Movies worth the wait

Like countless others, the world’s film industry has been forced to face up to an unexpected new landscape. Months of closed cinemas and pushed opening dates has resulted in a heavily altered calendar and a backlog of titles that are now being readied for release. As our screening rooms start to reopen, we pick out the films you’ll be able to catch across our sites before the end of the year.

Tenet

If there’s one director capable of handling the heightened pressure of opening up cinemas again it’s Christopher Nolan — and this smart, time-inverting thriller is his typically bold leap into the world of elite espionage. Featuring head-scratching set pieces and rule-bending physics, we follow an unnamed protagonist’s attempts to prevent World War III armed with just one word: Tenet. Robert Pattinson, John David Washington and Aaron Taylor-Johnson lead the cast in what promises to be a thrilling big-screen experience. 
Currently screening

Kajillionaire

Since making a splash with her debut Me And You And Everyone We Know, Miranda July has largely turned to other creative forms to showcase her work. But the artist is now returning to the big screen with this characteristically offbeat comedy, which follows the dysfunctional Dyne family — a trio of hustlers whose lives are about to be shaken up by the arrival of a new accomplice. 
Scheduled for release on 28 September, 2020 (US); 12 November, 2020 (UK)

No Time To Die

Much of the hype surrounding the 25th Bond instalment has focused on the new additions to the franchise: Phoebe Waller-Bridge was brought in to help shape the script, while True Detective director Cary Joji Fukunaga took over from Danny Boyle to direct. The resulting film marries a contemporary-minded Bond with the high-wire action we’ve come to expect, and Daniel Craig’s final Double-O outing finds MI5’s finest drawn back to a familiar nemesis. 
Scheduled for release on 12 November, 2020

Dune

Frank Herbert’s epic sci-fi novel has already seen two adaptations meet with varying levels of failure: David Lynch’s 1984 box office bomb and Alejandro Jodorowsky’s proposed surrealist take that never quite took off. But, in Denis Villeneuve’s sweeping vision, it finally looks like the acclaimed text will have the definitive film it deserves. Timothée Chalamet fronts an impressive cast as the man entrusted with protecting the most valuable asset in the galaxy — an elixir that sparks an inter-planetary war. If early released footage is anything to go by, Villeneuve is onto something very special indeed.
Scheduled for release on 18 December, 2020

Soul

A down-on-his-luck musician has an untimely brush with death and is forced into some high-stakes reckoning with his soul. While the premise isn’t exactly what you’d expect from animation powerhouse Pixar, its ability to balance the cerebral with the whimsical shouldn’t be underestimated, as Inside Out proved in 2015. This time round, Jamie Foxx voices pianist Joe as he goes on a soul-searching journey to the ‘Great Before’ and attempts to make his way back home before it’s too late.
Scheduled for release on 20 November, 2020 (US); 27 November, 2020 (UK)

I’m Thinking Of Ending Things

Over the years, Charlie Kaufman has arguably created his own genre. From writing (Eternal Sunshine, Being John Malkovich) to directing (Synecdoche, New York, Anomalisa), the high-minded filmmaker has carved out a rather singular path — and become one of the most inventive minds in Hollywood. His latest piece is a reworking of Iain Reid’s novel that finds Kaufman tread the line between comedy and horror. As Jessie Buckley meets her partner’s parents for the first time, she can’t escape an ominous feeling that something’s not quite right…
Scheduled for release on Netflix on 4 September, 2020

Death On The Nile

A luxurious cruise, an unexpected murder, dozens of suspects and one moustachioed detective. Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot returns to screens in Kenneth Branagh’s stately new production, unpicking the truth from the lies and the innocent from the guilty. A starry ensemble, including Armie Hammer and Gal Gadot, board the ill-fated vessel and unwittingly open themselves up to the scrutiny of our much-loved inspector.
Scheduled for release on 23 October, 2020 (US); 9 October, 2020 (UK)

West Side Story

Much like Dune, West Side Story pairs beloved material with an A-list director. Overseeing his first musical, Steven Spielberg takes the reigns for this retelling of the Romeo & Juliet-infused tale of forbidden love and fierce rivalries. The original Broadway production went on to inspire a multi-Oscar-winning film in 1961, so hopes are high for this tale of feuding New Yorkers with big show tunes. Expect culture clashes, teen gangs and a whole lot of finger snapping.
Scheduled for release on 18 December, 2020