Trailer for Sir Peter Jackson's new film Mortal Engines
We've been taking stock of the year so far, delivering our official Mid-Year Report. But as we look back at the best music, movies, TV and podcasts that have kept us entertained this year, there is plenty more on the way. Here's just some of the good stuff still to come.
Mortal Engines We all know what happened last time Peter Jackson adapted a beloved book series, so it's hard not to be excited about this. Adapted by the dream team that is Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, Mortal Engines is a $100 million post-apocalyptic steampunk epic, in which motorised cities prey on each other for resources. Release: December 13
Brought to us by Spike Lee, with input from Get Out creator Jordan Peele, this new dramedy follows an African-American detective's mission to infiltrate and expose the KKK. Although it's set in the 70s, critics have praised its ability to comment on current events through history, calling it both funny and frightening.
Release: August 16
Crazy Rich Asians
This film has been hailed by fans as the "Asian Black Panther", in terms of representation. It's the first major Hollywood film in 25 years to feature an Asian-majority cast and was written and directed by Asian artists (Kevin Kwan and Jon M. Chu). There are no stereotypical nerds and no martial arts, just an exploration of culture and love.
Widows seems to be Hollywood's darker, grittier take on Ocean's 8, in which a group of widows finish the heist their husbands failed to pull off. It's directed by Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), co-written by Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl), and stars Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Colin Farrell, Liam Neeson and Get Out's Daniel Kaluuya.
Release: November 29
TV
Better Call Saul
When we last left Saul, he'd admitted to being a fraud, Kim had been in a bad car accident, Nacho was finally free from Hector, Gus Fring was well in truly in the picture, and Charles - having been shafted out of HHM - deteriorated and was last seen trapped in his house while it went up in flames. We can't wait to see where this goes next.
Release: August 7 (Lightbox)
Disenchantment
This is Matt Groening's latest series following on from The Simpsons and Futurama, and his first production for Netflix. It follows an alcoholic princess named Bean, her elf companion Elfo, and her "personal demon" Luci, in a medieval kingdom known as Dreamland and has been described as the lovechild of the Simpsons and Game of Thrones.
The first episode of this psychological crime thriller aired this week and it's already one of the most-talked about series of the year. And it's no wonder. It's based on a book by Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl), directed by the man behind Big Little Lies and starring five-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams, and we can't wait to see how this eight-part miniseries plays out.
Out now (SoHo/Neon)
Dark Tourist David Farrier's latest documentary effort sees the Kiwi journalist travel to the weird and straight-up macabre tourism spots around the world, from a haunted forest to a nuclear lake. Dark Tourist marks the first unscripted Netflix original to come out of New Zealand. Release: July 20 (Netflix)
Queen's been annoyingly changeable for months now with changing release dates and singles appearing and disappearing from the tracklist. But Nicki's first album in four years is finally nearly here and if its lead single Chun-Li is anything to go by, it's going to be worth the wait.
After Donald Glover's insane hit This Is America, excitement over his upcoming album is at an all time high, but it's bittersweet because word is this is Glover's last album ever. Either way it's slated for release sometime this year - chances are November's Pharos Festival will provide more info, if not the album itself.
Release: TBC
*Warning: This clip contains footage which may disturb
Jon Toogood is back with his collaboration project, The Adults, and an upcoming release packed with an insane list of Kiwi collaborators. We're talking Miloux, Aaradhna, Kings, Chelsea Jade and Raiza Biza. And after that killer lead single, Bloodlines with JessB and Estere, we can't wait to see what these other collaborations produce.
Release: July 20
Vampire Weekend, Mitsubishi Macchiato
Mitsubishi Macchiato is merely a working title for what will be Vampire Weekend's first album since 2013, and their first full-length release since the departure of founding member Rostam Batmanglij in 2016. The band said it was "94.5 per cent" finished back in May, but there's still no sign of it. Fingers crossed.
