30 Amazing Things to Look Forward to in 2019

Feeling hopeful about 2019 doesn't mean you're living in a fantasy world of constant sunshine and rainbows. It just means you want to be reminded that the world is still capable of being a magical place. And we're happy to help you do that. From the return of Game of Thrones to a new royal baby, there are a lot of pop culture happenings in 2019 that'll give you reason to jump out of bed in the morning, giddy with anticipation. Here are 30 albums, TV shows, movies, and events we're genuinely excited about in the year to come. 

There have long been rumors that Samsung was developing a foldable phone. In November, the company finally unveiled it to developers at a conference. Now, this folding phone—which might be called the Samsung Galaxy X, or possibly Galaxy F—could be out as soon as March, if the rampant rumors are true. The phone will have a bendable glass screen that uses new technology called Infinity Flex Display and will look like a tablet when it's fully opened and your usual smartphone when it's closed. So this is hardly your early 2000s flip phone. 

If you love movies about mutants in latex, 2019 is definitely going to be your year. A record number—eleven, to be exact—of superhero movies are coming out. By comparison, 2018 had eight, and 2017 and 2016 each had seven. Do we need that many movies about heroes with superhuman powers? Heck yeah, we do! We're already counting the days to Avengers: Endgame, and that's just the appetizer in what's sure to be a spectacular year of non-stop action. 

If you missed the last total solar eclipse in 2017, you'll have another chance next year. In early July, a rare total solar eclipse—when the moon comes between the Sun and Earth and creates total darkness during the day—will take place for around two minutes and 20 seconds. It'll mostly be visible in parts of South America, but you can make the trek there to witness it. A total solar eclipse is a wondrous thing to experience, and some have even said it's made them feel connected to something larger in the universe. 

It's been a long, difficult, Stark-less year waiting for the final six episodes of the HBO series. But come April, we'll finally know who gets crowned King in the North or if the White Walkers prevail. The anticipation is almost too much to bear!

We have no idea what kinds of treasures Royal Tenenbaums director Wes Anderson and his partner, illustrator Juman Malouf, will pick for his first museum exhibit, but it's bound to be quirky. The collection at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna will feature some items on display for the public for the first time ever. You can catch the very Andersonianly-named Spitzmaus Mummy in a Coffin and Other Treasures for the first five months of 2019.

Imagine trying to go online on your laptop and never needing Wi-Fi again because you're instantly connected wherever you are. Oh, and you don't need "storage" because all of your data is available anywhere, at any time, at any volume. Well, that's in store for you in 2019. Yep, 5G laptops are coming next year, from companies like Dell and Intel, and we can't wait to get our hands on one.

One of our favorite writers, author Lindy West, is finally delivering a follow-up to her blockbuster debut, Shrill. It's called The Witches Are Coming and it'll be out in late May. West's new book tackles how a diet of too much pop culture has poisoned the minds of many young men, and how we can move away from the dumbing down of meme culture. And if you want more Lindy West, the TV adaptation of Shrill is coming to Hulu in March.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe 2, which cost around $1.5 billion, got within 15 million miles of the sun's surface in November. And next year, it's going to get even closer. There are two planned perihelions—a scientific term for the moment of closest approach—in April and September. As a NASA director said in a statement, "This probe will journey to a region humanity has never explored before."

The last time Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote about a historical figure, it turned out really well. His musical Hamilton, based on the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton, is still the hottest ticket on Broadway. Next year, he's reuniting with his Hamilton co-creators, Andy Blankenbuehler and Thomas Kail, to tell the story of the relationship between choreographer Bob Fosse (Sam Rockwell) and Broadway dancer Gwen Verdon (Michelle Williams) for an FX series.

If the craze around the nuptials of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were any indication, all eyes will be on their royal baby, who's expected to arrive in the spring. Even if there's very little chance this baby will take the throne, it's still a thrill! Their Royal Highnesses are planning on taking the baby on a tour of the U.S. in the fall of 2019. So get ready to meet the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's offspring! 

At the very least, American royal Lady Gaga will be getting a nomination for her stunning performance in A Star Is Born, even if she doesn't take home the Oscar. Now, this is a woman with a reputation for showing up to awards shows in bizarre costumes—like a dress made entirely of raw meat—so she is bound to make the Oscars memorable.

It's called a Taycan, and in true Porsche fashion, everything about it will be fast, including how long it takes to charge. Most electric car chargers take about 30 minutes to reach 170 miles of driving range. But the Taycan will get you a 250-mile range in just 15 minutes. For more memorable cars from the past year, check out The Best New Cars for 2018.

If you want to be truly dazzled, check out the Perseid meteor shower in mid-August. According to NASA, Perseid is "one of the best meteor showers of the year due to its high rates and pleasant late-summer temperatures."

The Stones are back on tour, and Keith Richards has hinted in interviews that "maybe this will be the last one." If you've never seen them play live, this could be your only chance. They're all grandparents now, and the youngest member is 71, but the Stones still put on a blistering rock show.

The men's rugby championship happens only once every four years, with the world's top international teams facing off in an epic showdown. The 2019 edition takes place in Japan, between September 20 and November 2, in cities from Tokyo to Yokohama. If you've never watched rugby before, this is definitely the time to start since the World Cup features the best players on the planet.

You may have read about Virgin Galactic's successful test flight this month, where they soared to an altitude of 51.4 miles over the Mojave Desert. We don't know if you'll be able to buy a ticket to space next year, but we definitely are closer than ever. Virgin Galactic founder and billionaire Richard Branson says that he personally plans to be in space "in the middle of next year." So start saving your pennies now!

No visit to Walt Disney World is complete without watching the amazing Reflections of Earth fireworks show at EPCOT. It's been consistently dazzling for two decades, but plans are underway for something fresh and unexpected for visitors. A new fireworks showcase that's reportedly called Illuminations: Windows on the World is in store. Details are heavily guarded, but knowing Disney's enthusiasm for pyrotechnics, it's definitely going to be flashy. 

Details on the new Toy Story sequel—which premieres on June 21—are hard to come by, but star Tom Hanks has revealed that the final Toy Story 4 scene is going to go down as "a moment in history." In fact, the cast got so emotional while trying to record it that they could barely read their own lines. Suffice is to say, bring a box or two of tissues to the theater in June. 

The world's leading museum of art and design in London, the Victoria and Albert Museum, has a new exhibit opening in October that celebrates the 150-year history of cars. Nobody knows what exactly the exhibit will include, but the museum's last automobile showcase included a virtual trip in a driverless car. Whatever's in the works, it'll be worth the trip to London to see it.

Nothing has been confirmed yet, but Chance the Rapper released four singles this summer, including "Work Out" and "I Might Need Security," and he's confirmed on Twitter that he's been working on new stuff with Kanye West in the studio. We have no doubt a new Chance album will drop this year, and like his last two mixtapes, we expect an instant masterpiece.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb

It won't happen until late in the year, but a new streaming service called Disney+ will become available, loaded with all the Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars content you could possibly want. According to Disney CEO Bob Iger, the service will be priced "substantially below" what Netflix is charging. Win-win!

The National Park Service recently announced that they've increased the number of days in which visitors can visit the country's national parks free of charge. There are now five days, including Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 21 to Veterans Day on November 11, where you won't have to pay the $5 to $33 rate to enter the 400 nationwide parks. In 2019, you have no excuse not to get out of the house and enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature. For more destinations in the U.S., check out 50 Destinations So Magical You Won't Believe They're in the U.S.

It's been a long wait, but Robert Mueller's report on the Russian investigation will likely be revealed next year. Depending on your personal political views, it'll either be great news or terrible news. But whatever happens, we're all looking forward to it finally being over.

If you missed it in 2018, now's your time to celebrate this holiday, organized by the World Sleep Society. All you have to do is nap! So go ahead and mark your calendars now: March 15 is a day for staying in your PJs and napping to your heart's content. And if you want to know how to get the best sleep of your life, check out 70 Tips For Your Best Sleep Ever.

Next year is a big one for Berlin, from the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, to the hundredth anniversary of the Bauhaus, the legendary German art school. The 2019 Bauhaus Festival, held at the Akademie der Künst in late January, promises to be unlike any other, with everything from music showcases to performance art.

Aubrey Plaza, the queen of deadpan comedy—who you probably remember as April Ludgate on NBC's Parks and Recreation—is hosting the only award show that doesn't take itself seriously. It doesn't really matter which films win or lose, what matters is that Plaza will have us on the floor laughing. And for more LOL-worthy moments, check out 20 Times TV Made Us Laugh in 2018.

By the time everyone realized that Hamilton was the best musical in years, tickets were scarce and selling for thousands of dollars online. Don't make the same mistake again. The hottest Broadway show of 2019 will be Be More Chill. The musical explores the very relatable sentiment of feeling like an outcast in high school, and the far-out-there idea that the cool kids may have supercomputers in their brains that help them maintain their coolness. The show had a sold-out off-Broadway run, and the entire original cast is moving to its Broadway production beginning in February. The creator, Joe Iconis, has been dubbed "the future of musical theater."

It's been four years since Quentin Tarantino's last movie, The Hateful Eight, and his next one promises to be something special. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which reportedly took the director five years to write, involves the Manson murders and uses the same anything-goes structure of Pulp Fiction. Oh, and Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio are the leads. No big deal.

Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Laura Dern are all back for round two of the HBO series. Big Little Lies was originally marketed as a miniseries, but it was so popular and award winning that we're now getting a second season. This year, Meryl Streep joins the cast, playing Kidman's character's mother-in-law. We don't know yet when the new season is premiering, but it'll definitely be in 2019.

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