Sci-fi is back! There was a wonderful science fiction boom in the '70s and '80s but the genre wasn't as big for a couple of decades afterward. Science fiction has been enjoying a rebound, however, thanks in part to the advances in filmmaking technology that make it easier to realize sci-fi's ambitions.
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER certainly helped spur the genre to new heights. Sci-fi is a huge umbrella that covers everything from thoughtful tales about our place in the universe to fast-paced action adventures full of self-aware robots and cosmic powers.
Here are the new science fiction movies you can watch in movie theaters now, and in the months to come.
In Theatres Now
Mickey 17
The new movie from Oscar-winning writer/director/producer Bong Joon Ho is based on the novel "Mickey 7," by Edward Ashton. Robert Pattinson stars as a disposable employee sent to colonize an icy planet. If he dies on the way, no big deal — a new "Mickey" can be regenerated with his memories intact. Most of them, anyway. What could go wrong? Read more about MICKEY 17 here.
New Sci-Fi Movies Coming to Theatres Soon
Ash
On the mysterious planet of Ash, Riya (González) awakens to find her crew slaughtered. When a man named Brion (Paul) arrives to rescue her, an ordeal of psychological and physical terror ensues while Riya and Brion must decide if they can trust one another to survive. [March 21]
The Legend of Ochi
In a remote northern village, a young girl, Yuri, is raised to never go outside after dark and to fear the reclusive forest creatures known as the ochi. When a baby ochi is left behind by its pack, she embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to reunite it with its family. [April 25]
Elio
For centuries, people have called out to the universe looking for answers—in Disney and Pixar’s all-new movie “Elio,” the universe calls back! The original feature film introduces Elio, an underdog with an active imagination who finds himself inadvertently beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from galaxies far and wide. Mistakenly identified as Earth’s ambassador to the rest of the universe, and completely unprepared for that kind of pressure, Elio must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms, survive a series of formidable trials and somehow discover who he is truly meant to be. Read more about ELIO here. [June 13]
Jurassic World Rebirth
Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind. Skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson) is contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure genetic material from the world’s three most massive dinosaurs. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on an island where they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that’s been hidden from the world for decades. Read more about JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH here. [July 2]
Mercy
Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson star in this sci-fi thriller from director Timur Bekmambetov, in which a detective has to prove his innocence after being accused of a crime. [August 15]
Tron: Ares
In the third TRON movie, a highly sophisticated program, Ares, is sent out into the human world on a dangerous mission, which leads to the first true encounter between humanity and their Artificial Intelligence creations. Read more about TRON: ARES here. [October 10]
Bugonia
The POOR THINGS duo of Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone remake oddball South Korean sci-fi comedy SAVE THE GREEN PLANET! Two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. [November 7]
Predator: Badlands
Dan Trachtenberg, who made the streaming-only Predator movie PREY, returns with PREDATOR: BADLANDS, and this time, the movie will play in theaters! But BADLANDS is not a sequel to PREY. This standalone movie takes place on an alien planet, where two sisters whose family bond is tested as they pursue different paths. More importantly, perhaps, is that the Predator is (finally!) the main character — perhaps even the hero of the movie. Read more about PREDATOR: BADLANDS here. [November 7]
The Running Man
Director Edgar Wright (SHAUN OF THE DEAD, LAST NIGHT IN SOHO) and star Glen Powell (TWISTERS) create a new take on the Stephen King novel. THE RUNNING MAN imagines a near future in which reality game show contestants bet that they can evade killers long enough to win a life-changing sum of money. But if they lose, the cost is their life. [November 21]
Avatar: Fire and Ash
James Cameron's third movie in the mega-successful AVATAR series takes the characters to as-yet unseen lands on the moon Pandora. Jake Sully and his family run across a fire-obsessed tribe of N'avi — hence the title of the movie. Most of the story details about FIRE AND ASH are being kept secret for now, but we'll know a lot more soon. Read more about AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH here. [December 19]
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All images courtesy of Universal Pictures.