Jesus Christ! OK, so Sony lost their “Uncharted” director in June and then had to bump the troubled video game adaptation to June 30, 2017. But lest you think the studio is weakened, it’s coming back with a vengeance, setting their slate up for the next two years. It’s maybe not quite as ambitious as Marvel or DC‘s schedules in that it doesn’t go all the way up until 2019 or 2020, but Sony’s slate is about more than just super hero film universe-building, and is possibly more impressive as a result.
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The biggest news is the arrival of a long-awaited “Bad Boys 3,” which will land in theaters February 17, 2017, followed by a fourth installment set for July 3, 2019. It’s unknown if Will Smith or Martin Lawrence will return, but it’s clear that Sony is looking at the franchise as a flagship series that maybe could contend in the same manner as Universal’s “Fast And Furious” series, which has rocked the box-office this year.
The sci-fi romance film “Passengers,” starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, is now set for December 2016, a few days before Christmas; expect an awards push. Ron Howard and co. have been struggling with getting their “The Dark Tower” franchise off the ground, but they’re scheduled the first installment of the Stephen King adaptation for January 13, 2017. The “Jumanji” remake is coming Christmas day in 2016, and Edgar Wright’s “Baby Driver,” a vehicular action movie, has now been slotted for a March 17, 2017 release date.
Here’s the full Sony slate up to 2017. [Variety]
“Money Monster” – 4/8/16
“The Shallows” – 6/24/16
“Ghostbusters” – 7/15/16*
“Patient Zero” – 9/2/16
“The Magnificent Seven” – 9/23/16*
“Underworld 5″ – 10/21/16
“Passengers” – 12/21/16
“Jumanji” – 12/25/16
“The Dark Tower” – 1/13/17
“Resident Evil 6″ – 1/27/17
“Bad Boys 3″ – 2/17/17
“Baby Driver” – 3/17/17
“Barbie” – 6/2/17
“Uncharted” – 6/30/17*
“The Lamb” – 12/8/17
“Bad Boys 4″ – 7/3/19
why oh why are they doing a Jumanji remake? Also can\’t see The Passengers being an Oscar contender (maybe for technical awards but nothing else outside those)
@CHIZZ – This is a long-term release calendar, and if a movie\’s being dated over a year in advance, chances are it\’s a property with a lot of expectation attached to it (sequel, adaptation, etc). This is probably half of the movies they\’ll release over the next few years, if that. Plenty of room for original fare.
^ For lowly shills like Mr. Davis, that translates to an "impressive" slate.
To summarize, Sony indicates they are no longer producing anything original and intend to release only remakes, sequels, and franchise adaptations of previous material
This list gets me excited! I can\’t wait for Passengers 🙂