2019: Year of the Remake?

The new year is off to a great start. The first few films of the year have raised expectations, will the remaining crop follow suit?

The first MCU film this year is the much awaited Captain Marvel starring Brie Larson in the titular role, an old-lady-punching, anti-ageing badass from the nineties who lands in cinemas in March. Next from the roster is of course Avengers: Endgame – the final film of the third phase for the franchise will arrive in cinemas in April and see Thanos yet again go toe to toe with our favourite marvel characters. Soon to follow is July’s Spiderman: Far From Home starring Tom Holland back in the title role roaming Europe.

But Marvel is not alone in their super-heroic endeavours, they will be up against DC, who will be giving us Shazam! in April. If you’d only just remembered that Shazam! was being made at all, you’re not alone.

2019 is also shaping up to be a big year for remakes, reboots, and sequels. Who said creativity was dead? Disney specifically is guilty of this, putting out only sequels and remakes this year including the second instalment of Frozen (yay?), a fourth Toy Story (yay!) and live action remakes of Aladdin, The Lion King and Dumbo.

February will see Chris Pratt reclaim his role as Emmet in the second Lego Movie, while in May, Millie Bobby Brown’s first big screen escapade will make us ask, will there finally be a good Godzilla movie? The answer is most likely no, but we can at least hope Godzilla: King of the Monsters might break the cycle. Next to expect is the reboot of the family favourite, Men in Black series titled Men in Black: International, with Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson fronting the project, there are high hopes. Finally, the September release of the second part of Stephen King’s ‘It’ franchise sees the kids from the first film all grown up and back to fight Pennywise.

The final instalment of this Star Wars trilogy will also be in our cinemas in December to answer all our burning questions: will Reylo ever happen? Who was Snoke? And will fans get the ending they dream of?

In February we are awarded with some originality: the Robert Rodriguez directed Alita: Battle Angel with animation so sleek and beautiful, you’re going to be questioning whether it’s actually real. Then Jordan Peele’s horror, ‘Us’, drops in March and explores the idea of yourself as your own worst enemy.

Closer to home, the end of this month sees the second outing of director Joe Cornish whose new film The Kid Who Would be King. Then in February, expect a somewhat odd British film called Fighting with my Family, produced by Dwayne Johnson and directed by Stephen Merchant. Starring Nick Frost, it tells the story of the wrestler Paige, from her humble upbringing in Norwich to her WWE stardom. In May we are treated to Taron Edgerton donning sequinned platforms and a bedazzled cape as he steps into the incomparable shoes of Elton John for Rocketman, directed by the same director of Bohemian Rhapsody. Finally in September, the Downton Abbey film is set to launch with all your favourites back to reprise their roles from the show. So that’s it, the year to come in its most defining films. It looks like quite the interesting year.