Keep an eye out for these movies
Big-screen remakes, do-overs of oldies and new instalments of favourites will hit the cinemas this year. James Croot reports.
If you thought 2018 was a blockbuster movie year, then brace yourself for 2019. Pundits are already predicting record financial hauls as a slew of hotly anticipated sequels, remakes and adaptations are set to be unfurled over the next 12 months. There’s the big-screen versions
of Downton Abbey (September 12), Artemis Fowl (September 19), The
Woman in the Window (September 26) and Cats (December 19), do-overs of Pet
Sematary (April 4), Hellboy (April 11) and
Charlie’s Angels (October 24), new instalments of Godzilla (May 30), The
Terminator (October 31) and The Secret
Life of Pets (June 20) and Batman
(October 3’s The Joker) and Fast and
Furious spin-offs (August 1’s Hobbs and Shaw).
Meanwhile, for fans of Kiwi content, there are potentially crowd-pleasing documentaries on iconic New Zealand bands Herbs and The Chills (currently both
May 2).
After a trawl through the proposed lineup, Stuff has come up with our picks for the 20 big 2019 movies we’re most excited about:
Glass (Jan 17)
Buoyed by the success of 2016’s Split, M Night Shyamalan brings together James McAvoy’s Kevin Wendell Crumb with the characters from his 2000 superhero-thriller Unbreakable.
That means the return of Samuel L Jackson’s Elijah Price and Bruce Willis’ David Dunn, glimpsed briefly to crowd-pleasing effect in Split.
Captain Marvel (March 7)
Before returning to the traumatic events of Infinity Marvel takes a detour to introduce the key character of Carol Danvers.
Brie Larson plays the US Air Force pilot whose DNA was combined with a superhuman alien during an accident. Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn, Annette Bening and Samuel L Jackson co-star.
Daffodils (March 21)
New Zealand gets its own jukebox musical with this adaptation of the hit 2014 play.
Classic hits by Dave Dobbyn, Crowded House, Bic Runga and Blam Blam Blam play a vital role in bringing to life the love story of Rose and Eric. Rose McIver, Kimbra and George Mason star.
Dumbo (March 28)
Tim Burton ‘‘reimagines’’ Disney’s much-loved 1941 animated tale with a live-action adaptation of Helen Aberson’s 1939 novel about a young elephant whose unique abilities help lift a struggling circus.
Eva Green, Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito are among the human actors on display.
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (April 11)
In this sequel to the blockbusting 2014 animated adventure, it’s been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens of Bricksburg are facing a huge, new threat. Lego Duplo invaders from outerspace have arrived and are wrecking everything faster than the locals can rebuild. Joining the vocal cast this time are Tiffany Haddish and Margot Robbie.
Avengers: Endgame (April 25)
How will our heroes get out of this jam? 2018’s Infinity War ended with half the universe’s inhabitants obliterated and the likes of Tony Stark, Bruce Banner and Steve Rogers left with the awful job of picking up the pieces and trying to find a way to reverse all that Thanos had wrought.
Expect to see the return of Hawkeye and Ant-Man to the fold to help out.
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (May 9)
Although based on the 2016 video game of the same name, Rob Letterman’s movie promises a very different, more comedic spin.
Ryan Reynolds provides the voice of the normally one-note Pokemon mascot who has to team up with the son of his former partner Harry Goodman to try to solve the mystery of how Harry disappeared.
John Wick 3: Parabellum (May 16)
Picking up events straight after the end of the last, 2017 instalment, Keanu Reeves is on the run following his assassination of a member of the powerful High Table. With a multi-million dollar global contract out on him, his first objective is just to stay alive. Anjelica Huston and Halle Berry join the party this time around.
Aladdin (May 23)
Twenty-seven years after Disney wowed the world with its animated comedy musical, Guy Ritchie attempts to reinvent the tale lock, stock and barrel with this live-action version.
Little-known Canadian actor Mena Massoud takes on the title role, while Will Smith is the scene-stealing Genie.
Brightburn (May 23)
Elizabeth Banks stars in this sci-fi horror spin on Superman.
She plays a woman who discovers a child from another world who crash lands on Earth. However, instead of becoming a hero to mankind, he appears to be something far more sinister.
Rocketman (May 30)
Aiming to do Bohemian Rhapsody style box-office, Dexter Fletcher (who helped complete the Freddie Mercury biopic after original director Bryan Singer was fired) this time chronicles the life and music of Elton John. Taron Egerton plays the man formerly known as Reg Dwight, while Jamie Bell and Bryce Dallas Howard co-star.