December
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
Date: December 14th
Directors: Bob Persichetti and Peter Ramsey
Writers: Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Alex Hirsch
Cast: Liev Schreiber, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Shameik Moore.
Comic book fans have been hoping for a big screen appearance by the Miles Morales version of Spider-Man for years, and now it appears to be on its way, in animation. This project stands as independent from any of the live-action Spider-Man projects – either from Sony, or Marvel – and is, instead, a new addition to the array of Spider-Man stories available to audiences.
Bumblebee
Date: December 21st
Director: Travis Knight
Writer: Christina Hodson
Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, Pamela Adlon, John Cena, Peter Cullen, Kenneth Choi, John Ortiz.
This is a spinoff from the Transformers franchise, and is essentially a prequel – being set in 1987. This is also the first big screen Transformers story to have a female-led story, since it focuses on a teenage girl who stumbles upon Bumblebee in a junkyard, as well as being the first film in the Transformers series to be written by a woman.
Aquaman
Date: December 21st
Director: James Wan
Writers: Will Beall, Geoff Johns, and James Wan
Cast: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe, Dolph Lundgren, Patrick Wilson, Graham McTavish, Temeura Morrison, Ludi Lin, Michael Beach, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.
The first live-action solo film for the iconic DC character, Aquaman will see the half-human-half-Atlantean forced to balance the will of his underwater civilization with the protection of the polluting humanity, as he also faces his destiny as reluctant King of Atlantis.
Mary Poppins Returns
Date: December 25th
Director: Rob Marshall
Writer: David Magee
Cast: Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep, Ben Whishaw, Colin Firth, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Dick Van Dyke, Angela Lansbury, Lin-Manuel Miranda, David Warner.
This sequel to the 1964 Disney classic, Mary Poppins, is set 25 years after the first story. It sees the now adult Banks children revisited by their former nanny after a family tragedy during the Great Depression. Emily Blunt assumes the titular role, and is joined by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is also set to develop additional, original songs for the musical movie.
Bohemian Rhapsody
Date: December 25th
Director: Bryan Singer
Writers: Justin Haythe, Anthony McCarten, Peter Morgan, Stephen J. Rivele, and Christopher Wilkinson
Cast: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Mike Myers, Aidan Gillen, Joseph Mazzello, Tom Hollander, Ben Hardy, Allen Leech, Gwilym Lee, Aaron McCusker.
This is a biographical drama that focuses on the 15 year period from the establishment of the band Queen, to their iconic performance at Live Aid in 1985. Emmy winner Rami Malek has already caused a stir with his uncanny Freddie Mercury likeness in still images released from the production, but the key point here is that guitarist Brian May, and drummer Roger Taylor – along with long-time Queen manager Jim Beach – are producers of the film. This alone should reassure fans that the legacy of beloved icon Freddie Mercury remains protected.