Our Most Anticipated 2017 Sci-Fi Movies

January

Movie of the Month: Split (January 20) 

A lot of people talk about M. Night Shyamalan’s movies only in the context of twist endings. Rarely do people talk up the fact that his endings only work so well because the lead up to them is so strong and weird and uniquely Shyamalan. The same goes for Split, which we saw (and loved) at Fantastic Fest. We say that not to promise some grand, never-see-it-coming twist, but just to say that Split is classic Shyamalan in the sense that it takes a strange, freaky journey to a destination that is just flat out cool. 

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The others:

Underworld: Blood Wars (January 6)
Monster Trucks (January 13)
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (January 27)

February

Movie of the Month: The Great Wall (February 17)

Here’s a simple premise. What if the Great Wall of China was built not to keep out an invading army of humans, but monsters? Combine that fantasy premise with Hero and House of Flying Daggers director Zhang Yimou and you’ve got the makings of something that promises to be, at the very least, a total visual feast. 

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The others:

The Space Between Us (February 3)
The LEGO Batman Movie (February 10)
A Cure For Wellness (February 17)
Patient Zero (February 17)

March

Movie of the Month: Kong: Skull Island (March 10)

March is the first month of the year where the competition for Movie of the Month really heats up. And while we’re sure the others will all have at least something worthwhile in them (yes, even Power Rangers), we’re wildly curious about Kong: Skull Island. This is a movie that’s not chained to any of the other Kong films. It’s not a remake of the story we all know by now. It’s more like a rediscovery of the giant ape and we can’t wait to see what his island full of monsters has to offer.

But as excited as we are for Kong’s new adventures – and Logan is a sure bet to be good – Lucy taught us that we really shouldn’t sleep on Scarlett Johansson sci-fi movies, so here’s to hoping Ghost In The Shell is another standout for her.

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The others:

Logan (March 3)
The Belko Experiment (March 17)
Power Rangers (March 24)
Ghost In the Shell (March 31)

April

Movie of the Month: Sleight (April 7)

April, for whatever reason, is the second driest of the year when it comes to sci-fi movies, or really many new releases that are even tangentially sci-fi. But that’s okay, because we’ve got Sleight. This was a big favorite at last year’s Sundance film festival, which is where our own Erik Davis said it was like tossing “Chronicle, Iron Man and, yes, Menace II Society into a blender.” Sounds good to us.

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The others:

The Circle (April 28)

May

Movie of the Month: Alien: Covenant (May 19)

Look, we’re all excited for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and odds are it will be the best blockbuster of May, but we are still holding out an extreme amount of hope that Alien: Covenant surprises us in a big, big way. Prometheus had problems, sure, but it’s a movie that’s aged better than expected. Since then Ridley Scott seems to have rekindled even more of his magic thanks to The Martian. Given those circumstances and a promise that this new Alien is going back to its horror roots, we’re pulling hard for Covenant to work.

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The others:

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 5)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (May 26)
Life (May 26)

June

Movie of the Month: Wonder Woman (June 2)

Wonder Woman was the one thing about Batman v Superman that pretty much everyone seemed to agree on. She stole every scene, and based on the first trailer for Wonder Woman, it looks like her first solo outing is going to be one of the DCEU’s most exciting movies yet. We’re hoping The Mummy is a lot of fun (Tom Cruise rarely disappoints), but if you’re only going to make one trip to a theater in June, this is probably the best bet.

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The others:

The Mummy (June 9)
Transformers: The Last Knight (June 23)

July

Movie of the Month: War for the Planet of the Apes (July 14) 

Matt Reeves has taken the Planet of the Apes franchise and turned it into one of the most soulful, thoughtful and engrossing franchises alive today. It also happens to feature groundbreaking performances and levels of spectacle that are flat out stunning. That’s just not what you’d expect from a franchise about talking apes overthrowing mankind, but here we are.  

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The others:

Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7)
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (July 21)
The Dark Tower (July 28)

August

Unless a studio shuffles around some release dates, August does not have a single sci-fi movie hitting theaters. So maybe just catch up on some of the ones you missed in July, like the very fun looking Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

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September

Movie of the Month: Flatliners (September 29)

September is another pretty dry month for the sci-fi genre, but even if the competition were stronger we’d be interested in the Flatliners remake/sequel. There’s a lot of potential to a movie about med students testing the boundaries of life and death. Plus it’s got a good cast and an interesting director in Niels Arden Oplev (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo).

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The others:

It (September 8)
The Solutrean (September 15)

October

Movie of the Month: Geostorm (October 20) 

We love serious sci-fi movies. We’re sure Blade Runner 2049 is going to be an intellectual, probing look at the line that divides humans from artificial intelligence. But sometimes we just want something big and dumb and silly from the genre, and it is quite possible you won’t find a movie bigger, dumber or sillier movie in all of 2017 than Geostorm, a movie where Gerard Butler tries to stop the President from being assassinated by storms created by climate-controlling satellites. 

But since there is currently no trailer – or even images – from Geostorm, here’s Blade Runner 2049:

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The others:

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (October 6)
Blade Runner 2049 (October 6)
2017 Cloverfield Movie (October 27)

November

Movie of the Month: Thor: Ragnarok (November 3)

It feels like Justice League is the bigger, more important release of November, but we at least have an idea of what to expect from a third Zack Snyder superhero movie. We really have no idea what to expect from the first megabudget movie directed by What We Do In The Shadows director Taika Waititi. He’s promising to turn the third Thor movie into a space roadtrip with Hulk in the passenger seat. That tips the scales.

Hello from the set of #Thor3! As you can see, I’ve got my hands full. It ain’t easy being green….@thorofficialhttps://t.co/PnYTnX8n96

— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) July 12, 2016

The others:

Justice League (November 17)

December

Movie of the Month: Star Wars: Episode VIII (December 15)

We’re not cool enough to pretend like a new Star Wars movie isn’t worth getting crazy excited for 12 months before it hits theaters. It’s a new Star Wars movie, for crying out loud! That novelty still hasn’t worn off. We kind of hope it never does.

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The others:

Jumanji (December 22)

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