1/37 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Director: James Gunn Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, and Kurt Russell Plot: Set two months after the first film, the Guardians of the Galaxy travel throughout the cosmos and struggle to keep their newfound family together, while helping Peter Quill learn more about his true parentage. Release Date: 28 April 2017
2/37 T2: Trainspotting Director: Danny Boyle Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, and Robert Carlyle Plot: 20 years after the previous film, Mark Renton returns to Scotland to make amends with his friends, Daniel "Spud" Murphy and Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson, whilst avoiding the psychopathic Francis "Franco" Begbie, who has recently been released from prison. Release Date: 27 January 2017
3/37 Thor: Ragnarok Director: Taika Waititi Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson, Jeff Goldblum, Karl Urban, and Mark Ruffalo Plot: Story details are minimal as of now, but Thor's third return to screen has already been teased to feature a loose adaptation of the famous 'Planet Hulk' storyline. Release Date: 27 October 2017
4/37 Wonder Woman Director: Patty Jenkins Cast: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, and Connie Nielsen Plot: After leaving her all-female island, Wonder Woman discovers her full powers and true destiny while fighting alongside soldiers during World War I. Release Date: 2 June 2017
5/37 The Fate of the Furious Director: F. Gary Gray Cast: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren Plot: Now that Dom and Letty are on their honeymoon, Brian and Mia have retired from the game, and the rest of the crew has been exonerated, the globetrotting team has found a semblance of a normal life. But when a mysterious woman seduces Dom back into a world of crime that he can't seem to escape, the crew will face trials that will test them as never before. Release Date: 14 April 2017
6/37 Personal Shopper Director: Olivier Assayas Cast: Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger, and Nora von Waldstätten Plot: A young American in Paris works as a personal shopper for a celebrity. She seems to have the ability to communicate with spirits, like her recently deceased twin brother. Soon, she starts to receive ambiguous messages from an unknown source. Release Date: 17 March 2017
7/37 The Circle Director: James Ponsoldt Cast: Tom Hanks, Emma Watson, John Boyega, and Karen Gillan Plot: A young female tech worker takes a job at a powerful internet corporation, quickly rises up the company's ranks, and soon finds herself in a perilous situation, which that involves privacy, surveillance and freedom. She comes to learn that her decisions and actions will determine the future of humanity. Release Date: 28 April 2017
8/37 Silence Director: Martin Scorsese Cast: Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson, and Tadanobu Asano Plot: Two 17th-century Portuguese missionaries, Father Sebastian Rodrigues and Father Francisco Garupe, make a perilous journey to Japan to search for their missing teacher and mentor, Father Christavao Ferreira, and minister to the Christian villagers they encounter, who are forced to worship in secret. Release Date: 1 January 2017
9/37 Star Wars: Episode VIII (image from The Force Awakens) Director: Rian Johnson Cast: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Lupita Nyong'o Plot: No details yet, but it will continue directly on from Rey coming face-to-face with Luke at the end of The Force Awakens. Release Date: 15 December 2017
10/37 Weightless (image from Knight of Cups) Director: Terrence Malick Cast: Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Rooney Mara, Michael Fassbender, and Cate Blanchett Plot: Two intersecting love triangles. Obsession and betrayal set against the music scene in Austin, Texas. Release Date: Unknown
11/37 Logan Director: James Mangold Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, and Stephen Merchant Plot: In 2024, mutant births are severely in decline, and people aren't sure why. A government-type operation is turning mutant children into killing machines. From this, Logan emerges as a mentor to a mutant girl, who has two claws instead of his three. Release Date: 3 March 2017
12/37 Manchester by the Sea Director: Kenneth Lonergan Cast: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, and Lucas Hedges Plot: Lee Chandler is a brooding, irritable loner who works as a handyman for a Boston apartment block. One damp winter day he gets a call summoning him to his hometown, north of the city. His brother's heart has given out suddenly, and he's been named guardian to his 16-year-old nephew. As if losing his only sibling and doubts about raising a teenager weren't enough, his return to the past re-opens an unspeakable tragedy. Release Date: 13 January 2017
13/37 You Were Never Really Here (image from Her) Director: Lynne Ramsay Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Alessandro Nivola Plot: A war veteran's attempt to save a young girl from a sex trafficking ring goes horribly wrong. Release Date: Unknown
14/37 The LEGO Batman Movie Director: Chris McKay Cast: Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, and Ralph Fiennes Plot: There are big changes brewing in Gotham, but if Batman (Will Arnett) wants to save the city from the Joker's hostile takeover, he may have to drop the lone vigilante thing, try to work with others and maybe, just maybe, learn to lighten up. Release Date: 10 February 2017
15/37 The Beguiled (image from behind the scenes on Marie Antoinette) Director: Sofia Coppola Cast: Elle Fanning, Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell, Kirsten Dunst, and Angourie Rice Plot: A Union soldier is held captive in a Confederate girl boarding school, and begins to con himself to each of their hearts. Release Date: 23 June 2017
16/37 Wonderstruck (image from Far From Heaven) Director: Todd Haynes Cast: Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, and Amy Hargreaves Plot: The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection. Release Date: Unknown
17/37 Suburbicon (image of director George Clooney) Director: George Clooney Cast: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Josh Brolin, and Oscar Isaac Plot: A crime mystery set in the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, where the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and betrayal. Release Date: Uknown
18/37 Annihilation (image of director Alex Garland behind the scenes of Ex Machina) Director: Alex Garland Cast: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac Plot: A biologist's husband disappears. She thus puts her name forward for an expedition into an environmental disaster zone, but does not quite find what she's expecting. The expedition team is made up of the biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist, and a surveyor. Release Date: Unknown
19/37 Okja Director: Bong Joon-ho Cast: Ahn Seo-hyun, Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Paul Dano Plot: A young girl named Mija risks everything to prevent a powerful, multi-national company from kidnapping her best friend — a massive animal named Okja. Release Date: Unknown
20/37 Dunkirk Director: Christopher Nolan Cast: Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Harry Styles, and Mark Rylance Plot: Dunkirk opens as hundreds of thousands of British and Allied troops are surrounded by enemy forces. Trapped on the beach with their backs to the sea they face an impossible situation as the enemy closes in. Release Date: 21 July 2017
21/37 Mother (image of Darren Aronofsky) Director: Darren Aronofsky Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, and Ed Harris Plot: A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence. Release Date: Unknown
22/37 The Killing of a Sacred Deer (image from The Lobster) Director: Yorgos Lanthimos Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, and Alicia Silverstone Plot: A surgeon forms a familial bond with a sinister teenage boy, with disastrous results. Release Date: Unknown
23/37 Blade Runner 2049 Director: Denis Villeneuve Cast: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, and Jared Leto Plot: Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years. Release Date: 6 October 2017
24/37 A Monster Calls Director: J. A. Bayona Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones, Toby Kebbell, and Liam Neeson Plot: Conor O'Malley (Lewis MacDougall) is a young boy who tries to deal with the terminal illness of his mother (Felicity Jones) and the attacks by local school bully Harry. One night, Conor encounters a "monster" in the form of a giant humanoid yew tree who has come to tell him stories and soon begins to help Conor fix his unhappy life. Release Date: 1 January 2017
25/37 Lady Bird (image of director Greta Gerwig) Director: Greta Gerwig Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, and Lucas Hedges Plot: The adventures of a young woman living in Northern California for a year. Release Date: Unknown
26/37 The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara (image of director Steven Spielberg and star Mark Rylance) Director: Steven Spielberg Cast: Mark Rylance, Oscar Isaac Plot: The Kidnapping Of Edgardo Mortara recounts the story of a young Jewish boy in Bologna, Italy in 1858 who, having been secretly baptized, is forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents' struggle to free their son becomes part of a larger political battle that pits the Papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification. Release Date: Unknown
27/37 How to Talk to Girls at Parties Director: John Cameron Mitchell Cast: Elle Fanning, Ruth Wilson, and Nicole Kidman Plot: An alien touring the galaxy breaks away from her group and meets two young inhabitants of the most dangerous place in the universe: the London suburb of Croydon. Release Date: Unknown
28/37 Hacksaw Ridge Director: Mel Gibson Cast: Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, and Teresa Palmer Plot: WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people, and becomes the first man in American history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot. Release Date: 27 January 2017
29/37 Moonlight Director: Barry Jenkins Cast: Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Janelle Monáe, Naomie Harris and Mahershala Ali Plot: A young man deals with his dysfunctional home life and comes of age in Miami during the "War on Drugs" era. The story of his struggle to find himself is told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love while grappling with his own sexuality. Release Date: 17 February 2017
30/37 Get Out Director: Jordan Peele Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Catherine Keener, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, and Caleb Landry Jones Plot: A young black American man visits his white girlfriend's family estate where he learns that many of its residents, who are black, have gone missing, and he soon learns the horrible truth when another frantic African-American warns him to "get out". He soon learns this is easier said than done. Release Date: 17 March 2017
31/37 Elle Director: Paul Verhoeven Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Christian Berkel, and Anne Consigny Plot: The successful CEO of a video game company tries to learn the identity of the man who raped her. Release Date: 10 March 2017
32/37 The Dark Tower Director: Nikolaj Arcel Cast: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, and Tom Taylor Plot: Gunslinger Roland Deschain roams an Old West-like landscape in search of the dark tower, in the hopes that reaching it will preserve his dying world. Release Date: 28 July 2017
33/37 Baby Driver Director: Edgar Wright Cast: Ansel Elgort, Lily James, Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, and Kevin Spacey Plot: A young, music-loving expert getaway driver is coerced into a heist for a mob boss, which threatens his life, love and freedom. Release Date: 18 August 2017
34/37 La La Land Director: Damien Chazelle Cast: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, John Legend, and J.K. Simmons Plot: Sebastian and Mia are drawn together by their common desire to do what they love. But as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart. Release Date: 13 January
35/37 The Shape of Water (image of Guillermo del Toro behind the scenes of Crimson Peak) Director: Guillermo del Toro Cast: Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Octavia Spencer. Plot: An other-worldly story, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1963. Release Date: Unknown
36/37 Alien: Covenant (image of director Ridley Scott behind the scenes) Director: Ridley Scott Cast: Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Noomi Rapace, and Guy Pearce Plot: Headed toward a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew members of the colony ship Covenant discover what they believe to be an uncharted paradise, but it is actually a dark, menacing world in which the only inhabitant is the synthetic David, a survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition. Release Date: 19 May 2017
Coop1534 on April 24th, 2017 at 16:43 UTC »
Very glad this has been put to rest. People who only know him from this performance keep trying to attach his real life to the performance in some way.
Reduq on April 24th, 2017 at 16:36 UTC »
Jared Leto has more chance of dying due to sending used condoms to people and making enemies.
wmeredith on April 24th, 2017 at 15:59 UTC »
This was always a stupid rumor. Christopher Nolan has pissed on it as well, saying that to think such a thing is shorting Ledger and his mastery of his craft. He was ACTING crazy, because he's uh, an actor. It doesn't surprise me that he had a great time with it. It's such a hammy and out there role. What actor wouldn't jump at the chance to play such an iconic villain surrounded by such a great cast and crew?
EDIT: After Googling around for the source of my Nolan reference, I can't find one :( Perhaps I misremembered and it was another member of the cast. Nolan has spoken a lot about Ledger's death, but nothing about the Joker connection directly.
Either way though, as u/Crom_laughs_at_you said below, filming on TDK had wrapped for months and Ledger was already performing in another shoot for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009). (Maybe that role killed him, too.)
It's not as poetic, but it was probably an Ambien/pill addiction. /u/Maxtrt posted this a long time ago and it's a good rundown on the ambien death spiral.
Source