The Complete Guide to Hollywood Movies Opening in February 2020
There usually aren’t very exciting movies opening in February, and this February proves that more than ever. Birds of Prey (opening 6 Feb) is supposed to be the big title for this month, but despite the whole female-empowerment shebang, I’m just not interested. (I think it’s the leftover bad taste from Suicide Squad, which I’m pretty sure I’ve written my distaste about somewhere on this blog.)
There’s Sonic the Hedgehog (20 Feb) too, which was retooled after fans HATED Sonic’s CGI in the first trailer. Sonic looks less creepy in the second trailer though, so it should be safe. I’m not watching that though.
The Last Full Measure (13 Feb) looks passable, but only because Sebastian Stan is the newfound love of my life, and he’s in it. It’s based on a true story, and I’m sure the story in principle is great and touching, but to be honest, the movie looks kinda wooden. Nevertheless, maybe I’ll catch it some day. Which is more than can be said for all the other movies opening this month.
Movies coming out in February 2020
(Click on the movie titles in the bullets to jump to that section if you don’t want to scroll through the entire list. You can also click on each movie’s heading to go to their IMDb pages. Release dates below are for Singapore, but if you’re outside Singapore, IMDb can tell you fairly accurately what’s the release date in your country.)
- Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (6 Feb)
- Like a Boss (13 Feb)
- Fantasy Island (13 Feb)
- Downhill (13 Feb)
- Queen & Slim (13 Feb)
- The Last Full Measure (13 Feb)
- Disturbing the Peace (13 Feb)
- Sonic the Hedgehog (20 Feb)
- Brahms: The Boy II (20 Feb)
- Color Out of Space (20 Feb)
- The Invisible Man (27 Feb)
- The Gentlemen (27 Feb)
- Aquarela (27 Feb)
Opening on the week of 6 February
Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (6 Feb)
Director: Cathy Yan (“Dead Pigs”)
Cast: Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ewan McGregor, Ella Jay Basco
Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime
Synopsis: You ever hear the one about the cop, the songbird, the psycho and the mafia princess? “Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” is a twisted tale told by Harley herself, as only Harley can tell it. When Gotham’s most nefariously narcissistic villain, Roman Sionis, and his zealous right-hand, Zsasz, put a target on a young girl named Cass, the city is turned upside down looking for her. Harley, Huntress, Black Canary and Renee Montoya’s paths collide, and the unlikely foursome have no choice but to team up to take Roman down.
Opening on the week of 13 February
Director: Miguel Arteta (“Beatriz at Dinner”, “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”)
Cast: Rose Byrne, Tiffany Haddish, Salma Hayek
Genre: Comedy
Synopsis: Best friends Mia and Mel (Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne) are living their best lives running their own cosmetics company they’ve built from the ground up. Unfortunately, they’re in over their heads financially, and the prospect of a big buyout offer from a notorious titan of the cosmetics industry Claire Luna (Salma Hayek) proves too tempting to pass up, putting Mel and Mia’s lifelong friendship in jeopardy. The beauty business is about to get ugly.
Director: Jeff Wadlow (“Truth or Dare”, “Kick-Ass 2”)
Cast: Michael Peña, Maggie Q, Lucy Hale, Austin Stowell, Portia Doubleday, Jimmy O. Yang, Ryan Hansen, Michael Rooker
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Horror
Synopsis: In Blumhouse’s FANTASY ISLAND, the enigmatic Mr. Roarke makes the secret dreams of his lucky guests come true at a luxurious but remote tropical resort. But when the fantasies turn into nightmares, the guests have to solve the island’s mystery in order to escape with their lives.
Directors: Nat Faxon (“The Way Way Back”, Jim Rash “The Way Way Back”)
Cast: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Will Ferrell, Zach Woods, Zoë Chao, Miranda Otto
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Synopsis: Barely escaping an avalanche during a family ski vacation in the Alps, a married couple is thrown into disarray as they are forced to reevaluate their lives and how they feel about each other.
Director: Melina Matsoukas (Beyonce’s “Formation” music video, Nike’s “Equality” campaign)
Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie Turner-Smith, Bokeem Woodbine, Chloë Sevigny
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Synopsis: While on a forgettable first date together in Ohio, a black man (Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya) and a black woman (Jodie Turner-Smith, in her first starring feature-film role), are pulled over for a minor traffic infraction. The situation escalates, with sudden and tragic results, when the man kills the police officer in self-defense. Terrified and in fear for their lives, the man, a retail employee, and the woman, a criminal defense lawyer, are forced to go on the run. But the incident is captured on video and goes viral, and the couple unwittingly become a symbol of trauma, terror, grief and pain for people across the country. As they drive, these two unlikely fugitives will discover themselves and each other in the most dire and desperate of circumstances, and will forge a deep and powerful love that will reveal their shared humanity and shape the rest of their lives. Joining a legacy of films such as Bonnie and Clyde and Thelma & Louise, Queen & Slim is a powerful, consciousness-raising love story that confronts the staggering human toll of racism and the life-shattering price of violence.
The Last Full Measure (13 Feb)
Director: Todd Robinson (“Lonely Hearts”, “Phantom”)
Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, William Hurt, Bradley Whitford, Alison Sudol, Christopher Plummer, Ed Harris, Peter Fonda
Genre: Drama, War
Synopsis: The true story of Vietnam War hero William H. Pitsenbarger, a USAF Pararescue medic who saved over sixty men in the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division before making the ultimate sacrifice in one of the bloodiest battles of the war. Thirty-two years later, Pentagon staffer Scott Huffman investigates a decades-long Congressional Medal of Honor request for Pitsenbarger and uncovers a high-level conspiracy prompting him to put his career on the line to seek justice for the fallen airman.
Director: York Alec Shackleton (“211”)
Cast: Guy Pearce, Devon Sawa
Genre: Action
Synopsis: A small-town marshal who hasn’t carried a gun since he left the Texas Rangers after a tragic shooting, must pick up his gun again to battle with a gang of outlaw bikers that has invaded the town to pull off a brazen and violent heist.
Opening on the week of 20 February
Director: Jeff Fowler (debut feature)
Cast: Jim Carrey, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Ben Schwartz
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Synopsis: Based on the global blockbuster videogame franchise from Sega, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG tells the story of the world’s speediest hedgehog as he embraces his new home on Earth. In this live-action adventure comedy, Sonic and his new best friend Tom (James Marsden) team up to defend the planet from the evil genius Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) and his plans for world domination. The family-friendly film also stars Tika Sumpter and Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic.
Director: William Brent Bell (“The Boy”)
Cast: Katie Holmes, Ralph Ineson, Christopher Convery
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Synopsis: Unaware of the terrifying history of Heelshire Mansion, a young family moves into a guest house on the estate where their young son soon makes an unsettling new friend, an eerily life-like doll he calls Brahms.
Director: Richard Stanley (“Hardware”, “Dust Devil”)
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Joely Richardson, Madeleine Arthur, Brendan Meyer, Julian Hilliard, Elliot Knight, Josh C. Waller, Q’orianka Kilcher, Tommy Chong
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
Synopsis: After a meteorite lands in the front yard of their farm, Nathan Gardner (Nicolas Cage) and his family find themselves battling a mutant extraterrestrial organism as it infects their minds and bodies, transforming their quiet rural life into a living nightmare. Based on the classic H.P. Lovecraft short story, Color Out of Space is “gorgeous, vibrant and terrifying” (Jonathan Barkan, Dread Central).
Opening on the week of 27 February
Director: Leigh Whannell (“Insidious: Chapter 3”, “Upgrade”)
Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Synopsis: What you can’t see can hurt you. Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss (Us, Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale) stars in a terrifying modern tale of obsession inspired by Universal’s classic monster character. Trapped in a violent, controlling relationship with a wealthy and brilliant scientist, Cecilia Kass (Moss) escapes in the dead of night and disappears into hiding, aided by her sister (Harriet Dyer, NBC’s The InBetween), their childhood friend (Aldis Hodge, Straight Outta Compton) and his teenage daughter (Storm Reid, HBO’s Euphoria). But when Cecilia’s abusive ex (Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House) commits suicide and leaves her a generous portion of his vast fortune, Cecilia suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of eerie coincidences turns lethal, threatening the lives of those she loves, Cecilia’s sanity begins to unravel as she desperately tries to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.
Director: Guy Ritchie (“Sherlock Holmes” series, “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”, “Snatch”, “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”, “Aladdin”)
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Marsan, Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
Synopsis: From writer/director Guy Ritchie comes THE GENTLEMEN, a star-studded sophisticated action comedy. THE GENTLEMEN follows American expat Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) who built a highly profitable marijuana empire in London. When word gets out that he’s looking to cash out of the business forever it triggers plots, schemes, bribery and blackmail in an attempt to steal his domain out from under him.
Director: Viktor Kossakovsky (“Belovy”)
Genre: Documentary
Synopsis: AQUARELA takes audiences on a deeply cinematic journey through the transformative beauty and raw power of water. Captured at a rare 96 frames-per-second, the film is a visceral wake-up call that humans are no match for the sheer force and capricious will of Earth’s most precious element. From the precarious frozen waters of Russia’s Lake Baikal to Miami in the throes of Hurricane Irma to Venezuela’s mighty Angel Falls, water is AQUARELA’s main character, with director Victor Kossakovsky capturing her many personalities in startling cinematic clarity. The film will be shown in theaters at 48 frames-per-second, double the typical 24 frames-per-second, as projectors with the ability to project at 96-frames-per-second are extremely rare today, but when the time comes that the capacity is there, AQUARELA will be one of the first films to be shown at that speed.
