London: 2020 will be a bumper year for film favourites, with the release of Daniel Craig's final Bond movie, No Time to Die, plus the return of blockbusters including Top Gun, Wonder Woman, Black Widow and a remake of 1984 sci-fi epic Dune.
Craig returns in the 25th installment of the Bond franchise, along with his established MI5 team, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw and Naomie Harris.
A new face may cause some friction, with Lashana Lynch playing Nomi – a 00 agent who has taken over during Bond's break from active service. Christoph Waltz is back as his nemesis Blofeld and Rami Malek joins as Safin, the villain.
"Lashana Lynch, who is a 00 - a 00 what? We're not quite sure, but she's a 00. She looks incredible. Rami Malik's in it as the new villain and it kind of feels really fresh and exciting, which is a great place to leave it before they reboot it in whichever way they see fit," says Terri White, editor of Empire magazine.
After Bond returns in April, Scarlett Johansson is back as Black Widow in May 2020.
"We've got the Black Widow movie, which is the start of Marvel's Phase 4 - her origin story, which also looks really interesting and really fresh and really, I think, shows the new direction of the MCU," says White.
The latest film in the Avengers franchise takes place before the events of Endgame and after the conclusion of Captain America: Civil War.
Starring alongside Johansson is Rachel Weisz as Malena, David Harbour as Soviet superhuman Red Guardian, and Florence Pugh as Yelena.
June 2020 will be all about Top Gun: Maverick, says White.
"When this first got announced, people were a little bit sceptical and then the trailer came out. Tom Cruise looks amazing, the flying and the stunts look incredible, and you've got to think all of that has moved on so much since the first film. It's got the right mix of nostalgia echoes to the original film, but also has definitely moved on and is definitely a 2020 film," she says.
Cruise returns as Pete Maverick Mitchell, a daredevil test pilot brought back to train a new generation of young recruits for a daring mission, in the long-awaited sequel to the 1986 original.
Miles Teller stars as Lt. Bradley Bradshaw, the son of Maverick's late friend, Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka Goose, while Val Kilmer reprises his role as Vice Admiral Tom Iceman Kazansky. New cast members include Jon Hamm, Jennifer Connelly and Lewis Pullman.
"When it comes to the autumn, it's all going to be about Dune, which is the kind of mad adventure tale that Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Blade Runner 2049") is directing for Warner Brothers," says White.
The first of a planned two-part adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel of the same name has an A-list cast, including Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Zendaya and Jason Momoa.
"That we know very little about," adds White. "It looks a little bit like it could be a bit Star Wars-y, a bit Game of Thrones. And that is going to probably take over cinemas at the end of next year and fill what would be a traditional Star Wars slot."
The return of Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman 1984 will also be a box office summer smash, based on the huge success of the original, says White.
"A Wonder Woman movie had been talked about for literally decades, and Patty Jenkins, the director, took so many risks, and her and Gal (Gadot) produced this really fun, feminist version of Wonder Woman that actually all the fans loved as well, and it made a ton of money at the box office. The reviews were all fantastic at a really difficult time for DC. She kind of pulled it back around with Wonder Woman."
The 2017 movie made nearly $822,000,000 at the box office worldwide.
In Wonder Woman 1984, Diana has gone from World War I to the 1980s. Her love, Steve Trevor, played by Chris Pine, is back too - although when viewers last saw him in the first Wonder Woman film, he appeared to die when his plane exploded.
1984 also introduces two new villains: Kristen Wiig as human-cat hybrid Cheetah and Pedro Pascal as businessman Maxwell Lord.
"It's soundtracked by New Order. It looks amazing. She's got a new suit. The whole thing looks incredible. Kristen Wiig is in it and it looks really, really fresh and exciting," says White.
Wonder Woman 1984 opens June 5, 2020.
No Time To Die is released worldwide starting April 2, 2020.
Black Widow is scheduled for release in May 2020.
Top Gun: Maverick, directed by Joseph Kosinski, is taking off in theatres June 2020.
Dune is released from November 19, 2020, hitting U.S. screens on December 18.
From APTN inputs.
