The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic dealt the movie industry a big blow in 2020. Studios had to look out for ways to cope with lots of rescheduling and re-evaluation of the main distribution methods. Some studios opted the online streaming services route. Those that chose to remain with the theatre tradition had to either postpone their release indefinitely or push it right to 2021. It looks like Hollywood will be very busy with less than a week to 2021, ensuring that its movies reach the theatres in the new year. There are quite some jam-packed anticipated releases in 2021. Below are some of the movie releases that are expected for the year 2021.
- Malcolm & Marie
Set to be released on February 5, Malcolm& Marie is one of the films that were shot this summer during the pandemic. It centres on reconnecting Zendaya with Euphoria’s creator Sam Levinson. In the show’s first season, the pair falls into the depths of depression, depravity and addictions. It is rumoured that Levinson wrote Malcolm & Marie in a week. This turbulent love drama couples Zendaya with another of Hollywood’s growing stars John David Washington.
- Nomadland
This movie is set in the aftermath of the financial crash of 2008. It features Frances McDormand playing as Fern, a woman who’s still mourning the loss of her home and her husband. Homeless and widowed, the woman now lives in a van and travels from one town to another searching for any work she can get. The movie’s storyline is based on modern-day American nomads’ actual experiences documented in the Book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder. The movie will be Zhao’s third feature. Some of Zhao’s earlier movies include contemporary western Rider released in 2014. The Nomadland is expected to be released on February 19 2021.
- Mortal Kombat
The video game series Mortal Kombat will be on April 16, 2021, be receiving a movie treatment. It had initially attempted, but this initial attempt did not come out well. This time the producer James Wan has added some few tricks on his sleeves and the new saga will hopefully find itself back on the big screens. The cast is led by Tadanobu Asano, who in the MCU appeared as Hogun in Thor. Other fighters who are set to appear comprise Nitara, Kano, Shang Tsung, and Jax. Though no actor that has yet been announced it is believed that Johnny cage might appear.
- Locked Down
Directed by director Doug Liman, Locked Down is set to unveil in January 2021. It is a Romantic comedy featuring Anne Hathaway as Linda and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Paxton. The two are a couple that is preparing for separation just before the compulsory lockdown hits. They are thus forced to live together, which brings them even more together. Other casts in this comedy include Stephen Merchant, Ben Stiller, Ben Kingsley, Lucy Boynton and Mindy Kaling.
- Judas and The Black Messiah
This movie will be streaming on HBO max starting from February 12 for one month. The setting of the movie is in the 1960s and is based on the life of Fred Hampton. Judas and The Black Messiah follows William O’Neal (Lakeith Stanfield) a petty criminal who agrees serving as an informant of the FBI to dismantle the famous chairman of the Black Panther Party. The cast comprises Dominique Fishback, Jesse Plemons, Martin Sheen, Ashton Sanders, Lil Rel Howery and Algee Smith. The film will also feature Daniel Kaluuya as Hampton.
- The Mauritanian
Kevin Macdonald, the Oscar-winning director, will be returning on February 19 with The Mauritanian a new legal Drama. Shailene Woodley and Jodie Foster play as Attorneys who pursue justice for Tahar Rahim’s Mohamedou Ould Slah who has been jailed in Guantánamo Bay, without charge and ends up running against a military prosecutor who might be protecting something more extensive than what is anticipated.
- Coming 2 America
Expected to be released on March 5, Coming 2 America, continues the cultural influence of Eddie Murphy’s 1988 vehicle coming to America in a manner that is hard to overemphasize. It has seen multiple TikTok users replicating the Joyful screaming of Murphy vulgarities of his Queen fire escape. In the long-anticipated Development, Semmi (Arsenio Hall) and Akeem (Murphy) leave from their Zamunda palace, travelling through the Atlantic Ocean once more after Akeem finding that he has missing sons in Queens.
In conclusion, even with the negative consequences that the pandemic has had on the movie industry in 2020, it is expected that in 2021 the movie studios will resume and great movies will hit the screens. Review sites, including the UK collected reviews, will help choose the best platforms to stream the new releases.