1. “300: Rise of an Empire”

Opening March 7

”This is Sparta!” once again…except King Leonidas is not in this film, as he is dead. The Greek city-states band together to take on their foe Persia in a movie that will most definitely have some epic battle scenes.  The audiences will also get to see more of King Xerxes’ backstory. Will this movie be perfectly historically accurate? Probably not, but that’s not why people are looking forward to it. However, Themistocles will lead the Greek troops into battle in this film, and he actually was a famed Greek general.

2. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”

Starring Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson

Opening April 4

This will be an awesome movie to see while everybody is waiting for the second Avengers movie.  Captain America joins forces with the Black Widow, the Falcon and Nick Fury to stop a powerful enemy: the Winter Soldier.  In the film, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are being attacked and when Steve Rogers investigates, numerous assassins pursue him.  This movie contains a major conspiracy as well.  Let’s just say the identity of the Winter Soldier is shocking, if you don’t already know.

3. “The Amazing Spider Man 2”

Starring Andrew Garfield, Jamie Foxx, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Paul Giamatti and Colm Feore

Opening May 2

The first “Amazing Spider Man” was excellent and an improvement over the Toby McGuire films.  This sequel will be interesting because Peter Parker has to balance his relationship with Gwen while battling three villains: Electro, Rhino, and the Green Goblin.   Spiderman will have to save New York from Electro who is even more powerful than himself.  Parker also discovers more about his past and the fate of his father who was involved with OsCorp.  Spoiler Alert: There won’t be a Mary Jane Watson in this film.

4. “Maleficent”  

Starring Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, and Brenton Thwaites

Opening May 30

Disney is putting a spin on one of its classics, Sleeping Beauty, by focusing on the villain, Maleficent.  Maleficent grew up in a forest kingdom which gets invaded by the king’s army.  At the beginning of the film she is actually kind and beautiful.  While she is trying to protect the forests she gets betrayed and becomes the wicked villain we all watched as children.  She curses Aurora when she is a baby. Aurora will be essential for establishing peace in both the kingdoms and Maleficent’s own fate.

5. “22 Jump Street”

Starring Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum and Ice Cube

Opening June 13

Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill are back and this time they are going to college to fight the war on drugs within one of the college’s fraternities.  While they are there they pose as freshmen and Schmidt gets involved with the art circle while Jenko plays for the football team.  Their partnership, once again will be put to the test.  As for the name change: the Koreans bought their headquarters on 21st Jump Street, so operations have been moved to 22nd Jump Street.  According to Director Chris Miller, this film will have more action. Let’s hope this time they remember the Miranda Rights when they make the big arrest.

6. “Transformers: Age of Extinction”

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor and Stanley Tucci

Opening June 27

Yes, surprisingly enough Michael Bay is directing another Transformers movie in which robots will help defend Earth against its foes.  And yes, many of us will still go see this movie out of sheer curiosity.  There is a brand new cast this time around and plenty of really cool and expensive automobiles for the car lovers.  Shia LaBeouf will not be in this film but Optimus Prime and Bumblebee will return, as well as…Dinobots? The main character will be Cade Yeager who is a single father and struggling inventor who gets caught up in a battle of Transformers after the events of Chicago in the previous film.

 7. “Big Hero 6”

Directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams

Opening Nov. 6

This animated movie is based on the Marvel Comics, “Big Hero 6.”  A young boy named Hiro and his robot Baymax join a team of fighters to save their city, San Fransokyo. Hiro is a boy genius who created a robot to fill the hole left by his deceased brother. Some of the names of these heroes include Wasabi No-Ginger, Honey Lemon, GoGo Tomago, and Fred. They all possess special traits, skills, and talents which prove useful with fighting crime. The film will be a fun, frantic mash up of Western and Eastern cultures.

8. “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1”

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth

Opening Nov. 21

This movie doesn’t need much explanation.  The finale of this trilogy is so big that “Mockingjay” has been divided into two films.  It’s a shame that we have to wait until November to see Jennifer Lawrence take on The Capitol and end the horrible Hunger Games.  This film will not actually have any Hunger Games, but there will be plenty of battles mentally and literally.  We’re also in for a treat because we finally get to see District 13. Hopefully “Mockingjay” will continue with the tradition of the first two films and stick closely to the book’s plot. It will also be interesting to see how they deal with the untimely death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who played Plutarch Heavensbee, the Head Game Maker.

9. “Horrible Bosses 2”

Starring Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey, Chris Pine and Christopher Waltz

Opening Nov. 26

Nick, Dale, and Kurt have plenty of experience dealing with horrible bosses, so they decide to start their own company. However, they get involved with a corrupt investor who ruins their plans and takes control of their company.  For revenge, they decide to resort to kidnapping his adult son in order to get back their company.  Jennifer Aniston will be reprising her role as Dale’s boss, as she was the only boss that was not jailed or killed in the first movie.  The first movie was hilarious and it’s definitely worth giving the second one a chance if you are looking for a good laugh.

10. “The Hobbit: There and Back Again”

Starring Martin Freeman, Sir Ian McKellen, Benedict Cumberbatch and Richard Armitage

Opening Dec. 17

“The Desolation of Smaug” ended abruptly and it ended on a rather low note with the attack on Lake-Town and Gandulf the Grey left imprisoned in a cage.  In December we all get to find out if Smaug will be slain and if the dwarves get to reclaim the Lonely Mountain.  According to Peter Jackson this film will be the most emotional of the three seeing it is the finale.  It’s a shame America has to wait another ten months for this film to be released, especially after the original release date was in July 2014.  However, originally this movie was not going to happen in the first place because The Hobbit films were planned for just two movies instead of being a trilogy.

11. “Night at the Museum 3”

Starring Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Ben Kingsley and Rebel Wilson

Opening Dec. 19

These movies are hilarious and have the added bonus of teaching you history…kind of.  Ben Stiller is back as everybody’s favorite nighttime security guard and will be joined by “Pitch Perfect’s” Rebel Wilson.  The villain will be another Egyptian pharaoh who will be revived by the magical tablet seen in the previous films who will be played by Ben Kingsley.  There is also talk of this movie taking place in a British museum, so hopefully we’ll get to hear some English accents.