All the movies still scheduled to release in 2020 – Part 1

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It’s Friday at 12 PM! Were this actually a normal year and not the flaming dumpster fire that 2020 has turned into, we would now be telling you which movies were releasing this weekend. Unfortunately, thanks to the COVID-19 lockdown forcing cinemas, both here in South Africa and around the world, to close their doors and studios to delay their films to the end of 2020 or beyond, the current release schedule for the next few months looks like a bit of a wasteland in places. But believe it or not, there are actually some films still set to release locally. A lot of them, in fact. So we’ve divided them up into two articles, with this first part covering June to September.

June has just one release in Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island, but the following month has some relatively big releases in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet on 17 July and Disney’s live-action Mulan on 24 July. There’s a big “maybe” hanging over both though, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them pushed back. If Tenet is delayed by Warner Bros, it will probably take the place of Wonder Woman 1984 on 14 August. Where the DC Comics superhero sequel would end up after that is anybody’s guess. August does still have Antebellum, Trolls World Tour and The New Mutants though. Trolls World Tour already shook things up massively in the rest of the world with its digital release, so SA is just playing catch-up here, and I’ll believe that long-delayed The New Mutants is actually getting a release only when I’m watching it.

September would normally be the start of the quiet period before the holiday rush, but we actually get a few high profile options among the smaller releases. These include Monster Hunter, A Quiet Place Part II, The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do it, The King’s Man, and Candyman.

Here’s the full release calendar for June to September broken down by month, with trailers and synopses where possible.

June

19 June 2020

Scott (Davidson) has been a case of arrested development ever since his firefighter father died when he was seven. He’s now reached his mid-20s having achieved little, chasing a dream of becoming a tattoo artist that seems far out of reach. As his ambitious younger sister (Maude Apatow, HBO’s Euphoria) heads off to college, Scott is still living with his exhausted ER nurse mother (Oscar® winner Marisa Tomei) and spends his days smoking weed, hanging with the guys—Oscar (Ricky Velez, Master of None), Igor (Moises Arias, Five Feet Apart) and Richie (Lou Wilson, TV’s The Guest Book)—and secretly hooking up with his childhood friend Kelsey (Bel Powley, Apple TV+’s The Morning Show).   But when his mother starts dating a loudmouth firefighter named Ray (Bill Burr, Netflix’s F Is for Family), it sets off a chain of events that will force Scott to grapple with his grief and take his first tentative steps toward moving forward in life. 

Director: Judd Apatow
Starring: Pete Davidson, Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, Bel Powley, Maude Apatow, Steve Buscemi.

July

3 July 2020

Academy Award winner Russell Crowe stars in Unhinged, a timely psychological thriller that explores the fragile balance of a society pushed to the edge, taking something we’ve all experienced- road rage – to an unpredictable and terrifying conclusion. Rachel (Caren Pistorius) is running late to work when she has an altercation at a traffic light with a stranger (Crowe) whose life has left him feeling powerless and invisible. Soon, Rachel finds herself and everyone she loves the target of a man who decides to make one last mark upon the world by teaching her a series of deadly lessons. What follows is a dangerous game of cat and mouse that proves you never know just how close you are to someone who is about to become unhinged.

Director: Derrick Borte
Starring: Russell Crowe, Caren Pistorius, Jimmi Simpson, Gabriel Bateman.
A comedian goes away for the weekend with an ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend.

Director: Stella Meghie
Starring: Sasheer Zamata, Tone Bell, DeWanda Wise, Y’lan Noel, Kym Whitley.

10 July 2020

While on holiday in Cornwall, four children discover a creature with magical powers. Based on the novel Four Children and It by Jacqueline Wilson, which was in turn based on the novel Five Children and It by E. Nesbit.

Director: Andy De Emmony
Starring: Paula Patton, Russell Brand, Michael Caine, Matthew Goode.

17 July 2020

John David Washington is the new Protagonist in Christopher Nolan’s original sci-fi action spectacle “Tenet.”
Armed with only one word—Tenet—and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time.
Not time travel. Inversion.

Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh.

No trailer available

A dying mother assembles her family to spend a final weekend together before she ends her life.

Director: Roger Michell
Starring: Kate Winslet, Mia Wasikowska, Susan Sarandon, Sam Neill, Rainn Wilson.

24 July 2020

When the Emperor of China issues a decree that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Army to defend the country from Northern invaders, Hua Mulan, the eldest daughter of an honored warrior, steps in to take the place of her ailing father. Masquerading as a man, Hua Jun, she is tested every step of the way and must harness her inner-strength and embrace her true potential. It is an epic journey that will transform her into an honored warrior and earn her the respect of a grateful nation…and a proud father.

Director: Niki Caro
Starring: Liu Yifei, Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Gong Li, Jet Li.
Tom Hanks portrays Mister Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a timely story of kindness triumphing over cynicism, based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod. After a jaded magazine writer (Emmy winner Matthew Rhys) is assigned a profile of Fred Rogers, he overcomes his skepticism, learning about kindness, love and forgiveness from America’s most beloved neighbor.

Director: Marielle Heller
Starring: Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Chris Cooper
In 1970, the Miss World competition took place in London, hosted by US comedy legend, Bob Hope. At the time, Miss World was the most-watched TV show on the planet with over 100 million viewers. Claiming that beauty competitions demeaned women, the newly formed Women’s Liberation Movement achieved overnight fame by invading the stage and disrupting the live broadcast of the competition. Not only that, when the show resumed, the result caused uproar: the winner was not the Swedish favourite but Miss Grenada, the first black woman to be crowned Miss World. In a matter of hours, a global audience had witnessed the patriarchy driven from the stage and the Western ideal of beauty turned on its head.

Director: Philippa Lowthorpe
Starring: Keira Knightley, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jessie Buckley

31 July 2020

Spunky and rebellious, Becky (Lulu Wilson) is brought to a weekend getaway at a lake house by her father Jeff (Joel McHale) in an effort to try to reconnect. The trip immediately takes a turn for the worse when a group of convicts on the run, led by the merciless Dominick (Kevin James), suddenly invade the lake house.

Director: Jonathan Milott, Cary Murnion
Starring: Lulu Wilson, Kevin James, Joel McHale
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A conservative church choir director inherits her late son’s San Francisco drag club.

Director: Thom Fitzgerald
Starring: Lucy Liu, Adrian Grenier, and Jacki Weaver.

August

7 August 2020

A coming-of-age, feel-good story about a young refugee’s quest for BMX glory and the pursuit of identity, safety, happiness and love.

Director: Sunu Gonera
Starring: Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Simona Brown, Charles Mnene
I AM WOMAN is the story of Helen Reddy, who in 1966 landed in New York with her three-year-old daughter, a suitcase and $230 in her pocket. Within weeks she was broke. Within months she was in love. Within five years she was one of the biggest superstars of her time, and an icon of the 1970s feminist movement, who wrote a song which galvanised a generation of women to fight for change.

Director: Unjoo Moon
Starring: Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Evan Peters, Danielle Macdonald, Matty Cardarople
SpongeBob SquarePants, his best friend Patrick Star and the rest of the gang from Bikini Bottom hit the big screen in the first-ever all CGI SpongeBob motion picture event. After SpongeBob’s beloved pet snail Gary is snail-napped, he and Patrick embark on an epic adventure to The Lost City of Atlantic City to bring Gary home. As they navigate the delights and dangers on this perilous and hilarious rescue mission, SpongeBob and his pals prove there’s nothing stronger than the power of friendship.

Director: Tim Hill
Starring (voices): Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Keanu Reeves, Awkwafina, Snoop Dogg
The Empty Man” is a family portrait of the right, the left and the madness in between. A modern Cain and Abel story. Two brothers, a shared inheritance, two different ideologies.

Director: David Prior
Starring: Stephen Root, Joel Courtney, Rasneet Kaur

No trailer available to embed – Note: Trailer was removed by studio, but can still be viewed on Reddit.

Scientists discover that a comet will hit Earth in a few days, and will likely cause the extinction of humanity; the only hope of survival is to take shelter in a group of bunkers in Greenland.

Director: Ric Roman Waugh
Starring: Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin, Brandon Quinn
Claire (Lena Olin) lives a domestic life in the Hamptons as the wife of celebrated artist Richard Smythson (Bruce Dern). Once a promising painter herself, Claire now lives in the shadow of her husband’s illustrious career. While preparing work for his final show, Richard’s moods become increasingly erratic, and he is diagnosed with dementia. As his memory and behavior deteriorate, she shields his condition from the art community while trying to reconnect him with his estranged daughter and grandson from a previous marriage. Challenged by the loss of her world as she knew it, Claire must now decide whether to stand with Richard on the sidelines or step into the spotlight herself.

Director: Tom Dolby
Starring: Lena Olin, Bruce Dern

14 August 2020

A faithful adaptation of the well-known story of Pinocchio, to which Matteo Garrone has added a unique visionary dimension. Pinocchio’s world is simultaneously real and fantastic – this is an Italy redolent of the earth, the sea and the farmyard.

Director: Matteo Garrone
Starring: Roberto Benigni, Federico Ielapi, Rocco Papaleo.
Fast forward to the 1980s as Wonder Woman’s next big screen adventure finds her facing two all-new foes: Max Lord and The Cheetah.

Director: Patty Jenkins
Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Robin Wright, Connie Nielsen.

21 August 2020

A powerful and uplifting drama about the power of faith, Fatima tells the story of a 10-year-old shepherd and her two young cousins in Fátima, Portugal, who report seeing visions of the Virgin Mary. Their revelations inspire believers but anger officials of both the Church and the secular government, who try to force them to recant their story. As word of their prophecy spreads, tens of thousands of religious pilgrims flock to the site in hopes of witnessing a miracle. What they experience will change their lives forever.

Director: Marco Pontecorvo
Starring: Harvey Keitel, Goran Visnjic, Joaquim de Almeida.
Toorbos vertel die verhaal van ’n jong “bosvrou” se ontworteling in die tyd van die laaste bosbewoners van die Suid Afrikaanse Knysna-woude in die 1930’s. Karoliena Kapp se intieme verbintenis met die boomhart van die bos word ’n hindernis in haar verhouding met die man wat sy liefkry. Wanneer Karoliena met Johannes Stander trou, ervaar sy die onderdrukking van ’n selfsugtige, geldgierige samelewing. Haar lewe word ’n stryd om aan haarself getrou te bly.

Director: Rene van Rooyen
Starring: Sean Brebnor, Elani Dekker, Stiaan Smith.
Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake return in an all-star sequel to DreamWorks Animation’s 2016 musical hit: Trolls World Tour. In an adventure that will take them well beyond what they’ve known before, Poppy (Kendrick) and Branch (Timberlake) discover that they are but one of six different Troll tribes scattered over six different lands and devoted to six different kinds of music: Funk, Country, Techno, Classical, Pop and Rock. Their world is about to get a lot bigger and a whole lot louder.

A member of hard-rock royalty, Queen Barb (Rachel Bloom), aided by her father King Thrash (Ozzy Osbourne), wants to destroy all other kinds of music to let rock reign supreme. With the fate of the world at stake, Poppy and Branch, along with their friends — Biggie (James Corden), Chenille (Caroline Hjelt), Satin (Aino Jawo), Cooper (Ron Funches) and Guy Diamond (Kunal Nayyar) — set out to visit all the other lands to unify the Trolls in harmony against Barb, who’s looking to upstage them all.

Director: Walt Dohrn
Starring (voices): Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Rachel Bloom, James Corden, Ron Funches, Kelly Clarkson, Anderson Paak, Sam Rockwell, George Clinton, Mary J. Blige.
Successful author Veronica Henley (Janelle Monáe) finds herself trapped in a horrifying reality and must uncover the mind-bending mystery before it’s too late. ANTEBELLUM is a terrifying new thriller from the producer of the acclaimed films GET OUT and US, and groundbreaking directors Gerard Bush and Christoper Renz (Bush+Renz) – an exciting new voice in filmmaking.

Director: Gerard Bush, Christoper Renz
Starring: Janelle Monáe, Eric Lange, Jena Malone

28 August 2020

No trailer available

A gorilla named Ivan tries to piece together his past with the help of an elephant named Stella as they hatch a plan to escape from captivity.

Director: Thea Sharrock
Starring (voices): Angelina Jolie, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren, Danny DeVito

No trailer available

Ava (Jessica Chastain) is a deadly assassin who works for a black ops organization, traveling the globe specializing in high profile hits. When a job goes dangerously wrong she is forced to fight for her own survival.

Director: Tate Taylor
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell, Geena Davis, John Malkovich
The inspirational story of friendship, love, and support on the home front. A group of women come together as their partners serve in Afghanistan. Together they form the very first military wives choir, helping each other through some of life’s most difficult moments and also becoming a media sensation and global movement in the process.

Director: Peter Cattaneo
Starring: Kristin Scott Thomas, Sharon Horgan, Jason Flemyng.
Set in the dazzling world of the LA music scene comes the story of Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross), a superstar whose talent, and ego, have reached unbelievable heights, and Maggie (Dakota Johnson), her overworked personal assistant. While stuck running errands, Maggie still aspires to her childhood dream of becoming a music producer. When Grace’s manager (Ice Cube) presents her with a choice that could alter the course of her career, Maggie and Grace come up with a plan that could change their lives forever.

Director: Nisha Ganatra
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Zoë Chao, Bill Pullman, Eddie Izzard, Ice Cube.
No trailer or synopsis available

Director: Tristan Holmes
Starring: Jonathan Pienaar, Antoinette Louw, Nthati Moshesh.
20th Century Fox in association with Marvel Entertainment presents “The New Mutants,” an original horror thriller set in an isolated hospital where a group of young mutants is being held for psychiatric monitoring. When strange occurrences begin to take place, both their new mutant abilities and their friendships will be tested as they battle to try and make it out alive.

Director: Josh Boone
Starring: Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Alice Braga, Blu Hunt, Henry Zaga.

September

4 September 2020

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When Lt. Artemis and her loyal soldiers are transported to a new world, they engage in a desperate battle for survival against enormous enemies with incredible powers. Feature film based on the video game by Capcom.

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Tony Jaa

No trailer available

A retired sheriff and his wife, grieving over the death of their son, set out to find their only grandson.

Director: Thomas Bezucha
Starring: Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Lesley Manville
Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family (Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe) must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.

Director: John Krasinski
Starring: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Cillian Murphy, Djimon Hounsou, John Krasinski.
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An old man crosses the country just using local buses.

Director: Gillies MacKinnon
Starring Phyllis Logan, Timothy Spall, and Grace Calder.

11 September 2020

No trailer available

Summer 1939. Influential families in Nazi Germany have sent their daughters to a finishing school in an English seaside town to learn the language and be ambassadors for a future looking National Socialist. A teacher there sees what is coming and is trying to raise the alarm. But the authorities believe he is the problem.

Director: Andy Goddard
Starring Eddie Izzard, Judi Dench, James D’Arcy, Jim Broadbent.
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No synopsis available

Director: Michael Chaves
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ruairi O’Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook, Julian Hilliard
A multi-story romantic comedy about the people who work on weddings to create the perfect day for a loving couple – while their own relationships are outlandish, odd, crazy and far from perfect.

Director: Dennis Dugan
Starring Maggie Grace, Jesse McCartney, Diane Keaton.

18 September 2020

Sony Pictures Animation’s CONNECTED is an original animated comedy from director Mike Rianda (Gravity Falls) and producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Lego Movie), about an everyday family’s struggle to relate while technology rises up around the world! When Katie Mitchell (voiced by Abbi Jacobson), a creative outsider, is accepted into the film school of her dreams, her plans to meet “her people” at college are upended when her nature-loving dad Rick (voiced by Danny McBride) determines the whole family should drive Katie to school together and bond as a family one last time. Katie and Rick are joined by the rest of the family, including Katie’s wildly positive mom Linda (voiced by Maya Rudolph), her quirky little brother Aaron (voiced by Mike Rianda), and the family’s delightfully chubby pug Monchi for the ultimate family road trip. Suddenly, the Mitchells’ plans are interrupted by a tech uprising: all around the world, the electronic devices people love – from phones, to appliances, to an innovative new line of personal robots – decide it’s time to take over. With the help of two friendly malfunctioning robots, the Mitchells will have to get past their problems and work together to save each other and the world!

Director: Mike Rianda
Starring (voices): Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Rianda, Eric Andre, Olivia Colman.
Based on the 2014 romance novel of the same name and the sequel to After, this follows the love life of two young adults.

Director: Roger Kumble
Starring: Josephine Langford, Hero Fiennes-Tiffin
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No synopsis available

Director: Dimitri Logothetis
Starring: Alain Moussi, Nicolas Cage, Marie Avgeropoulos, Frank Grillo, Tony Jaa, Rick Yune.
THE SECRET GARDEN is a new take on the beloved classic novel of the same name written by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Set in England during a new time period in 1947, the film follows a young orphan girl who, after being sent to live with her uncle, discovers a magical garden on the grounds of his estate.

Director: Marc Munden
Starring: Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Dixie Egerickx.

No trailer available

Based on the novel of the same name by Cornelia Funke. A young silver dragon teams up with a mountain spirit and an orphaned boy on a journey through the Himalayas in search for the Rim of Heaven.

Director: Tomer Eshed
Starring (voices): Felicity Jones, Patrick Stewart, Freddie Highmore, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Nonso Anozie

25 September 2020

No trailer or synopsis available

No trailer available

A bank robber tries to turn himself in because he’s falling in love and wants to live an honest life…but when he realizes the Feds are more corrupt than him, he must fight back to clear his name.

Director: Mark Williams
Starring: Liam Neeson, Kate Walsh, Jai Courtney
As a collection of history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them. Discover the origins of the very first independent intelligence agency in The King’s Man.

Director: Matthew Vaughan
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Harris Dickinson, Daniel Brühl, Djimon Hounsou, Charles Dance

And that’s it for the full list of all movies releasing from June to September 2020. Or at least as accurate as list as we have right now, as I’m sure there is going to be some further schedule reshuffling happening, especially for those films that are still in or haven’t even started production.

Check back next week for Part 2 of this list when we close out the year with the likes of Godzilla v Kong, Black Widow, No Time to Die, Free Guy, Dune, Top Gun: Maverick and more.