been a big-budget cinematic franchise as proudly dark and cynical as the Planet of the Apes movies (current or original)? The third movie in the reboot series finds Andy Serkis’ Caesar up against a ruthless military Colonel (played by Woody Harrelson) for control of an Earth in which humans are increasingly endangered. Doubtless, they’ll make peace at the end and humanity will not be brought low by foibles of any kind.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets—21 July 2017
Prolific director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element and, more recently, Lucy) is directing his passion project: an adaption of the French science fiction comics series Valérian and Laureline. On the surface, it’s about a couple of time-and-space-traveling agents in the 28th century who protect Earth and guard against temporal paradoxes. A little deeper down, the series can be deeply political. We’ll see how much of that comes across on the screen.

The Dark Tower—July 28, 2017
Intriguingly, it appears that the long-rumored, long-desired adaption of Stephen King’s fantasy/western/horror/sci-fi series won’t be an adaption at all. The first film set in the world of King’s gunslinging knight Roland Deschain is actually a sequel to the book series, following 11-year-old Jake Chambers as he follows a mystery that leads him to Mid-World, and to an encounter with Roland himself (played by Idris Elba). We’ve met Jake in the book series, but it sounds as though the goal is to provide a new story for fans of the books while also serving as an entry point into King’s elaborate fictional universe. It’ll be a neat trip if it works. Scuttlebutt is that the film might be followed up by a prequel TV series in the next couple of years, making King’s magnum opus into a true multimedia franchise (there are graphic novels, as well).

October

Blade Runner 2049 — October 6, 2017
Ridley Scott is stepping out of the director’s chair for the long-in-the-works sequel to the seminal 1982 film. Taking over is Denis Villeneuve, whose films Sicario and Arrival have demonstrated he has the skills and vision to bring a new vision of futuristic LA to life. He’ll need all the help he can get: devotees of the original are looking forward to this one with equal parts anticipation and dread. It’s the continuing story of Harrison Ford’s Rick Deckard, sought by a new blade runner 30 years after the first film. The work is, of course, indirectly based on Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and is, technically, not the first sequel to the 1982 film: K.W. Jeter’s novel The Edge of Human also picks up the story from Scott’s movie, though Blade Runner 2049 is an original story.

God Particle—October 27, 2017
Do the Cloverfield movies have any connection to each other, or is it just a clever anthology series? If J.J. Abrams and company can manage something even close to dark twists and turns of this year’s surprising 10 Cloverfield Lane in this third outing, then I’m not sure if I care. God Particle is about a team of astronauts on a space station who find that the Earth has disappeared following a scientific experiment. Until a space shuttle appears.

December

Star Wars: Episode VIII—December 15, 2017
Is there a surer bet for blockbuster status next year? Rogue One, once considered a risky bet, has solidified the current generation of Star Wars movies as sure-fire winners. At least until they’re not. We don’t know much of anything about the plot just yet, but rumor has it that Carrie Fisher has an expanded role, and Mark Hamill almost certainly does. Looper director Rian Johnson is taking over the directorial reins from J.J. Abrams, so the film appears to be in good hands. Pleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegood.
What 2017 movie are you most anticipating?