2021 has a lot of movies to offer due to pushback releases from 2020. So here are some movies that hopefully we will have the chance to watch this year.
Coming 2 America - March 5, 2021, on Amazon Prime
Coming 2 America is the second installment in the Coming to America film series, and serves as a sequel to the original 1988 film. It was directed by Craig Brewer, from a screenplay by Kenya Barris, Barry W. Blaustein, and David Sheffield, and a story by Blaustein, Sheffield, and Justin Kanew, based on characters created by Eddie Murphy. The film stars Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, John Amos, Teyana Taylor, Wesley Snipes, and James Earl Jones.
At first, I was skeptical about this movie. But after I saw the teaser trailer I was sold. It really looks like Eddie and Arsenio are having a blast in it. This is more a passion project for Murphy than just a studio wanting to make a quick buck. Coming 2 America was directed by the same director of Eddie's last movie, Dolemite Is My Name, which is great news because it was so good.
I rewatched the original other days, and I think that is a near-perfect comedy and it stood the test of comedic time.
Black widow - May 7, 2021
Black Widow is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. And it will be the 24th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film was directed by Cate Shortland and written by Eric Pearson from a story by Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson, and stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow alongside Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz.
The movie will be set after Captain America: Civil War (2016). And it sees Romanoff on the run and forced to confront her past and a dangerous conspiracy, while pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down. She will have to deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.
I think that a Black Widow movie would make more sense if it was released five years ago. But it sounds interesting enough for me.
Space jam 2 - July 16, 2021, on HBO Max
Space Jam: A New Legacy (also known as Space Jam 2) is a live-action/animated sports comedy film directed by Malcolm D. Lee from a screenplay by Juel Taylor, Tony Rettenmaier, Keenan Coogler, and Terence Nance.
The film is a sequel to the 1996 film Space Jam and stars basketball player LeBron James (who also acts as a producer), as well as Don Cheadle, Khris Davis, Sonequa Martin-Green, and Cedric Joe. The film also features the Looney Tunes characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew, Tweety, Sylvester, Foghorn Leghorn, and Lola Bunny, with Kath Soucie reprising her role.
The plot revolves around the basketball champion and global icon LeBron James and his young son Dom (Ceyair J. Wright) – who dreams of being a video game developer. Both got trapped in a virtual space by a rogue algorithm named Al-G Rhythm (Don Cheadle). LeBron must get them home safe by leading Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Lola Bunny, and the whole gang of notoriously undisciplined Looney Tunes to victory over the Al-G's digitized champions on the court.
I’m actually excited for this one. Space Jam was one of my favorite childhood movies. And having the best basketball player right now in the movie is a great idea. James was definitely a highlight of Trainwreck playing a cheapskate. He was hilarious and had decent comedic timing.
Candyman - August 27, 2021
Candyman is a supernatural slasher film directed by Nia DaCosta and written by Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld, and DaCosta. It is a direct sequel to the 1992 film of the same name and the fourth film in the Candyman film series which is based on the short story The Forbidden by Clive Barker. The film stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, and Colman Domingo, along with Tony Todd and Vanessa Estelle Williams reprising their roles from the original film.
I'm very excited about this one. The original was so cool. And I really like that this a direct sequel rather than a reboot. Urban legends are fun and I like the storyline they are using. Basically, the film will be set in the now-gentrified Chicago neighborhood where the legend began. Very clever! Also, I’m looking forward to seeing Yahya Abdul-Mateen in this. He is such a great actor and was fantastic in the Watchmen HBO series.
The trailer teaser they released is outstanding. It gave a great feel of the tone and vibe of the film. But it still leaves a lot of questions to be answered.
A quiet place. Part II - September 17, 2021
This is a sequel to A Quiet Place (2018). The film was once again written and directed by John Krasinski and stars Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe, who reprise their roles from the first film. Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou also joined the cast. Krasinski also reprises his role from the first film in newly-filmed flashback sequences.
The Abbott family must now face the terrors of the outside world as they fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.
Honestly, I was underwhelmed by the first one. I remember It got a lot of hype but in my opinion, it just wasn’t that good. It was incredibly predictable and a bit boring. But apparently, the few people that had a chance to see the sequel before everything went down in the world, said it is a very good film. So I will give it a chance.
Dune - October 1, 2021, on HBO Max
Dune is a science fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve with a screenplay by Jon Spaihts, Villeneuve, and Eric Roth. It is the first of a planned two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel of the same name by Frank Herbert, which will cover roughly the first half of the book. The film stars an ensemble cast including Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem.
The Dune book series was the subject of several adaptations into film, TV, board games, and video games - And this upcoming motion picture slated for release in 2021 may be the most ambitious adaption ever.
Dune, tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people.
This is Villeneuve's dream project. And I'm confident he has enough creative control to stay as true to the source material as possible. And even though his last film Bladerunner 2049 was not a commercial success, I still have faith in him.
Eternals - November 5, 2021
This movie is based on the Marvel Comics of the same name. Eternals is intended to be the 26th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It was directed by Chloé Zhao and written by Kaz and Ryan Firpo. A diverse cast was hired to portray the Eternals, which include Marvel Studios' first depiction of an LGBTQ superhero. The ensemble cast includes Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Lia McHugh, Don Lee, Kit Harington, Gemma Chan, and Barry Keoghan. In the film, the Eternals, who have hidden for thousands of years, must re-unite to protect Earth from their enemies, the Deviants.
Not much info about this one either. All I know is that the plot goes like this-after an unexpected tragedy following the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), the Eternals—an immortal alien race created by the Celestials who have secretly lived on Earth for over 7000 years—reunite to protect humanity from their evil counterparts, the Deviants. It seems like most things in the future of the MCU will be connected to either Eternals or the Multiverse. So this movie may be important for the MCU future.
I don’t really know anything about these beings and their stories. The characters don’t sound that interesting, to be honest. And so far the movie seems a little generic. But I trust Kevin Feige and Chloe Zhao on this one. Zhao just directed my favorite film of 2020 (Nomadland). Hopefully, she will be able to use her amazing filmmaking style in this movie as well. Also, If Marvel were able to make the Guardians and Ant-Man work, then they can probably do it with Eternals too.
Untitled Spider-Man sequel - December 17, 2021
A lot of rumors have been circulating about this movie. All kinds of speculations. From other actors that played Spider-Man in the past returning to play their parts, to villains forming a super team to fight Spider-Man. But as I said, those are still just rumors.
The super producer, Kevin Feige, has already confirmed that the next Spider-Man will pick up directly after Far From Home and it’s also been confirmed Dr. Strange’s involvement as part of an overarching story that started in the WandaVision TV show. These comments probably confirm that the spider-verse (Multiverse) will actually happen in some form.
I’m very curious to see which of these rumors will turn out to be true and how the Multiverse will look like.
The Matrix 4 - December 22, 2021
I still remember watching the first Matrix when it came out. It really messed up with my mind. And I absolutely loved it. The sequel was not as good though. And the third one was a complete disaster in my opinion. Also, the whole red pill idea was cool until it was taken over by some horrible people on the internet. Shame! It also doesn’t help that the Wachowskis movies and TV ventures since the last Matrix movie, weren’t as good as expected.
But, I, for some weird reason, have faith this will end up being good. I’m not sure what The Matrix 4 will be about and how they will explain some of the main characters still being around after everything that happened in the last movie. The return of Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss is intriguing to me. And I’m dying to see how Lana Wachowski, which is directing the film, will explain that.
Lana has a lot to prove here. But I trust her and look forward to seeing the result.
Don't look up - TBD on Netflix
Don't Look Up is a political satire film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Meryl Streep, Kid Cudi, Jonah Hill, Chris Evans, Cate Blanchett, Himesh Patel, Tyler Perry, Ron Perlman, and Matthew Perry. And written/directed by Adam McKay who also directed The Big Short and Vice.
There is not much information about this film yet. But so far we know that DiCaprio and Lawrence play two low-level astronomers, who must go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet earth.
That doesn’t sound like a groundbreaking plot but all this star power made me very interested in the film.
There’s no official date for the release of this movie. But because of delays caused by the global pandemic, we aren’t expecting to see Don’t Look Up on Netflix until the end of the year.