Sci-Fi Movies Arriving in 2017: ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII,’ ‘Alien: Covenant’ and a New ‘Blade Runner’

This list of the sci-fi movies hitting theaters in 2017 does not cover any comic book-inspired films since they have their own 2017 preview list. What it does provide are details on sci-fi films including new additions to the Alien, Blade Runner, Planet of the Apes, and Star Wars franchises. 2017’s sci-fi offerings also include the return of King Kong, Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds discovering a new alien lifeform, and a sci-fi love story centering around the confirmation of life after death.

The following list of 2017’s sci-fi movies is in alphabetical rather than release date order:

Bloody Scene from 'Alien: Covenant'
A scene from ‘Alien: Covenant’ (Photo Credit: Mark Rogers © 2016 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation)

Alien: Covenant (May 19, 2017) starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, James Franco, Guy Pearce, and Noomi Rapace

The Plot: Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world — whose sole inhabitant is the “synthetic” David (Fassbender), survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.

Blade Runner 2049 Logo

Blade Runner 2049 (October 6, 2017) starring Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Carla Juri, Lennie James, Dave Bautista, and Jared Leto

The Plot: Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.

The Circle (April 28, 2017) starring Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, and John Boyega

The Plot: As she rises through the ranks of the world’s largest tech and social media company, The Circle, Mae (Watson) is encouraged by company founder Eamon Bailey (Hanks) to live her life with complete transparency. But no one is really safe when everyone is watching.

The Discovery star Jason Segel
Jason Segel appears in ‘The Discovery’ (Photo Courtesy of Sundance Institute)

The Discovery (TBD 2017) starring Rooney Mara, Robert Redford, and Jason Segel

The Plot: The Discovery is a gripping love story set one year after the existence of the afterlife is scientifically verified. Redford plays the scientist responsible for the discovery, with Segel portraying his son Will and Mara playing Isla, a woman haunted by a tragic past who Will falls in love with.


Geostorm (October 20, 2017) starring Gerard Butler, Katheryn Winnick, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, Alexandra Maria Lara, Daniel Wu, and Abbie Cornish

The Plot: What if, in the wake of more than a decade of devastating weather events, we finally found a way to control Mother Nature and the destruction her tirades entail? When catastrophic climate change endangers Earth’s very survival, world governments unite and create the Dutch Boy Program: a global net of satellites surrounding the planet that are armed with geo-engineering technologies designed to stave off the natural disasters. After successfully protecting the planet for two years, something is starting to go wrong. Two estranged brothers (Butler, Sturgess) are tasked with solving the program’s malfunction before a worldwide Geostorm can engulf the planet.

How to Talk to Girls at Parties Elle Fanning and Alex Sharp
Elle Fanning and Alex Sharp in ‘How to Talk to Girls at Parties’

How to Talk to Girls at Parties (TBD 2017) starring Elle Fanning, Alex Sharp, Nicole Kidman, and Ruth Wilson

The Plot: John Cameron Mitchell, director of the acclaimed films Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Shortbus, takes us to an exotic and unusual world: suburban London in the late 70s. Under the spell of the Sex Pistols, every teenager in the country wants to be a punk, including our hopeless hero Enn (Sharp). Crashing local punk queen Boadicea’s party, Enn discovers every boy’s dream – gorgeous foreign exchange students. When he meets the enigmatic Zan (Fanning), it’s love at first sight.

But these teens are, in fact, aliens from outer space, sent to Earth to prepare for a mysterious rite of passage. When their dark secret is revealed, the love-struck Enn must turn to Boadicea (Kidman) and her followers for help in order to save the girl he loves from certain death. When the punks take on the aliens, neither Enn’s nor Zan’s universe will ever be the same again.

Kong Skull Island Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson
John Goodman, Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson and John C. Reilly in ‘Kong: Skull Island’ (Photo © 2016 Warner Bros Entertainment and Ratpac Dune Entertainment, Legendary Pictures)

Kong: Skull Island (March 10, 2017) starring Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, John Goodman, John C Reilly, Tian Jing, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Thomas Mann, Shea Whigham, Toby Kebbell, and Eugene Cordero

The Plot: In the film, a diverse team of explorers is brought together to venture deep into an uncharted island in the Pacific – as beautiful as it is treacherous – unaware that they’re crossing into the domain of the mythic Kong.

Life star Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds stars in ‘Life’ (Photo © 2016 CTMG, Inc)

Life (March 24, 2017) starring Ryan Reynolds, Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare, and Olga Dihovichnaya

The Plot: Life tells the story of the six-member crew of the International Space Station that is on the cutting edge of one of the most important discoveries in human history: the first evidence of extraterrestrial life on Mars. As the crew begins to conduct research, their methods end up having unintended consequences and the life form proves more intelligent than anyone ever expected.

Mute (TBD 2017) starring Alexander Skarsgard, Paul Rudd, and Justin Theroux

The Plot: The film follows Leo (Skarsgård), a mute man searching for a missing person in the year 2052 in Berlin while dueling with two rogue villains played by Rudd and Theroux.

Okja Tilda Swinton and Giancarlo Esposito
Tilda Swinton and Giancarlo Esposito in ‘Okja’ (Photo Credit: Netflix)

Okja (TBD 2017) starring Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Giancarlo Esposito, Paul Dano, Steven Yeun, Devon Bostick, Lily Collins, and Byun Heebong

The Plot: The film follows Mija, a young girl who must risk everything to prevent a powerful, multi-national company from kidnapping her best friend – a massive animal named ‘Okja’.

Space Between Us Britt Robertson and Asa Butterfield
Britt Robertson and Asa Butterfield in ‘The Space Between Us’ (Photo © 2016 STX Productions)
The Space Between Us (February 3, 2017) starring Asa Butterfield, Gary Oldman, Carla Gugino, and Britt Robertson

The Plot: In this interplanetary adventure, a space shuttle embarks on the first mission to colonize Mars, only to discover after takeoff that one of the astronauts is pregnant. Shortly after landing, she dies from complications while giving birth to the first human born on the red planet – never revealing who the father is. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Gardner Elliot – an inquisitive, highly intelligent boy who reaches the age of 16 having only met 14 people in his very unconventional upbringing.

While searching for clues about his father, and the home planet he’s never known, Gardner begins an online friendship with a street smart girl in Colorado named Tulsa. When he finally gets a chance to go to Earth, he’s eager to experience all of the wonders he could only read about on Mars – from the most simple to the extraordinary. But once his explorations begin, scientists discover that Gardner’s organs can’t withstand Earth’s atmosphere. Eager to find his father, Gardner escapes the team of scientists and joins with Tulsa on a race against time to unravel the mysteries of how he came to be, and where he belongs in the universe.

Star Wars: Episode VIII (December 15, 2017) starring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, Andy Serkis, Benicio Del Toro, Billie Lourd, and Carrie Fisher

The Plot: Rey took her first steps into a larger world in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and will continue her epic journey with Finn, Poe, and Luke Skywalker in the next chapter of the continuing Star Wars saga.

Transformers The Last Knight

Transformers: The Last Knight (June 23, 2017) starring Mark Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel, Laura Haddock, Isabela Moner, Jerrod Carmichael, and Anthony Hopkins

The Plot: Having left Earth in search of the Creators, Optimus Prime returns. Two worlds collide but only one will survive.

War of the Planet of the Apes

War for the Planet of the Apes (July 14, 2017) starring Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Amiah Miller, Karin Konoval, and Terry Notary

The Plot: In War for the Planet of the Apes, the third chapter of the critically acclaimed blockbuster franchise, Caesar (Serkis) and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.

Also in Theaters in 2017:

Animated Movies / Romantic Comedies / Comic Book and Superhero Movies / Horror Films