Zola
This is one I’ve been really anticipating. I’ve heard great things from its Sundance premiere last year, and I’m always intrigued by any movie with a score from Mica Levi. Also, I’ve seen Taylour Paige in three films now, White Boy Rick, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Boogie, and I’m really impressed with just those fairly minor roles. I can’t wait to see what she does with a leading role. I actually haven’t read through the Twitter thread this is based on, though I recall that period when it really blew up, and everyone was talking about it. This looks like a blast, and since I don’t know what happens, I can’t wait to experience all the chaos this has in store.
Zola will open in theaters on June 30th.
The Night House
This apparently also premiered at Sundance last year, though I haven’t heard of it up until this trailer came out. It seems like the word-of-mouth was good though, which isn’t a surprise since I looked it up, and found out it’s directed by David Bruckner, who did The Ritual for Netflix, a great little horror film. Even if I didn’t look that up, I would still be excited because when it made that first reveal upon the discovery of the “reverse house” or whatever that is, I was sold. What at first looked like standard haunted house fare, which I honestly would have still ended up liking, is instead something a lot more interesting that I expected. I’m definitely excited to see this.
The Night House hits theaters on July 16th.
Wrath Of Man
So, Guy Ritchie is basically doing a full on Jason Statham actioner? Hell yeah, count me in. While I may have had mixed feelings on Ritchie’s last film, The Gentlemen, I am always going to be intrigued by any new film from him. His style is oddly not felt as much here, despite him also being credited as a co-writer. I haven’t seen the 2004 French film that this is based on, I might check it out beforehand just out of curiosity, and I imagine it’s pretty good since it was worth being remade. I’m excited for this, the action looks great, Statham is a stellar action star, and it just looks like a lot of fun.
Wrath Of Man will be released in theaters on May 7th.
Spiral: From The Book Of Saw
I considered not even bothering looking at this trailer, since I was sold on this when I saw the trailer from before it got held back due to the pandemic. But hey, I couldn’t help myself, this is still so weird seeing these particular folks involved in this particular property. It’s so bananas, I can’t help but be super curious about it, and I’m not all that invested in the Saw franchise to begin with. I want to see more stuff like this. If we’re gonna keep bringing these properties back, I want to see filmmakers take them in wild and unexpected directions like this. Who knows if this will turn out good, but you bet I’m looking forward to finding out. And by the way, I’m glad they added that whole “From The Book Of Saw” at the end of the title because there was another horror film called Spiral that released last year that I think is worth checking out, and these two came out, this would’ve easily overshadowed the other one.
Spiral: From The Book Of Saw opens in theaters on May 14th.
The Disciple
This is another film that has been making festival rounds, and received a lot of acclaim. It’s one I’ve been really looking forward to. It’s from Chaitanya Tamhane, who made his debut several yers back with a film called Court, which I still need to see. There’s definitely some familiar themes I’m seeing here, but with this particular setting and context, it feels like something I’ve not quite experienced before. It’s also just a beautifully constructed trailer, and even if I knew nothing about it going in, it would still have my attention.
The Disciple hits Netflix on April 30th.
The Suicide Squad
Figured I would end this on a fun note. I was actually originally going to have the first trailer here, but since they released this new one, for reasons I’m still not so sure about, I’m posting this new one. And honestly, I’m glad because this trailer feels way better than the previous, not that it was bad. However, it did seem like it was trying a little too hard, and leaned more on the edginess of the material than I think was necessary. I’m a fan of James Gunn’s work, so I have total faith in him to deliver, especially without the PG-13 restrictions. This trailer looks super fun, and I love the set of characters we have here. It just looks like a total blast.
The Suicide Squad hits theaters and HBO Max for 31 days starting August 6th.
Thoughts on any of the trailers? Feel free to discuss in the comments!