2020 has been a pretty tricky year for movies. Luckily, the calendar is already filling up
for the next few years - and a whole heap of exciting projects are slated for release.
Here are some of the biggest films arriving in 2021 and beyond.
After the runaway success of 2018's A Quiet Place, it seemed almost inevitable that a
sequel would soon follow. After all, the film ended in a perfect position to set up the
next chapter of the story, and there was no small amount of fan demand for another instalment,
either. By 2019, writer-director John Krasinski was back onboard to make the sequel, and A
Quiet Place Part II was on track to arrive in theaters in the spring of 2020.
The second chapter of the saga will follow the surviving members of the Abbott family
as they attempt to venture out beyond their farm. Meanwhile, it looks like the story will
flash back to reveal what happened the day the world started to fall apart - showing
how Krasinski's character, Lee, first led his family in the early days of the crisis.
A Quiet Place Part II was originally set to hit theaters in March of 2020, but the COVID-19
pandemic forced a change in scheduling. The sequel was initially pushed to September of
the same year, but when it became clear that this wasn't all that feasible either, it was
then moved to its current release date: April 23rd, 2021.
The ninth film in the Fast & Furious series was supposed to have been released in May
2020, but growing concerns over the spread of the coronavirus in March led Universal
Pictures to move the film's release date back nearly a year. Now, fans will have to wait
until April 2nd, 2021, to see Dominic Toretto and his crew face off against a dangerous
new Toretto brother, this time played by John Cena. The news came after F9 had already had
the promotional red carpet rolled out in the form of a heavily-teased first trailer, which
also revealed the long-awaited return of Han to the Furious fold.
The real question now is what this means for the planned 10th installment in the Furious
franchise. Fast 10 originally held the April 2021 date, now held by its predecessor. Obviously,
the coronavirus has put a squeeze on film production around the world, so fans probably
shouldn't expect two films in this franchise to drop in the same year. That said, never
count Dom and his family out. Fast 10 might arrive sooner than you think.
After the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot failed to launch a new film series in its own right,
it seemed like the beloved supernatural comedy franchise might never hit the big screen again.
But that all changed in 2019 when director Jason Reitman revealed that he'd been quietly
working on a new film set within the continuity of the first two movies. Ghostbusters co-creator
Dan Aykroyd had worked on a version of a third film for years, but now, with Reitman on board
with his own new take, the original series is finally set to continue.
"I love this plan, I’m excited to be a part of it. Let’s do it!"
"This job is definitely not worth eleven-five a year."
Ghostbusters: Afterlife will be set in the present day and follow a family who move to
rural Oklahoma after inheriting some land from the kids' mysterious grandfather, who
possibly turns out to be original Ghostbuster Egon Spengler. Ghostbusters: Afterlife was
originally set to hit theaters in the summer of 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic
the film is now set to arrive March 5th 2021.
Venom was one of the biggest comic book movie hits of 2018, and by far the most surprising.
The film did so well, in fact, that Sony quickly greenlit a sequel, and soon after motion capture
legend Andy Serkis stepped up to direct it.
As promised by the first movie's post-credits scene, the second Venom movie will indeed
focus on the madman known as Cletus Kasady, whose comic book counterpart is famous for
becoming the supervillain known as Carnage. Tom Hardy will return as Eddie Brock, and
Woody Harrelson will play Kasady himself. In April 2020, the film was also given a pretty
appropriate title: Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
Though it was originally scheduled to arrive in the fall of 2020, Venom: Let There Be Carnage
was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, and will now hit theaters on June 25, 2021.
In the spring of 2022, just over five years after his MCU debut, Doctor Strange will finally
get his very first sequel movie. Marvel Studios announced at San Diego Comic Con that director
Scott Derrickson and star Benedict Cumberbatch would both return for Doctor Strange in the
Multiverse of Madness, which Derrickson promised would be the first truly scary film in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe. In early 2020, however, Derrickson vacated the director's
chair due to so-called "creative differences" with Marvel, and horror legend Sam Raimi was
later confirmed as his replacement.
Strange won't be the only hero in the flick, either. He'll be joined by Wanda Maximoff,
who'll once again be played by Elizabeth Olsen. Scarlet Witch's appearance in the film will
also tie in directly to the events of WandaVision, a Disney+ series starring Olsen alongside
Paul Bettany as the Vision. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness hits theaters
on March 25th, 2022.
It's been more than 30 years since Top Gun roared into theaters, and the film is still
considered one of the best blockbusters of Tom Cruise's career. The story of a Navy fighter
pilot who refuses to play by the rules, the film remains a classic piece of 1980s action.
"I feel the need… the need for speed!"
And now, after years of teasing from Cruise himself, fans are finally getting a sequel.
Top Gun: Maverick sees Cruise returning to the title role of Maverick, now a much older
man - who's still pushing the envelope as a pilot and refusing promotions that would
take him out of the cockpit for good. Though he's happy to continue in his old ways, Maverick's
life is upended by a new dangerous Top Gun mission - and the arrival of Bradley Bradshaw,
the son of his late friend Goose.
Promising plenty of aerial action, Top Gun: Maverick also sees the return of Top Gun star
Val Kilmer, as well as a number of franchise newcomers, including Jon Hamm, Jennifer Connelly,
Ed Harris, and more. Maverick was originally supposed to arrive June 2020, before being
delayed to December. The film is now set to land July 2nd, 2021.
For some time now, Legendary Pictures' MonsterVerse has been working to unite the biggest kaiju
in cinema history. What began with Godzilla in 2014 and continued through Kong: Skull
Island and Godzilla: King of the Monsters was always leading to a moment when the two
most famous giant movie monsters of all time would clash on screen. Now, it's almost here
- in the form of Godzilla vs. Kong, the showdown between the radioactive lizard and skyscraper-scaling
gorilla.
Adam Wingard is in the director's chair this time, working with an ensemble cast that includes
a host of returning MonsterVerse stars, as well as newcomers Alexander Skarsgard, Rebecca
Hall, and Eiza Gonzalez. The film promises to feature the titular battle, of course,
but it'll also provide more insights into the origins of the Titans themselves, deepening
the mythology around the headline monsters.
Godzilla vs. Kong was originally set to arrive in November of 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic
led to a reshuffle. The film is now set to hit theaters May 21st, 2021.
In August 2019, Spider-Man's future was thrown into serious jeopardy when reports surfaced
that Sony Pictures and Disney were unable to reach a new agreement concerning their
shared rights to the character. Since 2015, Spider-Man has had one foot in Sony's solo
films and one foot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, thanks to an agreement that allowed
the studios to share him. When attempts to renegotiate that agreement fell apart, Spidey's
MCU future seemed to fall apart with them.
"I'm sorry."
But in late September that year, the dispute between the studios was finally settled - after
a tense few weeks for fans. Sony and Disney agreed to a renewed partnership with Spider-Man
that will take the character through at least one more solo film and one more appearance
in an unnamed future MCU film, setting the stage for the next phase of the character's
Marvel adventures. Very little is currently known about what those adventures will look
like, but we do at least know that, after a few delays, the still-untitled third Spider-Man
film will swing into theaters on December 17th, 2021.
While Spider-Man has spent the last few years hanging out with the Avengers over in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe, the film rights to all of the webslinger's supporting characters
remain at Sony Pictures. And they've been hard at work on their own shared universe
of Spidey-adjacent heroes and villains. After Venom became a box office hit in 2018, that
effort was stepped up, and in the spring of 2021, Morbius will become the second Spidey
villain to get his own solo movie.
Jared Leto stars as Michael Morbius, the first live-action version of the Living Vampire
from the pages of Marvel Comics. As he searches for a cure for a rare blood disease that could
kill him, Morbius accidentally alters his own biological makeup and gives himself a
kind of vampirism, which also grants him superhuman abilities. The first trailer for the film
leaned heavily into the darker aspects of the Morbius story, but also teased that Michael
Keaton will make some kind of appearance as Adrian Toomes, his character from Spider-Man:
Homecoming.
Though it was originally scheduled for the summer of 2020, Morbius was delayed by the
coronavirus pandemic and will now hit theaters on March 19th 2021.
When Mission: Impossible III arrived with the lowest box office numbers of the series
in 2006, it seemed that the action franchise was falling apart. Never count Tom Cruise
out, though. The Impossible films found their footing again with Ghost Protocol in 2011,
and they've been building steam ever since, with 2018's Fallout ranking as the most financially
successful and critically acclaimed installment yet. Naturally, it made sense to continue
the series, and, after the success of Fallout, it seemed like writer/director Christopher
McQuarrie was the man to do it.
At first, McQuarrie was reluctant to try and top his last installment, but he eventually
agreed to do not one, but two films in the series, which are being shot back-to-back.
The first of these, Mission: Impossible 7, will arrive November 19th, 2021, with the
eighth film in the franchise landing on November 4th, 2022. Tom Cruise will return as Ethan
Hunt, and Rebecca Ferguson is also expected to be back as his mysterious ally Ilsa Faust.
Among the many other characters expected to make their return to the franchise is Henry
Czerny, who hasn't been seen since the original movie in 1996. Everything else is being kept
firmly under wraps, but you can pretty much guarantee that whatever Cruise and McQuarrie
have in store is going to be pretty darn spectacular.
While the events of Avengers: Endgame seemed to herald the end of both Iron Man and Captain
America in the MCU, one other franchise from the old days still has a few things left to
say. Yes, Thor is returning to his solo series once again for a fourth installment, Thor:
Love and Thunder.
Marvel Studios made the announcement at San Diego Comic Con 2019, having already confirmed
that Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi would be back as both writer and director
for the next film. Chris Hemsworth will return in the title role alongside Tessa Thompson
as Valkyrie, as well as a rather more surprising cast member: Natalie Portman, who walked away
from the role of Jane Foster after Thor: The Dark World. And what's more, Jane will get
to pick up Mjolnir this time around, signaling an adaptation of the 2010s comic book saga
in which Foster became the new Thor. The jam-packed Thor: Love and Thunder arrives February 11th,
2022.
It's been 20 years since The Matrix changed cinema forever, with its blockbuster combination
of gravity-defying action and existential, sci-fi storytelling. The film went on to spawn
two sequels, but after The Matrix Revolutions it seemed like Neo's journey had come to a
definitive end.
That changed in the summer of 2019, when Variety reported that Matrix co-creator Lana Wachowski
was returning to write and direct a fourth installment in the beloved franchise - and
she wouldn't be alone, either. Wachowski's return came with the news that original stars
Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss would also be back in their respective starring roles
as Neo and Trinity.
"Whoa."
A few months later, Warner Bros. announced that the film would arrive May 21st, 2021.
It later ended up pushed back to April 2022.
Very little is known about what exactly will bring Neo and Trinity back to the Matrix after
all these years. After all, while there was a certain ambiguity to the ending of The Matrix
Revolutions, it did at least seem to resolve the journey of those characters. Wachowski
obviously has a new idea, though, and watching one of the franchise's original creators return
with a fresh take is too good of an opportunity to pass up.
Now that Avengers: Endgame has brought the epic Infinity Saga storyline to a close, the
Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it is about to undergo some major changes. Yes,
familiar characters will remain, but they won't be alone for long. A whole heap of new
heroes are coming over the horizon - including the MCU's first all-new superhero team since
the Guardians of the Galaxy debuted in 2014.
Based on the Marvel Comics team of the same name, Eternals will follow a near-immortal
race of beings who have secretly lived on Earth for thousands of years. Following some
kind of "unexpected tragedy" in the wake of Endgame, they will be forced out of hiding
and back into an ages-long battle against the Deviants, their ancient enemy.
The film boasts a star-packed cast, including Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden,
Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry, Gemma Chan, and more. Not only are MCU fans getting
a new team, but they're also getting the most diverse cast of superhero characters in the
MCU to date - including their first openly gay superhero and first deaf character. Though
it was originally scheduled to arrive in the fall of 2020, the coronavirus pandemic has
shifted Marvel's entire release schedule, and Eternals will now land on February 12th,
2021.
There have been plenty of Spider-Man movies in the 21st century so far, but none of them
ever struck a chord quite like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The film marked the
first time Spidey had hit the big screen as the star of an animated film, and the creative
team took full advantage of that by crafting a truly remarkable visual style. Spider-Verse
also opted for a more diverse approach to its characters, by making Ultimate Spider-Man
Miles Morales the lead character, and surrounding him with alternate universe Spider-heroes
of all kinds.
"It CAN get weirder. I just washed my hands, that's why they're wet. No other reason."
The result was an almost universally beloved instant classic; a film that took home box
office gold and then began filling up a trophy case with awards, including the Oscar for
Best Animated Feature. Sony Pictures was so high on the Spider-Verse concept that a sequel
was in the works even before the film hit theaters, and it turned out that excitement
was justified. Now, it's just a matter of time. The sequel to Into the Spider-Verse
will chronicle the further adventures of Miles Morales, and is set to hit theaters October
7th, 2022.
Though he may be the fastest of DC's on-screen superheroes, the Flash has been taking his
sweet time getting to the big screen in his own solo movie. Development on a DCEU film
starring the Scarlet Speedster has stretched back nearly a decade, with various writers
and directors lining up for the project - only to eventually depart. Ezra Miller then debuted
as Barry Allen with a brief cameo in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, before going
on to star in Justice League in 2017.
Since then, a number of changes have forced Miller's Flash solo film to hop around the
calendar. Now, it seems it may have finally found its spot. With IT director Andy Muschietti
and Birds of Prey writer Christina Hodson taking the reins, The Flash is now expected
to arrive in 2022. Provided it can make it to the finish, the film is a sure fire to
be a hit. Let's just hope it can actually make it off the starting line.
Like the Flash, Jason Momoa's Aquaman first appeared in a brief cameo in Batman v Superman:
Dawn of Justice before going on to become one of Justice League's biggest scene stealers.
For his first solo film, director James Wan and Momoa delivered a massive undersea epic
that combined superhero adventure with epic fantasy storytelling- and a brighter, more
comedic outlook than previous DCEU films. The result was a box office megahit that grossed
more than $1 billion after its release during the 2018 holiday season. With that in mind,
a sequel was pretty much inevitable.
In February 2019, Warner Bros. announced that Aquaman 2 was indeed moving forward, and would
arrive in theaters four years after the first film. Momoa is set to return to reprise his
role as the titular superhero, and Wan has signed on to produce and possibly direct,
too. Aquaman 2 splashes down in theaters on December 16th, 2022.
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