Coming into this column’s ninth year of continuous publication, 2021 is already a weird one. On several different levels, we are not coming into the year under the sorts of circumstances many of us are used to. In terms of this specific column, the landscape of 2021 movies I’m looking forward to is a foggy one indeed.

Yes, several movies are scheduled for release. However, with COVID-19 being the multifaceted shit show, we can’t be too terribly certain of anything. I’m choosing to be optimistic, but that might be solely for the purposes of this column. The truth of the matter is that I really don’t know if we’re all going to be back in theaters by the end of the year. I don’t know if these 2021 releases are going to hold the course for actually coming out on time. Several of these movies were supposed to come out in 2020, but didn’t for obvious reasons.

Who can say? We really are going through a rather extraordinary moment in time. I wouldn’t say all bets are off, but many of them may as well be. I couldn’t even tell you where filmmaking in general will be by the end of this year. The 200-million blockbuster era may come to an end. Major movie theater chains may close for good. No, I don’t think movie theaters as a concept will disappear forever. At the same time, I’m hard-pressed to believe that concept will not go through some dramatic changes in order to survive, or at least exist in a state of hope.

So, even with all of that in mind, I am persisting in sharing my 5 most anticipated movies of 2021. These are being presented in no particular order, and will focus mostly on stuff from North America. If one or several of these winds up not coming out, I guess I’ll just have to find a way to soldier on. I’m sure I’ll be fine.

My Most Anticipated 2021 Movies

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Directed By: Tom Gormican
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Tiffany Haddish
Release Date: March 19th

I’m assured of at least one thing, when it comes to Nicolas Cage playing Nicolas Cage in a movie with a title like: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. I’m not going to be bored. Too much confidence in your enjoyment of something you haven’t seen yet is a good way to set yourself up to be disappointed. However, there are always times when I am willing to go out on that limb.

This is unquestionably one of them.

As far as the movie itself is concerned, it’s a premise that borderlines parody. I’m assuming it almost certainly is, but I’m also prepared to be wrong about that, too. Maybe, they’ll play it completely straight. Stranger Nicolas Cage movies have happened. Even with a few dozen bad movies under his belt, Nicolas Cage remains a very good actor in very specific types of roles. I don’t know how that aspect is going to unfold here, but I still don’t believe it will be dull.

Godzilla Vs. Kong

Directed By: Adam Wingard
Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall
Release Date: May 21st

This is another 2020 2021 release where the stakes seem to be different for me than for many other fans of Godzilla and/or King Kong (I’m a little indifferent to Kong). A lot of people are hoping the movie does well enough to justify a continued cinematic universe of monsters. That would be fun, but it also just seems way too fucking stressful to think that far ahead. I’d just as soon as anticipate and appreciate things one movie at a time. That’s just me though. I get the dream of new movies featuring characters like Mothra. I’d watch the hell out of that.

Admittedly, Adam Wingard as director doesn’t inspire the greatest confidence in me. This is the same director behind the relentlessly dreadful Death Note in 2017. On the other hand, Wingard has also directed some very good horror movies, including You’re Next and The Guest. We shall see.

I’m obviously rooting for Godzilla. I also just hope the movie is fun. I’m not asking for a lot here.

The French Dispatch

Directed By: Wes Anderson
Starring: Benicio del Toro, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray
Release Date: January 28th

Described as “a love letter to journalists set at an outpost of an American newspaper in 20th-century Paris and centers on three storylines,” The French Dispatch is on track to be the most Wes Anderson-y movie of all time.

I’ve almost always been just fine with that. His movies remain a safe bet to be enjoyable, but they also almost always also surprise me in some way. I catch an energy from a character I didn’t expect, or the story makes a gentle shift away from my expectations. Anderson’s films are so grounded in his various themes and aesthetics, it can be difficult sometimes to appreciate the inventiveness and uniqueness that defines each of his releases. That almost sounds sarcastic, but it’s not.

The French Dispatch also sounds like it may have that Robert Altman ensemble notion, with its mass of characters across three stories. Like Altman’s films themselves, that can actually be a good thing sometimes.

The Power of the Dog

Directed By: Jane Campion
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons
Release Date: TBD

Fingers crossed on this one, I suppose. The film was impacted by COVID-19, but sounds as though it will resume and finish production.

I hope so. Jane Campion’s first feature as a director in over ten years is worth however long it will take for the production to be completed safely. That said, if the movie can indeed be finished, this adaptation of a novel by Thomas Savage, in which a man goes to war against the new wife of his brother is going to be a Netflix release I’ll be watching on the first day.

Campion, the director of classics like Sweetie and An Angel at My Table, has a reputation for multifaceted characters, complex themes, and setting those things against rising levels of universal delirium. I have every reason to believe The Power of the Dog, which also boasts an impressive cast, is going to be another knockout in that vein.

Don’t Breathe 2

Directed By: Rodo Sayagues
Starring: Stephen Lang
Release Date: August 13th

While the title may not inspire you, we’re still talking about a new film from the guy who brought us the excellent, brilliantly acted, and distinctly scary Don’t Breathe, as well as one of the best modern remakes/reboots of all time in 2013’s Evil Dead. This is another pick for 2021 anticipated movies that is built around someone with a track record I can reasonably trust.

While we don’t know a lot about this sequel, there is enough to at least be intrigued. Stephen Lang is coming back, because why the fuck would you bother otherwise? The story also sounds like a slight departure from the original, with Lang’s Blind Man taking on a more overt protector role. While this is a plot thread that could definitely move too far away from the original, I think there’s enough here to hope Don’t Breathe 2 is that rare improvement over the first entry.

Gabriel Ricard writes, edits, and occasionally acts. His books Love and Quarters and Bondage Night are available through Moran Press, in addition to A Ludicrous Split (Alien Buddha Press) and Clouds of Hungry Dogs (Kleft Jaw Press). He is also a writer, performer, and producer with Belligerent Prom Queen Productions. He lives on a horrible place called Long Island.