We have a few release date announcements to attend to this evening. Briefly:

Ride Along 2 – Universal has dated the action-comedy sequel for January 15, 2016, almost exactly two years after the release of the first film. Ice Cube and Kevin Hart star.

– Universal has dated the action-comedy sequel for January 15, 2016, almost exactly two years after the release of the first film. and star. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2 – Fox Searchlight has set a March 6, 2015 release date for this unlikely follow-up. The entire original cast, including Judi Dench , Bill Nighy , and Maggie Smith , return.

– Fox Searchlight has set a March 6, 2015 release date for this unlikely follow-up. The entire original cast, including , , and , return. What If – Previously titled The F Word , this excellent relationship comedy starring Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan will arrive on August 1, 2014.

– Previously titled , this excellent relationship comedy starring and will arrive on August 1, 2014. Tracks – The Weinstein Company has dated the Mia Wasikowska -fronted adventure drama for May 23, 2014.

– The Weinstein Company has dated the -fronted adventure drama for May 23, 2014. Passengers – This promising sci-fi thriller set to star Keanu Reeves and Rachel McAdams was dated for April 3, 2015, but The Weinstein Company has unfortunately pulled it off the schedule.

Hit the jump for more on the aforementioned films.

After the Tim Story-directed action-comedy Ride Along opened earlier this year to strong box office results, Universal has set a January 15, 2016 release date for the sequel. Its only competition on that date is currently the animated follow-up The Nut Job 2. Plot details for Ride Along 2 are unknown at this point, but the film will presumably continue the exploits of Ice Cube’s veteran cop and his rookie brother-in-law, played by Kevin Hart.

Director John Madden’s comedic drama follow-up The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2 will arrive in theaters on March 6, 2015. It will open opposite Matthew Vaughn’s action-thriller comic book adaptation The Secret Service, so it should serve as solid counterprogramming. The entire original cast returns, joined by newcomers Richard Gere, David Strathairn, and Tamsin Greig, as the story revolves around the now-burgeoning titular establishment and the lives that the characters have forged in India, all the while Dev Patel’s character prepares for his dream wedding.

CBS Films has announced a title change and a release date for Goon director Michael Dowse’s new film What If, previously titled The F Word. The film will open in limited release on August 1st, opposite considerable competition by way of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and the James Brown biopic Get on Up. The comedy stars Daniel Radcliffe as a young man who strikes up a close relationship with a girl (Zoe Kazan) who has a boyfriend. The pic was one of my favorites from the Toronto International Film Festival, and it’s a smart and wickedly funny romantic comedy that’s actually in reality instead of fantasy. Adam Driver and Rafe Spall also star. Read Matt’s review here.

Tracks is another film that screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and it tells the true story of Robyn Davidson (played by Mia Wasikowska), who in 1975 decided to walk from Alice Springs in Central Australia all the way to the Indian Ocean, a distance of approximately 1,700 miles. The pic will open this coming May 23rd in limited release, opposite the Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore romantic comedy Blended and X-Men: Days of Future Past. Read Matt’s review here.

Finally, and unfortunately, The Weinstein Company has pulled the promising sci-fi pic Passengers from its release schedule. Initially slated for April 3, 2015, the story takes place on a spacecraft that is transporting thousands of people to a distant colony. A malfunction in one of its sleep chambers causes a single passenger to awake 90 years before everyone else, and faced with the prospect of growing old and dying alone, he decides to wake up a second passenger. Keanu Reeves and Rachel McAdams were set to star with Game of Thrones director Brian Kirk taking the helm, and the screenplay by Jon Spaihts (Prometheus) has earned high praise. Hopefully this doesn’t mean the project is totally dead.