Netflix’s 2021 Movie Slate: What I’m Looking Forward To
Netflix is looking to prove that whatever major franchise content their competitors bring in 2021 to their own streaming platforms, the sheer quantity of Netflix’s movie offering will continue to rule consumer viewing habits throughout the year.
Not only quantity though, Netflix is bringing to the table some of the most popular actors today, including a single movie with fan favorites Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot, as well as some of Hollywood’s biggest talent behind the camera such as Adam McKay, Antonie Fuqua, and the feature directorial debuts of both Halle Berry and Amy Poehler. It’s a staggering list of all-stars that are looking to highlight all the groundwork Netflix has laid over the past several years in its Movie Division.
To celebrate their announcement, Netflix dropped a preview of some of the most popular titles hitting the service throughout 2021 and the promise of at least 1 new movie every single week until the new year. Looks like no matter how much longer we’re stuck inside Netflix will have us glued to our couches - phew!
And while the exhaustive list of movies has hits for every age and genre fan, here are the five movies I’m most looking forward to throughout the year.
1. Don’t Look Up – a mainstay of the 2010s Academy Awards, Jennifer Lawrence hasn’t starred in a film since 2018’s Red Sparrow (I’ll forego her appearance in Dark Phoenix) – and is long overdue for another breakout role. Not only that, but this film is stacked top to bottom with A-team talent, including: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Chris Evans, AND Ariana Grande. Adam McKay has shown himself to be a master of the political satire in the past, and this tour de force highlighting two low-level astronomers looking to warn of a forthcoming destructive comet will hopefully be another huge success.
2. Malcolm & Marie – fresh off her Emmy Award for Euphoria, Zendaya looks to tantalize audiences once again in one of the first films made entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking to keep some of the crew from her grounded show from being out of work, Zendaya worked closely with Euphoria creator Sam Levinson to get this film off the ground. Highlighting the real time events between Zendaya and her filmmaker boyfriend John David Washington after a celebratory movie premiere, the film looks to examine their relationship, ‘testing the strength of their love’ - could an Oscar nomination follow quickly behind for this whole team?
3. Tick, Tick… Boom! – highlighting another first-time feature director, Lin Manual Miranda looks to bring this film as one of only 2 musical films in Netflix’s 2021 slate. Based upon the musical of the same name from Jonathan Larson (writer, composter, & lyricist of RENT), Tick, Tick…Boom! showcases Andrew Garfield as Jon, ‘an aspiring theatre composer enduring a midlife crisis as he approaches 30 and does not feel close to his dream.’ Garfield started his career on stage so it is exciting to see him come back to those traditional roots – he was always underrated as the charismatic & snarky Peter Parker in Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man series.
4. Fear Street Trilogy – okay, I cheated on this one a little bit, but that’s what makes this feature so unique – it is actually a trilogy of films all set to drop over a single month this year. All directed by Leigh Janiak and produced by Peter Chernin, this horror trilogy is adapted from world renowned author R.L. Stine’s best selling series, the 3 film set follows the history of Shadyside, a small town that has been haunted since the mid 1650s. I love a good horror movie, and dropping an entire trilogy over a span of weeks (instead of years) has me excited for the world building possibilities.
5. The Guilty – one my favorite short films from last year was A Sister, a Belgian short about a woman abducted who tricks her kidnapper into thinking she’s making a phone call to her sister when in fact she has called a 911 dispatcher. It was suspenseful, realistic, and encapsulated a singular moment in time like no other. This film, directed by Antoine Fuqua and staring Jake Gylenhaal, is actually a remake of a Danish film of the same name and looks to strike very similar chords with its audience when it hits Netflix next year.
What movie on Netflix’s 2021 slate are you most looking forward to? Take a look at the fill list attached.
