Last Updated on August 3, 2021
It's another year, which means a cavalcade of moving pictures are upon us! While I'd say the standard "looks like another great year for movies" line, the truth is it's just another year of movies; whether they're great or not is yet to be known, but the fun is in finding out for ourselves. Surely, we'll have some gems, some duds and some surprises, both good and bad. Any way you slice it, there's a laundry list of films on the way and with so many to choose from, we narrowed down the ones we're most excited/interested/intrigued about more so than the others. Certainly there will be other films not on this list that will shine this year and there's a good chance that some of the ones on this list may fall flat. However, at this moment in time, these are the ones we're most anticipating, for a myriad of reasons, be it pure curiosity or genuine hype. Of course, all titles are subject to date shifts and realistically many will shuffle, sometimes just a week or two, so keep that in mind.
Take a look and let us know what you're excited for in 2020!
And if you're curious about what else is coming out, have no fear, as our annual Studio Previews will start rolling out this week so you can see EVERYTHING that's on the way in 2020.
Bill and Ted Face The Music (August 21st)
Here's a movie I never in a million years actually thought would happen. After twenty-nine years, Bill S. Preston, Esq., and Ted Theodore Logan are finally back! With Keanu Reeves on the comeback trail in the wake of JOHN WICK, this seems like the ideal time to bring the guys back and introduce them to a younger generation of fans. Notably, franchise favorite William Sadler is back as Death ("they Melvined me") and now the fellas have their (well-cast) daughters in tow, READY OR NOT's Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine. – Chris Bumbray
Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (February 7th)
DEAD PIGS director Cathy Yan takes on the DC bad girls comic adaptation BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN, which continues the story of Harley Quinn (once again played by Margot Robbie), post-SUICIDE SQUAD, as she teams up with some fellow ass-kicking ladies to protect a young girl from a vicious crime lord. The ass-kicking ladies are Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), The Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) and the vicious crime Lord is the infamous Black Mask (Ewan McGregor). So far, the trailers have made this look like an attitude-filled action romp with all the wackiness and bravado you'd expect to see from an all-girl gang of comic-book anti-heroes. The question is, will it deliver on that premise or end up being a try-hard eye-roll? As the first comic-book film of the year, it has a lot to prove right out of the gate. – Paul Shirey
Black Widow (May 1st)
After years of promises, Scarlett Johansson finally gets a solo spin-off movie for BLACK WIDOW, and it's certainly the closest thing Marvel has this year to a sure-fire hit, with Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz and David Harbour co-starring as a kind of Russian-styled AVENGERS from her days as an assasin. I can't imagine any fans of the MCU not being excited for this. – Chris Bumbray
Coming 2 America (December 18th)
It's been 32 years since the original COMING TO AMERICA hit theaters, leaving an indelible mark on the comedy genre and serving as a staple in star Eddie Murphy's film resume. Now, Murphy returns to the character of Akeem, heir to the throne of Zamunda, who finds out he has a long-lost son living in America, whom he must reconnect with as the next in line for the throne. As a huge fan of the highly-quotable original, I'm more than happy to see Murphy return to this role, especially with his DOLEMITE IS MY NAME director, Craig Brewer, at the helm and co-stars Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, John Amos returning. Plus, Wesley Snipes is playing the villain! The deck is stacked on this one. – Paul Shirey
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (September 11th)
Here's the thing – a few years ago I would have been psyched for a third CONJURING movie. But, the reason I love the first two is mostly due to James Wan, and with him off doing other things this third installment feels more like another one of the spin-offs. I truly think WB has milked this franchise to death, and bringing Ed and Lorraine Warren into the last ANNABELLE movie only dillutes the brand more. But, hopefully this one will prove me wrong. – Chris Bumbray
Deep Water (November 13th)
It's been 18 years since director Adrian Lyne was behind the camera and now he returns and goes right back to the theme that made him famous; infidelity. Helming such hits as FATAL ATTRACTION, INDECENT PROPOSAL, UNFAITHFUL and LOLITA (as well as JACOB'S LADDER and FLASHDANCE), Lyne has put together a great cast to unravel his latest film, DEEP WATER, which follows a man (Ben Affleck) who allows his wife (Ana De Armas) to have extramarital affairs in order to stave off a divorce. However, when her lovers start turning up dead, he becomes the prime suspect. Sounds like a slice of steamy thriller heaven to me and the perfect material to welcome Lyne back to doing what he does best. – Paul Shirey
Dune (December 18th)
Denis Villeneuve has some big balls, that's for sure. Not only was he willing to risk the wrath of movie fans everywhere by doing BLADE RUNNER 2049 (incidently crafting the perfect follow-up to the original) but now he's tackling DUNE, the very same project that almost sank David Lynch's career back in 1984. It's a name synonymous with big-budget flop, but Villeneuve is not letting that dissaude him, assembling a top-notch cast for his megabudget adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel. Timothee Chalamet is ideally cast as Paul Atreides, with Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem, Zendaya and many more helping bring this epic to life. My gut feeling is that it'll either be a masterpiece or a (fascinating) disaster – there's no in-between. – Chris Bumbray
The Eternals (November 6th)
After closing out 2019 with the highest-grossing film of all time (AVENGERS: ENDGAME) and topping it off with the highest-grossing Spider-Man film of all time (SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME), all eyes are on Marvel to see what they do for Act 2, now that The Infinity Saga is complete. With The Avengers' fate unclear after ENDGAME and a BLACK WIDOW film that takes place before those events hitting earlier in the year, THE ETERNALS will presumably give us a peek at what's next in store for the MCU. However, THE ETERNALS, which focuses on a super-powered group of beings that span time and space, who knows where that will land? With a cast that includes Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington, Kumail Nanjiani, Gemma Chan and Brian Tyree Henry there's plenty of mystery and intrigue surrounding this project to generate excitement, which will surely be compounded when we get a proper look at what it really has to offer. – Paul Shirey
Fast & Furious 9 (May 22nd)
It's hard to believe, but when the FAST & FURIOUS franchise started, Vin Diesel and his crew were in trouble for hijacking truckloads of DVD players, but now they routinely save the world from terrorists in huge, budget-busting adventures. Justin Lin, the director who put the franchise into high gear, returns although it seems like HOBBS & SHAW stars Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham will be sitting this one out. No matter, Vin Diesel is back with Michelle Rodgriguez, Tyrese, Ludacris, Jordana Brewster and even Charlize Theron, returning as the villainous Cipher. That said, the villains of one installment usually become FAMILY in subsequent ones, so don't be surprised if Charlize ends up a hero this time. – Chris Bumbray
Free Guy (July 3rd)
At a time when video games are as commonplace at movies and television, it only makes sense that the genre would expand into something that serves as both adventure, comedy and satire of it all at once. Enter FREE GUY, which takes the standard unaware NPC character in a free-world game and puts him in place as one of the players on the map. Think of it as THE LEGO MOVIE meets Fortnite (or, Grand Theft Auto, if you prefer) and swap in Ryan Reynolds for the lead. Directed by REAL STEEL, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM and Stranger Things' Shawn Levy, FREE GUY looks like a blast of a good time and checks all the blocks in the mass appeal checklist. This should be fun. – Paul Shirey
The Gentleman (January 24th)
Guy Ritchie returns to his roots with this London-set gangster comedy, starring Matthew McConaughey as a marijuana kingpin dealing with rivals at every turn. Charlie Hunnam, Colin Farrell, Michelle Dockery, a cast-against type Henry Golding and a potentially scene-stealing Hugh Grant also star in what's being called a deliberate call-back to SNATCH. I can't wait. – Chris Bumbray
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (July 10th)
After a failed relaunch attempt in 2016 with an all-female cast, GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE is the next attempt to charge the proton pack back up and introduce a new generation of fans to the lore that is Ghostbusters. The only question now is; does anybody want it? Jason Reitman takes the reins from his father, Ivan Reitman, the director of the 1984 original (and it's sequel), and introduces a new cast, this time much younger, who will uncover their family legacy and (hopefully) reignite the "Who Ya Gonna Call?" spirit of the first film. Finn Wolfhard and Mckenna Grace are joined by Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon with surviving castmembers Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts expected to pop in, which shows they're definitely going all in with this latest effort. Here's to hoping this one catches on. If it doesn't, then it's proof positive that this franchise is best left in the afterlife. – Paul Shirey
Godzilla vs. Kong (November 20th)
Count me as one of the (seemingly few) people who liked GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS. While a financial flop, a sequel was already shooting teaming the titular lizard with King Kong (making it a sequel to both GODZILLA and SKULL ISLAND), and with Adam Wingard directing it should hopefully give the franchise new life. Alexander Skarsgard is the new lead, with Millie Bobby Brown, Zhang Ziyi and Kyle Chandler returning from the last one. – Chris Bumbray
Halloween Kills (October 16th)
After successfully (and brutally) re-launching John Carpenter's long-running franchise with an all-new direct sequel to the original film, set some 40 years later, director David Gordon Green and screenwriter Danny McBride (yes, that Danny McBride) are charting the path for the next Michael Myers killing spree with a planned trilogy. Next up is HALLOWEEN KILLS, the middle-chapter of their proposed saga (with HALLOWEEN ENDS expected next year), once again bringing back franchise lead Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode, the babysitter-turned-Sarah-Conner who is obsessed and haunted by the masked murderer. This time, Laurie is reunited with Tommy Doyle (played by Anthony Michael Hall), the boy she was watching when Myers first struck four decades prior, as well as her daughter, played by Judy Greer. With HALLOWEEN ENDS looming on the horizon, it's more intriguing to think about which protagonist will die moreso than Myers, as you can't have Halloween without him. Better watch out if your last name is Strode! – Paul Shirey
The King’s Man (September 18th)
It feels like a miracle that this movie exists. With Fox having been bought-out by Disney, the days of them doing hard-R rated tentpole movies seems like a thing of the past, and clearly someone at Fox had a soft spot for Matthew Vaughn, pushing this through the production pipeline before the merger happened. Not only is it R, but it's also a period picture, tackling the early days of the KINGSMEN duriing WWI, with Ralph Fiennes starring in a role that should do for him what the first one did for Colin Firth. – Chris Bumbray
Last Night in Soho (September 25th)
Edgar Wright directing a horror crime thriller? I mean, honestly, I'd buy tickets now if I could. Starring Anya Taylor-Joy as a fashion designer who's able to mysteriously travel to 1960s London, where things are not quite as they seem, little more is known about this time-traveling slice of horror-themed nostalgia, but it also stars Matt Smith and Terrence Stamp, so there's plenty to be excited about. Wright has continued to deliver one great film after another, crossing genres or mixing them up and LAST NIGHT IN SOHO will hopefully be another notch on that belt. – Paul Shirey
Malignant (August 14)
While another CONJURING is on the way, I'm a lot more psyched to see MALIGNANT, because that's the horror movie James Wan opted to direct instead. Not much is known about this low-profile project, but Wan has a knack for launching franchises so I'm sure it'll be a movie we'll all be talking about in the year ahead. – Chris Bumbray
The Many Saints of Newark (September 25th)
It's been 13 years since HBO's The Soprano's closed its doors, much to the anger of fans everywhere. Sadly, star James Gandolfini died before he could ever return as the infamous Tony Soprano, but series creator David Chase has concocted a prequel, helmed by Alan Taylor, which tells the early legacy of Tony Soprano (played by Gandolfini's son, Michael) and brings in a nice batch of heavy hitters to fill out the cast of this gangster tome, including Jon Bernthal, Ray Liotta, Corey Stoll, Leslie Odom Jr., Alessandro Nivola and Vera Farmiga. Fans of hardcore gangster dramas should no doubt find something to get excited for here, which could potentially be a series of films depending on how well this one does. After all, we already know how Tony's saga ends…or do we? – Paul Shirey
Mulan (March 27th)
Along with BLACK WIDOW, MULAN seems like one of the few genuine locks Disney has on the docket this year after a record breaking 2019. Liu Yifei stars as the title character in this big budget remake of the animated classic, with Chinese superstars Donnie Yen, Gong Li and Jet Li backing her up, alongside Jason Scott Lee in his highest profile part in years. It should be a solid Wuxia film, although it remains to be seen how this genre comes across via an American studio film. – Chris Bumbray
No Time To Die (April 10th)
Daniel Craig's tenure as Bond, James Bond has been a bit tumultuous, delivering a great 007 flick and then a lackluster one, rinse, repeat. Now, we're hopefully back at the "great" point, this time with True Detective director Cary Joji Fukunaga at the helm, replacing Danny Boyle after "creative differences". The new outing, NO TIME TO DIE (also Craig's last in the role), finds Bond in retirement, but pulled back in to battle a new threat in the form of the deformed villain Safin, as played by Rami Malek. Joining Bond in this adventure is his replacement 007, played by Lashana Lynch, as well as Ana De Armas to round out the Bond Girls. Returning players include Ralph Fiennes as M, Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, Léa Seydoux as Madeleine Swann, Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter and Christoph Waltz as Blofeld. Here's to hoping Craig ends his Bond run with a bang! – Paul Shirey
A Quiet Place Part II (March 20th)
A QUIET PLACE was one of those genuine sleeper hits that came along and absolutely cleaned up at the box office. It made so much money that a follow-up was given, although to be honest I'm not sure the premise sustains it. Nevertheless, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski (as writer/director) are back, and I'm hoping this is another chilling late winter surprise. – Chris Bumbray
Samaritan (December 11th)
With comic book movies hitting from Marvel and DC left and right, it's nice to know there's something new in the genre on the way, this time from the Italian Stallion himself, Sylvester Stallone, playing a superhero in hiding after an epic battle 20 years prior. A young boy finds him and, well, presumably he comes out of hiding to whup some ass. The film could turn out to be anything, but it's notable that Julius Avery is directing, who served up a bloody good time with 2018's OVERLORD, so there's some real potential here. We'll just have to wait until more is revealed to know for sure, but it's absolutely on the radar. – Paul Shirey
Tenet (July 17th)
Christopher Nolan's going to turn John David Washington into the next action legend with his big-budget thriller TENET, co-starring Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Michael Caine and Kenneth Branagh. Not much is known about the premise, although based on the trailer spycraft and time travel are involved. Here's hoping this is Nolan's James Bond movie. – Chris Bumbray
The Tomorrow War (December 25th)
Chris Pratt has struggled a bit to find post-GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY success on the big screen, despite some decent outings with THE LEGO MOVIE and JURASSIC WORLD franchises, which perform intermittently, both financially and critically. That said, he's still got that charm and charisma that keeps us interested and I'm always pulling for him to keep the movie train chugging along. I mean, this is Andy Dwyer we're talking about here. Now, he's jumping into the action/sci-fi realm again, this time with THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE director Chris McKay and teaming up with stars J.K. Simmons, Yvonne Strahovski and Betty Gilpin in the story of a man fighting in a future war where the "fate of humanity rests in his ability to confront his past." Sounds interesting and I'm curious to see what McKay delivers with a live-action film. With a Christmas Day release it seems like the studio has some faith in this as well, so here's to hoping we have something cool to look forward to. – Paul Shirey
Top Gun: Maverick (June 26th)
I never thought I'd live to see the day, but Tom Cruise is back in the role that made him a household name, Maverick! It took thirty four years but we're finally getting a TOP GUN sequel, courtesy of Joseph Kosinski, who directed Cruise in OBLIVION. While it's a tragedy Tony Scott never lived to make this, the fact that we're getting another TOP GUN is still a movie miracle, making this my most anticipated film of the year. Here's hoping they find room for Berlin's "Take My Breath Away." – Chris Bumbray
Venom 2 (October 2nd)
Yes, yes, I know, you hated VENOM, right? Well, maybe not. Maybe you kinda of liked it. Maybe you liked a lot and hated a lot. Either way, VENOM did one thing right; it made money. Beyond that, even if you hated the movie, it's likely that you had fun with Tom Hardy's performance and his relationship with the symbiote and, more than that, really dug that post credits scene with Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady, no? Indeed, the prospect of seeing Venom vs. Carnage is more than enough to get at least a little excited about, but the bigger sell here is the director; Andy Serkis. A completely unexpected choice and one that inspires some genuine interest. After all, Serkis is a pioneer of performance capture and his last foray into directing was the criminally underrated uber dark take on The Jungle Book, MOWGLI: LEGEND OF THE JUNGLE. With Serkis involved, Hardy back as Venom and Woody Harrelson playing an over-the-top serial killer supervillain, I can't help but be massively intrigued by the possibilities of this one. – Paul Shirey
West Side Story (December 18th)
While CATS is probably enough to make some doubt the so-called resurgence of movie musicals, it's undeniably exciting that Steven Spielberg is, at last, getting to direct his own big-screen musical, adapting WEST SIDE STORY. My only caveat is that Robert Wise's original version of the play holds up pretty well, so I'm not entirely sure with Spielberg will bring to it. Nevertheless, color me curious. – Chris Bumbray
The Witches (October 9th)
In 1990 a creepy little film came out called THE WITCHES, based on the children's book by author Roald Dahl, directed by DON'T LOOK NOW's Nicolas Roeg and starring a decidedly freaky-looking Angelica Huston as the leader of a coven of witches who square off against a curious young boy. Oh, and with make-up effects by the Jim Henson Company. Fast forward to 2020 and famed director Robert Zemeckis is tossing his hat into the ring for a new adaptation, this time starring Anne Hathaway as the Grand High Witch with a supporting cast that includes Chris Rock, Octavia Spencer and Stanley Tucci. As a huge fan of the terrifying 1990 film, I can't wait to see how Zemeckis tackles this one. Will it be as unintentionally (or intentionally) frightening? Will the effects be as creepy-cool as Jim Henson's? Will it be a complete and utter misstep that gets it all wrong? Will it be 2020's CATS? I need answers to these questions… – Paul Shirey
Without Remorse (September 18th)
Michael B. Jordan's getting a shot at a really cool potential franchise with this adaptation of Tom Clancy's WITHOUT REMORSE, introducing the character John Clark back to the big screen. Clark was previously played by Willem Dafoe in CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, while Liev Schreiber played him in THE SUM OF ALL FEARS (a movie – incidenty – I'm in for a spit second). SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO's Stefano Sollima directs from a script by the one and only Taylor Sheridan, which makes this one of the year's handful of truly must-see action movies. Hopefully they get this one right as it's the kind of character that could take Jordan to that next level of international superstardom. – Chris Bumbray
Wonder Woman 1984 (June 5th)
After the box office smash that was 2017's WONDER WOMAN, stars Gal Gadot and Chris Pine are reunited for another adventure with the Amazon Princess, once again led by director Patty Jenkins, who jumps the crew from WWI all the way to the 80s in WONDER WOMAN 1984. This time out, Wonder Woman faces two threats; the conniving villain Max Lord (played by The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal) and the friend-turned-villainess, Cheetah (Kristen Wiig). While the first film captured the true spirit of Wonder Woman's character, a strong warrior that leads from the heart and a sense of duty, it will be interesting to see how she's developed up to this point and prior to her somewhat lackluster adventure in JUSTICE LEAGUE. A return to Themyscira is also in the cards, which is sure to please fans of the Amazon scenes in the last film and the action looks just as big and bombastic in the 80s as well. Here's to hoping Wonder Woman can continue to help lead DC into the next era of superhero films for that growing universe without anymore missteps. – Paul Shirey
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