7 films which take place in 2017

Entering into the great unknown of 2017 can be a little frightening - a time of seemingly endless, largely apocalyptic possibilities all sitting neatly on the horizon like a flock of carrion vultures.

If you're wanting to feel better about how these coming months will unfold, it may actually be best to look away from what cinema's predicted over the preceding decades; because the prognosis isn't particularly good.

On the bright side, 2017 marks the year a now-grown Harry Potter and friends sent off their magical spawn to begin adventures anew at Hogwarts; opening up the option of simply spending the year hanging around King's Cross in the hope of spotting a gaggle of wizards passing by.

However, every other film pretty much spells doom for mankind: from civil wars, post-apocalyptic wastelands, evil sentient technology, and gladiator-style arenas being broadcast on television.

Here's exactly what Hollywood thought 2017 would bring.

In a move which may seem eerily prescient, the comic book adaptation pitched 2017 as the year of the Second American Civil War; in a widely-panned movie which re-jigged the plot of Casablanca to cast Pamela Anderson as the titular bounty hunter/club owner, whose joint is located in "the last free city" of America.

The place comes to harbour fugitive scientist Cora D, alongside freedom fighter (and Barb Wire's lost love) Axel Hood, as they attempt to flee to Canada so they can publicly unveil the plans for a bioweapon being developed by Cora D's superior.

Even less optimistic a viewpoint on 2017 is this straight-to-video sci-fi starring Melanie Griffith, set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland version of the US; in which an economic crisis has led to a decline in manufacturing, and a focus on recycling 20th century mechanical equipment.

Some civilised areas do still exist, though these have become increasingly bureaucratic and hypersexualised; sex between two humans has become so rare that a contract must be drawn beforehand, while advanced robotic technology has meanwhile offered androids to use as substitute wives.

One of these androids (or gynoids) is Cherry 2000, who leads her owner on a dangerous quest for repairs after she short-circuits during sex.

Though the majority of this Adam Sandler comedy takes place in the present day, his character's "universal TV remote" and its capabilities to control time and space do allow him to jump forward to 2017; though not intentionally, as a malfunctioning remote unveils a less-than-desirable future.

Though he may now be the CEO of his company and live in a futuristic pad controlled by fingerprint scanners, he wakes up alone; with his family now estranged and feeling the ill effects of his selfish decisions.

Elsewhere, 2017 apparently marks the year Britney Spears has her 23rd child with Kevin Federline and Michael Jackson sues his own clone; which is a great marker of how very 2006 this film really is.

Yet another dystopian look at the United States, Fortress sees 2017 America enacting a strict one-child policy on its people; leading a couple to attempt to cross the US-Canada border for their second pregnancy.

Unfortunately, the husband Brennick (Highlander's Christopher Lambert) is caught and sentenced to 31 years at the Fortress, a private maximum security prison in which inmates are implanted with devices capable of inducing severe pain or death if the wearer steps too far out of line.

The underground prison also boasts cells made out of laser walls, which gives Brennick just that little extra challenge when does eventually attempt to escape the institution.

The Harry Potter cinematic franchise (so far) actually ends in 2017, when an adult Harry Potter arrives to King's Cross Station alongside Ginny, Hermione, Ron, and Draco; all proudly watching their children carted off onto the Hogwarts Express to begin their own magical adventures.

The Running Man's own 2017 dystopia sees a totalitarian police state, with a strict ban on all cultural materials; meaning there's no more Marvel movies, no series 7 of Game of Thrones, and no more Dan Brown thrillers. RIP art.

All the brain-washed populace are instead allowed to indulge in are game shows which force convicted criminals to fight each other gladiator-style; with Arnold Schwarzenegger's Ben Richards first framed and then eventually tricked into participating in the deadly arena.

The fifth instalment of the Terminator franchise only managed to confuse the timeline further, splitting events up between 2029, 1984, and 2017; ret-conning the moment Skynet becomes self aware by shifting the year from 1997 to 2017.

Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) travel together to 2017 in an attempt to stop Skynet, learning that the sinister organisation currently goes by the name "Genisys", and is about to unveil a global operating system.