By Jacob Skubish

20. Minari (TBD)

The first of a couple slots I basically had to reserve for whatever A24 films are upcoming. Next year the indie darling studio produces Minari, a drama about a Korean family that moves to America in the 1980s. Steven Yeun stars.

19. Candyman (June 12)

Candyman is a “spiritual sequel” to the peculiar 1992 horror film of the same name. We don’t know much about what this new version will look like, but Jordan Peele is writing and producing, and that’s enough to get me excited.

18. The LAST THing He WANTED (TBD)

Based on a Joan Didion novel, The Last Thing He Wanted will be released straight to Netflix at some point in 2020. Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, and Willem Dafoe star in director Dee Rees’ follow-up to the wonderful 2017 Netflix film Mudbound.

17. No Time To Die (April 10)

The trailer for No Time to Die is somewhat uninspiring, but it’s a James Bond film, and the final Daniel Craig Bond film at that. The production of No Time to Die has been publicly arduous, so hopefully the final product is cohesive. Ana de Armas (Knives Out) and Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) join the usual suspects in this installment.

16. Zola (TBD)

The second of my two A24 films on the list, and the plot description positions Zola as a very A24-y movie. It follows a stripper named Zola who embarks on a wild road trip to Florida…and the story is based on a viral Twitter thread. Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, and Nicholas Braun star.

15. Wonder Woman 1984 (June 5)

Wonder Woman was a breath of fresh air for the typically dark, gloomy DC superhero movies, and the trailer for 1984 brings even more lighthearted energy. The sequel will bring us back to the 80s, and it looks like a hell of a lot of fun. Plus, it’s an early contender for best movie poster of the 2020s.

14. West Side Story (Dec. 18)

This is probably the movie on the list I’m most hesitant about; we just don’t need to touch one of the most iconic musicals ever made. But if anyone can do it, I trust Steven Spielberg. Rita Moreno returns, and Ansel Elgort stars.

13. Soul (June 19)

The second of two original Pixar movies out in 2020 (Onward is out first, in March), but this is the one I’m more excited about. Jamie Foxx stars as a musician who loses his passion for music and somehow becomes transported out of his body, requiring him to find his way back. The last time Pixar played around with the mind and body they created Inside Out, one of the best movies they’ve ever released.

12. The French Dispatch (TBD)

Obligatory Wes Anderson movie slot. Anderson’s movies have been solid if not excellent of late, and if The French Dispatch does not reach the heights of an earlier gem like Rushmore I can at least expect it to be a good time. I couldn’t possibly name all the famous people in this cast, but Timothée Chalamet, Saoirse Ronan, Kate Winslet, and Elisabeth Moss are a good start.

11. Wendy (Feb. 28)

After announcing himself as a visionary director with his feature debut Beasts of the Southern Wild, Behn Zeitlin has made precisely zero movies in the past eight years. That changes in 2020 with Wendy, an adaptation of sorts of Peter Pan. The trailer suggests Zeitlin won’t let existing IP change his signature style.

10. Mank (TBD)

Truly a film for movie nerds, Mank follows screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he develops the script for Orson Welles' iconic 1941 movie Citizen Kane. The film will be director David Fincher’s first feature since Gone Girl in 2014, and stars Lily Collins, Gary Oldman, and Amanda Seyfried. I’ve compared Fincher’s The Social Network to Citizen Kane in past reviews, so Mank is a bit of symbiotic storytelling.

9. Tenet (July 17)

Christopher Nolan kicked off last decade with Inception, perhaps the decade’s quintessential original blockbuster. He’s back with another twisty thriller, and the plot of Tenet remains shrouded in mystery even after its trailer was released, which I found totally incomprehensible. Robert Pattinson, John David Washington, and Elizabeth Debicki star.

8. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Oct. 2)

*Aaron Sorkin, Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Joseph Gordon-Levitt*

Aaron Sorkin returns to the director’s chair with The Trial of the Chicago 7, the story of seven people on trial following the uprising at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The stacked cast includes Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Jeremy Strong.

7. Fast & Furious 9 (May 22)

The greatest blockbuster franchise of all time returns with Fast & Furious 9, which is technically the tenth film in the series after last year’s spinoff Hobbs & Shaw, but hey, who’s counting. There’s was a noticeable hole in The Fate of the Furious following Paul Walker’s death, but hopefully new cast members can continue the momentum that Hobbs & Shaw started. John Cena and Cardi B join the franchise this time around, with Lucas Black from Tokyo Drift rumored to return as well.

6. After Yang (TBD)

Director Kogonada made his feature debut in 2017 with Columbus, and it was a delicate film that announced him as a unique voice in cinema. In 2020 he returns with an original sci-fi film about a father and a daughter trying to save the life of their robotic family member. Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, and love of my life Haley Lu Richardson star.

5. Coming 2 America (Dec. 18)

The second I finished 1988’s Coming to America I thought the movie was ripe for a modern sequel, and now we’re finally getting one. Many sequels and reboots feel forced, but I have hope for the natural storytelling of Coming 2 America, which will center on Akeem (Eddie Murphy) learning he has a long-lost son in the United States. James Earl Jones, John Amos, and Arsenio Hall also return.

4. Top Gun: Maverick (June 26)

Is Top Gun military propaganda? Yes. Is it the best Dumb Fun movie ever made? Yes. Is Glen Powell the perfect pick to take over for Cruise? Yes. Is Miles Teller’s mustache disgusting? Yes. Will there be shirtless beach volleyball? Yes. It’s all thumbs up for me on Top Gun: Maverick.

3. Annette (TBD)

Leos Carax’s Holy Motors was one of the most inventive movies released last decade, and after an eight-year hiatus he’s back with Annette. The musical will star Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, and IMDb describes the plot as “a standup comedian and his opera singer wife have a two-year-old daughter with a surprising gift.” It will be infinitely more bizarre than that sounds, and I cannot wait.

2. Last Night in Soho (Sept. 25)

*Edgar Wright, Anya Taylor-Joy, Thomasin McKenzie, Matt Smith*

Who says we can’t have original blockbusters anymore? Edgar Wright continues to churn out original stories that rake in money (The World’s End, Baby Driver), and with Last Night in Soho he returns to the horror genre he so thoroughly parodied in Shaun of the Dead. Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, and the excellent Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit) star.

1. Dune (Dec. 18)

Honestly, you can skip every other movie on this list. Just go see Dune. Based on Frank Herbert’s incredible sci-fi epic, 2020’s Dune will attempt to rectify the flubbed attempt by David Lynch in 1984. Director Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Arrival) was the most prolific, interesting director of the last decade, and his cast is stacked: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Oscar Isaac, Dave Bautista, Josh Brolin, and Javier Bardem star. I can’t believe I have to wait almost a full year for this one, but it will be worth it.

The top 20 movies to look forward to in 2020