The movie sequels keep coming and 2017 looks to be another year full of some potential good ones. From recent upstarts to decade’s old favorites, there are some seriously good titles on the horizon that have us excited for another good run at the theater. While this list doesn’t have all the sequels scheduled for release, here are 18 we thought deserve some attention.
Underworld: Blood Wars
Vampire fighter Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is back, still struggling in her battle against the aggressive Lycan clan and worse, the Vampire clan that betrayed her as both her enemies try to use her and her daughter’s blood to create even more powerful hybrids. To end what has become an eternal war, Selene must take the ultimate risk, one that could save the others but end her own life.
Scheduled Release: January 6
xXx: The Return of Xander Cage
Renowned extreme athlete Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) recruited by the government to be a secret operative comes out of his self-imposed exile to face off against the deadly warrior Xiang (Donnie Yen) in an effort to recover a powerful weapon called Pandora’s Box. Joining forces with an all-new collection of thrill-seekers for the ride, they come upon more than just one foe as corruption and conspiracies attack from all sides.
Scheduled Release: January 20
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
Following the mess left behind in Resident Evil: Retribution, this last (?) entry sees returning protagonist Alice (Milla Jovovich), now stripped of her superhuman abilities, return to where it all started at Raccoon City and The Umbrella Corporation. She gathers forces both with old friends and with unexpected allies to face off one last time against a new wave of undead horrors.
Scheduled Release: January 27
John Wick: Chapter 2
While plot points are still mostly unknown, the titular badass hitman Wick (Keanu Reeves) makes a return, forced out of retirement by an old friend trying to take control of a secret international group of assassins. An old blood oath binding him to act, Wick heads for Rome to face off against the world’s most deadliest killers.
Scheduled Release: February 10
Logan
The tenth in The X-Men film franchise and the third and last in the Wolverine solo entries, this one begins years after X-Men: Days of Future Past, as it follows a few of the last mutants, including Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and an aging Logan the Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), now starting to lose some of his incredible healing powers, as they try to protect a young girl who is very much like Logan.
Scheduled Release: March 3
Trainspotting 2
Set twenty years after the original, it follows Mark (Ewan McGregor) who returns to Scotland to try and repair his relationships with old friends Spud (Ewen Bremner) and Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller) while hoping to steer clear of the disturbed Franco (Robert Carlyle), just fresh out of a stint in prison.
Scheduled Release: March 3
Fast & Furious 8: The Fate of the Furious
As Dom (Vin Diesel) tries to celebrate his honeymoon with Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), he becomes entangled with a mysterious woman named Cipher (Charlize Theron) who manages to lure him to turn against his friends and family and fall into a world of crime he can’t escape. His betrayal shocks the others and a battle with their former patriarch begins. Look for legendary Helen Mirren to make an appearance.
Scheduled Release: April 14
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
They’re back! Set two months after the adventures of the first highly-successful film, Peter “Star-Lord” Quill (Chris Pratt) and the other guardians travel about the planets on another series of troublemaking pursuits as Quill learns more about where he comes from. Few details are known, but the same chemistry and an “new” old mix tape lead the charge . . . as well as a baby Groot.
READ MORE: A review of the comic-book adaptation Guardians of the Galaxy
Scheduled Release: May 5
Alien: Covenant
In this follow-up to 2012’s Prometheus, the crew of the colony ship Covenant come upon an uncharted paradise planet but discover looks are deceiving. Finding the synthetic humanoid David (Michael Fassbender) alone on the surface, himself the sole survivor of the previous doomed mission, they must fight to stay alive against a terrifying monster in the dark who is hunting them one-by-one.
Scheduled Release: May 19
Cars 3
A second sequel in the franchise, this Pixar animated film sees the return of Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) trying to compete against a new generation of super-fast cars, suffering a traumatic crash that pulls him from this passion. Now he must learn to heal and fight his way back with the help of his closest friends and maybe the spirit of one already passed on.
Scheduled Release: June 16
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
The fifth installment in the long-running pirate series sees the return of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) on the run from his old rival Capitán Salazar (Javier Bardem), who along with his ship full of ghosts have escaped the dreaded Devil’s Triangle and on a mission to kill every last pirate on open water. To stop him, Sparrow searches for the fabled Trident of Poseidon, an artifact that grants the holder full control of sea.
Scheduled Release: May 26
Transformers: The Last Knight
The fifth entry in the robot fighting franchise sees the return of Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), a single father and inventor who helped the Autobots during Age of Extinction. Plot details are completely unknown as of now, but expect to see more of the familiar in this CGI-heavy, but wildly popular franchise.
Scheduled Release: June 23
Despicable Me 3
Gru (Steve Carell) is back and so are those ubiquitous minions in this next adventure as Gru must face against a former child star named Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker), who is now obsessed with a character he played in the 1980s. But there’s a secret these two men share and it makes for a series of funny and troublesome adventures.
Scheduled Release: June 30
War for the Planet of the Apes
This third film in the series follows directly the events of the the previous Dawn of the Planet of the Apes as Ceasar (Andy Serkis) and his army of apes become further embroiled in the fight against the a band of human survivors, leading him along a dark path. The humans, led by the ruthless “Colonel” (Woody Harrelson) are determined to see the apes go extinct.
Scheduled Release: July 14
Blade Runner 2049
A long-awaited sequel to the classic original, this one picks up thirty years after the first with a new blade runner cop named Officer K (Ryan Gosling), who discovers some old secrets that have devastating consequences, leading him to search for the fabled Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), the now long-missing blade runner who might have the answers.
READ MORE: A closer look at the original Blade Runner with Harrison Ford
Scheduled Release: October 6
Untitled Cloverfield Film (Most Likely ‘God particle’)
The next entry in the Cloverfield series sees a crew aboard an American space station witness was looks like a terrifying experiment gone wrong as a test at a large hadron accelerator appears to make the Earth vanish. When a European space station makes contact, the astronauts must decide their fate. Julius Onah is directing, and as no images are available, this is a picture of the movie’s star, Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
READ MORE: An in-depth review of the mind-bending 10 Cloverfield Lane
Schedule Release: October 27
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
In this first follow-up to the surprise success of hyper-stylistic original, Eggys (Taron Egerton) returns when an attack on the Kingsmen headquarters sees the rise of a new deadly villain named Poppy (Julianne Moore). It forces Eggys to join forces with his American counterparts, a secret agency called Statesmen. Surely, it will feature even more wild visuals and unexpected twists.
Scheduled Release: October 6
Star Wars: Episode VIII
Finishing off the year is the highly-anticipated second film in the few Star Wars film series and a direct sequel to 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The story follows the continuing Jedi journey of Rey (Daisy Ridley) as she bonds with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Story details are obviously unknown though most of the cast is all returning, including Carrie Fisher in her final film.
READ MORE: A review of the latest Star Wars feature, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Scheduled Release: December 15