Top 10 Most Anticipated Romance Movies of 2020

Back in the year 2000, author Jerry Spinelli published his young adult novel “Stargirl”, and it quickly became a New York Times Bestseller, and took home many literary awards. Twenty years later, the story is finally making it to the screen. Scheduled to be released on the Disney+ streaming service and starring singer Grace VanderWaal of “America's Got Talent” fame, this movie is sure to be a hit with teens and adults alike. Considering VanderWaal’s quirky character is going to be playing the ukulele, we have a feeling it’ll have some catchy songs too.

There are some upcoming films that we don’t even know all that much about, but are still excited for. One example is “What About Love”, written and directed by Klaus Menzel, which tells the story of two young people whose love story inspires their parents to let themselves consider love for themselves again. Starring Sharon Stone as well as Andy Garcia, there’s some star power behind this story. And relative newcomers Marielle Jaffe and Miguel Ángel Muñoz play the young lovers, which will inevitably inject some fresh energy into the film.

The 2019 romance film “After” may not have been a critical success, but it did garner itself a solid fanbase. Based on a novel of the same name, which was in turn based on a work of Harry Styles fan fiction, the story is about college student Tessa who finds herself enamoured with a bad boy, Hardin. “After We Collided” will be the sequel to the story, also starring Josephine Langford and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin in the starring roles. The film will also star Dylan Sprouse and Selma Blair. If you haven’t seen the first one, be sure to get on it before the second is released!

When the film rights for a book are purchased before the novel is even released, you know the story has got to be good. Krystal Sutherland's debut novel “Our Chemical Hearts” was released in the fall of 2016, and we’re finally getting the on-screen version in 2020. This young adult story is about two teenagers who fall in love in high school despite how different they are. Lili Reinhart, of “Riverdale” fame is not only starring in the film but will also be one of the producers, letting her stretch her legs from her typical acting roles. The movie will be streaming on Amazon when it’s released.

We’re always looking for more mainstream LGBTQ love stories, and we’ll be getting a major one in 2020 with “Happiest Season”. The movie is about a woman, played by Kristen Stewart, who plans to propose to her girlfriend, played by Mackenzie Davis, but soon discovers that her partner hasn’t actually told her conservative family that she’s gay. We haven’t seen many Christmas movies with gay characters, so that makes this project extra unique. The projected release date is November 20, 2020, just in time for the holiday season.

It’s not your average romantic comedy when murder is involved. But that’s the premise of “The Lovebirds,” which is set to be released in April of 2020. Kumail Nanjiani, who was nominated for an Oscar for his work on “The Big Sick” and Issa Rae, whose HBO show “Insecure” has become a major critical success, will costar in the film. The story is about a couple who is on the verge of ending their relationship, but who get sidetracked when they stumble upon a murder mystery. Their priorities quickly change, and they have to figure out both the whodunnit and whether they can make it work as a couple.

Speaking of Issa Rae, it seems like this TV star is about to have a big year on the big screen. That’s because she’s also starring in another romantic film called “The Photograph”. While we don’t know much about the plot of this movie except for the fact that it’s about “intertwining love stories in the past and present”, the cast alone is enough to make us go see it. Issa Rae is costarring with Lakeith Stanfield, who is known for his roles on “Atlanta” and in the modern horror flick “Get Out”. He does have some experience with the romance genre too, with a role in the 2019 Netflix movie “Someone Great”.

An LGBTQ period film starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan? Sign us up! “Ammonite” is set in 19th century England and tells the story of Mary Anning (played by Winslet), a fossil hunter who has never received the recognition she deserved for her work. She now sells unimportant fossils to tourists to make money. One day she is entrusted with the care of a visitor’s wife, played by Ronan, and while the two women don’t initially get along, they eventually become close and discover a relationship that neither was expecting. With these two powerhouse actresses involved, we’re guessing this is going to be one of the biggest movies of the year.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, we’re getting a sequel to “To All the Boys I've Loved Before”, and we couldn’t be more excited. The first movie was a charming surprise released to Netflix in 2018, fulfilling all of our teen rom-com fantasies with compelling characters, an awesome soundtrack, and a plot that kept us on the edge of our seats. Even though Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky got a happy ending at the end of the first installment, we still can’t wait to see what they’re in for next.

While there are people excited to see all of the movies on our list today, there’s no question that the most hotly anticipated romance film of the year is this modern adaptation of the classic musical “West Side Story”. Directed by cinematic powerhouse Steven Spielberg and starring Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler as Tony and Maria respectively, this film is sure to bring in audiences when it’s released in December of 2020. The movie will be a period piece, set in the ‘50s just like the original, and is expected to closely follow the story told in the Broadway production.