M. Night Shyamalan, 'Aquaman', & More Trailers You May Have Missed

With the conclusion of the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con yesterday evening, a trailer-heavy week came to a dramatic close. Debuting footage from some of the more anticipated titles of 2018 (and yes, 2019), Comic-Con news flooded the social media newsfeeds of film enthusiasts looking for a first glimpse of some of the larger-budgeted tentpoles. It's safe to say that the convention cum hype machine delivered.

While we can't feature every trailer that debuted over the past week (nor every film trailer from Comic-Con exclusively), below are five films to keep on your radar over the next few months, the earliest being a prize-winning documentary set to debut on Hulu this August for all your streaming pleasure. 

Minding the Gap (dir. Bing Liu)

Winner of a Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Filmmaking at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, Minding the Gap, Bing Liu's debut feature about male skateboarders in Chicago, has found its digital home as a "Hulu Original." Inspired by the skateboarding videos of Spike Jonze, Liu, a former Assistant Camera Operator on Shameless and The Girlfriend Experience, moved to Chicago at 19, coming across a number of fellow skateboarders in a park on Father's Day; coincidentally, no one there was celebrating with their dads.

Digging deep into the young men's tumultuous personal lives (and how they use their skateboards as a means of retreat and escape), the documentary feels like both a macro (the issues young men encounter as they struggle to mature into adulthood) and micro (the filmmaker becomes very much a part of the story) study of recreational sports, societal expectations, mental illness, and familial conflict. In many ways, the film's youth-oriented subjects make it an ideal fit for Hulu; you can watch it whenever and wherever you'd like, iPhones included. Release Date: August 17th, 2018, via Hulu and Magnolia Pictures.

Aquaman (dir. James Wan)

While numerous big-budget holiday blockbusters often feel ripe for a theme park tie-in, few feel so as readily conceived for Sea World as Aquaman. The sixth film in the DC Cinematic Universe of spin-offs and team-ups with the superheroic Justice League, Aquaman thrusts its title character (and lead actor Jason Momoa) in the spotlight. This first trailer, released during San Diego Comic-Con 2018, is loaded with CGI, various bright tones of oceanic blue, light attempts at humor, and...Nicole Kidman as the fish brute's mother?

That's right, with Australian director James Wan (Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring) behind the camera, the director has brought along his own flair for casting, including the legendary Aussie Oscar-winning actress and frequent star Patrick Wilson in vital roles. Does this look somewhat dopey? Sure, but in a film in which sharks are effectively used as battle horses to stampede through an all-out war waged in the sea, approving exceptions must be made. Release Date: December 21st, 2018, via Warner Bros. Pictures.

On the Basis of Sex (dir. Mimi Leder)

I'd like to make a prediction right now: At next year's Academy Awards ceremony, two films that find Ruth Bader Ginsburg as their subject will be represented as nominees, one in the Best Documentary category (for RBG) and one in the Best Actress category (for On the Basis of Sex). It could happen! A biopic of the still literally strong Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, On the Basis of Sex stars Felicity Jones in the leading role as Ginsburg, talking truth to power and tirelessly fighting for equality of the sexes. The trailer reveals Jones mirroring Ginsburg's New York accent to the utmost degree, but once you get over that acting choice, the film appears like it's going to be a fine mix between an uplifting history lesson and a timely expose' of the unjust treatment of women in the workplace.

The film represents director Mimi Leder's first feature in almost a decade, and the two-time Emmy winner (for 1990s medical drama ER) appears to be the right choice to balance the important, overarching subject matter with a humanist touch. Co-starring is Armie Hammer (who, somewhat appropriately, is currently starring on Broadway in a play titled Straight White Men) as husband Marty Ginsburg, alongside Kathy Bates, Sam Waterston, and Justin Theroux. Here's hoping this will serve as some nice counterprogramming to Aquaman this upcoming holiday season. Release Date: December 25th, 2018, via Focus Features.

Glass (dir. M. Night Shyamalan)

Two films from two different decades, Unbreakable and Split, proved quite successful for director M. Night Shyamalan, and so it would be reasonable for a number of powerful studio heads to demand sequels. Ever the creative (and economically efficient) reasoner, Shyamalan's latest work, Glass, was created as a sequel to both.

While the seeds were planted for an Unbreakable tie-in in the closing moments of Split, few suspected a full-on, linked deep dive into the characters of Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson), David Dunn (Bruce Willis), and James McAvoy (a host of characters/personalities). But here it resides, a film which merges the storylines of two films' lead characters into its own terrifying form of cinematic univers-ing. Talk about a filmmaker hitting a jackpot. Split cinematographer Mike Gioulakis returns to lense this follow-up, and if anyone knows how to create uncomfortable, eerie dread (he shot It Follows, after all), it's him. Release Date: January 18th, 2019, via Universal Pictures.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (dir. Michael Dougherty)

A sequel to Godzilla, Gareth Edwards' 2014 American reboot that was much better than it had any right to be, Godzilla: King of the Monsters is the latest chronicling of the tumultuous, increasingly frustrated lifestyle of its titular character—can't we just let the creature sleep peacefully once and for all under the sea?—brought to life by some incredible movie magic. The tone of this first trailer eschews fears for awe, terror for moments of peaceful solace, and anarchy for beautiful destruction, and it's a disorienting if welcomed approach to take. Before the chaos takes place, can't we have a moment to appropriately revel in the scope of all this? 

Even though Godzilla is proclaimed as the king of the monsters—and is, by proxy, an ally to the human race— a new king, the three-headed dragon (known as King Ghidorah ), makes a brief cameo in the trailer, signaling a number of new foes threatening to overtake the mighty lizard's throne. Sally Hawkins and Ken Watanabe reprise their roles for this sequel, and Vera Farmiga plays a mom with good intentions but some seriously questionable ways of going about her job. The film feels custom made for your local IMAX theater, so see it big.  Release Date: May 31st, 2019, via Warner Bros. Pictures.