Ryan Gosling in Gangster Squad with Emma Stone
Emma Stone in The Amazing Spider-Man with Andrew Garfield
Andrew Garfield in 99 Homes with Michael Shannon
Michael Shannon in Midnight Special

Happy 2016! Welcome to my yearly attempt predicting the highlights of the next 12 months in movies. Last year I was really excited about Avengers: Age of Ultron, Pitch Perfect 2 and Tomorrowland, and I’ve already completely forgotten about those movies (here’s my full list from last year). I was also looking forward to Dark Places, a movie I still haven’t bothered to see.

So this year I tried to do something a little different with my list. Yes, sequels, franchises and universe-building movies still made the cut, but I chose highlight wholly original movies in my top 5. (Full disclosure: I think my #3 pick is actually based on a short story, so I’m making one exception.) Regardless, 2016 looks like a promising year for original stories in film.

So here we go, my Most Anticipated Movies of Two Thousand Sixteen. Drumroll please…

1. Midnight Special – March 18
Dir. Jeff Nichols (Mud, Take Shelter)
Stars Adam Driver, Kirsten Dunst, Joel Edgerton, Michael Shannon

BBFs Jeff Nichols and Michael Shannon reunite for the fourth time in this mysterious movie about a kid with special powers. Apparently Nichols has been trying to make this movie for a while, and I’m excited to see what he does with a big budget.

2. Passengers – Dec 21
Dir. Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game, one of my favorite movies of 2014)
Stars Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen

Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt fall in love in space and also get paid the same amount of money while doing it. Also anticipated: the press tour for this movie.

3. Story of Your Life – TBA 2016
Dir. Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Sicario, Enemy)
Stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Michael Stuhlbarg

Villeneuve is one of the most interesting directors working today, so naturally he’s managed to attract a great cast for and his next movie. It looks like this one’s about a linguist who becomes useful during an alien invasion. I’m guessing that traumatic things follow. (Also I think I have a thing for alien movies?)

4. La La Land – July 15
Dir. Damien Chazelle (Whiplash)
Stars Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, J.K. Simmons

I would see this movie based solely on the image above. This blog’s namesake and Emma Stone singing and dancing in Hollywood? I’m there!

5. Kubo and the Two Strings – Aug 19
Dir. Travis Knight (President & CEO of Laika, directorial debut)
Voices of Rooney Mara, Charlize Theron, Ralph Fiennes

Laika has created some of the most original animated films of the past few years (Coraline, The Boxtrolls, and in particular, ParaNorman), so I can’t wait to see what world they create next. Check out the visually-arresting teaser here.

6. Captain America: Civil War – May 6

7. Suicide Squad – Aug 5

8. HBO’s Looking Special – TBA 2016
(I’m cheating a little here but I can’t wait. Richie!)

9. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – Dec 16

10. Moana – Nov 23

11. Silence – TBA 2016
(Scorsese/Garfield/Driver/Neeson!)

12. Bourne 5 – July 29

13. The Girl on the Train – Oct 7

14. The Conjuring 2 – June 10

15. X-Men: Apocalypse – May 27

16. Finding Dory – June 17

17. Star Trek Beyond – July 22

18. The Circle – TBA 2016
(Based on the super popular book)

19. Hail Caesar! – Feb 5

20. Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising – May 20

21. Doctor Strange – Nov 4

22. High-Rise – TBA 2016

23. Colossal – TBA 2016
(A woman has a mental breakdown during a Gozilla-like attack)

24. Ghostbusters – July 15

25. War Machine – TBA 2016
(Netflix’s latest feature)

26. A Monster Calls – Oct 14

27. Deepwater Horizon – Sept 30
(Kurt Russell, Dylan O’Brien and Gina Rodriguez in a movie about the 2010 oil spill)

28. The Witch – Feb 19

29. The Lobster – March 11

30. The Neon Demon – TBA 2016

31. 10 Cloverfield Lane – March 11

32. The Nice Guys – May 20
(Welcome back, Ryan!)

Others that didn’t quite make the cut: The Invitation, Equals, Billionaire Boys Club, Top Secret Untitled Lonely Island Movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The BFG, Nocturnal Animals, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Light Between Oceans, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Arms and the Dudes, Deadpool and Kung Fu Panda 3

Thanks for getting this far. Can’t wait to look back at this list next year and regret everything.

Cheers to 2016!