2020 Movie Theater Experience Wish List
As much as I hate to admit it, it might be a long time before I set foot in a movie theater again. For maybe the first time ever, New York is not the ideal place to live for film lovers. While the city is usually host to premiers, film festivals, and budding filmmakers it’s now a dead zone for the theater-going experience and there’s no telling when the tides will change. The city is not expected to start opening back up for another couple of weeks and even then, movie theaters will be one of the last businesses to open its doors. But realistically, how many people will brave the close quarters of a movie theater at that point?
With precautions like sanitizing surfaces after each showing, limited and designated seating, and curbside concessions, there are only about 250 cinemas currently open in the U.S. and I’m sure New York will be one of the last places to do so. Most movie release dates have been pushed to the end of the year and many have moved to 2021. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait to see a movie on the big screen again, but I’m torn about the way the movie theater experience will be compromised by these new restrictions. I don’t really want to deal with the uneasiness of having my temperature taken at the door or being distracted by the thought of the sick person who may have sat in the theater seat before me.
Everything is still very much up in the air, but if the stars were to align and the slate of 2020 films were to screen in the summer and fall, and I was desperate enough to get to the movies to take the risk, this would be my wish list of movies to see in the theater this year.
A Quiet Place II
A Quiet Place II nearly made the cut to screen in theaters before the shut down. In fact, early, favorable reviews of the film started rolling in from critics who were lucky enough to catch the movie during press screenings, but with a late March release date there was no way it was going to debut as scheduled. Writer/Director John Krasinski shared an announcement about the delay on Twitter:
“One of the things I’m most proud of is that people have said our movie is one you have to see all together. Well due to the ever-changing circumstances of what’s not going on around us now is clearly not the right time to do that. As insanely excited as we all are for you to see this movie, I’m going to wait to release the film until we can all see it together. So here’s to our group movie date. See you soon!” - JK
The release date has been set for September 4th and I am SO hoping it sticks and it’s safe to visit theaters by then because I loved the first one and it’s meant to be seen on a big screen!
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Based on the true story of the uprising at the Democratic Convention in 1968, this film will be Aaron Sorkin’s second directorial effort after 2017s Molly’s Game which was met with mixed reviews. I was personally disappointed by the chaotic storytelling and lack of cohesive vision of that film, but I love the guy so much I’m excited to see what he can do with this story. He is after all a legendary screenwriter with projects like A Few Good Men, The West Wing, and The Social Network on his resume.
The film boasts an impressive cast including Eddie Redmayne, Jeremy Strong, Mark Rylance, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and is set to premier in October. Fingers crossed this one makes its debut this year.
Tenet
Touted as “the film that will open theaters back up” this year, there has been quite a bit of ink spilled and podcast conversations had about this film. Christopher Nolan and Warner Brothers have been digging their heals in with its July 17th release date, but it remains to be seen if it will mark history as the movie that helped keep the American movie theater going experience alive in the time of COVID.
I’ve been working my way through Nolan’s filmography in preparation for the release of the film and there’s no doubt he’s one of the most influential filmmakers working today. With a shiny new trailer debuting last week, a killer cast led by John David Washington and Robert Pattinson, and lots of press, we will see if the movie draws people out of quarantine.
West Side Story
News about Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of one of my favorite films of all time has me feeling cautiously optimistic. On the one hand Spielberg has created some of the best films in American history, on the other, I haven’t been the biggest fan of his latest projects and the man has no proof he can successfully execute on a musical. But alas, I remain optimistic.
The film is supposed to hit theaters on December 18th.
The French Dispatch
Wes Anderson is undoubtedly one of my favorites and with his most stacked cast to date (Timothy Chalamet, Benicio Del Toro, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Elisabeth Moss, etc. etc.) and a trailer that promises his sharpest project to date, it was hard to get news of the films delayed debut. Initially slotted for July, the film has been pushed to October 16th, but if that gives me a better chance of seeing it in theaters and ups the chances of its awards contention (assuming that’s a thing this year), I’m all for it.
The Last Duel
The Last Duel might be the most tenuous release on this list. It’s not even rumored to have finished filming yet, but the unique mix of ingredients for this film has me anxious to see it as soon as possible. The plot is simple: King Charles VI declares that Knight Jean de Carrouges settle his dispute with his squire by challenging him to a duel. But get this: it’s a period piece directed by Ridley Scott, written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, and starring Adam Driver and Jodie Comer. Not kidding.
Depending on where this film is in the filming and/or editing process it could still make the cut by the end of the year, but chances are slim. We can only hope it will grace theaters as soon as humanly possible.
Soul
In the early days of quarantine when I was young and naive and thought we’d only be on lockdown for a few weeks, I thought surely I’d be back in a movie theater by June and I was hoping Soul would be the inaugural movie to see in a theater, but then Pixar announced it would be pushing the release date to November. I was surprise to learn Pixar would be releasing two new original films in 2020, but after watching Onward (my last movie to see in a theater in fact) I was glad they’d have an opportunity to redeem themselves with Soul. I wasn’t a fan. See why in my tweview.
On The Rocks
I’ll freely admit that I’m not head over heels for Lost in Translation. A recent viewing of the movie left me feeling like I couldn’t quite hold on to what Sofia Coppola was trying to say and the ending was an unsatisfying conclusion for a movie about two people searching for something that they can’t ever quite find. That said, I respect Coppola and her style and when news came out that she’d be reuniting with Bill Murray, I was excited to see what they might cook up. There is a respectable working relationship there that I’d like to see more of from a more mature filmmaker.
Their dynamic plus adding Rashida Jones to the mix with a buddy road trip movie premise make me super optimistic about this project. Not too many details have been released through the film was originally anticipated to debut this year. Here’s to hoping!
Palm Springs
Films that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival had the unique advantage of sneaking in movie theater screenings before the pandemic hit. The early festival date (late January) has been viewed as a disadvantage for films that need to maintain visibility all the way through the year until awards season. But in this case, these films may have an opportunity that most films won’t, even if it means being picked up for distribution on streaming services.
Palm Springs is produced by and stars Andy Samberg, which is an exciting prospect and the film was received positively at the festival and was acquired by Hulu. I know this list is dedicated to movie theater releases and not streaming, but rumor has it this film will also debut at drive-in theaters across the country in July. So yeah. I’m going to make that happen.
News of the World
We know a partnership between director Paul Greengrass and Tom Hanks is a good thing because of Captain Phillips, and so I can’t see their new project about a Texan who travels across the wild West bringing the news of the world to local townspeople and rescues a young girl being a bad thing. In fact, it sounds amazing. It might be a big ask to see this movie in theaters since so many movies are getting bumped to the end of this year and this film is still in post-production, but at least we have hope that a movie like this exists.