A new decade is upon us, and Hollywood's major studios have lined up a slew of projects to
compete for your filmgoing dollar. Some of the upcoming releases on the calendar are
highly anticipated sequels, but that isn't all we're expecting to see.
Even though the initial teaser arrived way back in December 2019, we still know very
little about the plot of Christopher Nolan's upcoming action epic Tenet, which is slated
for release on August 12, 2020. Of course, that date has changed a few times already,
and may yet change again due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"This reversing the flow of time, doesn't us being here now mean it never happened?"
We do know that it's an expensive production, with the budget reportedly clocking in at
about $225 million. On top of that, the sci-fi thriller was filmed with IMAX cameras, so
expect big things literally.
The film stars John David Washington, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Robert Pattinson, among
others. Pattinson told USA Today in April 2019 that he had been sworn to secrecy regarding
the details of Tenet's plot. The actor was fond of the script, however, and said Nolan
changed his mind about doing big budget movies, explaining:
"I've been a little wary of doing big movies for years and years, but there's just something
about Chris Nolan's stuff. He seems like the only director now who can do what is essentially
a very personal, independent movie that has huge scale. I read the script and it's unreal."
New life was breathed into the zombie genre in 2016 with Train to Busan, a Korean horror
film written and directed by Yeon Sang-ho that followed a group of passengers trapped
on a train as a zombie virus spread quickly through its cars. The film is action-packed,
funny, and terrifying all at once, with fully realized characters and a simple yet well-executed
story. It garnered a slew of award wins and nominations and is generally regarded as one
of the best zombie films of recent years.
Four years later, Yeon is returning to the story with Peninsula, which is set in an evacuated
and apparently abandoned Korea, now completely overrun by the undead. The film follows Jeong-seok,
a former Marine, who takes a job that sends him into the blighted country. Once they get
there, he and his team are met with not only zombies, but a group of survivors who have
made the most of the epidemic by turning it into entertainment.
Peninsula isn't just a followup to Train to Busan it's an over-the-top expansion of the
universe Yeon created in 2016. As the filmmaker explained to Screen Daily in March 2020:
"The scale of Peninsula can't compare to Train To Busan, it makes it look like an independent
film [...] Train To Busan was a high-concept film shot in narrow spaces whereas Peninsula
has a much wider scope of movement."
As such, it carries a much larger price tag: $16 million, nearly double what its predecessor
had to work with. It looks as though it's money well spent, however Peninsula appears
to be twice as crazy as Train to Busan was.
Disney is set to turn another one of their most popular animated films into a live action
epic in 2020, debuting an updated version of Mulan. The movie, which was initially set
to be released in 2018 but later pushed back, will be directed by Niki Caro [ based on a
script from Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. The remake received positive reviews in early
screenings, but was hit with a last-minute delay due to the coronavirus outbreak.
"I will never give up."
The initial delay in the film's release date reportedly happened because it took Disney
a year of searching across the world to find its star. They eventually landed on Chinese
actress Yifei Liu, also known as Crystal Liu. Liu is one of China's most popular actresses,
who has been nicknamed "Fairy Sister" due to her innocent-seeming public persona. With
the lead warrior princess in place, the cast was rounded out with international stars Jet
Li, Donnie Yen, and Jason Scott Lee.
Party on, dudes, for we are truly living through a bona fide Keanussance. Thanks in no small
part to the ongoing success of the John Wick series, rumors have been bouncing around Hollywood
about potential sequels and reboots for everything from The Matrix to Speed. One Keanu-centric
follow-up that's definitely coming is Bill and Ted Face the Music, a hopefully fantastic
voyage following in the radical footsteps of 1989's Excellent Adventure and 1991's Bogus
Journey.
After many years of rumblings, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter officially confirmed in a
video in March of 2019 that strange things were indeed afoot at the Circle K once again.
William Sadler came back to reprise his role as the Grim Reaper, and original writers Chris
Matheson and Ed Solomon also returned to pen the screenplay, with Galaxy Quest director
Dean Parisot also signing on to see the movie through. The sequel will catch up with now-middle
aged Bill S. Preston and Theodore Logan as they realize that adult responsibilities like
fatherhood have prevented them from coming up with that universe-saving song they were
destined to write. They will be assisted by their daughters in their long-awaited third
quest, and will once again come face-to-face again with Death. Remember to be excellent
to each other when you line up for your tickets.
"Be excellent to each other."
"And party on, dudes."
Dare we even talk about The New Mutants as a 2020 release? At this rate, assigning an
actual date to this seemingly cursed X-Men project is like waiting for a toad to get
struck by lightning. After an initial trailer was released in the bygone days of October
2017, the movie has been pushed back no fewer than four times, shifting from April 2018
to February 2019, then to August 2019. The release of Disney's post-Fox-merger schedule
revealed that New Mutants had been delayed yet again, all the way to April 3, 2020. Just
when all seemed to be finally going well for the film, it became one of many projects delayed
by the coronavirus pandemic.
So, other than the latest one, what's behind all the delays? By all accounts, it's not
actually the quality of the film itself unlike Dark Phoenix, New Mutants has reportedly been
well-received in test screenings.
The movie's source comics created in the 1980s by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz remain
unique fan favorites. The cast features up-and-comers like The Witch's Anya Taylor-Joy and Game
of Thrones' Maisie Williams.
It's apparently a number of outside factors that have kept the film from coming out from
conflicts with the release date of Deadpool 2, a decision to play up the movie's horror
elements with reshoots that reportedly didn't even end up happening, and the Earth-shaking
Disney/Fox merger.
Hopefully we'll actually be able to watch The New Mutants in 2020... and hopefully,
it will live up to its potential as a stylish and frightening final Fox X-Men movie.
In 2018, A Quiet Place took Hollywood by surprise, turning a modest $17 million budget around
to pull in nearly $350 million worldwide at the box office. It's also one of the most
highly acclaimed horror films in recent years, with Rotten Tomatoes granting it an overwhelmingly
fresh rating and calling it a, quote, "ruthlessly intelligent creature feature that's as original
as it is scary." So it's no wonder Paramount Pictures would want to capitalize with a sequel.
A Quiet Place Part II was initially slated to hit theaters on March 20, 2020, but was
delayed at the last minute due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While writer/director John Krasinski is confirmed for the sequel now, it wasn't always that
way. In an interview with The Ringer's The Big Picture podcast, Krasinski said he initially
didn't want to have anything to do with a second film but was convinced by his producer
to jot down a few ideas.
"After like three weeks he was like, 'Why don't you just write this and then we'll get
another filmmaker?' and of course Jedi mind tricked me into signing on to the sequel."
As far as the story goes, writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods knew that there was the potential
to focus on new families. Krasinski seemed to agree that the sequel wouldn't be just
about the Abbotts of the original, telling The Hollywood Reporter:
"In our circumstance, the thing that the audience loved most was the world. That's the cool
thing that you could explore on and on."
2017's Wonder Woman is the most critically acclaimed movie in the DC Extended Universe
by a wide margin. It makes sense, then, that Gal Gadot's embodiment of the Amazonian warrior
is being fast-tracked back to the big screen while Superman and Batman are left to fight
a legion of issues standing in the way of their next movie appearance.
"She with you?" "I thought she was with you."
Diana's second solo adventure hasn't been without delays of its own, however; the movie
was pushed back from its original 2019 holiday season release to June 5, 2020, and then to
October, due to the coronavirus.
When the movie does arrive, it will bring with it the blast from the past promised by
its title. Filling in part of the timeline between the first movie's World War I setting
and the hero's reemergence in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Wonder Woman 1984 will see
the return of Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, and director Patty Jenkins. SNL alum Kristen
Wiig joins the fray as nemesis Cheetah, while The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal pulls the strings
as evil tycoon Maxwell Lord.
Marvel Studios was originally set to release Black Widow, its 24th film and the beginning
of the MCU's Phase 4, on May 1, but that date got pushed back six months. The shift would
wind up affecting not only Black Widow, but the rest of Marvel's Phase 4 projects as well.
Chronologically, the film will take place between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers:
Infinity War. In it, Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff sets off to confront her
past and the people she left behind when she traded her first family for the Avengers.
"Family. Back together again."
"You got fat."
"It's mainly water weight."
According to its cast, the film is going to be something of a departure from other Marvel
properties.
"It's a little dirty; it's a little salty. It's bringing some realness to the Marvel
universe."
Joining Johanssen are David Harbour as Alexei, a.k.a. Red Guardian, Florence Pugh as Natasha's
fellow Black Widow agent Yelena, and Rachel Weisz as Melina, a character who's reportedly
been through the Widow program five times.
After several development setbacks, including Daniel Craig's uncertain return to the franchise
following 2015's Spectre, the latest Bond film was scheduled for wide release on April
8. Unfortunately, its troubles weren't over, as the movie would become the first major
film industry victim of coronavirus concerns, leading to an eight-month delay announced
in March.
It's just one of the many ways in which getting Bond back on screen has proven to be a challenge.
"I need a favor, brother. You're the only one I trust for this."
Late in 2018, the film's original director, Danny Boyle, left the project due to a script
dispute. Only a month later, True Detective's Cary Fukunaga signed on in his place, but
Boyle's departure wound up setting the film's release date back six months. While No Time
to Die will officially mark Craig's final film as James Bond, it will reportedly introduce
a brand new 007 to the franchise.
Returning cast members include Christoph Waltz, Ben Whishaw, Lea Seydoux, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey
Wright, and Ralph Fiennes. New to the film are Lashana Lynch as a fresh 00 agent and
Rami Malek, who will portray the movie's villain. No Time to Die is set sometime after Bond
has retired from active service. He's called back when the CIA needs help with "a mysterious
villain armed with dangerous new technology."
Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune has had a towering influence over the world of science
fiction, which is probably why filmmakers have been trying to bring Herbert's universe
to the screen for decades. Avant-garde director Alejandro Jodorowsky's ambitious but abandoned
attempt in the '70s was so legendary it eventually became the subject of a hit documentary.
David Lynch helmed a blockbuster version of Dune in 1984, but while the film has something
of a cult following, many, including Lynch himself, found it unsatisfying. A Syfy miniseries
in 2000 served as a faithful adaptation, but suffered from the limitations of a TV budget.
Now, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve hopes to get it right. His
strongest asset so far is an already stacked cast, which includes Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca
Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Oscar Isaac, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Josh
Brolin, and Jason Momoa. Another point in the production's favor: the film will reportedly
focus on only the first half of Herbert's novel, avoiding the overstuffed confusion
of the Lynch movie.
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