Wonder Woman put a stop to WWI in Wonder Woman, the Flossy Posse got Essence Fest started in Girls Trip, and the housewives of Monterey uncovered secrets lurking in their own beautiful, beachside mansions in Big Little Lies. It was the summer of 2017, and it seemed like Hollywood was finally catching onto something that, given the numbers, should have always been obvious: Women will show up in droves to watch movies and TV shows about complicated, captivating women.
Only a few months after this momentous summer for women-led projects, revelations of the widespread rot at the core of Hollywood made it clear why the cards were always stacked against women in entertainment, and partly why their projects were underserved. But have the resulting #MeToo and Time's Up movements — combined with the obvious numbers backing up the success of quality women-led projects — actually lead to more of these women-led projects being greenlit in the future?
"Speaking for my own slate, absolutely. All we do is create women-centred projects," Bruna Papandrea, the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning producer of Big Little Lies and founder of Made Up Stories, wrote in an email. "Based off of my own experience, it definitely feels like films are going to be telling more women’s stories. I know I would certainly, especially in television." Papandrea said this sentiment is shared among other other production studios. "They are actually soliciting not just stories by and about women, but with women leading the creative team," she elaborated.
With this in mind, we're taking a look at the women-directed projects slated to come out in 2019. Following a similar pattern to past successes, like Ocean's 8 and Wonder Woman, it seems we'll see a slew of sequels, reboots, and superhero movies directed by women. Hopefully, wholly original movies written and directed by women, like Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird, will join the slate, too.
Obviously, these projects — many of which are high-budget movies, showing studios' commitment to telling women's stories — are exciting. But given the long production process involved in films, we might have to wait a few years before the women-led projects currently being created to make it to our screens. At that point, we can fully judge whether Hollywood's reckoning led to a watershed moment in women-created art.
In the meantime, here's what to look out for in 2019.
The Nightingale
Directed by Michelle MacLaren
January, 2019
If you were in or around a book club in the year 2015, odds are you saw the blue-tinged cover of The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, a moving WWII epic that follows two sisters in German-occupied France. The Nightingale is a very, very good book — full stop. It's the kind of book that will make perfect fodder for a very, very good movie. In addition to featuring strong women characters, The Nightingale has an impressive slate of women behind the camera, too. Michelle MacLaren, known for her work at the helm of Golden Age of TV shows like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, will direct. The movie will be written by Ann Peacock and produced by Elizabeth Cantillon.
Pictured: Michelle MacLaren
David Buchan/Variety/REX/Shutterstock
The Turning
Directed by Floria Sigismondi
February, 2019
Long live the era of prestige horror. The Turning is a creepy, modern, and delightfully highbrow adaptation of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. If you skipped the high school reading, here's a quick recap: The Turn of the Screw centres on a nanny who becomes convinced the mansion in which she's staying is haunted. After her acclaimed stint in Tully, Mackenzie Davis will reprise her role as a nuanced nanny — but this time around, she'll be named Kate, not Tully. The kids will be played by Finn Wolfhard of Stranger Things and Brooklynn Prince of The Florida Project.
Pictured: Mackenzie Davis
Michael Buckner/Variety/REX/Shutterstock
The Rhythm Section
Directed by Reed Morano
February, 2019
We don't need a woman Jason Bourne or James Bond — we need new characters entirely. That's where movies like The Rhythm Section come in. In The Rhythm Section, Blake Lively plays Stephanie Patrick, an agent on a sprawling, international mission to track down the people responsible for the plane crashed that killed her entire family. It will be the first in a series of four action-packed movies, all based on Mark Burnell's book series.
Pictured: Blake Lively
David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock
The Kitchen
Directed by Andrea Berloff
February, 2019
The Kitchen is an especially compelling prospect. Based on a 2014 DC comic book, The Kitchen is an Irish mob story set in 1970s Hell's Kitchen. After the mobsters are sentenced to jail, their wives take their place — and do as good of a job, if not better. Andrea Berloff, who wrote Straight Outta Compton , wrote and directed The Kitchen. But the fascinating premise isn't the only reason we're excited for the project. We're excited because Tiffany Haddish and Melissa McCarthy are cast in dramatic roles, providing a chance to see another side of their acting abilities.
Pictured: Tiffany Haddish
Matt Baron/REX/Shutterstock
Captain Marvel
Co-Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
March, 2019
After Wonder Woman 's massive success – it was the second highest-grossing movie in 2017 — will there be an onslaught of movies about women superheroes (directed by women)? It looks like the answer is in the affirmative. As Marvel's first woman-led solo movie, Captain Marvel is a momentous occasion for the studio. Like the original Wonder Woman comics, which were designed to be tools for women's liberation by their forward-thinking creator, the Captain Marvel comics always had a feminist slant. Series creator Gerry Conway wrote that in Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel's civilian identity, "you might see a parallel between her quest for identity, and the modern woman's quest for raised consciousness, for self-liberation, for identity."
Brie Larson plays Danvers. But who is Carol Danvers? As Margaret Stohl, Captain Marvel 's author, explained to Refinery29, “I see her as the ultimate sort of modern girl power woman who’s made it through a man’s system. She’s an Air Force pilot who’s come through NASA and the [military]. She’s had to fight for every single thing she’s ever gotten but that’s never stopped her from fighting." Oh, and one more thing: She's a human/alien hybrid.
Pictured: Brie Larson
Jen Lowery/SilverHub/REX/Shutterstock
Charlie’s Angels
Directed by Elizabeth Banks
June, 2019
Every generation, Charlie's Angels is revived and adapted to new cultural mores. Farrah Fawcett-Majors, Cheryl Ladd, Kate Jackson, and Tanya Roberts were the original Angels in the 1976-1981 TV show; then came Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, and Drew Barrymore in the popular movies from the early 2000s. Elizabeth Banks directs this latest iteration. Could Charlie's Angels be the movie of the summer? If it stars Lupita Nyong'o, as it's rumoured to, then the answer is a resounding yes.
Pictured: Elizabeth Banks
Broadimage/REX/Shutterstock
Cowboy Ninja Viking
Directed by Michelle MacLaren
June, 2019
Cowboy Ninja Viking is proof of Michelle MacLaren's rapid ascent as a director to know — it's her second studio film of 2019. The movie, which is adapted from graphic novels, is about a team of assassins genetically engineered to have three personalities. Chris Pratt stars as Cowboy Ninja Viking, the most powerful of them all. His personality derives from — you guessed it — the most powerful aspects of a cowboy, a ninja, and a Viking.
David Buchan/Variety/REX/Shutterstock
Little
Directed by Tina Gordon
September, 2019
If given the opportunity, would you trade in the pressures and deadlines of adult life to be a carefree kid again? The prospect is tempting — just as Marsai Martin, who plays Diane Johnson in Black-ish, meant it to be when she pitched the script's premise. The 13-year-old actress came up with the idea for Little, and will also produce and star in the movie. An incredible team has assembled to make Marsai's idea a reality. Tracy Oliver, who is responsible for the side-splittingly funny dialogue seen in Girls Trip,wrote the first draft of script, and Tina Gordon of Drumline finished the script and will direct. We saved the best treat for last: Issa Rae stars as the adult woman.
Pictured: Marsai Martin
Abominable
Co-Directed by Jill Culton and Todd Wilderman
September, 2019
On a good day, it takes me three times to pronounce "Abominable" correctly. Coincidentally, Abominable is the second animated movie about a yeti coming out within the same calendar year. In Warner Bros.' Smallfoot, a curious Yeti voiced by Channing Tatum leaves the mountain to find proof of mythical humankind. Dreamworks' Abominable, which is co-directed by Jill Culton and Todd Wilderman, centres on a little girls' quest to unite a Yeti with his family in the inhospitable region surrounding Mount Everest.
Photo by M. Phillips/WireImage)Wonder Woman 1984
Directed by Patty Jenkins
November, 2019
A year and a half from now, our burning question will be answered: How did Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) survive that crash? Wonder Woman 1984 promises more delights than just the introduction of Indestructible Chris. There's the fact that Kristen Wiig will play Cheetah, Wonder Woman's adversary. And that's not even mentioning all the '80s-inspired set and clothes.
Frozen 2
Co-Directed by Jennifer Lee
November, 2019
When it comes to Frozen, we can't let it go. Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell will reprise their roles as Elsa and Anna, the sisters surrounded by snow. This time around, fans want more for Elsa's character than a fantastic anthem. They want her to get a girlfriend. The hashtag #GiveElsaAGirlfriend took off in 2016 and is still in use today. The Huffington Post asked write and co-director Jennifer Lee about the prospect of an LGBTQ+ storyline in the sequel. “Where we’re going with it, we have tons of conversations about it, and we’re really conscientious about these things,” Lee said. “For me ... Elsa’s every day telling me where she needs to go, and she’ll continue to tell us. I always write from character-out, and where Elsa is and what Elsa’s doing in her life, she’s telling me every day. We’ll see where we go.”
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