The year 2016 has been a productive one for impressive movies, from Steven Spielberg’s “The BFG” to Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight” - not to mention critically-acclaimed works such as “A Bigger Splash” and “High-Rise.”The best may be yet to come, with the traditional rush of autumn films on the way ready for the holiday season. Sequels and prequels are everywhere among the likely blockbusters.Here is a Blouin ARTINFO pick of some films in the works that look promising.“The Queen of Katwe,” September 30, 2016 This film has screenings at festivals in London and Toronto and selected previews, so it may be worth checking local listings to catch an early showing before its general release.The story is based on real life: a Ugandan chess prodigy has to rise above extreme poverty as well as her opponents. This synopsis may sound like that of a worthy film that would land a foreign prize at Cannes, say, but this is no independent low-budget production but a William Wheeler screenplay backed by Disney. Lupita Nyong’o, the Oscar-winning actress of “12 Years a Slave,” has a role in recent Disney movies such as “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” as well as this, playing the mother of chess star Phiona Mutesi (portrayed by Madina Nalwanga).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4l3-_yub5A“Snowden,” September 16. 2016Director Oliver Stone never tires of biopics. “The Doors,” “JFK,” “W.” and “Nixon” among are them. Now he is looking at Edward Snowden, who leaked US classified information and later sought asylum in Russia. The computer professional is played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is said to well capture the mannerisms of the controversial figure who is questioning modern surveillance techniques. Snowden is working his way into popular culture, for example providing vocals for a Jean-Michel Jarre track. Stone usually comes at his biopics with a subjective thesis, positive or negative, so the story will doubtless by ringing alarm bells about state snooping, with Snowden apparently cast as the conscience of a nation. Agree with that thesis or not, it will be thought-provoking stuff.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlSAiI3xMh4“Doctor Strange,” November 4. 2016 Superheroes may be here to save the world. They are also here to save film studios, it seems, with multiple franchises generating huge sums – in this case with the beneficiaries being Marvel and Walt Disney. Probably a fair few fans will be pleased too, with heartthrob Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role. He is joined by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tilda Swinton and more. The computer graphics are spectacular: collapsing skyscrapers and brave new worlds.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSzx-zryEgM“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” November 18, 2016Anyone who was hoping for “Harry Potter and the Long Slow Fade Out” can think again. Far from J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard fading away, he is back with a bang in 2016. The “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” script and stage play, set 19 years after “Deathly Hallows,” are now joined by another spin-off. This is a prequel, set in 1926, about American wizard Newt Scamander (here played by Eddie Redmayne). The Potter industry is growing, as if by magic, with two more films planned and a video game for those wanting to track down the monsters.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViuDsy7yb8M“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” December 16, 2016If you have a valuable franchise, find ways of making it more lucrative with spin-offs. If you are a “Star Wars” aficionado, you will probably want to see more of the characters sketched in for another Galactic War. Felicity Jones stars as the latest Rebel Alliance operator with a mission. Walt Disney is the distributor again.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wji-BZ0oCwg“Inferno,” October 28, 2016Sequels are everywhere. This one is based on Dan Brown’s novel, a follow-up to both “The Da Vinci Code” and “Angels & Demons.” Tom Hanks is back as Harvard teacher Robert Langdon, the role he played in the earlier movies of 2006 and 2009. Like some of the other films listed here, some knowledge of the other works in the series helps – in this case there are increasingly intricate codes, Dante’s “Inferno” and Botticelli’s “Map of Hell.” The professor just has to decipher it all to prevent the collapse of civilization, something not too hard for a linguist and symbolist like himself. However he finds himself catapulted into action sequences which may strain credibility but are certainly thrilling.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbNBB1D37U8“Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,” October 21, 2016We have been here before, and so has Jack Reacher, played by Tom Cruise. Novelist Lee Child has written a string of books about the danger-seeking, crime-solving Reacher and the first movie based on his paperbacks was positively reviewed. Comparisons with “Mission Impossible” are inevitable.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoCP_JHzBUM“The Man Who Fell to Earth,” September 9, 2016The first thing to say is this is no new film but one digitally remastered and perhaps more worth seeing than some of the above. The technical clean-up of the Nicholas Roeg film was a process that commenced before its star David Bowie’s death this year and it comes on the 40th anniversary of the cult classic. It will be in selected cinemas, along with a deluxe Blu-Ray and DVD. British-accented stars have often ended up playing baddies or aliens, and Bowie fitted the role perfectly – he was strange, beautiful, and unworldly. The movie has dated charmingly, and of course influenced a lot of Bowie’s other work around the same time – the covers of “Station to Station,” “Low” and much more. File under “ripe for revival and reassessment.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd9vU1KaQiY
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