Happy New Year! As award season begins this Sunday with the Golden Globe Awards, we take a look at the films we hope will win awards next year as well as those we can’t wait to watch with our friends over and over again. Though we are SUPER excited for Avengers: Infinity War, Fifty Shades Freed, Maze Runner: The Death Cure and Solo: A Star Wars Story, we wanted to focus on movies that were directed by some of our favourite filmmakers (DuVernay! Dolan! Chazelle! McQueen! Jenkins! just to name a few), as well as those with strong female leads. Honourable mentions go to Annihilation, Crazy Rich Asians, Isle of Dogs, High Life, Holmes and Watson, Old Man and the Gun and Black Klansman. If we missed some of your favourites, let us know. We’d love to chat with you 🙂
Black Panther (Feb. 16) Lupita, Danai and Letitia fighting alongside Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa in the first EVER African superhero film! And did we mention that it's directed and co-written by Creed's Ryan Coogler? Sign. Us. Up.
A Wrinkle In Time (Mar. 9) If we just said that this was directed by Ava DuVernay, you'd be lining up behind us to buy tickets to see this movie right now (have you seen her video for Jay-Z's Family Feud yet? If not, stop what you're doing right now and go watch it). But the long-awaited adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle (with a script by Frozen's Jennifer Lee), also stars acting and producing powerhouses Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling and a woman you may have heard of - Oprah. All of the YES.
Love, Simon (Mar. 16) Based on Becky Albertalli's beloved bestseller Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, and directed by Greg Berlanti, this gay love story is bound to make you laugh and cry (and then run out and see it again).
Ready Player One (Mar. 30) Another highly anticipated book adaptation. Ernest Cline's treasured sci-fi adventure is in good hands with Steven Spielberg and starring Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke and Ben Mendelsohn.
The Death and Life of John F. Donovan (prediction: May for Cannes World Premiere) Though rumours swirled that Xavier Dolan's latest would be at TIFF, the rumour mill is now fairly confident that The Death and Life of John F. Donovan will world premiere at Cannes, where Montrealer Dolan picked up the Grand Prix in 2016. His English language debut stars Jessica Chastain, Kit Harington, Thandie Newton and Natalie Portman.
Deadpool 2 (June 1) Of course.
Ocean's 8 (June 8) We've watched Soderbergh's Ocean's remakes (11, 12 and 13) more times than we'd like to admit. As a spin-off (Sandra Bullock's Debbie Ocean is Clooney's Danny Ocean's sister), we are all in. We're already planning on seeing this at least 8 times.
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (July 20) We may not be sold on Lily James being young Meryl Streep and we're equally confounded over whether Meryl's Donna character has been killed off, but this musical sequel has us intrigued nonetheless.
Boy Erased (Sep. 28) Lucas Hedges stars in the book adaptation where he's forced into a church-supported gay conversion therapy, and it definitely has a fascinating pedigree. Directed by Joel Edgerton and co-starring Nicole Kidman, Xavier Dolan, Troye Sivan and Russell Crowe, this will undoubtedly play the film festival circuit in the fall.
The Seagull (prediction: September for festival circuit play) We're not sure why this Chekhov film adaptation has been shelved for awhile now, but we're hoping Mongrel Media releases it in time for TIFF. Starring Saoirse Ronan, Elisabeth Moss, Annette Bening, Billy Howle and Corey Stoll.
First Man (prediction: September for Venice World Premiere) Damien Chazelle's follow-up to La La Land has him paired up again with Ryan Gosling (here portraying first man on the Moon, Neil Armstrong). The film also stars Claire Foy (whose The Girl in the Spider's Web we're also hotly anticipating).
If Beale Street Could Talk (prediction: September for TIFF World Premiere) Barry Jenkins' follow-up to Moonlight is an adaptation of James Baldwin (I Am Not Your Negro)'s book. We're excited to see Canadian Stephan James became a breakout star south of the border after this.
The Irishman (prediction: October for NYFF World Premiere) Martin Scorsese's latest film starring Al Pacino and Robert de Niro. Need we say any more?!
Backseat (prediction: October for NYFF World Premiere) Amy Adams and Christian Bale are paired for their third time (after The Fighter and American Hustle), here portraying real-life political couple Lynne Cheney and Dick Cheney. Expect both to receive Oscar noms for their work here.
The Jungle Book (October 19) Andy Serkis' take on The Jungle Book promises to be a more loyal adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling classic.
Mary Queen of Scots (November 2) Yasss Queen! Saoirse Ronan portrays Mary Stuart to Margot Robbie's Queen Elizabeth I in the Beau Willimon-scripted pearl clutcher. One of three Joe Alwyn films we're eagerly anticipating (Boy Erased and Yorgos Lanthimos' The Favourite, are the others).
Widows (November 16) Steve McQueen directs a script co-written by Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl), starring Elizabeth Debicki, Liam Neeson, Daniel Kaluuya, Carrie Coon, Viola Davis, Cynthia Erivo, and the list just goes on and on. We predict this'll play first at TIFF and then quickly gain awards buzz.
Mary Poppins Returns (December 25) Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
