The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2019 - Page 8 of 10

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30. “Ema”
Director: Pablo Larrain (“Jackie”)
Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Mariana Di Girolamo, Paolo Yanini, Santiago Cabrera
Synopsis: The marriage of a choreographer is tested after a planned adoption goes awry.
What You Need To Know: After an insanely prolific 2015-2016 that saw him debut three films in the space of eighteen months, Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain has been uncharacteristically quiet. Shooting was intended to start on former Kathryn Bigelow project “The True American,” with Amy Adams, Mark Ruffalo and Kumail Nanjiani, but that was delayed for unclear reasons (plans were still to shoot it early next year, but nothing firm’s been revealed on that), so instead, Larrain snuck in this reunion with “No” and “Neruda” star Gael Garcia Bernal. And it looks to be typically experimental stuff: the director describes the film as a melodrama, but one where the actors will partly express themselves through contemporary dance. It sounds bonkers, but so did shooting a political drama on outdated videotape, and that got “No” an Oscar nomination, so we’ll be thrilled to check this out.
Release Date: The film filmed in August, so Cannes is probably more likely than Berlin.

29. “Waiting For The Barbarians”
Director: Ciro Guerra (“Embrace Of The Serpent”)
Cast: Mark Rylance, Robert Pattinson, Joe Alwyn, Harry Melling, Johnny Depp
Synopsis: A magistrate in colonial town clashes with a colonel who is intent on capturing local indigenous people.
What You Need To Know: Colombian filmmaker Ciro Guerra has already made one of 2019’s best films: the thrilling, gorgeous crime drama “Birds Of Passage,” which debuted at Cannes last year but won’t actually open until 2019 in the U.S. Could he have another one on the way? Guerra’s making his English-language debut with this adaptation of J.M. Coetzee’s novel, a passion-project of Mark Rylance, who takes the lead role. It’s very much in Guerra’s post-colonial wheelhouse, and there’s an impressive cast of rising stars including Robert Pattinson (who’s now something of a mark of quality), but it’s hard not to have your enthusiasm dampened by the presence of Johnny Depp in the villainous role. Hopefully, he’s taken the Grindelwald eyebrows off, at least.
Release Date: Started filming recently, so expect it towards the end of the year — hopefully Venice.

28. “Godzilla: King Of The Monsters”
Director: Michael Dougherty (“Krampus”)
Cast: Millie Bobbie Brown, Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Sally Hawkins, O’Shea Jackson Jr
Synopsis: With the existence of humanity threatened, our only hope for survival from giant monsters Mothra, Rodan and King Ghidorah might be with Godzilla.
What You Need To Know: Of all the blockbuster franchises that have attempted to ape the Marvel model, it’s somewhat surprising that the only one that’s even halfway successful has been Warner Bros’ Big Fuck-Off Monster Extended Universe (not the actual name, as far as we’re aware). They’ve only done two films so far (a slow and steady approach that’s paid off), but they’re two for two after Gareth Edwards’ stunning “Godzilla,” and Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ riotously entertaining “Kong: Skull Island.” But this new “Godzilla,” which sees “Trick R Treat” helmer Dougherty stepping into Edwards’ shoes, has the potential to outdo both, with a terrific cast (a returning Ken Watanabe, Bradley Whitford, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch and Zhang Ziyi are also involved), and a Comic Con-stealing trailer that promises vast scope, Spielbergian awe and big emotion. It had better work, anyway: Adam Wingard’s “Kong Vs. Godzilla” is already in production and will follow in 2020.
Release Date: May 31st

27. “Where’d You Go Bernadette?”
Director: Richard Linklater (“Boyhood”)
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Kristen Wiig, Judy Greer, Laurence Fishburne
Synopsis: When her mother disappears on the eve of a family vacation, 15-year-old Bee attempts to travel to Antarctica to find her.
What You Need To Know: With “Last Flag Flying” dying at the box office, Richard Linklater could probably use another hit: fortunately, “Where’d You Go Bernadette” might have the greatest crossover appeal of anything the “Boyhood” helmer has done since “School Of Rock.” Adapted from Maria Semple’s terrific, funny, inventive novel by the ever-reliable “Disaster Artist” scribes Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, it has a doozy of a title role for Cate Blanchett, and should play into Linklater’s sweet spot in a way that has real potential to connect with a good-sized audience. It’s admittedly not the easiest of sells — it has a hard premise to get into a single sentence — but we’re getting some really good vibes from it already. It has been delayed for a while — it was originally set to open last May — but hopefully, that’s not a bad sign.
Release Date: March 22nd, via Annapurna

26. Untitled Noah Baumbach
Director: Noah Baumbach (“The Meyerowitz Stories”)
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, Laura Dern, Merrit Wever, Azhy Robinson
Synopsis: Unknown, but rumored to revolve around the divorce of a young couple.
What You Need To Know: He’s never really been big at the box office, but it seems like Netflix’s algorithm suggests that subscribers are big on Noah Baumbach movies: barely a month after his first film for the streaming service, “The Meyerowitz Stories (New And Selected)” hit, the green light came for the director’s next team-up with them. As is often the case, things are secretive with the project (though unlike his last few, we actually know that it exists before it’s in production), but there’s a strong cast featuring both returning Baumbach faves Driver and Wever, and a pair of actresses who sound perfect for his style in Johansson and Dern.
Release: Absent from the Sundance line-up, so maybe Cannes, where “Meyerowitz” screened, if the festival can sort out their Netflix issues. Otherwise Telluride or TIFF.

25. “The Beach Bum”
Director: Harmony Korine (“Spring Breakers”)
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Bria Vinaite
Synopsis: The story of a rebellious stoner called Moondog
What You Need To Know: In one of the more unlikely crossovers of the last few years, Harmony Korine, one of indie film’s true rebels and weirdos, shepherded an unlikely sleeper hit with “Spring Breakers.” He’s taken his time with a follow-up (starry crime pic “The Trap” never shot), but his first film in seven years is nearly here, and it sees him working with his biggest name yet in Matthew McConaughey. The McConaissance might have hit a few snags recently with flops like “Sea Of Trees” and “The Dark Tower,” but if McConaughey wasn’t born to play ‘a rebellious stoner called Moondog,’ we don’t know what to tell you. He’s joined by the always-welcome Isla Fisher, and “Florida Project” breakout Bria Vinaite.
Release Date: March 22nd

24. “The King”
Director: David Miçhod (“Animal Kingdom”)
Cast: Timothee Chalamet, Joel Edgerton, Robert Pattinson, Ben Mendelsohn, Lily Rose-Depp
Synopsis: The journey of young Prince Hal from rebellious upstart to the King of England.
What You Need To Know: After an incredibly promising start to his career with “Animal Kingdom” and the somewhat underrated “The Rover,” Australian filmmaker David Michod came a little bit unstuck with high-profile Brad Pitt Netflix movie “War Machine,” a messy, if not uninteresting, film that came and went without much attention. He’s not scaling back his ambitions for his follow-up, also with Netflix: it’s an adaptation (co-written with pal Joel Edgerton, who also stars as Falstaff) of three of Shakespeare’s most famous History plays. Not only that, but it’s also tackling the same territory as Orson Welles did with “Chimes At Midnight,” arguably the greatest ever Shakespeare movie. It’s unclear whether the drama will stick with the language of the original plays, but we’re very intrigued to see what spin this puts on a well-worn story.
Release Date: Filmed last summer, so this could bow at Cannes, as “The Rover” did.

23. “John Wick: Chapter Three”
Director: Chad Stahelski (“John Wick Chapter Two”)
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Halle Berry, Laurence Fishburne, Lance Reddick
Synopsis: Now on the run and banned from The Continental, John Wick has the fight of his life on his hands.
What You Need To Know: The passage of “John Wick” has been an extraordinary thing to watch. From a distance, the first film looked unpromising, as if Keanu Reeves had taken the sort of straight-to-video gig that Nicolas Cage mostly does now. But it turned out to be a joy, a stylish and thrilling action movie like few had seen in years, set within a genuinely fascinating world. And then the sequel came along, and proved to be even better, and nearly doubled the gross of its predecessor. With a “Continental” TV series also in the works, this might (or might not) close off the trilogy, and Lionsgate is opening it in the height of summer, which is certainly a show of confidence. Survivors of the last movie are all on board, while Halle Berry, Asia Kate Dillon, Anjelica Huston, Mark Dacascos, Jason Mantzoukas, Said Taghmaoui, and Hiroyuki Sanada are all joining in the fun.
Release Date: May 17th

22. “ First Cow”
Director: Kelly Reichardt (“Certain Women”)
Cast: Unknown
Synopsis: In Oregon in the 1820s, a cook and a refugee pair up for a journey that will take them to China and back again.
What You Need To Know: For us, the standout segment of “The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs” was “The Gal Who Got Rattled,” partly because the sight of Zoe Kazan next to wagons put us in mind of Kelly Reichardt’s amazing “Meek’s Cutoff.” Now, nearly ten years after that film, and coming off typically glowing reviews for her last movie “Certain Women,” Reichardt is returning to the old West for a film that feels a bit like it could be a spiritual sequel. Not much is known about the project other than that it’s an adaptation (at least in part) of Jonathan Raymond’s novel “The Half-Life.” But filming got underway last month, so hopefully, more details emerge soon. Anyway, it’s Reichardt, so we’re obviously in.
Release Date: Probably a return to Venice on this timeline.

21. “Midsommar”
Director: Ari Aster (“Hereditary”)
Cast: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Will Poulter, William Jackson Harper
Synopsis: A couple visits a friend in Sweden for a mid-summer festival, but find themselves forced into violent competition by a pagan cult.
What You Need To Know: A24 clearly knew what they had with “Hereditary” — director Ari Aster’s follow-up was greenlit before they even released his terrifying debut (which went on to become their second biggest hit ever). This looks to cover similar territory, but skewing a little younger, with a cast of four of the brightest rising stars around — “Little Drummer Girl” standout Pugh, the increasingly omnipresent duo of Reynor and Poulter, and “The Good Place”’s William Jackson Harper. This is otherwise under wraps, but the studio are clearly confident, setting down a plum summer release date months ago.
Release Date: August 9th