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James Marsh

With the holidays behind us and awards season now in full swing, cinema screens will be playing host to a bounty of big-budget crowd-pleasers over the coming months.
From the now obligatory antics of comic book superheroes, to fantastical animated adventures, toe-curling horror movies, and tear-jerking dramas, spring promises to be a rewarding time, whatever your cinematic persuasion.
You can be guaranteed there will be something for everyone.
Below are the 10 biggest blockbusters hitting screens between now and the end of April (release dates are for Hong Kong).
1. Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn


After her memorable debut in 2016’s Suicide Squad , Harley Quinn, as portrayed by Margot Robbie, now fronts her own supervillain spin-off movie.
The Joker’s sometime-squeeze leads an all-girl gang of desperate dames who go head-to-head with Ewan McGregor’s crime lord, Black Mask.

While DC’s recent efforts to create an expanded cinematic universe to rival Marvel may have faltered, Cathy Yan’s eye-popping celebration of female empowerment, which also stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Rosie Perez, boasts enough balls, bite and bravado to score big at the box office. (Opens February 6)
2. A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood


Local audiences may not be too familiar with Fred Rogers, but the softly spoken creator of Mister Rogers’ Neighbourhood was a mainstay on children’s television across North America for more than three decades.
Tom Hanks plays the kindly host, who helped young children process all manner of life’s emotional challenges, from death to divorce, on his half-hour educational TV show, which ran from 1968 to 2001.
This new film, from Marielle Heller ( Can You Ever Forgive Me? ), chronicles the real-life relationship between Rogers and journalist Tom Junod (Matthew Rhys), and packs a punch to make grown men cry. (Opens February 6)
3. Sonic the Hedgehog


Sonic the Hedgehog was originally scheduled for release last November, but fan reactions to the first trailer were so negative that director Jeff Fowler and his visual effects team went back to the drawing board and redesigned the speedy alien hedgehog’s look from scratch.
Adapted from the hugely successful Sega game series, Sonic the Hedgehog is hoping to repeat the kind of box office success that Pokémon Detective Pikachu achieved last summer.
Admittedly, James Marsden is no Ryan Reynolds, but Jim Carrey, as Sonic’s evil nemesis Dr Robotnik, should be able to inject some quality laughs into this family-friendly frenzy. (Opens February 20)
4. The Invisible Man


Tom Cruise’s disastrous take on The Mummy might have killed Universal’s ambitions for a Dark Universe franchise, but the studio’s greatest monsters live on.
Writer-director Leigh Whannell (Saw) and Blumhouse Films ( Get Out ) serve up a distinctly creepy take on H.G. Wells’ classic horror story, with Elisabeth Moss playing a woman whose abusive ex-lover commits suicide and leaves her his fortune.
Believing his death to be a hoax, she soon becomes the victim of an unseen tormentor. If this goes well, characters such as Dracula and Frankenstein could be similarly reimagined. (Opens February 27)
5. A Quiet Place Part II


Following the incredible success of 2018’s A Quiet Place , the inevitable sequel arrives, continuing the misadventures of the Abbott family in a world besieged by alien predators.
John Krasinski again directs his wife, Emily Blunt, together with Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds, as they venture out into a post-apocalyptic wasteland plagued by otherworldly creatures who hunt by sound.
Beyond keeping as quiet as possible, the Abbotts soon discover that the aliens are not the only threat awaiting them. Cillian Murphy and Djimon Housou join the cast of this edge-of-your-seat thrill-ride. (Opens March 19)
6. Mulan


Some film-goers have already threatened to boycott Disney’s latest live-action adaptation, after lead actress Liu Yifei expressed her support for the Hong Kong Police Force amid accusations of use of excessive force against protesters during the city’s ongoing anti-government protests.
However, there is plenty to pique audience interest in this retelling of the classic Chinese story of Mulan, the general’s daughter who joined the army in her father’s stead – not least, the casting of Donnie Yen Ji-dan, as Mulan’s mentor, and the additions of Gong Li and Jet Li. Alas, this remake of the 1998 animated classic dispenses with the musical numbers, as well as Mushu, the wisecracking dragon. (Opens March 25)
7. Onward


Pixar’s latest animated odyssey imagines a fantasy world in which magic has all but disappeared, and everyday life has regressed to something close to human suburbia. Avengers stars Tom Holland and Chris Pratt voice a pair of teenage brothers who venture out on a quest after discovering a magical staff, left by their late father.
Directed by Monsters University’s Dan Scanlon, the film promises a beautifully realised world that melds the mundane with the magical, as Onward tackles themes of responsibility, growing up and independence. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Octavia Spencer also star. (Opens April 9)
8. No Time to Die


Perhaps the most hotly anticipated film of the season is James Bond’s 25th official outing, as Daniel Craig dusts off his licence to kill for a fifth and final time.
While plot details are scarce, we know that the film takes place five years after the events of Spectre , and Bond has left active service – that is, until a new global threat drags him back into the fray.
Oscar winner Rami Malek, Ana de Armas ( Knives Out ) and Lashana Lynch ( Captain Marvel ) are new additions to the cast, while Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge joins the writing team, and True Detective’s Cary Fukunaga directs. (Opens April 9)
9. Trolls World Tour


A sugar rush of exploding colours and infuriatingly catchy pop tunes, Trolls proved such an infectiously feel-good confection that a second helping was inevitable.
Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, James Corden et al return as the incessantly sonorous inhabitants of Troll Village, who this time venture out into the big wide world to stop Queen Barb of the Hard Rock trolls (Rachel Bloom) from ridding the world of all other music.
Expect a relentlessly upbeat whirlwind tour of world music, packaged for a candy-fuelled eight-year-old with ADHD. (Opens April 30)
10. Black Widow


Phase four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe kicks off with this long-overdue stand-alone feature for Scarlett Johansson’s redeemed soviet assassin. Less an origin story than a reluctant homecoming, Black Widow takes place after the events of Captain America: Civil War , and sees Natasha reunited with her surrogate family, as portrayed by Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz and David Harbour.
Directed by Cate Shortland (Berlin Syndrome), the film promises to deliver epic action, globe-trotting thrills and cheeky cameos from Widow’s fellow Avengers. We should also expect a degree of elegiac foreshadowing, considering the character’s fate in Avengers: Endgame . (Opens April 30)
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***ONE TIME USE ONLY, PLEASE CLEAR THE COPYRIGHTS BEFORE RE-USE - OTUO*** Picture for Features, Sunday Review, Film. Jet Li in Once Upon a Time in China 2(1992) Directed by Tsui Hark. UNDATED HANDOUT.

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Tom Hanks tear-jerker A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood and Disney’s live-action version of Mulan are other films to watch out for
Here are the big movies hitting screens between now and the end of April


Upcoming Hollywood films this spring include the 25th film outing for James Bond in No Time to Die, the return of Marvel’s Black Widow and Disney’s live-action version of Mulan. Here are 10 of the best.


Cinema

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James Bond

Ana de Armas

10 of the hottest upcoming films in spring 2020, from James Bond and Black Widow to A Quiet Place Part II

Tom Hanks tear-jerker A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood and Disney’s live-action version of Mulan are other films to watch out for Here are the big movies hitting screens between now and the end of April

Tom Hanks tear-jerker A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood and Disney’s live-action version of Mulan are other films to watch out for

Here are the big movies hitting screens between now and the end of April