25 Movies I Hope to See in 2020

The Colour Out of Space has long been one of my favorite H.P. Lovecraft stories, with its tale of a strange alien phenomena and its effects on a family and their farm. This adaptation stars Nicolas Cage, who has often showed how well he can play deranged (see Mandy), and the visuals on this look bonkers. It received high praise on the festival circuit, and it gets a wide release in 2020. Release Date: January 24

It’s nice to see Guy Ritchie return to the genre where he made his name back in the late ’90s with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Matthew McConaughey plays a drug lord trying to sell off his empire to some Oklahoma billionaires. Suffice to say, plenty of mistakes, screwups, and hijinks will almost certainly ensue. The film also stars Charlie Hunnam, Colin Farrell, and Hugh Grant. Release Date: January 24

With Onward, Pixar gives the fantasy genre a bit of a twist by taking it to the suburbs. There, two elven brothers (voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) must go on an epic journey to rediscover magic and reunite with their long-lost father. Release Date: March 6

Disney is making a live-action martial arts epic set in feudal China that stars the likes of Jet Li, Donnie Yen, and Gong Li? Yes, please. Release Date: March 27

This horror-based take on the venerable Marvel comic series about a group of young mutants learning to control their powers has seen numerous delays (it was originally set for April 2018). But it looks like it’s finally coming out, two years after the fact. Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, and Charlie Heaton star. Release Date: April 3

No Time to Die will be Daniel Craig’s final film as the venerable James Bond, and he’s going out with a bang as he tracks down a missing scientist and comes face to face with a new, world-threatening evil. Because after all, that’s what 007 does. Along the way, he crosses paths with a young, ambitious “00” agent who intends to put Bond in his place. Release Date: April 8

After years of clamoring from fans, Black Widow is finally getting her own solo movie. It’s a prequel, exploring Natasha’s origins as she reunites with former comrades — including David Harbour’s Red Guardian (i.e., Russia’s version of Captain America). However, I wouldn’t be surprised if Natasha’s sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame plays a factor in this movie’s storyline. Release Date: May 1

The best DCU movie finally gets a sequel, and it looks like it’ll continue to resist the gloomy, grimdark tone of previous DCU films. Set in the decadence and excess of the ’80s, Wonder Woman 1984 finds Diana inexplicably reuniting with her lost love Steve Trevor. Oh, and using the Lasso of Truth to swing along bolts of freaking lightning. Release Date: June 5

Inside Out, Up, Monsters, Inc… Pete Docter has had an incredible run at Pixar, creating some of the studio’s most indelible and delightful moments while deftly tackling some tricky emotional material. With Soul, he looks to be tackling some of his trickiest material yet, as a jazz musician (Jamie Foxx) travels to the afterlife and learns about spiritual things. Release Date: June 19

Tom Cruise returns to one of his most iconic roles: hotshot navy pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, who continues to buck the system by refusing to retire. Plot details are still scarce, but the film stars Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller (as the son of Maverick’s former sidekick Goose), and Val Kilmer as Iceman. Given that the film is directed by Joseph Kosinski (Oblivion, Tron: Legacy), I expect Top Gun: Maverick to look fantastic. Release Date: June 26

For the longest time, the final Evangelion film felt like the anime equivalent of a new My Bloody Valentine album: it was supposedly still going to happen, but kept getting delayed (due in large part to writer/director Hideaki Anno’s work on 2016’s Shin Godzilla). But then Studio Khara released 10 minutes of crazy footage from the film, proving that it was indeed a work in progress. It’ll be released in Japan next summer; here’s hoping that a North American release isn’t too far behind. Release Date: June 27

Ryan Reynolds is just your ordinary bank teller who discovers one day that he’s actually an NPC in an ultra-violent video game, and decides to become a hero. Despite the high concept, this looks like a bit of mindless fun. But it’s also directed by Shawn Levy, who has directed several Stranger Things episodes and has produced movies like Arrival and The Spectacular Now, which gives me some hope that Free Guy might not be entirely mindless. Release Date: July 3

Let’s be honest: 2016’s Ghostbusters film didn’t ruin your childhood, but at the same time, it wasn’t all that great, either. Ghostsbusters: Afterlife is clearly tapping into a serious Stranger Things/Amblin Entertainment vibe, and picks up 30 years after Ghostbusters II, as Egon Spengler’s grandchildren find themselves facing a new supernatural threat in rural Oklahoma. The film stars Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, and Paul Rudd, with Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Sigourney Weaver making appearances as well. Release Date: July 10

As is the case with every Christopher Nolan movie, he likes to keep details close to the vest. All we really know so far is that it stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Michael Caine, and Kenneth Branagh, it’s being filmed in seven countries, and it’s an epic action thriller featuring international espionage and time travel. Release Date: July 17

After years of rumors and development snafus, we’re getting one last adventure of Bill S. Preston Esquire and Ted (Theodore) Logan, aka Wyld Stallyns. Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves reprise their iconic roles as the wannabe rock stars whose music is destined to bring about world peace. Listen, I know this could fully suck, especially given that Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey was pretty terrible. Do we really need a third film? Probably not, but I’d be lying if I said my inner twelve-year-old doesn’t want this to be most excellent. Release Date: August 21

You want me to see a movie in the theater? Tell me that it’s written and directed by Edgar Wright. Last Night in Soho is being billed as a psychological horror movie, but knowing Wright, he’ll definitely put a unique — and visually interesting — spin on things. The film stars Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Diana Rigg, and Terence Stamp. Release Date: September 25

The G.I. Joe films have been disasters, plain and simple. They’ve managed to take one of the most iconic toy lines of all time and do absolutely nothing interesting with it. But perhaps that might change with Snake Eyes, which is intended as an origin story for the Joes’ famous ninja. The film stars Henry Golding as Snake Eyes and martial arts action superstar Iko Uwais as the Hard Master, Snake Eyes’ mentor and teacher. Release Date: October 16

After Avengers: Endgame, I thought I was done with Marvel movies for awhile. And then Marvel announced that they’d be making a movie about the Eternals, a race of immortal aliens tasked with defending Earth by the all-powerful Celestials. It’s Marvel continuing to embrace their weird cosmic side, and I am here for it. As with most Marvel movies, it has an impressive cast that includes Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Salma Hayek, and Kit Harington. Release Date: November 6

Godzilla just barely survived his battle with King Ghidorah in this year’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and now he’s already set to face off with King Kong as Legendary’s MonsterVerse comes to a head. The film is directed by Adam Wingard, who’s best known for horror films like You’re Next and Blair Witch, so it’ll be interesting to see if and how he brings that sensibility to the kaiju genre. Release Date: November 20

With Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve has created two of the best sci-fi movies in recent years. So it seems only right that for his next film, he tackle one of the most famous sci-fi novels of all time. Frank Herbert’s Dune has been adapted before, with varying results (to put it mildly), but Villeneuve has proven he knows his way around ambitious, mind-bending filmmaking. And he’s assembled a stellar cast to help him, including Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem. Release Date: December 18

A new Wes Anderson movie that’s “a love letter to journalists set at an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional 20th-century French city” and stars Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Christoph Waltz, Benicio del Toro, Henry Winkler, and Tilda Swinton, to name but a few? Yes, please. Release Date: TBA

Lily Brooks-Dalton’s Good Morning, Midnight is a elegiac sci-fi novel following two storylines: a group of astronauts trying to make sense of why they’ve lost contact with Earth, and an old scientist making his way through the ruins of a devastated Earth. Based on the plot description, this Netflix adaptation — directed by George Clooney, who also stars — has changed a few things up, but hopefully, it’ll maintain the same haunting atmosphere as Brooks-Dalton’s novel. Release Date: TBA

Terrence Malick’s films are suffused with theological undertones and a sense of the numinous, so I suppose it only makes sense that his next film is about Jesus Christ. The Last Planet stars Géza Röhrig (as the Son of God), Matthias Schoenaerts, Ben Kingsley, Joseph Fiennes, and Mark Rylance as Satan. Release Date: TBA

Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok) takes a break from the fanciful and delivers a film based on the true story of a Dutch soccer coach who is hired by American Samoa’s national team to help them qualify for the World Cup. It seems surprisingly straightforward for a director like Waititi, but I have full confidence he’ll find a way to bring his aesthetic to play in this inspirational underdog story. Release Date: TBA

In this Netflix original starring Charlize Theron, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Matthias Schoenaerts, a group of mercenaries are discovered to be immortal, threatening their livelihood. The film is based on an Image Comics series, and given the dominance of Marvel and DC, I’m always intrigued by comic book adaptations that aren’t from the Big Two. As far as Netflix comic adaptations go, however, let’s just hope it’s not as bad as Polar. Release Date: TBA