The New Mutants: April 3rd
For a while there, it seemed like we might not ever get The New Mutants, Marvel’s long-gestating final installment for the X-Men franchise. After beginning filming in 2017 for an anticipated 2018 release, the film was pushed back countless times to allow for reshoots. Luckily, at least some of that delay is owed to director Josh Boone’s desire to make the film even scarier, which works perfectly for this story about a group of superpowered humans slowly realizing their potential while trapped in a secret facility. The cast is stacked with heavyweights like Antonio Banderas, The Witch’s Anya Taylor-Joy, Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton, Henry Zaga, Alice Braga, and Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams, whose character, Wolfsbane, is rumored to have a lesbian romance with Blu Hunt’s Danielle Moonstar.
Antebellum: April 24th
Exactly a year after Lupita Nyong’o proved that Black women can carry horror movies on their backs with her revelatory (and hopefully, Oscar-nominated) dual performance in Jordan Peele’s Us, queer icon Janelle Monáe will pick up that torch with Antebellum. Though details are still relatively scarce, the film will reportedly feature Monáe as Veronica Henley, a successful author that mysteriously starts time-travelling between our present day and the antebellum south. The debut feature for writer-director duo Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz, Antebellum will mark Monáe’s first lead role. I’m starting the Oscar campaign now.
Ema: Summer 2020
After premiering at this year’s Venice Film Festival, Ema, the new feature by acclaimed Jackie director Pablo Larraín, finally got a U.S. release timeframe. Starring Mariana Di Girólamo as the titular character, a sexually fluid reggaeton dancer with big dreams, and the disturbingly handsome Gael García Bernal as her volatile choreographer husband Gastón, the film follows the couple as they deal with the aftermath of a botched adoption. After screening next month at Sundance, Ema will hit theaters nationwide in the summer — just in time for you to sweatily dance to the beats of its Nicolas Jaar-produced score.
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie: October 23rd
When Everybody’s Talking About Jamie opened at the Crucible Theater in Sheffield, England in 2017, it quickly drew massive critical acclaim. Based on the 2011 documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, the musical followed a bullied high school outcast with dreams of one day becoming a beloved drag queen. Upsettingly, the production has yet to touch down stateside, but in the meantime, we’re at least getting a film version of the inspiring story. Starring newcomer Max Harwood in the titular role, the cast is rounded out by the Oscar-nominated Richard E. Grant as a former drag queen and Catastrophe’s Sharon Horgan as Jamie’s teacher.
The Eternals: November 6th
After concluding its 23-film, decade-long box office reign with Avengers: Endgame earlier this year, Marvel is wasting no time before diving into its “Phase Four” slate of films, which will start with Black Widow in May and press on with The Eternals in November. Though the presence of rising film princess Florence Pugh in Black Widow is enough to make my little gay heart squeal in delight, it’s Chloe Zhao’s The Eternals that really excites — particularly since the film will feature Marvel’s first openly gay male superhero. According to reports from Brazil’s Comic Con, that character will be Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos, who is seen in a yet-to-be-released trailer “holding hands with a male partner, with the pair accompanied by two kids.” Of course, if you need further convincing, I should also note that the cast is toplined by bisexual icon Angelina Jolie and also features Silicon Valley’s Kumail Nanjiani, who is apparently super hot now.
