My 2020 vision…

No Time to Die

• Director: Cary Fukunaga
• Starring: Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux
• Expected Release: 2nd April

Daniel Craig’s Bond films have alternated between good and bad ever since he took on the mantle, with Casino Royale being the standout (and my favourite of the series). So hopefully, the needle will drift back into the territory of solid big-budget British action and move away from the sillier elements of Spectre. I’m all for universe building, but please God don’t make Rami Malek a long-lost nephew or something. All I’m looking for is an exciting, globe-trotting mission with a bit of Phoebe-Waller-Bridge flair and a suitable send off to Craig, is that too much to ask?

Birds of Prey

• Director: Cathy Yan
• Starring: Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ewan McGregor
• Expected Release: 7th February

Hear me out, Suicide Squad was bad, but this seems good. A cast full of talented people with Margot Robbie serving as a producer, it’s looking like it’ll be a fun, colourful film that can help elevate her Harley Quinn out of the clutches of the DCEU. Also, judging by the trailer Ewan McGregor is in a musical number, so sign me up.

Top Gun: Maverick

• Director: Joseph Kosinski
• Starring: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly
• Expected Release: 26th June

I only recently saw Top Gun for the first time, and although it’s positively dripping with 80s synths, sunglasses and baby oil, it’s a classic action film. As a massive Mission Impossible fan I wish Chris McQuarrie were directing this, but at least he’s helping to write it, and I’ll always have faith in any combination of his writing and Tom Cruise’s death-defying commitment to getting the best shot. Judging by the trailer, the cockpit cameras are gonna have you really feeling the G’s this time.

Dune

• Director: Denis Villeneuve
• Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Josh Brolin, Zendaya
• Expected Release: 18th December

After Blade Runner 2049, I can’t think of anyone else more deserving of the helm for a thematically rich science fiction epic than Denis Villeneuve. I haven’t seen the 1984 adaptation, nor read the novel, but this film has been a lifelong goal for the director. With his passion, a star studded cast and a Hans Zimmer score (notably absent from Tenet in favour of this), Dune has a lot of promise that I really hope can be delivered.

The King’s Man

• Director: Matthew Vaughn
• Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Djimon Hounsou
• Expected Release: 18th September

I still have hope in Matthew Vaughn, even after the overkill of The Golden Circle. Hopefully taking the spy agency back 100 years might ironically reinvigorate it, as the fresh style of the first Kingsman was what made it so good. And who doesn’t want to see Djimon Hounsou (firmly in his renaissance period) duelling Rasputin.

Last Night in Soho

• Director: Edgar Wright
• Starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith
• Expected Release: 25th September

I only found out about this film after reviewing 1917 and seeing that Krysty Wilson-Cairnes has also co-wrote this psychological horror with Edgar Wright. Regardless of little being known about the project beyond a 1960s London setting with time travel elements, I’m steadfastly loyal to anything Edgar Wright puts himself to, I have to be, he’s the only famous person to have come out of my old school.

Mank

• Director: David Fincher
• Starring: Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins
• Expected Release: TBA

Another film I only just became aware of, Mank tells the story of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and his clash with Orson Welles over being credited for writing Citizen Kane. A biographical drama directed by David Fincher, starring Gary Oldman and telling the story behind the film often called the greatest of the 20^th century. An alchemical mixture of legendary cinema.

Gunpowder Milkshake

• Director: Navot Papushado / Aharon Keshales
• Starring: Karen Gillan, Lena Headey, Angela Bassett
• Expected Release: TBA

I’m almost entirely in the dark about this film aside from the fact that it’s a movie starring Lena Headey and Karen Gillan as an assassin mother/daughter pairing. Judging by the intensity of their workouts and training for the film, I’m desperately hoping for an Atomic Blonde level of choreography and style, only time will tell.

The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard

• Director: Patrick Hughes
• Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek
• Expected Release: 28th August

I seem to be in the relative minority of people who enjoyed The Hitman’s Bodyguard, the 2017 action comedy that precedes this film. I thought the banter between Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds was great and I came out pleasantly surprised having watched a fun comedy with some violent action. Just make it a little shorter next time please.