Actors Who Have No Movies Lined Up For 2020
A lot of succeeding in show business boils down to showing up. Movies, TV shows, music videos, commercials — whatever the production, being present is what matters. You need to put in the work, over and over again, until the world knows your name, your face, and your brand.
As a result, Hollywood is a world of overachievers. Name an actor, and you'll name someone with multiple projects in talks, in production, or out in theaters. In our interconnected world, the pressure to produce a constant stream of content has only intensified. An actor now needs to act, broadcast a significant portion of their "private life" through social media, and remain forever in touch with the ever-shifting landscape of what's in, what's out, and what's up and coming.
It's shocking, then, to encounter an actor with nothing on the docket, but that's the case with these stars, all of whom have no movies set to premiere in 2020. Are they catching up on sleep? Are they pivoting into other mediums? Are they moving behind the camera? For some, it's all those reasons and more. Read on to discover the actors who won't be appearing in cinemas in 2020.
Emma Stone won't be playing in any 2020 movies
For an actress barely into her 30s, Emma Stone casts a dramatically long shadow. She's not just one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood, nor is she merely the recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, an SAG Award, and a handful of BAFTAs. She's a powerhouse performer with a range as vast as that of actors twice her age, and she's appeared in superhero blockbusters, period pieces, teen comedies, musicals, and zombie comedies. Stone's resume is packed to capacity, and she doesn't show signs of slowing down any time soon.
However, 2020 will be bereft of the actress' charms. Her next movie is set to be 2021's Cruella, the latest in Disney's string of live-action adaptations of their celebrated catalog. Directed by Craig Gillespie of I, Tonya and Lars and the Real Girl fame, Stone will star as the dalmatian-mad villainess herself, here reimagined as a 1970s fashion designer. The film promises to be fabulous. Stone was delightfully duplicitous in The Favourite, and Cruella promises to take her to similarly sinister places. Good thing, too, as the lure of Cruella will have to tide Stone fans over through the rest of 2020.
Reese Witherspoon is keeping incredibly busy
It's not enough to say that Reese Witherspoon has a lot on her plate. Rather, she has an entire smorgasbord spread out before her. She's currently producing a whole host of films and TV series and continuing to run her boffo media company Hello Sunshine, and oh yeah, acting. But Witherspoon won't be appearing as an actress on the big screen any time soon. Her performances are set to be entirely confined to TV for the time being.
No Witherspoon fan will be entirely surprised by this choice. Her starring roles in the HBO smash Big Little Lies, Apple TV+'s The Morning Show, and Hulu's Little Fires Everywhere — all of which she also serves as executive producer on — have been met with rave reviews. Indeed, the streaming revolution and the age of prestige TV have launched Witherspoon to stratospheric heights, behind and in front of the camera. In other words, even though she won't be showing up in any movies, Witherspoon will still be in our lives.
Ryan Gosling hasn't got much happening in 2020
What hasn't Ryan Gosling done, really? Once a child star on The Mickey Mouse Club, he's played a Jewish Neo-Nazi in The Believer, the romantic hero of the 2000s in The Notebook, and legendary astronaut Neil Armstong in First Man. He's not just a versatile actor, he's a chameleon.
The late 2010s were particularly strong for Gosling, seeing him hailed as "the best deadpan actor in the business," nominated for an Academy Award for La La Land, and picked to star in Blade Runner 2049, sequel to the 1982 cult classic. But for all that success, Gosling has nothing currently lined up to follow it. His filmography currently ends with 2018's First Man. That doesn't mean his future is entirely opaque, as Gosling has been announced as star and producer of Project Hail Mary, an adaptation of the yet-unreleased novel of the same name by The Martian author Andy Weir. But there are currently no specifics attached to that film, leaving 2020 entirely empty of Gosling on the big screen. At least fans have something to look forward to, even if they don't know when, exactly, their waiting will end.
Jada Pinkett Smith is working on an exciting sci-fi film
Did you know that Jada Pinkett Smith was once the founder and frontwoman of nu-metal band Wicked Wisdom? How about her career as a children's author? Are you familiar with Red Table Talk, the Facebook Watch talk show she hosts? Recent years have also seen Smith star in cinematic smashes like Girls Trip and Magic Mike XXL, as well as the ever-expanding Madagascar franchise. Whether she's playing an animated hippopotamus, an uptight nurse on the vacation of a lifetime, or a Savannah strip club owner, Smith brings success wherever she goes
But 2020 will feature none of Smith's signature charm. She has no movies lined up for the year and nothing in the realms of music and television, save Red Table Talk. But that's not to say she's slacking. Smith was scheduled to film a movie throughout 2020 — one of the most hotly anticipated around, in fact. Smith is set to star as Niobe in The Matrix 4, alongside Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Lambert Wilson. Scheduled to be released on May 21, 2021, details about the film are thin on the ground, and it's unknown whether or to what extent current events have impacted those plans. But as far as Smith fans go, her presence is all that's needed to get excited. Here's hoping for a return of the killer purple coat Niobe was seen sporting in The Matrix Reloaded.
We haven't seen Ben Stiller in a while
Zoolander. Meet the Parents. Night at the Museum. Ben Stiller has taken audiences to Fashion Week, the Smithsonian, and Madagascar. And in recent years, we've seen the comic take a turn for the dramatic in films like The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Brad's Status, and The Meyerowitz Stories, to general acclaim. Stiller might be most famous for making people laugh, but he's made it more than clear that he's no one-trick pony.
Perhaps his lack of 2020 films is borne of that confidence. At 54, he no longer needs to prove himself. And it's not a new development. Stiller doesn't act much these days, and he hasn't released a movie since 2017. But still, he's keeping busy with projects like In the Dark, the comedy-drama series on which he serves as executive producer. Regardless, fans of his movies have little to content themselves with ... except for constant cable reruns of his greatest hits.
What's Timothy Spall doing these days?
Timothy Spall is the sort of actor one refers to as "a treasure." And it's no secret as to why. Spall has made a home in the hearts of millions for work that ranges from the Harry Potter series to Timothy Spall at Sea. Not everyone can make a three-season saga out of a premise like "watch me and my wife circumnavigate the British Coast," but then, not everyone is Timothy Spall.
Fans will have to revisit Spall's older work in 2020, however. Though the storied actor is set to star in Chicken Run 2 and It Snows in Benidorm, neither film has a release date. Perhaps he's taking a well-deserved rest. The 2010s were a particularly impressive decade for him. Spall starred in everything from Disney blockbuster Alice in Wonderland to Oscar-winner The King's Speech over the course of those ten years, crowned by his starring role in the celebrated 2014 biopic Mr. Turner. Is he gearing up for something new? Is he tooling around on his Dutch barge, the Princess Matilda? At present, we don't know, but we're betting he's doing it with his signature wit on full display.
Emma Watson won't have any movies in 2020
As thousands of fans, critics, and likely her college professors have pointed out, Emma Watson shares more than a few similarities with Hermione Granger, her most famous role. She doesn't just have a degree from Brown University, an impressive modeling portfolio, and an appointment as a UN Women Goodwill ambassador. On top of all that, she's still, you know, an actress. The year 2019 saw her star in Greta Gerwig's celebrated Little Women as Meg, adding her name to the long and impressive list of actresses who've played the eldest March sister. Moreover, 2019 also saw her help launch a legal advice line for women suffering sexual harassment at work.
It's no stretch of the imagination to believe that Watson might simply be too busy to have a movie out in 2020. But the facts on the ground are that she has nothing set to release in the first year of the new decade. The last few years were a whirlwind for her, what with her increasingly high profile as an activist and her role as Belle in 2017's Beauty and the Beast, a movie that became one of the highest-grossing films of all time. If she's enjoying a break, she's certainly earned it. But if her history as a public figure is any indication, Watson isn't likely to be idle for long.
Christina Ricci will be showing up on the small screen
Christina Ricci gave 1990s cinema a deliciously wicked edge. As Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family, she was sullenness incarnate. As Katrina in Sleepy Hollow, she gave wide-eyed, turn-of-the-century spiritualism a perfectly ghostly allure. Later years saw her career deepen and mature, but it never grew stale. For every gritty drama she starred in, a la Monster, there was something whimsical like Penelope. Ricci nailed everything from lighthearted glee to corrosive neuroticism, and she made it look easy to boot.
However, 2020 will feature no new films from Ricci. This isn't a total shock to anyone who's followed her career through the 2010s. Both 2015 and 2019 also went without new movies from Ricci, and every year of the decade after 2013 only saw one new release. Ricci's not idle, however. She's moved into TV, with roles in Sam Raimi's 50 States of Fright and Yellowjackets set to debut in 2020. Both are horror series boasting casts absolutely loaded with talent. We're willing to bet that Ricci will still manage to be a particular highlight of both.
We'll still get to see Cate Blanchett
Does any actor better embody the concept of "poise" better than Cate Blanchett? The Austalian powerhouse's range is so vast, it's almost absurd. Blanchett's most celebrated roles include a closeted 1950s lesbian housewife in Carol, one of the most famous women in history with Elizabeth, and a fantasy version of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There. Recent years have seen her make her mark on the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the sinister, scene-stealing Hela and delight audiences as a frustrated architect, mother, and recluse in Where'd You Go, Bernadette. Given how packed her filmography is, it's downright shocking to see nothing lined up for her 2020.
There are a few reasons for this. For one thing, she's been pretty busy with Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley. But beyond the silver screen, she's still hard at work. Blanchett has two very high-profile TV projects set to debut in 2020, both of which promise to impress. Stateless, centered around four strangers in an immigration detention center, will feature Blanchett as an actress and a producer, while Mrs. America, a miniseries for FX, will star Blanchett as controversial American author, activist, and anti-feminist Phyllis Schlafly. Mrs. America is already earning strong reviews, many of which cite Blanchett's perfectly chilly performance as a highlight. She might not be in the cinema, but Blanchett will still be lighting 2020 up with her sterling performances.
Sandra Bullock will be back soon
Sandra Bullock is one of the most influential people in the world. Don't take our word for it — take Time magazine's, who added Bullock to their "people who mattered" list in 2010. She's starred in sci-fi spectacles like Gravity, fizzy comedies like Miss Congeniality, and post-apocalyptic thrillers like Bird Box. She's been in movies grossing over $1 billion, founded her own production company, Fortis Films, and been nominated and/or won pretty much every award for acting under the sun.
Yet 2020 will see no new releases for the ambitious actress. And 2019 didn't either, actually, nor 2017 or 2016 before it. When you've reached the peak of cultural prominence Bullock has, you don't actually have to pump out content year after year. Perhaps she's enjoying her success with a little time off. But don't count her out just yet, because she's already at work on her next film. An as-yet untitled drama directed by Nora Fingscheidt is currently filming, in which Sandra Bullock will star as Ruth Slater, an ex-con in search of her long-lost sister. Principal photography was scheduled to begin in February 2020, meaning Bullock fans shouldn't have long to wait for more news on what will doubtlessly be a spectacular performance.
Jeremy Renner doesn't have any movies in 2020 ... but he does have music
Jeremy Renner might've gotten his start in gritty fare like Dahmer, The Hurt Locker, and The Town, but most now know him best as Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, the MCU's bow-and-arrow toting Avenger. Even within the MCU's shiny environs, however, he manages to smuggle in a certain rough-around-the-edges appeal. Avengers: Endgame, after all, saw the character handle the (temporary) death of his family by getting a full sleeve tattoo, putting on a mask, and massacring gangsters in the grimiest back alleys of the world.
That's the last glimpse fans will have of Hawkeye for a while, however ... or any Renner character. The actor currently has no films lined up for release, his last movie having been 2019's Arctic Dogs. He is recording lines for Marvel's upcoming Disney+ cartoon What If...?, and he's been cast alongside Jamie Foxx in Spawn, a reboot of the infamously dark superhero property. But what's really cooking for Renner right now is his music career. Believe it or not, 2020's big release for him is his EP, The Medicine, which dropped in March