Remember when Netflix only had one original movie? It was called “Beasts of No Nation”, starring Idris Elba and was released in the distant days of 2015.
That’s it.
Six years later, the streaming giant plans to release at least 72 films in 2021, it announced on Tuesday in a surprise teaser trailer.
And that large number doesn’t even include additional projects that may appear – like last year’s “Death to 2020” – or acquisitions of film festivals, like “Mucho Mucho Amor”, “The Quary-Year-Old Version” and “His House ”That Netflix bought at Sundance in 2020.
This year, the streamer promises at least one film a week. It’s almost like the dusty ABC anthology, Movie of the Week, but instead of Ernest Borgnine and Cheryl Ladd, we have Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence.
There are other big names too: TimothIt’sand Chalamet, Brad Pitt, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Idris Elba (twice!), Halle Berry, Viola Davis and many more.
Here are some of Netflix’s most promising films coming to your couch in 2021. Release dates have yet to be announced.
“The Woman at the Window”
21st Century Fox planned to release this Amy Adams thriller before the famous studio was bought by Disney. Now, the film – written by the ferocious and intelligent Tracy Letts – about a New York psychiatrist whose neighbor has disappeared, will go straight to the broadcast. It also stars Gary Oldman, Julianne Moore, Brian Tyree Henry and Anthony Mackie. Joe Wright directs.
“Blondes”
Marilyn Monroe is a historical figure unfairly ignored. Just kidding! A lot of actresses have played the Hollywood legend – Michelle Williams, Ashley Judd and Barbara Niven among them. The failure of the NBC drama “Smash” was about creating a fake Broadway musical about Monroe called “Bombshell”. Now, the emerging “Knives Out” star (and future Bond girl in “No Time To Die”) Ana de Armas will play the tragic “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” star, alongside Adrien Brody as Arthur Miller and Bobby Cannavale as Joe DiMaggio.
“Don’t look up”
Netflix quickly became a magnet for Oscar candidates (“Rome”, “The Irishman” and last year’s “Da 5 Bloods”, “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and “Mank”). “Don’t Look Up” could be one of the service’s award-winning bait films for 2021. The cast is a deck of Oscar nominees and winners: Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence and TimothIt’sand Chalamet. In addition, the film is directed by Adam McKay, who was nominated for the direction of “Vice” and “The Big Short”. The plot, however, looks like science fiction: two astronauts try to warn the planet that a comet will destroy the Earth.
“The power of the dog”
Another Oscar-nominated director in the mix is Jane Campion (“The Piano”). His film is about two brothers who own a ranch (Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons) in Montana. The macho movie also stars Kirsten Dunst, Frances Conroy and Keith Carradine.
“Tick, Tick … Boom!“
You probably know the Broadway musical “Rent” – and if you don’t, take a look at Post Broadway columnist Michael Riedel’s delightful new book, “Singular Sensation: The Triumph of Broadway” – but you’ve probably never heard of the late composer Jonathan Larson’s other program, “Tick, Tick… Boom!” The autobiographical musical, which debuted off Broadway in 1990, has been much patched up since Larson’s death in 1996, and the same is now true. The script for the film version was written by Steven Levenson, the talented writer of the book “Dear Evan Hansen”, and also marks the debut of Lin-Manuel Miranda as a director. The musical is filled with catchy melodies with clever lyrics.
“Beauty”
Lena Waithe is an extremely talented writer – if you’ve never seen the “Thanksgiving” episode of “Master of None”, you must fix this – and her latest film has an attractive premise: a young black woman gets a big deal with a record label , and fame begins to complicate his personal life. He has Niecy Nash and Sharon Stone in supporting roles.
“A boy called Christmas”
I must admit, I believe Netflix is starting to turn into a lot of Christmas trash for its own sake. Proving my point of view, in 2021 they are giving us “The Princess Switch 3”. Please Netflix, turn that switch off. The “A Boy Called Christmas” pedigree, however, is a step above that – Maggie Smith is in it! – and the plot in which a boy ventures into the land of the elves has a more adventurous spirit than usual.
“Red Warning”
This one is not keeping me up at night in a dizzying expectation – but America is going to love it because it stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. With his films released in theaters, Johnson usually prints money, and audiences will be excited to receive the latest with his Netflix subscription. In the film, Johnson plays an FBI agent while Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds are wanted criminals.
“The Harder They Fall”
Jay-Z produces this new western from director and screenwriter Jeymes Samuel. The film has a big impact set, including Idris Elba, Regina King, Delroy Lindo, Lakeith Stanfield and Jonathan Majors.
“Moxie”
Much of Netflix’s programming is extremely serious, but not this comedy directed by Amy Poehler. The driving force also appears in the film about a teenager who shakes the school when she starts publishing an insurgent magazine anonymously. It also features Ike Barinholtz, Marcia Gay Harden, Josephine Langford and Patrick Schwarzenegger.