After a year of lackluster releases, our 2021 slate of quality movies has begun to stack up. How many of these films will actually be released is a mystery, but it will always remain appropriate to get excited!
Of course, I’m unable to go over all the films scheduled to be released this year. Frankly, I haven’t even heard of the majority and far too many of the one’s I have heard of feature Timothée Chalamet—often referred to as my doppelganger.
So here is my completely biased, utterly arbitrary list of the seven most anticipated movies of the year.
Coming 2 America
Thirty-three years after it’s initial release, comedy legends Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall are back on board for the follow up to the 80’s classic Coming to America.
It’s quite rare that a sequel, 30 years in the making, is able to garner any attention or optimism from fans nostalgic over their beloved films, but when it comes to Murphy, he truly can do no wrong nowadays. Enough said.
Come Mar. 5, it’s safe to say I’ll be sporting my overworn, children’s medium McDowell’s t-shirt, tuning in for the release of Coming 2 America.
A Quiet Place 2
John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place was a smash hit back in 2018, but the concluding scenes of the film left little to be expanded upon in the sequel. My apologies if you’ve yet to see the movie but… he’s dead!
Where Krasinski decides to take his remaining characters is a mystery, and an intriguing one at that. The initial trailer has left plenty up to the imagination. This is one sequel I have high hopes for in 2021.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
I have no expectations for this film. As long as it’s better than the 2016 nightmare Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, fans can safely call Jason Reitman’s reboot a success.
However, featuring the impressive cast of Paul Rudd, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Finn Wolfhard, Ernie Hudson, Carrie Coon and Sigourney Weaver, I doubt this movie will be anything less than a nostalgic satisfaction.
The Beatles: Get Back
Now this a movie every Beatles fan can get excited about. Directed by Peter Jackson, Get Back features hours of never-before-seen, behind the scenes footage of The Beatles during their legendary recording of “Let It Be.”.
Due to the inner turmoil of the band at the time, the majority of this footage has been kept from their fans for decades, so the official release of these soon-to-be iconic scenes is nothing but exciting.
Jackass 4
The older Johnny Knoxville gets, the more I enjoy watching him rupture testicles. Although the regular band of thrill seeking misfits has yet to be announced, we do have an official release date of early September.
Of course, the Jackass crew will never again be the same after the passing of tenured member Ryan Dunn back in 2011, but the majority of the gang seem to be in on the project in an effort to honour their late friend.
Free Guy
The premise of Shawn Levy’s upcoming sci-fi film is enough to garner immense excitement. Guy—played by Ryan Reynolds—the NPC (non-player-character) suddenly becomes self-aware inside a massive, open-world video game.
It’s a fair assumption that Reynolds can take even the worst of scripts and make them entertaining, so it will be interesting to see where he goes with this role. Free Guy is scheduled for release on May 21st.
Space Jam 2
Lebron James is no Michael Jordan, nor will he ever be, but as long as Space Jam 2 is better than Kyrie Irving’s Uncle Drew, I’ll be willing to call this movie a success.
Whether or not all of these movies reach their official release date depends a lot on the state of our world, our economy and the movie industry as a whole. Who’s to say they all won’t get pushed back even further?
But it’s always fun to speculate. Now more than ever we need movies and entertainment to keep us sane, engaging us in a world without a deadly virus sweeping the globe.
