Movies coming to theaters in 2016 — VIDEO | Christopher Lawrence | Entertainment

I know, I know. It's difficult to think about a whole new year full of movies when you're still so wrapped up in "Star Wars."

But in addition to the usual windfall of sequels and superheroes, 2016 also offers … more "Star Wars."

It's going to take something special for the words "Star Wars" and "prequel" to no longer trigger residual grief and nausea. Time will tell if "Star Wars: Rogue One," which has "Godzilla" director Gareth Edwards focusing on the rebels' quest to steal the plans for the Death Star, is that something special.

If not, 2016 will still offer up more Avengers and more X-Men, a new set of Ghostbusters and Jennifer Lawrence in outer space.

Here's a look at some of what the year has to offer at the multiplexes. And, as always, dates are subject to change.

SEQUELS/SPINOFFS

The year's sequels range from the expected, such as "Star Trek Beyond" (July 22), to the surprising, a la "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" (March 25).

Will Smith bailed, but Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman and Judd Hirsch return for "Independence Day: Resurgence" (June 24).

Likewise, Snow White is gone, but The Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) and Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) are back for "The Huntsman: Winter's War" (April 22). In other public domain children's story news, Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska and Helena Bonham Carter reprise their roles in "Alice Through the Looking Glass" (May 27).

Tom Cruise goes back to save the day in "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" (Oct. 21), and Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) tries to save not just the president (Aaron Eckhart) but the leaders of the free world in "London Has Fallen" (March 4).

Shailene Woodley and Theo James return for the next chapter in "The Divergent Series: Allegiant" (March 18), while James reteams with Kate Beckinsale's Selene in "Underworld 5" (Oct 21).

Tom Hanks and Ron Howard revisit the world of the Da Vinci Code in "Inferno" (Oct. 14).

The Four Horsemen (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Lizzy Caplan, taking over for Isla Fisher) try to make more magic in "Now You See Me 2" (June 10).

The heroes in a half shell are back in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows" (June 3).

Po (voiced by Jack Black) reunites with his father (Bryan Cranston) in "Kung Fu Panda 3" (Jan. 29), and Manny (Ray Romano), Sid (John Leguizamo), Diego (Denis Leary) and Scrat (Chris Wedge) set off on another adventure in "Ice Age: Collision Course" (July 22).

In comedy news, Derek (Ben Stiller) and Hansel (Owen Wilson) are together again in "Zoolander 2" (Feb. 12), Seth Rogen and James Franco return in "Neighbors 2" (May 20), Calvin's Barbershop goes co-ed in "Barbershop: The Next Cut" (April 15), and Billy Bob Thornton dons the red suit once again in "Bad Santa 2" (Nov. 23).

Sequels continue to haunt the horror genre with "Rings" (April 1), "Amityville: The Awakening" (April 15), "The Conjuring 2" (June 10) and "Ouija 2" (Oct. 21).

And, among spinoffs, Eddie Redmayne enters the wizarding world of Harry Potter in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" (Nov. 18), the forgetful blue tang (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) searches for her family in "Finding Dory" (June 17), and the gap between "Revenge of the Sith" and "A New Hope" is bridged with "Star Wars: Rogue One" (Dec. 16).

REMAKES

Disney keeps raiding its vaults to produce live-action versions of its classic tales with "The Jungle Book" (April 15) and "Pete's Dragon" (Aug. 12).

Director Paul Feig ("Bridesmaids") has assembled Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig and "Saturday Night Live's" Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones to don the proton packs for a new take on "Ghostbusters" (July 15).

Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt and Ethan Hawke saddle up for "The Magnificent Seven" (Sept. 23).

"Boardwalk Empire's" Jack Huston hops into the chariot for "Ben-Hur" (Aug. 12).

Alexander Skarsgard goes for a swing in "The Legend of Tarzan" (July 1).

And Sony rolls the dice with a new take on "Jumanji” (Dec. 25).

SUPERHEROES

The Avengers choose sides led by Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Captain America (Chris Evans) in "Captain America: Civil War" (May 6), while the Marvel Cinematic Universe grows more magical as Benedict Cumberbatch stars in "Doctor Strange" (Nov. 4).

DC re-enters the big-screen fray with "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (March 25) and the villain-centric "Suicide Squad" (Aug. 5).

And the X-Men universe continues to expand with "X-Men: Apocalypse" (May 27), Ryan Reynolds as the merc with a mouth in "Deadpool" (Feb. 12) and Channing Tatum as Remy LeBeau in "Gambit" (Oct. 7).

COMEDIES

Tina Fey heads to Afghanistan as a war correspondent in "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" (March 4).

America's wealthiest woman (Melissa McCarthy) tries to claw her way back to the top after a prison stint for insider trading in "The Boss" (April 8).

Kevin Hart continues his odd-couple pairings, this time with Dwayne Johnson, in "Central Intelligence" (June 17).

Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Alison Brie and Leslie Mann sleep around in "How to Be Single" (Feb. 12).

Garry Marshall ("Valentine's Day," "New Year's Eve") expands his holiday empire with "Mother's Day" (April 29), starring Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston and Kate Hudson.

A straitlaced lawyer (Zac Efron) drives his grandfather (Robert De Niro) to Florida for spring break in "Dirty Grandpa" (Jan. 22).

Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin conspire to knock off a bank in Zac Efron's "Going in Style" (May 6).

And Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and James Franco lend their voices to the adult animated tale "Sausage Party" (Aug. 12).

FOR FAMILIES

A rookie bunny cop (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) partners with a scam-artist fox (Jason Bateman) in Disney's animated "Zootopia" (March 4), and Dwayne Johnson lends his voice to Disney's animated "Moana" (Nov. 23).

Comedy superstars Louis C.K., Kevin Hart and Albert Brooks lend their voices to the animated "The Secret Life of Pets" (July 8).

No longer delivering babies, the proud birds now work for an online retailer in the animated "Storks" (Sept. 23), featuring the voices of Andy Samberg, Kelsey Grammer, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele.

Those spectacularly coiffed dolls come to life — at least animated life — with the vocal help of Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake in "Trolls" (Nov. 4).

Based on one of the biggest things to hit your phone since touch-tone dialing, "The Angry Birds Movie" (May 20) features the voices of Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader and Danny McBride.

And the video game characters get a big-screen origin story in the animated "Ratchet & Clank" (April 29).

TOP DIRECTORS

Alejandro G. Inarritu follows up his Oscar-winning work on "Birdman" by putting Leonardo DiCaprio through hell in "The Revenant" (Jan. 8).

Steven Spielberg teams with Disney for Roald Dahl's "The BFG" (July 1).

Tim Burton adapts "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" (Dec. 25).

Joel and Ethan Coen revisit Hollywood's Golden Age with "Hail, Caesar!" (Feb. 5), starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney and Channing Tatum.

Jodie Foster reunites Clooney and Julia Roberts in the hostage thriller "Money Monster" (May 13).

Ang Lee focuses on a group of war heroes during their "victory tour" of the U.S. in "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" (Nov. 11), starring Vin Diesel, Steve Martin and Chris Tucker.

Richard Linklater follows a team of hard-partying baseball players in "Everybody Wants Some" (April 15), which is being positioned as a "Dazed and Confused" for the 1980s.

Oliver Stone tackles the famed secret leaker (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in "Snowden" (May 13).

Terrence Malick leads Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and Natalie Portman through an L.A. story of overwhelming vice in "Knight of Cups" (March 4).

And "The Imitation Game's" Morten Tyldum helms "Passengers" (Dec. 21), a sci-fi tale starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt.

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com. On Twitter: @life_onthecouch