30 Upcoming Films Featuring Your Favorites (The UK Contingent)

By Cindy Davis | Lists | March 9, 2015 |

By Cindy Davis | Lists | March 9, 2015 |

It’s time we check in on some of our favorite UK actors. Here’s the scoop on all their upcoming film projects.

Kate Winslet:

Insurgent, March 20, 2015

Directed by Robert Schwentke; adaptation of the second book in Veronica Roth’s Divergent Series, starring Shailene Woodley and Theo James as apocalypse survivors on the run from Winslet’s Jeanine Matthews, who would use them to her own ends. Also starring Octavia Spencer, Mekhi Phifer, Jai Courtney, Naomi Watts, Miles Teller, Zoë Kravitz, Maggie Q, Ashley Judd and Daniel Dae Kim.

Triple 9, September 11, 2015

What an amazing "Sister" I have ;) #999 #triplenine #kateWinslet pic.twitter.com/9U0ToexdOD

— Gal Gadot (@GalGadot) June 30, 2014

Directed by John Hillcoat, who’s rounded up yet another killer cast to star in this crime thriller about a group of corrupt cops blackmailed into committing an “impossible heist.” Starring La Winslet, Woody Harrelson, Norman Reedus, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Aaron Paul, Anthony Mackie, Teresa Palmer, Michael Peña and Gal Gadot.

The Dressmaker, TBA 2015

Directed and screenplay by Jocelyn Moorhouse; based on the novel by Rosalie Ham, and starring Winslet as Myrtle “Tilly” Dunnage, a femme fatale returning to her hometown to care for (and avenge) her ill mother (Judy Davis), who was falsely accused of murder when Tilly was just a child. Also starring Liam Hemsworth, Hugo Weaving and Sarah Snook (who by the way, will someday soon be on this favorites list. If you’ve not yet caught her powerhouse Predestination performance, get to it!).

Steve Jobs, October 9, 2015

Directed by Danny Boyle (script by Aaron Sorkin); starring Michael Fassbender as Jobs, Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak, and Winslet as original Macintosh and NeXT team member, Joanna Hoffman. Also starring Sarah Snook, Jeff Daniels and Katherine Waterston.

Ewan McGregor:

Last Days in the Desert, (premiered at Sundance, release TBA)

Written and directed by Rodrigo García; starring Ewan as Jesus AND the Devil. An imaginary take on Jesus’ last 40 days and nights praying, fasting and dealing with temptation. Co-starring Ciarn Hinds, Ayelet Zurer and Tye Sheridan.

Jane Got a Gun, September 4, 2015

Directed by Gavin O’Connor (following a troubled start with Lynne Ramsay); this 2011 Black List holdover stars Natalie Portman as Jane, a woman who must defend her injured husband against Ewan’s badass gang leader. Co-starring Joel Edgerton, Noah Emmerich, Boyd Holbrook, and Rodrigo Santoro.

Miles Ahead, TBA

Directed, starring and co-written by Don Cheadle, an interpretation of Miles Davis (as opposed to a biopic) focusing on “the B story” — what Cheadle calls ; Ewan co-stars as Dave Brill, a Rolling Stone reporter based on a “real life person who inadvertently gets Miles out of his isolation.” Also starring Michael Stuhlbarg and Emayatzy Corinealdi.

Our Kind of Traitor, April 30, 2015 (Portugal)

Directed by Susanna White, based on the John le Carré novel; starring Ewan and Naomi Harris as a couple on holiday, drawn into a perilous situation by a Russian money launderer (Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd). Also starring Damian Lewis, Mark Gatiss, Jeremy Northam and Alicia von Rittberg.

American Pastoral, TBA 2016

McGregor makes his directorial debut and stars in an adaptation of the Philip Roth novel. A man (McGregor) married to a former beauty queen (Jennifer Connelly), has his “perfect” life is ripped apart by their daughter’s (Dakota Fanning) — shall we say — political activism?

Porno (Trainspotting sequel), TBA

To be directed by Danny Boyle, based on Irvine Welsh’s sequel.

“He’s now a Glaswegian running a gym in Amsterdam. I haven’t seen a script or anything…I spoke to Danny [Boyle] about it. I met him randomly in a restaurant [last year] before he went up to Scotland to sit with our writer John Hodge and Andrew Macdonald, the producer.”

Carey Mulligan:

Far from the Madding Crowd, May 1, 2015

Directed by Thomas Vinterberg; based on the Thomas Hardy novel. Mulligan stars as Bathsheba Everdene, an independent woman and farm owner attended to by a few good men (aka would-like-to-be-more-than-friends), played by Tom Sturridge, Michael Sheen and Matthias Schoenaerts.

Suffragette, September 11, 2015 (UK)

Directed by Sarah Gavron (screenplay by Abi Morgan); starring Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Ben Whishaw, Brendan Gleeson, Romola Garai and Ann-Marie Duff. Historical drama about the British women’s suffrage movement; also stars Meryl Streep as leader, Emmeline Pankhurst, and is the first time filming has been allowed at the Houses of Parliament.

Michael Fassbender:

Trespass Against Us, TBA

Feature directorial debut by Adam Smith (Doctor Who, Skins); starring Fassbender as Brenden Gleeson’s son. Hiding out from the cops with his family of outlaws, Fassbender and Gleeson have different ideas about the best way to get out of their predicament. Also starring Sean Harris, Rory Kinnear, Killian Scott and Tony Way.

Untitled Terrence Malick Projectaka Project V, TBA 2015

This one’s been kicking around a long while now (filming began in 2012); starring Fassbender, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Rooney Mara, Ryan Gosling, Benicio Del Toro, Holly Hunter and Val Kilmer. Set against the Austin, Texas music scene, obsession and betrayal affect two intersecting couples.

The Light Between Oceans, TBA 2015

Directed by Derek Cianfrance; based on the M. L. Stedman novel. Fassbender as lighthouse keeper Tom Sherbourne, who keep a baby he and wife Isabel (Rachel Weisz) find in a washed-ashore lifeboat. Also starring Alicia Vikander and Anthony Hayes.

Macbeth, TBA 2015

Directed by Justin Kurzel; the Shakespeare tragedy plays again. Starring Fassbender as the doomed king, alongside Marion Cotillard’s Lady Macbeth. Also starring David Thewlis, Sean Harris, Elizabeth Debicki, Jack Reynor and Paddy Considine.

Assassin’s Creed, TBA 2016

Directed by Justin Kurzel; adaptation of the video game franchise, starring Fassbender as the hooded hero and mind-traveler. Marion Cotillard co-stars.

(Fassbender’s also been announced as returning for X-Men: Apocalypse and Prometheus 2)

Emily Blunt:

Sicario, September 18, 2015

Directed by Denis Villeneuve; starring Blunt as a cop recruited by the CIA to bring down a Mexican cartel boss. Co-starring Benicio Del Toro and Daniel Kaluuya her assigned partners, a Delta Force mercinary and FBI agent, respectively. Also starring Josh Brolin, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Donovan and Maximiliano Hernndez.

Barton & Charlie & Checco & Bill, TBA 2016

Feature directorial debut (and written by) of (Homeland’s) Rupert Friend; starring Blunt as a woman who turns on the con-artist (Friend) who taught her his tricks.

The Huntsman, April 22, 2016

Directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan; sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman, starring Blunt as the Snow Queen. Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth and Nick Frost return, and Jessica Chastain recently signed on to play Hemsworth’s love interest.

Idris Elba:

Beasts of No Nation, TBA 2015

Directed by Cary Fukunaga; adaptation of Uzodinma Iweala’s novel starring Idris as a warlord who captures a young boy (Abraham Attah), and forces him to join his group of soldiers fighting a civil war. Netflix won a bidding war over Elba’s “career defining” film, causing several theater chains (including AMC, Cinemark, Regal and Carmike) to boycott the film since there will not be a (typical) 90-day delay between theater and home release. Also starring Grace Nortey, David Dontoh and Opeyemi Fagbohungbe.

A Hundred Streets, TBA 2015

Directed by Jim O’Hanlon; Idris and Gemma Arterton play an estranged couple, Adam Bakri is a wealthy playboy, and Franz Drameh, a drug dealer, in this tale of four misplaced people who live (and whose stories play out) in a particular square mile area of London.

Alive Alone, TBA 2015

Directorial feature debut (and written by) of Khurram Longi; Elba plays Jamal, taxi driver and a former Guantanamo Bay detainee thrown into a whirlwind when he meets Noomi Rapace’s Sarah, a prostitute on the run from a mob boss (Sam Worthington).

Bastille Day, July 4, 2016 (Netherlands)

Training for my next Film. Bastille Day. Grinding.

A video posted by 7dub (@7dub) on Oct 8, 2014 at 7:56am PDT

Directed by James Watkins; an action thriller featuring Elba as a CIA agent summoned to Paris after his battlefield mission goes wrong. A pickpocket (Game of Thrones’ Richard Madden) steals a French woman’s (Charlotte Le Bon) handbag — tossing away much of its contents — and setting into motion a sequence of unintended events Elba is ill-equipped to, but must investigate. Also starring Eriq Ebouaney and José Garcia.

Finding Dory, June 17, 2016

Directed by Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane; the long-awaited Finding Nemo sequel reunites Idris with his Wire co-star, Dominic West, but it’s still unknown what type of (presumably) fishy characters they’ll be playing. The film focuses on Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) finding her family; Albert Brooks, Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy and Willem Dafoe return.

(Elba also has Avengers: Age of Ultron in the wings, and is currently working on a Luther special.)

Naomie Harris:

Southpaw, July 31, 2015

Directed by Antoine Fuqua (script by Kurt Sutter and Richard Wenk); Harris stars as a social worker who helps a welterweight champ (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his daughter in this story inspired by (a “metaphorical narrative of” [Sutter]) Eminem’s life. Also starring Rachel McAdams, Forest Whitaker, Victor Ortiz and Tyrese Gibson.

Spectre, November 6, 2015

Directed by Sam Mendes; the 24th Bond installment sees Harris’ return as Eve Moneypenny, alongside Daniel Craig, Rory Kinnear, Ben Whishaw, Ralph Fiennes, Christoph Waltz, Monica Bellucci, Dave Bautista, Léa Seydoux and Andrew Scott.

Jungle Book: Origins, October 6, 2017

Directed by Andy Serkis; Live action adaptation of the beloved tale with Harris as Nisha, Serkis as Baloo, Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan, Christian Bale as Bagheera and Cate Blanchett as Kaa. Also starring Tom Hollander, Peter Mullan, Rohan Chand and Eddie Marsan.

James McAvoy

Victor Frankenstein, October 2, 2015

Directed by Paul McGuigan; McAvoy as Victor Von Frankenstein in an adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel, as seen from Igor’s (Daniel Radcliffe) perspective. Also starring Mark Gatiss, Andrew Scott, Callum Turner and Jessica Brown Findlay.

X-Men: Apocalypse, May 27, 2016

Directed by Bryan Singer; McAvoy and Fassbender return as Charles Xavier and Magneto, alongside Nicholas Hoult, Jennifer Lawrence, Evan Peters, Oscar Isaac, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Alexandra Shipp, Rose Byrne, Ian McKellen, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Ben Hardy.

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