Getting Ready for 2019: Films We're Looking Forward To!

by Kelly Lee

January

Glass - January 18
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sarah Paulson, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard
Description: Following the conclusion of Split, David Dunn pursues Kevin Wendell Crumb’s superhuman persona “The Beast” in a series of encounters that escalate while the presence of Elijah Price, going by “Mr. Glass”, emerges from the shadows as an orchestrator who holds secrets that are critical to both men.

February

What Men Want - February 8
Directed by: Adam Shankman
Starring: Taraji P. Henson, Tracy Morgan, Max Greenfield, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Aldis Hodge
Description: Ali Davis is a successful sports agent who is constantly boxed out by her male colleagues.  When she is passed up for a promotion she more than deserved, she begins to question what more she needs to succeed in a man’s world.  Through some miracle, she gains the ability to hear men’s thoughts. With her newfound “superpower”, Ali looks to outsmart her colleagues as she races to sign the next basketball superstar, but the lengths that she must go to will put her relationship with her best friends and a potential new love interest to the test.

The LEGO Movie: The Second Part - February 8
Directed by: Mike Mitchell
Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Stephanie Beatriz
Description: In the aftermath of Lord Business’ scheme on Taco Tuesday, the Duplo invaders have made Bricksburg into a post-apocalyptic wasteland as a result of Finn’s father allowing his younger sister to play with him in the basement.  Emmet is completely unaffected by this dramatic change and pretends everything is still awesome, unlike everyone else, who have been toughened and hardened, ready for more fighting. When an intergalactic invader named Sweet Mayhem comes from outer space and kidnaps his friends Wyldstyle, Batman, MetalBeard, Princess Unikitty, and Benny, Emmet’s master building skills are put to the ultimate test.  He must use them to travel to space and rescue his friends, defeat Sweet Mayhem, and restore harmony to Bricksburg and the rest of the LEGO Universe.

Isn't It Romantic? - February 14
Directed by: Todd Strauss-Schulson
Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Stephanie Beatriz
Description: Natalie wakes up one day to discover that she is self-aware of her existence in a romantic comedy and tries to escape every cliche.

Alita: Battle Angel- February 14
Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley
Description: Alita (Salazar), a disembodied "core" awakens with no memory in a post-apocalyptic world destroyed by a technological fall.  Dr. Ido (Waltz) finds her and gives her a new body.  They later discover that Alita is more than what she seems and has an extraordinary past.  As she navigates her new life, she battles other machines who are empowered with skills

The Rhythm Section - February 22
Directed by: Reed Morano
Starring: Blake Lively, Jude Law, Sterling K. Brown
Description: A woman seeks revenge against those who orchestrated a plane crash that killed her family.

March

Chaos Walking - March 1
Directed by: Doug Liman
Starring: Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, Mads Mikkelsen, Demian Bichir, Kurt Sutter, Nick Jonas, Cynthia Erivo, Óscar Jaenada, David Oyelowo
Description: In the near future, Todd Hewitt (Holland) has been brought up to believe that a viral germ has killed all women in a colony world and unleashed Noise, the special ability to read people’s and animal’s minds.  Later, he comes upon a patch of silence and soon discovers the source of the silence: a mysterious girl named Viola Eade (Ridley).  On the run, they learn more about the true history of the New World.

Captain Marvel - March 8
Directed by: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, McKenna Grace, Clark Gregg, Annette Bening
Description: Set in the 1990s, Carol Danvers (Larson), a former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot turns into one of the galaxy’s mightiest heroes and joins Starforce, an elite Kree military team, before returning home with new questions about her past and identity when the Earth is caught in the center of an intergalactic conflict between two alien worlds.

Wonder Park - March 15
Directed by: David Feiss
Starring: Brianna Denski, Ken Hudson Campbell, Matthew Broderick, Jennifer Garner, Kenan Thompson, Ken Jeong, David Cross, Richard Kind, Mila Kunis, John Oliver, Norbert Leo Butz
Description: Set in the late 1990s, a young orphaned girl named June finds an incredible amusement park filled with fantastical rides and funny, talking animals called Wonder Land that was abandoned in the woods.

The Beach Bum - March 22
Directed by: Harmony Korine
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, Jonah Hill, Isla Fisher, Jimmy Buffett, Snoop Dogg, Martin Lawrence
Description: A rebellious stoner (McConnaghey) lives life by his own rules.

Dumbo - March 29
Directed by: Tim Burton
Starring: Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, Alan Arkin
Description: In this live-action remake of the 1941 Disney classic, a young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus.  But when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer.

April

Shazam! - April 5
Directed by: David F. Sandberg
Starring: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Mark Strong, Jack Dylan Grazer, Djimon Hounsou, Grace Fulton, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand, Faithe Herman
Description: Billy Batson, a troubled 14-year-old orphan living in Philadelphia, is set up to move into a new foster home - his seventh in a row - with the Vazquez family and their other five foster kids.  One day, Billy gets onto a subway car and finds himself transported to another realm, where an ancient wizard gives him the power to transform into a godlike adult superhero by uttering the word “Shazam!”  Billy and his new foster brother, Freddy Freeman, must learn what Billy’s new powers are and how to use them in order to stop the villain Dr. Thaddeus Sivana from wielding powers of his own.

Pet Sematary- April 5
Directed by: Dennis Widmyer, Kevin Kolsch
Starring: Jason Clarke, John Lithgow, Amy Seimetz
Description: A doctor moves his family out of the big city into the countryside.  There, he discovers that they have moved near a pet cemetery that rests on an ancient burial ground.  When his son is killed in an car accident, he takes the boy’s body to the cemetery where it is resurrected in demonic form

The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle - April 12
Directed by: Dennis Widmyer, Kevin Kolsch
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Antonio Banderas, Michael Sheen, Jim Broadbent, Tom Holland, Selena Gomez, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, Rami Malek, Craig Robinson, Carmen Ejogo, Marion Cotillard, Ralph Fiennes, Octavia Spencer, Emma Thompson
Description: A physician discovers he has the ability to talk to animals.

Hellboy - April 12
Directed by: Neil Marshall
Starring: David Harbour, Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane, Sasha Lane, Brian Gleeson, Daniel Dae Kim, Sophie Okonedo
Description: Hellboy must square off against a medieval sorceress who seeks to destroy mankind.

The Curse of La Llorona - April 19
Directed by: Michael Chaves
Starring: Linda Cardellini, Patricia Velasquez, Sean Patrick Thomas, Raymond Cruz
Description: Ignoring the eerie warning of a troubled mother suspected of child endangerment, a social worker and her own small kids are soon drawn into a frightening supernatural realm by La Llorona, “The Weeping Woman”.

Avengers: Endgame- April 26
Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Evans, Josh Brolin, Brie Larson, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Karen Gillan, Tom Hiddleston, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sebastian Stan, Don Cheadle, Pom Klementieff, Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Chris Pratt
Description: The Avengers' fight against Thanos continues

May

Detective Pikachu- May 10
Directed by: Rob Letterman
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton, Ken Watanabe, Suki Waterhouse, Chris Geere, Rita Ora, Bill Nighy
Description: In a world where people collect pocket-sized monsters (Pokemon) to do battle, a boy comes across an intelligent monster who seeks to be a detective.

John Wick 3: Parabellum- May 17
Directed by: Chad Stahelski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Ian McShane, Ruby Rose, Common, Lance Reddick, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Jason Mantzoukas, Anjelica Huston
Description:John Wick is still on the run following his killing of High Table member inside The Continental, and with a $14 million global contract out on his life.  Banned from any company services, John must fight and kill his way out of New York.

Aladdin - May 24
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Starring:: Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, Will Smith, Marwan Kenzari, Navid Negahban, Nasim Pedrad, Billy Magnussen, Numan Acar
Description: A live-action retelling of the Disney classic from 1992

Godzilla: King of the Monsters - May 31
Directed by: Michael Dougherty
Starring: Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Zhang Ziyi
Description: The new story follows the heroic efforts of the crypto-zoological agency Monarch as its members face off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah.  When these ancient super-species - thought to be myths - rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.

Rocketman - May 31
Directed by: Dexter Fletcher
Starring: Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Bryce Dallas Howard, Richard Madden
Description: A fantastical retelling of the life of superstar Elton John.

June

The Secret Life of Pets 2 - June 7
Directed by: Chris Renaud
Starring: Patton Oswalt, Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress, Bobby Moynihan, Tiffany Haddish, Nick Kroll, Pete Holmes, Harrison Ford, Reginald Ballard, Booboo Stewart

Dark Phoenix - June 7
Directed by: Simon Kinberg
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters, Jessica Chastain
Description: In 1992, nearly a decade after the events of X-Men: Apocalypse, the X-Men are national heroes going on increasingly high risk missions.  When a solar flare hits them during a rescue mission in space, Jean Grey loses control of her abilities and unleashes the Phoenix.

MIB - June 14
Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Liam Neeson, Kumail Nanjiani, Rebecca Ferguson, Rafe Spall, Emma Thompson
Description: A London-based team of Men In Black (MIB) secret agents become involved in a murder mystery that sends them travelling the globe.

Toy Story 4 - June 21
Directed by: Josh Cooley
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Joan Cusack, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Michael Keaton, Kristen Schaal, Bonnie Hunt, Timothy Dalton, Laurie Metcalf, Patricia Arquette
Description: Woody and Buzz embark upon a journey to find Woody’s love interest, Bo Peep, who was given away prior to the events of the third film.

July

Spider-Man: Far From Home - July 5
Directed by: Jon Watts
Starring: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Zendaya, Marisa Tomei, Jake Gyllenhaal, JB Smoove, Cobie Smulders, Samuel L. Jackson
Description: After the events of the fourth Avengers film, Peter Parker (Holland) and his friends go on summer vacation in Europe.

The Lion King - July 19
Directed by: Jon Favreau
Starring: Donald Glover, Beyoncé, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, John Kani, John Oliver, Alfre Woodard, Keegan-Michael Key, Eric Andre, Florence Kasumba, James Earl Jones, JD McCrary, Shahadi Wright Joseph
Description: A live-action retelling of the Disney classic from 1994.

Once Upon A Time in Hollywood - July 26
Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Burt Reynolds, Tim Roth, Timothy Olyphant, Michael Madsen, James Marsden, Dakota Fanning, Al Pacino, Emile Hirsch, Damian Lewis, Clifton Collins Jr.
Description: A TV actor and his stunt double embark upon an odyssey to make a name for themselves in the film industry in 1969 Los Angeles, around the time of the Charles Manson murders.

August

The New Mutants - August 2
Directed by: Josh Boone
Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, Charlie Heston, Henry Zaga, Blu Hunt, Alice Braga
Description: Five young mutants, just discovering their abilities while held in a secret facility against their will, fight to escape their past sins and save themselves.

Hobbs & Shaw - August 2
Directed by: David Leitch
Starring: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, Helen Mirren, Luke Evans
Description: A spin-off of The Fate of the Furious, focusing on Johnson’s US Diplomatic Security Agent Luke Hobbs forming an unlikely alliance with Statham’s Deckard Shaw.

Dora the Explorer - August 2
Directed by: James Bobin
Starring: Isabela Moner, Eugenio Derbez, Temuera Morrison, Michael Pena, Eva Longoria
Description: Having spent most of her life exploring the jungle with her parents, nothing could prepare Dora for the most dangerous adventure ever: high school.  Always the explorer, Dora quickly finds herself leading Boots (her best friend, a monkey), Diego, and a rag tag group of teens on an adventure to save her parents and solve the impossible mystery behind a lost Inca civilization.

Artemis Fowl - August 9
Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Ferdia Shaw, Josh Gad, Hong Chau, Judi Dench, Lara McDonnell, Nonso Anozie
Description: Artemis Fowl discovers the existence of a fairy world and decides to try to rob them.

September

It: Chapter Two - September 6
Directed by: Andy Muschietti
Starring: Bill Skarsgard, James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Jay Ryan, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, James Ransone, Andy Bean, Teach Grant, Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Finn Wolfhard, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Wyatt Oleff
Description: Twenty-seven years after the horrific events of the summer of 1989, It returns.  The Losers’ Club fulfill their promises and return to Derry to put an end to the shape-shifting beast.

Downton Abbey - September 13
Directed by: Michael Engler
Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Michelle Dockery, Joanne Froggatt, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith

Spies in Disguise - September 13
Directed by: Nick Bruno, Tony Quane
Starring: Will Smith, Tom Holland
Description: When an unexpected event puts the world in peril, Lance Sterling (Smith), the world’s best super-spy, must team up with gadget inventor Walter (Holland) to save the day.

The Kitchen - September 20
Directed by: Andrea Berloff
Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, Elisabeth Moss, Common, Domhnall Gleeson, Margo Martindale, Brian d’Arcy James
Description: The wives of New York gangsters in Hell’s Kitchen in the 1970s continue to operate their husbands’ rackets after they’re locked up in prison.

October

Joker - October 4
Directed by: Todd Phillips
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy
Description: During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City.

Jungle Cruise - October 11
Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, Edgar Ramirez, Jesse Plemons, Paul Giamatti
Description: Set in the 1930s during The Great Depression, Frank (Johnson), a riverboat captain, takes a scientist (Blunt) and her brother (Whitehall) on a mission into a jungle to find a tree believed to possess healing powers.  All the while, the trio must fight against dangerous wild animals and a competing German expedition.

The Addams Family - October 11
Directed by: Conrad Vernon, Greg Tiernan
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Bette Midler, Allison Janney
Description: The Addams family’s lives begin to unravel when they face-off against a greedy, crafty reality-TV host while also preparing for their extended family to arrive for a major celebration.

Zombieland Too - October 11
Directed by: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin

You Are My Friend - October 18
Directed by: Marielle Heller
Starring: Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Chris Cooper
Description: An award-winning but cynical journalist, Lloyd Vogel (Rhys), begrudgingly accepts an assignment to write an Esquire profile piece on the beloved television icon Fred Rogers (Hanks) and Vogel's perspective on life transforms after his time with Mr. Rogers.

November 

Charlie's Angels - November 1
Directed by: Elizabeth Banks
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, Ella Balinska, Elizabeth Banks, Patrick Stewart, Djimon Hounsou, Sam Claflin, Noah Centineo
Description: A reboot of the 1970s hit TV show with an updated cast.

Terminator 6 - November 1
Directed by: Tim Miller
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Mackenzie Davis, Gabriel Luna, Natalia Reyes, Diego Boneta

Midway - November 8
Directed by: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Luke Evans, Mandy Moore, Patrick Wilson, Ed Skrein, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, Tadanobu Asano, Dennis Quaid (is here)
Description: The story of the battle of Midway, told by the leaders and the soldiers who fought it.

Sonic the Hedgehog - November 8
Directed by: Jeff Fowler
Starring: Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Adam Pally, Neal McDonough, Jim Carrey
Description: Small town sheriff Tom Wachowski (Marsden) goes on a journey to San Francisco in his efforts to assist Sonic (Schwartz), a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog, in his battle against the evil Dr. Eggman (Carrey) in order to recover his rings, while the government is trying to catch him at the same time.

Frozen 2 - November 27
Directed by: Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck
Starring: Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff, Evan Rachel Wood, Sterling K. Brown
Description: A follow-up to the 2013 Disney smash hit!

December

Jumanji 3 - December 13
Directed by: Jake Kasdan
Starring: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan
Description: A sequel to the surprisingly delightful 2017 film.

Star Wars: Episode IX - December 20
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Billy Dee Williams, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Kelly Marie Tran, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Keri Russell, Richard E. Grant, Naomi Ackie, Billie Lourd
Description: The fight against the First Order and Kylo Ren continue in this final chapter of the new trilogy.

Cats - December 20
Directed by: Tom Hooper
Starring: Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, Ian McKellen, James Corden, Idris Elba, Judi Dench, Rebel Wilson, Jason Derulo
Description: A movie adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s beloved musical from 1980.

Little Women - December 25
Directed by: Greta Gerwig
Starring: Meryl Streep, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, James Norton, Florence Pugh, Timothee Chalamet, Laura Dern, Eliza Scanlen, Chris Cooper, Bob Odenkirk
Description: Set in 1860’s Massachusetts, this new adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott classic follows the March sisters (Meg, Jo, and Amy) in their young adult lives after leaving their family home.

Call of the Wild - December 25
Directed by: Chris Sanders 
Starring: Harrison Ford, Dan Stevens, Omar Sy, Karen Gillan
Description: A domesticated St. Bernard named Buck is stolen from his home in Santa Clara, California and sold to freight haulers in the Yukon.