2014 Movie Preview: The 40 Films We’re Most Excited About

 

Well, so much for 2013.
This past year had its cinematic ups ("Inside Llewyn Davis," "Gravity," "This Is the End"), downs ("Gangster Squad," "A Good Day to Die Hard"), in-betweens ("Man of Steel," "Star Trek Into Darkness"), and sweet
surprises ("The Conjuring," "Blue Jasmine").

It was a fun year, but 2014 is looking to be even more of a thrill ride, filled with franchise-friendly sure things, swing-for-the-fences passion projects, sleeper hits waiting to be discovered and, of course, a few (okay, a lot of) superhero movies. And we can't wait to get started.

Here are the 2014 films we're looking forward to the most.

40. "The Expendables 3"
Release Date: Aug. 15
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford
Director: Patrick Hughes
The Scoop: Stallone and his gang of over-the-hill mercenaries are back, and this time they're facing their most formidable foe yet: Mel Gibson, playing one of the original co-founders of The Expendables gone bad. Bruce Willis wanted too much money for a third go-round as the gang's handler, so Sly brought in — of all people — Harrison Ford as his replacement, with other new cast members including Stallone's "Assassins" co-star Antonio Banderas and his "Demolition Man" pal Wesley Snipes. This is all well and good, but when do we get the ladies-only version?