Upcoming Chris Pratt Movies You Need To Know About

The term "meteoric rise to stardom" gets thrown about quite a bit these days, and it has often been used in reference to Chris Pratt. While we'd agree that the actor's rise to A-list prominence has been as impressive as it's been unexpected, his rise is hardly an overnight success story. The truth is, he's spent much of his adult life playing charmingly affable characters on screens big (the Strangers With Candy movie, Jennifer's Body) and small (Everwood, Parks and Recreation). It wasn't until the early teens that filmmakers fully began to realize the leading man potential and undeniable talent buried underneath Pratt's boyish persona.

At that time, Pratt started garnering critical praise for a wave of impressive turns in prestige fare like Bennett Miller's Moneyball (opposite Brad Pitt), Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty (opposite Jessica Chastain), and Spike Jonze's Her (opposite Joaquin Phoenix). So while it didn't exactly happen overnight, Pratt's bonafide leading man status did come rather unexpectedly when he appeared as Peter Quill in Marvel's smash hit Guardians of the Galaxy. Once Pratt went Marvel, you were absolutely aware of his talents, whether you'd been keeping an eye on his career or not.

Since, it's been one hell of a roller coaster ride for Pratt, as his status as a Marvel hero, coupled with his starring role in the blockbuster Jurassic World franchise, have made him one of the most recognizable stars in the world. As you might expect, the future is looking pretty bright for the once and future Star-Lord. Here's a few upcoming Chris Pratt movies you need to know about.

Not surprisingly, the future will find Pratt continuing to make use of his full-blown action star status with a slate of high profile actioners. First up is a big budget spectacular that'll see him teaming up with The Lego Batman Movie director Chris McKay; it'll also find Pratt taking more creative control over a project by working for the first time behind the camera, as one of the film's executive producers. 

Titled The Tomorrow War, the flick unfolds in the not-too-distant future, and finds mankind fighting a losing battle against alien invaders. Desperate for an advantage in the fight, scientists have developed a technology that allows them to draft soldiers from the past to win the war for the future. The outcome of that future war will apparently hinge on one of those future soldiers' ability to confront the ghosts of his past. 

Yes, we are every bit as in the dark as to what that synopsis actually means as you are. But we can tell you that Pratt is set to play that singular soldier (who goes by Rex), and that he'll be surrounded in The Tomorrow War by an insanely gifted supporting cast including Betty Gilpin (Glow), Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck, The Handmaid's Tale), J.K. Simmons (Whiplash), Mary Lynn Rajskub (24, Punch-Drunk Love), Mike Mitchell (Parks and Recreation, Love), and many, many more. So yeah, if you weren't already hyped about The Tomorrow War, there's no time like the present (see what we did there?) to get on board. 

Like we mentioned, Pratt has scored a couple of T-rex sized hits in recent years by fronting the continuation of Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park franchise (now going by Jurassic World). Between 2015's Jurassic World and its 2018 sequel Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the franchise reboot films have pulled in a staggering $2.9 billion in worldwide ticket sales. With those numbers in mind (and given Fallen Kingdom's sequel-signaling ending), it'll come as no surprise that the folks at Universal Pictures are officially eyeing a trilogy. 

Even less surprising is that Pratt will indeed be reprising his role as dino do-gooder Owen Grady. And while we've yet to be absolutely blown away by either of the Jurassic World movies, we still can't help but be excited about the upcoming Jurassic World: Dominion. Why's that, you ask? Because not only will Dominion see the return of the bulk of Jurassic World's cast members, it'll also see the return of O.G. Jurassic Park players Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Joseph Mazello. 

Honestly, we haven't a clue as to how or why these characters are returning to the franchise. The truth is we really don't care, because the thought of seeing Jeff Goldblum again portraying the smarmy Dr. Ian Malcolm alone is enough to sell us on Jurassic World: Dominion. Universal had previously set a June 11, 2021 release date, but the flick's production is currently suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak; here's hoping it gets to theaters sooner rather than later. We're sure it will, uh, find a way.

Don't get us wrong, Jurassic World and future war flicks are exciting and all, but if there's one single film on the cinematic horizon for Pratt that legitimately cannot get here fast enough, it's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Oddly enough, it's also the film in Pratt's future oeuvre that's faced the most turmoil in getting to the screen. And yes, that's beyond shocking, as GotG Vol. 1 and GotG Vol. 2 are widely viewed as two of the best films in the entirety of the MCU. Between the two, they've also made Disney well north of $1.5 billion in worldwide ticket sales. 

Still, in the wake of unexpected controversy surrounding the franchise's writer/director in 2018, Disney bosses hit the panic button and shockingly parted ways with Guardians guru James Gunn. Thankfully, the controversy blew over. When it did, Disney still hadn't filled the director's chair on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Gunn was re-hired as the project's director. Unfortunately, by that time, the very in-demand filmmaker had already booked another gig as the writer and director of DC's second Suicide Squad flick, so production on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 had to to wait.

Gunn officially wrapped The Suicide Squad shoot in February 2020, just before the world went completely haywire. As of now, we're assuming post-production is underway on The Suicide Squad, so work on that film may not hold up Gunn's work on GotG Vol.3. As for the world, well, these strange times will likely push the film's production schedule and release date (which is currently uncertain), but we're just going to have to wait and see. 

Once Pratt wraps Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, he'll step directly into another gonzo comic book creation, Cowboy Ninja Viking. For those who have never heard of the property, it's based on an Image Comics series widely praised in comic book circles for its boldly original concept and its wacky, wicked sense of humor. If you're wondering what Cowboy Ninja Viking is about, we'd encourage you not to overthink things, as it really is about a character who utilizes the skill set of all three of those things to fight bad guys.

Okay, so it isn't exactly all that simple. The series is set some time in the future, where a mad scientist-type psychotherapist has developed a method of transforming patients with multiple personality disorders into highly trained counter-intelligence agents who use their different personalities on missions. They're referred to as "Triplets," and when the "Triplet" division eventually falls apart, the disturbed agents within are essentially turned into mercenaries for hire. That's where Duncan comes in, as he's the titular "Triplet" tasked with using his peculiar skill set to hunt down his old unit. 

Chris Pratt will, naturally, be stepping into the role of Duncan for Cowboy Ninja Viking's big screen adaptation, which is still in early stages of development. The film has, however, hired Pratt's first co-star for the project in Priyanka Chopra, who will reportedly play his love interest in the film. In other great Cowboy Ninja Viking news, the film is currently set to be directed by lauded TV vet Michelle MacLaren, who's worked on everything from The X-Files and Game of Thrones to Breaking Bad and Westworld, so the project is in very capable hands.