No Star Wars? No Avengers? No problem! After the massive movie year that was 2019, one might assume 2020 would be underwhelming. To that we say…James Bond. Ghostbusters. Christopher Nolan. Godzilla vs. King Kong. Wonder Woman. Edgar Wright. Bill and Ted. Dune. Need we go on?
Actually, we do because there are a lot of films being released this year. Below, you can read about 80+ sci-fi, horror, and fantasy films scheduled for 2020 that you probably want to know about. Most to get excited for, others to potentially avoid, but either way, it’s shaping up to be a surprising, fun year at the movies. Let’s get into it.
January
Underwater
Kristen Stewart does her best Ellen Ripley impression in this creature feature set several miles beneath the ocean surface. Early buzz has been OK considering it’s coming out so early in January. Horror fans take notice. (January 23)
Dolittle
Robert Downey Jr., you’ve just starred in the biggest film in the history of history, what will you do next? “I’m going to talk to CGI animals voiced by famous actors!” The Doctor Dolittle story has been reimagined again and again for basically every generation but this latest entry doesn’t necessarily inspire confidence from its trailers. The voice cast, however, is so good (Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, Octavia Spencer, Tom Holland, Craig Robinson, Ralph Fiennes, Selena Gomez, and Marion Cotillard) it makes you think “Not all of these people just did this for a paycheck, right?” (January 16)
Weathering With You
The new film from You can read our review here. (Undated in Australia.)
The Wave
Justin Long is a normal, white-collar guy, who one night takes a drug and gains the ability to jump through space and time. It’s basically The Hangover meets Memento, with a little more sci-fi, but not nearly as good as that sounds. Still, it’s an interesting little movie. Read our review here. (Undated in Australia.)
The Turning
This creepy-looking horror movie is based on Henry James’ novella The Turn of the Screw (which is also the basis for the upcoming sequel to the Haunting of Hill House called Haunting of Bly Manor). Finn Wolfhard and Brooklynn Prince play the creepy kids in a haunted house with Terminator: Dark Fate’s Mackenzie Davis. There’s potential here, for sure. (Undated in Australia.)
VHYes
Jack Henry Robbins (son of Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon) brings a unique, surreal experience to the big screen. It’s a coming of age story told through the TV shows a young boy tapes off late-night TV in the 1980s. The whole thing is presented like you just popped in a ratty, old VHS, and it’s filled with cameos and surprises. (Undated in Australia.)
Colour Out of Space
Nicolas Cage stars in an adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft story about a meteor that crashes on a family farm and slowly begins to mutate everything it touches. We’ve heard nothing but super things about this movie and it has us very curious, albeit it a little trepidatious, to see it. (Undated in Australia.)
Gretel and Hansel
The classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale gets a supernatural horror twist, as all good fairy tales do these days. It star Sophia Lillis plays Gretel, who leads her brother into the woods and discovers some unholy, bad things. That all sounds kind of meh but the trailer above is surprisingly solid. (Undated in Australia.)
February
Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
The R-rated Harley Quinn movie of your dreams is almost here. Margot Robbie is once again in the iconic DC villain and this time she teams up with a group of fellow comic book characters Renee Montoya, Cassandra Cain, Huntress, and Black Canary to take down the Black Mask, played by Ewan McGregor. Everything we’ve seen and heard about this movie, directed by Cathy Yan, has us chomping at the bit to get it in our eyeballs. (February 6)
Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made
A young detective goes on the search for his mum’s missing segway with the help of his trusty polar bear in this adaptation of the kid’s book of the same name and directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Tom McCarthy. That may not sound particularly exciting but the film was good enough to get into Sundance, where it’ll screen before its streaming debut. (On Disney + February 8)
The Lodge
With a set up slightly similar to The Turning, a young woman (Mad Max: Fury Road’s Riley Keough) ends up alone in an abandoned cabin with her two step-children”a scenario that would be fine and normal if the kids liked her. Which they don’t. Or if there weren’t plenty of ghosts, figurative and maybe literal, in the closets of the family. (Undated in Australia.)
Fantasy Island
Everyone knows the show Fantasy Island, but Hervé Villechaize screaming for “the plane!” this is not. Blumhouse took the title, and the idea of people going to an island where their dreams came true and flipped it into a horror movie. Which…is kind of awesome? We’re cautiously optimistic. (Undated in Australia.)
Sonic the Hedgehog
Now with improved CGI effects, the Sega video game mega star finally makes it to the screen. Here, the super-fast alien ends up on Earth and has to team up with a local cop (James Marsden) to get away from an evil scientist named Dr. Robotink (Jim Carrey). We all love the Sonic games so we’re holding out hope for this one to have at least a twinge of that fun. (February 13)
Shaun The Sheep: Farmageddon
The popular stop-motion animated character gets a new film this year. This time Shaun’s life is turned upside down when he takes an alien that crash-landed near his farm out on a quest to find its spaceship. And yes, counting Colour Out of Space, that’s two movies with aliens crashing on farms in two months! (In cinemas January 9; on Netflix February 14)
Brahms: The Boy II
Katie Holmes stars in this sequel to the 2016 film, The Boy, in which a new family moves into a house on the grounds of the mansion where the creepy doll, Brahms, lives. The film has already been delayed twice, from last summer and this current winter, so there’s no guarantee it’s out at this point but, this is the current date. (Undated in Australia.)
Guns Akimbo
Daniel Radcliffe stars as a man who is drawn into a deadly reality game show”where people have to kill each other”in order to get back the woman he loves. He also ends up with guns attached to his hands. Buzz out of last year’s film festivals seemed to suggest the film was manic and exciting, which is probably why Saban Films picked it up for release. (Undated in Australia.)
The Invisible Man
Saw and Insidious co-creator Leigh Whannell kicks off a new era of Universal Monster movies with this tale of a woman (Elisabeth Moss) who escapes an abusive relationship only to find herself stalked by her ex because he can now turn invisible. That’s scary on a bunch of levels. (February 27)
Wendy
Director Benh Zeitlin finally returns with his sophomore film, a loose adaptation of the Peter Pan story that focuses on Wendy. It’s premiering at Sundance, where Zeitlin put himself on the map with his first film Beasts of the Southern Wild. (Undated in Australia.)
Horse Girl
In this film produced by Jay and Mark Duplass, Alison Brie stars as a woman who likes horses more than she likes people. However, an unexpected series of lucid dreams change her reality and make her question all of her life decisions. We’re wondering if this means she talks to horses a lot. We hope so. (On Netflix February TBD)
March
Bloodshot
Vin Diesel stars as the Valiant Comics superhero who can’t be hurt, but also can’t remember anything. That makes him a perfect killing machine until he starts to realise something is wrong with his mind. Fans have been waiting a long time for this one. Maybe too long for it to be as strong as we’d hope. (March 5)
A Quiet Place Part II
Going by the trailer for this sequel to the 2018 hit, director John Krasinski is exploring not just the origins of this world where aliens kill people based on sound, but also where the world is going after his character’s death in the original film. Emily Blunt is back and this is certainly one of our most anticipated films of the year. (Undated in Australia.)
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway
You may not know this but the 2018 Peter Rabbit film was a hit. Such a hit, in fact, that the gang”which includes Domhnall Gleeson, Rose Byrne, and James Corden”are back for the sequel. As the title suggests, in this one Peter runs away from home and discovers the world he didn’t know existed. Sort of like how we didn’t know the first film was a hit. (March 19)
Mulan
The legendary story turned popular Disney animated musical gets the live-action treatment, courtesy of Whale Rider director Niki Caro. There’s no singing in this one, but every frame we’ve seen gives us hope that this iteration of Mulan could be plenty epic and inspiring. (March 26)
The Mitchells vs. The Machines
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. The Lego Movie. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. When Phil Lord and Chris Miller have anything to do with an animated film, it usually turns out pretty well. So, we have extremely high expectations for The Mitchells vs. The Machines, their latest animation production about a family who must survive when all the tech in the world turns on humanity. (March 26)
Trolls World Tour
The cast from the first Trolls, which includes Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake, is back for this sequel, which expands the world of Trolls significantly when those two find out they’re but one of several Trolls tribes, all of which specialise in a specific brand of music. Honestly? Not a bad idea for a story. Slap another Timberlake hit single on it and they’ve got something cooking. (March 26)
Saint Maud
This indie psychological horror dazzled on the festival circuit and now comes to a theatre near you. It’s about a newly religious nurse who thinks she’s been possessed when she begins to fall in love with one of her patients. But that’s just the baseline of where it all goes. (Undated in Australia.)
April
The New Mutants
The final remnant of Fox’s X-Men universe is this spinoff about a group of young teen mutants who all find themselves in a mysterious institution. Though rumours had abounded of reshoots and delays, the most recent trailer looks like everything has come together fairly well, and this could be a nice coda on the world Wolverine built. (April 9)
Onward
Pixar blesses 2020 with not one but two original films. The first is this one from Dan Scanlon, the director of Monsters University, about two brothers who have an opportunity to bring their dead dad back to life for one day only. Unfortunately, they screw it up and only bring back his legs. Featuring the voices of Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Onward could be truly special. (April 2)
No Time to Die
The 25th James Bond film (and, likely, the final one for Daniel Craig) sees Bond forced to confront his past to defeat a new villain, with the help of a new double-0 agent. Oscar-winner Rami Malek is the villain, Lashana Lynch is Bond’s fellow agent, and True Detective director Cary Fukunaga is at the helm. Fuck to the yes. (April 8)
Antlers
Director Scott Cooper teams with producer Guillermo del Toro for this rural horror film about a young boy who has some kind of link to what appears to be a monster. Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons star as two of the only people in town who believe him. We believe, too”that teaming all this talent up could make for a sensational, scary film. (Undated in Australia.)
Monster Problems
Maze Runner star Dylan O’Brien features in this horror romantic comedy about a boy who has to fight through the zombie apocalypse to be with the woman he loves. It’s produced by the same team as Stranger Things and, while we really don’t know much else about it, it certainly has a fun premise. (Undated in Australia.)
Antebellum
Janelle Monáe stars in a very mysterious-looking thriller about a woman who begins to see evil surrounding her. What is this evil? Who are they? Why do these vision look like a slave plantation? And will this film live up to the Jordan Peele vibes we get from its trailer? We’ll find out soon enough. (Undated in Australia.)
Black Widow
Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe begins by going back in time and exploring the backstory of the now-deceased Black Widow. Scarlett Johansson is back, of course, but now she’s joined by Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz, and David Harbour. It features a story centered on family and making amends and will feature at least one de-aged Marvel character. We hope there are some surprises along the way. (April 30)
May
Untitled Saw Sequel
This still-untitled sequel to the Saw franchise stars Chris Rock, who also co-wrote and produced. We have no idea how Chris Rock and the evil mastermind Jigsaw fit together, pun intended, but finding out is certainly one of the most wild connections of 2020. (May 14)
The Woman in the Window
A star-studded cast (Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie, Wyatt Russell, Brian Tyree Henry, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Julianne Moore) join up for this psychological murder mystery about a woman who thinks she saw her neighbour get killed but finds out the person she saw may not even exist. The trailer and release date suggest this could be a big crowd-pleaser. (Undated in Australia.)
Fast and Furious 9
We’ll get the title and first trailer of this film in a few weeks time but, until then, we’ll just have to imagine what’s next for Dom (Vin Diesel), Letty (Michelle Rodriquez), and the crew. What we do know is that Hobbs and Shaw are no longer in this story, but Justin Lin, who did parts 3-6 in the series, is back. That has us thinking it could be a throwback to what made the franchise such a hit in the first place: Racing and family. (May 21)
Artemis Fowl
Here’s what I wrote about this film just over a year ago, before Disney realised it had too many films in 2019 and bumped it 10 months: “Director Kenneth Branagh is finally bringing Eoin Colfer’s young adult fantasy to the big screen after it spent years in Hollywood limbo. We’re not sure how much liberty will be taken with the source material, but it seems at least the titular character is still on his quest to free his criminal father, and using fairies to do it. Ferdia Shaw, Dame Judi Dench, and Josh Gad co-star.” Nothing has changed except the date. (May 28)
June
Wonder Woman 1984
Its been too long since we last saw Diana Prince in her own superhero movie but thankfully, this summer, she’s back, in the “˜80s, and she’s got new adversaries in Cheetah and Max Lord. Plus her old love Steve Trevor is back somehow. We’re also still wondering if this movie takes place in a world with a Ben Affleck Batman but really, we’re dying to know everything about this movie and it’s one of our most anticipated of the year. (June 4)
Fear Street
Based on the classic R.L. Stine horror series, Fear Street, and directed by Leigh Janiak, this one is the first in a trilogy apparently meant to be released monthly with each film set in a different time period. It stars Community‘s Gillian Jacobs and others. (Undated in Australia.)
Candyman
The cult horror franchise returns, this time under the eye of producer Jordan Peele. Doctor Manhattan himself, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, stars in this tale of the bee-covered, hook-handed killer, who appears when you say his name multiple times into a mirror. If any of that will change in this reboot, we aren’t sure, but we’re anxious to find out. (Undated in Australia.)
Scoob
Did you ever wonder how Scooby-Doo became friends with Shaggy, Fred, Velma, and Daphne? If so, that’s kind of weird. Lucky you, though, you’ll get to find out this summer in a new animated Scooby-Doo movie that tells the story of how the whole gang got together when they are younger. We’re curious to see if today’s audiences lap up this older IP or let it play dead. (June 18)
Soul
Everyone knows Pixar makes great movies, but few filmmakers there make movies as great as Pete Docter. Monsters Inc., Up, and Inside Out, are all legitimate masterpieces. And next up for Docter is Soul, the story of a New York jazz musician whose soul travels through the world they exist in before they bond with a human. We have a feeling it’s going to be nothing short of incredible and certainly emotional. (June 18)
July
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Yes, it’s really happening. After the 2016 Ghostbusters all but ignored the original two movies, the son of original director Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, has made what is essentially Ghostbusters 3.
Set in the same world as the original films, we think the story follows the extended family of a deceased Egon Spengler, played by Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, and Mckenna Grace. Paul Rudd has a role and, we think, pretty much everyone from the original film, though we have no idea how they fit in just yet. (July 2)
Free Guy
What if you lived in a video game but were one of the NCPs, aka Non-Player-Characters? That’s the story of Free Guy as Ryan Reynolds, a generic bank teller in a violent multiperson video game, who finally realises that he lives inside a game and tries to save the world. (July 2)
Minions: The Rise of Gru
Finally realising that the Despicable Me franchise was mostly successful because of the Minions, this sequel to the original Minions will explain how the evil supervillain Gru ended up having the funny yellow beings as his, well, his minions. (Undated in Australia.)
The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run
Want to feel old? The first Spongebob Squarepants movie came out 16 years ago. Sixteen. Years. Ago. The second one then came out five years ago. And now, a third film is here, a prequel that’ll show how Spongebob met all his friends. Whether this film is good or not, it’s damned impressive that a primarily children’s property can have that kind of legs, tiny and skinny as they may be. (July 9)
Purge 5
The official title has yet to be announced but this summer brings the fifth, and maybe final, movie in the Purge franchise. Where the story could go after the escalating action of each previous film set on the one night a year there are no laws, is anyone’s guess. (Undated in Australia.)
Tenet
Director Christopher Nolan is known for making highly secretive movies so not much is know about Tenet. The little we do know is that it’s a throwback to the tone of his hit sci-fi film, Inception, with a little of his cult-classic Memento thrown in. John David Washington plays a man who, it seems from the trailers, somehow has the ability to movie time backward and forwards. Count us all the way in for this one. (Undated in Australia.)
Bob’s Burgers
People love Bob’s Burgers. I know because I see the cosplay and huge lines for its merchandise at Comic-Con every year. I’ve never watched the show but it seems like the appetite (get it? Burgers?) is there for a feature-length film. Plus, if it’s anything like the previous Fox animated series turned movie, The Simpsons Movie, you can expect stakes (get it? steaks?) that are higher than ever. (Undated in Australia.)
Jungle Cruise
Much like Pirates of the Caribbean before it, Jungle Cruise takes an iconic Disney ride and turns it into a swashbuckling, period adventure. Instead of Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, though, here it’s Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt hoping to kick start another family-friendly action franchise. (July 23)
Morbius
When the idea behind Venom and the star of Suicide Squad come together, anything is possible. That’s the skeleton of Morbius, a spin-off film about a Spider-Man villain, played by the ex-Joker, Jared Leto. We assume, based on the character’s comic history, the film is gonna have some Dracula vibes but, really, it’s a huge question mark at the moment. (Undated in Australia.)
August
The Empty Man
Based on the graphic novel of the same name, The Empty Man is about a detective (James Badge Dale) whose entire family is murdered, who then runs into an evil group trying to summon an even bigger evil. You know, not the best set of circumstances for anyone, really. (Undated in Australia.)
Infinite
Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Infinite stars Mark Wahlberg as a man who finds out the visions he’s been having”that most people think are psychotic episodes”are really memories of past lives. He’s connected to a group called the Infinite filled with people who are constantly reincarnated in order to keep peace in the world. (Undated in Australia.)
Malignant
Very little is known about Malignant outside of one name: James Wan. The director of the original Saw, Insidious, and Conjuring movies had been dabbling in other massive franchises (Furious 7, Aquaman) but is returning to his horror roots here before travelling back to Atlantis. We’re stoked for anything Wan does, and a smaller horror film even more so. (Undated in Australia.)
The One and Only Ivan
Universal has Dolittle as its talking animal movie in 2020 and Disney has The One and Only Ivan, which stars Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston as the owner of a mall with a significant animal collection. The mall’s gorilla, named Ivan (voiced by Sam Rockwell), then has to save the day when a new baby elephant joins his group. (Undated in Australia.)
Bill & Ted Face the Music
A film we never thought would actually happen. Bill and Ted are back. It’s been almost 30 years since their previous film and, in that time, the pair were supposed to have changed the world with their band Wyld Stallyns. Unfortunately, though, that has yet to happen, and now Bill and Ted must make that right, with the help of their daughters. We couldn’t be more stoked for this time-travel comedy. (Undated in Australia.)
Spell
You’d think surviving a plane crash and being nursed to health would be a good thing. But not in Spell, when the man in that situation realises the people nursing him are actually cursing him with ancient spells and stuff. Not cool. Power star Omari Hardwick plays the survivor in question. (Undated in Australia.)
September
Monster Hunter
Paul W.S. Anderson, the director behind the Resident Evil films, is ready to tackle another video game franchise. This one is Monster Hunter, about a group of highly trained soldiers who go through a portal into a world of monsters. Milla Jovovich, Tony Jaa, Ron Perlman, and Meagan Good star. (Undated in Australia.)
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
The third film in the main Conjuring franchise (not to be confused with its spinoffs like Annabelle or The Nun) tells another story from the case files of Ed and Lorraine Warren. The story of how a murder suspect thought to claim they were possessed by a demon as a defence for murder. Talk about super messed up. We can’t wait. (Undated in Australia.)
The King’s Man
Before the tale of Taron Egerton’s Eggsy and Colin Firth’s Galahad can come to an end, director Matthew Vaughn chose to go back in time for this prequel to the Kingsman franchise that explains more of the origins of the dapper spy organisation. Along for the ride are Ralph Fiennes, Djimon Hounsou, Gemma Arterton, and others. (September 17)
Last Night in Soho
The new film by Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright remains relatively mysterious. Its been described as a psychological thriller but there are rumours that it might have something to do with time travel. Or maybe it’s just set in two eras. We don’t know. What we do know is that every Wright movie is an event we’ll get excited about, especially if he dives into sci-fi. (Undated in Australia.)
October
Untitled Sony Marvel Sequel (Venom 2)
Sony would not confirm or deny that this movie is Venom 2 but last year Deadline reported it as such so, it’s probably Venom 2. And if it is, Andy Serkis is directing the next chapter in the saga of Eddie Brock (played by Tom Hardy), probably showing down with Carnage, played by Woody Harrelson. We mean, what other Untitled Sony Marvel sequel could it be? (Undated in Australia.)
BIOS
Game of Thrones director Miguel Sapochnik helms this sci-fi film about the last man on Earth, played by Tom Hanks, who invents a robot to accompany him on a cross country journey. After so many massive battles in Westeros, it’s hard to imagine a Sapochnik story with just one human character in it”but if that person is Hanks, we’re sure it’ll be excellent. (Undated in Australia.)
The Witches
Based on the novel by Roald Dahl, produced by Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron, and directed by Robert Zemeckis, few films have the calibre of The Witches. And that’s just behind the camera. In front of it, Anne Hathaway will play the Grand High Witch who, along with her fellow witches, is discovered by a young boy. Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, and Chris Rock co-star. (Undated in Australia.)
Halloween Kills
Hot on the heels of the 2018 sequel/reboot, Michael Myers is once again back. How he got out of Laurie Strode’s jail cell basement, we do not know, but we do know that the iconic Jamie Lee Curtis character is also back, along with a few other characters from the original films, in what will be the second part in a three-film Halloween trilogy. (Undated in Australia.)
Snake Eyes
It’s been seven years since there was a G.I. Joe movie in theatres, but the Real American Heroes are back. Well, one of them is. Instead of all the famous toy and cartoon action heroes coming together, director Robert Schwentke has made a film that just focuses on one, the ninja-like, samurai sword-wielding fan favourite, Snake Eyes, played by rising star Henry Golding. (Undated in Australia.)
Eternals
The second of two Marvel Studios films in 2020 promises to take the entire Cinematic Universe in directions no one ever thought imaginable. Stars such as Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, and others play a group of immortal beings who will now bring their celestial, God-like energy into a world that we already thought was huge. It’s about to get bigger. (October 29)
November
Clifford the Big Red Dog
Originally scheduled for release in 2016, this live-action adaptation of the classic children’s books has since changed studios and now hits theatres this holiday season. It’s about how a young girl interacts with the world alongside her massive red dog. The whole thing sounds charming but, strap in, it’s being directed by Walt Becker, who did Wild Hogs, Old Dogs, and Zookeeper. Ugh. (Undated in Australia.)
Godzilla vs. Kong
After multiple Godzilla movies and a King Kong movie, two of the biggest Hollywood stars of all-time (literally) are set to go toe to toe one more time. Like many of this year’s big films, we don’t know how exactly that’s going to play out but there’s little doubt that director Adam Wingard isn’t going to try and show some of the most epic most action film ever put to screen. (Undated in Australia.)
Escape Room 2
The surprise 2019 hit will return just one year later, hoping to start a franchise. It’s a Saw-inspired tale of puzzles and suspense with the original team all returning for round two. (Undated in Australia.)
December
Samaritan
The director of the underrated Overlord, Julius Avery, returns with an original high concept action film. It’s about a young boy who sets off to find a superhero that disappeared several decades ago. A superhero played by none other than Sylvester Stallone. (Undated in Australia.)
Dune
Arguably our most highly anticipated film of the year, Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s legendary novel stars Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, a young man at the centre of an epic struggle over the galaxy’s most valuable resource, spice. Chalamet is joined by Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Zendaya, Charlotte Ramplin, Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem, and many others. We simply cannot wait. (Undated in Australia.)
Tom and Jerry
A live-action, CGI Tom and Jerry movie directed by Tim Story, starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Michael Peña, and Ken Jeong? Sure, why not. (Undated in Australia.)
The Croods 2
The prehistoric family made up of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Catherine Keener, and Clark Duke is back for another adventure. Not much is know about the film beyond that but the question is, are people still waiting for this film seven years after the original? (Undated in Australia.)
The Tomorrow War
Previously titled “Ghost Draft,” The Tomorrow War stars Chris Pratt in a sci-fi war film (duh) about a future where humanity is losing an epic war, so they travel back in time and recruit soldiers from the past to protect the future. Director of The Lego Batman Movie, Chris McKay, is helming and J.K. Simmons, Yvonne Strahovski, and Betty Gilpin are along for the ride. (Undated in Australia.)
Raya and the Last Dragon
Walt Disney Animation’s 2020 film follows a young woman from an ancient civilisation who goes on a quest to find the last dragon in the world to save her people. Unfortunately, when she finds the dragon, it’s stuck in human form and they must complete a quest to help the dragon reclaim her power. Newly-minted Golden Globe winner Awkwafina voices the dragon, and Rick and Morty’s Cassie Steele is Raya. (December 26)
Date TBD
The Christmas Chronicles 2
Santa Claus, played by Kurt Russell, is back. And this time he’ll drag Mrs. Claus (Goldie Hawn) along for the ride as he scoops up the two kids from the previous film, now older and more cynical, to once again save Christmas. (On Netflix Holiday date TBD)
I’m Thinking of Ending Things
The latest from Charlie Kaufman. What else do you need to know? Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation, etc. When Charlie Kaufman either writes or directs (or both) a movie, you pay attention. Here, it’s a psychological thriller/road trip movie starring Jesse Plemons, Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette, and David Thewlis. (On Netflix Date TBD)
The Main Event
Before you realise the insane commitment it takes to be a professional wrestler, what kid doesn’t want to chase that dream? Well, in The Main Event, an 11-year-old boy finds a mask that instantly lets him compete in the WWE. (On Netflix Date TBD)
The Old Guard
When the discovery of a new immortal being threatens the existence of a whole other group of immortal beings, there’s about to be some immortal vs. immortal. This one stars Charlize Theron and Kiki Layne and sounds rad. Gina Prince-Bythewood directs. (On Netflix Date TBD)
The Platform
Inevitably, if you go to a film festival, you miss a few of the best movies playing there. That happened to us at Fantastic Fest last year when we missed The Platform. Thankfully, Netflix picked up this dystopian tale of vertical prisons where food is distributed from the top down. Think Snowpiercer, but up and down, and stationary. (On Netflix TBD)
Over the Moon
The feature directorial debut of animation legend Glen Keane is this musical, animated adventure about a young girl who builds a rocket ship that’ll help her travel to the moon to meet a Moon Goddess. Could this be the year Netflix gets into the Best Animated Picture game too? Seems possible. (On Netflix TBD)
Power
Imagine a drug that, for at least a little while, gave you the power of a superhero. That’s the reality of Power, the latest film from Catfish directors Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost. Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are among the stars in the film, which follows a young man who tries to track down and stop the people who invented the drug. (On Netflix Date TBD)
Rebecca
When Alfred Hitchcock adapted Daphne du Maurier’s novel, the legendary filmmaker got his only Oscar for Best Picture. Now, that same novel is being adapted by Ben Wheatley, who isn’t Hitchcock obviously but perhaps on his way. Lily James stars in this version, as a woman haunted, figuratively, by her husband’s (Armie Hammer) ex-wife. (On Netflix TBD)
The Secret Garden
The magical story of a young girl who hates her new home until she begins to discover its secrets, thanks to a seemingly magical garden nearby. This is yet another adaptation of the classic story, with Colin Firth and Julie Walters as the most recognisable names attached. (Date TBD)
Synchronic
Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan star as two EMTs baffled buy a new designer drug, until they find out it actually causes time travel. Reviews out of the festival circuit were very strong so we’re excited to check it out. (Date TBD)
The Vast of Night
Set in almost real-time, this 1950s period piece follows a radio DJ and his friend who discover a mysterious signal coming from the sky. We saw it at Fantastic Fest last year and were left in awe by its discovery and beauty. Read more about it in our review. (Date TBD)