10. “Jojo Rabbit”
Director: Taika Waititi (“Thor: Ragnarok”)
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Taika Waititi, Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant
Synopsis: A young German boy in Nazi Germany whose imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler discovers that his family is hiding a Jewish girl in their house.
What You Need To Know: The rise of Taika Waititi has been an amazing thing to watch — it’s less than five years since “What We Do In The Shadows” became a cult item at Sundance, leading in quick succession to the beloved “Hunt For The Wilderpeople,” and then his blockbuster debut with “Thor: Ragnarok,” firmly landing him as an A-list helmer. Waititi’s got a few projects brewing including Michael Jackson-themed animation “Bubbles” and the “Akira” remake, but first in front of the camera is this adaptation of Christine Leunens’ novel. It tackles some timely, but potentially controversial subject matter, but will it be his “To Be Or Not To Be,” or his “The Day The Clown Cried?” With his track record, this level of talent in the cast, and a much-loved, Black List-ed scripts, we’re betting it’ll be closer to the former.
Release Date: None yet, but expect it in awards season.
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1002622309029433344
9. “Uncut Gems”
Director: Josh and Benny Safdie (“Good Time”)
Cast: Adam Sandler, Lakeith Stanfield, Idina Menzel, Judd Hirsch, Eric Bogosian
Synopsis: A crime tale set in New York’s Diamond District.
What You Need To Know: After a startling debut that was already hugely impressive with “Heaven Knows What,” the Safdie Brothers stepped up to a whole other level with last year’s crime film “Good Time,” which gave a genuinely fresh spin on the genre while being the final proof that Robert Pattinson was properly, actually talented. Their follow-up looks to stay in similar territory, with the approval of Martin Scorsese himself, who’s producing the film. And while original star Jonah Hill fell away so he could direct “Mid 90s,” he’s been replaced by an intriguing choice in the shape of Adam Sandler, possibly making his biggest-ever departure from his wheelhouse. Expect it to look phenomenal too, with James Gray DP Darius Khondji shooting it.
Release Date: Hopefully a return to Cannes, where “Good Time” bowed, although Netflix has the international rights, which might cause a problem there.
Real talk here guys, I’m really digging Adam Sandler’s look for ‘Uncut Gems’. I don’t know what I’m more excited about, another incredible film from the Safdie Brothers, or Sandler’s best performance since ‘Punch-Drunk Love’. pic.twitter.com/VnBwvK6ImR
— Aaron (@YungScorsese) October 23, 2018
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1039913579913334785
8. “Parasite”
Director: Bong Joon-Ho (“Okja”)
Cast: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Choi Woo-sik, Park So-dam
Synopsis: The strange story of two families who mirror each other, despite seemingly being worlds apart from each other.
What You Need To Know: Having consistently staken a claim for being one of the best filmmakers alive but remaining something of a cult item (“Snowpiercer” might have broken him out wider if the Weinstein Company hadn’t virtually buried it), Bong Joon-Ho found his widest audience to date with last year’s “Okja,” arguably Netflix’s best film up to that point, and one that seemed to, somewhat surprisingly given its eccentricities, connect with viewers. After the globe-trotting, VFX-driven, A-list-included adventures of that film, Bong is returning to home for his first purely Korean-language and Korean-set movie since “Mother” a decade ago. While the title sounds like this might remain in sci-fi/horror territory, the helmer’s assured people that there are no aliens involved, and this may prove to be his most domestic film in a while. But with Bong, always expect the unexpected…
Release Date: Neon have already snapped up the rights, so this’ll hopefully crop up in Cannes, where “Mother” and “Okja” both premiered.
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1054834109296467968
7. “Little Women”
Director: Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”)
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet, Florence Pugh, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep
Synopsis: The story of the four March sisters as they grow up in 1860s Massachusetts.
What You Need To Know: Aside from Mr. Cooper this year, it’s hard to remember the last time an actor’s directorial debut was as widely beloved as Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” — a deeply personal Bildungsroman that happened to connect with audiences (becoming A24’s biggest hit ever) and Oscar voters alike. It’s the kind of hit that buys you whatever you want to do next, and as it turns out, Gerwig wanted to write and direct a new version of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved “Little Women.” Last seen on the big screen 25 years ago with Winona Ryder and Kirsten Dunst starring, this has a stellar cast (with Emma Watson and “Sharp Objects” breakout Eliza Scanlen joining Ronan and Pugh as the March sisters), and promises to focus on its title characters’ lives as young adults, making it a natural follow-up to Gerwig’s last film.
Release Date: Christmas Day. Bring your best weeping hankie.
#LittleWomen #MostAnticipatedMovies2019 pic.twitter.com/bBeRIdOb7E
— The Playlist (@ThePlaylistNews) December 3, 2018
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1012757102274609154
6. “Ad Astra”
Director: James Gray (“The Lost City Of Z”)
Cast: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Donald Sutherland, Jamie Kennedy
Synopsis: An autistic astronaut travels in search of his father, who’s been missing for twenty years.
What You Need To Know: With space movies still very much in vogue (though when audiences finally see Claire Denis’ “High Life” that may put everyone off. In a good way.), James Gray is going sci-fi for his biggest budget film to date. The surprise success of the transcendent “The Lost City Of Z” finally saw Gray bring in a wider crowd, but this, his first studio picture since “We Own The Night,” is likely to be a different kettle of fish entirely, especially given the presence of Pitt, in his first movie in nearly two years. He’s got a DP with some space experience too, with Nolan’s new fave Hoyte Van Hoytema bringing along his “Interstellar” expertise, and a strong supporting cast that also includes, fascinatingly, Jamie Kennedy for some reason.
Release Date: May 24th, which makes Cannes a very strong possibility.
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1051915898997551104
5. “Avengers: Here We Go Again” (or whatever it’s eventually called)
Director: Joe & Anthony Russo
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, Josh Brolin AND NO ONE ELSE BECAUSE THEY’RE ALL DEAD.
Synopsis: The Avengers must face their hardest task to date: sweeping up the remains of everybody who got Thanos-ed.
What You Need To Know: As we go to press, we’re less than five months from the release of the culmination of Marvel’s eleven-year project, and we still haven’t seen a trailer, or even learned the subtitle, for what’s technically the fourth ‘Avengers’ movie. So we haven’t got much of a clue how the remaining heroes will conquer Thanos and, presumably, reverse the deaths of the various snapped characters, or at least those whose franchises are still viable. It feels significant that the original Avengers line-up are all still breathing for now, and there are rumors of time travel and the quantum realm being involved, but what we know for sure is that Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye and Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man, absent from “Infinity War” for reasons, will be back, while Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel is likely to join the fun after making her debut six weeks earlier. Hiroyuki Sanada and “13 Reasons Why” star Katherine Langford are the new cast members, but of course we have no clue of who they’re playing. “Infinity War” did a surprisingly strong job of juggling its billion characters, but can it wrap things up and wave off some key heroes in a truly satisfying way?
Release Date: Still set for May 3rd, but don’t be shocked if it gets moved up a week to April 26th as the last movie did.
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1060621252027543552
4. “Us”
Director: Jordan Peele (“Get Out”)
Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Synopsis: Still tightly under wraps.
What You Need To Know: When we said earlier that few actors-turned-directors had made such an impact as Greta Gerwig with their last movie, we were obviously forgetting about Jordan Peele. But that’s perhaps a testament to the speed with which Peele has shifted from sketch comedy star to one of Hollywood’s most sought-after creatives, with multiple TV and film projects all in the works. But it’s “Us” that we’re most looking forward to, given that it’s Peele’s first film as director since the all-encompassing, Oscar-winning success of the extraordinary “Get Out.” This is said to be in a similar ‘social-horror” vein, and seemingly revolves around two couples, but not much is known about it beyond that, even with the release just three months away. Hopefully, a trailer will drop this side of Christmas and we’ll start to uncover what Peele has in store for us.
Release Date: March 22nd.
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/994016371347460097
3. “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”
Director: Quentin Tarantino (“Django Unchained”)
Cast: (*deep breath*) Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Damian Lewis, Luke Perry, Emile Hirsch, Dakota Fanning, Clifton Collins Jr, Al Pacino, Scoot McNairy, Mike Moh, Lena Dunham, Maya Hawke, Damon Herriman, Rumer Willis, Dreama Walker, Margaret Qualley, Bruce Dern, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Kurt Russell, Timothy Olyphant, James Marsden and more
Synopsis: A fading star of a Western TV star and his longtime stunt double become unraveled in the Manson Murders.
What You Need To Know: Quentin Tarantino returns in 2019 to a very different world than the one he released “The Hateful Eight” into four years earlier. For one, that hugely expensive film was his first flop since “Grindhouse” after two back-to-back Oscar-nominated smashes, so there’s perhaps a little more to prove. For another, he’s working for the first time without longtime benefactors Harvey and Bob Weinstein, for obvious reasons, and in a world where you suspect that people are likely to give Tarantino less latitude for, say, his regular use of the N-word than they might have in the past. This new film has already drawn criticism both for being potentially exploitative of the murder of Sharon Tate (the film was originally set to be released on the anniversary of her death, which was a… bad idea), and for featuring convicted woman-choker Emile Hirsch in the cast. The proof, we suppose, will be in the pudding, but it’ll be interesting to see if Tarantino has moved on with the world, or if he gets left behind.
Release Date: July 26th
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1057324028459921411
2. “The Irishman”
Director: Martin Scorsese (“Goodfellas”)
Cast: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin
Synopsis: The story of union official and mobster Frank Sheeran, who claims to have been involved in the death of Jimmy Hoffa.
What You Need To Know: Martin Scorsese has so many projects in development (even ones that don’t have Leonardo DiCaprio attached sometimes), that we’d sort of suspected that “The Irishman,” his long-gestating adaptation of the non-fiction crime book “I Heard You Paint Houses,” would never happen. After all, it was dependent on reuniting not just Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, but also the mostly retired Joe Pesci, it was hugely expensive, and it was tied up in the legal issues that occasionally happens with Scorsese pictures. But then, Netflix stepped up with what’s rumored to be their most expensive movie to date, and filming actually got underway on the director’s first crime pic since “The Departed,” and his first work with De Niro since “Casino.” “Schindler’s List” scribe Steve Zaillian has penned the script, Scorsese will use CGI de-aging to let his actors play their characters in their twenties and thirties, and the supporting cast is full of recent Scorsese TV faves like Bobby Cannavale, Ray Romano, Stephen Graham, and Jack Huston.
Release Date: This filmed back in 2017 so could arrive any day now, but with the extensive visual effects work, and presumably the desire for this to be a big awards player, expect it later rather than earlier.
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/955507380959133696
1. “Knives Out”
Director: Rian Johnson (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”)
Cast: Daniel Craig, Lakeith Stanfield, Chris Evans, Michael Shannon, Jamie Lee Curtis
Synopsis: A modern-day murder-mystery.
What You Need To Know: There are two sorts of people in the film-loving community. The first kind is the ones who recognize that Rian Johnson’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” was, if not the best film in the franchise, a genuinely cinematic and thrilling installment that took real chances with the series and upended expectation. The second kind is the people who are wrong. And while we wait for the hate comments to flood in, we’re sure it’s nothing to the senseless idiocy that Johnson has been putting it up within the year since “The Last Jedi” released. But Johnson’s put his head down and kept working, and while he will be returning to a galaxy adjacent to one far, far away for a new, original “Star Wars” trilogy, first up is what sounds like a return to the sort of fare that launched his career with “Brick” and “The Brothers Bloom.” A love letter to/twist on the Agatha Christie murder mystery, it’s assembled an excitingly starry cast, with Craig and Stanfield as the investigating detectives, and Evans, Shannon, Curtis, Ana de Armas, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer, Jaeden Lieberher, Katherine Langford, Riki Lindhome and more as, presumably, the suspects or victims. We’ve been dying for someone to reinvent this genre for a while, and Johnson feels like exactly the man to do it.
Release Date: None yet — the film doesn’t even have a distributor yet. But expect it in the fall, most likely.
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1037017740429553664
Honorable Mentions: Of course, there are a million other things we could have mentioned here — some of the best movies of 2019 are things that we’re not even aware of yet. First, some, heavy-hitters that for one reason or another didn’t make the cut. Wes Anderson’s new film gets underway early next year, but his usual post-schedule and release patterns suggest that it won’t see inside a theater until the spring of 2020. We also nearly included Hiro Murai’s reteam with his “Atlanta” star Donald Glover for “Guava Island,” but we’re not convinced that that’s a proper theatrical film rather than a long music video, or a “Lemonade”-type release. Consider us excited about it anyway.
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1069612245548589056
Beyond that, we’ll just bang out some other ones we’re excited for, including Xavier Dolan’s latest “Matthias & Maxime,” Rebecca Hall’s Tessa Thompson-starring directorial debut “Passing,” the “Miss Bala” remake, Max Winkler’s “Jungleland,” rom-com “Last Christmas” with Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding, Drake Doremus’ Jamie Dornan-starring next one, Sam Mendes‘ WW1 tale “1917,” Jim Mickle’s “In The Shadow Of The Moon” with Boyd Holbrook, the return of “Thoroughbreds” director Corey Finley with “Bad Education” starring Hugh Jackman, and Tomas Alfredsson’s attempted redemption for ‘The Snowman” with “Jonssonligan.”
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1036995577249071104
There’s also big-time animated sequels “The Lego Movie 2” and “Frozen 2,” Roy Andersson’s potential return with “About Endlessness” (though his films often taken longer than expected), “Luxembourg” from the director of “The Tribe,” Corneliu Porombiou’s noir “The Passenger,” the return of Johnnie To with “Eight & A Half,” and Disney+’s “Lady & The Tramp” remake, written, amazingly, by Andrew Bujalski.
Some Sundance-bound films include Shia LaBeouf playing his own dad in “Honey Boy,” Minhal Baig’s feature debut with “Hala,” Gurinder Chadha’s Springsteen-themed “Blinded By The Light,” A24’s “Share” and “The Last Black Man In San Francisco,” Olivia Colman as a snake-charming Appalachian matriarch in “Them That Follow,” Zac Efron as Ted Bundy in “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Incredibly Vile,” “The Mustang” with Matthias Schoenaerts, and “The Lodge,” from the helmers of “Goodnight Mommy.”
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1002571457098964993
For more mainstream fare that could be good, there’s M. Night Shyamalan’s dual sequel “Glass,” Steven Knight’s “Serenity” expensive sci-fi “Alita: Battle Angel,” Stephen Merchant’s Rock-produced “Fighting With My Family,” trilogy-ender “How To Train Your Dragon 3,” Mackenzie Davis in Henry James adaptation “The Turning,” Rupert Wyatt’s “Captive State,” the “Pet Sematary,” “Aladdin,” “Shaft” and “Hellboy” reboots, DC’s big hope “Shazam!,” and 2020 Best Picture front-runner “Detective Pikachu.”
And let’s not forget Taron Egerton as Elton John in “Rocketman,” Chadwick Boseman in Russo-produced actioner “17 Bridges,” Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista teamed for “Collateral”-as-a-comedy “Stuber,” Fox’s X-Men leftovers “Dark Phoenix” and “New Mutants,” “Fast & Furious” spin-off “Hobbs & Shaw,” the “Downton Abbey” movie, the Guillermo Del Toro-produced “Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark” movie, “Zombieland 2,” another “Terminator” movie for some reason, a “Sonic The Hedgehog” movie for some reason, a “Kingsman” prequel for some reason, and a “Jumanji” sequel.
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1054838659424313344
Absolutely not anticipated: Tom Hooper’s “Cats.”
And a final grab-bag includes Chris Evans as a spy in “The Red Sea Diving Resort,” Kristin Scott Thomas directing for “The Sea Change,” Beanie Feldstein in “How To Be A Girl,” Sebastian Stan and Denise Gough in “Monday,” Michael Bay going to Netflix with Ryan Reynolds for “Six Underground,” Eddie Murphy in biopic “Dolemite Is My Name,” Alicia VIkander and Riley Keough in Wash Westmoreland’s “The Earthquake Bird,” Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones reteaming for “The Aeronauts,” Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut “Booksmart,” Chris Hemsworth actioner “Dhaka,” Jamie Foxx directing “All-Star Weekend,” Francois Ozon’s latest “Alexandre,” Jessica Chastain actioner ”Eve,” Tom McCarthy’s family-friendly “Spotlight” follow-up “Timmy Failure,” Ken Loach returning with “Sorry We Missed You,” Julianne Moore in Susanne Bier remake “After The Wedding,” documentary remake “The Kill Team,” and Richard Shepard reteaming with “Girls” star Alison Williams for “The Perfection.”
Anything else you’re looking forward to? They might be in our Best Films We’ve Already Seen feature in a few weeks if they’ve already played a festival, but if not, shout them out in the comments below.
