So many trailers, so little time. That was the feeling at RT HQ this week with the major studios and indies alike unleashing a barrage of new trailers for movies coming out in the next six months. We’re taking a weekend to look at all the trailers that hit this week, grouped by genre, and break down why they’ve got us excited.
Jamie Lee Curtis is back as Laurie Strode in this 40-years-later sequel that ignores every film in the series that followed the original (including the 20-years-later sequel, Halloween: H20). Stronger helmer David Gordon Green directs from a script he wrote with Danny McBride.
Standout moment: Michael Myers drops a set of bloody teeth over a bathroom stall door because…well, we don’t know why, but that stuff is scary.
Release date: October 19, 2018
Luca Guadagnino directs a very freaky-looking update of Dario Argento’s Suspiria, with Dakota Johnson and Guadagnino regular Tilda Swinton starring. Expect witches, ballet, and – as we saw in some preview footage at Cinemacon – plenty to look away from.
Standout moment: When that witch slithers up a door frame – Luca is not playing.
Release date: November 2, 2018
First there was Kim Kardashian, then there was Wreck-It Ralph. The extremely popular 2012 Disney animated flick gets a sequel that gets super meta as Ralph and a returning posse find themselves entering the World Wide Web. Expect laughs, inside jokes, and Disney product placement.
Standout moment: The already viral scene in which Vanellope meets a tiara of Disney Princesses (“tiara” is the collective noun for that, right?).
Release date: November 21, 2018
Everything is decidedly not so awesome in Bricksburg, which now looks a little like Mad Max director George Miller got a hold of his nephew’s LEGO set. And then come the alien invaders.
Standout moment: The moment we all realize Elizabeth Banks’ Wyldstyle was the true hero of the original film, and not “hapless” Emmett.
Release date: February 8, 2019
Hiccup is sporting the kind of beard that would make John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place dad jealous and Night Fury Toothless is falling head over tail for a Light Fury.
Standout moment: “Toothless has a girlfriend!”
Release date: March 1, 2019
Thought you didn’t need another Spider-Man in your cinematic life? This trailer will have you reconsidering that stance with its innovative animation, fresh take on the character (that’s Shameik Moore as Miles Morales chatting with a schlubby, washed-up Peter Parker), and sharp script from Phil Lord.
Standout moment: Our first look at Gwen Stacy.
Release date: December 14, 2018
The Transformers franchise gets into the spinoff game with this late-’80s-set family movie starring Hailee Steinfeld as a teenager who discovers a battered-up robot in disguise. Travis Knight, who directed Kubo and the Two Strings, is helming the project.
Standout moment: Bumblebee in the garage giving us some serious Amblin vibes.
Release date: December 21, 2018
Based on the Philip Reeves novels, Mortal Engines offers us vision of a not-very-merry old England, with London and other cities roaming a post-war world as all-consuming mega vehicles.
Standout moment: Hugo Weaving, back in blockbuster villain mode.
Release date: December 14, 2018
Don’t expect Keanu Reeves in full John Wick mode here: He’s playing a diamond dealer in search of his missing Russian partner, and while there’s definitely some hand-to-hand combat, this film from director Matthew Ross is more in the thriller vein.
Standout moment: Reeves running through a snowy forest.
Release date: July 13, 2008
Neil Armstrong finally gets a biopic, with La La Land and Whiplash director Damien Chazelle doing the honors. Ryan Gosling plays Armstrong, while Claire Foy plays wife Janet Armstrong. The trailer is giving us Apollo 13 vibes, and will no doubt start Oscar chatter.
Standout moment: That first silent shot of the Earth fading away in the distance.
Release date: October 12, 2018
This latest take on the classic story of discovery and downfall is directed by Bradley Cooper – who also does his own singing as musician Jackson Maine – and features Lady Gaga as the titular “star.”
Standout moment: The moment Gaga finally gets behind the mic and belts it out.
Release date: October 5, 2018
Matthew McConaughey plays the father of Rick, who forms the center of this fascinating true story about a teen who became a drug kingpin and FBI informant all before he turned 16.
Standout moment: “That’s Ricky – he white.”
Release date: September 14, 2018
An all-star cast led by Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez, and Cynthia Erivo star in Steve McQueen’s adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s popular novel about a group of women who take their fate – and fortune – into their own hands after their criminal husbands die.
Standout moment: Viola freaking Davis in that mask.
Release date: November 16, 2018
What’s it about? We’re not really sure, but we do know it has to do with a fishing boat captain (Matthew McConaughey), his dangerous past, a femme fatale in the form of Anne Hathaway and… fishing line.
Standout moment: “Well you have yourself a good day and do what’s right, OK?”
Release date: October 19, 2018
Take three. The Crown‘s Claire Foy steps into the leather boots of Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander for this adaptation of the first book in the Millennium series not to be written by the author himself, following his death. Don’t Breathe director Fede Alvarez will likely ensure it’s a tense trip back to Scandinavia.
Standout moment: That final, terrifying moment with Lisbeth (we’re assuming) trapped in a black… something.
Release date: November 9, 2018
Fans of Drew Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods will likely flock to El Royale, which features a group of strangers gathered at a hotel for a night that looks like it doesn’t end well at all. There’s a huge cast (including Jeff Bridges, Chris Hemsworth, Dakota Johnson, and more), some Cabin-ish spying and trickery, and plenty of style to go around.
Standout moment: Tony winner Cynthia Erivo’s goosebump-inducing version of The Isley Brothers’ “This Old Heart of Mine.”
Release date: October 5, 2018
