The Biggest Movies To Watch In 2021

Just over a year ago, no one could've expected to see movies such as Black Widow, No Time To Die, F9: The Fast Saga, and Dune on a list of 2021's most anticipated films. But that was shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down theaters across the world, leading studios to delay the release of their scheduled films. While a few titles were immediately pushed into 2021, most simply moved into the later part of the year. But as the months wore on, it became clear that normal theatrical releases in 2020 weren't going to happen, and gradually the vast majority of the year's movies were given new release dates in 2021.

Of course, things still remain uncertain, and there's no guarantee that every movie on this list will arrive on its current scheduled date. But there's no question that there's an absolute wealth of high-profile cinema waiting in the wings when life does regain some normality, and the second half of 2021 has the possibility of being an incredible year for movie fans.

After an entire year without a single release in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there are three set to arrive in 2021--Black Widow, The Eternals, and a new Spider-Man movie. The Bond film No Time To Die will finally be with us, as will the ninth Fast and Furious, plus new movies in such popular series as Ghostbusters, The Kingsmen, and the Matrix.

Outside of these big franchises, there are adaptations of video games Mortal Kombat and Uncharted, more films in Sony's universe of Spider-man spin-offs, and belated sequel to the '80s blockbuster Top Gun. Horror is well represented with new Halloween, Purge, Conjuring, Candyman, and Saw movies, plus intriguing new scary films from Edgar Wright and Guillermo Del Toro. And of course, there's loads of animated family releases on the way too, with another original movie from Pixar as well as Minions, Hotel Transylvania, and Addams Family sequels.

With any luck, very few of the movies on the following list will also appear on GameSpot's rundown of biggest movies to watch in 2022. So let's stay optimistic, and look forward to an amazing year of cinema in 2021!

Release date: November 5

While Black Widow kicks off Marvel Phase 4, that's still a film about a familiar and popular character. Eternals presents an all-new cast and a team who are not nearly as well known as The Avengers. But that was equally true for Guardians of the Galaxy, and it didn't long for Star-Lord and his crew to become household names and expect this film to deliver the usual Marvel magic on a spectcaular cosmic scale. Eternals stars Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry, and Salma Hayek as part of an immortal alien race who must protect mankind from the evil Deviants.

Release date: November 5

Tom Hanks reunites with his Castaway and Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis for this sci-fi drama, which sees Hanks play a lone survivor in a post-apocalyptic future with only a dog and a robot for companions. Zemeckis produces, with acclaimed TV director Miguel Sapochnik (Game of Thrones) directing. Finch looks like everything we expect from a Hanks movie--dramatic, funny, and heartwarming. It was originally set for a theatrical release last ear but will now debut on Apple TV+

Release date: November 12

Netflix states that this upcoming espionage thriller is its "biggest movie ever," and while the company hasn't clarified by what metric, the film has got an extremely impressive (and expensive) cast in the shape of Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds. Johnson stars as an FBI profiler who is on the trail of an art thief (Gadot) and a conman (Reynolds). There's no trailer yet, but it's set to be one of the Fall's highest-profile releases.

Release date: November 17

Will Smith stars as Richard Williams, the father and coach of tennis icons Venus and Serena Williams, in this biographical drama. The movie has received strong reviews from its initial festival screenings, and expect plenty of buzz and potential awards nominations when it arrives later this year. The cast also includes Aunjanue Ellis and Saniyya Sidney as Venus and Serena, plus Demi Singleton, Tony Goldwyn, Jon Bernthal, and Dylan McDermott.

Release date: November 17

Doctor Strange star Benedict Cumberbatch takes on a very different role in this upcoming period drama from acclaimed director Jane Campion (The Piano). He plays Phil, a rancher in early 20th century America, who lives and works with his brother George (Jesse Plemons). George marries a local widow (Kirsten Dunst), who comes to live on the ranch with her daughter, leading to conflicts with the volatile Phil. The movie hits theaters on November 17, with a Netflix release on December 1.

Release date: November 19

With 2016's Ghostbusters reboot disappointing at the box office, the latest movie in the supernatural comedy series is returning to the franchise formula with a sequel to the original '80s movies. The film takes the action from New York to rural Oklahoma, where the grandkids of one of the original team members encounter something weird happening in their town and discover their link to those first ghostbusting legends. The new cast includes Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) and Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), and there will be appearances from many of the original cast, including Bill Murray, Dan Akyroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Sigourney Weaver. The first trailer gives off a strong Stranger Things vibe, and director Jason Reitman will hopefully deliver some of the magic that his dad Ivan brought to the classic first movie.

Release date: November 24

Only a month after Ridley Scott's period epic The Last Duel hits theaters, a second movie arrives from the veteran director. House of Gucci tells the true story of Patrizia Reggiani, who was convicted of organizing the killing of her ex-husband and legendary fashion mogul Maurizio Gucci. Lady Gaga plays Reggiani, with Adam Driver as Gucci, and the impressive supporting cast includes Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek, and Al Pacino. It looks like a hugely entertaining mix of over-the-top melodrama and true crime thrills.

Release date: November 24

The previous Resident Evil movie series wrapped up in 2017, and it gets a reboot later this year that will reportedly stick much closer to the video games. The film takes place in the titular town, which was once home to the pharmaceutical company the Umbrella Corporation. The company left and the city is a wasteland, with lots of evil and scary things lurking below the surface. 47 Meters Down's Johannes Roberts is directing, and the cast includes Kaya Scodelario (Crawl), Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp), Robbie Amell (Upload), and Tom Hopper (Black Sails).

Release date: November 25

Peter Jackon's highly-anticipated Beatles movie is made up of many hours of previously unseen footage that was originally shot for the 1970 film Let It Be. While the original film focused on the acrimony within the group--who were within a year of splitting up--Jackson states that his movie will show the band getting on with each other, as well recording some amazing music. Get Back was originally intended to be a feature-length movie, but will now be released across three nights on Disney, with a mammoth six-hour running time.

Release date: November 26

Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood director Paul Thomas Anderson returns with this coming-of-age comedy drama. It's set during the '70s in South California and focuses on the relationship between a teenage actor, played Cooper Hoffman--son of the late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman--and a young woman named Alana (musician Alana Haim, making her movie debut). The ensemble cast also includes Bradley Cooper, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Maya Rudolph, and Uncut Gems co-director Benny Safdie. Check out the fantastic first trailer here.

Release date: December 10

West Side Story is one of most famous and best-loved musicals of all-time, so it takes a director of Steven Spielberg's stature to tackle a new version. Reportedly, this new movie is closer to the 1957 Broadway original than the first movie version, which was made in 1961. It's a reworking of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and focuses on the romance between Tony and Maria, two teenagers in '50s New York who are affiliated with rival street gangs. Baby Driver's Ansel Elgort and newcomer Rachel Zegler take on the lead roles, while Rita Moreno, who won an Oscar for her role of Anita in the first screen version, will also appear. Amazingly, this is Spielberg's first musical, but it's a good bet that he knows what he's doing.

Release date: December 10 (theaters)/December 24 (Netflix)

This upcoming disaster movie satire is directed by The Big Short's Adam McKay and focuses on two scientists who discover that an enormous asteroid is heading to Earth, threatening to destroy life as we know it. But while the world's governments and scientists usually work together to save the world in this sort of movie, in Don't Look Up they simply don't want to know. The amazing cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as the scientists, with Meryl Streep as the President and Jonah Hill as her Chief of Staff, plus Cate Blanchett, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, and Chris Evans. Check out this hilarious recent clip.

Release date: December 13

Guillermo Del Toro hasn't directed a movie since his Oscar-winning hit The Shape of Water, but he's got two new films lined up for later in 2021. His stop-motion animated Netflix adaptation of Pinnochio hasn't got a release date yet, but the much-anticipated thriller Nightmare Alley will arrive in December. It's a remake of the classic 1947 film noir of the same title, with a star-studded cast that includes Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe, Toni Collette, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, and--of course--Ron Perlman. It's set in the seedy world of carnival hustlers, and focuses on a con man (Cooper) who finds himself in danger when he encounters a manipulative psychiatrist (Blanchett).

Release date: December 17

For a while it looked like we might not get any more Spider-Man movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but thankfully Disney and Sony worked out a deal and Spidey will return for at least one more MCU film. Job Webb directs Tom Holland as Peter Parker for the third time, and he'll be joined by Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange. It film will also feature a number of heroes and villains from other non-MCU Spidey movies, including Jamie Foxx as Electro and Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus, in a multi-verse accidentally created by Stephen Strange.

Release date: December 22

While 1999's The Matrix is a modern sci-fi action classic, for many fans the two sequels, Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions, were a big disappointment. But nearly 20 years later, we're getting a fourth movie, which will hopefully prove to be fitting follow-up to the groundbreaking original. Series co-creator Lana Wachowski directs once more, and Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are back as Neo and Trinity. New cast members include Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman), Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist), and Neil Patrick Harris (Gone Girl).

Release date: December 22

The King's Man might be the third movie in the Kingsman series, but it's actually a prequel set decades before the first two films. It explores the origins of the franchise's secretive spy organization and stars Harris Dickinson as a young agent who is recruited to take part in a series of dangerous adventures. The film has an impressive cast list that also includes Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson, Daniel Brühl, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and like the previous films, it's directed by Matthew Vaughn, so expect a similar mix of intrigue, comedy, and outlandish action.

Release date: January 21, 2022

Spider-Man might be staying with the MCU for the time being, but that doesn't mean that Sony's universe of characters from Spidey comics is waiting for him to join them. Morbius follows the hugely successful Venom and focuses on the "living vampire" of the title. Jared Leto takes on the lead role as scientist Michael Morbius, who is given vampiric superpowers after an experiment to cure a blood disease goes wrong. The original Morbius comics had a dark horror edge, and while there's no word yet if Morbius will have a PG-13 or an R rating, director Daniel Espinosa previously showed his genre skills with the sci-fi horror Life.

Release date: February 4, 2022

It's been more than a decade since the last Jackass movie, and an amazing 21 years since the controversial show first premiered on MTV. Although Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Wee Man and the rest of the gang aren't getting any younger (as stories like this prove), they're back for another round of ridiculous pranks and painful-looking stunts. With Jeff Tremaine directing and Spike Jonze producing once more, Jackass 4 will hopefully deliver plenty of guilty, irresponsible laughs.

Release date: February 11, 2022

Kenneth Branagh was last seen as the main villain in Christoper Nolan's Tenet, and next he will return to a more heroic role--Agatha Christie's iconic detective Hercule Poirot. Death on the Nile follows 2018's Murder on the Orient Express, and is directed by Branagh once more. Like its predecessor, this one has a star-studded cast that includes Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, and Sophie Okonedo. The first movie made more than $350 million at the worldwide box office, and this could become a similar success.

Release date: February 18, 2022

It might almost be hard to believe if you've followed the many attempts to get an Uncharted movie made over the past decade, but production on the film has wrapped and the film arrives next February. The video game adaptation stars Tom Holland as adventurer Nathan Drake, with Mark Wahlberg as Drake's companion Victor "Sully" Sullivan, plus Antonio Banderas (The Expendables 3), Sophia Ali (Grey's Anatomy), and Tati Gabrielle (The Owl House). Director Ruben Fleisher has confirmed that the movie will be a prequel to the game series, although Holland has also said it will take inspiration from the fourth game, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.

Release date: May 27, 2022

Top Gun was the most successful movie of 1986 and now stands as one of the decade's most-loved films. So it's surprising it's taken over 30 years for the sequel to arrive, but with Tom Cruise as big of a star now as he's ever been, there's no reason to think Top Gun: Maverick won't match the original's success. Cruise is back as hotshot fighter pilot Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, and the cast also includes Westworld's Ed Harris as a tough admiral, Miles Teller (Whiplash) as the son of the Maverick's late pal Goose, and Val Kilmer, who will reprise his role as Tom "Iceman" Kazansky. Time to get back into the Danger Zone.

Release date: July 1, 2022

The 2015 Despicable Me spin-off Minions proved to be even more successful than any of the main films, so inevitably a sequel is on the way. Minions: The Rise of Gru is set in the '70s and focuses on Steve Carell's Gru, who is a young boy dreaming of becoming a feared supervillain. In order to prove his villainy, he steals a valuable stone from the evil group Vicious 6 and finds himself on the run. Luckily, those iconic yellow Minions are on hand to help him out. The voice cast is almost certainly the most eclectic of the year--it includes Taraji P. Henson, Julie Andrews, Danny Trejo, and Jean-Claude Van Damme--and the popularity of the Minions should make this another smash.

Release date: September 30, 2022

Tom Cruise might be nearly 60, but he shows no sign of slowing down. The seventh movie in the globe-trotting action series is shooting in Italy, Norway, and the UK and it sees Ethan Hunt and team facing a new villain played by Ozark's Esai Morale. Agent Carter star Hayley Atwell joins the cast this time round, playing a character she describes as "destructive force of nature," while long-time fans will be excited to see the return of Henry Czerny as Eugene Kittridge, the former CIA director last seen in the first Mission: Impossible.