Before I start publishing my best and worst of 2019 lists, here's that time of year again to get excited about what's coming in next year. There's so many wonderful movies on the horizon, including several very anticipated sequels. And my top pick already feels like potential best Christmas gift ever. Here we go:
17. Bill & Ted Face the Music / August 21
16. Emma / February 14
15. The Secret Garden / April 15
14. Death on the Nile / October 9
13. The Gentlemen / January 24
12. The Witches / October 9
11. A Quiet Place: Part II / March 20
10. Eternals / November 6
Director: Chloe Zao
Cast: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani
Plot: The saga of the Eternals, a race of immortal beings who lived on Earth and shaped its history and civilizations.
Why I'm waiting for it? Richard Madden in a tight costume is enough for me. And I'm assuming it's also enough for most of my female readers. But this being another female-led CBM is also making me wanna watch that, plus the fact they are shooting on actual sets and not with plenty of green screen gives it a chance to be first decent looking MCU movie outside of Guardians of the Galaxy films.
9. Morbius / July 31
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Cast: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Tyrese Gibson
Plot: Biochemist Michael Morbius tries to cure himself of a rare blood disease, but he inadvertently infects himself with a form of vampirism instead.
Why I'm waiting for it? This is gonna be a mess. Leto isn't willing to make fun of himself like Hardy did in Venom and that was the thing that not only rescued Venom, but made it so much fun. Tyrese and Leto playing it serious in a premise like this is gonna make it an absolute laugh riot.
8. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It / September 11
Director: Michael Chaves
Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson
Why I'm waiting for it? The main Conjuring movies never failed and even though the director of the biggest shit in 2019 - The Curse of la Llarona - is directing this one I trust somehow things will go well. But I'm not overtly optimistic.
7. The Many Saints of Newark / September 25
Director: Alan Taylor
Cast: Michael Gandolfini, Vera Farmiga, Jon Bernthal, Billy Mangussen, Ray Liotta, Corey Stoll
Plot: A look at the formative years of New Jersey gangster, Tony Soprano.
Why I'm waiting for it? It's the Sopranos prequel starring Vera Farmiga and Jon Bernthal. That's just awesome.
6. Tenet / July 17
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Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Robert Pattinson, John David Washington, Elizabeth Debicki, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh, Aaron Taylor - Johnson
Why I'm waiting for it? Well, Nolan rarely fails. And hopefully this time his female characters are more than the dead wives. But knowing him, they probably are.
5. Black Widow / May 1
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Director: Cate Shortland
Cast: Scarlett Johannson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Rachel Weisz
Plot: A film about Natasha Romanoff in her quests between the films Civil War and Infinity War.
Why I'm waiting for it? I like all the actors except for that hag who supports Woody Allen and unfortunately plays the lead in this. So if it fails, so be it. MCU doesn't deserve an automatic million for waiting for TWENTY MOVIES until they gave us movies led by women. But it's Pugh, Weisz and Harbour and for their sake I hope it is actually good.
4. Venom 2 / October 2
Director: Andy Serkis
Cast: Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Stephen Graham, Naomie Harris, Michelle Williams
Why I'm waiting for it? The first movie, while a giant mess, was one of the most entertaining and rewatchable movies of 2017 and that's all thanks to Tom Hardy's amazing and very, very fun performance. With better director this time around and Woody Harrelson playing the main villain - hopefully that ridiculous wig returns - things can only get better.
3. Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn / February 7
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Director: Cathy Yen
Cast: Margot Robbie, Ewan McGregor, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Chris Messina
Plot: After splitting with the Joker, Harley Quinn joins superheroes Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya to save a young girl from an evil crime lord.
Why I'm waiting for it? The marketing for this has been huge fail on WB's part with the movie being released 5 weeks from now and the final trailer STILL not being released. But I hope in spite of that, this will do well. Robbie gave us wonderful Harley in Suicide Squad and while her pairing with Birds of Prey is peculiar, without Robbie's efforts we wouldn't be getting that movie at all. And McGregor looks like he is having a lot of fun playing the villain here.
2. Wonder Woman 1984 / June 5
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Director: Patty Jenkins
Cast: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Pedro Pascal, Kristen Wiig
Why I'm waiting for it? The first movie is one of my all time favorite films. Gal is perfect in the role, they are bringing Pine back and their chemistry was one of the best things about the first one, we are all excited to see Cheetah and Pedro Pascal clearly had an absolute blast playing Maxwell Lord. And that trailer will be very tough to top by any trailer for 2020 movies.
1. Dune / December 18
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Reebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Javier Bardem
Plot: Feature adaptation of Frank Herbert's science fiction novel, about 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 waiting for it? Who's my favorite man in the world? Oscar Isaac. Who is my second favorite man in the world? Jason Momoa. They are going to share scenes here which means I will probably go absolutely insane trying to decide where to look. I'll probably look at Oscar. But I'll definitely have to go again to look at Jason. And I will rewatch it so many times. You guys remember how I went to see Aquaman three times and it crossed a billion in the box office? Denis, your movie is going to make so much money.
17. Bill & Ted Face the Music / August 21
16. Emma / February 14
15. The Secret Garden / April 15
14. Death on the Nile / October 9
13. The Gentlemen / January 24
12. The Witches / October 9
11. A Quiet Place: Part II / March 20
10. Eternals / November 6
Director: Chloe Zao
Cast: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani
Plot: The saga of the Eternals, a race of immortal beings who lived on Earth and shaped its history and civilizations.
Why I'm waiting for it? Richard Madden in a tight costume is enough for me. And I'm assuming it's also enough for most of my female readers. But this being another female-led CBM is also making me wanna watch that, plus the fact they are shooting on actual sets and not with plenty of green screen gives it a chance to be first decent looking MCU movie outside of Guardians of the Galaxy films.
9. Morbius / July 31
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Cast: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Tyrese Gibson
Plot: Biochemist Michael Morbius tries to cure himself of a rare blood disease, but he inadvertently infects himself with a form of vampirism instead.
Why I'm waiting for it? This is gonna be a mess. Leto isn't willing to make fun of himself like Hardy did in Venom and that was the thing that not only rescued Venom, but made it so much fun. Tyrese and Leto playing it serious in a premise like this is gonna make it an absolute laugh riot.
8. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It / September 11
Director: Michael Chaves
Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson
Why I'm waiting for it? The main Conjuring movies never failed and even though the director of the biggest shit in 2019 - The Curse of la Llarona - is directing this one I trust somehow things will go well. But I'm not overtly optimistic.
7. The Many Saints of Newark / September 25
Director: Alan Taylor
Cast: Michael Gandolfini, Vera Farmiga, Jon Bernthal, Billy Mangussen, Ray Liotta, Corey Stoll
Plot: A look at the formative years of New Jersey gangster, Tony Soprano.
Why I'm waiting for it? It's the Sopranos prequel starring Vera Farmiga and Jon Bernthal. That's just awesome.
6. Tenet / July 17
Director: Christopher NolanCast: Robert Pattinson, John David Washington, Elizabeth Debicki, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh, Aaron Taylor - Johnson
Why I'm waiting for it? Well, Nolan rarely fails. And hopefully this time his female characters are more than the dead wives. But knowing him, they probably are.
5. Black Widow / May 1
Director: Cate ShortlandCast: Scarlett Johannson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Rachel Weisz
Plot: A film about Natasha Romanoff in her quests between the films Civil War and Infinity War.
Why I'm waiting for it? I like all the actors except for that hag who supports Woody Allen and unfortunately plays the lead in this. So if it fails, so be it. MCU doesn't deserve an automatic million for waiting for TWENTY MOVIES until they gave us movies led by women. But it's Pugh, Weisz and Harbour and for their sake I hope it is actually good.
4. Venom 2 / October 2
Director: Andy Serkis
Cast: Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Stephen Graham, Naomie Harris, Michelle Williams
Why I'm waiting for it? The first movie, while a giant mess, was one of the most entertaining and rewatchable movies of 2017 and that's all thanks to Tom Hardy's amazing and very, very fun performance. With better director this time around and Woody Harrelson playing the main villain - hopefully that ridiculous wig returns - things can only get better.
3. Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn / February 7
Director: Cathy Yen
Cast: Margot Robbie, Ewan McGregor, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Chris Messina
Plot: After splitting with the Joker, Harley Quinn joins superheroes Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya to save a young girl from an evil crime lord.
Why I'm waiting for it? The marketing for this has been huge fail on WB's part with the movie being released 5 weeks from now and the final trailer STILL not being released. But I hope in spite of that, this will do well. Robbie gave us wonderful Harley in Suicide Squad and while her pairing with Birds of Prey is peculiar, without Robbie's efforts we wouldn't be getting that movie at all. And McGregor looks like he is having a lot of fun playing the villain here.
2. Wonder Woman 1984 / June 5
Director: Patty JenkinsCast: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Pedro Pascal, Kristen Wiig
Why I'm waiting for it? The first movie is one of my all time favorite films. Gal is perfect in the role, they are bringing Pine back and their chemistry was one of the best things about the first one, we are all excited to see Cheetah and Pedro Pascal clearly had an absolute blast playing Maxwell Lord. And that trailer will be very tough to top by any trailer for 2020 movies.
1. Dune / December 18
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Reebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Javier Bardem
Plot: Feature adaptation of Frank Herbert's science fiction novel, about 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 waiting for it? Who's my favorite man in the world? Oscar Isaac. Who is my second favorite man in the world? Jason Momoa. They are going to share scenes here which means I will probably go absolutely insane trying to decide where to look. I'll probably look at Oscar. But I'll definitely have to go again to look at Jason. And I will rewatch it so many times. You guys remember how I went to see Aquaman three times and it crossed a billion in the box office? Denis, your movie is going to make so much money.