Now that we’re in the first full week of 2020 and we’ve had some major surprises in the MCU with Christian Bale in talks to join Thor 4 and Scott Derrickson quitting Doctor Strange 2.
I thought for a bit of fun to make some predictions for the year ahead of what we could see in the film world.
The size of the news will be down to how you feel about the certain property or franchise but it could be a major year for a lot of studios.
James Bond Joins Warner Brothers
This is the biggest prediction I’m making as James Bond is the last major free agent going as once No Time To Die is released in the US by United Artists Releasing and worldwide by Universal in April they’ll be a bidding war between the major studios in the summer.
While Disney’s big boss Bob Iger has playfully hinted to TIME magazine (via Digital Spy) his love for 007 when talking about the Mouse House not looking buy anything, I can’t see Disney gaining another major property.
Additionally, I’m sure Sony and Paramount would love to have a bankable franchise but can’t see them able to afford it. While Netflix is focusing on more original content.
This will leave us with us with two and the likeliest to go into war are Universal and Warner Bros.
What’ll be up for grabs would be: distribution, a third of the production, even MGM could be up for sale, streaming and possibly half of the licensing as Barbara Broccoli aren’t giving that up either.
With both WarnerMedia’s HBO Max and NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming services coming out in 2020 they both need content to get people to buy their platforms against others and being the official US home of James Bond could help.
When all said and done, I could see WB winning with a massive bid going into the billions, even doubling what they spent on JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot, becoming another major step of Ann Sarnoff’s career as Chair and CEO of Warner Bros.
Disney/Fox Lose Die Hard Rights To Warner Bros
Sticking with WB, the next property the studio will gain the rights for Roderick Thorp’s book Nothing Last Forever, which serves as a base for Die Hard.
The novelist family are looking to get out of the deal with Fox (via Collider) and I think when looking around for a new home Sony could be Warner Bros’ biggest challenge.
The first sign as to why this could be a possibility was HBO Max getting the streaming rights to the first Die Hard instead of the Disney owned Hulu.
Additionally, I think WB is a decent home especially for their sister studio New Line and they’ll be an announcement for a reboot.
Patty Jenkins Will Direct The 2022 Star Wars Movie
This one we’ll find out this coming month as Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy is said to have a director slated for a 2022 release film according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The money is on being a woman and while I would’ve gone with Deborah Chow because of the praise she’s received for her episodes of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian but she’s got an even better gig of directing the whole Kenobi series.
The reason why Patty Jenkins will get the job is simple.
She’s the biggest female filmmaker currently thanks to her fantastic work on Wonder Woman so both fans and general audiences’ can trust her.
Jenkins will focus on finishing and promoting Wonder Woman 1984 while the script is being written before switching to Star Wars.
This wouldn’t happen, but no one from Lucasfilm or Jenkins herself throughout the whole WW84 press tour reveals the project until Star Wars Celebration in August.
Doctor Aphra Will Be The 2022 Film
I’ve been searching for what could be the 2022 film to follow the end of the Skywalker saga and I can’t see Disney and Lucasfilm jumping into another trilogy right away.
It’ll be a couple of years of standalone stories within the Star Wars universe before we see trilogy’s on the Old Republic or far into the future Star Wars story.
The ideal character to get a standalone film is one that only diehards know but has the potential to be the next beloved character in Star Wars.
Aphra and her comic series have all the elements Jenkins would love from the character and her crew, the Indiana Jones adventure and the chances to add elements of a Romancing The Stone love story.
If you need more reason then I highly recommend reading Hanna Flint’s piece for Syfy Wire.
Paddington Finally Completes His Trilogy
It’ll be three years since the wonderful masterpiece Paddington 2 was released. The last we heard anything was in November 2018 when Collider spoke to the film’s producer David Heyman.
He confirmed Paddington 3 was in the works but Paul King, who directed the two films, wasn’t likely to return as he’s been working on a Willy Wonka prequel for Warner Bros.
However, I believe with the Wonka movie currently in development hell. This could lead StudioCanal making a press release at the early part of 2020 confirming King’s return to helm Paddington’s final big-screen adventure based on Paddington becoming a British citizen.
The whole main cast return with some new faces with my picks of Emma Thompson or Daisy Ridley as the villain.
The Bear Cave 