(Updated 04/30/2024)
Sci-fi is back! There was a wonderful science fiction boom in the '70s and '80s but the genre wasn't as big for a couple of decades afterward. Science fiction has been enjoying a rebound, however, thanks in part to the advances in filmmaking technology that make it easier to realize sci-fi's ambitions.
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER certainly helped spur the genre to new heights. Sci-fi is a huge umbrella that covers everything from thoughtful tales about our place in the universe to fast-paced action adventures full of self-aware robots and cosmic powers.
Here are the new science fiction movies you can watch in movie theaters now, and in the months to come.
In Theatres Now
Civil War
An adrenaline-fueled thrill ride through a near-future fractured America balanced on the razors edge. [April 26]
New Sci-Fi Movies Coming to Theatres Soon
That's not all! Some really big science fiction movies are coming to the big screen in the next few months.
Mars Express (English Dubbed)
In 2200, the upper echelons of society abandoned Earth to make Mars the vibrant center of civilization. They are served by sentient, obedient robots that are nearly indistinguishable from the humans that they have replaced. Amidst a growing scandal of hackers jailbreaking androids, a young cybernetics student disappears. Capable but troubled private detective Aline and her android partner Carlos take the case to track her down. As they descend into a world of brain farms and criminal conspiracy, they unravel a deeper threat that may alter the fate of mankind– and their robot counterparts. [May 3, Limited]
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Director Wes Ball breathes new life into the global, epic franchise set several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike. [May 10]
Furiosa
As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home. [May 24]
Robot Dreams
DOG lives in Manhattan and he's tired of being alone. One day he decides to build himself a robot, a companion. Their friendship blossoms, until they become inseparable, to the rhythm of 80's NYC. One summer night, DOG, with great sadness, is forced to abandon ROBOT at the beach. Will they ever meet again? [May 31, Limited]
Borderlands
Cate Blanchett teams up with Kevin Hart in director Eli Roth’s Borderlands. Lilith (Blanchett), an infamous outlaw with a mysterious past, reluctantly returns to her home planet of Pandora to find the missing daughter of the universe’s most powerful S.O.B., Atlas. Lilith forms an alliance with an unexpected team – Roland (Hart), a former elite mercenary, now desperate for redemption; Tiny Tina, a feral pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg, Tina’s musclebound, rhetorically challenged protector; Tannis, the scientist with a tenuous grip on sanity; and Claptrap, a persistently wiseass robot. These unlikely heroes must battle alien monsters and dangerous bandits to find and protect the missing girl, who may hold the key to unimaginable power. The fate of the universe could be in their hands – but they’ll be fighting for something more: each other. Based on the game from Gearbox and 2K, one of the bestselling videogame franchises of all time, welcome to Borderlands. [August 9]
Alien: Romulus
The sci-fi/horror-thriller takes the phenomenally successful “Alien” franchise back to its roots: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe. This standalone story takes place between 1979's ALIEN and 1986's ALIENS. Since EVIL DEAD remake director Fede Alvarez is behind the camera, expect to see a movie that goes hard with the horror aspects of the Xenomorph saga. [August 16]
Transformers One
An origin story set on Cybertron, the original home of the Autobots and Decepticons. The film is said to focus on the relationship between Optimus Prime and Megatron, and its transformation from friendship to hatred. Read more about TRANSFORMERS ONE here. [September 20]
The WIld Robot
The epic adventure follows the journey of a robot—ROZZUM unit 7134, “Roz” for short — that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings, gradually building relationships with the animals on the island and becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling. Read more about THE WILD ROBOT here. [September 27]
Mickey 17
The new movie from Oscar-winning writer/director/producer Bong Joon Ho is based on the novel "Mickey 7," by Edward Ashton. Robert Pattinson stars as a disposable employee sent to colonize an icy planet. If he dies on the way, no big deal — a new "Mickey" can be regenerated with his memories intact. Most of them, anyway. What could go wrong? Read more about MICKEY 17 here. [January 31, 2025]
Check out what's playing at Cinemark now!
All images courtesy of 20th Century Studios.