2020 promises some movies that were long delayed, some with trailers, and others with little information. Wonder Woman 1984 was set for release on December 2019, but pushed back. The trailer was released on December 8th, 2019 and the film will finally be in box offices on June 5th. The first movie is the best comic book adaptation in the modern era. Black Panther followed up the next year and overshadowed Wonder Woman at the awards, but its sequel is set to open two years from the opening of the first movie. I like the 80’s setting and hope the Amazons find their way in the sequel. Next, A Quiet Place Part II, again the original was stunning. We are more familiar with the horror so it will be interesting how the filmmakers will raise the tension. The trailer released on January 1st seemed to show the terror dimension is in the humans like Walking Dead, but I hope the creatures evolve like in the Tremors sequels. The sequel comes out on March 20th.
Then, there is Dune, I have the most excitement over the potential of this film. I think Brian Herbert as producer will bring the movie in line with the Game of Thrones political complexity and sci fi concepts of the novel. Of course, there is Denis Villeneuve as director, who stunned me with Blade Runner 2049. Once, he was announced, this catapulted the film to top anticipated. Dune stands as the same level as Lord of the Rings in terms of masterpiece so I hope this cinema work will be equally award winning. No trailer or full cast announcement, but the release is December 18th. Death on the Nile, I loved Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express (2017), I love the 1974 film. There was also a 1978 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel, but again I want to be surprised at both stories. His first Agatha Christie film had a great cast and it looks like it will be same with this one. No trailer yet, but I can’t wait for October 9th when it opens.
The top five movie is Raya and the Last Dragon was the animated movie that was previewed at D23 Expo. This one took my breath away at its beauty. It is another Walt Disney Animation film that stood out to me far from Pixar’s Onward. The screenwriter, Adele Lim, appeared at D23 Expo and also worked on Crazy Rich Asians (2018). Awkwafina, also from that movie, provides a voice really becoming prominent as an actress. This would rate higher with a trailer. It opens on November 25th! Mulan which has the potential to be a standout to the other animated film adaptations. There is room to expand on the licenses taken in the original which may have offended the Chinese audiences and also appeal to world audiences. The trailer that dropped on December 5th showed only hints of the animated movie and no songs, but I hope those parts are being saved for the film. Mulan opens in theaters on March 27th.
February 7th brings us Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn. Probably most filmgoers will not use the full title when buying tickets. The comic book Birds of Prey was Oracle, Huntress (who reappeared in Crisis), and a young Black Canary. The film by Cathy Yan features Harley Quinn, who hasn’t been a part of the comic book team, with Margot Robbie standing out from Suicide Squad (2016), Huntress, Black Canary (two original team members), Orphan, and Renee Montoya, two of the cast from the Batman comic book. The first trailer was released on October 1, 2019, its focus on Harley Quinn took away from the group dynamics, maybe this will be revealed later. Jungle Cruise is another movie that wowed me at D23 Expo. It was announced in 2017 with Dwayne Johnson posted a pic of himself on the attraction boat in April 10th. He appeared with Emily Blunt at D23 Expo, he arrived in a boat through the audience, and Blunt showed up on a car on stage. They both showed trailers from the perspective of their characters, very clever, I hope this shows up somewhere in the movie. The trailer showed some of the fun on October 11, 2019 and the movie will open on July 24th!
The Universal Blumhouse monster films seem to be headed with Invisible Man directed by Leigh Whannell. He has shown potential with the action of Upgrade (2018) and of course his work with the Insidious movies. The trailer was released on last year on November 7th. The modern setting is good, but even more is the perspective and terror of Elizabeth Moss' character being stalked, topical and relevant. The Invisible Man appears in theaters on February 28th! The next expected movie is New Mutants. The new trailer just dropped and of course there has been long delays and uncertainty. I don’t care. I liked Dark Phoenix and don’t think it marked a turn to the X-Men franchise. If the movie discards the Demon Bear storyline by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz, I wouldn’t mind. If Sam Guthrie’s power is to literally turn into a cannonball, okay. I really like the cast and the film’s director, John Boone from The Fault in Our Stars (2014), believing in the project. It has been delayed so long, the anticipation is high for me in whatever form it takes on April 3rd.
There were some problems I had with Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), but I’m finding I like it more and more as time goes on. Godzilla vs. Kong will hopefully be the Kaiju Movie of Kaiju Movies! No trailer yet, but I’m hoping this is just all out Kaiju action. It comes out on November 20th! So let’s move to Titanos and cover Eternals! The characters were created by Jack Kirby as a solo creation. He had finished working on Darkseid and the New Gods at DC. Kirby went deep into the cosmic part of the Marvel Universe, but with really human (Eternal) characters! The closest the MCU has gotten to Kirby was Thor: Ragnarok (2017), but I have yet to see Kirby action on film. I want to see the extreme poses and fists right at the camera! I have hope that director Chloé Zhao from The Rider (2017) can bring the Kirby sensibility to screen and maybe with the complexity of Neil Gaiman and John Romita, Jr.’s 2006-2007 series. Eternals hits theaters on November 6th.
I loved the November 27th trailer for Artemis Fowl, again I met the author, Eoin Colfer, at Comic Con. Also, this is another Kenneth Branagh movie that somehow got shuffled from its August 9th, 2019 release and now opens on May 20th! Another film that was delayed is King’s Man, with trailers in July and September, and pushed back from November 15, 2019. I like the last movie in the series directed by Matthew Vaughn, Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017). This looks like fun and has expanded from the Secret Service comic book from Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, I think the director Michael Chaves needs to step up the horror. I saw his last film, The Curse of La Llorona (2019). I love The Conjuring franchise and this is time it is without James Wan. It is coming out on September 11th.
There may be surprises with long awaited sequels like Bill & Ted Face the Music, Keanu Reeves is just having an endless string of hits, and this one opens on August 21st, Coming 2 America opens on December 18th, the original is beloved, Eddie Murphy is having a resurgence with Dolemite Is My Name, funny, and his director, Craig Brewer, is helming the sequel with a Kenya Barris screenplay! Will Bloodshot launch a Valiant Universe of movies? It is opening on March 13th, not my favorite character, but Vin Diesel seems like he can play this part. Could West Side Story fulfill Steven Spielberg’s dream of making a musical? The 1961 film is one of my favorite musicals and I met some of the cast. I have hope with the casting of Ansel Elgort from Baby Driver (2017). The Jets will be making a scene on December 18th. The same day as Dune? I'm picking Dune. I’m gun shy about musicals with movies like Cats. Will there be some surprises with dramas and other films? Most likely. What films can make you hardly wait?
#2020movies, #WonderWoman1984, #AQuietPlacePartII, #Dune, #DeathontheNile, #Mulan, #BirdsofPrey, #JungleCruise, #NewMutants, #GodzillavsKong, #Eternals, #RayaandtheLastDragon
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