If the first half of 2018 has you pining for some more female-centric films, worry not. The second half of the year is showing great promise with many new movies led by women. And we’re not talking romantic comedies or stuffy period pieces here. We’re talking crime comedies, hair-raising horror, fantasy epics, and sci-fi action. Here is a look at what’s in store for the rest of 2018 for movies with women as the leads.
The Spy Who Dumped Me
Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon play best friends that become tangled in an action-packed conspiracy. After one of their ex-boyfriends turns out to be a CIA agent, it isn’t long before they find themselves dealing with assassins. The film is directed by Susanna Fogel, who previously helmed the female comedy Life Partners.
The Happytime Murders
While Melissa McCarthy has been in a buddy-cop picture before with The Heat, she has a much different partner this time when teamed with a puppet. She’s also dealing with a much different case in which she investigates a series puppet murders in the raunchy action-comedy from the people behind the Muppets.
A Star is Born
In this musical remake of the 1937 classic, Lady Gaga plays a hopeful singer that seeks to make her dream come true. She allies with an alcoholic musician played by Bradley Cooper who helps her career ascend while Cooper’s character begins to slip downward.
Halloween
Jamie Lee Curtis, the ultimate living scream queen, will be returning to the iconic Halloween franchise for this 2018 sequel. Curtis will once more be playing Laurie Strode, once more facing the masked killer of Michael Myers, still alive and killing after 40 years of murder.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
Based on the classic story of E. T. A. Hoffmann's The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, Mackenzie Foy plays a girl seeking a key for a gift from her dead mother. To find it, she ventures into magical worlds snowflakes, flowers, and sweets, running across battles of mice and men.
The Girl in the Spider's Web
As the sequel to David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Claire Foy now takes the role of the hacker Lisbeth Salander. The hero continues to exact her revenge on abused women, teaming up with journalist Mikael Blomkvist, only to become massive targets in a tangled web of conspiracies and spies.
Mary Poppins Returns
Emily Blunt will be the first woman in decades to don the umbrella of the unforgettable Mary Poppins. The sequel picks up with the children of Jane and Michael Banks are now grown adults in 1930s London, as Mary makes a most-needed return to bring some music and life back into the lives of the Banks.
Alita: Battle Angel
Based on the prolific manga and anime, Alita is a cybernetic girl built in a junkyard of a future. Surrounded by a city of rust and crime, she quickly learns just how to survive in a world of cyborg assassins and evil men.
On the Basis of Sex
Felicity Jones will play a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg facing the biggest case of her lawyer career on the discrimination of gender. Mimi Leder of The Leftovers fame is directing.
