The TV shows and movies you can’t miss in 2021

Thanks to COVID shutdowns this year, 2021 is bursting with stellar unseen TV shows and movies. Here are the ones to add to your must-watch list.

The Dry stars Eric Bana and was filmed in Australia.

James Wigney and Cam Adams reveal the TV shows and movies you need to add to your must-watch list in 2021.

MOVIES

THE DRY

Releases: January 1

The Australian film industry has taken a pounding thanks to the COVID shutdowns, but hopefully this homegrown thriller shot in the Mallee and Wimmera can kick things off with a bang on New Year’s Day. Eric Bana — in his first Aussie film lead role in 13 years — plays a cop who returns to his struggling farming community after years away, and becomes embroiled in a murder-suicide mystery. Adapted from the best-selling novel of the same name, by ex-Herald Sun journalist Jane Harper.

NO TIME TO DIE

2021 will mark Daniel Craig’s last hurrah as 007.

Releases: April 1

Already delayed thanks to a change of director and one of the first films to abandon its release date when cinemas shut, Daniel Craig’s last hurrah as 007 should finally land nearly a year after initially planned. But if anything, that’s just ramped up audience expectations to fever pitch, particularly after a killer trailer dropped, and the promise of a kick-ass band of women including Lashana Lynch’s new 00 agent, and Ana de Armas as a CIA agent.

BLACK WIDOW

Black Widow will finally get her first solo Marvel Movie.

Releases: April 29

This year marks the first year since 2009 that there were no new entries in the all-conquering Marvel Cinematic Universe. After 23 movies in 12 years, some might be breathing a sigh of relief but the superheroes will be back with a vengeance in 2021, first with Scarlett Johansson’s long-awaited solo Black Widow movie, then with the first Asian lead in the Sydney-shot Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Seven Rings (July 8), followed by the star-studded Eternals (November 4). Throw in a Venom sequel, Let There Be Carnage (June 23) and Spider-Man spin-off Morbius (March 18) and it looks like there’s no sign of so-called superhero fatigue setting in any time soon.

GHOSTBUSTERS AFTERLIFE

Paul Rudd in a scene from the first trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

Release date: June 10

The all-female reboot might have been unfairly savaged, but there’s life in the much-loved spooky franchise yet. Jason Reitman (Juno, Up In the Air) has stepped into his father Ivan’s shoes as director of what is touted as a direct sequel set 30 years after the second film. Surviving Proton Pack protagonists Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson (RIP Harold Ramis) will be back, as will Sigourney Weaver, joined by Paul Rudd, Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard and rising star Mckenna Grace. Who ya gonna call?

DUNE

Releases: September 30

The legions of fans of Frank Herbert’s seminal sci-fi classic Dune were devastated when this eagerly anticipated film version was pushed back from this Christmas to late next year. After David Lynch’s bonkers, butchered 1984 effort and an underwhelming 2000 miniseries, director Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Bladerunner: 2049) looks like the man for the job and has assembled a spot-on cast including Timothee Chalomet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac and the so-hot-right-now Zendaya.

TV SHOWS

WENTWORTH: REDEMPTION

Wentworth’s final season will air in 2021. Picture: Supplied/Foxtel

Foxtel Showcase

While Melbourne was in lockdown, the Wentworth cast and crew became one of the first dramas to get back to work. They managed to film what will be the final 10 episodes ever, with fans keen to know if Allie survives and if there’s resolution to the story involving The Freak returning to jail.

THE NEWSREADER

ABC

Production is currently under way in Melbourne on The Newsreader, a six-part drama set in a commercial TV newsroom in 1986. Anna Torv (Secret City) plays a difficult host seeking credibility and Sam Reid (Lambs of God) an eager reporter covering events from the Challenger explosion to Chernobyl. It’s created by Michael Lucas (Five Bedrooms, Offspring).

FISK

ABC

Also being shot now in Melbourne, Kitty Flanagan wrote and stars in Fisk. She plays Helen Tudor-Fish, a contract lawyer slumming it at a rundown suburban law firm who deals in wills, inheritances and fighting families. It also stars Julia Zemiro, Aaron Chen and Glenn Butcher.

JACK IRISH

Jack Irish is also set for its final season in 2021. Picture: Lachlan Moore

ABC

Guy Pearce is back home in Melbourne filming the final season of Jack Irish. This series delves into his past and sees Jack run into his toughest challenges yet. “I’m very much looking forward to Jack’s final hurrah but also feeling a deep sense of melancholy knowing it will be our last,” Pearce said. Also in the cast — Marta Dusseldorp, Aaron Pedersen, Shane Jacobson, Roy Billing, Gary Sweet and Alison Whyte.

Originally published as The TV shows and movies you can’t miss in 2021