2020 will go down in history for a multitude of reasons, especially for many fields such as the film industry. The start of the COVID-19 pandemic forced major Hollywood players to shift their release slates month after month, hoping to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Warner Bros. closed the year with a bang by announcing that each of their major 2021 releases would also concurrently premiere on HBO Max the day of. Disney releasing their content on Disney+ at a paid “premiere access” proved to be only the beginning. Fast forward to now and 2021 release dates have already begun to change as well, and even though the pandemic is at a much better place with many across the globe receiving vaccinations – there is still much work to be done before public safety can be completely assured. This, of course, still leaves the film industry in some sort of awkward limbo.
But as previously mentioned, more updates come every day! Whether it be shifting release dates or new steps Hollywood is taking to deliver moviegoers with new films in these trying times (and ultimately stay afloat financially). Many of these new steps involve major streaming services gaining exclusivity to certain films, or in cases like HBO Max, sharing the premieres with theaters that are safely open. Additionally, the pandemic has given these same streamers a new avenue to strive with original content. All the big names have upped their output of original films, many of which are leading the race for the 2021 Academy Awards. Netflix has already touted that 2021 will see 71 original films featuring today’s top talent, leading to new originals being released every single week. These advancements on top of everything else covered make a 2021 release date guide the most helpful… and DiscussingFilm has got your back.
Our 2021 release date guide below tracks films planned for theaters and all kinds of streaming. Since streamers like Netflix, HBO Max, and Prime Video are dominating the market, their original releases are included too. Each title below is organized under their U.S theatrical release and those that are skipping theaters feature the proper indications where necessary. For example, if you see the indication of “(+ HBO Max)” then read it as debuting in theaters while also on the streamer. If you only see “(HBO Max)” then read it as ONLY debuting on the streamer. The plus sign “+” makes the difference when reading the guide. If films have two separate release dates (many are now reaching deals where they debut in theaters a few weeks in advance from streaming) then they will be listed TWICE under the proper dates with clear indications. The list below will be UPDATED as frequently as possible.
The following films have been pushed to 2022 from their original 2021 dates
Ambulance – February 18, 2022
Avatar 2 – December 16, 2022
Black Adam – July 29, 2022
Death on the Nile – February 11, 2022
Deep Water – January 14, 2022
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – May 6, 2022
Dog – February 18, 2022
Dungeons & Dragons – May 27, 2022
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – April 15, 2022
Halloween Ends – October 14, 2022
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania – January 14, 2022
Indiana Jones 5 – June 30, 2023
Jackass Forever – February 4, 2022
Jurassic World: Dominion – June 10, 2022
John Wick 4 – May 27, 2022
Legally Blonde 3 – May 20, 2022
Marry Me – February 18, 2022
Minions: The Rise of Gru – July 1, 2022
Mission: Impossible 7 – September 30, 2022
Morbius – January 28, 2022
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – September 23, 2022
Rumble – February 18, 2022
The 355 – January 7, 2022
The Batman – March 4, 2022
The Bob’s Burgers Movie – May 27, 2022
The Flash – November 4, 2022
The Man from Toronto – January 14, 2022
The Nightingale – December 23, 2022
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent – April 22, 2022
Thor: Love and Thunder – July 8, 2022
Top Gun: Maverick – May 27, 2022
Uncharted – February 11, 2022
Untitled Elvis Presley Biopic – June 3, 2022
January
Friday January 1
Shadow in the Cloud (VOD)
Thursday January 7
Pieces of a Woman (Netflix)
Friday January 8
Herself (Prime Video)
The Reason I Jump
Thursday January 14
Locked Down (HBO Max)
Friday January 15
Acasa, My Home
American Skin (VOD)
MLK/FBI (+ VOD)
News of the World (VOD)
One Night in Miami (Prime Video)
Outside the Wire (Netflix)
Promising Young Woman (VOD)
Some Kind of Heaven (+ VOD)
The Dig (Netflix)
The Marksman
Friday January 22
Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself (Hulu)
No Man’s Land (+ VOD)
Notturno
The White Tiger (Netflix)
Wednesday January 27
Penguin Bloom (Netflix)
Friday January 29
Notturno (Hulu)
Palmer (Apple TV+)
Supernova (+ VOD)
The Dig (Netflix)
The Little Things (+ HBO Max)
The Night (+ VOD)
February

Friday February 5
A Glitch in the Matrix (+ VOD)
Bliss (Prime Video)
Earwig and the Witch (HBO Max)
Falling (+ VOD)
Little Fish (+ VOD)
Malcolm & Marie (Netflix)
Minamata (+ VOD)
Rams (+ VOD)
Space Sweepers (Netflix)
The Human Factor (+ VOD)
The Mimic (+ VOD)
The Wanting Mare (+ VOD)
Friday February 12
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (VOD)
Dead Pigs (Mubi)
French Exit
Judas and the Black Messiah (+ HBO Max)
Land
Minari
Saint Maud (Epix)
To All The Boys Always & Forever (Netflix)
What About Love
Willy’s Wonderland (VOD)
Friday February 19
Blithe Spirit (+ VOD)
Flora & Ulysses (Disney+)
I Care a Lot (Netflix)
Jumbo
Nomadland (+ Hulu)
The Courier
The Mauritanian
Truth To Power
Friday February 26
Cherry
Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry (+ AppleTV+)
Minari (VOD)
My Zoe (+ VOD)
Night of the Kings
The Father
The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu)
The Vigil (+ VOD)
Tom & Jerry (+ HBO Max)
March

Tuesday March 2
The Mauritanian (VOD)
Wednesday March 3
Moxie (Netflix)
Thursday March 4
The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run (Paramount+)
Friday March 5
Boogie
Chaos Walking
Coming 2 America (Prime Video)
My Salinger Year
Pixie
Raya and the Last Dragon (+ Disney+ Premiere Access)
The Truffle Hunters
Friday March 12
Cherry (Apple TV+)
Come True (+ VOD)
Finding You
Thursday March 18
Zack Snyder’s Justice League (HBO Max)
Friday March 19
City of Lies
Happily
Last Call (+ VOD)
Friday March 26
Bad Trip (Netflix)
Nobody
Shoplifters of the World (+ VOD)
Six Minutes to Midnight (+ VOD)
Wednesday March 31
Godzilla vs. Kong (+ HBO Max)
April

Friday April 2
Concrete Cowboy (Netflix)
Shiva Baby
The Unholy
Friday April 9
Thunder Force (Netflix)
Voyagers
Thursday April 15
Ride of Die (Netflix)
Friday April 16
Monday (+ VOD)
Fatherhood
In the Earth
Gunda
Thursday April 22
Stowaway (Netflix)
Friday April 23
Mortal Kombat (+ HBO Max)
Friday April 30
Here Are The Young Men (VOD)
Limbo
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (Netflix)
Things Heard and Seen (Netflix)
Without Remorse (Prime Video)
May

Friday May 7
Here Today
Mainstream (+ VOD)
Monster (Netflix)
Wrath of Man
Wednesday May 12
Oxygen (Netflix)
Friday May 14
Georgetown
Spiral: From The Book of Saw
The Djinn (+ VOD)
Those Who Wish Me Dead (+ HBO Max)
The Killing of Two Lovers
The Perfect Candidate
The Woman in the Window (Netflix)
Friday May 21
Army of the Dead (Netflix)
Blast Beat (+ VOD)
New Order
Riders of Justice (+ VOD)
Starbright
Sound of Violence (+ VOD)
The Dry (+ VOD)
Friday May 28
A Quiet Place Part II
Cruella (+ Disney+ Premiere Access)
Plan B (Hulu)
June

Friday June 4
Spirit Untamed
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (+ HBO Max)
Undine
Wednesday June 9
Awake (Netflix)
Thursday June 10
Infinite (Paramount+)
Friday June 11
Censor
In the Heights (+ HBO Max)
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway
Rogue Hostage (+ VOD)
The Misfits
Wish Dragon (Netflix)
Wednesday June 16
The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard
Friday June 18
Luca (Disney+)
The Sparks Brothers
Friday June 25
Fast & Furious 9
I Carry You With Me
Werewolves Within
Wednesday June 30
Zola
July

Thursday July 1
No Sudden Move (HBO Max)
Friday July 2
Summer of Soul (+ Hulu)
The Boss Baby: Family Business (+ Peacock)
The Forever Purge
The Tomorrow War (Prime Video)
Till Death (+ VOD)
Friday July 9
Black Widow (+ Disney+ Premiere Access)
Summertime
Wednesday July 14
Gunpowder Milkshake (Netflix)
Friday July 16
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
Pig
Space Jam 2: A New Legacy (+ HBO Max)
Tuesday July 20
How It Ends (+ VOD)
Wednesday July 21
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (Netflix)
Friday July 23
G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes
Jolt (Prime Video)
Settlers (+ VOD)
Old
The Last letter From Your Lover (Netflix)
Friday July 30
Jungle Cruise (+ Disney+ Premiere Access)
Stillwater
The Green Knight
August

Friday August 6
John and the Hole (+ VOD)
Naked Singularity
Nine Days
The Suicide Squad (+ HBO Max)
Val (Prime Video)
Vivo (Netflix)
Wednesday August 11
Kissing Booth 3 (Netflix)
Friday August 13
CODA (+ AppleTV+)
Don’t Breathe 2
Ema
Free Guy
Respect
Swan Song (+ VOD)
The Meaning of Hitler
Friday August 20
Annette (Prime Video)
Cryptozoo
Demonic
Paw Patrol: The Movie
Reminiscence (+ HBO Max)
Sweet Girl (Netflix)
The Night House
The Protégé
Friday August 27
Candyman
Vacation Friends (Hulu)
He’s All That (Netflix)
No Man of God
The Beatles: Get Back
Together
September

Friday September 3
Cinderella (Prime Video)
Mogul Mowgli
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
We Need To Do Something (+ VOD)
Wild Indian (+ VOD)
Worth (Netflix)
Friday September 10
Dating & New York
Kate (Netflix)
Language Lessons
Malignant (+ HBO Max)
The Alpinist
The Card Counter
The Voyeurs (Prime Video)
Queenpins
Friday September 17
Best Sellers
Blue Bayou
Cry Macho (+ HBO Max)
Copshop
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (Prime Video)
I’m Your Man
Prisoners of the Ghostland (+ VOD)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
The Nowhere Inn
Friday September 24
Dear Evan Hansen
My Little Pony: A New Generation (Netflix)
The Starling (Netflix)
Thursday September 30
After We Fell
October

Friday October 1
Coming Home in the Dark
Mayday (+ VOD)
Old Henry
Titane
The Addams Family 2 (+ VOD)
The Guilty (Netflix)
The Many Saints of Newark (+ HBO Max)
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Friday October 8
Knocking
Lamb
Mass
No Time To Die
Friday October 15
Bergman Island
Halloween Kills (+ Peacock)
The Blazing World (+ VOD)
The Last Duel
Friday October 22
Broadcast Signal Intrusion (+ VOD)
Dune (+ HBO Max)
Ron’s Gone Wrong
The French Dispatch
Friday October 29
A Mouthful of Air
Antlers
Army of Thieves (Netflix)
Heart of Champions
Last Night in Soho
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin (Paramount+)
The Souvenir Part II
The Spine of Night (+ VOD)
Violet
November

Wednesday November 3
The Harder They Fall (Netflix)
Friday November 5
Eternals
Finch (Apple TV+)
Spencer
The Beta Test
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (Prime Video)
Wednesday November 10
Clifford the Big Red Dog (+ Paramount+)
Passing (Netflix)
Friday November 12
Belfast
Night Raiders (+ VOD)
Red Notice (Netflix)
Friday November 19
C’mon C’mon
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
King Richard (+ HBO Max)
The Feast (+ VOD)
Tick, Tick… Boom! (Netflix)
Zeros and Ones (+ VOD)
Wednesday November 24 (Thanksgiving)
Bruised (Netflix)
Encanto
Drive My Car
House of Gucci
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Friday November 26
Licorice Pizza (Limited release)
December

Wednesday December 1
The Power of the Dog (Netflix)
Friday December 3
Benedetta (+ VOD)
Flee
Red Rocket
Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas (Netflix)
Wolf
Friday December 10
A Journal For Jordan
Being the Ricardos (Limited release)
The Unforgivable (Netflix)
West Side Story
Wednesday December 15
The Hand of God (Netflix)
Friday December 17
Nightmare Alley
The Tender Bar (Limited release)
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Tuesday December 21
Being the Ricardos (Prime Video)
Wednesday December 22
Sing 2
The Matrix Resurrections (+ HBO Max)
The King’s Man
Friday December 24
Don’t Look Up (Netflix)
Licorice Pizza (Wide Release)
Madres paralelas (Parallel Mothers)
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Friday December 31
The Lost Daughter (Netflix)