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Coin Heist

2016 saw Netflix enjoying its biggest successes with TV series, in particular Stranger Things and The Crown, while their ambitions for movies were far more modest. The movie side of Netflix’s original programming certainly had a few jewels — chief among them the indie drama Tallulah, the Young-Obama-in-New-York movie Barry, and Ava DuVernay’s powerful documentary 13th — but fell significantly behind competitor Amazon Studios, which scored big-time with Manchester by the Sea.

And while the TV side of things shows no signs of slowing down in the new year, Netflix has an aggressive slate of movies primed for 2017 that look to get it solidly in the game. Star turns from the likes of Brad Pitt (in the military comedy War Machine), Will Smith (re-teaming with his Suicide Squad director David Ayer), and Adam Sandler headline the slate, but don’t sleep on new movies starring Rooney Mara, Tilda Swinton, Henry Cavill, Melanie Lynskey, and the long-awaited on-screen reunion of Jane Fonda and Robert Redford.

Netflix is also making a commitment to directors with vision, nabbing the latest from Adam Wingard, Bong Joon-ho, Duncan Jones, Angelina Jolie, and David Wain. It’s an exciting slate of movies, some of them premiering as soon as this month (including a trio making their bow at the Sundance Film Festival). Get excited.

'Coin Heist'

Director: Emily Hagins
Cast: Sasha Pieterse, Alex Saxon, Alexis G. Zall, Jay Walker

Writer/director Emily Hagins gets her highest-profile release to date with this teen caper film where a bunch of high school kids plot to rob the U.S. mint in order to fund their high-school extracurriculars (they’re important!). This should be of interest to fans of Freeform, since it stars Pretty Little Liars‘ Sasha Pieterse and The Fosters‘ Alex Saxon.

Release Date: January 6

Where to stream 'Coin Heist'

'Clinical'

Director: Alistair Legrand
Cast: Vinessa Shaw, Aaron Stanford

Clinical is a psychological thriller starring Vinessa Shaw (most recently of Ray Donovan) as a psychiatrist who suffers a violent attack and then must bounce back by focusing on a new patient with demons of his own.

Release Date: January 13

Where to stream 'Clinical

'Take the 10'

Director: Chester Tam
Cast: Josh Peck, Tony Revolori

Writer/director Chester Tam makes his feature film debut with this Superbad-esque story about two guys (Josh Peck and The Grand Budapest Hotel‘s Tony Revolori) en route to a hip-hop show. Done right, this could be a lot of fun.

Release Date: January 20

Where to stream 'Take the 10'

'iBoy'

Director: Adam Randall
Cast: Bill Milner, Maisie Williams

If you’ve been waiting for a superhero origin story to finally incorporate smart phones, you are in luck! 16-year-old Tom gets shot in a violent attack, and when he wakes up, parts of his iPhone have been fused to his brain. And then he goes and seeks out vengeance on the people who shot him! Game of Thrones‘ Maisie Williams co-stars.

Release Date: January 27

Where to stream 'iBoy'

'I Don't Feel at Home in this World Anymore'

Director: Macon Blair
Cast: Melanie Lynskey, Elijah Wood, Jane Levy

You might remember Macon Blair from his performances in director Jeremy Saulnier’s films Blue Ruin and Green Room. He’s stepping into the director’s chair for this one, a story about a woman whose home is burglarized who then joins her weird neighbor on a quest to find out who did it. This sounds like exactly the kind of dramatic setup with absurdist undertones that characterizes those Saulnier films, which means we could have something very interesting on the way.

Release Date: February 24 (world premiere at Sundance Film Festival on January 19)

Where to stream 'I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore'

'Burning Sands'

Director: Gerard McMurray
Cast: Trevor Jackson, Alfre Woodard, Trevante Rhodes

The huge success of Moonlight this year should have everybody excited to see what Trevante Rhodes (above) does next, so this should get some attention. But the star of this college-hazing drama is actually Trevor Jackson, of the most recent season of American Crime.

Release Date: March 10 (world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24)

Where to stream 'Burning Sands'

'Deidra & Laney Rob a Train'

Director: Sydney Freeland
Cast: Ashleigh Murray, Rachel Crow

If you see one movie about teenage sisters who turn to train robbery to make ends meet after their mother gets arrested in 2017, make it Deidra & Laney Rob a Train. This one is premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, and the premise is interesting enough that we would not be surprised if it gets a lot of attention.

Release Date: Premieres at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23

'A Futile and Stupid Gesture'

Director: David Wain
Cast: Will Forte, Emmy Rossum, Domhnall Gleeson

David Wain, director of Wet Hot American Summer, Role Models, and Wanderlust, has pulled together a fantastic cast for this movie about the creation of the National Lampoon. While certainly this will have a lot of comedic material, it’ll be interesting to see what Wain does with a true story. This is also the movie where Joel McHale will be playing Chevy Chase, which is worth a look on its own.

Release Date: TBA

Where to stream 'A Futile and Stupid Gesture'

'Bright'

Director: David Ayer
Cast: Will Smith, Joel Edgerton

Suicide Squad may have been a total bomb with critics, but it made a LOT of money, so re-teaming Will Smith with his Suicide Squad director David Ayer likely made good business sense. The plot of this one isn’t very clear, though we know the script is by female-science-fiction-character-critic Max Landis, so glean from that what you will. But as one of the few true movie stars we have, Smith has shown an ability to make all kinds of material work.

Release Date: TBA

Where to stream 'Bright'

'Death Note'

Director: Adam Wingard
Cast: Nat Wolff, Margaret Qualley, Keith Stanfield

The American adaptation of the manga series raised some eyebrows for white actors Wolff and Qualley in the lead roles, but there is a LOT of anticipation for this one. Even considering the setback that was Blair Witch, Adam Wingard has still directed some of the best horror movies of the last five years in You’re Next and The Guest, so he’s definitely got the chops.

Release Date: TBA

Where to stream 'Death Note'

'First They Killed My Father'

Director: Angelina Jolie
Cast: Phoeung Kompheak, Sveng Socheata

After directing her first movie with herself as the star in By the Sea, Angelina Jolie is going back to directing others. She’s also going back to a subject with which she’s very familiar: human rights in the third world. Her new film is about Cambodian human rights activist Loung Ung, recounting the horrors experienced under the Khmer Rouge.

Release Date: TBA

'Io'

Director: Jonathan Helpert
Cast: Margaret Qualley, Anthony Mackie

Margaret Qualley — best known for HBO’s The Leftovers and last year’s private-eye comedy The Nice Guys (above) — is poised to have a big year under the Netflix banner, between Death Note and this post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama.

Release Date: TBA

Where to stream 'Io'

'Naked'

Director: Michael Tiddes
Cast: Marlon Wayans, Regina Hall

Marlon Wayans and Michael Tiddes teamed up last year for the comedy spoof Fifty Shades of Black. This year’s Naked sounds more like a Groundhog Day-esque take on a wedding comedy, with Wayans and Regina Hall as the leads.

Release Date: TBA

Where to stream 'Naked'

'Okja'

Director: Bong Joon-ho
Cast: Ahn Seo-Hyun, Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Lily Collins, Steven Yeun

Remember when Tilda Swinton and Margaret Cho got in that email discussion/argument about Doctor Strange and Tilda said she was co-producing a movie with Bong Joon-ho with roles for Asians? Welcome to Okja, which also appears to have made room for roles for Jake Gyllenhaal, Lily Collins, and Paul Dano. Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer was a dazzling English-language debut, so there is a LOT of anticipation for this one.

Release Date: TBA

Where to stream 'Okja'

'Our Souls at Night'

Director: Ritesh Batra
Cast: Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, Judy Greer, Matthias Schoenaerts

Not counting Robert Redford’s uncredited role in 1960’s Tall Story, he and Jane Fonda have co-starred in three films: 1966’s The Chase, 1967’s Barefoot in the Park (above), and 1979’s The Electric Horseman. 2017 will bring film #4, Our Souls at Night, which will see Redford and Fonda playing a widower and widow who are neighbors and who begin a relationship of some kind.

Release Date: TBA

Where to stream 'Our Souls at Night'

'The Discovery'

Director: Charlie McDowell
Cast: Rooney Mara, Jason Segel, Riley Keough, Jesse Plemons, Robert Redford

Mara and Segel are the main players in this sci-fi romance from the director of the wonderfully underrated The One I Love. The film is set one year after existence of the afterlife has been scientifically proven. The cast is fantastic and the launchpad of the Sundance Film Festival later this month could mean big things for the film.

Release Date: TBA (world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival January 20th)

Where to stream 'The Discovery

'War Machine'

Director: David Michod
Cast: Brad Pitt, Ben Kingsley, Tilda Swinton

Brad Pitt is producing and starring in this war comedy directed by Animal Kingdom‘s David Michod. The cast is crazy talented, including Tilda Swinton, Ben Kingsley, Emory Cohen, Topher Grace, and much more.

Release Date: TBA

Where to stream 'War Machine'

'Mute'

Director: Duncan Jones
Cast: Alexander Skarsgard, Paul Rudd, Justin Theroux

Duncan Jones was flying high as a director to watch after the sci-fi meditation Moon in 2009. After the back-to-back Source Code and Warcraft … somewhat less so. In Mute, Skarsgard plays a mute bartender going up against gangsters in the Berlin of 40 years into the future.

Release Date: TBA

Where to stream 'Mute'

'Sandy Wexler'

Director: Steven Brill
Cast: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Jennifer Hudson

In 2015 and 2016, Adam Sandler debuted his latest, The Ridiculous 6 (above) and The Do-Over, on Netflix, and if Sandler’s career is about anything, it’s about repetition, look to Netflix for the next Sandler film in 2017. Sandy Wexler promises Sandler as a Hollywood talent manager working with a series of oddball clients.

Release Date: TBA

Where to stream 'Sandy Wexler'

'Sand Castle'

Director: Fernando Coimbra
Cast: Henry Cavill, Nicholas Hoult

An incredibly handsome cast — Henry Cavill, Nicholas Hoult, Logan Marshall-Green, Glenn Powell — all get to play Iraq War soldiers in this film, based on writer Chris Roessner’s experiences in Iraq.

Release Date: TBA

Where to stream 'Sand Castle'

'The Babysitter'

Director: McG
Cast: Samara Weaving, Bella Thorne, Robbie Amell

McG (Charlie’s Angels; Terminator: Salvation) will try his hand at horror comedy in a story about a babysitter (Weaving) who turns out to be a blood-thirsty killer in league with Satan. Need any more convincing?

Release Date: TBA

Where to stream 'The Babysitter'

'The Most Hated Woman in America'

Director: Tommy O’Haver
Cast: Melissa Leo, Juno Temple, Josh Lucas

Melissa Leo plays an atheist activist crusading to get the Bible out of public schools. It’s a true story, and directed by the same guy who did Ella Enchanted and Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss. And if that all sounds weird, just trust that Melissa Leo is capable of really knocking a role out of the park when given the chance.

Release Date: TBA

Where to stream 'The Most Hated Woman in America'

'Gerald's Game'

Director: Mike Flanagan
Cast: Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood

Based on the Stephen King novel, Gerald’s Game starts off with a couple experimenting with some light bondage in bed. It ends up becoming a harrowing story of one woman’s fight for survival. While it’s unknown whether the connection will be made, it should be noted that Gerald’s Game the novel enjoys a connection to King’s Dolores Claiborne.

Release Date: TBA

Where to stream 'Gerald's Game'

'Girlfriend's Day'

Director: Michael Stephenson
Cast: Bob Odenkirk, Amber Tamblyn

Bob Odenkirk wrote in and stars in what promises to be an unusual romantic comedy. Odenkirk plays a greeting-card writer, while Tamblyn plays a fan of greeting card writers. Finally a new entry in the greeting-card-romance genre!

Release Date: TBA

Where to stream 'Girlfriend's Day'