Nearly every big Hollywood movie coming out in 2019 is either a reboot or a sequel. While I desperately wish that the entertainment industry would be more original, this year will definitely bring an abundance of good movies. Just not original ones.
“Glass”
In this thriller, released Jan. 18, director M. Night Shyamalan is bringing together two of his most famous stories: “Unbreakable” and “Split.” The cast of both original films will come together to face a mysterious superhuman figure known as The Beast.
“Toy Story 4”
The fourth installment of the classic animated Pixar series is coming on June 21. While no trailer has been released yet, we do have pictures of new characters being introduced, including a stuffed rabbit, a duck and a spork.
“Aladdin”
The trend in 2019 is certainly to make reboots and live-action remakes instead of writing original stories, and Disney is certainly on board. While it does feel unnecessary to turn every single classic animated film into a live-action movie, it will be interesting to see how the story transfers over when they redo it without animation. Although the sneak peak of Will Smith as Genie makes me violently uncomfortable.
“The Lion King”
The star-studded cast has caught the attention of many since its announcement last year. With Beyonce, Donald Glover, James Earl Jones, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Eric Andre and Keegan-Michael Key just to name a few, this film has been generating buzz for months. Some have questioned whether or not it can be considered live-action if all of the characters are generated with 3D-computer animation.
“Dumbo”
Yet another live-action remake. However, I am excited to see the darker twist that director Tim Burton will undoubtedly bring to one of Disney’s saddest movies. On a side note, Danny Devito is one of the stars of the movie, so that in itself means that this film has a guaranteed fan in me. We can see Dumbo and Devito grace the silver screen side by side on March 29.
“It: Chapter Two”
Set 27 years after the first movie, “It: Chapter Two” is coming on Sept. 6, and it will chronicle the Losers’ Club coming back to Derry to take on Pennywise the demon clown as adults. I’m slightly bitter that Amy Adams isn’t going to be playing grown-up Beverly Marsh, but nevertheless I’m very excited to see the second installment in this version of one of Stephen King’s most famous stories.
“Joker”
“Joker” is a film coming on Oct. 4, which will center around the life of Batman’s arch nemesis. It will be hard to move on from Heath Ledger’s flawless portrayal of the Joker in “The Dark Knight,” but I believe in Joaquin Phoenix’s ability to do the part justice. I think we’re all ready for Jared Leto to be done with the part, which I had completely blocked out of my mind until just now. Let’s just hope that the killer clown anomaly of 2016 won’t be making a comeback with both “Joker” and “It: Chapter Two” coming out this year.
“Hellboy”
I stand firm in my belief that it’s completely unnecessary to reboot every single good movie that has ever existed, but with that being said, I think that David Harbour of “Stranger Things” is going to do a hell of a job in this film adaptation of the Dark Horse graphic novels of the same name (which were already made into a great series of movies by Guillermo del Toro in the early 2000’s!). Harbour’s take on the classic antihero will be here on April 12.
“Frozen 2”
The number one highest grossing animated movie of all time is getting a sequel on Nov. 22, six years after the original. We all better prepare ourselves to once again be subject to the incessant and inescapable sound of “Let it Go”. I probably won’t watch the movie until they let it go to Netflix.
“Little Women”
I would typically have absolutely no reason to be excited for a movie based off of a book that’s super old and probably boring, except that the cast for “Little Women” is AMAZING. Directed by Greta Gerwig of “Lady Bird” (which is the greatest movie of all time by the way, and no that is not up for debate), the film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel stars Emma Watson, Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet and Meryl Streep. I would watch a movie about eating dirt if it had a lineup like that.
“Pet Sematary”
“Pet Sematary” is the other Stephen King reboot coming out this year. On April 5 we can watch Dr. Louis Creed break down the barriers between life and death once again, 30 years after the release of the original film adaptation.
“Spider-Man: Far From Home”
The release of the new Spider-Man trailer has raised many questions, but the one on everyone’s minds is “If Peter Parker died in Infinity War, then what timeline does “Far From Home” take place in, or will the Avengers undo Thanos’ snap?”. I guess we’ll find out on July 5, regardless I’m excited to see Tom Holland and Zendaya reprise their roles as the web slinger and MJ.
“Avengers: Endgame”
Speaking of the snap, this is the year that we will find out how events play out after last year’s explosive “Infinity War”. You can expect to see the Avengers back in action on April 26.
“Star Wars: Episode IX”
The Star Wars franchise is returning on Dec. 20 after the Great “Solo” Flop of 2018. The final installment of the sequel trilogy is sure to be one of the biggest movies of the year. It will take place one year after the events of “The Last Jedi,” and it is set to be released on Dec. 20. The main question that fans have is how LucasFilm will go about including Princess Leia in the film since the character is still alive, but actress Carrie Fisher passed away in 2016.
