2020 was supposed to be a big year for horror before the coronavirus hit. Hopefully, 2021 will be a big year for the genre with these notable titles.
A number of major horror movie titles are set to be released in 2021. The year is gearing up to be a monumental time for the film industry as studios are overwhelming the calendar due to the reshuffling of premieres following coronavirus delays. As the horror genre continues to have a resurgence, 2021 will look to add to the trend with a slew of highly anticipated sequels and original ideas.
2020 was looking to be a big year for the horror industry. Leigh Whannell's The Invisible Man paved the way in February by obtaining stellar reviews while making a splash at the box office. The rest of the year would have continued with other standout titles if the pandemic didn't wreak havoc on the world. There are still a few other notable movies hoping to debut by the end of the year, including Antebellum,A Quiet Place Part II,Candyman,andHalloween Kills.
Related:Every Delayed 2020 Horror Movie
So what does that mean for horror fans for 2021 and beyond? It's very possible that some of the aforementioned titles will get shifted, as studios are still fine-tuning their release date schedules. That said, there are still noteworthy titles already set to premiere throughout 2021; here are the most anticipated.
Following the box office success of 2019's Escape Room, apsychological thriller directed byAdam Robitel, a sequel was quickly greenlit. Robitel is back at the helm for Escape Room 2,which was originally planned to release in April 2020 before being delayed a few times. Taylor Russell and Logan Miller are reprising their roles as Zoey Davis and Ben Miller, respectively. They will be joined byIsabelle Fuhrman,Thomas Cocquerel,Holland Roden,Carlito Olivero, andIndya Moore. Not much has been revealed about the film's plot but it's likely to pick up after the first installment's cliffhanger involving Zoey and Ben's doomed flight.
After the release of Venom, Sony Pictures will look to expand their Marvel shared universe withMorbius. The superhero horror film focuses on Michael Morbius, a scientist who becomes a vampire after trying to cure himself of a rare blood disease. Jared Leto is set to portray the titular character who was first introduced through Marvel Comics in 1971. Plans for a Morbius movie went public in late 2017 before Daniel Espinosawas hired to direct. Filming then took place in early 2019 with a planned release of July 2020. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the release was pushed back eight months. Morbius also starsMatt Smith,Adria Arjona,Jared Harris,Al Madrigal, andTyrese Gibsonin key roles.
After 2017's Baby Driver, filmmaker Edgar Wright will take a shot atpsychological horror with Last Night in Soho. The movie, which is written and directed by Wright focuses on a young girl with an interest in fashion design who time travels to the 1960s. While in 1960s London, the girl encounters a singer who happens to be her idol. As with most time travel scenarios, it comes with many consequences and the era is not at all what it seems.Anya Taylor-Joy stars in the movie alongsideThomasin Harcourt McKenzie,Matt Smith,Diana Rigg,Terence Stamp,Rita Tushingham, andJessie Mei Li. Last Night in Soho was slated to release inSeptember 2020 before the pandemic hit, pushing back the premiere date.
Related:2000 Was A Fantastic Year For Horror Movies
Spiral: From the Book of Saw was another horror film set to release in 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic shifted release dates. Lionsgate pulled the ninth installment of the Saw franchise back a full year but it's still one of the most anticipated titles in the genre. Directed byDarren Lynn Bousman, Spiral centers on a detective played by Chris Rock who takes the lead on murder investigations that have a connection to the town's past. He then finds himself in the middle of the killer's infamous game. The cast also includesSamuel L. Jackson,Max Minghella,Marisol Nichols, andZoie Palmer.
Norman Partridges 2007 horror novel is getting the movie treatment at MGM with a planned 2021 release. David Slade is directing Dark Harvest, a story set on Halloween 1963. It focuses on a midwestern town where each year, teenage boys face off against a pumpkin-headed creature known as "Sawtooth Jack". The one who defeats the creature is awarded the "October Prize", a new car and a year without bills. The cast of the movie is currently unknown at the time of this writing.
Halloween Ends will be the third and final installment of the reboot trilogy developed by David Gordon Green and Danny McBride. The first entry, Halloween, debuted in 2018 and effectively retconned every previous sequel that came after John Carpenter's 1978 original film. The movie took place 40 years after the original and pinned Michael Myers against Laurie Strode. Rather than being the sole target, Michael Myers has his sights set on Laurie's daughter and granddaughter. The Strode women will come face-to-face with the Shape again in Halloween Kills, but the conflict reportedly comes to a close in Halloween Ends. If Halloween Kills is delayed, there's a chance Halloween Ends could also be pushed back.
Don't Breathe was a sleeper hit of 2016, performing well at the box office. Many critics also praised the cast performance as well as the original story written byFede lvarez. Shortly after the film's debut, it was announced that a sequel was in the works. Rodo Sayagues will take over as the directorfor the sequel titled Don't Breathe Again.lvarez co-wrote the script and will stay on as a producer. The movie has a planned release date of Fall 2021, but there's a chance that could be delayed based on pandemic delays. Details regarding the cast and plot are currently unknown.
There are a handful of horror movies that have been pulled from the release date calendar due to the ongoing delays surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. It's likely that some will be moved to 2021 as studios continue to shuffle their schedules. TheGuillermo del Toro-produced supernatural horror, Antlers, was slated for 2020, but there's a good chance viewerswill need to wait until 2021 for it to hit theaters. James Wan's Malignant is another candidate that could move to 2021 after having a 2020 release. Blumhouse was also gearing up to debut The Forever Purge in 2020, but the movie has since been delayed indefinitely; a 2021 release looks more and more likely.
Next:Why Horror Prequel Movies Rarely Work
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Kara Hedash is a features writer for Screen Rant. From time to time, she dives into the world's most popular franchises but Kara primarily focuses on evergreen topics. The fact that she gets to write about The Office regularly is like a dream come true. Before joining Screen Rant, Kara served as a contributor for Movie Pilot and had work published on The Mary Sue and Reel Honey. After graduating college, writing began as a part-time hobby for Kara but it quickly turned into a career. She loves binging a new series and watching movies ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to hidden indie gems. She also has a soft spot for horror ever since she started watching it at too young of an age. Her favorite Avenger is Thor and her favorite Disney princess is Leia Organa. When Kara's not busy writing, you can find her doing yoga or hanging out with Gritty. Kara can be found on Twitter @thekaraverse.
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