One year into the new decade, the movie prospects keep getting better. The releases slated for 2021 are so exciting they’ll make you salivate with anticipation, and we can’t wait to see them. For starters we’ll be getting another Asian blockbuster in director Destin Daniel Cretton’s Marvel entry, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Then the Fast Family will be back for another action-packed installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise (can you believe we’re at 9 movies already?!) Not to mention, the Rock’s much delayed Black Adam adaptation will finally zoom into theaters. We’ll also finally, finally, finally get the next chapter of the Avatar story from James Cameron after over a decade of patience. Lastly, Warner Bros. has announced that, following the release of Wonder Woman 1984 in December of 2020, they will release their entire slate of 2021 movies on HBO Max as well as in theaters in an unprecedented move that could signal bigger changes in the industry. The list is long and it’ll probably get longer, so start marking your calendars now. [Updated 3/4/21]

Jan-Mar | Apr-June | July-Sep | Oct-Dec

The Best Movies of 2020 | The Most Anticipated Movies of 2022


JANUARY
The Dig (2021) 88%
Directed by: Simon Stone
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Lily James, Johnny Flynn, Ben Chaplin
Opening on: January 15, 2021 (limited), followed by Netflix premiere on January 29, 2021


Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan star in this Netflix original film based on true events and set in 1939. Mulligan plays a wealthy widow who hires an archaeologist (Fiennes) to excavate the burial mounds on her estate, leading to the discovery of a wealth of medieval Anglo-Saxon artifacts.

FEBRUARY
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2021) 67%
Directed by: Tim Hill
Starring: Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Carolyn Lawrence, Mr. Lawrence
Opening on: February 2021 on VOD and CBS All Access (formerly August 7, 2020)


The long-running, wildly popular animated series gets another big screen outing as the whole Spongebob Squarepants gang are back for another adventure. This time out, Spongebob and Patrick embark on a rescue mission to recover Gary, who has been taken by Poseidon, and find themselves in the mystical land of Atlantic City.

Malcolm & Marie (2020) 58%
Directed by: Sam Levinson
Starring: John David Washington, Zendaya
Opening on: February 5, 2021 on Netflix

If you feel like you’ve been wasting time during quarantine, wait until you hear about writer/director Sam Levinson, who wrote an entire movie script in six days, then called up John David Washington and Zendaya to be in that movie, and then filmed it, all during lockdown. The story follows a filmmaker and his girlfriend as they return from a movie premiere and, over the course of the evening, begin to hash out their relationship.

Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) 96%
Directed by: Shaka King
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jess Plemons, Dominique Fishback, Martin Sheen, Lil Rel Howery
Opening on: February 12, 2021, with simultaneous release on HBO Max


Shaka King co-writes and directs this based-on-true-events drama focused on William O’Neal, the FBI informant who infiltrated the Illinois Black Panther Party in an effort to keep track of Fred Hampton.

To All The Boys: Always And Forever (2021) 78%
Directed by: Michael Fimognari
Starring: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Jordan Fisher, Janel Parrish, Emilija Baranac
Opening on: February 12, 2021 on Netflix


One of three Netflix original franchises to see a third installment in 2021 (the other two being The Kissing Booth and The Princess Switch), To All the Boys concludes with Always and Forever, as Lara Jean (Lana Condor) nears the end of high school and takes a pair of “life-changing trips” that lead her to ponder life with her family — and Peter (Noah Centineo) — after graduation.

I Care a Lot (2021) 80%
Directed by: J Blakeson
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Eiza Gonzalez, Dianne Wiest, Peter Dinklage, Chris Messina, Isaiah Whitlock Jr.
Opening on: February 19, 2021 on Netflix

Rosamund Pike stars in this comedy as a con woman who takes swindles the elderly out of their money until she comes into contact with a woman who is more cunning than she appears.

Nomadland (2021) 94%
Directed by: Chloé Zhao
Starring: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn
Opening on: February 19, 2021 (following one-week virtual release on December 4, 2020)


Writer-director Chloé Zhao impressed the folks at Disney so much with her 2017 breakout film The Rider that they handed her the keys to Eternals, but before that film opens (presumably) in February, Zhao will release this drama based on the nonfiction book by Jessica Bruder. The film stars Frances McDormand as a woman who loses everything in the Great Recession and decides to see if #VanLife is all it’s cracked up to be.

The Father (2021) 99%
Directed by: Florian Zeller
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman
Opening on: February 26, 2021 (formerly December 18, 2020)


Two Oscar winners headline this drama based on the 2012 French play Le Père by the film’s director and co-writer, Florian Zeller. The story focuses on an aging man (Anthony Hopkins) struggling with memory loss whose daughter (Olivia Colman) moves into his flat to help care for him.

Tom & Jerry (2020) 26%
Directed by: Tim Story
Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, Michael Peña, Ken Jeong, Colin Jost, Rob Delaney
Opening on: February 26, 2021 (formerly March 5, 2021), with simultaneous release on HBO Max


The classic animated television series gets a big-screen update in the form of a live-action/animated hybrid in which mischievous mouse Jerry moves into a hotel on the eve of a big wedding and forces the wedding planner to bring Tom into the picture to get rid of him. When an even bigger threat emerges, Tom and Jerry are forced to work together to save the day.

MARCH
Coming 2 America (2021) 50%
Directed by: Craig Brewer
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, Wesley Snipes, James Earl Jones
Opening on: March 5, 2021 on Amazon Prime (formerly December 18, 2020)


After over three decades, it looks like Prince Akeem — ahem, King Akeem and Semmi are returning Stateside from there homeland of Zamunda. Much of the original cast are returning, including James Earl Jones as King Jaffe Joffer and John Amos as Cleo McDowell, as Akeem learns that he has a long-lost son he never knew about who might be the heir to the throne.

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) 95%
Directed by: Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Paul Briggs, John Ripa
Starring: Awkwafina, Kelly Marie Tran, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Benedict Wong, Sandra Oh
Opening on: March 5, 2021 (formerly March 12, 2021)


In this animated film from Disney, Kelly Marie Tran lends her voice to the title character, a young warrior in a fantastical land who embarks on a quest to find the last dragon. Awkwafina, who’s been on a roll as of late, will provide the voice of said dragon, whose help Raya needs to bring peace to her land.
Expect more updates thanks.