After a year like no other, things are finally starting to look up for the cinema industry.
As coronavirus raged around the world, cinemas shuttered their doors - causing chaos for the release schedule as movie studios either delayed the release of their big films or, in some cases, sent them directly to streaming services.
With the vaccine rollout now offering a hope of a return to some semblance of normality in the second half of 2021, a queue of movies are being rescheduled for when cinemas get the green light to re-open.
Here, Media Mole looks ahead at what's to come later this year.
Black Widow
Release date: May 7
Original release date: May 1, 2020
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, Rachel Weisz, Robert Downey Jr
Plot: Set after the events of Captain America: Civil War, the standalone Black Widow movie follows Natasha as she "faces demons from her past" and explores how she became an Avenger. It's a backstory movie, basically.
Spiral: From The Book of Saw
Release date: May 21
Original release date: May 15, 2020
Starring: Chris Rock, Samuel L Jackson, Max Minghella
Plot: The ninth instalment in the Saw franchise stars Chris Rock as a detective caught up in an investigation with eerie similarities to the Jigsaw murders.
Voyagers
Release date: July 2
Original release date: November 25, 2020
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Lily-Rose Depp, Fionn Whitehead, Colin Farrell
Plot: Thirty young men and women are sent on a deep space mission to find a new place to live, but life on board descends into madness.
Fast & Furious 9
Release date: July 9
Original release date: April 19, 2019
Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, John Cena, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron
Plot: The gang take on Dominic's younger brother Jakob, a deadly assassin, played by Cena. You already know what to expect.
The Forever Purge
Release date: July 9
Original release date: July 10, 2020
Starring: Ana de la Reguera, Josh Lucas, Tenoch Huerta
Plot: A Mexican couple on the run are stranded at a Texas ranch as an unlawful Purge takes place.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Release date: July 9
Original release date: February 12
Starring: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Tony Leung
Plot: The first MCU movie with an Asian lead introduces Shang-Chi, a superhero with impressive martial arts skills, as he takes on The Mandarin, leader of the Ten Rings terrorist organisation (first introduced way back in the first MCU film Iron Man).
Top Gun: Maverick
Release date: July 23
Original release date: July 12, 2019
Starring: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Val Kilmer
Plot: Long-awaited sequel to the 1986 action movie sees Maverick return to assist a new crop of Top Gun recruits.
The Suicide Squad
Release date: August 6
Original release date: N/A
Starring: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, Peter Capaldi
Plot: The sequel to 2016's Suicide Squad sees the supervillain team dispatched to a South American island to destroy a Nazi-era prison.
The King's Man
Release date: August 20
Original release date: November 15, 2019
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arteton, Rhys Ifans, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Charles Dance, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Stanley Tucci
Plot: A prequel to the Kingsman movies, set in the early 20th century as the Kingsman agency is formed.
Infinite
Release date: September 10
Original release date: August 7, 2020
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Dylan O'Brien, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Plot: Wahlberg plays a man suffering from hallucinations who learns that they are actually visions from past lives.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Release date: September 15 (Wednesday)
Original release date: October 2, 2020
Starring: Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Reid Scott, Naomie Harris
Plot: Sequel with Harrelson as Carnage, the alien symbiote of a serial killer.
Dune
Release date: September 17
Original release date: November 20, 2020
Starring: Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Jason Mamoa
Plot: Sci-fi epic with an intricate plot involving a desert planet and the most valuable substance in the universe, a drug called "the spice" (no, not that spice) which extends human life and increases brain power.
Death On The Nile
Release date: September 17
Original release date: December 20, 2019
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Dawn French, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders, Letitia Wright
Plot: Branagh returns as Poirot to investigate a murder on a cruise ship with all-star passengers.
No Time To Die
Release date: September 30 (Thursday)
Original release date: April 8, 2020
Starring: Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Lea Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris
Plot: Having now left active service, James Bond is brought back into the action to thwart a vengeful terrorist hellbent on killing millions.
Eternals
Release date: November 5
Original release date: November 6, 2020
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek
Plot: MCU movie alert! Set after Avengers: Endgame, this new film introduces an alien race called the Eternals, who have been secretly living on Earth for more than 7,000 years.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Release date: November 12
Original release date: July 10, 2020
Starring: Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts
Plot: A direct sequel to the original Ghostbusters movies, this new film follows a family who move to an inherited farm in Oklahoma and discover a link to the now-forgotten heroes.
Mission Impossible 7
Release date: November 19
Original release date: July 23
Starring: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Hayley Atwell
Plot: The return of the seemingly ageless Ethan Hunt for the first of two new movies.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Release date: December 17
Original release date: July 16
Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, Jamie Foxx, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alfred Molina, ... ?
Plot: The FOURTH MCU movie in the space of seven months is the one shrouded in the most mystery. Rumours abound of a multiverse movie that will also include Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's incarnations of the web slinger - surely not? (Please yes!)
The Matrix 4
Release date: December 22
Original release date: May 21
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith
Plot: A mysterious, unexpected coda to the original The Matrix trilogy. Your guess is as good as ours.
body check tags ::
Follow us on X/Twitter and like us on Facebook for the latest entertainment news alerts.
Media Mole Black Friday Offer: Get Sky Entertainment, Sky Stream & Netflix for just £19 a month + £0 upfront fee for 24 months!
Prices may change during this period. Ends December 3, 2024
