The movie industry definitely took a huge hit in 2020 when the pandemic forced movie theaters to close down, paused film productions, and postponed the premieres of highly-anticipated movies, among many other things.
As we look forward to 2021, there are tons of movies lined up that we’ll hopefully get to watch at the comfort of our homes because we just can’t miss them! Here they are:
42. Coming 2 America
Directed by: Craig Brewer
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, John Amos, Teyana Taylor, Wesley Snipes, James Earl Jones
Premiere date: March 5, 2021
Synopsis: Set after the events of the first film, former Prince Akeem Joffer (Eddie Murphy) is set to become King of Zamunda when he discovers he has a son he never knew about in America – a street-savvy Queens native named Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler). Honoring his royal father’s (James Earl Jones) dying wish to groom this son as the crown prince, since Akeem and Lisa’s daughter is ineligible to take over the throne since Zamundan law says that it has to be a male heir to take the throne. Akeem and Semmi (Arsenio Hall) set off to America once again.
41. Cinderella
Directed by: Kay Cannon
Starring: Camila Cabello, Billy Porter, Idina Menzel, Nicholas Galitzine, James Corden, John Mulaney, Minnie Driver, Pierce Brosnan
Premiere date: February 5, 2021
Synopsis: A poor, ambitious orphan gets her wish to meet a prince granted.
40. Free Guy
Directed by: Shawn Levy
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Taika Waititi
Premiere date: May 21, 2021
Synopsis: A bank teller called Guy realizes he is a background character in an open world video game called Free City that will soon go offline.
39. Luca
Directed by: Enrico Casarosa
Starring: John Ratzenberger, Drake Bell
Premiere date: June 18, 2021
Synopsis: A young boy experiences an unforgettable seaside summer on the Italian Riviera filled with gelato, pasta and endless scooter rides. Luca shares these adventures with his newfound best friend, but all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: he is a sea monster from another world just below the ocean’s surface.
38. Boss Baby: Family Business
Directed by: Tom McGrath
Starring: Alec Baldwin, James Marsden, Amy Sedaris, Ariana Greenblatt, Eva Longoria, Jimmy Kimmel, Lisa Kudrow, Jeff Goldblum
Premiere date: September 17, 2021
Synopsis: Now adults, Theodore Templeton and his estranged brother take a magical formula that transforms them into babies for 48 hours. Together, they must now go under cover to prevent an evil genius from turning fellow toddlers intro monstrous brats.
37. Death on The Nile
Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Dawn French, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders, Letitia Wright
Premiere date: September 17, 2021
Synopsis: Based on the 1937 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie, “Death on The Nile” is a follow-up to the 2017 film “Murder on the Orient Express.” It is set at the S.S. Karnak where one of the passengers has been found murdered, leading to renowned Belgian detective Hercule Poirot to be entrusted with the important task of identifying which one of the passengers is the killer before they strike again.
36. West Side Story
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist, Corey Stoll, Brian d’Arcy James, Rita Moreno
Premiere date: December 10, 2021
Synopsis: Teenagers Tony and Maria, despite having affiliations with rival street gangs, the Jets and Sharks, fall in love in 1950s New York City.
35. Sing 2
Directed by: Garth Jennings
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Nick Kroll, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly
Premiere date: December 22, 2021
Synopsis: Buster Moon and his friends must persuade reclusive rock star Clay Calloway to join them for the opening of a new show at the Crystal Tower Theater in glamorous Redshore City.
34. Pinocchio
Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Gregory Mann, Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Ron Perlman, Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, Cate Blanchett, Tim Blake Nelson, Finn Wolfhard, Burn Gorman, John Turturro
Premiere date: TBD
Synopsis: A dark, twisted retelling of the famous Carlo Collodi fairytale about a wooden puppet who comes to life and dreams of becoming a real boy takes place in 1930s Fascist Italy.
33. Morbius
Directed by: Daniel Espinosa
Starring: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, Tyrese Gibson
Premiere date: March 19, 2021
Synopsis: Suffering from a rare blood disease, Michael Morbius tries a dangerous cure that afflicts him with a form of vampirism.
32. No Time To Die
Directed by: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Starring: Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes
Premiere date: April 2, 2021
Synopsis: Recruited to rescue a kidnapped scientist, globe-trotting spy James Bond finds himself hot on the trail of a mysterious villain, who’s armed with a dangerous new technology.
31. Godzilla VS Kong
Directed by: Adam Wingard
Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eiza González, Jessica Henwick, Julian Dennison, Kyle Chandler, Demián Bichir
Premiere date: May 21, 2021
Synopsis: In a time when monsters walk the Earth, humanity’s fight for its future sets Godzilla and Kong on a collision course that will see the two most powerful forces of nature on the planet collide in a spectacular battle for the ages. As Monarch embarks on a perilous mission into uncharted terrain and unearths clues to the Titans’ origins, a human conspiracy threatens to wipe the creatures, both good and bad, from the face of the earth forever.
(ALSO READ: 20 Incredible (and Some Underrated) Non-Disney Animated Movies to Watch)
30. Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Directed by: Andy Serkis
Starring: Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Reid Scott, Naomie Harris
Premiere date: June 25, 2021
Synopsis: Sequel to the 2018 film “Venom” where the titular character fights the evil Carnage.
29. Top Gun: Maverick
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, Val Kilmer
Premiere date: July 2, 2021
Synopsis: Pete “Maverick” Mitchell keeps pushing the envelope after years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators. He must soon confront the past while training a new squad of graduates for a dangerous mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice.
28. Jungle Cruise
Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Édgar Ramírez, Jack Whitehall, Jesse Plemons, Paul Giamatti
Premiere date: July 30, 2021
Synopsis: Dr. Lily Houghton enlists the aid of wisecracking skipper Frank Wolff to take her down the Amazon in his ramshackle boat. Together, they search for an ancient tree that holds the power to heal — a discovery that will change the future of medicine.
27. The Last Duel
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, Ben Affleck
Premiere date: October 15, 2021
Synopsis: In 14th-century France, best friends Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris are ordered to fight to the death after Carrouges accuses Le Gris of raping his wife.
26. Elvis
Directed by: Baz Luhrmann
Starring: Austin Butler, Tom Hanks
Premiere date: November 5, 2021
Synopsis: Chronicles the life and career of rock-and-roll legend Elvis Presley.
25. Nightmare Alley
Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe, Toni Collette, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman, Rooney Mara, David Strathairn
Premiere date: TBD
Synopsis: An American psychological thriller film based on the novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham, which follows nn ambitious carny (Cooper) with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words who hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Blanchett) who turns out to be even more dangerous than he is.
24. The Many Saints of Newark
Directed by: Alan Taylor
Starring: Alessandro Nivola, Leslie Odom Jr., Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll, Michael Gandolfini, Billy Magnussen, John Magaro, Michela De Rossi, Ray Liotta, Vera Farmiga
Premiere date: March 12, 2021
Synopsis: An American crime drama film that serves as a prequel to HBO crime drama series “The Sopranos.” It is set in the 1960s and 1970s in Newark, New Jersey, using the 1967 riots in the city as a backdrop for tensions between the Italian-American and African-American communities.
23. Mortal Kombat
Directed by: Simon McQuoid
Starring: Ludi Lin, Joe Taslim, Tadanobu Asano, Jessica McNamee, Mehcad Brooks, Josh Lawson, Lewis Tan, Chin Han, Hiroyuki Sanada
Premiere date: April 16, 2021
Synopsis: Mortal Kombat is a mysterious, intergalactic tournament of ancient martial arts. Shaolin Monk Liu Kang, from Earth, gets invited as a competitor.
22. Cruella
Directed by: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, Mark Strong
Premiere date: May 28, 2021
Synopsis: In 1970s London, young fashion designer Estella de Vil becomes obsessed with dogs’ skins, especially Dalmatians, until she eventually becomes a ruthless and terrifying legend known as Cruella.
21. Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Directed by: Jason Reitman
Starring: Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts
Premiere date: June 11, 2021
Synopsis: When a single mother and her two children move to a new town, they soon discover that they have a connection to the original Ghostbusters and their grandfather’s secret legacy.
20. Minions: The Rise of Gru
Directed by: Kyle Balda
Starring: Pierre Coffin, Steve Carell, Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, RZA, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, Danny Trejo, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, Alan Arkin
Premiere date: July 2, 2021
Synopsis: A sequel to the 2015 spin-off prequel “Minions” which tells the untold story of one 12-year-old’s dream to become the world’s greatest supervillain.
19. Hotel Transylvania 4
Directed by: Jennifer Kluska and Derek Drymon
Starring: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez
Premiere date: December 22, 2021
Synopsis: The fourth installment to the “Hotel Transylvania” film franchise about Dracula and his only daughter, Mavis, who ends up marrying a human.
18. In The Heights
Directed by: Jon M. Chu
Starring: Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Melissa Barrera, Leslie Grace, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco, Gregory Diaz IV, Marc Antony, Jimmy Smits, and Noah Catala
Premiere date: June 18, 2021
Synopsis: This film adaptation of the same musical by Lin Manuel-Miranda explores the events that happen within three days in the New York City Dominican-American neighborhood of Washington Heights.
17. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Directed by: Destin Daniel Cretton
Starring: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Tony Leung, Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, Ronny Chieng, Michelle Yeoh
Premiere date: July 9, 2021
Synopsis: When Shang-Chi is drawn into the clandestine Ten Rings organization, he is forced to confront the past he thought he left behind.
16. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
Directed by: Michael Chaves
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ruairi O’Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook, Julian Hilliard
Premiere date: June 4, 2021
Synopsis: “The Devil Made Me Do It” reveals a chilling story of terror, murder, and unknown evil that shocked even experienced real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. One of the most sensational cases from their files, it starts with a fight for the soul of a young boy, then takes them beyond anything they’d ever seen before, to mark the first time in U.S. history that a murder suspect would claim demonic possession as a defense.
(ALSO READ: Disney Announces New Release Dates for Its Roster of Movies)
15. Sherlock Holmes 3
Directed by: Dexter Fletcher
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law
Premiere date: December 22, 2021
Synopsis: Third installment of the “Sherlock Holmes” film franchise
14. Candyman
Directed by: Nia DaCosta
Starring: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Colman Domingo
Premiere date: August 27, 2021
Synopsis: For as long as the residents can remember, the housing projects of Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood were terrorized by a word-of-mouth ghost story about a supernatural killer with a hook for a hand, easily summoned by those daring to repeat his name five times into a mirror. In the present day, a decade after the last of the Cabrini towers were torn down, a visual artist named Anthony McCoy and his girlfriend, an art gallery director named Brianna Cartwright, moved into a luxurious loft condo in Cabrini, now gentrified beyond recognition and inhabited by the upwardly mobile millennials. With Anthony’s painting career on the brink of stalling, a chance encounter with a Cabrini Green old-timer exposes Anthony to the tragically horrific nature of the true story behind the Candyman. Anxious to maintain his status in the Chicago art world, Anthony begins to explore these macabre details in his studio as fresh grist for paintings, unknowingly opening a door to a complex past that unravels his own sanity and unleashes a terrifyingly viral wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny.
13. F9
Directed by: Justin Lin
Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, John Cena, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron
Premiere date: May 28, 2021
Synopsis: After the events of 2017 film “The Fate of the Furious,” Dominic Toretto and his family must face Dominic’s younger brother Jakob, a deadly assassin, who is working with their old enemy Cipher, and who holds a personal vendetta against Dominic.
12. Eternals
Directed by: Chloé Zhao
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Lia McHugh, Don Lee, Kit Harington, Gemma Chan, Barry Keoghan
Premiere date: November 5, 2021
Synopsis: After an unexpected tragedy following the events of “Avengers: Endgame”, the Eternals — an immortal alien race created by the Celestials who have secretly lived on Earth for over 7000 years — reunite to protect humanity from their evil counterparts, the Deviants.
11. Mission: Impossible 7
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, Angela Bassett, Esai Morales, Henry Czerny
Premiere date: November 19, 2021
Synopsis: The seventh installment of the “Mission: Impossible” film franchise.
10. The Suicide Squad
Directed by: James Gunn
Starring: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Peter Capaldi, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis
Premiere date: August 6, 2021
Synopsis: Imprisoned convicts from Task Force X are sent on a new, mission to the South American island of Corto Maltese to destroy Jotunheim, a Nazi-era prison and laboratory which held political prisoners and conducted experimentations.
9. The Matrix 4
Directed by: Lana Wachowski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lambert Wilson, Daniel Bernhardt
Premiere date: December 22, 2021
Synopsis: The fourth installment in “The Matrix” franchise.
8. The French Dispatch
Directed by: Wes Anderson
Starring: Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson
Premiere date: May 2021
Synopsis: An American journalist based in France creates his own magazine.
7. Masters of the Universe
Directed by: Aaron Nee
Starring: Noah Centineo
Premiere date: TBD
Synopsis: He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe, goes against the evil Skeletor to save the planet Eternia and protect the secrets of Castle Grayskull.
6. Black Widow
Directed by: Cate Shortland
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, Rachel Weisz
Premiere date: May 7, 2021
Synopsis: Following the events of “Captain America: Civil War,” Natasha Romanoff finds herself alone and forced to confront a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Romanoff must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.
5. Space Jam 2: A New Legacy
Directed by: Malcolm D. Lee
Starring: LeBron James, Don Cheadle, Sonequa Martin-Green, Cedric Joe
Premiere date: July 16, 2021 on HBO Max
Synopsis: Basketball champion and global icon LeBron James goes on an epic adventure alongside timeless Tune Bugs Bunny. When James and his young son Dom – who dreams of being a video game developer – are trapped in a digital space by a rogue AI, James must get them home safe by leading Bugs, Lola Bunny, and the whole gang of notoriously undisciplined Looney Tunes to victory over the AI’s digitized champions on the court: a powered-up roster of basketball stars as you’ve never seen them before.
4. A Quiet Place Part II
Directed by: John Krasinski
Starring: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Djimon Hounsou
Premiere date: April 23, 2021
Synopsis: Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.
3. Raya and The Last Dragon
Directed by: Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada
Starring: Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina
Premiere date: March 5, 2021
Synopsis: Long ago, in the fantasy world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. However, when sinister monsters known as the Druun threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, those same monsters have returned, and it’s up to a lone warrior to track down the last dragon and stop the Druun for good.
2. Spider-Man 3
Directed by: Jon Watts
Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, Jamie Foxx, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alfred Molina
Premiere date: December 17, 2021
Synopsis: The third installment of the “Spider-Man” film franchise.
1. Dune
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem
Premiere date: October 1, 2021
Synopsis: Paul Atreides leads nomadic tribes in a battle to control the desert planet Arrakis.
(ALSO READ: These Are All the Disney Movies That Are Officially Getting Animated Shows)
Which one are you looking forward to watching the most? Let us know in the comments!
Do you have a story for the WhenInManila.com Team? Email us at story.wheninmanila@gmail.com or send us a direct message at WhenInManila.com Facebook Page. Interact with the team and join the WhenInManila.com Community at WIM Squad! Get the latest news about the Philippine Entertainment industry and join the WIM Showbiz Facebook group! We also share our stories on Viber, join us!
