20. “Eternals”
Director: Chloé Zhao
Cast: Gemma Chan, Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry
Synopsis: The saga of the Eternals, a race of immortal beings who lived on Earth and shaped its history and civilizations
What You Need to Know: Another year, another Marvel movie. Skepticism aside, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase Four shapes up to be one of its most eye-catching. Chloé Zhao, director of this year’s remarkable “Nomadland,” is set to direct the upcoming MCU flick. An international cast that ranges from relative newcomer Gemma Chan to Hollywood royalty like Angelina Jolie with “Game of Thrones” alumni Richard Madden and Kit Harington tossed in for good measure. Who knows? Maybe in the aftermath of “Joker,” Marvel will allow Zhao to incorporate some of her trademark artistry into the project.
Release Date: November 6, 2021, via Marvel Studios. – JC
19. “Titane”
Director: Julia Ducournau (“Raw”)
Cast: Vincent Lindon, Theo Hellerman, Agathe Rousselle, Mehdi Rahim-Silvioli
Synopsis: A young man with a bruised face is discovered in an airport. He says his name is Adrien Legrand, a child who disappeared ten years ago. As he’s finally reunited with his father, gruesome murders are piling up in the region.
What You Need To Know: Julia Ducournau announced herself as a director whom everyone should be paying attention to with her ferocious breakthrough “Raw,” and four years after that beguiling horror curio took the arthouse world by storm, Ducournau is back with her intriguing and sinister-sounding follow-up, “Titane.” The prospect of her working with a French cinema legend like Vincent Lindon, who is brilliant and memorable in everything from “La Haine” to Claire Denis’ “Bastards,” is exciting. The film reportedly shot last year, so, the film could very well be ready to go in time for a Cannes debut.
Release Date: TBD, but Neon has already bought this one, so expect this one to show up at some of 2021’s more significant international festivals and possibly Cannes. – NL
18. “Rebel Ridge”
Director: Jeremy Saulnier (“Blue Ruin,” “Green Room”)
Cast: John Boyega, Don Johnson, Erin Doherty, James Cromwell.
Synopsis: A high-velocity thriller that explores systemic American injustices through bone-breaking action sequences, suspense, and dark humor.
What You Need To Know: When you’re in the mood to see faces get smashed and human bodies crushed into dust through pummeling, unrelenting, stylishly-rendered grindhouse violence, Jeremy Saulnier is your guy. From the sounds of his latest, it sounds as though Saulnier is returning to the punk-rock ferocity of his early movies, with a topical flourish that is sure to pack a sting, particularly in a post-Trump America. The casting of John Boyega is excellent news, mainly since the “Star Wars” actor has made it a point to choose more politically incendiary roles as of late (see: “Small Axe”). We’re confident that “Rebel Ridge” will give us the grisly thrills we so crave from this filmmaker.
Release Date: TBD, but let’s hope Netflix gives it a better rollout than “Hold The Dark.” – NL
17. “Petite Maman”
Director: Celine Sciamma (“Portrait Of A Lady On Fire”)
Cast: Unknown.
Synopsis: Plot details are unknown at this time, but revolve around childhood and family in Paris.
What You Need To Know: With the release of “Portrait Of A Lady On Fire,” viewers outside of international arthouse circles realized something that many of us have known for some years now: that Celine Sciamma is, quite simply, a treasure. The “Girlhood” auteur has recently begun production on her latest, “Petite Maman,” which is likely to be another one of Sciamma’s poetic studies of family and womanhood. We’re hoping that Sciamma wraps production in time for a 2021 festival run, but just the fact that we have a new film from this director to look forward to is, quite simply, music to our ears.
Release Date: TBD, but since it’s currently shooting, the end of the year seems most likely. – NL
16. “Annette”
Director: Leos Carax (“Mauvais Sang,” “Holy Motors”)
Cast: Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard
Synopsis: The peaceful life of a stand-up comedian and a world-famous soprano gets turned upside down with the birth of their daughter, Annette – who harbors a curious talent.
What You Need To Know: There’s a scene in “Holy Motors” that sees a marching group of men playing the accordion in a seemingly never-ending rotating scene keeping spirits high and the strength of music higher. If this offers any indication of just how high the stakes of Leos Carax’s next film, suggestively musical “Annette” will be, color us intrigued. Driver and Cotillard’s involvement only deepens out interest; this trio of director + leading performers seems genuinely made of the stuff of stars.
Release date: No release date yet, but all involved parties have historically loved a premiere on the Croisette. – EK
15. “The United States Vs. Billie Holiday”
Director: Lee Daniels (“Precious,” “The Paperboy”)
Cast: Andra Day, Trevante Rhodes, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Garrett Hedlund, Natasha Lyonne, Rob Morgan
Synopsis: Follows jazz legend Billie Holiday during her career as the Federal Department of Narcotics targets her with an undercover sting operation led by black Federal Agent Jimmy Fletcher, with whom she had a tumultuous affair.
What You Need To Know: However you feel about divisive auteur Lee Daniels, there’s no denying that he refuses to let his audience ever be bored, even for a second. Knowing that, one wonders what he will cook up for his take on the life and times of Billie Holiday, to be played here by “Marshall” actress Andra Day. It sounds as though Daniels has opted for the smart strategy by focusing on one pivotal event from the life of his subject, as opposed to an A-to-Z, Wikipedia-entry “Bohemian Rhapsody”-style biopic. And we’re sure that whatever the director has up his sleeve, the results are bound to be something provocative.
Release Date: February 26, 2021, via Paramount Pictures – NL
14. “The Northman”
Director: Robert Eggers (“The Witch,” “The Lighthouse”)
Cast: Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Willem Dafoe, Ethan Hawke, Claes Bang, Bjork, Ralph Ineson
Synopsis: A 10th-century Nordic prince sets out on a quest for revenge after his father is slain.
What You Need To Know: After the insane one-two punch of “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse,” Robert Eggers can just go ahead and take our money for whatever he decides to do next. And yet, even by the standards of this singularly idiosyncratic director, “The Northman” sounds like a doozy. Eggers, known for his fetishistic attention to period detail, has hinted that his Viking epic “The Northman” will be as massive as “The Lighthouse” was claustrophobic. The fact that he’s reunited a gang of actors from his first two movies to work from a screenplay co-written by Icelandic novelist and poet Sjón Sigurdsson means that it will no doubt be one of the can’t-miss films of 2021.
Release Date: TBD. – NL
13. “Last Night in Soho”
Director: Edgar Wright (“Baby Driver,” the Cornetto Trilogy)
Cast: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Diana Rigg, Terrence Stamp
Synopsis: A young girl, passionate about fashion design, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters her idol, a dazzling wannabe singer. But 1960s London is not what it seems, and time seems to fall apart with shady consequences.
What You Need To Know: If Edgar Wright’s bullet-riddled live-action jukebox musical “Baby Driver” saw the director riffing on the cinema of Walter Hill in his inimitable key, then “Last Night in Soho” will find the British director tipping his proverbial caps to milestones like Nicolas Roeg’s “Don’t Look Now” and Roman Polanski’s “Repulsion.” Particularly as massive Wright fans, we were looking forward to catching “Soho” in the fall of 2020. Regardless, we remain tickled by the prospect of this ingenious director working in a more potentially wicked register.
Release Date: April 23, 2021, via Focus Features. – NL
12. “Armageddon Time”
Director: James Gray (“The Yards,” “Ad Astra”)
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Cate Blanchett, Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Donald Sutherland.
Synopsis: A coming-of-age story about growing up in Queens in the 1980s.
What You Need To Know: James Gray, one of our most gifted directors, has spread his wings in the last few years, tackling everything from rip-roaring period adventure (“The Lost City of Z”) to grown-up sci-fi (“Ad Astra”), so we’re beyond excited to see the New York filmmaker get back to his streetwise roots with this promising-sounding period drama, which, knowing Gray, could well be styled in the Coppola/Elia Kazan vein. The cast is the stuff of dreams (De Niro in a James Gray movie? Pinch us!), and the rumor that none other than Fred Trump will be featured as a supporting character only piques our interest.
Release Date: TBD, but if things go back to some semblance of normalcy by the fall of next year, then an awards-qualifying run seems likely. – NL
11. “Don’t Look Up”
Director: Adam McKay (“Step Brothers,” “Vice”)
Cast: Leonardo Dicaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Timothee Chalamet, Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi, we could keep going…
Synopsis: A pair of astronomers try to warn everyone on Earth that a giant meteorite will destroy the planet in six months.
What You Need To Know: The cast list of Adam McKay’s upcoming environmental satire reads like the guest list of an Oscars after-party, but that degree of prestige should only clue audiences into how much some of our most famous movie stars trust McKay and the material he chooses. “Don’t Look Up” sounds like it could be a madcap marriage of McKay’s absurdist comic sensibilities with his recent, more politically loaded work, and it should pack even more of a sting after a year filled with so much ignorant, adamant denial of simple scientific fact.
Release Date: TBD. – NL