17. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Dec. 16, Disney)
Sure, we promised 16 films for 2016 – but we can’t stop without mentioning Star Wars. Don’t get too excited now, you’ll still have to wait until 2017 to find out what Rey and Luke have to say on top of that hill, but Disney isn’t going to let that stand in the way of the cavalcade of Star Wars. The first of the “stand-alone” Star Wars films, the rumor mill suggest this will be a Mission Impossible-style spy thriller, showing the rebel team that stole the plans for the original Death Star (you know, the ones that were ultimately put in R2-D2 and ended up with Luke). If done well, this could set the precedent for films set in the Star Wars universe that aren’t necessarily tied to the original characters. Chances are, unless it’s a dumpster fire, this will sell a lot of tickets.
