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The start of a new calendar year means primetime awards season, looking back at the best in film over the previous year, but it also means the start of a brand-new slate of movies to look forward to over the coming months. From action blockbusters to spooky thrillers and family-friendly animated features, here are the movies you'll want to keep in your calendar in the first half of 2018. (Photos via Walt Disney Studios + Marvel Studios + Warner Bros. Pictures + Disney/Pixar)
Fifty Shades Freed (February 9): The final installment of the Fifty Shades trilogy lands in theaters just in time for Valentine's Day. The trailers so far have revealed that Christian and Anastasia are getting married — but that there are some potential threats keeping them from their happily ever after. (Photo via Universal Pictures)
Black Panther (February 16): Marvel's first standalone superhero movie featuring a Black lead has already earned rave (but spoiler free!) reviews. It's sure to be a highlight of the year. (Photo via Marvel Studios)
Annihilation (February 23): Natalie Portman stars as a biologist who volunteers to visit an environmental disaster zone in order to figure out what happened to her husband (Oscar Isaac) — the only soldier who returned from the scene alive, albeit gravely injured. This is an adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s bestselling Southern Reach trilogy. (Photo via Paramount Pictures)
Game Night (February 23): Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams star in this murder mystery comedy about a couple whose weekly game night goes horribly, horribly wrong. (Or right, depending on how you look at it.) Bonus: Kyle Chandler! (Photo via Hopper Stone/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Every Day (February 23): Based on the bestselling YA novel by David Levithan, this romantic drama tells the story of a 16-year-old girl named Rhiannon who falls in love with A, a traveling soul who inhabits a different body every day. (Photo via Orion Pictures)
Death Wish (March 2): Bruce Willis stars in the remake of the 1974 original, inheriting the legendary Paul Kersey role from Charles Bronson. A slight difference is that Willis is a doctor, not an architect, but his character still seeks vigilante justice for the murder of his wife and daughter. Eli Ross directs. (Photo via MGM)
A Wrinkle In Time (March 9): The long-awaited big-budget Disney adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle's classic sci-fi children's novel of the same name follows a young girl, Meg (Storm Reid), as she and her brother try to rescue their father (Chris Pine) by traveling through space and time. Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling are on board as Meg's guides. The anticipation for the Ava DuVernay-directed film is palpable. (Photo via Walt Disney Studios)
Tomb Raider (March 16): Alicia Vikander's take on the iconic Lara Croft character sees her on Croft's first expedition, and judging by the first trailer, we have high hopes. (Photo via Warner Bros. Pictures)
Pacific Rim Uprising (March 23): It's been five years since the original Pacific Rim, and after several setbacks on the sequel — including the departure of director Guillermo del Toro from the project (Steven S. DeKnight took over for his feature film debut) — it'll finally see the light of day in March. Uprising will focus on the aftermath of the Breach's destruction and is set 10 years following the events of the first film. (Photo via Universal Pictures)
Ready Player One (March 30): The latest from acclaimed director Steven Spielberg is a futuristic look at the not-so-distant world of VR, and follows a young man and his group of friends as they try to keep control of their virtual world out of the hands of a giant corporation. (Photo via Jaap Buttendijk/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Rampage (April 20): Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson returns in a sure-to-be blockbuster as Davis Okoye, a primatologist who must stop a genetically mutated ape from destroying everything in its path. Plot twist: Similar experiments have failed all over North America and destruction is rampant. Only the Rock can save us! (Photo via Frank Masi/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Avengers: Infinity War (May 4): Marvel has been working on this holy grail of crossover films for almost a decade, and the anticipation is huge. It'll see the Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers casts link up to stop Thanos (Josh Brolin) from hoarding Infinity Stones and running the world. If the first trailer was any indication, the movie is sure to live up to the hype. (Photo via Film Frame/Marvel Studios)
Life of the Party (May 11): Recently dumped housewife Deanna (Melissa McCarthy) decides to enroll at her daughter's college to finish her degree. Hilarity ensues, naturally. (Photo via Warner Bros. Pictures)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (May 25): The latest from the Star Wars franchise is a standalone prequel that follows a young Han Solo, played by Alden Ehrenreich. Through his travels, he meets Chewbacca as well as a young Lando Calrissian, played by Donald Glover. Details have been scarce so far, that but that likely won't stop it from breaking records when it's released. (Photo via Walt Disney Studios/Lucasfilm)
Untitled Deadpool Sequel (May 18): The Deadpool sequel is hotly anticipated not just because of Ryan Reynolds' dry, dirty wit as the title character, but also because of the debut of Domino, played by Atlanta actress Zazie Beetz. (Photo via 20th Century Fox/YouTube)
Ocean's 8 (June 8): One of the most highly anticipated movies of the year is this all-female entry into the comedy heist franchise, and oh, man, does the first trailer look amazing. Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) plays the estranged sister of George Clooney's Danny Ocean, and as soon as she's sprung from jail she starts putting together a crew to pull off a massive jewelry heist at the Met Gala. Cate Blanchett, Rihanna, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Helena Bonham Carter, and Anne Hathaway also star, and the celeb cameos promise to be plentiful and point-and-scream worthy. (Photo via Warner Bros.)
The Incredibles 2 (June 15): Holly Hunter, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Vowell, Huck Milner, and Samuel L. Jackson are all back for part two of what's looking to be not only one of the best, but also one of the most adorable, animated features of the year. (Photo via Disney/Pixar)
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (June 22): The sequel to the 2015 blockbuster takes place after the demise of the dinosaur theme park — and with Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), against all better judgment, trying to get Owen (Chris Pratt) to go back and save the remaining dinos. Jeff Goldblum returns to reprise his role as Dr. Ian Malcolm from the original '90s flicks, so that's reason enough to go see it. (Photo via Universal Pictures)
Which movies are you most excited to see in the first half of 2018? Tell us @BritandCo!
