Netflix Originals That'll Blow You Away In 2019

Every year, Netflix ups the game with its original content — and 2018 will see the streaming service hit that sweet 1,000 mark for original programming. You read that right: Netflix will soon be able to boast 1,000 original movies and shows in its library. You'll probably never watch them all, but there's no denying that there's truly something for everyone in the company's ever-changing offerings, and the future is guaranteed to bring subscribers a bumper crop of even more great content.

Along those lines, Netflix is already hard at work putting out tantalizing glimpses of their 2019 lineup, and it looks pretty exciting. From a gangster film by Martin Scorsese to multiple brand new superhero series to a high-octane Ryan Reynolds/Michael Bay team-up, 2019 is shaping up to be an epic year on Netflix. Here's a look at everything we know about the 2019 Netflix originals that are sure to blow you away.

Barely five years ago, it would have been insane to suggest that Martin Scorsese would direct a direct-to-streaming feature. The guy's been nominated for a bunch of Oscars — you wouldn't typically lump him in with the same crowd that made the eighth Hellraiser movie. But now that video-on-demand services are backing Oscar-winning films like Amazon's Manchester by the Sea, it's safe to say that the landscape has changed.

And with Netflix willing to dump billions in the pot for new original content, who can blame Scorsese for working out a production deal? The result sees the Goodfellas director going back to his roots with The Irishman, a mob epic starring Robert De Niro as Frank Sheeran, the hitman allegedly responsible for the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. De Niro isn't the only big name attached to The Irishman, either: Al Pacino is on board to play Hoffa, with Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, and Anna Paquin co-starring.

Netflix has teased a 2019 release for the movie, so there'll be plenty of time for audiences to get caught up in the anticipation.

Ryan Reynolds, Michael Bay, and the writers of Deadpool: If that combo doesn't get your remote quivering, nothing will. Six Underground marks yet another high-profile 2019 release on the Netflix docket, with Reynolds taking the lead in the high-stakes action outing. Details about the plot are still a little thin, but with Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick — co-writers of the Deadpool duology — behind the story, we're pretty sure it'll find a way to blow everyone away.

Netflix sure hopes so, because they're betting the bank on it. Even accounting for the ever-ballooning budget for The Irishman ($140 million and counting), Six Underground will mark the streamer's most expensive movie to date. Deadline reports that the film is sailing into production on $150 million, which is about as much as the first Transformers cost. Not that that's too surprising. This is a Michael Bay film, and we all know he likes to make things big.

With the hard-hitting documentary 13th, director Ava DuVernay proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that she could handle sensitive, real-life struggles in a way that resonated with Netflix's audience. So it should come as no surprise that the streaming service is tapping DuVernay once again for an in-depth dive into one of the most infamous crimes of the '80s — and the racially charged media firestorm that followed it.

In 1989, New Yorker Trisha Meili was jogging in Central Park when she was attacked and sexually assaulted. Police subsequently arrested five teenagers, who were convicted of the assault and sentenced to prison in 1990. It wasn't until over a decade later that the real perpetrator confessed, proving the five young men to be innocent.

The Central Park Five will be presented as a scripted drama series that explores the aftermath of the crime, from the media circus surrounding the trials to their eventual release from prison. It should offer an emotional look into how the case affected the lives of everyone involved, and we're definitely looking forward to seeing it when it's released in 2019.

Like any year, 2019 is bound to see plenty of ups and downs. On the lower end, we're finally getting that live-action Pikachu movie that nobody asked for. But on the bright side, it'll also mark Gillian Anderson's first appearance on the small screen since leaving both The X-Files and American Gods.

Anderson is slated to star in Sex Education as Jean, a sex therapist and working mom who's trying her best to raise her son, Otis. Otis, meanwhile, is a bit of an odd duck — a virgin who knows more about sex than any of his sheet-shaking classmates. The Hollywood Reporter describes the upcoming show as a dramedy, although that setup sounds like it would lend itself more to the comedy side of things. Asa Butterfield, who you may know as the kid from Ender's Game, stars as Otis, and the series is slated for a tentative 2019 release date.

In the '90s, there was only one name that mattered in basketball: Michael Jordan. As the scoreboard-stacking shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls, Jordan became both an athletic legend and a pop culture icon during his career. He brought whole stadiums to their feet with his defensive plays and long-distance dunks — and he rarely needed cartoon stretchy arms to pull them off.

With The Last Dance, Netflix is teaming up with ESPN to deliver a one-of-a-kind look at the sports climate of the early '90s that allowed Air Jordan to soar to stardom. The documentary series will combine interviews with Jordan and his former teammates along with archival footage of the Bulls' final bid for the championship in 1998. Put it all together, and it should be a unique, enthralling experience for any sports fan. According to ESPN, The Last Dance will consist of 10 parts, and is scheduled to land sometime in 2019.

From Bond villain to cannibal genius to supernatural video game threat, Mads Mikkelsen has practically done it all, which is why it's almost surprising that he's found yet another insanely unique project to tackle. Netflix's upcoming Polar is based on Polar: Came from the Cold, a graphic novel from publisher Dark Horse that follows a retired assassin who's forced back into his old ways after an attempt on his life.

The concept began life as a webcomic before Dark Horse picked it up and turned it into a graphic novel, and it's about as crazy as you'd expect. From its hyper violence to the bleak, neo-noir trappings, Polar: Came from the Cold is certainly an unforgettable experience, and we're hoping the upcoming film finds a way to capture that insanity. Mikkelsen takes the lead role of Duncan Vizla in the stylized action tale, with Vanessa Hudgens and Katheryn Winnick signed on to co-star.

From superhero dramas to gangland epics, Netflix is pulling out all the stops on its 2019 lineup, and few upcoming films look as interesting as Beats. In this self-described urban drama, Anthony Anderson will take on the role of a former talent manager whose career is in shambles. He gets a new lease on life when he becomes the unwilling mentor to a teen hip hop sensation. That's the kind of story that's just begging for critical attention, and it looks like it's on the right path.

Netflix only announced the film in June 2018, so details are still slim — and yet, everything about the project seems to hit all the right notes. Netflix's press release concerning Beats describes it as a film steeped in authenticity, with the setting of Chicago's South Side front and center in all the drama. This is easily a movie worth keeping on your radar for 2019.

Over the past several years, Netflix has poured a ton of resources into acquiring international movies and TV shows, bringing some little-seen properties to a wider audience while expanding their selection's diversity. It's been an ambitious project from the start, and 2019 is slated to see one of the most ambitious acquisitions yet — a supernatural thriller that marks the first Arabic original series on Netflix.

According to the Netflix description, Jinn is about a supernatural being who's summoned to Earth as a teenage boy. Once there, he'll have to team up with a human girl to save the world. That premise sounds like it has a lot of potential, and we can't wait to find out where it leads. Jinn will premiere with six episodes sometime in 2019, so keep your eyes peeled for this one.

In 2006, BBC's Planet Earth came out and quickly rose to become the highest rated nature documentary on IMDb. Ten years later, it was finally knocked down from the top spot by another documentary series — its own sequel, Planet Earth II. And it's easy to see why they're so popular. Combining breathtaking cinematography with glorious HD footage captured in the most extraordinary places in the world, the Planet Earth series are both eye-opening and beautiful. For nature lovers, it's pure candy. For everyone else, well, it's a great time as well.

Now, the team behind both of those acclaimed documentary series are teaming up with Netflix to create Our Planet, a massive project four years in the making that will feature more incredible footage of nature in action. What else would you expect? There's no word yet on whether David Attenborough — the soothing British voice behind everything nature for the past five decades — will narrate the new series, but either way, it should be well worth the wait.

In 2015, writer and director Dennis Liu launched an ambitious project: He wrote and released a brand new comic book series called Raising Dion, accompanied by a short film/trailer for the comic. The comic follows a single mother who realizes that her seven-year-old son Dion is developing superpowers. It's a unique, completely different type of superhero story than many people are used to, and the first issue snagged plenty of fans.

It didn't take long for Netflix to jump on the bandwagon, ordering a ten-episode series with Liu at the helm. The series will follow the same story as the comic, with Alisha Wainright starring as Dion's mother, and Black Panther's Michael B. Jordan appearing as her husband. In a climate filled with superheroes of all shapes and forms, Raising Dion definitely looks like an original take on the genre.

Eddie Murphy has flown way under the radar over the past several years, so it's big news in itself that the former box office star is set to appear in a new project. In Dolemite is My Name, Murphy stars as Rudy Ray Moore, a comedian and actor who's probably best known for starring in the 1975 exploitation film Dolemite. Moore had a long, varied career in both standup and the film industry, and we can't think of a better actor to bring the man to life.

The supporting cast for the film is just as star-studded, with Wesley Snipes, T.I., and Keegan Michael Key all appearing on the list. Even Chris Rock was spotted on-set, decked out in the kind of outfit that could only have come from the '70s. If you're looking for a movie that breaks the mold in 2019, Dolemite is My Name is definitely something to watch for.