The Big Picture · Review · Discussion
January 8, 2021/ 63 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda open the new year with a wary countdown of everything they hope actually reaches a screen in 2021, from a Bond movie already delayed once to a Beatles documentary both of them are begging Peter Jackson to release early.
33 films across 22 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
No Time to DieAmanda's first pick - also her most anticipated of 2020
Daniel Craig's last Bond film, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and co-starring Ana de Armas. Then dated for April 2; Amanda has 'serious doubts' it holds, though Sean notes MGM and the Broccoli family badly want it in theaters worldwide.
The 2020 leftoversSean's quick re-ups before his first new pick
Edgar Wright's next film, then dated for April 23.
Chloe Zhao's Marvel film, then a Best Director front-runner for Nomadland; slated for November.
Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel, part one; then dated October 1, with an HBO Max day-and-date question mark still hanging over it.
Kogonada's follow-up to his 2017 film Columbus.
Andrew Dominik's adaptation of the Joyce Carol Oates novel, starring Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe, for Netflix.
Apichatpong Weerasethakul's film for Neon, starring Tilda Swinton.
The Little Things
Denzel Washington plays a retired cop hunting a serial killer who may be played by Jared Leto. Coming to HBO Max January 29; Sean calls for Chris Ryan and Chase Serrano to join the episode for it.
Top Gun: Maverick
Then dated for July 2. Paramount has been selling off other 2020 titles (The Trial of the Chicago 7, The United States vs. Billie Holiday) but is holding onto this one, betting it's the one that makes money.
Judas and the Black Messiah
Shaka King directs, Ryan Coogler produces; a Fred Hampton/Black Panther Party biopic starring Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield. Debuting on HBO Max February 12, a day-and-date release Sean sees as the flip side of Wonder Woman 1984 - a mid-budget awards contender, not a blockbuster, getting the same treatment.
Malcolm and Marie, and the quarantine-movie wave
Written and directed by Sam Levinson, starring John David Washington and Zendaya - one of the first prestige films shot during quarantine. Netflix, February 5. Scott Feinberg's early awards rankings already had it cracking the top 10.
Starring Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor, part of the same lockdown-production wave, on HBO Max within a couple of weeks of this recording.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Then dated March 19. Nicolas Cage plays a fictionalized version of himself hired for $1 million to attend the birthday party of a superfan played by Pedro Pascal.
Deep Water
Adrian Lyne's erotic thriller starring Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, the film where they met. Then dated August 13.
Black Widow
Directed by Cate Shortland, starring Scarlett Johansson with Florence Pugh introduced as a new character. Then dated May 6 - the biggest theatrical release Disney had planned since the pandemic began, with some possible tie-in to WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
The Beatles: Get Backthe shared No. 1 - both hosts' pick
Peter Jackson's documentary built from the Let It Be sessions footage. Both hosts lost their minds over a five-minute clip released two days before Christmas; they compare the reaction to Snyder Cut fandom. Then dated August 27. It ultimately shipped in November 2021 as a 3-part documentary series on Disney+, not a theatrical film - no TMDb movie entry exists for it (a different, unrelated work, The Beatles: Get Back - The Rooftop Concert, came out as its own theatrical film in 2022).
Old
M. Night Shyamalan's next thriller, based on a graphic novel, with no connection to Split, Glass, or Unbreakable per Sean. Cast includes Gael Garcia Bernal, Alexa (Eliza) Scanlen, Thomasin McKenzie, Vicky Krieps, Alex Wolff, Abbey Lee, Rufus Sewell, and Ken Leung. Then dated for Sean's birthday weekend, July 23.
King Richard
Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, starring Will Smith as Richard Williams, father of Serena and Venus Williams. Then expected on HBO Max in November.
The Green Knight
David Lowery's A24 film starring Dev Patel, then dated July 30. Sean calls Lowery's split career - artful A24 films, paycheck Disney adaptations - one for them, one for me.
Death on the Nile
Kenneth Branagh's second Hercule Poirot adaptation, after Murder on the Orient Express. Amanda argues it belongs on a streamer, not in theaters, like the Poirot and Miss Marple TV mysteries it descends from.
Three Thousand Years of Longing
George Miller's first film since Mad Max: Fury Road, starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, made between Fury Road and the prequel Furiosa with the same crew, including cinematographer John Seale.
The French Dispatch
Wes Anderson's next film for Searchlight, undated at the time; Sean's version of Amanda's Black Widow wait, given how long it's been since a live-action Anderson film (Isle of Dogs was animated).
Ridley Scott's double feature
Starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon; Sean calls it a bookend to Scott's first film, The Duellists.
Announced under the working title Gucci, starring Lady Gaga, Jeremy Irons, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, and Al Pacino, set to begin production after The Last Duel wraps. Sean is skeptical both can get made in one year - Scott is 83.
The Card Counter
Paul Schrader's first film since First Reformed, starring Oscar Isaac as a poker player. Production shut down early in the pandemic - Schrader was vocally angry about it online - but resumed and wrapped.
Don't Look Up
Adam McKay's Netflix film, cast at the time including Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Timothee Chalamet, Jonah Hill, and Ariana Grande. Described as a satirical farce about two astronomers trying to warn the world of a planetary threat - DiCaprio's first Netflix film.
The Northman
Robert Eggers' Viking film, reuniting him with Anya Taylor-Joy and Willem Dafoe from The Lighthouse and The Witch. Cast includes Alexander Skarsgard as Amleth, Nicole Kidman as Queen Gudrun, Dafoe as Heimir the Fool, Claes Bang as Fjolnir, and Bjork.
Don't Worry Darling
Olivia Wilde's follow-up to Booksmart, added at the last minute after news broke of Wilde and star Harry Styles' relationship.
Honorable mentions45 movies named on one episode, per Sean's count. Also flagged: a Karyn Kusama-directed Dracula adaptation, and an untitled next film from Jonathan Glazer (Birth, Under the Skin, Sexy Beast), neither with enough detail to list as a standalone pick.
Steven Soderbergh's HBO Max film; he began production September 28 and had a screening by November 14 - six weeks. Cast includes Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, Amy Seimetz, Jon Hamm, Ray Liotta, Kieran Culkin, Brendan Fraser, Bill Duke, Frankie Shaw, Julia Fox, and Matt Damon. Set in 1955 Detroit, about small-time criminals hired to steal a document whose plan goes wrong.
Henry Selick's long-in-production stop-motion film for Netflix, voiced by Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key.
Starring Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield, then expected in the spring.
Taika Waititi's next movie.
Guillermo del Toro's next movie.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing One Night in MiamiMinariThe FatherZolaSoulWonder Woman 1984The Trial of the Chicago 7The United States vs. Billie HolidayYesterdaySongbirdHostTriple FrontierLet It BeEmbrace of the Vampire
Directors' back catalogs ColumbusUncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past LivesThe Grand Budapest HotelIsle of DogsBooksmartThe DuellistsAll the Money in the WorldBlade RunnerKingdom of HeavenFirst ReformedThe LighthouseThe WitchMad Max: Fury RoadThe Nightmare Before ChristmasMurder on the Orient ExpressSplitGlassUnbreakable
Also anticipated Minions: The Rise of Gru
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV AnimaniacsWandaVisionThe Falcon and the Winter SoldierMidsomer MurdersTigerIndustry
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