Netflix is beginning its shock and awe campaign for 2021, running up on the score on theatrical releases with a plan to release a new original film every single week of the year. To prove it, they’ve released a sizzle reel of a lot of the splashiest upcoming films, featuring stars like Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, Ryan Reynolds, Octavia Spencer, Regina King, Chris Hemsworth, Lin Manuel-Miranda, Melissa McCarthy, Amy Adams and Halle Berry just to name a few.
Some of these will be the next entries if Netflix franchises like To All the Boys and Kissing Booth. Others will continue to explore Netflix’s newfound taste for action blockbusters, like Red Notice and Escape From Spiderhead. All of them are planned to remind feisty streaming newcomers like Disney+ and HBO Max that Netflix is still the biggest kid on the block. As far as sheer content goes, that’s probably true, but quality-wise, it’s getting contentious out there. Disney Plus is gearing up for a huge 2021 with its long-awaited original Marvel Cinematic Universe shows dropping this week and with Netflix losing streaming rights to its crown jewels The Office and Friends, the original streamer has a lot to prove this year.
Any of these could turn out well but extra intriguing is Don’t Look Up, Adam McKay’s latest starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence. McKay cut his teeth on comedies like Anchorman before moving to political dramas like Vice, and his new one might try to split the difference between the two, telling the story of two low-level astronomers trying to warn the world of an approaching asteroid. Thinly veiled climate change parable though it might be, the movie’s got a crazy cast. Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Tyler Perry, Timothee Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi, Melanie Lynskey, Himesh Patel, Matthew Perry and Tomer Sisley are all on hand to make sure that whatever happens, at least the acting will be good.
These movies are all coming to Netflix this year so buckle up. It’s gonna be another weird year.
