100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2020 - Page 2 of 11

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90. “The Craft”
Director: Zoe Lister-Jones (“Band Aid”)
Cast: Cailee Spaeny, Gideon Adlon, Lovie Simone, David Duchovny
Synopsis: A girl joins a new school and falls in with a clique of megalomaniacal witches.
What You Need To Know: They say you shouldn’t try to reinvent the wheel, but it’s basically impossible not to root for a female-directed “The Craft” reboot from Blumhouse. In case you need a serious refresh on your herstory, “The Craft” is a 1996 cult classic starring Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, and Rachel True as a girl gang of witches at a Catholic high school whose friendship goes topsy-turvy when the newest addition questions their morals. Though a delicious revenge tale, the decades-old film could certainly use some zhuzhing – perhaps an ending that doesn’t pit the girls against each other – and it will be fascinating to see how an entirely female-crafted reboot will try to recreate the magic. (Zoe Lister-Jones is set to write and direct.) We were rather charmed by Lister-Jones’s directorial debut, the Sundance dramedy “Band Aid.” It’d be great to see her mumblecore moxie transposed onto a cast of newcomers armed with eyes of newt.
Release Date: Probably Halloween-ish –LW

89. “A Quiet Place: Part II”
Director: John Krasinski (“A Quiet Place,” “Brief Interviews With Hideous Men”)
Cast: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Cillian Murphy, Djimon Hounsou
Synopsis: Horror/thriller that follows the events of “A Quiet Place”
What You Need To Know: Though initially cool on the idea, it didn’t take long for writer/director John Krasinski to come around on the idea of making a sequel to his 2018 sleeper horror hit “A Quiet Place.” Exact details are being kept quiet (ha!) but it’s believed the film will retain the grounded appeal of the original, rather than jump into full-blown franchise mode. The core cast of the first film returns (minus Krasinksi for obvious reasons) with Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou as intriguing additions. The key to success here will be pushing the genuine thrills of the original forward without feeling like a repeat or losing the magic that “A Quiet Place” such a phenomenon in the first place. With a spring release date on the horizon, we’ll find out soon what’s in store.
Release Date: March 20, via Paramount Pictures. – Kevin Jagernauth

88. “Mulan”
Director: Niki Caro (“Whale Rider,” “North Country”)
Cast: Liu Yifei, Donnie Yen, Gong Li, Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Jet Li, Tzi Ma, Hua Zhou, Ron Yuan
Synopsis: The live-action adaptation of the Chinese folklore hero (which inspired the 1998 Disney animated hit) finds a young woman masquerading as her father’s son to take his place in battle.
What You Need To Know: In what truly might be one of the biggest gambles of the 2020 film calendar, Disney is taking major steps with its “Mulan” adaptation to make it as different from the animated film as possible. There are no songs from the original to sing, no Mushu and a new villain and love interest. After static films like this year’s “The Lion King” and 2017’s “Beauty and the Beast” mismanaged their takes on their classic counterparts, perhaps a fresher take on Mulan’s story will be for the best. Star Gong Li says the film costs close to $300 million to make, which would have it be one of the most expensive films of all time. If the budget is even somewhat close to that estimation, Disney will need to hope the film brings honor to its audience. This flopping could be one of the studio’s biggest missteps in its history. Though, the first trailer does give us hope the fresher vision will do us all some good.
Release Date: March 27, via Disney – CW

87. “Lost Girls”
Director: Liz Garbus (“What Happened, Miss Simone?”)
Cast: Amy Ryan, Thomasin McKenzie, Gabriel Byrne,
Synopsis: Mari Gilbert relentlessly drives law enforcement agents to search for her missing daughter, but ends up involved with a series of unsolved murders by the Long Island serial killer.
What You Need To Know: Everyone loves a good true crime story, and after dominating the true-crime documentary market in TV form, Netflix now wants to conquer the film side too. Based on a book with the same title, “Lost Girls” follows the true story of Mari Gilbert, who ended up investigating the Long Island serial killer while looking into the disappearance of her daughter. Though it’s set to be a narrative film, hiring Liz Garbus, who has primarily done documentaries, to helm the project is an interesting choice that at the very least will lead to a very stylish film.
Release Date: Netflix has not set a date for “Lost Girls,” but maybe Sundance premiere first? – RA

86. “The Woman in the Window”
Director: Joe Wright (“Atonement,” “Darkest Hour”)
Cast: Amy Adams, Julianna Moore, Gary Oldman, Bryan Tyree Henry
Synopsis: An agoraphobic psychologist witnesses a murder while spying on her neighbors – but everything is not quite as it seems.
What You Need To Know: There are few scam sagas as wild as the ballad of Daniel Mallory, a.k.a. A. J. Finn, the once-anonymous author of megahit thrill novel “The Woman in the Window.” In a New Yorker exposé this February, Ian Parker accused Mallory of crafting false brain tumors, familial suicides, and English doctorate degrees to further his career. He also unpacked “The Woman in the Window” as a fraudulent Frankenstein, combining Paula Hawkins’ novel “The Girl on the Train” with the 1995 film “Copycat.” Yet rather than upending the “Woman in the Window” film adaptation, all this huckster lore adds to its intrigue. It’s hard for any movie nerd to stay away from a Joe Wright-directed, Amy Adams-starring thriller, and all the delicious deception that lies beneath feels even more in the spirit of the project (plus Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross composed the score). Did we get a “Girl on the Train” adaptation just three years ago? Sure! Should the movie market be clogged with dubious, semi-trashy beach read adaptations starring morally ambiguous female leads? Absolutely.
Release Date: May 15, 2020, via 20th Century Fox –LW

85. “Covers”
Director: Nisha Ganatra (“Late Night”)
Cast: Dakota Johnson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kelvin Harrison Jr.
Synopsis: A comedy set among the talent, fame and fast-paced world of Hollywood’s music scene.
What You Need To Know: Musicals are making a come-back, just look at Tom Hooper’s “Cats.” After her previous film, “Late Night,” premiered to rave reviews at Sundance, Nisha Ganatra is moving from the male-dominated world of late-night TV to the male-dominated world of Hollywood’s music scene. Even more curious is the casting of Dakota Johnson, who has previously shown her comedic chops in small roles before, but now gets the chance to shine as the lead in a comedy. After seeing what Ryan Gosling managed to do in “The Nice Guys,” here’s hoping Johnson can pull a similar move and show audiences she’s funny as hell.
Release Date: May 8, via Focus Features. – RA

84. “Free Guy”
Director: Shawn Levy (“Night at the Museum,” “Real Steel”)
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Taika Waititi, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Lil Rel Howery, Channing Tatum
Synopsis: The comedy centers on a background character in a video game (Reynolds) who must rally to save his surroundings when it comes under danger.
What You Need To Know: Summertime is usually a swimming pool of refried intellectual properties, so an original, interesting idea with a budget is always welcome to dive in. Levy hasn’t directed a movie since 2014, so he makes his return to movies after spending a substantial amount of time on Netflix’s smash television hit “Stranger Things.” His latest film sounds like it could be a lot of fun, kind of a real-life “Wreck-It Ralph” with Reynolds, whose patented sarcasm and comedic timing might be a nice engine for this story. This is one of the last high-profile 20th Century Fox projects to come over to Disney after the merger, and even if this might not be the world’s greatest feature, it doing well would give the Mouse House a bit more reason to keep making original live-action films under the Fox banner.|
Release Date: July 3 – CW

83. “The White Tiger”
Director: Ramin Bahrani (“99 Homes”)
Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Rajkummar Rao, Adarsh Gourav
Synopsis: Murder, love, and deceit are the ultimate price for ambition. A tea-shop worker in a village moves up to a successful entrepreneur in a big city.
What You Need To Know: Already set up at Netflix, this adaptation of the Man Booker-winning titular novel is directed by Ramin Bahrani, last seen adapting “Fahrenheit 451” for HBO, but known for his seminal indie works like “Man Push Cart.” Bahrani hasn’t quite fulfilled the promise of his early career (filmmakers like Werner Herzog flipped for him when he came on the scene). ‘Fahrenheit’ came and went, and his graduation from micro indies to mid-budget dramas featuring stars has been uneven and hit and miss (“99 Homes,” and “At Any Price”), but perhaps this will be the one to fully connect.
Release Date: TBD, but Netflix will likely want a festival bow for it. – RP

82. “Halloween Kills”
Director: David Gordon Green (“Pineapple Express,” “Halloween”)
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Mitichak, Judy Greer, Robert Longstreet, Omar J. Dorsey
Synopsis: The saga of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode continues in the next thrilling chapter of the Halloween series.
What You Need To Know: “Halloween” is one of those horror touchstones that is better left untouched: just ask Rob Zombie, who tried and failed to channel the magic of John Carpenter’s immortal slasher classic through his distinct barbarous-redneck filter. Much more successful was David Gordon Green’s 2018 “Halloween,” which managed to stay true to the spirit of Carpenter’s original while adding more of the humor and mischief that Green is known for. “Halloween” made a killing (no pun intended, we swear) at the box office, so a sequel was all but inevitable. “Halloween Kills” is the second installment in a trilogy (“Halloween Ends” arrives in 2021), and as much as we’d love to see Green go back to directing poetic oddball indies like “George Washington” and “All the Real Girls,” we’re all for him taking on a “Halloween” sequel – especially if the results are as spine-tingling and satisfying as his 2018 remake.
Release Date: October 16, via Universal/Blumhouse. – NL

81. “Godzilla Vs. Kong”
Director: Adam Wingard (“You’re Next,” “The Guest”)
Cast: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Eiza González
Synopsis: Godzilla and Konga are on a collision course: two of the most powerful forces of nature on the planet collide in a spectacular battle for the ages.
What You Need To Know: Directed by Adam Wingard, known for critically-acclaimed indie horror work, the filmmaker stumbled with his last effort “Death Note.” Legendary’s Monsterverse is coming off some problems too. “Godzilla: King Of The Monsters,” wasn’t as well-received as “Godzilla” or “Kong: Skull Island,” and grossed substantially less than both. In reaction, and to make sure the franchise doesn’t burn out too fast, Legendary decided to recently delay the movie by eight months to ensure something that will keep audiences in rapt attention. A new cast is featured, but some members of ‘King Of The Monsters’ (Brown, and Kyle Chandler) are back. Time will tell if the release date change did much,
Release Date: November 20, 2020 – RP