It goes without saying that the 2010s were a revolutionary decade for movies.
Now, though, it's time to look to the future — and take a dive into the hottest releases
from the first year of the 2020s.
From franchise tentpoles to long-awaited sequels to gripping original productions, these are
the movies you can't miss in 2020.
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 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.
And on March 20th 2020, A Quiet Place 2 will hit theaters.
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 at least jot down a few ideas.
He explained:
"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 have told Fandango that there
is the potential to focus on new families.
Krasinski also 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."
On May 1st 2020, Marvel Studios is set to release Black Widow, its 24th MCU film and
the beginning of the Marvel Universe's fourth phase.
During the Marvel Hall H panel at 2019's San Diego Comic-Con, the cast and crew of Black
Widow discussed the film's official announcement, along with a few story and character details.
Chronologically, Black Widow will take place between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers:
Infinity War.
As far as plot goes, specific details are still being kept under wraps, but according
to its cast, the film is going to be something of a departure from other Marvel properties.
David Harbour, who plays Alexei otherwise known as the Red Guardian spoke with Marvel
after the panel.
He said:
"It feels like an espionage movie; it's got all these elements to it."
Scarlett Johansson also said:
"It's a little dirty; it's a little salty.
It's bringing some realness to the Marvel universe."
Joining Johansson and Harbour are Florence Pugh as Yelena, Natasha's fellow Black Widow
agent; O-T Fagbenle as Mason, a "fixer" who apparently has "a complex relationship with
Natasha"; and Rachel Weisz as Melina, a character who's previously been through the Widow program
five times.
Long live the 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 follow-up that's definitely coming, however, is Bill and Ted Face the Music, a 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 March
of 2019 that strange things were indeed afoot at the Circle K once more.
William Sadler is slated to reprise his role as the oft-Melvined Grim Reaper, while original
writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon have returned to pen the screenplay — and Galaxy
Quest director Dean Parisot is set to helm.
Reeves himself revealed that the plot will catch up with a 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.
"Excellent!"
Bill & Ted Face the Music will be partying on in production throughout 2019 — and is
set for release on August 21st 2020.
Author Eoin Colfer's once described his young adult fantasy series Artemis Fowl as "Die
Hard with fairies."
Critics, meanwhile, have called Artemis "the new Harry Potter."
If those comparisons pique your interest, good news — eight novels about this young
criminal mastermind's coming-of-age were published between 2001 and 2012 for your reading pleasure.
Or you could just wait until May 29th 2020, when a film adaptation of the first book in
Colfer's series is slated to hit theaters.
That first book finds the 12-year-old antihero kidnapping a fairy in the hopes of restoring
his family fortune and finding his long-lost father.
The Disney-produced feature stars Irish newcomer Ferdia Shaw as Artemis, with a supporting
cast that includes Judi Dench, Josh Gad, and Game of Thrones' Nonso Anozie.
Kenneth Branagh, best known for the Marvel's first Thor film and a multitude of Shakespeare
adaptations, is in the director's chair — a role he previously filled for Disney on 2015's
Cinderella.
Let's be fair, it's probably ambitious to 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.
"do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning?"
After an initial trailer was released in the bygone days of October 2017, The New Mutants
has been pushed back no fewer than three times, shifting from April 2018 to February 2019,
then to August 2019.
The recent release of Disney's post-Fox-merger schedule, however, revealed that New Mutants
had been delayed yet again, all the way to April 3rd 2020.
So, what's behind 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, too.
The cast features up-and-comers like The Witch's Anya Taylor-Joy and Game of Thrones' Maisie
Williams.
Sadly, a number of factors have been at play in frustrating the movie's release — the
release of Deadpool 2, a decision to play up the movie's horror elements, expansion
of certain characters' roles, and the Earth-shaking Disney/Fox merger among them.
"Bad Deadpool."
With any luck, fans will 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 X-Men movie from Fox.
Currently, very little is known about Christopher Nolan's upcoming action epic Tenet, which
is slated for release on July 17th 2020.
We do know that it revolves around the world of international espionage, and that it's
shaping up to be an expensive production, with the budget reportedly clocking in at
about $225 million.
On top of that, Tenet will be shown in IMAX, 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 Tenet's
details.
The actor was fond of the script, however, and said that Nolan has changed his mind about
doing big budget movies.
Pattinson explained:
"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."
Pixar's newest movie Onward is set in a fantasy suburbia and follows two elf brothers, voiced
by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt, as they set out into the world — in search of magic
that will allow them to spend a day with their dead father.
Onward is a completely new entry to the Pixar canon, so its imaginative world promises to
be like nothing the studio has done before.
And judging by the film's first teaser trailer — which features all kinds of magical creatures
— there will be more than enough for fantasy fans to sink their teeth into.
Onward is directed by Dan Scanlon, who helmed 2013's Monsters University and has worked
on the senior creative team for Brave, Inside Out, Coco, and Toy Story 4.
This is a personal project for him, too — he told the audience at D23 that the story was
inspired by his own personal search for answers regarding his father, who passed away when
he was a year old.
Pixar's Onward hits theaters on March 6th 2020.
In addition to the rest of the MCU's Phase 4 projects, Marvel Studios president Kevin
Feige took to the stage at 2019's San Diego Comic-Con to announce Eternals, which will
make its way to theaters on November 6th 2020.
While little is known regarding the plot of Eternals, the film will be based on the cosmic
Jack Kirby characters first introduced in the pages of Marvel comics in 1976.
According to Marvel:
"The Eternals are a race of god-like beings locked in a millennium-old conflict with the
less evolved Deviants and their originators, the Celestials… they are immortals blessed
with strange, sometimes monstrous, powers."
"There's a little bit of pee coming out of me right now."
Eternals boasts an all-star cast, including Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani,
and Salma Hayek.
It's directed by Chloé Zhao, whose two previous films, 2015's Songs My Brother Taught Me and
2017's The Rider were both met with critical acclaim — with The Rider being nominated
for Independent Spirit Awards for Best Film and Best Director.
The Call of the Wild, Jack London's 1903 adventure novel about a sled dog's journey across the
Yukon Territory, is a literary classic — just look at how many times it's been adapted to
the screen, stretching all the way back to the silent era.
In the past, the lead human role of prospector John Thorton has been played by Hollywood
tough guys like Clark Gable, Charlton Heston, and Rutger Hauer.
On February 21st 2020, however, John Thorton's rugged boots will be filled by Harrison Ford
in a live-action/animation hybrid from Lilo and Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon director
Chris Sanders, and Logan writer Michael Green.
The impressive supporting cast is rounded out by Dan Stevens, Karen Gillan, Omar Sy,
and Bradley Whitford.
It remains to be seen just how Sanders' animation expertise will bring the story's animal characters
to life in this 20th Century Fox production, but the impressive pedigree of the material
makes this adaptation one to keep an eye on.
After years in development, the big screen adaptation of Naughty Dog's video game franchise
Uncharted will finally be making it to theaters on December 18th 2020.
In 2017, it was announced that Spider-Man's Tom Holland would be taking on the lead role
of Nathan Drake in Sony's prequel film, which will star the same lead character from the
game — but won't be following its plot.
Instead, it will introduce a younger version of Drake as he learns the tricks of the trade
from his mentor, Sully.
Bryan Cranston is also rumored to star, but his role remains unknown at the time of publication.
Uncharted has run through a series of directors over the course of its development, with Seth
Gordon, David O. Russell, Neil Burger, and Shawn Levy all having been attached at some
point.
Finally, in January 2019, Variety announced 10 Cloverfield Lane's Dan Trachtenberg would
take the reins.
Currently, little else is known about the film, but if the casting rumors are true,
the combination of Holland and Cranston could make for one video game adaptation that can't
be missed.
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