Empire's definitive list of the best movie trailers of 2019
Reminisce about films gone by!
Nothing builds anticipation for an upcoming movie like a stellar trailer – a reel that gives a sense of tone, of rhythm, of broadly what to expect, while also holding back all the best bits. Cut with the right piece of music and teased with a sense of genuine excitement, a trailer can be a brilliant bit of filmmaking in its own right.
According to Empire magazine, these are the movie trailers that got everyone talking – mostly for better, occasionally for worse – in 2019. Read an extract of their list below.
Cats
If the job of a trailer is to get people talking, then the Cats trailer was the most successful of the year. For months, we’d wondered exactly how this ‘digital fur technology’ would look, how it would work that the cats were intended to be the size of actual cats, that they shot with giant oversized furniture. The Cats trailer answered all those questions – and yet, it posed so, so many more.
Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
The first trailer for Episode IX not only confirmed the title of the final film in the Skywalker Saga – it hinted at its biggest surprise, the return of Emperor Palpatine. Beyond that, we got Rey at her most powerful in a confrontation with Kylo Ren’s speeder, a glimpse of the remaining Leia footage, and a spine-tingling shot of the crashed Death Star II remains. Beautifully done.
Joker
If those early images on Todd Phillips’ Instagram hadn’t tipped you off that Joker would be a very different kind of comic book movie, the first trailer made it none-more-clear. It promised a dark, brooding, wounded character study with stunning cinematography – and whether you loved or hated the finished film, it delivered exactly what the teaser sold us.
No Time To Die
Could Bond well and truly be back at his best? The first No Time To Die trailer offers some hope of that, with Daniel Craig back in action, the return of Christoph Waltz’s Blofeld, and Rami Malek’s intriguing, theatrical new villain Safin. Plus, by the looks of things, the British spy saga might have a brand new ace to play in Lashana Lynch’s ridiculously cool new agent.
Read Empire's No Time To Die trailer breakdown with Cary Joji Fukunaga
Spider-Man: Far From Home
It was only weeks before release that we learned Far From Home would indeed be set after Avengers: Endgame, taking in that big universe-rattling death, the effects of what we now call ‘The Blip’, and the possibility of a multiverse. This trailer, released after Endgame laid waste to the box office, stoked up all kind of possibilities for the final film in the Infinity Saga.
Wonder Woman 1984
We waited a long time to see any footage from Patty Jenkins’ superhero sequel – but it was more than worth holding out for. That New Order sample! The shiny new costume! The Golden Eagle armour! Diana quite literally riding the lightning with the help of the Lasso Of Truth! Bold, thrilling, colourful stuff.
Top Gun: Maverick
The follow-up to Tony Scott’s beloved fighter pilot drama langoured in development hell for so long that when the first trailer arrived, it seemed like a minor miracle that Tom Cruise was back in the cockpit at all. Just seeing Maverick return was exciting enough – but the possibility that Cruise might actually be doing some of his own flying adds an extra frisson.
Black Widow
Our first glimpse of Marvel’s upcoming slate teases a Jason Bourne-esque solo outing for Scarlett Johansson’s former Russian agent. Promising punchy combat, an action-heavy role for the ever-brilliant Florence Pugh, and David Harbour as a big, beardy Soviet equivalent of Captain America, it seems Kevin Feige and director Cait Shortland have plenty up their sleeves.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
After the initial reveal that Jason Reitman was picking up his dad’s legacy and continuing the original Ghostbusters saga, audiences had to wait for this first proper look. With tantalising hints of Egon’s legacy, a Goonies and Stranger Things-inspired feel, and a tone that emphasises spooks over gags, it looks like ‘Bustin will make us feel good all over again.
Read the full list on Empire Online.
Scroll through to see which films you can look forward to in 2020...
1917
Director: Sam Mendes
Starring: George McKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth
Sam Mendes' WWI epic follows two young British soldiers given a seemingly impossible mission: cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers. Mendes and cinematographer Roger Deakins present, incredibly, the entire narrative as if filmed in a single take.
Release date: 10th January 2020
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
Director: Cathy Yan
Starring: Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Ewan McGregor
Robbie returns as Suicide Squad's unhinged troublemaker Harleen Quinzell (AKA Harley Quinn), now separated from the Joker and leading an all-female super-team. The comic book caper involves them protecting a young girl from the clutches of McGregor's villainous Black Mask.
Release date: 7th February 2020
Dolittle
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Michael Sheen, Antonio Banderas, Jim Broadbent
Loosely adapted from the second of Hugh Lofting's venerable novels about the doctor who can talk to animals, the third screen version of the story casts Robert Downey Jr as a Welsh iteration of the title hero. Dolittle arrives – very late – having been beset with production problems and preemptively pegged as a disaster. The trailer did nothing to disabuse anyone of that notion. Still, maybe it'll be great.
Release date: 7th February 2020
Sonic the Hedgehog
Director: Jeff Fowler
Starring: Ben Schwartz (voice), Jim Carrey, James Marsden, Neal McDonough
The upcoming family-friendly Sonic movie blends live action and animation to adapt the long-running Sega video game series. Sonic (Schwartz) is the blue alien Hedgehog Who Fell to Earth, teaming up with Montana sheriff Marsden to defeat Carrey's evil Dr Robotnik. Grown adults got so upset about the first trailer that Sonic's look had to be completely redesigned.
Release date: 14th February 2020
The King's Man
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Harris Dickinson, Ralph Fiennes, Djimon Hounsou, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans
Kingsman 3 offers a prequel exploring the history of the secretive gentlemanly international espionage operation. Set in the early 1900s, its angle is a collection of history's worst criminals and tyrants joining forces to ignite a war to end all wars. Ifans is Rasputin and Stanley Tucci – not for the first time – plays Merlin. It's a lot.
Release date: 14th February 2020
Emma
Director: Autumn De Wilde
Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Mia Goth, Miranda Hart, Bill Nighy
Jane Austen's 1815 novel gets its umpteenth adaptation as photographer and music video De Wilde's debut feature. Taylor-Joy plays the meddling Emma Woodhouse, fixated on matchmaking on behalf of her best friend Harriet (Goth), while neglecting her own perfect happiness.
Release date: 28th February 2020
Onward
Director: Dan Scanlon
Starring: Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Octavia Spencer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Pixar goes high-fantasy, presenting a modern, suburban world inhabited by elves, unicorns and dragons in Onward. That's the background for a story of two elf brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot, who go on a quest to help them come to terms with the death of their father.
Release date: 6th March 2020
A Quiet Place: Part 2
Director: John Krasinski
Starring: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Brian Tyree Henry, Djimon Hounsou
Krasinski returns to direct, but not star, in the sequel to A Quiet Place, offering more adventures in a world that has been overrun by deadly creatures highly sensitive to noise, meaning that the surviving humans are forced to live in silence, communicating with sign language. Nothing is yet known about the plot specifics, but we might expect to be introduced to new survivors, and learn a little more about the aliens' origins.
Release date: 20th March 2020
Mulan
Director: Niki Caro
Starring: Yifei Liu, Donnie Yen, Jet Li, Jason Scott Lee
Offering a slightly different take on the Chinese folktale to the animated 1998 version, Disney's live-action Mulan nevertheless follows the eldest daughter of an honoured warrior who is spirited, determined and quick on her feet – and becomes one of China's greatest warriors. No songs or wisecracking dragons this time though.
Release date: 27th March 2020
Peter Rabbit 2
Director: Will Gluck
Starring: James Corden, Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleeson, David Oyelowo
Reimagining Beatrix Potter's charming Edwardian vegetable thief as a cocky 21st-century hooligan seemed to do no harm at the 2018 box office, so here's more of same. Peter feels like he doesn't fit with his new family, so runs off to find other friends. But, he soon finds, different isn't necessarily better.
Release date: 27th March 2020
No Time To Die
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Starring: Daniel Craig, Jeffrey Wright, Lashana Lynch, Rami Malek
Delayed by some high-profile wrangling behind the scenes, Bond 25 finally arrives with True Detective director Fukunaga calling the shots. Craig's swan song in the role finds Bond retired from active service, but persuaded into one last mission when CIA buddy Felix Leiter (Wright) asks for a favour. Malek is the villain, although it's likely we'll also see Christoph Waltz back as Ernst Blofeld (if only as a cameo).
Release date: 3rd April 2020
The Secret Garden
Director: Marc Munden
Starring: Dixie Egerickx, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Amir Wilson
Francis Hodgson Burnett's Edwardian children's classic gets a handsome-looking new adaptation: the first (not counting a steampunk cosplay oddity) since 1993. Egerickx is the orphaned girl sent to live with an uncle she has never previously met at an isolated Yorkshire manor house.
Release date: 17th April 2020
Black Widow
Director: Cate Shortland
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, David Harbour, Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz
After a decade as a supporting member of the Avengers, Johansson's Natasha finally gets her own movie. How does that work given the events of Endgame? It's a prequel set just after Civil War, during the time when Natasha goes rogue with Steve Rogers. Antagonism comes via Red Guardian and Taskmaster.
Release date: 1st May 2020
Legally Blonde 3
Director: Jamie Suk
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Alanna Ubach, Jessica Caufiel
Technically the fourth in the series (since there's already been a straight-to-DVD threequel), Witherspoon here sashays back into the lead as Elle Woods, the apparent ditz who's a lot smarter than she seems. Previously she stormed Harvard and Washington. This time? That's still under wraps.
Release date: 8th May 2020
Chris Rock's Saw
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Starring: Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols
A rebootquel of the gory Saw franchise – the ninth Saw to date – the still untitled film is masterminded by and stars Rock, who, it turns out, is a long-term fan. He plays a cop on the trail of a serial killer responsible for a string of gnarly murders. Minghella plays Rock's partner on the force, Nichols is their captain, and Jackson stars as Rock's father.
Release date: 15th May 2020
Fast & Furious 9
Director: Justin Lin
Starring: Vin Diesel, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, Michelle Rodriguez
Following spin-off Hobbes & Shaw, F&F Part 9 properly returns the franchise focus to Diesel. Nothing's been revealed about the plot yet, but threads of F&F8 are hanging, with Theron's villain Cipher still at large. Expect a degree of vehicular mayhem and some sentiment about family.
Release date: 22nd May 2020
Wonder Woman 1984
Director: Patty Jenkins
Starring: Gal Gadot, Kristin Wiig, Chris Pine, Pedro Pascal
The time-travelling sequel to 2017's Wonder Woman, and the fourth film in total to feature Gadot's Amazonian warrior princess, AKA Diana Prince, revisits some early Cold War feuds. The antagonist this time appears to be Wiig's Barbara Ann Minerva, AKA Cheetah: an heiress who, through an ancient ritual, acquires supernatural feline powers – but not without a cost to herself.
Release date: 5th June 2020
Soul
Director: Pete Docter
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, John Ratzenberger, Phylicia Rashad
This new Pixar adventure involves "a journey from the streets of New York City to the cosmic realms to discover the answers to life's most important questions". Foxx voices a musician who loses his passion for music, is transported out of his body, and must find his way back with the help of an infant soul learning about herself.
Release date: 19th June 2020
Minions: The Rise of Gru
Director: Kyle Balda
Starring: Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin
Expect a summer-holidays merchandising deluge as the Despicable Me franchise dedicates a second spin-off specifically to yellow horrors the Minions. This one's an origin story, about the slapsticky weirdos' earliest days working for the then-tyrannical Gru.
Release date: 10th July 2020
Ghostbusters 2020
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, McKenna Grace
A direct threequel ignoring the Paul Feig film, with a likely next-generation handover from the original cast to the newcomers. We'd put some fairly confident money on one of the new cast members playing a grown-up Oscar, the son of Peter Venkman and Dana Barrett, who appeared as a baby in Ghostbusters 2.
Release date: 10th July 2020
Top Gun: Maverick
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly
Thirty-four years later, Cruise's Pete Mitchell oversees a new class of drone-flying Top Gun candidates drawn from naval aviation. One of his trainees? Bradley Bradshaw, none other than the son of Maverick's old buddy Goose, who died last time around. Cruise has apparently been learning to fly fighter planes for this one, as one does.
Release date: 17th July 2020
Bill and Ted Face the Music
Director: Dean Parisot
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, William Sadler
A much-belated threequel to the much beloved first two Bill and Ted movies is finally on the cards. 29 years on from their bogus journey, our heroes have yet to fulfill their rock and roll destiny. But when a visitor from the future warns them that only their song can save life as we know it and bring harmony to the universe, the now middle-aged best friends set out on a new adventure.
Release date: 21st August 2020
Death on the Nile
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Letitia Wright, Sophie Okonedo, Russell Brand
Following 2017's Murder on the Orient Express, here's another much-loved case for Agatha Christie's ace detective Hercule Poirot, with Branagh once again taking the lead. Swapping snowy Swiss tracks for the hot sun of Egypt, the film promises another all-star cast, among whom skulks a killer (or killers).
Release date: 9th October 2020
Halloween Kills
Director: David Gordon Green
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Anthony Michael Hall
David Gordon Green's reboot of the Michael Myers stab-a-thon series continues, with this being the second part of the trilogy he began in 2018. Curtis returns once again as Laurie Strode, battling Myers since 1979, somehow still at it. There's no killin' what can't be killed. Trilogy capper Halloween Ends is due in 2021.
Release date: 16th October 2020
The Witches
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, Chris Rock
Roald Dahl's terrifying, barking mad tale speaks of a boy and his grandmother who get turned into mice and still have to battle a coven of witches with a horrible plan for all the children in the world. Zemeckis is promising to hew closer to Dahl's 1973 novel than the previous Nicolas Roeg film.
Release date: 16th October 2020
West Side Story
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Corey Stoll
Spielberg's first musical adapts Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein's classic stage show, itself an updated and relocated retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The feuding families become warring gangs the Jets and the Sharks. Can Tony and Maria's love cross that great divide?
Release date: 18th December 2020
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