The new year brings numerous sequels to older hits from Hollywood and Bollywood, adaptations of novels, remakes of classics, and big-budget Hindi movies featuring A-listers. Our selection from among the scheduled releases of 2017 does not include films that are under production. Expect changes in the dates depending on a project’s completion and googlies thrown by Indian censors, as well as last-minute additions by last-minute Bollywood directors, especially in the second half of the year.
January 6
Allied Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard are paired in Robert Zemeckis’s World War II drama. Pitt plays a Canadian intelligence officer who falls in love with and marries Cotillard’s French resistance officer. But is she actually a German spy?
Passengers Morten Tydlum’s science fiction movie has tanked in the West. Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence play space travelers who wake up 90 years too soon from an induced hibernation.
January 13
Haraamkhor A teacher falls in love with his student in Shlok Sharma’s bound-to-be controversial movie. Starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Shweta Tripathi (Masaan).
Ok Jaanu Mani Ratnam’s 2015 romantic drama OK Kanmani gets a Hindi remake. Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor plays live-in lovers whose resolve to not get married is severely tested.
Live By Night Ben Affleck directs and stars in a 1920s-set period drama, tracing the rise and rise of a bootlegger.
January 14
XXX: Return of Xander Cage Vin Diesel is back in the franchise that showcases jaw-dropping extreme action sports and stunts. Our own Deepika Padukone makes her Hollywood debut in DJ Caruso’s film.
January 20
The Founder John Lee Hancock’s biopic of Ray Croc, who build McDonald’s into one of the biggest food chains in the world, stars Michael Keaton.
January 25
Raees Shah Rukh Khan plays a bootlegger who becomes a messiah for the poor in Rahul Dholakia’s Gujarat-set mass entertainer. Also starring Mahira Khan as his wife and Nawazuddin Siddiqui as his nemesis.
Kaabil Hrithik Roshan plays a blind man who goes on the warpath when his visually impaired wife is killed. Directed by Sanjay Gupta, and produced by the star’s canny father, Rakesh Roshan.
February 3
The Great Wall Matt Damon stars in acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s period extravaganza, featuring warriors, monsters and bandits and set at one of the most visited tourist spots in the world.
February 10
Jolly LLB 2 The sequel to the hit legal comedy from 2013 drops one of its best features – lead actor Arshad Warsi – and replaces him with bankable star Akshay Kumar.
The Lego Batman Movie It’s Batman versus the Joker all over again, and this time, the battle is between dinky Lego toys.
John Wick Chapter Two The hugely enjoyable action thriller John Wick (2014) was begging to be remade. In the new film, the titular lone hitman (Keanu Reeves) is forced yet again out of retirement.
February 24
Hidden Figures The untold story of the African-American mathematician who made important contributions to the Apollo 11 flight to the moon in 1969 has been tipped for Oscar glory.
Rangoon Vishal Bhardwaj’s ambitious 1940s-set period film stars Kangana Ranaut as an actress inspired by on Fearless Nadia and Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan as the men with whom she gets entangled. The plot is as secretly guarded as a covert military operation.
Lion Dev Patel stars in the adaptation of Saroo Brierely’s memoir, which is the astounding story of how the author, who was adopted as a child by an Australian couple, traced his birth family in India with the help of Google Maps.
Sometime in February
Toni Erdmann The German comedy, about a deeply dysfunctional father-daughter pair, is widely tipped to win the Foreign Language Film Oscar. Will it survive the stern eyes of Pahlaj Nihalani?
March 3
Logan The third and final installment of the Wolverine spin-offs from the X-Men franchise. Hugh Jackman dons the side whiskers and the adamantine claws for one last time.
Hell or High Water Another potential Oscar winner, this drama is about a pair of brothers who rob banks to save their farm. The cast includes Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine and Ben Foster.
T2: Trainspotting Danny Boyle’s sequel to the movie that made him a global name is based on Irvine Welsh’s novel Porno. The cast from the original are back: Ewan MCGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner, and Kelly Macdonald.
March 10
Badrinath Ki Dulhania Shashank Khaitan reunites Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt, the pair from his 2014 comedy Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, for a new romance in a new setting.
Kong: Skull Island The King Kong origin story gets yet another reboot, this time starring Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L Jackson, John Goodman and Brie Larson.
The Sense of an Ending Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox) directs the adaptation of the Julian Barnes novel of the same name. The movie switches between the present of Tony Webster, a retired loner, and his past relationship with his university friends.
March 17
Trapped In Vikramaditya Motwane’s third movie, Rajkummar Rao’s character is trapped in a Mumbai apartment with no exit and a cockroach and a rat for company.
Beauty and the Beast Disney’s live-action remake of its popular animated movie stars Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the monster who steals her heart.
Sarkar 3 Ram Gopal Varma returns with yet another chronicle of unelected power centre Subhash Nagre’s runs-in with crime and morality. Amitabh Bachchan returns, while Manoj Bajpayee, Jackie Shroff and Rohini Hattangadi complete the cast.
March 31
Naam Shabana This prequel to the 2015 thriller Baby traces the back story of the intelligence officer character played by Tapasee Pannu. Produced by Baby director Neeraj Pandey and directed by Shivam Nair.
Poorna The first official Bollywood biopic of 2017 is about Poorna Malavath, a tribal teenager from Telangana who scaled Mount Everest at the age of 13.
Ghost in the Shell Scarlett Johansson stars in the Hollywood adaptation of the famous manga comic. She plays a counter–terrorist agent who chases a rogue hacker.
The Zookeeper’s Wife A zoo helps save humans and animals during World War II in Nazi-occupied Poland. Starring Jessica Chastain and Johan Heldenbergh.
Hindi Medium Irrfan and Saba Qamar play a Chandni Chowk couple who try to break into Lutyens’ Delhi. Directed by Saket Chaudhary (Pyaar Ke Side Effects).
Sometime in March
Begum Jaan Srijit Mukherji remakes his Bengali hit Rajkahini, set in 1947 on the eve of the Partition. Vidya Balan plays the madam of a brothel that is situated on the border between India and the country that is going to be born, Pakistan.
Daddy Ashim Ahluwalia (John and Jane, Miss Lovely) enters Bollywood with a stylised biopic of Mumbai mid-town gangster Arun Gawli. Arjun Rampal plays the hoodlum, while Farhan Akhtar is Dawood Ibrahim.
April 7
Jagga Jasoos Anurag Basu’s long-delayed caper features Ranbir Kapoor as a detective in the Tintin mould and Katrina Kaif as his fellow adventurer.
April 14
Baahubali 2 The sequel to SS Rajamouli’s monster hit from 2015 will finally reveal the answer to the second most important question after “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”
The Fate of the Furious The eight installment of the Fast and Furious franchise is hoping to cash in on the enormous success of the seventh film. The marital bliss of Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is interrupted by the arrival of a mystery woman.
Sachin: A Billion Dreams The biographical documentary is a cradle-to-present account of one of the world’s finest cricketers.
April 21
Kaalakandi Akshat Verma, the writer of Delhi Belly (2011), makes his directorial debut with a black comedy set in Mumbai and featuring the criss-crossing lives of six characters. The cast includes Saif Ali Khan, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Akshay Oberoi and Vijay Raaz.
Noor Sonakshi Sinha stars as a journalist in the Mumbai-set adaptation of Saba Imtiaz’s 2014 novel Karachi, You’re Killing Me! Sunhil Sippy makes a comeback as director 17 years after Snip!
May 5
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 The sequel to the 2014 superhero movie reunites the principal cast. Apart from Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista and Bradley Cooper, look out for baby Groot.
May 12
Meri Pyaari Bindu Here is what we know about the first Yash Raj Films production of 2017: it stars Ayushmann Khurrana and Parineeti Chopra, it has been shot in Kolkata, it is Akshay Roy’s directorial debut, and it will be a quirky love story.
May 19
Half Girlfriend Mohit Suri’s film, based on Chetan Bhagat’s popular novel, stars Arjun Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor as the mismatched pair who met in college, only to part and meet again.
May 26
Baywatch Priyanka Chopra makes her Hollywood debut in the big-screen adaptation of the adventures of lifeguards who keep the beaches of Florida safe. Chopra plays the antagonist.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Johnny Depp is back as the ethically challenged and swashbuckling pirate Jack Sparrow. In the fifth adventure, Sparrow is hunted by Salazar (Javier Bardem).
June 2
Toilet Ek Prem Katha The Centre’s Swach Bharat Abhiyan campaign gets a Bollywood plug in this Akshay Kumar-Bhumi Pednekar comedy.
Wonder Woman The popular comic book character finally gets her own movie. Gal Gadot plays Diana, the Amazonian princess who decides to bring an early end to World War I.
June 9
The Mummy Princess Ahmanet (Sofi Boutella) has woken up from her tomb in the present, and she is very, very angry. Fortunately, Tom Cruise is at hand.
June 16
The Book of Henry A precocious boy’s diary serves as the basis for a plan to rescue a girl from her father’s abuse. Starring Naomi Watts and Jacob Tremblay (Room).
Captain Underpants Here is something for the young ones: the animated adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s children’s novels featuring a superhero in white briefs.ٌ
June 23
Tubelight If it’s Eid, it must be Salman Khan. Set during the 1962 Sino-Indian war, Kabir Khan’s movie stars Khan as a dimwit who falls in love with a Chinese woman (Zhu Zhu).
July 7
Munna Michael Tiger Shroff plays a Michael Jackson impersonator in a role tailor-made for the rubber-bodied actor.
Spider-man: Homecoming The second reboot of the Spider-man franchise is an origin story. This time, Tom Holland plays the teenager who gets superpowers after being bitten by a spider.
July 14
The Beguiled Sofia Coppola’s Confederate-era movie, about a wounded soldier and his relationship with the women who shelter him, is based on Thomas P Cullinan’s novel A Painted Devil and stars Elle Fanning, Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell and Kirsten Dunst.
Haseena Apoorva Lakhia’s movie is based on Haseena Parkar, the sister of fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim. Starring real-life siblings Shraddha Kapoor and Siddhanth Kapoor.
Chef An official remake of Jon Favreau’s 2014 movie, starring Saif Ali Khan as the restaurateur who quits his job to set up a food truck.
July 21
Bareilly Ki Barfi A love triangle set in the city in Uttar Pradesh against the backdrop of publishing, and starring Rajkummar Rao, Ayushmann Khurana, and Kriti Sanon. Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari.
July 28
Mubarakan Anees Bazmee directs real-life uncle and nephew Anil Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor in a madcap romantic comedy.
August 4
Secret Superstar Advait Chandan’s debut, produced by his mentor Aamir Khan, follows the story of a young Muslim girl (Zaira Wasim) who aspires to be a singer.
August 11
Crack The box office-friendly pair of actor Akshay Kumar and director Neeraj Pandey reunite for the third time after Special 26 and Baby. Expect an urban vigilante drama.
The Ring Imtiaz Ali directs Shah Rukh Khan in the superstar’s second release of the year. Khan plays a tour guide who falls in love with Anushka Sharma’s character in Prague. The movie title will probably change.
The Emoji Movie: Express Yourself An emoji that is capable of displaying multiple expressions tries to become a normal emoji. Of course it’s animated (insert relevant emoji).
August 18
American Made Set in the 1980s, the Doug Liman movie formerly titled Mena stars Tom Cruise as a former airline pilot who becomes an informer for the Drug Enforcement Administration, which leads him to the notorious Medellin cartel.
September 1
Baadshaho Milan Luthria’s action thriller, starring Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Esha Gupta, Ileana D’Cruz and Vidyut Jammwal, is set during the Emergency in 1975.
September 15
Simran Kangana Ranaut plays a nurse in America who is accused of robbing banks to clear her gambling debts. Directed by Hansal Mehta.
September 22
Victoria and Abdul Stephen Frears’s historical is based on the remarkable friendship between Queen Victoria and her Indian attendant Abdul Karim. Starring Judi Dench and Ali Fazal, and based on the book by Shrabani Basu.
September 29
Judwaa 2 David Dhawan returns with a sequel to his hit comedy Judwaa (1997). Varun Dhawan steps into the double role made popular by Salman Khan.
October 16
The Snowman Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) directs the adaptation of the Jo Nesbo novel of the same name. A snowman is the only common element in a series of murders investigated by Michael Fassbender’s detective Harry Hole.
October 23
The Mountain Between Us Acclaimed Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad (Paradise Now, Omar) makes his Hollywood debut with a survival movie about a doctor (Idris Elba) and a writer (Kate Winslet) who are stranded after a plane crash.
Sometime in October
2.0 The dubbed version of the sequel to Enthiran (released in Hindi as Robot) stars Rajinikanth as Chitti and Akshay Kumar as his adversary Directed by Shankar.
November 10
Red Sparrow Joel Edgerton is the American spy who is seduced by Jennifer Lawrence’s Russian agent in a film by Francis Lawrence (the Hunger Games movies).
November 17
Padmavati Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s controversy-baiting period piece is about the passion of Alauddin Khilji (Ranveer Singh) for queen Padmavati (Deepika Padukone), the wife of Rana Rawal Ratan Singh (Shahid Kapoor).
November 24
Coco The Pixar animation is set against the colourful backdrop of the annual Day of the Dead festival in Mexico, and is told through the eyes of 12-year-old Miguel.
Murder on the Orient Express A new adaptation of the highly popular Agatha Christie novel from 1934. Kenneth Branagh directs and plays Hercule Poirot, the brilliant Belgian detective who solves a murder on the luxury train.
December 1
Tumhari Sulu Vidya Balan plays radio jockey Sulu, who hosts a late-night show that becomes popular for her advice on relationships.
December 15
Star Wars: Episode VIII The latest Star Wars adventure will see Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia for the last time. Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac reprise their roles.
December 22
Tiger Zinda Hai The sequel to Ek Tha Tiger marks the comeback of Arvind Singh Rathore, played by Salman Khan. Ali Abbas Zafar, who directed Khan in the 2016 blockbuster Sultan, sits in the director’s chair this time.
Downsizing Alexander Payne (Sideways, Nebraska) directs a social satire in which a man decides to shrink himself in size to cope with the stresses of life. Starring Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig and Christoph Waltz.
December 29
The Greatest Showman on Earth Hugh Jackman plays PT Barnum, the pioneer who set up the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Sometime in December
Untitled Sanjay Dutt biopic It doesn’t have an official title yet, but Rajkumar Hirani’s biopic of actor Sanjay Dutt, starring Ranbir Kapoor, promises to be an unusual take on the troubled action hero.
