Four movies we're looking forward to in 2017

It's going to be a huge year for great movies next year, with many in production right now in time for 2017 release. 

Here are four that we are most excited about. Surely most have their 2017 calendars now, so pop some of these on there right now so the anticipation can grow.

1. Emojimovie

When there's a character called Poop Daddy, you know this is one movie that's an absolute must-see. Due to hit cinemas in August 2017, there's still a bit of a wait ahead, but we will be lining up when the time comes, for an imaginative adventure which unlocks the secret worlds in our smartphones.

The official Emojimovie synopsis goes like this:

'Hidden within the messaging app is Textopolis, a bustling city where all your favorite emojis live, hoping to be selected by the phone's user. In this world, each emoji has only one facial expression – except for Gene (T.J. Miller), an exuberant emoji who was born without a filter and is bursting with multiple expressions. 

Determined to become "normal" like the other emojis, Gene enlists the help of his handy best friend Hi-5 (James Corden) and the notorious code breaker emoji Jailbreak (Ilana Glazer). Together, they embark on an epic "app-venture" through the apps on the phone, each its own wild and fun world, to find the Code that will fix Gene. But when a greater danger threatens the phone, the fate of all emojis depends on these three unlikely friends who must save their world before it's deleted forever.'

2. Toy Story 4

Photo: Disney/Pixar

Picking up where Toy Story 3 ended, the next installment in this phenomenally popular movie franchise is due in cinemas on June 16. 

Toy Story 4 - directed by the studio's chief creative officer, John Lasseter, who directed the first two Toy Story movies - is reportedly a love story that begins at the moment when Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the series' toy chest of characters are handed down to a little girl named Bonnie in the third film.

With the first three films grossing more than $1.3 billion worldwide, the fourth film promises to bring more riches to Disney Pixar, but Lasseter insists it's not about that. 

"A lot of people in the industry view us doing sequels as being for the business of it, but for us it's pure passion," he says. "We only make sequels when we have a story that's as good as or better than the original. We don't just, because of the success of a film, automatically say we're going to do a sequel and then figure out what we're going to do."

Bring it on, we say.

3. Beauty and the Beast

Emma Watson is beloved all the world over and the news that she was to bring her acting expertise to the live-action remake of Disney's Beauty and the Beast brought joy to us all.

We gushed over the spectacular still photographs released in November and wrung our hands over a hastily-produced and disappointing trailer. Still, nothing can curb our enthusiasm for this movie, which will be released in Australian cinemas on March 23, 2017. 

We can hardly wait to see just how actual humans have been transformed into clocks and candlesticks as we walk through Belle's adventures, in the castle that's alive. And then there's that tricky beast...

4. Star Wars: Episode VIII

When fans were advised that the third instalment in Disney Star wars trilogy was being delayed by seven months, from May to mid-December 2017, it set the internet abuzz with speculation as to why.

Some believe it's to corner the lucrative holiday season market, however most movie and fan sites seem to accept that the delay is because the script, written by the film's director Rian Johnson (Looper), is being partly rewritten.

It's a long wait, folks, but by all accounts it will be worth it. Keep an eye on Rian Johnson's tumblr for sneak peeks at the progress.