More must-see 2015 movies in every shade
Animated kiddie adventures and very adult romances round out the must-see film fare for 2015. USA TODAY's Brian Truitt highlights the stories that will have fans all atwitter.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
(Feb. 6)
• Directors: Paul Tibbitt, Mike Mitchell
• Stars: Voices of Tom Kenny, Antonio Banderas, Clancy Brown
• Plot: That lovable underwater dude from Bikini Bottom heads to our world on a mission to foil a nefarious pirate.
Fifty Shades of Grey (Feb. 13)
• Director: Sam Taylor Johnson
• Stars: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Marcia Gay Harden
• Plot: Young student Anastasia Steele (Johnson) falls for billionaire Christian Grey (Dornan) and is introduced to his sexual proclivities.
Cinderella (March 13)
• Director: Kenneth Branagh
• Stars: Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter
• Plot: The classic story of a girl who rises above her lot in life to find her prince is retold for a new generation.
• Director: Ron Howard
• Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Holland, Cillian Murphy
• Plot: The sailors of the Essex tussle at sea with an 80-foot sperm whale, the creature that will eventually inspire Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.
Insurgent (March 20)
• Director: Robert Schwentke
• Stars: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet
• Plot: Tris Prior (Woodley) continues to fight the good fight as war seems inevitable among the different factions of her society.
Furious 7 (April 3)
• Director: James Wan
• Stars: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jason Statham
• Plot: Walker's final film finds the franchise's car-crazy crew targeted by an international villain (Stratham) looking for revenge.
Far from the Madding Crowd (May 1)
• Director: Thomas Vinterberg
• Stars: Carey Mulligan, Michael Sheen, Tom Sturridge
• Plot: Thomas Hardy's 1874 classic is put on the big screen featuring a fiercely independent woman (Mulligan) in Victorian England and her trio of very different suitors.
Pitch Perfect 2 (May 15)
• Director: Elizabeth Banks
• Stars: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow
• Plot: The Barden Bellas are back for redemption and to take on all comers at an international a cappella championship.
Entourage (June 5)
• Director: Doug Ellin
• Stars: Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Connolly
• Plot: Vincent Chase and his friends continue their Hollywood misadventures on the big screen, as Chase's directorial debut goes way over budget.
Insidious: Chapter 3 (June 5)
• Director: Leigh Whannell
• Stars: Lin Shaye, Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott
• Plot: The latest in the horror series is a prequel pitting a psychic vs. a supernatural entity haunting a teenage girl and her family's residence.
Inside Out (June 19)
• Directors: Pete Docter and Ronaldo Del Carmen
• Stars: Voices of Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Mindy Kaling
• Plot: Five different emotions — Joy, Fear, Disgust, Anger and Sadness — come alive in the mind of an 11-year-old girl.
Pan (July 24)
• Director: Joe Wright
• Stars: Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, Levi Miller
• Plot: Peter Pan gets an origin story as he's whisked off to Neverland as a boy where he teams with a young James Hook to battles the evil pirate Blackbeard.
• Director: Sam Mendes
• Stars: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes
• Plot: James Bond's latest globetrotting mission: to unearth a mysterious organization and their malevolent dealings.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2 (Nov. 20)
• Director: Francis Lawrence
• Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth
• Plot: Katniss Everdeen rallies the troops of her revolution in a climactic battle against the wicked politicians of the Capitol.
The Good Dinosaur (Nov. 25)
• Director: Peter Sohn
• Stars: Voices of Neil Patrick Harris, Bill Hader, Judy Greer
• Plot: A friendly 60-foot-tall Apatosaurus and a young boy named Spot become best pals.