London, UK (14 January 2020): Global media and entertainment firm Alpha1Media on January 14 launched its acclaimed annual list of the top films from around the world which cinema audiences can look forward to watching in 2021, as the number of cases for the COVID-19 pandemic descend and vaccinations programmes for the vulnerable are rolled-out.
The tenth edition of the A1Film Top Movies Preview for 2021 highlights 10 essential films, over 70 interesting films from Hollywood, China, Bollywood, the Middle East, Latin America and the Far East that audiences can look forward to this year (as well as over 10 streaming films), as more cinemas re-open globally as the COVID-19 pandemic is dealt with through prevention and vaccination.
“With 2020 clearly the Year of Cinema in Disruption, then this A1Film Top Movie Preview’s theme can potentially be that of Multi-Platform Choice,” said Talal Malik, Chairman and CEO of Alpha1Media. “It’s essentially a pick and mix of film platforms, but also a hierarchy with global theatrical cinema essentially at the top: there are those delayed from last year, like the James Bond ‘No Time to Die’, Tom Cruise’s ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and Marvel’s ‘Black Widow’ which are now due for theatrical release in 2021; some have moved to simultaneous-streaming and theatrical like Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’; others like ‘Coming 2 America’ have been sold from theatrical to streaming; and finally a Director’s Cut of ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ gets streaming and also potentially theatrical.”
In ‘The Quintessential’ category, the top 10 films from across the categories chosen, are ‘No Time to Die’, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, ‘Dune’, ‘The Matrix 4’, ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’, ‘Black Widow’, ‘The Suicide Squad’, ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’, ‘Brahmastra’ and ‘The Battle at Lake Changjin’.
In ‘The Franchise – Blockbuster’ category, the Quintessential films chosen are ‘No Time to Die’, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, ‘The Matrix 4’ and ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’, with others films such as ‘Death on the Nile’, ‘Fast & Furious 9’, ‘The King’s Man’, ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ and ‘Sherlock Holmes 3’.
In ‘The Franchise – Superhero’ category, the Quintessential films chosen are ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’, ‘The Suicide Squad’ and ‘Black Widow’, with others films such as ‘The Eternals’, ‘Morbius’, ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’, ‘Samaritan’, ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’, ‘Snake Eyes’ and ‘Mortal Kombat’.
In the ‘2020 – Oscar Cinema’ category are films which were screened in 2020, which may be shown in cinemas in 2021, and are forerunners at the Oscars in 2021, such as ‘Nomadland’, ‘Minari’, ‘The Father’, ‘News of the World’ and ‘Promising Young Woman’.
In ‘The Auteur’ category, the Quintessential film chosen is ‘Dune’, with other films such as ‘Three Thousand Years of Longing’, ‘The French Dispatch’, ‘Stillwater’, ‘Old’, ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’, ‘Untitled Paul Thomas Anderson Project’, ‘Macbeth’, ‘The Card Counter’, ‘The Lost Daughter’, ‘Untitled David O. Russell Project’, ‘Nightmare Alley’, ‘Crisis’ ‘Reminiscence’, ‘Voyagers’ ‘Last Night in Soho’ and ‘Wrath of Man’.
In ‘The Director Vehicle’ category, the films chosen are ‘West Side Story’, ‘Deep Water’, ‘Untitled Lila Neugebauer Project’, ‘Untitled Sandra Bullock/Nora Fingscheidt Project’ and ‘No Sudden Move’.
In the ‘Genre – Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure’ category, the films are ‘Infinite’, ‘The Tomorrow War’, ‘Uncharted’, ‘BIOS’, ‘The Asset’, ‘Locked Down’ and ‘Free Guy’.
In the ‘Biographical and Historical’ category, the films chosen are ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’, ‘Untitled Elvis Presley Project’,‘Gucci’, ‘King Richard’, ‘Respect’, ‘Louis Wain’, ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’, ‘The Last Duel’ and ‘The Last Planet’.
In the ‘Bollywood’ category, for popular cinema films from India, the Quintessential film is ‘Brahmastra’ with other films chosen such as ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’, ‘Radhe’, ‘Antim: The Final Truth’, ‘Chehre’, ‘Aankhen 2’, ‘Shamshera’, ‘The Battle of Bhima Koregaon’, ‘Maidaan’ ‘’83’ and ‘Power’.
In the ‘China’ category, the Quintessential film chosen is ‘The Battle at Lake Changjin’ with other films such as ‘Raging Fire’, ‘The Hunting’, ‘Ren Chao Xiong Yong’ and ‘The Yinyang Master’.
In the ‘Cross-Cultural’ category, the films chosen are ‘The Mauritanian’, ‘The Lady of Heaven’ and ‘Project X-Traction’.
In the ‘Streaming category’, the films chosen are from streaming services, such as ‘Coming 2 America’ (Amazon), ‘Don’t Look Up’ (Netflix), ‘Malcolm & Marie’ (Netflix), ‘The White Tiger’ (Netflix), ‘The Dig’ (Netflix), ‘Blonde’ (Netflix), ‘Red Notice’ (Netflix), ‘The Guilty’ (Netflix), ‘Cherry’ (Apple +), ‘The Power of the Dog’ (Netflix) and ‘Army of the Dead’ (Netflix).
“For a decade, Alpha1Media has aimed to ensure the global cinema industry and audience alike have a single list of movies they can check for the global popular movies they should see throughout the year, and the A1Film Preview Best Movies 2021 goes further this year,” said Ms. Maria Felce, Head of Media & Talent at Alpha1Media.
“Some major films have not been included in the official list, because based on their current marketing status, such as a lack of a poster, official name and or trailer, they are potentially likely to be delayed to 2022, such as Marvel’s ‘Spider-Man Homecoming 3’, Tom Cruise’s ‘Mission: Impossible 7’, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo Di Caprio’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’.”
Alpha1Media on 10 January, 2021, launched its A1Film Best Movies Awards 2020, celebrating the best of cinema in 2020, based on the A1Film Top 10 Best Movies List for 2020.
The A1Film Top 5 Best Movies List 2020 launched on 6 January, 2021, are 1) ‘Tenet’; 2) ‘1917’; 3) ‘Wonder Woman 1984’; 4) ‘The Eight Hundred’ and 5) ‘Bad Boys for Life’.
Alpha1Media is a global media and entertainment firm. Alpha1Media produces and advises on media creation using 10×10 types of media including phone, print, TV, radio, billboard, computer, cinema and futuristic media based on scale, motion and holograms.
In the film sector, Alpha1Media focuses on film development, production, financing and cultural advisory services. It currently has six film projects in development with production value estimated at over USD $500 million from 2021-2030, including the industry-acclaimed ‘NANO’.