2020 Movie Preview: The Most Anticipated

One door closes, another opens. The roaring twenties are here, and that means it's time to take a look  at what we've got in store at the box office for this upcoming first year of the new decade. 

Keep in mind, this list just represents the films I'm most eagerly anticipating – not the ones I think will be the biggest hits, or have the greatest success. Some of the year's biggest probable hits just won't be my cup of tea. The 9th Fast & Furious outing, for example. Or Top Gun: Maverick. I'm sure both those pictures will do insanely well, but I'm not invested. Here's the list of what I'm most looking forward to:


No Time to Die (April 10th) – In what will very likely be his last outing as James Bond, Daniel Craig returns to save the world from a mysterious new villain. It's been a tremendously troubled production - even the font has caused a kerfuffle. Trying to stay positive and hope that director Cary Fukunaga pulls a rabbit out of the hat. 

Black Widow (May 1st) – Very hopeful for this one. Black Widow can be a great character, but in the current post-Endgame universe, it's going to be interesting to see how this new crop of Marvel Universe films connects with audiences. Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz, and David Harbour join the MCU, and you should expect a whole lot of fake Russian accents. 

Wonder Woman 1984 (December 18th) – Director Patty Jenkins returns, and I am so there. Curious to see how they wrangle the return of Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), and what made them land on this time period. First trailer looks great. Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal are on board. 

Tenet (July 17th) – Christopher Nolan. Christopher Nolan. Christopher Nolan. An action thriller that looks to involve international espionage and time travel seems like a cousin to Nolan's Inception, and will very likely out-Bond Bond.

Eternals (November 6th) – Another Marvel entry, this one venturing off into uncharted and likely more cosmic territory, introducing a whole new gaggle of Godlike superheroes, a race of immortal beings who have long helped shape our history and civilization - finally, someone to blame! Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, plus Game of Thrones alums Richard Madden and Kit Harrington round out the God Squad.  

Coming to America (December 18th) – Having just watch Dolomite Is My Name and been reminded of how utterly fantastic Eddie Murphy is, I'm eagerly looking forward to this – even if it has been 32 years since the original. 

West Side Story (December 18th) – Steven Spielberg remakes the classic 1961 musical, keeping it in the late 1950s. Tony Kushner adapted the script. The cast are largely unknowns, though Rita Moreno also appears. This could go one of two ways...

Dune (December 18th) – Finally! On what promises to be a very crowded Friday opening day, hands down, this is the picture I'm most excited for this year. Director Denis Villeneueve is the perfect visionary choice to mount a new – and supposedly much more book-faithful – adaptation of Frank Herbert's legendary classic, now more timely than ever. That cast! Timothée Chalumet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Javier Bardem, Stellan Skarsgård, and Charlotte Rampling! Supposedly the first of two films, this promises to be truly epic, landmark science fiction on a grand scale. Plus, Sandworms!


I'm also eagerly looking forward to The Lovebirds (April 3rd), director Michael Showalter's follow-up to The Big Sick, again with Kumail Nanjiani; On the Rocks (TBD), Sofia Coppola's reuniting with Bill Murray in a story about a young New York mother reconnecting with her playboy father; and Da 5 Bloods (TBD), about a group of Vietnam veterans returning to the jungle.

The pint-sized mogul who runs our household is super excited for Trolls World Tour (April 17) and Minions: The Rise of Gru (July 3rd), so I know I'll be warming up to those. 

There are plenty of other films on the docket I'm sure I'll end up loving, and which are bound to do really well.

We've got Mulan, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, In the Heights, Bill & Ted Face the Music, The Many Saints of Newark (a Sopranos prequel!), Death on the Nile, Halloween Kills, Godzilla vs. Kong, The King’s Man (a Kingsman prequel), and Ridley Scott's The Last Duel, a historical epic in the era of Charles VI starring Adam Driver, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon, written by Affleck and Damon. 

Of course, like any year, there are bound to be plenty of astonishing movies we just haven't heard of yet, which will seem to come out of nowhere and take the box office by storm. It's going to be a crazy year – it's an election year. So we need all the escape we can get! So here's to embracing the unknown, and to glasses half-full! Go to the theater and get out of your house and let's make it a great year, peeps!