6^th  It: Chapter Two
Starring: James McAvoy, Bill Skarsgård, Jessica Chastain, Jay Ryan, Bill Hader
Director: Andy Muschietti
Released: September 6, 2019

27 years after the horrific events of the summer of 1989, the Losers Club have grown up and moved away. But a devastating phone call brings them back to Derry, to fulfil their promise and put an end to “It”, the terrifying shape-shifting beast, once and for all… Adaptation of the second half of Stephen King’s 1986 novel. James McAvoy takes over as Bill, the stuttering yet resourcefully determined leader of the Losers’ Club, who’s now a mystery writer. Jessica Chastain, Jay Ryan, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, James Ransone, and Andy Bean portray the other adult versions of the Club, with the original cast returning for flashback scenes. The first film was simply a phenomena, becoming the most profitable horror film of all time ($700 million worldwide from a $35m budget), and establishing Pennywise as a household name. It was also a strong film, a perfect re-encapsulation of the world of King for a new generation. The young cast were smart, funny and had great chemistry – if you can take out the monster and still have a great film that’s saying something. Pennywise’s scare sequences were inventive and memorable. With the same excellent director and screenwriter on board, and the material long since established, expect this to feel more like a conclusion than a sequel.

5^th  Untitled Terminator Reboot
Starring: Arnie, Linda Hamilton, Mackenzie Davis, Gabriel Luna, Natalia Reyes, Diego Boneta
Director: Tim Miller
Released: November 1, 2019

Updating Shortly.

4^th  Spider-Man: Far From Home
Starring: Tom Holland, Jake Gyllenhaal, Zendaya, Marisa Tomei, Michael Keaton
Director: Jon Watts
Released: July 5, 2019

After the events of ‘Avengers 4’, Peter Parker and his friends use their high school junior year summer break to vacation in Europe. There they encounter the villainous Mysterio (Gyllenhaal), a special effects expert who uses his talents to create elaborate illusions and commit crimes… The director of ‘Homecoming’ returns, as does the Vulture (Keaton) in a small role. Expect Peter to get closer to MJ (Zendaya). Iron Man is gone, but the MCU is represented by Jon Favreau, Cobie Smulders, and Samuel L. Jackson. ‘Homecoming’ got lots of value by taking Spider-Man away from New York and its tall skyscrapers. Here they filmed in England, the Czech Republic, and Venice. Gyllenhaal is a fantastic casting and it’ll be great to see how they realise Mysterio for the big screen for the first time. Everything else carries over from the first, which was rock solid.

3^rd  Joker
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Bill Camp
Director: Todd Phillips
Released: October 4, 2019

During the 1980s, failed stand-up comedian Arthur Fleck (Phoenix), disregarded by society, loses his sanity and becomes the psychopathic criminal mastermind Joker… De Niro is second lead playing a talk show host. Zazie Beetz (‘Deadpool 2’) is a cynical single mother and Arthur’s love interest. Frances Conroy (TV’s ‘Castle Rock’) portrays Arthur’s mother. And Brett Cullen (TV’s ‘Narcos’) plays Bruce Wayne’s father, Thomas Wayne, a billionaire philanthropist who’s running for mayor of Gotham. N.B. The Joker’s name “Arthur Fleck” has been invented for the film, and sneakily abbreviates to A.Fleck (“Affleck”). Director Todd Phillips is known for his comedies (‘Hangover’, ‘Due Date’) though he dipped successful into crime-drama with ‘War Dogs’. Of course it’s debatable whether a creepy-chaotic character like the Joker is less effective once you see his backstory. Christopher Nolan played with this brilliantly in ‘The Dark Knight’, giving different accounts of how Joker got his scars, each plausible but contradictory, with the end result that he remained just as mysterious. At the same time ‘The Killing Joke’, on which this movie draws, revealed Joker’s origins in the comics and is considered a classic. Joaquin is a great casting, not least since he has that uncomfortably mischievous streak in real life (see when he grew a long beard, refused to speak on air, and retired from movies – for an art project). He’s lucky not to be following Ledger, rather the loud-to-no-purpose Jared Leto who dropped expectations significantly.

2^nd  Star Wars: Episode IX
Starring: Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac
Director: J.J. Abrams
Released: December 20, 2019

Plot is unknown. Director J.J. returns to a franchise that’s looking unsteady. After the underperforming ‘Solo’, Episode IX has to continue the story of the most divisive Star Wars ever made, ‘The Last Jedi’. That instalment didn’t provide satisfying answers to any of the mysteries posed in JJ’s ‘Force Awakens’, wasted Luke Skywalker, and didn’t set up anything intriguing going forward. JJ now has the chance to right the ship for the trilogy’s closer, and potentially reopen some of those issues (eg Rey’s parental lineage, Snoke’s identity, Luke’s return as a Force Ghost) for a second go. But JJ too has always been better at posing the questions than answering them. Joining the cast will be Richard E. Grant (‘Logan’), Kerry Russell (‘Mission: Impossible III’), Dominic Monaghan (‘Lord of the Rings’), Matt Smith (‘Dr. Who’) and the return of Lando himself, Billy Dee Williams. Carrie Fisher’s Leia also returns, reportedly via unused footage from the previous two films. The masterful John Williams is back for the soundtrack, announcing it will be his last Star Wars. Episode IX has its work cut out but JJ isn’t one to shy away from an audacious challenge, this is the man who successfully rebooted ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Star Wars’ after all.

1^st  Avengers: Endgame
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Released: May 3, 2019

The continuation and likely conclusion of the Thanos storyline, though details are secret. We know Captain Marvel (the most powerful Marvel hero) will play a major role. Hawkeye takes on the sword-bearing persona of Ronin (masterless samurai) presumably after losing his family in the snap. Ant-Man will participate despite last being seen lost in the microscopic. That Quantum Realm may, I’m guessing, hold the key to defeating Thanos, coupled with the madness induced by the infinity stones, as hinted last time. The fact Frank Grillo is back as the exploded Crossbones, and Cap’s Winter Soldier suit is in the trailer, suggests time-travel may be afoot too. Directing pair the Russo brothers make a welcome return. ‘Infinity War’ was a bold achievement, from a studio bristling with confidence. But will the film be seen as a cop out when it brings back dozens of dead characters? (Even Vision is in the reported cast). The trailer was viewed 289 million times in its first 24 hours, surpassing Infinity War’s all-time record (230m). ‘Endgame’ is a cert to have the biggest box office opening of all time, as the last one did, is on probably course to become the 2nd highest grossing film of all time (after ‘Avatar’). …Can’t wait to see what they have in store.

ALSO OF NOTE
● Happy Death Day 2U ● Zombieland Too ● Child’s Play ● Grudge ● M Night Shyamalan’s Glass ● The Witch dir puts Willem Dafoe in The Lighthouse ● Nightcrawler dir re-teams with Jake Gylenhaal for Velvet Buzzsaw ● Charlie’s Angels reboot ● prequel Kingsman: The Great Game ● Rian Johnson’s murder mystery Knives Out ● Frozen 2 ● Downton Abbey ● Tim Burton’s live-action Dumbo ● Sonic The Hedgehog live-action movie ● musical Cats ● The Lego Movie 2 ● How To Train Your Dragon: Hidden World ● Elton John biopic Rocketman ● Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland ● Son Of Shaft ● Rambo 5: Last Blood ● Tom Hanks is Mister Rogers ● Chris Morris’ The Day Shall Come ●

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