Normally, when we write one of these preview lists for the new year, the release dates are normally the big feature of them.

Of course, given how utterly borked the entire release schedule is at the moment, we really have no idea when any of these movies are going to be released in cinemas. In fact, we're not even sure if these movies will make it into cinemas at all.

Given how Warner Bros. has decided to throw a number of movies straight to its streaming service, HBO Max, and how Paramount is diverting some of its titles to Netflix, there's a better-than-average chance a few of these will end up over in our On Demand section than our Cinema section.

At any rate, here's our pick of 21 movies we're hoping to check out in 2021.

 

21 'The Last Duel'

At last, we'll finally find out if Matt Damon being forced to live in Dalkey for six months and being hounded by everyone for a photograph was worth it. Ridley Scott's historical epic will also see 'Killing Eve' star Jodie Comer as the woman Damon and Ben Affleck battle to the death over. Expect lots of wigs and lots of blood.

 

20 'The King's Man'

Yes, the last 'Kingsman' movie was hot, stinking garbage that didn't make a lick of sense. This time around, 'The King's Man' is going for steampunk-inspired action and who doesn't want to see Ralph Fiennes beat twelve shades of whatever out of outrageously evil Imperial Russians? Rhys Ifans as Rasputin? Come on.

 

19 'Mortal Kombat'

There's a very good chance that 'Mortal Kombat' - were it released in normal times - would be the kind of movie you'd go see on some free Wednesday evening, buy an unhealthy amount of snacks while watching it, enjoy it, and then completely forget about it as soon as you've left the cinema. Remember when you had that experience and didn't cherish it? Here's hoping 'Mortal Kombat' is that for you when cinemas are back open and you can hang out in an enclosed space with other people, worry-free.

 

 

 

18 'Black Widow'

It's now been over a year since you've watched a giant Marvel blockbuster in cinemas. Did you miss it at all? Well, if you did, expect 'Black Widow' to be your first movie back in cinemas. Scarlet Johansson's long-delayed solo outing as Black Widow is currently slated for May 7th - fingers crossed.

 

17 'Antlers'

Scott Cooper's previous movies - 'Hostiles', 'Black Mass', and 'Crazy Heart' - never even came close to something like horror, so to see him divert to this kind of genre means it's going to be something special.

 

16 'The Suicide Squad'

Although James Gunn is now back under the banner of the House of Mouse, 'The Suicide Squad' looks like it could very well end up being his only comic-book movie for quite some time. Production on 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3' has been delayed and likely won't hit cinemas until 2023, so if you're taken with his brand of comedy-action, this is it for some time.

 

15 'The Many Saints of Newark'

We've been trailing the production of 'The Many Saints of Newark' not unlike the FBI tracks Italian-American mobsters, and so far, the only thing we know is that it's got a release date for March 12th with a simultaneous release on HBO Max. After that, it's Johnny Tight-Lips over here. Stugots! Gobbagool! Eyyy!

 

14 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife'

However you might feels about the reboot of 'Ghostbusters', Jason Reitman's upcoming sequel feels more in line with the original movies. For one, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Ernie Hudson and even Annie Potts are making a return in their original roles. Plus, Paul Rudd? In a 'Ghostbusters' movie? That just feels like it's meant to happen.

 

 

 

13 'Eternals'

'Eternals' has been wrapped up in more secrecy than, well, most other Marvel movies. There's an impressive cast lined up - including our very own Barry Keoghan, Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, not to mention it being directed by Chloe Zhao, who's on the Oscar-favourite 'Nomadland' (also featured further down this very list).

 

12 'Deep Water'

Erotic thrillers have gone out of fashion since, well, the '90s and we have all been the lesser for it. If anyone is going to be able to bring it back to prominence, it's Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas working with one of the titans of the genre, Adrian Lyne of '9 1/2 Weeks' and 'Fatal Attraction' fame, based on a Patricia Highsmith novel. Expect lots of sexy murderousness.

 

11 'No Time To Die'

Poor Daniel Craig. He was out of Bond after 'Spectre', but was then lured back with a giant truck of money. Now? Now, much like James Bond's much-needed therapy sessions, it's been pushed back endlessly.

 

 

10 'Babylon'

Damian Chazelle's follow-up to 'First Man' sees the wunderkind director take on the shift from silent movies to talkies in '20s America, with Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie bouncing off one another. Expect this clean up in the Oscars in 2023.

 

9 'Top Gun: Maverick'

Paramount Pictures, if you're reading this, please release the new version of 'Danger Zone' by Kenny Loggins to tide us over until this gets released.

 

8 'Candyman'

Nia DaCosta's spiritual sequel to the underrated horror spectacular of the '90s could well be the 'Get Out' of 2021. For one, Jordan Peele's production company is behind it, but also as well, DaCosta's awareness of the racial component in the source material is there too. Expect this to be disturbing and brilliant.

 

 

7 'The French Dispatch'

Wes Anderson's anthology movie lines up a spectacular cast - obviously, for a Wes Anderson movie - that includes Bill Murray, Timothée Chalamet, Tilda Swinton, Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright, Saoirse Ronan, Edward Norton, Owen Wilson - you stopped reading, didn't you? It's OK. It's a big cast.

 

6 'F9'

How long has it been since you've seen cars smash into each other, Vin Diesel growl about family, very good-looking people inexplicably dancing together at car races, all strung together by the thinnest plot imaginable? Too long.

 

5 'Halloween Kills'

Off the back of the success of 2018's 'Halloween', the follow-up has got a lot of work to do. For one, the ending of 'Halloween' was pretty great so you've got to imagine that if they're coming back for this and one more movie, the reasons behind it - beyond monetary, obviously - make sense. Here's hoping.

 

4 'Mission: Impossible 7'

Hey, if nothing else, we'll get to find out if all that shouting Cruise did was worth it.

 

 

3 'The Matrix 4'

The sheer surprise of there being a fourth 'Matrix' movie aside, it's going to be really special to see Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Lana Wachowski back together and see what they come up with. It'd be pretty boring if they just rehashed the original, and that's the excitement here. You know it's not going to be unlike anything you've seen before, so what will it be?

 

 

2 'Nomadland'

Frances McDormand is, if early reviews are to be believed, on her way to winning another Oscar for her mantelpiece with 'Nomadland', based on the book of the same name that explores the vandweller phenomenon that's sprung up in the wake of the Great Recession. You just know this is going to be one of those movies that you're going to walk out of a cinema and into the night with a completely different perspective. And that's why you go to cinemas, isn't it? As much as it's about seeing giant explosions, handsome and beautiful faces on a giant screen, transporting you to far-off lands that never were, you go to experience something different.

 

1 'Dune'

There's a reason, beyond our own professional opinion that these two movies are going to be huge this year, that we picked them. They are, it must be said, markedly different. One is a small, poetic movie with understated performances. The other is a long-gestating sci-fi epic based on a seminal tome featuring some of the biggest names on this planet. That's what makes cinema so enjoyable. It can be all those things in one place.

Anyway, the few minutes we saw in the trailer for 'Dune' were enough to sell us on this being the biggest movie of 2021. Here they are again.