20 Most Anticipated Movies of 2020

2020 is lining up to be a complicated year for movies. Plenty of promising projects with even more that look like duds. Superheroes, horror flicks, and gripping dramas are what I see, and I hope that will entertain me in a right way. Don’t let me down, 2019 had its issues while still packing a punch.

#20: Army of the Dead (TBA)

I am not a fan of Zach Snyder’s work except for his Dawn of the Dead remake. Now he is working on a Netflix zombie heist flick with a stellar cast with Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy), Ana de LA Reguera (Narcos), Garrett Dillahunt (No Country for Old Men), and Chris D’Elia (You). Maybe after his disastrous run with DC, he can redeem himself with his long-awaited return to horror.

Snyder is writing the script with John Wick: Chapter 3 writer Shay Hatten and John Wick 3 and Edge of Tomorrow producer Joby Harold. Hopefully, some magic can rub off of Harold and Hatten from their work on Keanu Reeves’ latest dog avenging story can do Army of the Dead some justice.

The story will follow a group of mercenaries who go into a zombie-infested Las Vegas to pull off a heist. This sounds dumb as hell, but we have Bautista and the undead, meaning that I will absolutely watch it.

#19: Underwater (Jan. 10)

Kristen Stewart’s (Twilight) monster horror movie looks like trash but in a good way. This looks like the type of disaster that would be fun with a few friends and some popcorn.

T.J. Miller (Deadpool), Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist), Vincent Cassel (Black Swan), John Gallagher Jr. (10 Cloverfield Lane), Mamoudou Athie (The Get Down), and Gunner Wright (J. Edgar) can help Stewart save this into a straight-up bad horror movie and into something that has redeemable qualities.

As I have not seen anything that director William Eubank (The Signal) and his writers Brian Duffield (The Babysitter) and Adam Cozad (The Legend of Tarzan) have done, I can only hope they manage this well. Surely a studio won’t give inexperienced, lacking in skill writers and director millions to make a movie. That is something that will never happen in the industry, right?

#18: The Gentlemen (Jan. 24)

Now we are into something that looks like a quality film. Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels) is back at what he does best, which is not doing weird remakes of classic Disney movies with Aladdin. “A British drug lord tries to sell off his highly profitable empire to a dynasty of Oklahoma billionaires,” sounds like the right movie for him, not a blue Will Smith.

The tone looks on par with his previous work with wittiness, action, and drama. The inclusion of a brilliant cast makes it even better. I cannot wait to see Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar), Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), Jeremy Strong (The Big Short), and Colin Farrell (In Bruges) along with everyone else in one of the most promising releases next year.

#17: The Lodge (Feb. 7)

I get some serious Shining vibes here with some other supernatural elements thrown in. Technically, The Lodge released this year at festivals, but it gets thrown into the wild next year. A woman is left with her fiance’s children, and they get stuck in a lodge due to a blizzard. Soon, some spooky shit starts to happen.

I don’t typically get creeped out by anything, but the trailer alone gave me chills. Children, cults, and religion, yeah, this will surely give me the same emotional trauma as Hereditary, I hope.

#16: The Invisible Man (Feb. 28)

It looks more like an extreme take on Hollow Man rather than The Invisible Man. I am intrigued to see if this remake can get executed properly as others have failed.

Director and writer Leigh Whannell has plenty of horror experience with Insidious, Saw, and a recent hit with Upgrade gives them that needed credibility. The cast looks strong with Elisabeth Moss (Us), Aldis Hodge (Leverage), and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (The Haunting of Hill House) to backup Whannell’s take on the classic horror movie.

I do have to warn you to not watch the trailer, or stop it halfway. It gets to the point of showing every plot point that will occur, I wish I could wipe my memory Men in Black style.

#15: A Quiet Place Part II (March 6)

I felt A Quiet Place was beyond overrated. I love the premise, acting, and monster designs, but its plotholes and direction gave me not the same amount of admiration as critics and audiences felt. Still, I will check it out with hopes that Krasinksi (The Office) learns from his past mistakes to make for a better sequel.

At the very least, we get more Emily Blunt (Sicario), so I am happy.

#14: The New Mutants (April 3)

No way this will be good due to its cycle in development hell, but a horror twist on X-Men has hooked me in. I hope the script is not so bad that it hinders its cast because Anya Taylor-Joy (Split), Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones), and Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) are all so talented.

#13: Antlers (April 17)

A creepy boy and a monster living in his home, yup, this will be another potential nightmare-inducing creation for 2020. The creep factor and violence are surely there, especially in the brutal red band trailer.

I have not been a fan of the previous work director Scott Cooper (Black Mass) has done, but his effort at horror looks promising.  Thankfully he has the source material from the short story The Quiet Boy along with the author of the story as a co-writer Nick Antosca who has had plenty of experience with TV shows like the incredible canceled series Hannibal. Then we have C. Henry Chaisson (Open 24 Hours) writing, which I never heard of or seen any of his work. Best of luck.

Luckily the cast looks strong to hold things down. Keri Russell as the teacher Julia Meadows (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) who looks after the creepy boy, Lucas Weaver, played by Jeremy T. Thomas (Lore). To support the two leads comes Breaking Bad star Jesse Plemons and Graham Greene (Wind River).

I have been disappointed plenty of times in recent years by trailers that look too good to be true. Antlers, don’t let me down. Hopefully, the magic of Guillermo Del Toro (Shape of Water) producing will do something to make this whole thing work.

#12: Antebellum (April 24)

Now into the weird side of all things spooky. I watched the teaser, and I have no idea what this will be about, only assuming something to do with time as various periods throughout history are shown. The description on IMDB says, “Successful author Veronica finds herself trapped in a horrifying reality and must uncover the mind-bending mystery before it’s too late,” sounds intriguing enough.

The film will be directed and written by the duo Christopher Renz and Gerard Bush, who made Kill Jay-Z. So, based on their little experience, especially in the genre, I have no expectations of these two filmmakers.

Much of the cast I have not seen either, so this could be a surprising hit for next year, or at least an interesting experience as it looks different from anything else coming out.

#11: Black Widow (May 1)

You bet I am watching a new movie in Marvel’s epic universe. Give me a time travel machine to watch the first movie to come out for the MCU in 2020. May is too long to wait.

#10: The Woman in the Window (May 15)

On paper, this has to be fantastic, which worries me a little, but that won’t stop my excitement. Based on the novel by A.J. Finn, directed by Joe Wright (Darkest Hour) has me curious, but the trailer and cast have me sold.

Amy Adams (Arrival) is arguably my favorite actress, then to add on top of her insane talent comes Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour), Julianne Moore (Still Alice), Anthony Mackie (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Wyatt Russell (Overlord), and Brian Tyree-Henry (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse). A stacked lineup for this thriller will have top-notch performances.

Adams plays an agoraphobic woman who can’t leave her house. After years of loneliness, she makes a friend from across the street, who she eventually witnesses get murdered. Next thing you know, she appears again, with her family and the police acting like Adams is insane. It looks like a wild trip with some violence to spice things up. Inject this adrenaline mystery into my veins, please.

#9: Wonder Woman 1984 (June 5)

The first introduction of Gadot as the iconic hero was 2/3 of a great movie, with a less than stellar finale. The sequel looks to have fixed many of its issues, but only time will tell once it releases in June.

#8: Candyman (June 12)

I never watched the classic horror flick, but this remake has caught my attention. The writer for the original, Clive Barker, is back and will team up with Jordan Peele (Get Out), and BlacKkKlansman producer Win Rosenfeld. Not only does the writing team have some strength, but the cast also does too with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Watchmen), Tony Todd returns to the franchise, Tayonah Parris (Empire), and Colman Domingo (Selma).

No trailers or much of anything has been revealed. With the flurry of remakes lately, who knows how this will turn out.

#7: Ghostbusters: Afterlife (June 10)

I would not have thought another Ghostbusters movie would work, but I am blown away by the trailer that recently released. Slapping out the slapstick comedy with a true return to form that looks even darker than the originals. I hope the comedy gets done right for balance, but other than that, this looks like a true sequel.

It sounds like the second movie is getting canned as Afterlife will connect to the first entry that started it all. With Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) and Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), I was already sold, until I saw the tone and became more excited.

What makes the franchise is its stance on sci-fi first, sprinkle some scary elements, and layer on some comedy to have the perfect amount of ingredients for each genre. The female lead reboot had some right ideas to freshen up the IP, but it went a generic route with its humor rather than doing something special.

#6: Jungle Cruise (July 24)

This looks bad, like painful as expected as a movie based on a ride at Disneyland would appear. Still, it is on this list, why? I love Emily Blunt, that’s why. Dwayne Johnson (Jumanji), who I will always refer to as The Rock, has charisma unlike anyone else, so their dynamic should make up for everything else that will come out of Jungle Cruise.

#5: Morbius (July 31)

I need a trailer or some kind of first look into the Jared Leto (Suicide Squad) lead film. He is playing an iconic vampire villain in Spider-Man’s world without having the wallcrawler to face. It sounds like it could go into Venom territory, which I was too kind towards in the review admittedly, or it can be the controversial Joker, which I loved.

Sony, please sell the rights completely off to Marvel.

#4: Last Night in Soho (Sept. 25)

Edgar Wright has always been one of my favorite filmmakers. From his comedies like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz to his more serious action flick Baby Driver, I adore everything he has done in his career. Now the British writer/director is taking a stab at horror, which is painful as Sept. 25 is so far away, I want it now.

“A young girl, passionate in fashion design, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters her idol, a dazzling wannabe singer. But 1960s London is not what it seems, and time seems to fall apart with shady consequences,” says the description on IMDB, so a time-traveling scary movie, sounds weirdly different from Wright while seeming completely intact with his DNA.

Wright is accompanied by an interesting choice for a writing partner, Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917). Either way, the man has not disappointed me, so I bet the two of them will have a wonderful collaboration.

Anya Taylor-Joy (Split) as the time-traveling girl, a former Doctor from Doctor Who will join with Matt Smith, Thomasin McKenzie has my hyped after her phenomenal performance in Jojo Rabbit, Dianna Rigg (Game of Thrones) never disappoints, and of course a Harry Potter star James Phelps to add to the roster of actors for this British horror film.

#3: Halloween Kills (Oct. 16)

The previous film was made to correct the franchise’s disastrous choices with its sequels, so now they will make two more, which could throw away all of the work to repair Michael Myers’ reputation. I liked the 2018 sequel, but it fell apart in its direction by the end. I hope things go well next year, but my expectations are torn entirely on this one.

#2: Eternals (Nov. 6)

I know a little amount about these new immortal heroes descending into the MCU. It’s cast looks tremendous, and Marvel has been knocking it out of the park. My only concern stems from the studio not being great at introducing characters, usually the sequels and ensemble adventures do better than the origin stories.

#1: Godzilla vs. Kong (Nov. 20)

No way this will be any good at all, as the latest Godzilla movies have not done justice to the legendary kaiju. Either way, I cannot wait to see the two monsters battle it out. I hope it takes a stand on a winner, unlike the original 1962 fight.

What are you excited for next year? Let me know in the comments.

Header image via Lionsgate, 20th Century Fox, Focus Features, NEON