9 most anticipated film projects of 2016

(AFP) Hollywood will be busy behind the scenes in 2016 with film shoots that will attract a lot of attention until the movies are released at the end of the year or in 2017.

Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planet

In January at the Cite du Cinema studios outside Paris, Luc Besson will begin shooting his 17th feature film. This adaptation of Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mezieres’ comic book, which will be filmed in English, will mark Besson’s return to science fiction.

Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne will star as two agents of the Spatio-Temporal Service who travel in time and space to protect the human race. Clive Owen, Ethan Hawke, John Goodman and Rihanna will also have roles in the filmwhich is slated for release on July 21, 2017.

The as-yet-unnamed Robert Zemeckis project

Following on fromThe Walk, the American director will begin working in January on a romantic period spy thriller. Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard will play agents on a mission during World War II. Having met on a perilous mission in Morocco, the two assassins fall in love, get married and have a child. But the story gets complicated when the man discovers the real identity of his wife who is a double agent working for the Nazis.

The filmis set to hit theaters on Nov 23, 2016.

Ghost In The Shell

This adaptation of a Japanese manga, which has been expected for years, will become a reality in 2016. At the start of the year, Rupert Sanders, the director ofSnow White And The Huntsman, will bring together Scarlett Johansson and Sam Riley to film the story of a cyborg police woman, who is a member of section 9, an anti-criminal elite which hunts down human cybercriminals, robots, and cyborgs.

Fans will have to wait until March 31, 2017 to discover this feature-length film.

Fifty Shades Of Grey

Fifty Shades DarkerandFifty Shades Freed

Early 2016 will also see Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan resume their roles inFifty Shades Of Grey. As withHarry PotterandTwilight, the production preferred to record the two sequels (Fifty Shades DarkerandFifty Shades Freed) in one go. They will hit cinemas on Feb 10, 2017 and Feb 9, 2018.

Ridley Scott has chosen Australia as the location to shoot the sequel toPrometheus. In March 2016, the director will reunite Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace in a story of the adventures of Lieutenant Ripley from the original quadrilogy, which began in 1979. Slated for Oct 6, 2017,Alien Covenantwill have two sequels.

Trainspotting 2

Twenty years after the original film was released, Danny Boyle will return to his group of young Scottish heroin addicts for a follow-up to be filmed from May to June 2016. Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle and Ewen Bremner, who all starred in the first film, will take up the roles that launched their careers. The story will take place 10 years after the events of the first movie if Danny Boyle decides to draw onPorno, the follow-up to the novel by Irvine Welsh which inspired him in 1996.

Enzo Ferrari

In the summer of 2016, Michael Mann will finally bring this 15-year old project to life. The director ofPublic Enemieswill shoot this biopic about the Italian motor racing driver and carmaker Enzo Ferrari, with Christian Bale in the title role. Noomi Rapace will play his wife Laura Dominica, who was married to him from 1923 until his death in 1978. Enzo Ferrari’s life story will hit cinemas in 2017.

Blade Runner 2

To film the follow-up to this cult science fiction movie, Ridley Scott will be replaced by the Canadian Denis Villeneuve (Sicario). Over 30 years after the original, Harrison Ford will pick up his role as the former police officer Richard Deckard this summer. Ryan Gosling will accompany him in this new adventure which will take place several decades after the original, which was set in 2019.

Avengers Infinity War, Parts 1 & 2

Nine months will be required to shoot the last twoAvengersmovies. In the last quarter of 2016, Joe and Anthony Russo will bring together the usual team of Marvel superheroes (Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, etc.) for two new chapters to be released on May 4, 2018 and May 3, 2019.