5Y View | Here's a 2021 Watchlist, 29 New Stories, and Some New Expectations
No film can bring you good luck, but they can quietly help you become yourself.
Happy weekend. With the Lantern Festival behind us, the new year's journey has officially begun. The past year has been grueling for everyone — anxieties about the external environment, worries about personal growth, searching for order amid chaos.
What's past is prologue. There's still plenty to look forward to in 2021. Today we're recommending some films set for release this year. After sifting through the noise, we've narrowed it down to 14 Chinese-language films and 15 international ones — stories about courage, dreams, and love.
Someone once said that no book in the world will bring you good luck, but they can quietly help you become yourself. The same goes for movies. So why not start the new year with these long-awaited films, and live deliberately :)
Source: 24th Floor Cinema
Films are listed in no particular order
Chinese-Language Films
Across the Furious Sea
Director: Cao Baoping, expected release: summer 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★★
The latest entry in director Cao Baoping's "Burning Heart" series, this film elevates the franchise's core themes while using the murder of a young woman to dissect the hidden truths of human nature within both the suspect's and victim's families.
The Best Is Yet to Come
Director: Wang Jing, expected release: 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★★
Produced by Jia Zhangke, starring Bai Ke, Zhang Songwen, and Miao Miao. Based on a true story, it follows a naive newspaper intern who attempts to change the fate of 100 million people through a single news report.
Saturday Fiction
Director: Lou Ye, expected release: 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★★
Starring Gong Li, Mark Chao, and Joe Odagiri, adapted from Hong Ying's The Death of Shanghai and Yokomitsu Riichi's Shanghai. Already nominated for the Golden Lion at Venice — looking forward to Gong Li's performance.
Fengshen Trilogy
Director: Wuershan, expected release: 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★★
Based on the classic Chinese mythological novel Investiture of the Gods, this trilogy depicts the epic war between humans, immortals, and demons over 3,000 years ago — a sweeping Chinese mythological saga.
Home Sweet Home
Director: Leste Chen, expected release: May 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★
Following The Bad Kids, Rong Zishan joins this latest film alongside Zhang Zifeng, Aaron Kwok, Tiffany Hsu, and Duan Yihong. With a cast like this for a suspense thriller, there's plenty to anticipate.
Moses on the Plains
Director: Zhang Ji, expected release: 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★
Adapted from Shuang Xuetao's novel of the same name, this suspense film starring Zhou Dongyu and Liu Haoran is definitely worth the wait.
Sons of the Neon Night
Director: Juno Mak, expected release: 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★
A terrifyingly stacked cast: Sean Lau, Louis Koo, Tony Leung Ka-fai, and Takeshi Kaneshiro. Fingers crossed it releases this year.
Cliff Walkers
Director: Zhang Yimou, expected release: 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★
Starring Zhang Yi, Yu Hewei, Qin Hailu, and Zhu Yawen — an espionage thriller. This marks Zhang Yimou's second collaboration with Zhang Yi and Liu Haocun.
The Bird Cries
Director: Tian Zhuangzhuang, expected release: TBD
Anticipation: ★★★★★
Veteran director Tian Zhuangzhuang's return, with a screenplay by Ah Cheng and starring Zhang Yu. Set in the late 1960s, it follows educated youth who arrive in Yunnan.
Septet: The Story of Hong Kong
Directors: Johnnie To, Tsui Hark, et al., expected release: 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★
A co-production by seven Hong Kong directors — Sammo Hung, Ann Hui, Patrick Tam, Yuen Woo-ping, Johnnie To, Ringo Lam, and Tsui Hark. An anthology of shorts paying tribute to film stock, capturing stories from different generations.
Are You Lonesome Tonight?
Director: Wen Shipei, expected release: 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★
Set in the late 1990s, on a sweltering summer night when the entire city loses power, a murder hidden in darkness draws three people together, altering their fates and binding them for the next two decades.
Wu Hai
Director: Zhou Ziyang, expected release: 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★
Starring Huang Xuan, Yang Zishan, and Tu Men. The film received a nomination at the San Sebastián International Film Festival — looking forward to the cast's explosive performances.
The Climbers
Director: Yojiro Takita, expected release: August 30, 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★
Departures director Yojiro Takita's first Chinese-language film, starring Zhang Guoli, Xu Qing, and Han Geng. A story about a father running a time-honored shop and the secret he's buried his entire life.
Li Na
Director: Peter Chan, expected release: 2021
Anticipation: ★★★
Following Leap, Peter Chan returns to the biopic format with Zhang Xiner as Li Na and Hu Ge as her husband Jiang Shan — another one to anticipate.
International Films
Black Widow
Director: Cate Shortland, expected release: May 7, 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★★
Delayed multiple times due to COVID, here's hoping this date sticks. An action-packed spy thriller exploring Black Widow's past. So if Black Widow finally gets her solo film, how far behind can Hawkeye be?
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Director: Jon Watts, expected release: December 17, 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★★
Alfred Molina joins as Doctor Octopus, with Aunt May, MJ, and Ned returning. Looking forward to what Tom Holland brings.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Director: Andy Serkis, expected release: June 25, 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★★
In the sequel, Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock faces off against Woody Harrelson's psychopathic serial killer Cletus Kasady, host to another alien symbiote. With this Peter Parker still in high school, it's a Sony-MCU collaboration.
Eternals
Director: Chloé Zhao, expected release: November 5, 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★
Chloé Zhao's entry into the Marvel universe speaks for itself. After sweeping awards with Nomadland last year, expectations are sky-high for this one.
The Matrix Resurrections
Director: Lana Wachowski, expected release: December 22, 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★★
A "never thought I'd see the day" installment. Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Jada Pinkett Smith all reprise their original roles.
Dune
Director: Denis Villeneuve, expected release: 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★★
Adapted from the classic sci-fi novel, Dune follows Paul Atreides, a gifted young man guided by destiny who sets out to the most dangerous planet in the universe to protect his family and people, embarking on a thrilling adventure. Meanwhile, various factions join the battle to seize control of a precious resource on this planet that can unlock humanity's greatest potential. In the end, only those who conquer their inner fears will survive.
West Side Story
Director: Steven Spielberg, expected release: December 10, 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★
A remake of the classic Broadway musical. Set in 1950s New York, it depicts the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, and the star-crossed romance between Tony and Maria from opposing gangs.
Nightmare Alley
Director: Guillermo del Toro, expected release: 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★
Co-written by del Toro and Kim Morgan, based on the 1947 film of the same name. The story follows a greedy con artist who teams up with a female psychiatrist to scam patients out of their money.
The French Dispatch
Director: Wes Anderson, expected release: 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★★
From the director of The Grand Budapest Hotel, with a dazzling cast including Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, and Léa Seydoux. Described as "a love letter to journalists of an American newspaper's Paris bureau in the 20th century."
Death on the Nile
Director: Kenneth Branagh, expected release: September 17, 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★
Another Agatha Christie adaptation hitting the big screen. Since its 1937 publication, this novel has been beloved by readers, following detective Hercule Poirot as he encounters another murder during a vacation in Egypt. The original was adapted in 1978 with a glittering cast: Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Maggie Smith, Jane Birkin, Angela Lansbury, and David Niven.
A Quiet Place Part II
Director: John Krasinski, expected release: September 17, 2021
Anticipation: ★★★
After four delays, it's finally set. The sequel continues from the first film while filling in the origins of the creature invasion. Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe return, joined by Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou.
Antlers
Director: Scott Cooper, expected release: October 29, 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★
Produced by Guillermo del Toro, this supernatural horror follows a young teacher who discovers something sinister about a student's father and uncle. When she takes the child under her protection, she faces survival fears beyond imagination.
Old
Director: M. Night Shyamalan, expected release: July 23, 2021
Anticipation: ★★★★
Shyamalan has said the film was inspired by the French graphic novel Sandcastle by Pierre Oscar Levy and artist Frederik Peeters.
F9
Director: Justin Lin, expected release: 2021
Anticipation: ★★★
Last time they dangled cars from planes — what spectacle can top that? All eyes on Justin Lin.
No Time to Die
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga, expected release: October 8, 2021
Anticipation: ★★★
Old and new faces assemble — Léa Seydoux returns as a Bond girl for the second time. The series' most terrifying villain, Safin (Rami Malek), makes his entrance. As the 25th Bond film, this may also be Daniel Craig's final outing as 007.
That wraps up our 2021 most-anticipated films. There may be a few omissions, and release dates are always subject to change. Bookmark this list and enjoy at your leisure.
5Y Capital (formerly Morningside Venture Capital) currently manages approximately $3 billion across USD and RMB dual-currency funds. We believe the world becomes a better place when those who seem crazy in others' eyes begin to be believed.
BEIJING · SHANGHAI · SHENZHEN · HONG KONG