David Farnor | On 23, Dec 2016

With the new year comes a new wave of Amazon original productions – and the online retailer’s studio arm is showing no signs of slowing down. After the premiere of The Man in the High Castle Season 2 in December, Prime Video is still enjoying weekly doses of The Grand Tour every Friday, but it’s the weekly premiere of new episodes of Black Sails that really holds promise, as the piratical programme reaches its fourth and final season.

Add in the first full season of Sneaky Pete, following last year’s pilot, Christina Ricci’s Zelda Fitzgerald biopic and exclusive US acquisition Falling Water and you have diverse month that focuses on quality over quantity – and that’s without mentioning charming kids’ series Just Add Magic, which returns for a second serving.

Here’s what’s coming soon to Amazon Prime Video in January 2017:

The Five-Year Engagement – 1st January

Jason Segel and Emily Blunt generate charming sparks in Nicholas Stoller’s comedy, about a couple whose relationship struggles to make the jump from dating to getting hitched. Funny, realistic and unafraid of tackling honest obstacles, this is a delightful bit of cinema romance. Alison Brie’s impression of Elmo steals the whole show.

Embrace of the Serpent – 10th January

In the early 1900s, a young shaman (Nilbio Torres) in the Colombian Amazon helps a sick German explorer (Jan Bijvoet) and his local guide (Miguel Dionisio Ramos) search for a rare healing plant. The result is a delirium-inducing drive into the dark heart of nature that feels like little else we’ve seen before. Read our full review.

Sneaky Pete – 13th January

Giovanni Ribisi plays Marius, a con man who gets out of prison only to find himself hunted by the vicious gangster he once robbed. With nowhere else to turn, he takes cover from his past by assuming the identity of his cellmate, Pete, and then “reunites” with Pete’s estranged family, who don’t realise he’s not their long-lost loved one. But they have secrets and lies of their own that threaten to drag Marius into a world every bit as dangerous as the one he’s trying to escape.

Just Add Magic: Season 2 – 13th January

Amazon’s original live-action kids series aimed at families and children aged 6 through 11 is based on Cindy Callaghan’s book of the same name. It sees three girls – Kelly, Darbie and Hannah – discover an old recipe book belonging to Kelly’s grandma. When a “Shut-Em-Up Shortcake” causes her brother to lose his voice, though, they realise it’s more Merlin than Mary Berry. “A charming treat that viewers of all ages can savour,” we wrote in our review of Season 1, describing it has “sweet, folding in sincere lessons about friendship, honesty and teamwork, but never sickly”.

Falling Water – 15th January

A provocative character-driven drama set against a visually stunning backdrop, Falling Water tells the story of three seemingly unrelated people, who slowly realise that they are dreaming separate parts of a single common dream. Each is on a mysterious and highly personal quest that can only be found in their subconscious: one is searching for his missing girlfriend, one is searching for a lost child and one is looking to cure his catatonic mother. However, the more they use the dream world as a tool to advance their hidden agendas, they begin to realise that their visions are trying to tell them something else and that their very real lives are at stake.

The show stars David Ajala (The Dark Knight), Lizzie Brocheré (The Wedding Song) and Will Yun Lee (The Wolverine).

Ted – 26th January

Mark Wahlberg and a foul-mouthed bear star in Seth’s MacFarlane furry comedy.

Z: The Beginning of Everything – 27th January

Adultery. Alcoholism. Christine Ricci. Amazon’s new original series is a nifty combination of TV box set and Hollywood biopic: a fictionalised drama about the life of Zelda Fitzgerald, the brilliant, beautiful and talented Southern Belle, who became the wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald, not to mention the original flapper and icon of the wild, flamboyant, Jazz Age in the 20s.

Black Sails: Season 4 – 30th January

The last run of the Starz original series, which is a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, follows a dramatic Season 3, which set the stage for the rise of John Silver (Luke Arnold) and the potential fall of the pirate way. The 10-episode climax will bring the high seas drama to a heroic conclusion, as our seafaring outlaws prepare for war in the West Indies.

 

Other new releases coming soon on Amazon Prime Video in January 2017:

1st January
American Reunion
A Fantastic Fear of Everything
Storage 24

5th January
Vikings: Season 4, Episode 16

6th January
The Grand Tour Episode 9

12th January
Vikings: Season 4, Episode 17

13th January
The Grand Tour Episode 10

17th January
Lucifer: Season 2, Episode 11

19th January
Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax
Vikings: Season 4, Episode 18

20th January
Eye in the Sky
The Grand Tour Episode 11
Limitless
Gimme Danger

22nd January
Bob the Builder: Season 1, 15 and 16
Stick Man

24th January
Lucifer: Season 2, Episode 12

26th January
Robinson Crusoe
Vikings: Season 4, Episode 19

27th January
The Grand Tour Episode 12

31st January
The Lucky One

Add to Watchlist