Netflix dates ‘Don’t Look Up,’ ‘The Harder They Fall’ and more 2021 movies

Regina King as Trudy Smith, Idris Elba as Rufus Buck, and LaKeith Stanfield as Cherokee Bill in "The Harder They Fall" on Netflix. (Image credit: Netflix)

The movie schedule for the rest of the year has gotten a lot clearer, as Netflix has announced official dates for its entire slate of fall and winter original movies, which includes the Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence satire Don’t Look Up; the Idris Elba and Regina King-led western The Harder They Fall; The Power of the Dog from Jane Campion and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and plenty more.

Variety reported on the announcement.

Netflix has touted that they would have as many new original movies as weeks of 2021. Thus far that has included the likes of conclusions to their popular rom-com series To All the Boys: Always and Forever and The Kissing Booth 3; Zack Snyder’s zombie movie Army of the Dead; and the horror trilogy series Fear Street. Things are only ramping up for the rest of 2021, as Netflix will release many of its marquee films for the year, including ones that it likely hopes will finally bring it the Oscar for Best Picture.

Even though Netflix is the largest streaming service in the world and movie theaters are still in a precarious position, it will release a handful of its films in theaters before their streaming debuts for brief runs. This comes even as the Oscars are not requiring films to play in theaters considering the ongoing pandemic. So hey, that’s a win for theatergoers eager to see some of these films on the big screen.

Headlining the fall efforts is Don’t Look Up, directed by Adam McKay and starring DiCaprio and Lawrence as astronomers who must go on a media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that could destroy the Earth. That trio is just top billing for an incredible cast that includes Timothee Chalamet, Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Matthew Perry, Ron Perlman, Mark Rylance, Ariana Grande, Tyler Perry, Kid Cudi and more. Don’t Look Up will debut in theaters on Dec. 10 and then land on Netflix Christmas Eve (Dec. 24).

The Harder They Fall features another all-star cast in what looks to be an entertaining western. Idris Elba, Regina King, Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz, LaKeith Stanfield, Delroy Lindo, Edi Gathegi, Deon Cole, Danielle Deadwyler and Julio Cesar Cedillo will star in the film from Jeymes Samuel that tells the story of an outlaw that reunites his gang when he learns his enemy is being released from prison. The Harder They Fall is getting a Oct. 22 theatrical release before its Nov. 3 launch on Netflix.

Other highly anticipated Netflix releases include Lin-Manuel Miranda’s directorial debut tick, tick...Boom! (Nov. 12 in theaters, Nov. 19 on Netflix); Army of the Dead prequel Army of Thieves (Oct. 29 on Netflix); the Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot action film Red Notice (Nov. 12); and The Power of the Dog (Nov. 17 in select theaters, Dec. 1 on Netflix).

Here is Netflix’s full movie release schedule for the rest of 2021:

Afterlife of the Party (Sept. 2, Netflix)
Worth (Sept. 3, Netflix)
Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali (Sept. 9, Netflix)
Kate (Sept. 10, select theaters and Netflix)
Nightbrooks (Sept. 15, Netflix)
Schumacher (Sept. 15, Netflix)
Intrusion (Sept. 22, Netflix)
The Starling (Sept. 17, select theaters; Sept. 24 on Netflix)
My Little Pony: A New Generation (Sept. 24, Netflix)
Sounds Like Love (Sept. 29, Netflix)
No One Gets Out Alive (Sept. 29, Netflix)
The Guilty (Sept. 24, select theaters; Oct. 1, Netflix)
Diana: The Musical (Oct. 1, Netflix)
There’s Someone Inside Your House (Oct. 6, Netflix)
Found (Oct. 20, Netflix)
Night Teeth (Oct. 20, Netflix)
Stuck Together (Oct. 20, Netflix)
Army of Thieves (Oct. 29, Netflix)
Hypnotic (Oct. TBD, Netflix)
Fever Dream (Oct. TBD, select theaters and Netflix)
The Harder They Fall (Oct. 22, select theaters; Nov. 3, Netflix)
Love Hard (Nov. 5, Netflix)
Passing (Oct. 27, select theaters; Netflix, Nov. 10)
Red Notice (Nov. 12, Netflix)
tick, tick...Boom! (Nov. 12, select theaters; Nov. 19, Netflix)
Bruised (Nov. 17, select theaters; Nov. 24, Netflix)
Robin Robin (Nov. 24, Netflix)
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible (Nov. 29, Netflix)
7 Prisoners (Nov. TBD, select theaters and Netflix)
A Boy Called Christmas (Nov. TBD, Netflix)
A Castle for Christmas (Nov. TBD, Netflix)
The Princess Switch 3, Nov. TBD, Netflix)
The Power of the Dog (Nov. 17, select theaters; Dec. 1, Netflix)
Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas (Dec. 3, Netflix)
The Unforgivable (Nov. 24, select theaters; Dec. 10, Netflix)
The Hand of God (Dec. 3, select theaters; Dec. 15, Netflix)
Don’t Look Up (Dec. 10, select theaters; Dec. 24, Netflix)
The Lost Daughter (Dec. 17, select theaters; Dec. 31, Netflix)
Back to the Outback (Dec. TBD, Netflix)
Mixtape (Dec. TBD, Netflix)
Single All the Way (Dec. TBD, Netflix)

To stream any or all of these movies, you must be signed up for a Netflix account. Netflix’s base streaming subscription costs $13.99 per month.

And this is just half of Netflix's planned output for the rest of 2021, as it also has a number of Netflix original series that will launch on the service. These include Money Heist, Sex Education, Cowboy Bebop, Cobra Kai, The Witcher and plenty more.

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.