20. “Don’t Worry Darling”
Actor-turned-filmmaker Olivia Wilde made the most exciting and dynamic directorial debut of 2019 in the bold and clever “Booksmart,” but she’s changing gears for her follow-up. Her sophomore directorial effort is a psychological thriller and centers on an unhappy housewife in the 1950s who discovers a disturbing truth while her loving husband hides a dark secret. Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Olivia Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, and Chris Pine star, and the project wasn’t without its problem as Shia LaBeouf was fired from the film.
Release Date: September 23, via Warner Bros.
19. “Three Thousand Years Of Longing”
At 76-years of age, director George Miller (“Mad Max: Fury Road”) shows no signs of slowing down. While he has “Furiosa” coming in 2024, arriving first is the epic fantasy romance described as the “anti-Mad-Max.” Starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, the film centers on a Djinn who offers a scholar three wishes in exchange for his freedom. Budgeted at $60 million with insanely huge sets, Miller has coaxed Oscar-winning ‘Fury Road’ cinematographer John Seale out of retirement for the film.
Release Date: TBD, but MGM has domestic rights, and it feels like a fall film. –RP
18. “She Said”
Hollywood finally reckons with Harvey Weinstein and how they enabled him with a journalistic procedural about the New York Times reporter who brought about his disgrace and downfall. Directed by Maria Schrader (“Unorthodox“), this sure-fire Oscar contender stars Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan as the two Times reporters. The film also features Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher, Samantha Morton, Tom Pelphrey, and Adam Shapiro.
Release Date: November 18, via Universal Pictures. –RP
17. “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” (Part One)
Having just released the title and teaser for the “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” sequel, ‘Across The Spider-Verse,’ ambition looks like it’s the name of the game as the film will be a two-parter. Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) return, and they are joined by Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac), and many more Spider-People are expected to appear (Jessica Drew’s Spider-Woman played by Issa Rae). Lord and Miller are writing, and directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, are behind the reins of the project.
Release Date: October 7, via Sony Pictures – AB
16. “Showing Up”
One of the premier observers of intimate American stories, filmmaker Kelly Reichardt follows up the critically celebrated “First Cow” with a story about an artist on the verge of a career-changing exhibition. The story and stakes sound small, but that’s what Reichardt always seems to make so compelling, regardless. Michelle Williams stars alongside Hong Chau, Judd Hirsch, André Benjamin, Heather Lawless, John Magaro, James Le Gros, and Amanda Plummer, one of her biggest casts.
Released Date: TBD, via A24, but production finished summer 2021, so maybe we’ll see it in the fall. –RP
15. “TAR”
Todd Field’s leap from acting to writer/director was nothing short of phenomenal, and between them, “In the Bedroom” (2001) and “Little Children” (2006) produced eight Academy Award nominations. Field was then stuck in development hell for eons on dozens of projects. Sixteen years after his sophomore feature, he returns with Cate Blanchett for “TAR,” featuring Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant, and Mark Strong. Not much is known, but who cares, welcome back.
Release Date: October 7, via Focus Features.
14. “Armageddon Time”
Filmmaker James Gray (“Ad Astra”) returns to his streetwise roots with a coming-of-age effort about growing up in Queens in the 1980s. Starring Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Anthony Hopkins, and two unknowns (initially announced actors Oscar Isaac, Cate Blanchett, Robert De Niro, all dropped out after COVID), the film centers on two best friends soon torn apart by class, privilege, and the diving class marker when one is moved to the private school system. Fred Trump reportedly appears as a supporting character.
Release Date: TBD via Focus Features, but it feels like a fall awards contender. – RP
13. “Eternal Daughter”
Following up her two-part meta masterwork, “The Souvenir,” Joanna Hogg pairs again with Tilda Swinton for the mystery drama “Eternal Daughter.” Secretly shot in Wales during the pandemic last year, it tells the story of a middle-aged daughter and her elderly mother who confront long-buried secrets when they return to their former family home, now a vacant hotel. With A24 nabbing up the movie, one wonders if there might be a darker genre side to Hogg’s previous films.
Release Date: TBD, via A24. – AB
12. “Knives Out 2”
Free from his contractual shackles, Her Majesty’s favorite super-assassin, Daniel Craig, returns to the second role he was born to play: Detective Benoit Blanc. Word’s still out on the title of Rian Johnson’s latest whodunnit (“Masks Off?”), less a direct sequel to “Knives Out” than another standalone, Poirot-esque misadventure. Filmed in Greece, the “Brother’s Bloom” filmmaker has assembled a superb ensemble: Dave Bautista, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Katherine Han, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, and Ethan Hawke, all co-starring.
Release Date: TBD (late summer or fall, we’d wager), via Netflix. – AB
11. “White Noise”
While it only took one award of six (Laura Dern), “Marriage Story” cemented filmmaker Noah Baumbach‘s relationship with Netflix. They’ve put their faith in the more expensive, more ambitious, “White Noise,” an adaptation of a Don Delillo novel about a cataclysmic Airborne Toxic Event and the family that has to deal with the fallout. Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig star along with Raffey Cassidy, Jodie Turner-Smith, Don Cheadle, André Benjamin, Alessandro Nivola, and two of Nivola’s children in the central parts of Driver and Gerwig’s kids.
Release Date: TBD via Netflix, but it seems like a fall contender. – RP