By: Shaina Semaña
The pandemic brought challenges, not only to our health and economy, but even in the entertainment industry. A lot of films and TV series were put on hold because of the lockdown and restrictions in filming. Movie watching has been greatly affected as well with a lot of film screening were postponed. So, with much anticipation, fans are looking forward to 2021 to catch the films that they’ve been waiting for forever. There are a lot of them but this is our High Five Most Anticipated Movies of the Year.
Raya and The Last Dragon
Months ahead of its release, there is already much anticipation going around one of Disney’s first releases of the year. Animated film Raya and the Last Dragon tells the story of the world of Kumandra and the lone warrior named Raya who’s in the quest to find the last dragon to stop the monsters who are threatening their land. Sounds like a typical modern-day Disney film about hope and bravery but what makes this different is that its dubbed to be a very diverse film from Disney.
From the script—which is written by two Asian-American screenwriters—down to the production itself, Ray and the Last Dragon stays true to its roots. A team was even sent to Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines, among other Southeast Asian countries, to film and get inspiration for the world of Kumar. Breakout Asian-American stars Kelly Marie Tran and Awkwafina as Raya and the water dragon, Sisu tops the film’s diverse cast.
Raya and the Last Dragon is set to be released in US theaters on March 5, 2021 and will be released on Disney+ on the same day via Premier Access.
A Quiet Place Part II
The first A Quiet Place film was surprisingly successful so there was no doubt that follow up sequel was made. It received much anticipation from its production up until its supposedly release in March 2020. But just weeks before its international release, we faced 2020’s biggest plot twist—yes, we’re talking about the pandemic—and the film’s release was postponed.
Despite the postponement on its release, the anticipation for the film didn’t fade at all. If any, it just added more excitement to it’s cult following, with addition of big stars like Peaky Blinders’ Cillian Murphy. A Quiet Place 2 is set to hit select theaters on April 21, 2021.
Black Widow
When Avengers: Endgame capped the franchise in 2019, it left fans wanting for more, which is why fans were beyond delighted when the lineup of Phase *number* of Marvel films were announced and first in the lineup is the long overdue backstory of Black Widow. Excited is an understatement so fans were obviously bummed when the May released was pushed back for a year.
Kickstarting the Marvel movie lineup this year, Black Widow’s international release will be on April 29, 2021.
Dune
Another already-fan favorite among this year’s releases is the 2021 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune,starring Hollywood’s millennial golden boy, Timothee Chalamet. Dune is the first of the (rumored) couple of films set in the Dune universe from the series of novels written by Herbert. Chalamet stars as Paul Atreides.
Fans of the original film and franchise, along with anticipating new fans, are eager to watch the film which is set to be released theatrically in the US on October 1, 2021 and, simultaneously on HBO for a whole month.
Matrix 4
If I were to make a list of films that fans have been wanting to happen, there is no doubt that Matrix is the top of that list. Fans has been waiting for years for this follow-up film to happen. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are both reprising their iconic roles as Neo and Trinity, along with most of its main casts. There will also be a handful top-billed actors that are joining them including Neil Patrick Harris and Priyanka Chopra. Fans are curious as how the story will take its turn considering that both main characters died in the most recent installment.
Unlike most of the films in this list which are pushed back to a later release, Matrix 4 was actually set to release April 2022 but it was announced in the latter part of 2020 that the final release of the film will happen on December 22, 2021 with simultaneous release on HBO, part of Warner Bros. 2021 releases.
Whether you’re hitting the cinemas or watching at home through streaming apps, make sure to catch these awesome films!