Everyone is writing obituaries for cinema. Yet, as is invariably the case, it proves no problem to put together a long list of indecently exciting releases coming our way in the coming year. Who could complain about an unseen array that includes Steve McQueen recreating the Blitz, Todd Haynes pitting Julianne Moore against Natalie Portman or Christopher Nolan directing Cillian Murphy as J Robert Oppenheimer? As Covid retreats, we can be surer of what’s opening when, but at least one film below has already made hopeful appearances at the beginning of 2020 and 2021. Chaos has not been entirely banished.
ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED
The winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival follows photographer Nan Goldin’s campaign against the Sackler family, once owners of a firm implicated in the US opioid epidemic. (January 27th)
ASTEROID CITY
You won’t need to be told that the latest from Wes Anderson has a starry cast: Hanks, Swinton, Robbie, Johansson, Goldblum and so on. Concerns an astronomy convention in the 1950s. (No date yet)
BABYLON
Deranged, profane, scatological treatment of Hollywood’s early days starring Margot Robbie as a variation on Clara Bow. Damien Chazelle’s film has already proved divisive. But it’s definitely something. (January 20th)
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BARBIE
People snorted when it emerged Greta Gerwig was to direct Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in a film based on the popular doll, but, following canny publicity leaks, it has become among the year’s most anticipated films. (July 21st)
BEAU IS AFRAID
Ari Aster, director of Midsommar, has taken a while on his apparently sprawling horror set in an off-key present, but it will finally be ready for a festival launch this year. Patti LuPone and Amy Ryan offer support to Joaquin Phoenix. (No date yet)
BLITZ
Saoirse Ronan, Harris Dickinson, Stephen Graham and Kathy Burke star in Steve McQueen’s study of London in the war years. Among our top five most anticipated. (No date yet)
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CAT PERSON
Yes, they really did make a film of that viral New Yorker story about uncomfortable modern romance. Nicholas “Cousin Greg” Braun from Succession can surely make something of the creepy suitor. (No date yet)
CHALLENGERS
When does Luca Guadagnino sleep? The director of Bones and All takes a breath and moves on to a tennis comedy starring Zendaya and Josh O’Connor. (August 11th)
CLOSE
Devastating Belgian drama from Lukas Dhont, director of Girl, concerning the fracturing friendship between teenage boys. Had them heaving with sobs at Cannes. (March 3rd)
COCAINE BEAR
Did you know the already much-memed comedy thriller about a drugged-up bear was filmed in Wicklow? Well, it was. (February 24th)
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THE COLOR PURPLE
Steven Spielberg and Quincy Jones, who directed and scored the 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel, produce Blitz the Ambassador’s version of the stage musical. R&B star Fantasia takes the lead. (December 20th)
CREED III
The latest in the so-far excellent post-Rocky series places Michael B Jordan behind the camera and casts the charismatic Jonathan Majors as a rough up-and-comer. (March 3rd)
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DUNE: PART II
You know what this is. Austin Butler, Lea Seydoux and Florence Pugh join the cast. (November 3rd)
ELEMENTAL
We are always hopeful when a new Pixar sails into view. Peter Sohn’s film focuses on a fire and water “element” who fall in love. Sounds as if it might be “spiritual”. (June 16th)
EO
Veteran Jerzy Skolimowski invites a donkey to make a journey through a troubled Europe and reveal uncomfortable truths about contemporary society. (February 3rd)
THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER
Beautiful, delicate ghost story featuring not one, but two variations of Tilda Swinton. The great Joanna Hogg directs. (No date yet)
THE FABELMANS
Steven Spielberg’s latest stars Michelle Williams as a version of the director’s mother in a nostalgic summoning up of formative childhood. (January 27th)
FAST X
Vroom, vroom! Bang, bang! Crash, crash! The automotive team are back to push credibility and strain eardrums to the absolute limit. (May 19th)
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FERRARI
Michael Mann finally delivers his study of Enzo Ferrari. Adam Driver is the man himself. Penélope Cruz and Shailene Woodley are in the jump seat. A Venice premiere surely? (No date yet)
FLORA AND SON
The latest “sort-of musical” (his words) from John Carney is always an event. Flora and Son stars Eve Hewson, Jack Reynor, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and hotly tipped newcomer Orén Kinlan. (No date yet)
FOUR MOTHERS
Darren Thornton, director of the wonderful A Date for Mad Mary, casts Fionnula Flanagan, Niamh Cusack and others in the tale of a novelist coping with four older ladies. (No date yet)
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 3
We have three Marvel films this year. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels and the latest romp from the quippy space squad. James Gunn directs. (May 5th)
HOLY SPIDER
Chilling study of the hunt for an Iranian serial killer from the director of the fine Border. Mehdi Bajestani deservedly won best actress at Cannes for playing a dogged investigative journalist. (January 20th)
INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY
More power to Harrison Ford. He creaks back into action for a (last?) Indiana Jones flick directed by reliable James Mangold. The teaser trailer promises good 1960s fun alongside the likes of Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Antonio Banderas. (June 30th)
THE KILLER
David Fincher renters his comfort zone directing Michael Fassbender as an assassin in an adaptation of a French graphic novel. (No date)
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
It’s back. Don’t worry Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of David Grann’s book concerning murky business in 1920s Oklahoma is sure to open. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jesse Plemons star. Cannes premiere likely. (No date.)
KNOCK AT THE CABIN
You can’t keep M Night Shyamalan down. He is back with an adaptation of a hit horror novel by Paul G Tremblay. Dave Bautista and Nikki Amuka-Bird are there for twists. (February 3rd)
MAESTRO
Bradley Cooper directs himself as the legendary conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. Could hardly sound more awardsy. (No date yet)
MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON
Greatly adored stop-motion mockumentary concerning a filmmaker who encounters, yes, a talking shell. (February 17th)
MAY/DECEMBER
The great Todd Haynes is back with a film about a middle-aged actor forced to re-evaluate when a younger star arrives to research her life. Natalie Portman joins Haynes recidivist Julianne Moore. (No date yet)
MEGALOPOLIS
Could Francis Ford Coppola’s long rumoured, largely self-financed epic – concerning an architect rebuilding New York City – really be on its way to us. So it seems. Adam Driver and Aubrey Plaza among the cast. (No date yet)
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE DEAD RECKONING PART ONE
Fresh off the spectacular success of Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise returns to one of the longest running franchises in the business. (September 30th)
NAPOLEON
Ridley Scott is at the helm for yet another cinematic crack at Bonaparte with, this time, Joaquin Phoenix as the emperor and Vanessa Kirby as Josephine. (No date yet)
NEXT GOAL WINS
Yes, Eagle-Eyes. Taika Waititi’s comedy concerning the heroically underperforming American Samoan football team makes its third consecutive appearance in our annual preview. It is now actually dated. Michael Fassbender and Elisabeth Moss star. (April 21st)
NIGHTBITCH
With The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Can You Ever Forgive Me? and Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, Marielle Heller set up one of the great opening streaks. Her latest has Amy Adams worrying she’s turning into a dog. Who’s a good girl? (No date yet)
THE OLD OAK
Now 86, the unstoppable Ken Loach tells the tale of Syrian refugees making a new life in the northeast of England. Could he break his own record for director with most films in Cannes competition? (No date yet.)
OPPENHEIMER
Christopher Nolan directs Cillian Murphy as J Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb. With that summer opening, Cannes might be a possibility. (July 21st)
PETER PAN & WENDY
David Lowery’s superb Pete’s Dragon was easily the best (and sadly least seen) of the Disney live-action updates. So we are allowed to be optimistic about his Peter Pan. Jude Law is Cap’n Hook. (No date yet)
POOR THINGS
Yorgos Lanthimos’s adaptation of Alasdair Gray’s variation on Frankenstein features Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe. Should be ready for Cannes where the director’s The Lobster and Killing of a Sacred Deer slayed. (No date yet)
PRAYER FOR OUR SINNERS
Much admired at the Toronto International Film Festival, Sinéad O’Shea’s latest documentary confronts the State’s mistreatment of women and children. (No date yet)
PRISCILLA
Sofia Coppola tells the story of Priscilla Presley? Sign us up. Rising star Cailee Spaeny takes the title role. Feels like a Venice premiere. (No date yet)
SAINT OMER
Devastating courtroom drama from Alice Diop following a woman accused of murdering her infant daughter. Runner-up at Venice. (February 3rd)
SALTBURN
Emerald Fennell, an Oscar winner for Promising Young Woman, is back with a thriller set amid a grand English family. Rosamund Pike and our own Barry Keoghan are among the cast. (No date yet)
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
The first Spider-Verse was a sensation with critics and fans. We have had a bit too much multiverse fun since then, but writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller always deliver. (June 2nd)
STRANGERS
Andrew Haigh, director of the wonderful 45 Years, returns with the spooky tale of a screenwriter encountering his deceased parents in apparently quick form. Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott star. Away the lads! (No date yet)
TÁR
Cate Blanchett, current favourite for best actress at the Oscars, plays a manipulative conductor in a psychologically complex, perplexingly spooky drama from Todd Field. (January 13th)
WOMEN TALKING
Drama from Sarah Polley concerning eight women confronting sexual abuse in a Mennonite community. Rooney Mara, Claire Foy and Jessie Buckley are among the starry cast. (February 10th)
THE WHALE
Brendan Fraser controversially dons padding to play a troubled, morbidly obese man in Darren Aronofsky’s chamber piece, (February 3rd)
WONKA
Do we really want a musical origin story for Willy Wonka starring Timothée Chalamet. Well, the team behind Paddington write and direct. Sally Hawkins and Olivia Colman co-star. So, yes, probably. (December 15th)
ZONE OF INTEREST
Jonathan Glazer’s Holocaust tale has been in the offing for so long (and with so little information leaking) that observers have questioned its very existence. Apparently it’s finally in the can. (No date yet, obviously)
