Logan: 1st March
Hugh Jackman claws his way back onto the big screen in his third – and potentially final – Wolverine adventure.
In the not-too-distant future, the ageing Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is eking out a meagre existence in the Mexico desert whilst caring for the elderly Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart). However he then comes across mysterious young girl Laura Kinney/X-23 (Dafnee Keen), who possesses astonishing and dangerous powers. But Logan and Xavier must protect the child from the deadly Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook), leader of the marauding cyborgs known as the Reavers.
Inspired by the enormously popular ‘Old Man Logan’ serial by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven, this gripping new Wolverine movie sees Hugh Jackman imbue his signature character with notes of melancholy and more than a few grey hairs. Meanwhile returning director James Mangold (The Wolverine) promises to amp up the violent action to unprecedented levels.
Beauty & The Beast: 17th March
Disney’s animated classic gets a sumptuous live-action reboot with Emma Watson and Dan Stevens in the lead roles.
Belle (Emma Watson) is a bookish young woman and keen inventor who goes in search of her father Maurice (Kevin Kline) when he disappears after visiting a mysterious castle. When she gets there, she is shocked to learn that he is the prisoner of the monstrous Beast (Dan Stevens) and volunteers to take his place. Initially terrified of her captive, she soon learns about how he was transformed from a handsome prince into his current state by a magical curse, and a tender love story soon develops.
Twilight director Bill Condon promises to bring a lavish sense of magic to this all-star remake of the celebrated 1991 animation. Anchored by Watson and Stevens, the movie also features Luke Evans as Gaston, Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Emma Thompson as Mrs Potts and Josh Gad as LeFou.
Fist Fight: 3rd March
Ice Cube stars as a narked off teacher determined to pummel the colleague who wronged him in this riotous comedy. Mr Strickman (Ice Cube) is a hair-trigger teacher at an inner city school. Upsetting him then isn’t really a good idea. But after mild-mannered English teacher Andy Campbell (Charlie Day) accident gets him fired, an irate Strickman has only one thing on his mind – revenge. “I’m gonna fight you,” Strickland tells him. “Parking lot, after school. It’s on!”
Rapper-turned-actor Ice Cube headlines this rib-tickling comedy that also stars Horrible Bosses’ Charlie Day, Dennis Haysbert (24), Tracy Morgan (30 Rock) and Dean Norris (Breaking Bad).
Kong: 10th March
The great ape roars back onto the screen in this spectacular reboot of the classic monster movie.
In the 1970s a group of scientists, soldiers and government agents make the epic journey to a remote, uncharted Pacific island. But its natural beauty is soon revealed to harbour terrifying secrets in the form of enormous ape King Kong, revered by the locals as a god. But there are even deadlier threats to be faced if the team want to make it off the island alive, namely the man-eating, subterranean skull-crawlers.
The latest instalment in Warner Bros’ ongoing shared monster universe that began with 2014’s Godzilla, this all-action creature feature presents us with the largest incarnation of the rampagingly iconic Kong yet. He’s poised to fight the big lizard in the planned 2020 movie Godzilla vs. Kong. Fighting for their lives are an all-star cast led by Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman and John C. Reilly.
Viceroy’s House: 3rd March
Viceroy’s House in Delhi was the home of the British rulers of India. After 300 years, that rule was coming to an end. For 6 months in 1947, Lord Mountbatten (played by Hugh Bonneville), great grandson of Queen Victoria, assumed the post of the last Viceroy, charged with handing India back to its people.
The film’s story unfolds within that great House. Upstairs lived Mountbatten together with his wife (Gillian Anderson) and daughter (Lily Travers); downstairs lived their 500 Hindu, Muslim and Sikh servants. As the political elite – Nehru, Jinnah and Gandhi – converged on the House to wrangle over the birth of independent India, conflict erupted. A decision was taken to divide the country and create a new Muslim homeland: Pakistan. It was a decision whose consequences reverberate to this day.
The film is deeply personal to the director Gurinder Chadha, whose own family was caught up in the tragic events that unfolded as British rule came to an end. Her film examines those events through the prism of a marriage – that of Dickie and Edwina Mountbatten – and a romance – that between a young Hindu servant, Jeet (Manish Dayal), and his intended Muslim bride, Aalia (Huma Qureshi). The young lovers find themselves caught up in the seismic end of Empire, in conflict with the Mountbattens and with their own communities, but never ever giving up hope…
