The list of upcoming movies has been shaken up a bit, to put it extremely mildly. After cinemas around the world were forced to close due to the Coronavirus pandemic, studios came to terms with an unprecedented crisis and began scrambling to reschedule the dates for 2020 movie releases. Most films due for release this year were pushed back to the latter half of the year, with some being pushed as far as back as 2021. So what are the most highly-anticipated movies of the year?
Despite having to wait a little longer to see them, there is still an array of exciting new movies to look forward to this year when Irish cinemas reopen on 20 July. We've managed to whittle it down to ten of the most highly-anticipated. The list includes a probable final outing from Daniel Craig as James Bond, an X-Men spin-off that has been delayed by over two years and the new Christopher Nolan flick. Get your calendar out and jot these dates down.
Updated 2020 Movie Releases
Artemis Fowl
Release date: 12 June
Inspired by Irish author Eoin Colfer's eight-part novel series, Walt Disney's Artemis Fowl tells the story of an adolescent criminal genius Artemis. He captures a vicious fairy, and attempts to harness her magical power in a bid to rescue his family (Rotten Tomatoes). Directed by Kenneth Branagh, the film follows an amalgamation of the plots of the first two novels.
The trailer received some stick from die-hard fans of the books who were concerned with the portrayal of Artemis. The character seems to be another young innocent child thrust into a world of fantasy and danger, and not the genius anti-hero they had grown to love from the books. Nonetheless, there is still a lot of excitement about the film adaptation of Colfer's best-selling novels, which he wrote in his bathroom. The impressive cast features Colin Farrell and Judi Dench, with newcomer Conor McPherson in the titular role. After the theatrical release was cancelled, Disney opted to skip the cinemas altogether and now the film will premier on Disney+ on 12 June.
Tenet
Release Date: July 16
Christopher Nolan's first film since 2017's Dunkirk is Tenet. The ever-secretive Nolan has revealed very little about the film. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the protagonist, is armed only with one word - Tenet. Fighting for the survival of the world, he journeys through a twilight world of international espionage. However, the mission unfolds in something beyond real time. Apparently, "time inversion" is a major plot device (whatever that means).
The Interstellar director assembles a truly stellar cast with the likes of Robert Pattinson, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Clémence Poésy. BlacKkKlansman's John David Washington plays the leading role. Expect trippy Inception-like special effects.
Mulan
Release date: July 24
Next in line to get a Disney live-action remake is the story of Mulan. The Emperor of China issues a decree that one man from each family must join the Imperial Army. Hua Mulan, the eldest daughter of an honoured warrior, poses as a man to take her ailing father's place in the army (Rotten Tomatoes).
Chinese/Armerican pop star Liu Yifei plays the titular role in the Niki Caro remake of the 1998 animation. Donnie Yen and Jason Scott Lee are in support. Jet Li plays the role of the Emperor. There's no denying that Disney live-action remakes are huge moneymakers for the biggest studio on the planet. However, the quality of these films has certainly varied. There is pressure on Mulan to perform. Fortunately for Disney, early reviews have been vastly positive.
Wonder Woman 1984
Release date: August 14
After the both critical and box office success of Wonder Woman, which raked in $822 million, it's no surprise that a sequel will grace our screens. Fast-forwarding from the events of the first film, based during World War I, Wonder Woman 1984 takes place in, you've guessed it, 1984. Patty Jenkins retains the director's chair. The Amazon, Diana Prince, faces a new foe, Kristen Wiig's Cheetah.
WW1984 takes place against the backdrop of the Cold War, and since Gal Gadot's Diana Prince is immortal, she hasn't aged a day. That'd be nice, wouldn't it? Diana's love interest, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) is somehow still alive despite not surviving the first film. Wonder Woman is one of the few decent movies in the DC Extended Universe so there is pressure on the sequel to reach the highs of the first movie.
The New Mutants
Release date: 28 August
The New Mutants has been one of the most highly-anticipated movies for over two years now. With an original release date in April 2018, it's a miracle that Josh Boone's The New Mutants will even see the light of day. The movie got fans excited and showed a lot of potential when Fox released the trailer in October 2017. It promised a psychological horror side to the X-Men universe which hadn't been explored. However, countless reshoots and Disney's acquisition of Fox caused several delays and rescheduled release dates. At present, the scheduled release date is 28 August 2020.
The film follows young mutants being held in an isolated hospital for psychiatric monitoring. Doctors fear that they are a threat to themselves and to society as a whole (Rotten Tomatoes). The movie boasts a stunning young cast consisting of Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton and Blu Hunt. Let's hope it's worth the wait.
A Quiet Place II
Release date: September 4
Following on from the events of A Quiet Place, the sequel follows the Abbott family (minus John Krasinski's Lee Abbott) as they continue their fight for survival in silence. They soon discover that the alien creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats out there (Rotten Tomatoes).
This is one of the most highly-anticipated horror movies this year after the raving critical success of Part I. The story follows Emily Blunt's Evelyn as she leads her family in this post-apocalyptic world. It's also likely that we will get flashbacks to fill in some details as to how this alien invasion began.
The French Dispatch
Release date: October 16
Wes Anderson's first film since 2018's Isle of Dogs tells the story of an American magazine based in a fictional French city. The publication decides to publish a memorial edition for its last issue, bringing to life the best three stories of the last decade.
In classic weird Anderson fashion, the movie features meticulously stylised shots, old-fashioned film techniques and is relentlessly detailed. The cast is made up of some Wes Anderson favourites (Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Owen Wilson) and some big newcomers (Timothée Chalamet, Benicio del Toro, Jeffrey Wright).
Black Widow
Release date: November 6
The first movie of Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes place before the events of Avengers: Infinity War, when Natasha Romanov (Scarlett Johansson) is on the run following the events of Captain America: Civil War. Although we got a very vague insight into elements of Black Widow's past in Avengers: Age of Ultron, there is still very little known about what happened in the Red Room or Budapest so hopefully flashbacks will fill in the gaps.
Directed by Cate Shortland, the film features a cast of Florence Pugh, who plays Yelena, Stranger Things' David Harbour as Alexi and Rachel Weisz as Melena. If Marvel's recent run of films is anything to go by, this action-packed spy thriller should be a good time.
No Time to Die
Release date: 12 November
Director Cary Fukunaga becomes the first American to take the reins of an official Bond movie with No Time to Die. Despite saying in 2015 that he would rather "slash my wrists" than play James Bond again, Daniel Craig is back in the main role for the last time. After the departure of original director Danny Boyle, an injury suffered by Craig, and now a global pandemic, the film has taken its time making its way to the big screen.
Not many plot details of No Time to Die have surfaced although it is known that Bond begins the movie living a tranquil life, out of service, in Jamaica. This is the case until, of course, he is recruited for a new mission, this time to rescue a kidnapped scientist. This leads him onto the trail of a new villain armed with dangerous tech. Léa Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Naomi Harris, Ben Whishaw and Jeffrey Wright all reprise their roles, with Bohemian Rhapsody's Rami Malek playing the villain.
Dune
Release date: 18 December
Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve directs this film adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi novel which is based on the desert world of Arrakis, where the valuable spice that makes interstellar travel possible is located. Timothée Chalamet, who is having a very busy year, plays the lead, Paul Atreides. The rest of the very impressive cast is made up of Josh Brolin, Stellan Starsgård, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac and Dave Bautista.
Dune was deemed 'unfilmable' due to the inner monologues and nonverbal communication between characters. Frank Lynch made an ambitious attempt at an adaptation in 1984 but the resulting film was flawed. Perhaps Villeneuve can break the curse of the unfilmable novel. That sounds like a good movie title.
