The Biggest Movies Coming In 2019
And it's the year we see if Get Out's Jordan Peele can do it again. The Key and Peele funnyman [...]
It's an understatement to say that 2019 is a big year for movies. It's the year we see the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it come to a close, beginning with Captain Marvel, starring Oscar-winner Brie Larson and a sharp-looking, CGI-enhanced Samuel L. Jackson, and then finally in The Avengers: Endgame, the blockbuster that'll conclude the MCU's so-called Phase Three.
It's the year we see the MCU begin anew, too, with Spider-Man: Far From Home, the second Tom Holland-fronted Spidey movie, poised to take us in new directions -- and to new villains, including Jake Gyllenenhaal's Mysterio.
(Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing)It's the year we get Star Wars: Episode IX -- and it's real subtitle, too! The J.J. Abrams-directed, third and final installment in the follow-up trilogy to the original Star Wars movies presumably will show us how the saga of Rey (Daisy Ridley), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Finn (John Boyega) ends -- for now. It'll also reveal how the filmmakers chose to bid farewell to the late Carrie Fisher, the franchise's beloved Leia, who died in 2016 amid the production of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
It's the year we find out what it's like to break into a smile at a DC Extended Universe movie thanks to the apparently tongue-in-cheek Shazam!, starring Chuck alum Zachary Levi.
And it's the year we see if Get Out's Jordan Peele can do it again. The Key and Peele funnyman turned Oscar-winning filmmaker is back in the scare-business with Us.
But more than anything, 2019 is the year we get the answer to 2018's biggest movie mystery: Are the superheroes that died in Avengers: Infinity War really, you know, dead-dead? We already know we're getting a new Spider-Man movie (although the Webslinger is said to be "far from home." Hmm...) But what of Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther, Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange, Chris Pratt's Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana's Gamora and more? Will they all be back by the end of Endgame? And what of Robert Downey Jr.'s future as Iron Man? Is the superstar actor who put the MCU movies on his back checking out for good? If so, does that mean Tony Stark's going on a hiatus from Marvel, too? Or, does that mean we'll get a new Tony Stark?
So many questions, so many movies. We can't wait to find out.
Here's our list of the 25 fantasy, sci-fi, horror and comic book movies, due out this year, that we're the most excited about.
25. Alita: Battle Angel
Release date: Feb. 14
Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron team up for this long-awaited manga adaptation about a cyborg (Bird Box's Rosa Salazar) in a post-apocalyptic world. Rodriguez directs and produces; Cameron produces and writes the script with Shutter Island's Laeta Kalogridis.
prevnext24. Artemis Fowl
Release date: Aug. 9
After nearly 20 years in development, the same-titled fantasy book series about a fairy-obsessed, 12-year-old criminal genius makes its jump to the big screen. The Kenneth Branagh-directed film is Disney's big-budget bet that the studio has found the next Harry Potter.
prevnext23. Dumbo
Release date: March 29
Disney's recent penchant for remaking its library brings us this Tim Burton-directed take on the 1941 animated classic. Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton and Eva Green head the human cast; they'll share the screen with a big-eared CGI elephant.
prevnext22. Hellboy
Release date: April 12
Stranger Things' David Harbour suits up as the titular superhero demon in this reboot of the Guillermo del Toro-directed movies of the aughts. With Game of Thrones' Neil Marshall now at the helm, Hellboy comic creator Mike Mignolia says the new movie will be a "darker film" than the previous iterations.
21. The New Mutants
Release date: Aug. 2
The first of two X-Verse movies in our rundown, The New Mutants, based on the Marvel Comics title of the same name, is what we've called "a teen-centric and horror-inspired take on the X-Men franchise." The Fault in Our Stars' Josh Boone directs; Stranger Things' Charlie Heaton is one of the young stars.
prevnext20. The Kid Who Would Be King
Release date: Jan. 25
Andy Serkis' youngest son, Louis Ashbourne Serkis, stars in this adventure tale of a boy who finds King Arthur's sword. Sci-fi fans will take note that this is director Joe Cornish's follow-up to his acclaimed debut, Attack the Block.
prevnext19. Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw
Release date: Aug. 2
The first Fast & Furious spinoff pairs the franchise's Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Stratham). We got a first look at the new action duo in December 2018 via Total Film Magazine.
prevnext18. Zombieland 2
Release date: Oct. 11
The gang from the 2009's Zombieland (Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin and Woody Harrelson, pictured) is set to reunite in this long-awaited sequel. "The reason we're all doing it again is 'cause we all love the world of the movie so much," director Ruben Fleischer, who also helmed the original movie, told us in 2018.
prevnext17. The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part
Release date: Feb. 8
Emmet (voiced by Chris Pratt), Lucy (voiced by Elizabeth Banks) and the rest of the LEGO pieces from the original 2014 hit are back -- including Will Arnett's Batman (albeit outfit this time in a white cowl and cape).
prevnext16. Toy Story 4
Release date: June 21
You thought you'd cried your last tears over Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) and Buzz (voiced by Tim Allen)? Ha! Pixar's hatched a new adventure for Andy's old toys. Veep's Tony Hale joins the voice cast as Forky, who despite his name is actually a spork.
prevnext15. The Lion King
Release date: July 19
Another Disney redo? No, not just another one. Donald Glover, Beyoncé, Seth Rogen and Chiwetel Ejiofor head the all-star voice cast for the Jon Favreau-directed CGI remake of the studio's 1994 animated-musical classic. BoJack Horseman's Amy Sedaris will voice an all-new character: an as-yet unnamed elephant shrew.
prevnext14. Pokémon Detective Pikachu
Release date: May 10
Hollywood's going all out on its first homegrown Pokémon effort: A big-budget, live-action/CGI hybrid starring Ryan Reynolds as the voice of the titular pocket monster. The Get Down's Justice Smith stars as the human sidekick. Director Rob Letterman promises a movie with "a lot of heart."
prevnext13. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Release date: July 26
For his first film since 2015's Hateful Eight, filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has fashioned a story around the 1969 murders of actress Sharon Tate and four others. Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt star as two players on the peripheries of show business.
prevnext12. It: Chapter Two
Release date: Sept. 6
Bill Skarsgård, who terrorized audiences as Pennywise in 2017's It (pictured), is back for the sequel, set 27 years after the events of the first movie, and starring James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Bill Hader and more as grown-up members of the Losers' Club.
prevnext11. Glass
Release date: Jan. 18
This M. Night Shyamalan superhero thriller promises to tie together the filmmaker's Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016). As an added bonus, it'll include unused footage from the older movie. Samuel L. Jackson stars as Eljiah Price, aka Glass, the malevolent figure we first met in Unbreakable. Bruce Willis (Unbreakable) and James McAvoy (Split) also star.
prevnext10. X-Men: Dark Phoenix
Release date: June 7
This X-Verse installment is a sequel to 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse, though first-time director Simon Kinberg views it as a "new chapter." The story sees an early-1990s Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) spin out of control as the Dark Phoenix.
prevnext9. Joker
Release date: Oct. 4
The buzz is strong for this new take on the madman of Gotham City, starring Joaquin Phoenix. (This movie is said to be apart from, not part of, the DC Extended Universe, leaving Jared Leto to continue playing the Joker his own way in the Suicide Squad movies.)
prevnext8. Men in Black: International
Release date: June 14
Chris Hemsworth is Agent H, and Tessa Thompson is Agent Em in this reboot of the 1990s-spawned, alien-comedy franchise. Straight Outta Compton's F. Gary Gray directs. Expectations are sky-high following the release of the trailer in December 2018.
prevnext7. Us
Release date: March 15
A beach vacation goes wrong -- and gets very creepy -- for a family (led by Black Panther's Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke) in this follow-up to filmmaker Jordan Peele's Get Out sensation.
prevnext6. Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Release date: May 31
This sequel to Hollywood's latest crack at the legendary Toho franchise, 2015's Godzilla, promises not only more Godzilla, but more monsters -- as in Mothra, Rodan and King Ghidorah.
prevnext5. Shazam!
Release date: April 5
The DC Extended Universe looks to lighten up -- finally -- with this Big-ish take on the classic superhero. The Thor franchise's Zachary Levi stars as the cape-wearer; Andi Mack's Asher Angel plays his young, alter-ego, Billy Batson. A new trailer is expected to drop soon.
prevnext4. Spider-Man: Far From Home
Release date: July 5
The last we saw of Tom Holland's web-slinger, he was dying in Avengers: Infinity War (pictured). Marvel presumably won't be forthcoming with details about the hero's new movie until after Spidey is (presumably) revived in Avengers: Endgame. For now, fans are reading boxes of gummies to search for plot clues.
prevnext3. Captain Marvel
Release date: March 8
Why did Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) call Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) at the end of Avengers: Infinity War? How will the Captain's origin story tie into, or inform, Avengers: Endgame? And what was Fury like back in the '90s when he had, well, hair? All will be revealed, hopefully, in Anna Boden and Ryan K. Fleck's new film.
prevnext2. Star Wars: Episode IX
Release date: Dec. 20
We don't have a full title. We don't have an official synopsis. We just have a lot of desire to see this, the concluding chapter in the trilogy sequel to the original Star Wars saga. The Force Awaken's J.J. Abrams is back in the director's chair; Mark Hamill is back in Luke Skywalker's robes. The late Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa) will be seen via unused footage from the first two sequels.
prevnext1. Avengers: Endgame
Release date: Dec. 20
Only one movie can beat a Star Wars trilogy-capper on the anticipation scale and that's a movie that puts a bow on the 22-film Marvel Cinematic Universe, phases one though three. Endgame is the one you've been waiting for. It could also mark the last time you see Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man and Chris Evans' Captain America in action.
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