10. “The Tragedy of Macbeth”
Director: Joel Coen
Cast: Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Ineson, Corey Hawkins
Synopsis: An adaptation of Shakespeare’s revered ‘Scottish Play.’
What You Need To Know: We are beyond intrigued to see Joel Coen strike out on his own (Ethan’s been working in the world of theater as of late), especially considering the cast at his disposal for this particular project. Denzel Washington has never appeared in a Coen Brothers film, but the prospect of his surely bombastic take on the film’s namesake Scottish lord is, to put it mildly, intriguing. Joel’s wife Frances McDormand (no stranger to the Coens’ universe) will be handling duties as Lady Macbeth. With all-star indie distributor A24 running the domestic release, this one has “potential Oscar player” written all over it.
Release Date: TBD at this time, but an awards season bow seems likely. – NL
9. “C’mon C’mon”
Director: Mike Mills (“Beginners,” “20th Century Women”)
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffman, Jaboukie Young-White
Synopsis: An artist embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew.
What You Need To Know: For Mills, a new A24 project marks a reunion after the tremendously underrated “20th Century Women,” his winsome 1970s California-set family drama that was also a love letter to his mother. Mills also directed The National’s new record’s visual accompaniment, “I Am Easy to Find,” starring Alicia Vikander. Could this mean that “C’mon C’mon” could promise something more introspective, something soft, with shades of Spike Jonze’s “Her?” A love story, a sad story, one with no villains or heroes of the super nature? Hopefully, Mills and Phoenix’s pairing will bring the answers we seek, and perhaps even more than that.
Release date: TBD. – EK
8. “Blonde”
Director: Andrew Dominik (“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”)
Cast: Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale, Scoot McNairy
Synopsis: A fictionalized chronicle of the inner life of Marilyn Monroe.
You Need To Know: Andrew Dominik is one of our best working directors. The Australian filmmaker has been trying to get his adaptation of Joyce Carroll Oates’ unconventional historical novel “Blonde” off the ground for some time. Thankfully, it looks like it’s finally happening. The book is more akin to a fever dream than a standard bio (Dominik has described it as a Polanski-esque “descent-into-madness” narrative). He’s found an inspired choice to play Monroe in Ana de Armas, who received justified raves for her astounding performance in 2019’s “Knives Out.” Given that Dominik has said he thinks “Blonde” could be “one of the ten best films ever made,” there’s every reason to have hope.
Release Date: TBD. – NL
7. “The Power Of The Dog”
Director: Jane Campion (“The Piano,” “Top of the Lake”)
Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Benedict Cumberbatch, Thomasin McKenzie, Jesse Plemmons, Keith Carradine, Adam Beach, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Synopsis: A pair of brothers who own a large ranch in Montana are pitted against each other when one of them gets married.
What You Need To Know: Jane Campion is one of those directors we are always going to show our support for: she’s demonstrated her mastery in a variety of genres, and never fails to bring a sensitive, probing, female-focused gaze to whatever story she chooses to tackle. “The Power Of The Dog” is Campion’s first feature undertaking since 2009’s “Bright Star,” making it a cause for celebration. The film has seen cast members like Elisabeth Moss and Paul Dano come and go, and although production was delayed earlier this year due to COVID-19, it feels safe to say that we can keep this one on our radar for a promising 2021 release.
Release Date: TBD, but a fall or winter release seems likely if it doesn’t hit Cannes before that. – NL
6. “Bergman Island”
Director: Mia Hansen-Løve (“Things To Come”)
Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Vicky Krieps, Tim Roth
Synopsis: An American filmmaking couple retreats to the same Faro islands Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman took refuge in for the summer to each write screenplays for their upcoming films. Reality and fiction start to blur.
What You Need To Know: Hansen-Løve has become one of cinema’s most premier auteurs, often disinterested in plot or story, but her rich characters often create deeply compelling worlds that make for engrossing humanist dramas. Hansen-Løve wrote the script for “Bergman Island” in 2016 on a visit to Bergman’s hideaway with her partner, fellow filmmaker Oliver Assayas. Wasikowska and Norwegian actor Anders Danielsen Lie (“22 July”) star as the filmmaking couple in this sure-to-be-bewitching film within a film. “Bergman Island” did hit some bumps along the way—Greta Gerwig and John Turturro having to drop out due to scheduling— but let’s presume that’s not affecting the final product.
Release Date: TBD. –RP
5. “Dune”
Director: Denis Villeneuve (“Arrival,” “Blade Runner: 2049”)
Cast: Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Zendaya
Synopsis: The son of a noble family is entrusted with protecting the most valuable asset and most vital element in the galaxy.
What You Need To Know: “Dune” was shaping up to be one of the biggest movies of this year, and yet, no one was surprised when Warner Brothers shuffled the film off its 2020 slate. What’s more is that the first trailer was pretty damn impressive, giving us reason to hope that Villeneuve would be the filmmaker able to pull this vision off. The director’s work gets greater and grander with each new film, and seeing him tackle the tale of House Atreides, the Harkonnens, and “spice” is something we all collectively can’t wait to see.
Release Date: TBD, although the film is at the center of a new controversy that pits Warner Brothers versus Legendary in regards to Villeneuve’s latest being moved to HBO Max. – NL
4. “Nightmare Alley”
Director: Guillermo Del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Shape of Water”)
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Rooney Mara, Willem Dafoe, David Strathairn
Synopsis: A remake of the 1947 noir where a corrupt con-man teams up with a female psychiatrist to trick people into giving them money.
What You Need To Know: After “The Shape of Water,” Guillermo Del Toro could have done anything he wanted. Turns out, what he wanted was to try his hand at a classic, hard-boiled noir – albeit one that makes room for his noted proclivity toward the macabre. This director has always been able to attract top-shelf talent based on his considerable imagination and industry goodwill. Del Toro has described the story as being very R-rated and also an “underbelly of society” type of movie, which is in keeping with the Edmund Goulding-directed original. Let’s hope all the delays make this one worth the wait.
Release Date: TBD, but feels like an awards contender for Searchlight Pictures. – NL
3. “The French Dispatch”
Director: Wes Anderson (“The Grand Budapest Hotel.” “Rushmore”)
Cast: Timothee Chalamet, Saoirse Ronan, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Jeffery Wright, Elisabeth Moss, and MANY more.
Synopsis: A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional 20th-century French city.
What You Need To Know: Wes Anderson‘s seriocomic epic “The French Dispatch” was delayed twice this year thanks to COVID, but it sounds like a kind of anthology film with several short film stories told within the greater framework of a New Yorker style magazine in France run by American ex-pats. Anderson’s films tend to resonate the most when he’s allowed free reign in the sandbox of his imagination, and given there looks like there are four different stories told in different formats with additional actors like Benicio del Toro, Lea Seydoux, Saoirse Ronan, and more, this one promises to be something of a magnum opus work.
Release Date: TBD. – NL
2. “Soggy Bottom”
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson (“Boogie Nights,” “Magnolia”)
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Cooper Hoffman, Benny Safdie, Alana Haim
Synopsis: The story of a high school student who is also a child actor in the 1970’s San Fernando Valley.
What You Need To Know: Any new film from Paul Thomas Anderson, one of our great working American directors, is cause for celebration, mainly because he generally works in a different genre/tonal register every time he makes a new picture. With his latest, as-of-yet untitled new work, Anderson is going back to his roots. His latest work will see him returning to the 1970’s milieu of “Inherent Vice.” The movie will also be Anderson’s first look at high school life, and there are early rumors that the film will return to the sprawling ensemble-based, interlocking-vignettes vibe of “Magnolia.” Also, we really want to see what’s behind the curtain, so to speak, regarding Bradley Cooper’s look in this movie.
Release Date: TBD. – NL
1. “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Director: Martin Scorsese (“Goodfellas,” “The Irishman”)
Cast: Leonardo Dicaprio, Robert De Niro
Synopsis: Members of the Osage tribe in the United States are murdered under mysterious circumstances in the 1920s, sparking a major F.B.I. investigation involving J. Edgar Hoover.
What You Need To Know: David Grann’s gripping and disturbing work of investigative historical nonfiction would be worthy of inclusion here any time, but with Scorsese at the helm, DiCaprio, De Niro starring and a $200 million budget from the deep-pocketed Apple TV+, now it’s time to get officially excited. Scorsese has teased that the film will be his first Western. However, it is sure to focus on cruelty and racist injustices suffered by the Native-American characters than on white-savior gunslinger theatrics. The film’s screenwriter Eric Roth revealed last year that DiCaprio fought to play a bad guy in the film and will portray the tortured nephew of Robert De Niro’s serial killer. It all sounds capital-B bleak, but an important story that must be told. Rodrigo Prieto is the DP, and more casting will surely be revealed in the new year.
Release Date: Apple TV+ foot the massive bill for this one and while it doesn’t start production until February (and Paramount will release theatrically), surely they want an Oscar contender before the end of the year. – RP
Honorable Mention:
Where’s Spike Lee’s “Prince of Cats,” you ask? Well, it didn’t shoot as intended, and Lee’s going to be busy in 2021 with Oscar campaigning for “Da 5 Bloods,” and then acting as Jury President for the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, should that happen. At best, it seems like he’d shoot a new film after that, and that means whatever comes next is likely 2022. What about the critically-acclaimed festival films like the one-two Vanessa Kirby punch of “Pieces of A Woman” and “The World To Come?” The former is technically a 2020 release, and you’ll see it on some of our Best-of Lists despite its very late entry into this year; the latter is an early 2021 film, great, and you’ll see it on our Films We’ve Already Seen list (ditto that list for Gia Coppola’s “Mainstream” with Andrew Garfield and Maya Hawke).
What else? We would love to think Luca Guadagnino’s “Scarface” would be ready, but there’s no cast or start date yet, so that likely falls into wishful thinking. Ari Aster (“Hereditary”) and Jordan Peele (“Us”) are rumored to be working on new horror films too, but again, those aren’t looking like they will be 2021 films. Chilean auteur Pablo Larraín has “Spencer” brewing with Kristen Stewart in a Princess Diana story and that sounds amazing, but he has to finish up “Lisey’s Story” for Apple first, so it sounds more like a 2022 film.
So let’s look at what IS still coming, but we didn’t have enough space on our top 100 for. Top of mind, internationally, is Arnaud Desplechin‘s “Deception,” a Philip Roth adaptation starring Léa Seydoux, Denis Podalydès, Emmanuelle Devos, and Anouk Grinber. This one is a good bet for Cannes 2021, we just saw a first look and we know production is done. Also abroad and of major interest is U.K. auteur Ben Wheatley, who has a quickie-pandemic-shot horror that we’ll learn more about soon at Sundance called, “In the Earth;” Chinese legend Zhang Yimou reportedly has “Under the Light and Impasse,” coming later this year; Ildikó Enyedi’s “The Story of My Wife” stars Léa Seydoux, so that’s always worth waiting for; Danish filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen‘s “Riders of Justice” starring Mads Mikkelsen (they did the comedy “Men & Chicken” together); a big one that arguably should be on the main list is John Michael McDonagh’s (brother of Martin McDonagh who did”Three Billboards”), latest film “The Forgiven” with Jessica Chastain, Matt Smith, Ralph Fiennes and more. The film was COVID-delayed this year, but apparently finished up in the fall so it could be something we easily see at Cannes of Venice next year; Iranian master Asghar Farhadi‘s “A Hero” may arrive later this year, but there are not many details out there; Italian director Paolo Sorrentino has “The Hand Of God” coming later this year starring Toni Servillo, and that may or may not center on the recently departed Argentinian soccer legend Diego Maradona, which would certainly make it extra relevant this year; Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier returns with “The Worst Person in the World” featuring his frequent collaborator Anders Danielsen Lie and Renate Resinve; Terence Davies‘ “Benediction” stars Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi and should arrive during the film festival circuit later this yearAustralian filmmaker Justin Kurzel recently announced “Nitram,” starring Caleb Landry Jones, Judy Davis and Essie Davis, but it hasn’t shot yet and it’s unclear if it’ll arrive this year; Nanni Moretti‘s ‘Three Floors” with Riccardo Scamarcio, Margherita Buy, Alba Rohrwacher, should be coming soon (Cannes?) and Michael Pearce directs Riz Ahmed, Octavia Spencer, Janina Gavankar and Rory Cochrane in the British sci-fi thriller “Invasion.”
Stateside? Lots of extras we didn’t mention in the main list that deserve a shout out here. Maybe first and foremost it’s Richard Linklater’s new Netflix movie that he has in the works, “Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Adventure,” which is shot, a hybrid of hand drawn and computer animated imagery and if it doesn’t take too long, could come out later this year; Taylor Sheridan, the writer/director behind “Sicario” and the wildly successful “Yellowstone” for Paramount TV has “Those Who Wish Me Dead” coming and it has quite the cast featuring Angelina Jolie, Nicholas Hoult, Tyler Perry, Jon Bernthal, and Aidan Gillen; Jim Cummings (“Thunder Road”), recently released his wintry cop/horror thriller “The Wolf of Snow Hollow,” but he has a follow-up already in the can, “The Beta Test,” co-directed and co-starring with PJ McCabe and maybe that’s a Sundance of SXSW debut; Judd Apatow has a new pandemic comedy coming to Netflix, and presuming that’s a smaller scale shoot, that could potentially be read;, the “Dont Breathe 2” horror sequel is coming in August and that could be fun; Jeff Tremaine is making a “Jackass 4” with the regular crew; Clint Eastwood is one of the world’s fastest shooters so “Cry Macho” with Eastwood, Eduardo Minett and Dwight Yoakam could easily come out this year; filmmaker Mike Cahill, of heady sci-fi fare like “Another Earth” and “I Origins”) returns with a new film, “Bliss” starring Salma Hayek and Owen Wilson; “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” will surely be a treat for horror fans; M. Night Shyamalan might have “The Servant” series returning in January, but he also has the feature “Old” coming (July 23, 202), and it stars Gael García Bernal, Eliza Scanlen, Thomasin McKenzie, Aaron Pierre, Alex Wolff, Vicky Krieps, Abbey Lee, and Ken Leung, among others; “Tallulah” director Sian Heder, returns with “Coda,” starring Eugenio Derbez, Emilia Jones Amy Forsyth, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo and debuts at Sundance soon; Stephen Karam adapts his Tony-winning play, “The Humans” for A24, starring Richard Jenkins, Beanie Feldstein and Amy Schumer which sounds exciting. We could probably go on forever, but that’s more than enough, right? Well, cheers, and here’s to an amazing 2021, hopefully, full of vaccines, COVID-reduction, and maybe even some great theatrical experiences if we’re lucky.
Some full disclosure, there’s probably an additional 100 films to mention in the world, but we’ll be updating this feature a little here and there
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