Sony Pictures has revealed release dates for a plethora of projects, setting the stage for zombies, werewolves, ghosts, and a big Stephen King adaptation to hit theaters over the next two years.
According to Collider, Sony Pictures announced today the release dates for sixteen upcoming films, several of which will be on horror and fantasy fans' radars:
These dates are of course subject to change, but they offer a firmer framework for when viewers can look forward to seeing these films.
Paul Feig's Ghostbusters moved up one week on the calendar, vacating its July 22nd, 2016 release slot in favor of July 15th. Based on a screenplay he co-wrote with Katie Dippold (The Heat), Feig's Ghostbusters features a paranormal investigative team comprised of Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones, with Chris Hemsworth also along for the ride as the receptionist.
The Matt Smith-starring Patient Zero has its first release date: September 2nd, 2016. Directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky from a screenplay by Mike Le, Patient Zero also stars Natalie Dormer and Stanley Tucci. The film takes place in a world in which "an unprecedented global pandemic of a super strain of rabies has resulted in the evolution of a new species driven by violence. An inexplicably immune human survivor with the ability to communicate with this new species must spearhead a hunt for Patient Zero in order to find a cure to save his infected wife and humanity."
Underworld 5 recently became a must-see for lycanthrope fans when it was announced in May that Kate Beckinsale will reprise her role as Death Dealer Selene. The next entry to the series that started in 2003 will be directed by Anna Foerster (Starz's Outlander, Criminal Minds) from a screenplay by Cory Goodman (Priest, The Last Witch Hunter).
Also lined up to return is Theo James (Divergent) as the vampire David from Underworld: Awakening. Though plot details for Underworld 5 are being kept under wraps, the film is expected to follow "a new and younger generation of vampires and werewolves who are locked in a seemingly never-ending battle between supernatural races."
In the works for years, the first (presumably of many) film adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower book series is now officially on the calendar with a January 13th, 2017 release date. Nikolaj Arcel (director of A Royal Affair, co-writer of the Swedish film adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) is the number-one name on the list to direct The Dark Tower feature film, though an official "sealed deal" announcement has yet to be made (an avid Stephen King fan, Arcel taught himself English so he could devour the Master of Horror's books, including The Dark Tower series).
The Dark Tower is expected to focus on the storylines from King's The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger, following Roland of Gilead and Jake Chambers, the Kid from Earth. No official casting announcements have been made at this time, and a Dark Tower TV series that would act as a companion to the feature films is also in development at MRC.
The living dead plague that has effectively zombified most of the Earth will be faced one last time in Resident Evil 6 (reportedly titled Resident Evil: The Final Chapter), which is set to start filming this September in South Africa and is now on the calendar for a January 27th, 2017 release. Paul W.S. Anderson will direct and Milla Jovovich will be back as Alice. Ali Larter is also expected to return as Claire. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for updates on all of these films.
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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