Movie marketing is really stupid. They are announced way too early, and trailers ruin them. I know what you’re saying, “Just don’t watch trailers.” The one problem with that is the 5-7 trailers they show for 25 minutes at theaters. But despite all that, there are always a select number of films I can’t help but get really excited about. When I made this post last year, soon after, COVID-19 hit and a majority of those movies got delayed to this year. So, don’t be surprised if you see them again here. If this happens again, I will give up posting on this blog for the rest of time. It was really hard to find movies because many websites STILL have not updated the dates (i.e. Metacritic said Fast & Furious 10 was coming out in 2021).
This list is ordered from “Most-Most Hyped-For” to “Least-Most Hyped-For”.
Fast 9
Expected Release: May 28th
Director: Justin Lin
Writer: Chris Morgan; Daniel Casey
Cast: You already know
Plot: Dom’s brother who we never hear about before in any of the previous movies, Jakob, takes revenge on the team… for some reason.
Why I’m excited about it: The Fast and Furious franchise has held a special place in my heart ever since Dwayne Johnson’s character came on the scene in Fast Five in 2011. The cast is perfect, high adrenaline and over-the-top action, stupid (yet quotable) dialogue, and how can we forget the tear-jerker that was the finale of Furious 7. My love for the series grew even more after the shocking post-credit scenes of Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6. I was so afraid when The Fate of the Furious came out in 2017, since it was the first without Paul Walker, but it was still able to hit all the right notes for me. Then Hobbs & Shaw hit theaters last year and while I came out feeling a little empty after seeing it the first time, it was much better the second time around and is still a fantastic entry to the F&F universe.
The first trailer for this was released this past January and… holy shit. It made me cry. Seriously. This movie looks so incredible. The over-the-top action continues as we get a massive transport vehicle flying into the air, a rocket strapped to a car, a fighter jet with a giant magnet, and so much more. Not to mention the absolute banger of a song they used. I had high expectations and this trailer met all of them. I am so incredibly hyped for this movie and if it gets delayed again I might die.
I did hear Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Shaw (Jason Statham) will be absent in this next installment, and it saddens me since those characters are two of my favorite in the series. But I still have hope since Justin Long (the man behind F&F 3/4/5/6) is back to direct, and Chris Morgan (the writer for F&F 3/4/5/6/7/8/H&S) is back to write. Not to mention the cluster fuck of a cast this movie is rumored to have. John Cena and Cardi B have joined the crew, Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron are back, and Tokyo Drift‘s Lucas Black is rumored to return. Please for the love of Snapple let him be in this and let him be a main character. I was really disappointed he only had a few seconds of screen time in Furious 7. But I think we’ll be alright.
The French Dispatch
Expected Release: TBD
Director: Wes Anderson
Writer: Wes Anderson
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Saoirse Ronan, Jason Schwartzman
Plot: A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional twentieth century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in “The French Dispatch Magazine”.
Why I’m excited about it: Ever since The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson easily became my all time favorite director, along with that film becoming one of my top 5. So it’s no surprise I’m super hyped for this.
Wes Anderson is responsible for many classics: Rushmore, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Isle of Dogs. I love his style of films but especially his style of comedy. Alexandre Desplat is a musical master at this point. He scored tons of amazing movies and even won an Oscar for his score for Grand Budapest Hotel. Robert D. Yeoman is the cinematographer. He also did The Grand Budapest Hotel, Rushmore, and Moonrise Kingdom. Adam Stockhausen is the production designer. He won an Oscar for The Grand Budapest Hotel and also did Rushmore, Isle of Dogs, Widows, Bridge of Spies, and Moonrise Kingdom.
So basically, the same crew that Wes Anderson has been working with for his past films is also making this one. So it shouldn’t be a surprise why my expectations are set very high.
007: No Time to Die (Bond 25)
Expected Release: April 2nd
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Writers: Neal Purvis; Robert Wade; Scott Z. Burns; Cary Joji Fukunaga;
Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Cast: Daniel Craig
Plot: Bond has retired… until he decides to do one last job… again.
Why I’m excited about it: The first 007 film I ever saw was Casino Royale (2006), and it was (and still is) incredible. It might even be my favorite of the series. It inspired me to go back and watch all the other 22 movies that came before it and to look into reading the books. Daniel Craig was the first rendition of James Bond I got to see. I think he did/does a phenomenal job. I was always excited to see the 3 installments proceeding after Casino Royale, and (for the most part) enjoyed every minute of them all.
The 25th James Bond film and 5th installment of Daniel Craig’s Bond is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, who has won an Emmy for an episode of True Detective and has a pretty successful portfolio of films. Among the plethora of writers, Cary Joji Fukunaga was a co-screenwriter for IT (2017), Neal Purvis was a screenwriter for the previous few Bond films, same goes for Robert Wade. Scott Z. Burns has had a pretty successful writing career, most notably The Bourne Ultimatum. Finally, Phoebe Waller-Bridge makes her feature film screenwriting debut, but has done plenty of TV shows in the past. Ralph Fiennes, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, and Naomie Harris are all returning, which is exciting. Upon finally seeing the trailer earlier this year, I do think this will be a good time.
So in all, this looks like a pretty good crew. Am I expecting better than Casino Royale or even Skyfall? Of course not. I do hope it’s better than Spectre but all I really want is all the things we’ve come to love about a James Bond film, and especially a good send-off for Daniel as Bond. And you bet I’m doing a Daniel Craig Bond marathon in the days leading up to this.
Spiral
Expected Release: May 21st
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Writer: Josh Stolberg, Pete Goldfinger
Cast: Chris Rock, Morgan David Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Ali Johnson
Plot: Not much is released about this yet. But according to IMDb: A sadistic mastermind unleashes a twisted form of justice
Why I’m excited about it: If you’ve seen my other posts, this should be obvious. SAW is my all-time favorite horror movie series and my third all-time favorite film franchise. Each installment (except for 2019’s Jigsaw) holds a very special place in my heart.
Darren Lynn Bousman is no stranger to this franchise. He wrote and directed SAW II and also directed SAW III & SAW IV. Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger were both writers for Jigsaw, which has me very worried. I didn’t hate Jigsaw, it was the first SAW movie I got to see in theaters. However, I came out feeling very underwhelmed. It just didn’t have that same feel as the original seven from the Hoffman Saga. Maybe because neither the directors nor writers had any experience in the series. This time, we have Darren back to direct.
When the trailer for this was released, and I started hearing that famous and epic “Hello Zepp” theme, I lost my fucking shit. Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson are both massive names in the industry, so having them on board is very exciting. Both the poster and trailer for this look incredible and I absolutely cannot wait to what the SAW series has in store next.
Godzilla vs. Kong
Expected Release: May 21st
Director: Adam Wingard
Writer: Eric Pearson (screenplay); Max Borenstein (screenplay); Terry Rossio (story); Michael Dougherty (story); Zach Shields (story)
Cast: Eiza González; Alexander Skarsgård; Millie Bobby Brown
Plot: …… I’ll give ya one guess
Why I’m excited about it: I’ve been hyped about this ever since the end of the eye orgasm of Skull Island and they showed that it took place in the same universe as 2014’s Godzilla. In fact, they straight up announced this movie back in like, 2015 (2 years before Skull Island). However, since Godzilla: King of the Monsters was a massive disappointment, I am a little worried.
I do like some of Adam Wingard’s films (You’re Next, V/H/S), but I feel he won’t fare too well with an action monster movie. Especially ones as legendary as these two. We have Michael Dougherty as a story writer, who co-wrote King of the Monsters but has done nothing else noteworthy other than the screenplay for X2: X-Men United in 2003, Zach Shields as a story writer, who also co-wrote King of the Monsters. So far, not looking good. But we do have Eric Pearson co-writing the screenplay, he also co-wrote Thor: Ragnarok, Max Borenstein as a co-screenplay-writer, he also did the first Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island, and Terry Rossio who has a very successful portfolio of movies he wrote. Finally, we have Ben Seresin as the cinematographer, who has done a lot of big movies, but nothing noteworthy. As for the cast… nobody really to get excited for other than Lance Reddick. Kyle Chandler and Millie Bobby Brown are returning, both of whom I’m not a big fan of.
So in all, the production crew is looking a little iffy. But I still have hope. I have hope this movie will surprise me. Please don’t let it be another snoozefest like King of the Monsters.
And honestly, being the icons these monsters are… I’m calling it now. Both Godzilla and Kong will fight all movie just to “awaken” a bigger monster and they’ll have to team up to defeat it and in doing so will forget their beef.
The King’s Man
Expected Release: March 12th
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Writer: Matthew Vaughn; Karl Gajdusek
Cast: Harris Dickinson; Ralph Fiennes; Djimon Hounsou
Plot: As a collection of history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them.
Why I’m excited about it: Kingsman: The Secret Service in 2014 was such a wild and fun movie. I loved it. The sequel, however… yikes. Taron Egerton is definitely becoming a very noteworthy actor. But here we have a prequel to The Kingsman. I got the one-sentence plot summary from this film’s IMDB page. And just from that alone, I’m all in. But like how the first two focused more on comedy-over-the-top-action, this one seems to want to take itself a bit more seriously. Which isn’t a bad thing, unless you compare it to the tone of the other two.
The film is directed and co-written by Matthew Vaughn, who did the other two Kingsman movies. So it is good he is back to do this. Other films of his include: Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class. Karl Gajdusek is the other co-writer, who hasn’t done much. I always love seeing Ralph Fiennes, and I’m starting to really enjoy Djimon Hounsou. The trailer released earlier this year does make the film look a lot of fun.
I think it’ll be nice to get an origin story for The Kingsman. I hope this doesn’t mess up anything we were told in the other movies. I think it’ll be fun, but I hope it doesn’t take itself too seriously. I mean, just read that one-sentence plot summary again.
Dune
Expected Release: October 1st
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writer: Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth
Cast: Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet
Plot: The son of a noble family entrusted with the protection of the most valuable asset and most vital element in the galaxy
Why I’m excited about it: I listened to this book on audible earlier this year. I honestly had no idea what happened most of the time. It had me in the beginning, then it lost me for the middle, then I was just confused for the rest of the book. I finished it just to say I finished it.
Denis Villeneuve is known for directing Sicario, Arrival, and Blade Runner 2049. So he is on an amazing streak right now.
The trailer for this looks pretty great. I am very hesitant with book adaptations now. Mortal Engines and *shudder* Artemis Fowel were both cancerous. But a small part of me believes this will still be good. Please be good.
The Green Knight
Expected Release: July 30th
Director: David Lowery
Writer: David Lowery
Cast: Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton
Plot: A film based off of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” by J. R. R. Tolkein.
Why I’m excited about it: I read Sir Gawain many years ago and I really enjoyed the story.
The film is written and directed by David Lowery, who also did Ghost Story in 2017, which I haven’t seen, but people seemed to have loved. The trailer for this looks insane. It looks like an Ari Aster movie. I am still very skeptical of book adaptations but this film looks creepy, weird, and epic.
I’ll most likely update this as the year progresses and new trailers come out. I did see other titles for movies coming out later next year, but I’m always skeptical about false information.
marcus loner 