If you’re wondering when the biggest Blockbusters will eventually be released – then look no further than here. We’ve rounded up some of the most anticipated films of this year and the next, along with their (ever-changing) release dates and trailers. 

We’re regularly updating this article with all the film delays that are so far confirmed, and we expect movie release dates to be pushed back as the weeks continue. If you’d like a full breakdown of this, check out our article on
every movie delayed because of coronavirus. 

Cruella

Cruella release date: 28 May 2021

Starring: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Emily Beecham, Dev Patel

Disney is continuing to plough on with the live-action remakes, and next on the list is an origin story of the villain on 101 Dalmatians – Cruella de Vil. Set in 1970s London, the film follows young aspiring designer Estella. When she catches the Eye of renowned fashion icon Baroness von Hellman, she goes down a wicked path that shapes the cruel woman she will become. 

A Quiet Place Part 2

A Quiet Place Part 2 release date: 28 May 2021

Starring: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe

The sequel to the horror hit A Quiet Place is coming this year. The Abbot Family may have survived the horrors of the last film, but that was just the beginning. Now they must navigate the outside world, and fight against the creatures that lie beyond the sand path. Prepare for a few hours of minimal dialogue, but maximum suspense. 

In the Heights

In the Heights release date: 18 June 2021

Starring: Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace

Lin Manual Miranda is best known for the musical Hamilton, but before that he wrote In the Heights, which has now been adapted for the big screen (and small, as it will simultaneously release on HBO Max). In the Heights follows a bodega owner who has mixed feelings about closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic after inheriting his grandmother’s fortune.

F9

F9 release date: 25 June 2021

Starring: Vin Diesel, John Cena, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson

Nothing can see to stop the Fast Furious saga – not even a global pandemic –  with the ninth film following up from 2017’s The Fate of the Furious being delayed until next year. This title will introduce Dominic Toretto’s younger brother Jakob (John Cena), an assassin who has been hired by an old foe – Cipher. Dwayne Johnson will unfortunately not be appearing in this film due to scheduling conflicts. 

Top Gun: Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick release date: 2 July 2021

Starring: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller

Tom Cruise is back in one of his biggest roles ever as he returns to the cockpit that made him a star. He’ll be playing with the boys once again in Top Gun: Maverick, as he switches roles and becomes an instructor. Complicating matters is that one of his students is none other than the son of the late Goose – played here by the always brilliant Miles Teller. Trailers so far suggest the aerial stunts will be jawdropping, but can the film recapture the rest of that ’80s magic?

Black Widow

Black Widow release date: 9 July 2021

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Rachel Weisz, Florence Pugh, David Harbour

Black Widow is the first standalone film for avenger Natasha Romonov. Set between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow is on the run for not obeying the Sokovia Accords and assisting Steve Rogers, whilst dealing with a ghost from her past – Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (played by David Harbour). This film will be released both in cinemas and via Disney Plus Premiere Access. 

The Suicide Squad 

The Suicide Squad release date: 6 August 2021

Starring: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena

Alright, the first Suicide Squad didn’t exactly live up to the hype. However, we still have high hopes for the follow-up. Not only is it directed by the mind behind Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn, it also features a stellar cast line-up of old and new faces. Convicts from Task Force X are sent on a mission to destroy a Nazi-era prison and laboratory. 

Candyman

Candyman release date: 27 August 2021

Starring: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

Producer Jordan Peele and director Nia DaCosta stood in front of a mirror and chanted ‘Candyman’ five times to bring this venerable horror franchise back to life, but it looks like we’ll be glad they took the risk. Peele’s own Get Out and
Us look like strong influences, but this will likely be a much more outright horror flick, with gore aplenty. And apparently loads and loads of bees.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings release date: 3 September 2021 

Starring: Simu Liu, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Awkwafina

The MCU is expanding once again, and this film will be the first in the series starring an Asian-American hero as the lead. Shang-Chi is known as ‘The Master of Kung-Fu’, and will be going head-to-head with the REAL Mandarin (not Ben Kingsley’s version as seen in Iron Man 3) and the terrorist group, the Ten Rings.

Dune

Dune release date: 1 October 2021

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Issac, Josh Brolin, Zendaya

There’s a lot of hype for Dune, the first part of a two-half adaptation of the 1965 novel of the same name by Frank Herbert. This sci-fi epic follows a son from a noble family who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the galaxy to ensure the safety of his family and people by sourcing and protecting a valuable asset that affects human life greatly. It’s got an all-star cast, and if done right could be the next big series in Science Fiction. 

The Eternals

The Eternals release date – 5 November 2021 

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Kit Harington

A new area of the Marvel Comics will be explored with The Eternals. This film will follow a race of immortal aliens created by the Celestials, who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years. Following Avengers: Endgame, a tragic turn of events brings them out of hiding to fight against an ancient enemy called the Deviants.

No Time to Die

No Time to Die release date: 8 October 2021

Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Rami Malek

We’ve all been waiting for Bond 25 since Spectre, which was a whopping five years ago. Bond has left the service and has retired to Jamaica, but is dragged back into action when an old friend shows up asking for help. Craig’s films tend to go up and down, but as this is his last film we’re hoping that it will finish his run on a high. 

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Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Ghostbusters: Afterlife release date: 12 November 2021

Starring: Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard

Paul Feig’s female-led reboot may have flopped pretty hard, but Sony isn’t giving up the ghost just yet. It’s recruited writer/director Jason Reitman – son of the original creator Ivan Reitman, and acclaimed filmmaker in his own right – to reboot the reboot and instead make a sequel with a new cast, new threat, and a few familiar faces making cameo appearances.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Spider-Man: No Way Home release date: 17 December 2021

Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jamie Foxx

Tom Holland’s MCU Spider-Man is back for a third instalment, and the film is gearing up for something big. At the end of Far From Home, Spidey’s identity was compromised by a very familiar face – so it looks like someone is out to get Peter Parker. In addition, several actors from previous films have been tipped to reprise their roles, including Alfred Molina as Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus and Jamie Foxx as Electro. It looks as if Spidey will exploring the multiverse in the MCU…

The King’s Man

The King’s Man release date: 22 December 2021

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans 

The King’s Man is actually the third film in the Kingsman series, but this time it’s an origin story about how the spies came to be – which means a brand new star-studded cast, lead by Raph Fiennes. This British action flick was meant to hit cinemas in 2020 but has now been pushed back. 

Matrix 4

The Matrix 4 release date: 22 December 2021

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Jonathan Groff, Carrie-Anne Moss 

It’s been a good few years since we last saw a Matrix film, but Neo and the gang (well some of them) are back for some more mind-bending and gravity-defying action. We don’t know a lot about the plot yet – and considering that the last Matrix left things on a pretty final note, we’re not sure how the story shall continue. In addition, Hugo Weaving – the actor who played Mr Smith – is not in the movie. Therefore, we may have a new villain on our hands. 

Morbius

Morbius release date: 21 January 2022

Starring: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona 

Jared Leto has traded DC for Marvel – playing the role of the antihero Morbius, who has vampire bat-like powers (oh the irony). This film is only in association with Marvel, so it’s similar to Tom Hardy’s Venom. However, whether or not this film ties into Spider-Man’s story is up in the air (what with the whole Disney-Sony drama), as Michael Keaton appears at the end of the trailer. However, we aren’t sure if he’s playing the Vulture. Only time will tell. 

The French Dispatch

The French Dispatch release date: 28 January 2021

Starring: Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton

Wes Anderson is back with another comedy-cum-drama epic. The French Dispatch is set in a fictional French city in the 20th century, following three separate storylines. Inspired by the director’s love of The New Yorker, it will act as a love letter to journalists who work at an American outpost. There’s also appearances from the likes of Bill Murray and Owen Wilson.

The Batman

The Batman release date: 4 March 2022

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Andy Serkis, Colin Farrell 

This may be a while off yet, but since we have a first look at the new Batman, we couldn’t not include it. Taking place in the DCEU, this will be a reboot of the Batman franchise following Ben Affleck stepping down from the role. It will follow a younger Batman who isn’t yet an experienced superhero, and include numerous familiar DC icons such as Catwoman, Riddler and Penguin. 

The Flash

The Flash release date: 4 November 2022

Starring: Ezra Miller, Kiersey Clemons, Billy Crudup

Another DC character to get a standalone movie will be The Flash. Plot details are still very limited at the moment – which is no wonder considering that the film is two years away. However, we know that Andy Muschietti will be directing the flick, which is good news considering that the film has struggled with several directors leaving the project. 

From an artistic perspective, 2021 has been an excellent cinematic vintage, yet the bounty is shadowed by an air of doom. The reopening of theatres has brought many great movies—some of which were postponed from last year—to the big screen, but fewer people to see them. The biggest successes, as usual, have been superhero and franchise films. “The French Dispatch” has done respectably in wide release, and “Licorice Pizza” is doing superbly on four screens in New York and Los Angeles, but few, if any, of the year’s best films are likely to reach high on the box-office charts. The shift toward streaming was already under way when the pandemic struck, and as the trend has accelerated it’s had a paradoxical effect on movies. On the one hand, a streaming release is a wide release, happily accessible to all (or to all subscribers). On the other, an online release usually registers as a nonevent, and many of the great movies hardly make a blip on the mediascape despite being more accessible than ever.

2021 in Review

New Yorker writers reflect on the year’s highs and lows.

When tracking the fortunes of ambitious movies, it’s important to keep an eye on the spread—not, as in sports betting, the handicap of numbers but the aesthetic spread that separates the most original films of the day from prevailing commercial norms. The past two decades have been a time of peaceful revolution in the movies. Established auteurs, from Spike Lee to Martin Scorsese, have found liberation through the rise of independent producers, and ultra-low-budget outsider independents—including Greta Gerwig, Barry Jenkins, the Safdie brothers, Joe Swanberg, the late Lynn Shelton, and others in their orbits —have broken through to the mainstream and shifted the very core of commercial cinema. (Among the marks of the narrowed spread are the overwhelming success of such distinctive movies as “Moonlight,” “Us,” and “Little Women,” and the franchise stardom of Adam Driver.) But these shifts have led to an industry snapback—a reconquest and occupation of studio terrain. The hiring of Terence Nance to direct “Space Jam 2” was a welcome sign of progress; his departure from the project, in July of 2019 (reportedly because of creative differences), was a sign that the winds of Hollywood were pushing back to familiar shores. (The movie, titled “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” came out in July; it isn’t good, but it’s high on the year’s box-office chart.) The double whammy of overproduced mega-spectacles in theatres and audiovisual snackables at home is a sign that, even if theatrical viewing bounces back, movies’ place in the market is likely to be even more tenuous.

In one sense, this pattern is as old as the movies themselves: for every advance, there’s a reaction. In the earliest years of Hollywood, a century ago, a star-driven system gave way to a director-driven one, which studio executives then quickly clamped down on. What emerged was a top-down system that, ever since, has seemed, absurdly, like a natural and ineluctable state of the art. More recently, in the seventies, filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas came along to devise a new pop conservatism, rooted in television and nostalgia, that quickly pushed the most forward-looking of their New Hollywood peers toward the industry’s margins. The lesson is that there is nothing natural, inevitable, or immutable about the Hollywood way of doing things—neither the methods of production nor the dictates of style and form that result. (The absence of a unified and centralized documentary system is why nonfiction, as reflected in this year’s list, has continued its aesthetic expansion uninhibitedly.)

Even before the pandemic, it was becoming tougher for artistically ambitious, low-budget features to get any theatrical release, let alone achieve commercial viability. (Several of the best independent films that I’ve seen in recent years remain unreleased to this day.) But the economics of streaming services present their own peculiar challenges. With theatrical releases, viewers don’t pay for a ticket unless they want to see a movie. Streaming subscriptions, in effect, amount to paying in advance for movies before they are available, which means that platforms have an incentive to deliver the familiar—whether narrowly formatted star-and-genre movies or films by name-brand auteurs, who can easily draw interest. And the widening spread between the most profitable movies and the most original filmmakers risks putting pressure on directors to soften or suppress their most original inspirations, or to filter them into formats, genres, or systems that resist or counteract them.

There’s a danger worse than the studios and their overproduced, over-budgeted methods: a debilitated Hollywood that would relinquish its filmmaking dominance to an even smaller number of giant streaming services. Netflix and Amazon (and, to a lesser extent, Apple TV+) have done respectable jobs of producing and releasing artistically worthy movies, including some that are high on my list. They do it so that they can compete, as players rather than disrupters, with studios and major independent producers for prestigious artists and projects. But if theatrical viewing continues to shrink, taking with it the studios’ preëminence and turning independent producers and distributors into dependent husks, the big streaming services will have much less incentive to finance movies of any significant artistic ambition.

The economics of any individual movie are irrelevant to the progress of the art form; the pantheon of classics has no connection to the industry’s treasury. Yet the careers of filmmakers are inseparable from their ability to secure access to financing, and the history of cinema is a graveyard of unrealized projects that should serve as a cautionary tale against the squandering of worthy talent. Young filmmakers working outside the system and with scant expectations of getting in are the future of the cinema, which is an art form that doesn’t know what it needs until it gets it. The art advances through a generational takeover—which can happen only when movies seem worth taking over at all. As an avid moviegoer wary of the threat of contagion, I go to theatres cautiously, with careful attention to screenings where there are large numbers of empty seats around me. Yet each empty seat bodes ominously for the future of feature filmmaking over all. The cinema has weathered crises of many sorts, economic and political, but if movies themselves hold any lesson, a rebirth is as likely to resemble a zombie as a phoenix.

A note on this list: for last year’s picks, when releases were in flux because of the pandemic, I included movies that were available to stream through festivals and special series. Several of those films have had official releases in 2021, and I’ve included them again, to retain (or restore) adherence to the traditional calendar.

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Wes Anderson’s wildly comedic, yet fiercely serious, adaptation of stories and personalities from the classic age of The New Yorker unleashes a self-surpassing torrent of dramatic and decorative complexity, philosophical power, and physical intensity. It’s an extraordinary film of the life of the mind-body connection, of history in the present tense.

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What Paul Thomas Anderson lays out as a pugnaciously romantic coming-of-age story for a teen-age actor and a hectic trip of self-discovery for a twentysomething dreamer, set in the San Fernando Valley of the early seventies, turns wondrously and gleefully into his version of “Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood”—and a vastly superior one at that, owing to the wide-ranging scope of his tenderness, skepticism, humor, and insight.

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Official theatrical release schedule for all upcoming films in the year 2021. We tediously check and update this list to make sure the dates are 100% accurate. We also list both wide and limited release dates to the best of our abilities. If you find any discrepancies or missing films, let us know.

• Google Calendar of Only Wide Releases: HTML | iCAL

2020  |  2021  |  2022

Bold = Nationwide Release (Non-Bold = Limited or Streaming)

 

Release dates subject to change. Click each title for project info / to view a trailer (if available).

January 2021

January 1 (Friday)

Shadow in the Cloud (VOD)

January 7 (Thursday)

Pieces of a Woman (Netflix)

January 8 (Friday)

Herself (Amazon)
The Reason I Jump (Theaters)

January 14 (Thursday)

Locked Down (HBO Max)

January 15 (Friday)

The Marksman
Acasa, My Home (Theaters)
American Skin (VOD)
The Dig (Theaters)
MLK/FBI (Theaters + VOD)
One Night in Miami (Amazon)
Outside the Wire (Netflix)
Some Kind of Heaven (Theaters + VOD)

January 22 (Friday)

Derek DelGaudio’s In Of Itself (Hulu)
The Human Factor (Theaters)
No Man’s Land (Theaters + VOD)
Notturno (Theaters)
Our Friend (Theaters + VOD)
True Mothers (Theaters)
The White Tiger (Netflix)

January 27 (Wednesday)

Penguin Bloom (Netflix)

January 28 (Thursday)

Sundance Film Festival (until February 3)

January 29 (Friday)

The Little Things (Theaters + HBO Max)
Saint Maud (Theaters)
The Dig (Netflix)
A Man and His Trumpet (VOD)
The Night (Theaters + VOD)
Nomadland (IMAX Only)
Palmer (Apple TV+)
Supernova (Theaters + VOD)

February 2021

February 3 (Wednesday)

Earwig and the Witch (Theaters + HBO Max)

February 5 (Friday)

Bliss (Amazon)
Falling (Theaters + VOD)
A Glitch in the Matrix (Theaters + VOD)
Little Fish (Theaters + VOD)
Malcolm Marie (Netflix)
The Mimic (Theaters + VOD)
Rams (Theaters + VOD)
Space Sweepers (Netflix)
The Wanting Mare (Theaters + VOD)

February 12 (Friday)

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (VOD)
Judas and the Black Messiah (Theaters + HBO Max)
Land (Theaters)
The Mauritanian (Theaters)
Minari (Theaters)
Breaking News in Yuba County (Theaters + VOD)
French Exit (Theaters)
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (Amazon)
Me You Madness (VOD)
Willy’s Wonderland (VOD)
The World To Come (Theaters)

February 19 (Friday)

Nomadland (Theaters + Hulu)
Blithe Spirit (Theaters + VOD)
Body Brokers (Theaters + VOD)
I Care a Lot (Netflix)
Jumbo (Theaters)
Silk Road (Theaters + VOD)

February 26 (Friday)

Tom Jerry (Theaters + HBO Max)
The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu)
Cherry (Theaters)
Crisis (Theaters)
The Father (Theaters)
My Zoe (Theaters + VOD)
Night of the Kings (Theaters)
The Vigil (Theaters + VOD)

March 2021

March 4 (Thursday)

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (VOD + paramount+)

March 5 (Friday)

Boogie (Theaters)
Chaos Walking (Theaters)
Coming 2 America (Amazon)
Raya and the Last Dragon (Disney+)
Boss Level (Hulu)
My Salinger Year (Theaters)
Pixie (Theaters + VOD)
Son (Theaters + VOD)
Stray (Theaters + VOD)
The Truffle Hunters (Theaters)

March 12 (Friday)

Cherry (Apple TV+)
Come True (Theaters + VOD)
Honeydew (Theaters)
The Human Voice (Theaters)
Long Weekend (Theaters)
Yes Day (Netflix)

March 18 (Thursday)

Zack Snyder’s Justice League (HBO Max)

March 19 (Friday)

The Courier (Theaters)
Last Call (Theaters + VOD)

March 26 (Friday)

Nobody (Theaters)
Bad Trip (Netflix)
The Father (PVOD)
Shoplifters of the World (Theaters + VOD)
Six Minutes to Midnight (Theaters)
Tina (HBO Max)

March 31 (Wednesday)

Godzilla vs. Kong (Theaters + HBO Max)

April 2021

April 2 (Friday)

French Exit (Theaters)
The Unholy (Theaters)
Concrete Cowboy (Netflix)
The Man Who Sold His Skin (Theaters)
Shiva Baby (Theaters + VOD)

April 9 (Friday)

Voyagers (Nationwide)
Held (Theaters + VOD)
Moffie (Theaters + VOD)
Thunder Force (Netflix)
The Tunnel (Theaters + VOD)
We Don’t Deserve Dogs (VOD)

April 16 (Friday)

Gunda (Theaters)
In the Earth (Theaters)
Jakob’s Wife (Theaters + VOD)
Monday (Theaters + VOD)
Trigger Point (Theaters)
We Broke Up (VOD)

April 22 (Thursday)

Stowaway (Netflix)

April 23 (Friday)

Mortal Kombat (Theaters + HBO Max)
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street (Theaters)
Together Together (Theaters)
Vanquish (VOD)

April 30 (Friday)

The Mitchells vs. the Machines (Netflix)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (Theaters)
Cliff Walkers (Theaters)
Limbo (Theaters)
Percy vs Goliath (Theaters)
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Re-Release)
Separation (Theaters)
Things Heard Seen (Netflix)
Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse (Amazon)

 

Summer 2021

May 2021

May 7 (Friday)

Here Today (Theaters)
The Human Factor (Theaters)
Wrath of Man (Nationwide)
The Boy from Medellín (Amazon)
The Columnist (VOD)
Initiation (Theaters + VOD)
Mainstream (Theaters)
Monster (Netflix)
The Paper Tigers (Theaters + VOD)
Silo (Theaters)
The Water Man (Theaters)

May 12 (Wednesday)

Oxygen (Netflix)

May 14 (Friday)

Finding You (Theaters)
Spiral: From The Book of Saw (Theaters)
Those Who Wish Me Dead (Theaters + HBO Max)
The Woman in the Window (Netflix)
Army of the Dead (Theaters)
The Djinn (Theaters)
High Ground (VOD)
The Killing of Two Lovers (Theaters)
The Perfect Candidate (Theaters)
Profile (Theaters + VOD)
Riders of Justice (Theaters + VOD)
Us Kids (Theaters)

May 21 (Friday)

Army of the Dead (Netflix)
Blast Beat (Theaters)
Dream Horse (Theaters)
The Dry (Theaters)
Final Account (Theaters)
New Order (Theaters)
P!nk: All I Know So Far (Amazon)
Seance (Theaters + VOD)

May 28 (Friday)

Cruella (Theaters + Disney+)
A Quiet Place Part II (Nationwide)
Blue Miracle (Netflix)
Endangered Species (Theaters + VOD)
Moby Doc (Theaters + VOD)
Plan B (Hulu)
Port Authority (Theaters + VOD)
Shepherd: The Story of a Jewish Dog (Theaters)
Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue (Theaters)

June 2021

June 3 (Thursday)

Tove (Theaters)

June 4 (Friday)

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (Theaters + HBO Max)
Spirit Untamed (Nationwide)
All Light, Everywhere (Theaters)
Edge of the World (VOD)
Super Frenchie (Theaters + VOD)
Under the Stadium Lights (Theaters + VOD)
Undine (Theaters)

June 9 (Wednesday)

Awake (Netflix)

June 10 (Thursday)

Infinite (paramount+)

June 11 (Friday)

In the Heights (Theaters + HBO Max)
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway
Akilla’s Escape (Theaters + VOD)
Censor (Theaters)
Holler (Theaters + VOD)
The Misfits (Theaters)
Occupation: Rainfall (Theaters + VOD)
Queen Bees (Theaters)
Skater Girl (Netflix)

June 16 (Wednesday)

The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard

June 18 (Friday)

Fatherhood (Netflix)
Pixar’s Luca (Disney+)
Gaia (Theaters)
Miss Juneteenth (Theaters)
The Sparks Brothers (Theaters)
Sweat (Theaters)

June 23 (Wednesday)

Good on Paper (Netflix)

June 25 (Friday)

F9
I Carry You with Me (Theaters)
The Ice Road (Netflix)
False Positive (Hulu)
Lansky (Theaters + VOD)
Rebel Hearts (Theaters + Discovery+)
Truman Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation (Theaters)
Werewolves Within (Theaters)

June 30 (Wednesday)

America: The Motion Picture (Netflix)
Zola (Theaters)

July 2021

July 1 (Thursday)

No Sudden Move (HBO Max)

July 2 (Friday)

The Boss Baby: Family Business
The Forever Purge
The Tomorrow War (Amazon)
Fear Street Part One: 1994 (Netflix)
First Date (Theaters + VOD)
The God Committee (Theaters + VOD)
Summer of Soul (Theaters + Hulu)
Till Death (Theaters + VOD)

July 6 (Tuesday)

Cannes Film Festival (until July 17)

July 9 (Friday)

Marvel’s Black Widow (Theaters + Disney+)
Fear Street Part Two: 1978 (Netflix)
The Loneliest Whale (Theaters)
Summertime (Theaters)

July 14 (Wednesday)

Gunpowder Milkshake (Netflix)

July 16 (Friday)

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
Space Jam: A New Legacy (Theaters + HBO Max)
Die in a Gunfight (Theaters)
Fear Street Part Three: 1666 (Netflix)
The Hidden Life of Trees (Theaters)
Mama Weed (Theaters)
Pig (Theaters)
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (Theaters)

July 23 (Friday)

Old
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins
Ailey (Theaters)
Blood Red Sky (Netflix)
Joe Bell (Theaters)
Jolt (Amazon)
The Last Letter From Your Lover (Netflix)
Mandibles (Theaters)
Playing with Sharks (Disney+)
Settlers (Theaters + VOD)
Val (Theaters)

July 30 (Friday)

The Green Knight
Jungle Cruise (Theaters + Disney+)
Stillwater
Enemies of the State (Theaters + VOD)
The Exchange (Theaters + VOD)
Never Gonna Snow Again (Theaters)
Nine Days (Theaters)
Sabaya (Theaters)

August 2021

August 6 (Friday)

The Suicide Squad
Vivo (Netflix)
Annette (Theaters)
Bring Your Own Brigade (Theaters)
John and the Hole (Theaters + VOD)
Swan Song (Theaters)
Val (Amazon)
Whirlybird (Theaters)

August 12 (Thursday)

Homeroom (Theaters + Hulu)

August 13 (Friday)

Don’t Breathe 2
Free Guy
Respect
Beckett (Netflix)
CODA (Theaters + Apple TV+)
The East (Theaters)
Ema (Theaters)
The Lost Leonardo (Theaters)
Naked Singularity (Theaters + VOD)

August 20 (Friday)

PAW Patrol: The Movie
The Protégé
Reminiscence (Theaters + HBO Max)
Annette (Amazon)
Cryptozoo (Theaters)
Demonic (Theaters)
Flag Day (Theaters)
Last Man Standing (Theaters + VOD)
The Night House (Theaters)
Sweet Girl (Netflix)
Wildland (Theaters)

August 25 (Wednesday)

Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal Greed (Netflix)

August 27 (Friday)

Candyman
The Colony (Theaters + VOD)
Together (Theaters)

September 2021

September 3 (Friday)

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Cinderella (Amazon)
The Big Scary ‘S’ Word (Theaters + VOD)
The Gateway (Theaters + VOD)
Mogul Mowgli (Theaters + VOD)
We Need to Do Something (Theaters + VOD)
Wild Indian (Theaters + VOD)
Worth (Netflix)
Yakuza Princess (Theaters + VOD)
Zone 414 (Theaters + VOD)

September 10 (Friday)

Malignant
Queenpins
The Alpinist (Theaters)
The Capote Tapes (Theaters)
The Card Counter (Theaters)
Fauci (Theaters)
Kate (Netflix)
Language Lessons (Theaters)

September 15 (Wednesday)

Nightbooks (Netflix)
Schumacher (Netflix)

September 17 (Friday)

Cry Macho
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (Amazon)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Best Sellers (Theaters + VOD)
Blue Bayou (Theaters)
Copshop (Theaters)
Lady of the Manor (Theaters + VOD)
Little Girl (Theaters)
The Nowhere Inn (Theaters + VOD)
Prisoners of the Ghostland (Theaters)

September 24 (Friday)

Dear Evan Hansen
Birds of Paradise (Theaters)
The Guilty (Theaters)
I’m Your Man (Theaters)
The Starling (Theaters)

October 2021

October 1 (Friday)

The Addams Family 2
The Many Saints of Newark
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Blush (Apple TV+)
Coming Home in the Dark (Theaters)
The Guilty (Netflix)
Mayday (Theaters + VOD)
Old Henry (Theaters)
Titane (Theaters)

October 6 (Wednesday)

V/H/S/94 (Shudder)

October 8 (Friday)

No Time To Die
Detention (Theaters)
Knocking (Theaters)
Lamb (Theaters)
Mass (Theaters)
The Rescue (Theaters)

October 15 (Friday)

Halloween Kills
The Last Duel
Bergman Island (Theaters)
Hard Luck Love Song (Theaters)
Luzzu (Theaters)
Needle in a Timestack (Theaters + VOD)
Son of Monarchs (Theaters)
The Velvet Underground (Theaters + Apple TV+)

October 22 (Friday)

Dune
Ron’s Gone Wrong
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (Theaters)
The French Dispatch (Theaters)
The Harder They Fall (Theaters)

October 29 (Friday)

Last Night in Soho
13 Minutes (Theaters)
Antlers (Theaters)
Army of Thieves (Netflix)
A Mouthful of Air (Theaters)
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin (paramount+)
The Souvenir: Part II (Theaters)
The Spine of Night (Theaters + VOD)
Violet (Theaters)

November 2021

November 3 (Wednesday)

The Harder They Fall (Netflix)

November 5 (Friday)

Marvel’s Eternals
The Beta Test (Theaters + VOD)
Finch (Apple TV+)
Hive (Theaters)
Mark, Mary Some Other People (VOD)
One Shot (Theaters + VOD)
Spencer (Theaters)

November 10 (Wednesday)

Clifford the Big Red Dog
Passing (Theaters + Netflix)

November 11 (Thursday)

7 Prisoners (Netflix)
Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago (Theaters)

November 12 (Friday)

Belfast
Home Sweet Home Alone (Disney+)
Red Notice (Netflix)
Julia (Theaters)
Mayor Pete (Amazon)
tick, tick…Boom! (Theaters)

November 17 (Wednesday)

The Power of the Dog (Theaters)

November 19 (Friday)

Ghostbusters: Afterlife
King Richard
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (Theaters)
Boiling Point (Theaters + VOD)
C’mon C’mon (Theaters)
The Feast (Theaters + VOD)
The First Wave (Theaters)
Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time (Theaters + VOD)
Procession (Netflix)
The Real Charlie Chaplin (Theaters)
tick, tick…Boom! (Netflix)
Zeros and Ones (Theaters + VOD)

November 24 (Wednesday)

Encanto
House of Gucci
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
8-Bit Christmas (HBO Max)
Bruised (Netflix)
Drive My Car (Theaters)
The Humans (Theaters)

November 25 (Thursday – Thanksgiving)

The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+)
DMX: Don’t Try to Understand (HBO Max)

November 26 (Friday)

A Castle for Christmas (Netflix)
Licorice Pizza (Theaters)
‘Twas the Fight Before Christmas (Apple TV+)
Writing with Fire (Theaters)

December 2021

December 1 (Wednesday)

The Power of the Dog (Netflix)

December 2 (Thursday)

Listening to Kenny G (HBO Max)

December 3 (Friday)

Wolf
Benedetta (Theaters)
Citizen Ashe (Theaters)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Disney+)
Flee (Theaters)
The Scary of Sixty-First (Theaters)
Silent Night (Theaters + AMC+)
Try Harder! (Theaters)

December 9 (Thursday)

Mr. Saturday Night (HBO Max)

December 10 (Friday)

National Champions
West Side Story
Back to the Outback (Netflix)
Being the Ricardos (Theaters)
Don’t Look Up (Theaters)
Encounter (Amazon)
France (Theaters)
The Green Knight (Re-Release)
The Last Son (Theaters)
Red Rocket (Theaters)
The Unforgivable (Netflix)

December 15 (Wednesday)

Rumble (paramount+)
The Hand of God (Netflix)
Minimata (Theaters)

December 16 (Thursday)

Juice WRLD: Into the Abyss (HBO Max)

December 17 (Friday)

Nightmare Alley
Spider-Man: No Way Home
The Lost Daughter (Theaters)
Mother/Android (Hulu)
The Novice (Theaters + VOD)
Swan Song (Theaters + Apple TV+)

December 22 (Wednesday)

The King’s Man
The Matrix Resurrections
Sing 2
The Tender Bar

December 24 (Friday)

Don’t Look Up (Netflix)
Parallel Mothers (Theaters)

December 25 (Saturday – Christmas Day)

American Underdog
A Journal for Jordan
Licorice Pizza (Expands)
The Tragedy of Macbeth (Theaters)

December 29 (Wednesday)

Jockey (Theaters)

December 31 (Friday)

The Lost Daughter (Netflix)

‹  2020 Release Schedule  |  2022 Release Schedule  ›

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Disney+

Apple TV

Watch Encanto with a subscription on Disney+, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Apple TV

Rent Spider-Man: No Way Home on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

(Photo by Macall Polay/©Warner Bros.)

Rotten Tomatoes is collecting every new Certified Fresh movie into one list, creating our guide to the best movies of 2021. Among them you’ll find Blockbusters (Shang-Chi), documentaries (Lily Topples the World), awards contenders (The Green Knight), the cutting-edge in horror (The Night House).

Movies achieve Certified Fresh status by maintaining a steady Tomatometer score of at least 75% after a minimum number of reviews, with that number depending on how the movie was released. For wide releases (of which there were significantly fewer this year, as you can imagine), the minimum number of reviews is 80. For streaming or limited release movies, that number is 40. And finally, it’s 20 reviews for movies premiering on television. Across all release types, each movie needs at least five of its reviews to be published by Top Critics. Once a movie goes Certified Fresh, the only way to lose it is by dropping below 70%.

After the world-altering year of 2020, critics and audiences and studio heads alike are navigating 2021 with its evolving distribution models and industry standards. So far, streaming continues to deliver the goods straight to the people while theaters have now reopened in earnest, and are delivering some big hits (Free Guy, Black Widow, and yes, Shang-Chi).

Read on for the best movies of 2021, ranked by Tomatometer! (And check out the current best movies of 2022, or explore other years with our guides on 2020, 2019, and 2018.) —Alex Vo

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Based on the best-selling videogame, this all-star action-adventure follows a ragtag team of misfits on a mission to save a missing girl who holds the key to unimaginable power.Based on the best-selling videogame, this all-star action-adventure follows a ragtag team of misfits on a mission to save a missing girl who holds the key to unimaginable power.Based on the best-selling videogame, this all-star action-adventure follows a ragtag team of misfits on a mission to save a missing girl who holds the key to unimaginable power.

As we head into the final days of the 21/22awards season we can safely say that no matter what happens next Sunday chaos will likely reign. Many precursor events have left us scratching our heads (CODA wins SAG? Don’t Look Up takes the WGA over Licorice Pizza, Attica beats Summer of Soul at the DGA’s) and with The Academy membership looking vastly different than it did just five years ago we may be on the cusp of a whole new playbook in terms of prognosticating. Many of the old rules are being re-writing or even thrown out the window as the voting bodies diverge and streaming further shapes the industry. Though some may lament the unpredictability of an Oscar season like this, (Kristen Stewart’s nom, Gaga’s Snub, CODA’s rise, or the collapse of Belfast, and maybe The Power of the Dog pulling a Roma – how?) we for our part are reveling in it.

There is technically still time left in the season as AMPAS voting concludes tomorrow but we are sitting on just about as much information we expect to gleam before Sunday. Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog still tops our Awards Leaderboard by a comfortable margin but recent gaffes by the director and surprising losses at the BAFTA‘s and PGA’s are highlighting the film’s weaknesses, especially with older Academy voters. Still, with over 30 Best Picture wins it is hard to say if anyone else could top that kind of momentum.  The best chance for an upset would be for Apple’s first major film acquisition the upstart sound to be frontrunner CODA. The film debuted at the Sundance and despite a rather tepid release, the feel-good family flick about an aspiring singer from a deaf family has captured the hearts of voters just at the right time. Will that be enough to win it all? We find out on Sunday. Check back here for our final Oscar predictions later this week but in the meantime, you watch our video on how to win your Oscar Ballot.

Read on to find out where your favorite movies stand, and let us know what you think in the comments. 

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1 win

• LVFCS: Best Action Movie

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1 win

• WFCC: Best Documentary About Women

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1 win

• StLCA: Best Horror Film

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1 win

• IFJ: Best Actor

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1 win

• LAFCA: Best Production Design

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1 win

• LAFCA: Best Film in Foreign Language

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1 win

• IFCS: Underrated film

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1 win

• NTFCA: Best Foreign Language

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1 win

• SDFCS: Best Animated Film

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1 win

• GOTHAM: Best Lead Performer

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1 win 

• TGL: Best Indie Film

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1 win 

• TGL: Best Actress

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Thumbnail image by 20th Century Pictures

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