2015 has not gotten off to a good start for science fiction cinema: the Wachowskis’ long-anticipated space opera Jupiter Ascending crashed and burned like a heavily damaged Star Destroyer. That doesn’t bode well for original sci-fi filmmaking in the long run — at least the kind that costs hundreds of millions of dollars — but that’s not necessarily a sign of things to come this year (and indie release Predestination was a small gem if you could track it down).

The next 11 months have more original films on the way in the shape of Chappie, Ex Machina, and Tomorrowland, while blockbuster sequels like Avengers: Age of Ultron and Mad Max: Fury Road look as promising as they could possibly be. And let’s not forget the 800-pound Wookiee in the room — that minor movie coming from J.J. Abrams at the end of the year, the name of which escapes me at the moment.

There is a lot of potentially great sci-fi entertainment coming our way this year, both from the bigger studios and indie distributors (a tip of the hat here to High Rise, Air, and Z for Zachariah, all three of which we cannot wait to see), so let’s take a look at the dozen or so major entries on tap for the rest of 2015 — and hope that at least a handful of them can provide us with the sense of wonder and awe that the best of the genre delivers.

Chappie (March 6, 2015)

Despite the crushing disappointment that was Elysium, we still remain very interested in the work of writer/director Neill Blomkamp. After all, District 9 remains a smashing debut in our book and everyone is allowed a stumble or a sophomore slump. Chappie — which is about an incredibly advanced robot, programmed to think and feel, who becomes the crucial pawn in a struggle between good and evil human forces — takes Blomkamp back to his South African roots and hopefully finds him reigning in the visual overload and brutal editing that sunk Elysium.