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Should old acquaintances be forgot and never brought to mind? Frankly, we’re not certain of that any more than we are about the rest of the “Auld Lang Syne” lyrics. But as fun as it is to dwell on the year that was in cinema during this season—with awards voting at a full roar and everyone’s best-of lists flooding the internet (including ours!)—it’s also good to look ahead.
2024 indeed marked an odd time for movies with delays caused by last year’s strikes turning the Hollywood spigot down to a trickle. But things promise to be running full steam ahead in 2025, which will see both new highly anticipated franchise films—Superman! The Fantastic Four!! Tom Cruise’s (maybe) last Mission: Impossible?!?—as well as new passion projects from filmmakers as varied as Guillermo del Toro, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Yorgos Lanthimos. So without further ado, here are some of the most exciting movies to look forward to in 2025.
Wolf Man
January 17
Leigh Whannell has not missed since taking the director’s chair with Upgrade in 2018 and The Invisible Man in 2020. A co-creator of the Saw and Insidious franchises as well, alongside fellow Aussie James Wan, Whannell has the horror bonafides needed to take on a revered Universal Monsters franchise with the New Year’s promising Wolf Man.
Whannell is also bringing along a solid cast, with Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner as a married couple who get stranded in a cabin with their young daughter (Matilda Firth). The tight confines and isolated setting will help Whannell ratchet up the tension with one of cinema’s oldest monsters. More body horror transformation story than Gothic monster mash, it’s a fresh take on a classic. – Joe George
Presence
January 14
Since his unretirement in 2016, Steven Soderbergh has emphasized his experimental side with the iPhone-shot Unsane and the satire The Laundromat taking precedence over crowd-pleasers like Logan Lucky.
From the outset, the ghost story Presence appears to continue that trend, especially since it will follow the lead of Nickel Boys and work entirely in first-person perspective. But Soderbergh’s more genre-adjacent work comes with him teaming up again alongside blockbuster screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Spider-Man), who scripted the fairly underrated cult horror classic, Stir of Echoes. Presence also has Lucy Liu in the lead, and has a theatrical release scheduled, eschewing the streaming-only model Soderbergh has preferred for the past decade. – JG
You’re Cordially Invited
January 30
As a quick glance at this list shows, studios aren’t exactly cranking out comedies like they used to. For that reason alone, the Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon vehicle You’re Cordially Invited merits attention, even if it’s going straight to streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Ferrell plays a father who goes on the offensive when he discovers that the wedding planner (Witherspoon) has double-booked the dream wedding venue for his daughter (Geraldine Viswanathan). Veteran comedy director Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Neighbors) helms the movie, promising plenty of much-needed chaos.
Love Hurts
February 7
Still relatively fresh off winning an Oscar for ebullient work in Everything Everywhere All at Once, Ke Huy Quan returns to the screen for his own starring vehicle in the action-comedy Love Hurts. In the martial arts throwback programmer, Quan plays a successful, mild-mannered realtor whose past as a deadly hitman comes roaring back at an inopportune time. It’s basically Quan’s very own Nobody, but presumably with a lot more chipper humor and dazzling fight choreography since Quan is himself a former fight choreographer who knows how to dominate the screen.
The film also features the winsome Ariana DeBose and Sean Astin in supporting roles. – David Crow
Captain America: Brave New World
February 14
Captain America will never die! Chris Evans may have hung up the red, white, and blue togs after Steve Rogers retired in Avengers: Endgame, but Anthony Mackie has now stepped comfortably behind the shield. Indeed, Sam Wilson inherited the Star-Spangled vibranium back in Endgame, but only now is he getting to fully make it his own.
Directed by Julius Onah, Captain America: Brave New World is Wilson’s first big-screen outing as Cap, picking up from the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He’ll be facing off against Giancarlo Esposito as Sidewinder, Tim Blake Nelson as the Leader (reprising his role from The Incredible Hulk), and Harrison Ford as President Thaddeus Ross aka the Red Hulk. For once we have a villain who might be more intimidating before the CGI touch ups. – JG
Paddington in Peru
February 14
There is nothing this side of a marmalade sandwich as comforting as a Paddington movie. The first two, in any event, are like fuzzy sweaters imported from the moors of England to keep you warm during a winter night. Perhaps it is for that reason the Yanks are getting Paddington in Peru a few months after our UK brethren this January.
The first Paddington movie not directed by Paul King, or starring Sally Hawkins as Mary Brown, we admit there is some reason to be cautious about the Paddington movie which promises to introduce us to the Paddington bear’s South American roots. Nonetheless, the film has gotten mostly positive notices across the pond and still features Ben Whishaw’s voice as the bear in a hat. Emily Mortimer as Mary Brown is also not bad casting, so let’s give this Peruvian adventure a shot… – DC
The Gorge
February 14
Doctor Strange aside, Scott Derrickson is a horror director through and through. So while he’ll be scratching his horror itch in 2025 with The Black Phone 2, Derrickson’s veer into survival action with The Gorge, for Apple TV+ is also intriguing, especially if you know where that titular gorge leads to…
Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy play snipers who guard a great expanse which, they are warned, holds… the gateway to Hell. Given that Sigourney Weaver also appears, maybe The Gorge doesn’t take Derrickson away from horror after all…. – JG
The Monkey
February 21
While the reception to last summer’s Longlegs remains a little more divided online, there is no denying it was a bold and daring original from Osgood Perkins, one of the most interesting filmmakers working in the field of horror today. Indeed, the satanic panic movie made waves, but we’re personally fond of his other devilish chiller, the truly sinister The Blackcoat’s Daughter.
So it is always good to hear when Perkins has another genre experiment coming out, and in the case of The Monkey it comes with the added benefit of being a Stephen King movie to boot. Based on a 1980 short story published early in King’s career, The Monkey follows a pair of twin brothers who discover a menacing wind-up monkey doll in the attic of their childhood home. Yet the more they play with it, the more horrifying and seemingly interlinked deaths they bear witness to. The lads smartly discard the toy shortly afterward, but when we catch up with them years later (and now played by Theo James), they discover you’re never too old to forget some childhood nightmares… – DC
Mickey 17
March 7
Why must Warner Bros. keep teasing us with Mickey 17? Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s follow-up to his Academy Award-winning Parasite stars Robert Pattinson as an employee whose company clones him on a hellish ice planet every time a previous iteration of his life dies. With each cloning, the new generation’s memories become more and more mumbled, but maybe 17th time’s the charm? The only drawback is they actually thought Mickey 17 was dead when the story starts, and have thus already created Mickey 18… and there can be only one.
Based on the novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton, Mickey 17 promises to feature plenty of Bong’s signature blend of comedy, horror, and leftist political satire. Despite the buzz, Warner has moved the release date up and down five times before settling on March 7. Let’s hope we get to see it in time for March showers. – JG
Black Bag
March 14
Oh, you thought Steven Soderbergh was only going to make one movie with David Koepp in 2025? You fool! He’s got two, both coming out in the spring, both theatrical releases, and both with big stars! Cate Blanchette and Michael Fassbender star as spies Kathryn and George Woodhouse, who find their marriage tested as they’re on trial for treason. Also a marriage of the espionage thriller and the heist joint, Black Bag holds the promise to be a return to Soderbergh’s genre sweet spot. – JG
Novocaine
March 14
Another action programmer that resembles something they stopped making 15 years ago, Novocaine is a high-concept throwback that we hope finds its footing. With a basic elevator pitch that even Don Simpson would approve of—quirky guy who cannot feel pain goes on a rampage to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend by inflicting damage on The Bad Guys™—this movie is as simple as they come. But when Jack Quaid is the quirky guy, Prey’s breakout Amber Midthunder is the girlfriend, and Ray Nicholson one of the bad guys, we’re hoping for a good time at the movies. – DC
Snow White
March 21
Can we finally, finally stop calling these updates to animated Disney movies “live-action?” Yes, flesh-and-blood actors Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot are in 2025’s Snow White. But they exist in a gloopy CG world, surrounded by animated animals, and even the Seven Dwarfs are animated. Okay, that gripe aside, there’s a few reasons to be faintly optimistic about Snow White. It comes from Marc Webb, who captured the chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone in The Amazing Spider-Man, and Zegler remains a winning screen presence. At least we can count on the singing to be good. – JG
Alto Knights
March 21
It’s been a few years since director Barry Levinson has had a project that got as much attention as anything from his son Sam, but Alto Knights might turn the tide. After all, he’s working from a script by Nicholas Pileggi of Goodfellas and Casino fame and with Robert De Niro in dual, and dueling, roles via mob bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello. Even if Alto Knights doesn’t quite reach the heights of Levinson’s best movies, Diner and The Natural, the premise has enough grit to make for a compelling watch, even if it’s just to see how exactly De Niro will play two different gangsters in one movie. – JG
A Minecraft Movie
April 4
Okay, A Minecraft Movie doesn’t exactly appeal to grown-up viewers. Even those who spent significant parts of their childhood playing the rudimentary but extremely popular video game snicker at the sight of Jack Black declaring, “I… am Steve!” But anyone who consults experts (read: I asked my seven-year-old son) gets a much different response (he shrugged his shoulders at the trailer and said, “okay.”). Then again, director Jared Hess has won over audiences with oddball movies like Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, so maybe A Minecraft Movie will find an unexpected audience? It almost certainly will find money. – JG
Sinners
April 18
Ryan Coogler’s pure blockbuster instincts were put to great use with 2018’s Black Panther, which some of us argue is still the best of the MCU movies. But as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever showed, those instincts sometimes clash with the Marvel formula. So it’s good to see Coogler stepping outside of the MCU again for the vampire movie Sinners. Even better, he’s bringing his best collaborator Michael B. Jordan with him, who stars as twin brothers Elijah and Elias. Rounding out the cast is Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku, and the legendary Delroy Lindo. We’ll definitely bite. – JG
Thunderbolts*
May 2
While Sam Wilson gets to battle Red Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World, his The Falcon and the Winter Soldier co-star Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) gets his own movie via Thunderbolts*. Well, actually, Bucky is just one of the heroes with checkered pasts who band together as a sort of Dark Avengers (or, ahem, Suicide Squad), including Red Guardian (David Harbour) and White Widow (Florence Pugh). The Thunderbolts will serve at the pleasure of the MCU’s current premier schemer Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Lewis Pullman as a guy named Bob, who’s probably the Superman-like Sentry.
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
May 9
Do we know what the big and bold, and oh, so beautiful, journey of this film’s title is about? Not at all. Do we know anything about the “two strangers” who its logline promises will have an “unbelievable journey that connects them”? Not in the slightest! So why are we excited? Because those strangers are played by Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie, and in a film directed by Kogonada, the filmmaker behind the elegiac After Yang. Plus, the rest of the cast, including Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Hamish Linklater, Lily Rabe, and Billy Magnussen, is nothing to sneeze at. – DC
28 Years Later
May 11
We didn’t have to wait quite 28 years for 28 Years Later, director Danny Boyle’s follow-up to 2002’s 28 Days Later (and 2007’s 28 Weeks Later from director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo). But it has been a while since Boyle turned out something as electrifying as his visceral zombie movie. The first teaser for 28 Years Later doesn’t have much in the way of surprises, certainly not sudden It Guy Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the lead. But Boyle already provided a surprisingly rich turn for the late-in-the-game sequel T2 Trainspotting, so maybe he has something similar in store for 28 Years Later. – JG
Final Destination: Bloodlines
May 16
The Final Destination franchise is one of the most respected horror sagas in part because it went out on top. After the lackluster The Final Destination in 2009, 2011’s Final Destination 5 righted the ship with a stealth prequel that saw Death put its victims through the most elaborate, and goriest, set-pieces in the franchise. So we look to Final Destination: Bloodlines with both excitement and trepidation. Directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein of Leprechaun: Origins, raise concerns, but Final Destination: Bloodlines will star Stargirl’s Brec Bassinger and Tony Todd in his final outing as coroner William Bludworth. – JG
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
May 23
Four years, untold COVID-related delays, and one title change later, and it finally arrives: Tom Cruise’s final Mission! Maybe. That apparently is a point of contention between the movie star and studio Paramount Pictures, with the reportedly studio eager to market the aptly retitled The Final Reckoning (née Dead Reckoning – Part 2) as the last Mission: Impossible movie, and Cruise seemingly happy to leave the door open to returning at least in a reduced role to the Impossible Mission Force.
But whether this is the end of the road or not, we are thrilled to go out swinging with a movie Cruise and writer-director Christopher McQuarrie (helmer of the best Mission films, Fallout and Rogue Nation) have spent half-a-decade planning, shooting, and circumnavigating the globe many times over to make. We also find out what happens when Ethan Hunt makes it his mission to destroy an AI that threatens to take over the world, and which orchestrated the murder of Ilsa Faust. – DC
The Life of Chuck
May 30
Nobody does trauma horror like Mike Flanagan, as demonstrated by his series The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass. Flanegan returns to movies for the first time since Doctor Sleep, once again adapting a Stephen King work.
The sci-fi drama The Life of Chuck stars Tom Hiddleston as a non-descript man who may be the center of the universe. There is likely more at play than meets the eye from that setup, as indicated by this movie becoming the unlikely winner of the Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award (usually a harbinger for Oscar glories). Flanegan als brings with him some regulars, including Rahul Kohli, Hamish Linklater, and Mark Hamill, along with new additions Nick Offerman and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Here’s hoping that we’ll get lots of monologues and maybe Jacob Tremblay, who plays young Chuck, won’t die such a horrible death. – JG
Karate Kid: Legends
May 30
Even in a movie industry dominated by legacy sequels and IP-mining, it’s a bit surprising to see Karate Kid: Legends on the schedule. Sure, the Netflix series Cobra Kai, which catches up with characters from the 1980s movies, has been a hit. But does anyone remember, let alone care about, The Karate Kid from 2010, starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith?
Regardless, Karate Kid: Legends melds the two takes, with Chan’s Mr. Han and Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso teaming up to train newcomer Li Fong (Ben Wang). But will Hilary Swank’s Julie Pierce from The Next Karate Kid also appear? – JG
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina
June 6
Is there a more severe downgrade in directors than Chad Stahelski, the former stuntman who helmed or co-helmed all four John Wick films, to Underworld director Len Wiseman? As its wordy title makes clear, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina follows Ana de Armas’ apprentice killer as she makes her way through the byzantine system of assassins.
Fun as the series’ lore certainly is—and we’re thrilled to see that Ian McShane’s Winston and the late Lance Reddick’s Charon will appear—that’s not the true appeal of a John Wick movie. We’re here for the stunts, never Wiseman’s strength. Fortunately, behind the scenes reporting indicates that Stahelski has done some reshoots for Ballerina. – JG
How to Train Your Dragon
June 13
Look, we understand any feelings of skepticism you might have toward a live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon. Barring Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book from nearly a decade ago, every Disney remake of their animated classics has been a disappointment if not outright wretched. Do we really want to see DreamWorks Animation get in on the action for movies that aren’t even 20 years old yet?
But there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic about How to Train Your Dragon, and chief among them is that Dean DeBlois is directing the remake. After co-directing the original 2010 How to Train Your Dragon, as well as helming the sequels and working on their screenplays, he is intimately familiar with what makes this world so enchanting and he has an eye for bringing it to vivid life in a film that features a fresh-faced cast. – DC
F1
June 27
Brad Pitt is starring in a Formula 1 movie. That’s interesting, but we don’t blame you if you hesitate to start jumping out of your chair in anticipation. But what if we told you that Brad Pitt is starring in a Formula 1 movie directed by Joseph Kosinski fresh off of Top Gun: Maverick? Furthermore, what if we also noted Kosinski seems intent on doing for race track photography what he did for the fighter jet in Maverick, which in F1’s case means strapping IMAX cameras into Formula 1 vehicles and putting audiences inside the track where they will fly but before the grace of God?
Yeah, now we all are leaning forward a little bit at the possibilities, with Kosinski hopefully doing for F1 what he did before: taking a striking if mediocre Hollywood movie of the past (1986’s Top Gun and John Frankenheimer’s Grand Prix movie from 1966) and turning it into a modern symphony of cinematic spectacle. – DC
M3GAN 2.0
June 27
Horror sequels are tricky, but if anyone can pull off the killer look it is our slaying robot queen M3GAN. This update of evil doll movies added a 21st century sheen of sophistication to the subgenre by presenting its M3GAN as an artificial intelligence determined to use her technological upgrades to replace the human element in parenting. She also could dance and sing the hell out of “Bulletproof.”
Little is known about the sequel, but it’s promising Allison Williams and Violet McGraw are back in front of the camera, and director Gerard Johnstone and writer Akela Cooper behind it. Also producer Jason Blum previously promised Den of Geek, “We’re getting deeper into who M3GAN is, what makes her tick, and how lethal she can actually be.” – DC
Jurassic World Rebirth
July 2
There is something to be said about our universal fascination with dinosaurs. It’s obviously why Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton first approached the material that gave us the groundbreaking Jurassic Park more than 30 years ago. And it is perhaps the childlike love we have for these bygone creatures that explains why that classic’s increasingly disappointing and preposterous sequels are still reliable moneymakers. 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion was almost unwatchable and it still grossed $1 billion!
So we don’t blame you if you’re skeptical about Jurassic World Rebirth. We are too. But at least this one is directed by Garaeth Edwards, who knows how to make small budgets look massive in movies like The Creator, and whose Rogue One provided us with an Empire that never seemed more immense or menacing. So count on the dinosaurs to look truly terrifying again here. And hey, the cast has got Scarlett Johanson, Mahershala Ali, and Wicked breakout Jonathan Bailey. Maybe things are looking up? – DC
New Trey Parker and Matt Stone Musical
July 4
The details remain sparse enough about this project to leave us skeptical as to whether the film will actually meet its Fourth of July release date. Even the cast remains tightly under wraps. However, we do know that Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park who also co-wrote the multi-Tony award winning Broadway musical, The Book of Mormon, and whose last cinematic offering was the now classic Team America: World Police, are finally making another movie again. And like Book of Mormon and the South Park movie, it’s a musical.
Furthermore, this one includes Kendrick Lamar as a producer and collaborator, and a hell of a premise about a young Black man who by day reenacts enslaved people’s plight in the Antebellum South, and by night is about to discover his white girlfriend’s ancestors… owned his. Yep, sounds about white. – DC
Superman
July 11
It all starts with Superman. Okay, the first superhero isn’t actually the focus of the first entry in the new DC Universe inaugurated by James Gunn and Peter Safran. That honor goes to the animated series Creature Commandos. But it is the first of Gunn’s feature films in the new universe, and easily the most important.
Gunn debuts his personal vision of Superman, here played by David Corenswet, and throws him into a world already filled with superheroes (not to mention viewers worn down by Zack Snyder’s dour approach to the character). Still, the first trailer was refreshingly wholesome in its introduction to Krypto, the Superdog! And Gunn boasts a cast that includes Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, and (most importantly) Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen. Clearly, Gunn’s Superman aspires to once again make viewers believe a man can fly. – JG
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
July 25
Never ones to be outdone, Marvel offers its own take on foundational, but often disregarded as cheesy, superheroes two weeks after Superman via The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Marvel’s first family has made it to screen many times before, but this is the first time Reed Richards and company have received the MCU treatment.
A leaked teaser featuring the team in an alternate 1960s, complete with a pitch-perfect Pedro Pascal as Mr. Fantastic and a rousing theme by Michael Giacchino, already set many fans’ hearts aflutter. A veteran of WandaVision, director Matt Shakman seems like the right choice to introduce the Fantastic Four as a family of explorers to the MCU, and steer the franchise in the right direction. Oh, it also has got Galactus (voiced by Ralph Ineson) going for it… which is nice. – JG
The Naked Gun
August 1
Remakes, reboots, and reimaginings are always a roll of the dice. But in the case of The Naked Gun reboot, getting one-third of the Lonely Island in Akiva Schaffer to direct and co-write the movie is smart. After all, he recently just helmed the better-than-it-ever-needed-to-be Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers movie. And getting Liam Neeson to take on the role of Lt. Frank Drebin? That’s just inspired.
Before being synonymous for his lethal deadpan delivery in the silliest of spoof movies—Airplane!, The Naked Gun, Scary Movie 3—Leslie Nielsen was a serious(ish) actor who did everything from hard sci-fi like Forbidden Planet to wholesome primetime Disney television via Swamp Fox. Liam Neeson has a similarly… shall we say eclectic career catalogue? Which is perfect for a late in life turn to dour straight man says the damndest things. Pamela Anderson also stars. – DC
The Battle of Baktan Cross
August 8
Leonardo DiCaprio is starring in a Paul Thomas Anderson movie. We’ll repeat that for you so it can fully sink in: one of the last great movie stars who came out of the ‘90s is working with one of our greatest modern auteurs, who also is a Gen-X success story who blew up in the Clinton Years. Not a lot else is officially known about the movie, but it also stars Regina Hall, Benicio del Toro, and recent Licorice Pizza collabs Alana Haim and Sean Penn. It’s also apparently a crime thriller, so perhaps something closer to Boogie Nights Act Three Anderson, as opposed to Licorice Pizza basking in Act One of that ‘70s San Fernando Valley throwback. – DC
Nobody 2
August 15
Remember when former funny guy Bob Odenkirk played an absolutely credible and terrifying assassin who could beat the shit out of you? Well, he’s doing it again. Coolio. – DC
Saw XI
September 26
It’s impressive that the ultra low-budget Saw launched a series that will reach an 11th entry. That’s especially true since it killed off antagonist John Kramer (Tobin Bell) in part three, and yet found a way to keep bringing him back without resorting to zombie tactics.
At this point, we don’t know anything about Saw XI other than the fact that it comes from director Kevin Greutert and writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. But it will probably involve lots of stomach-churning set-pieces and more of Kramer’s questionable self-help psychology. – JG
The Bride!
September 26
Wolf Man isn’t the only Universal reboot (or at least Universal-inspired) we’re getting in 2025. The Bride! puts a modern twist on Bride of Frankenstein, considered by most to be the best of the classic monster movies.
The sophomore directorial outing of actor Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Bride! stars Jessie Buckley as the Bride and Christian Bale as the Monster. It’s not clear what type of tone Gyllenhaal will take, but the exclamation point in the title suggests that The Bride! will be a bit more playful than her first movie, The Lost Daughter. – JG
Tron: Ares
October 10
We stand by the assertion that Tron: Legacy is underrated. While the screenplay to that movie was a bit all over the place, director Joseph Kosinski (him again) made it a sensory overload of visual and aural wonderment. And we didn’t even mention that beautiful Daft Punk score yet. Alas, it looks like we will never get a sequel following up on its intriguing cliffhanger.
We are getting yet another legacy sequel quasi-reboot though in Tron: Ares, a movie from director Joachim Rønning (The Young Woman and the Sea, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) and which sees Jared Leto take over the franchise as a computer program who has been sent from the world of Tron into our real world. But is Ares friend or foe to man, the star of a good movie, or another Morbius? Well, getting Jeff Bridges back and Gillian Anderson joining the cast is hopefully a good start. – DC
The Black Phone 2
October 17
Yes, it is yet another horror sequel, and this one from Blumhouse Productions too. But its pride of place in the heart of October suggests a level of confidence that is promising. Memories of how effective a little genre exercise the first Black Phone was in 2021 also help. Admittedly, part of that success stems from the Joe Hill novella the last movie is based on. But a lot of it also comes down to a director as talented as Scott Derrickson, a screenwriter as clever as C. Robert Cargill, and a star as daring as Ethan Hawke letting it all hang out. Seriously, how many other Oscar-nominated thesps would agree to play a child predator/serial killer in a horror movie?
Somehow, though, they were all convinced to come back, even after Hawke’s “the Grabber” got grabbed straight to hell at the end of the last one. Their returns have us open-minded to see where they could take us next. – DC
Mortal Kombat 2
October 25
Look, if you’re the type of person who would watch a Mortal Kombat movie, then you’re probably going to love Mortal Kombat 2. Don’t believe me? How many of you have seen Mortal Kombat: Annihilation? Exactly.
Honestly, director Simon McQuoid did a fine enough job with 2021’s Mortal Kombat, overcoming limitations in the script (it’s all leading up to the tournament? Not the actual tournament?) to turn out a solid actioner. Jeremy Slater (Godzilla x Kong, Moon Knight) scripts the sequel, which will see Lewis Tan’s Cole Young actually participating in the Mortal Kombat tournament… we hope. – JG
Bugonia
November 7
Sometimes you wonder if producers or executives are aware of how prescient and timely the material they’re greenlighting actually is. That’s a thought that certainly crossed our mind regarding Bugonia, a strange and devilish sounding new feature from the maestro of the strange and devilish, Yorgos Lanthimos. Reteaming with his frequent muse Emma Stone, this remake of Jang Joon-hwan’s Save the Green Planet sees Stone cast as a high-powered pharmaceutical CEO. She also is the target for a conspiracy theory-obsessed recluse (Jesse Plemons), who becomes so convinced Stone is an alien that he kidnaps her to prove it.
Likely more odd and perverse than its synopsis suggests—the film is also described as a sci-fi comedy—the movie leans into the satirical cynicism that informs many of Lanthimos’ best films, be they comedies (The Favourite), horror (Killing of a Sacred Deer), or once in a while just plain delightfulness (Poor Things). We’re not sure where Bugonia will land on that spectrum, but we are eager to find out. – DC
Predator: Badlands
November 7
Even three decades later, few action or sci-fi movies can match the sheer gonzo energy of 1987’s Predator, not even the three sequels that followed. However, director Dan Trachtenberg brought some excitement back to the series with his excellent period piece Prey, which saw a Predator fight a Comanche woman (Amber Midthunder) in 1719.
Trachtenberg will continue to redefine the franchise with Predator: Badlands, going into the future instead of the past. Elle Fanning stars in a dual role as twin sisters trying to survive a wasteland. That plot sounds similar to 2010’s Predators, which is a solid film, but here’s hoping Tractenberg can find a new direction. – JG
The Running Man
November 7
Okay, I know that the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie The Running Man has its ardent defenders. But let’s be honest, it’s not exactly high cinema. So even if Edgar Wright’s last few films haven’t hit as well with audiences as anything in the Cornetto Trilogy, it’s still exciting to see what he can bring to the novel by Richard Bachman/Stephen King.
Glen Powell steps into the Arnold role as Ben Richards, a contestant on a deadly game show in a dystopian future. Love Lies Bleeding standout Katy M. O’Brian plays a fellow contestant while Karl Glusman and Lee Pace play hunters. We don’t yet know which one will be Captain Freedom. – JG
Wicked: For Good
November 21
So did you know there was going to be a Wicked: Part Two?! Kidding aside, the ending of Jon M. Chu’s blockbuster adaptation of the Stephen Schwartz musical really could stand on its own as a mic drop. It’s fair to say there’s nothing else as showstopping in the stage show as “Defying Gravity.” Nonetheless, we are thrilled to see what everyone involved, including Schwartz who is writing new songs for the newly retitled For Good, come up with for the grande finale of this story.
The film continues to track Cynthia Erivo’s thrilling performance as Elphaba, the green-skinned woman they labeled “the Wicked Witch of the West,” and her complex and evolving friendship with Glinda (Ariana Grande), the so-called Good Witch who went along with Jeff Goldblum’s Wizard as he vilified her friend. For Good will pick up a few years later with Glinda out of school and the face of the Emerald City’s smear campaign, and Elphaba in hiding as a fiery revolutionary. But not all may be as it seems… – DC
Zootopia 2
November 26
Disney overcame a not-well-considered racism metaphor to make Zootopia a gigantic hit. So it’s no surprise that the House of Mouse would get a sequel into production. Zootopia 2 brings back the secrets to the first movie’s success, Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman as unlikely friends Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde. Ke Huy Quan also continues his comeback tour by providing his voice to Gary, a snake that Judy and Nick are trying to find. – JG
Avatar: Fire and Ash
December 19
We are supposed to be getting James Cameron’s third of five (so far) Avatar movies next Christmas. And this time the special effects are going to be all about fire. That’s pretty nifty, but will it actually be out only three years after Avatar: The Way of Water? We’re sure Disney’s shareholders expect so, but this is James Cameron, so… – DC
Marty Supreme
December 25
Josh Safdie, one-half of your cineaste friend’s favorite new pair of brother directors, is going out on his own. And wouldn’t you know it, like Uncut Gems, Marty Supreme crosses paths into the world of sports. How is not exactly clear because the plot details of this drama are completely on the DL. However, A24 is confident enough in the material to release the film on Christmas Day, which after the success of Nosferatu and A Complete Unknown this year is proven to once again be a good place for indie and prestige gambles.
And this one also just so happens to star Timothée Chalamet, one of the most interesting actors of his generation. Sounds like a good bet. The pic likewise features Gwyneth Paltrow, Fran Drescher, and Abel Ferrara. – DC
Death of a Unicorn
TBA
In Death of a Unicorn, a unicorn dies. Okay, more specifically, it gets hit by a car driven by a father and daughter played by Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega. And they’re on their way to a retreat operated by a pharmaceutical company. Unfortunately for them, this unicorn has a mama.
Death of a Unicorn is the debut of writer and director Alex Scharfman, who previously served as producer on projects such as Blow the Man Down and Selah and the Spades. But A24 is referencing Everything Everywhere All at Once in their marketing, suggesting that they’re banking on star power and a satirical tone to make this one a hit. And we got to admit, the trailer had us laughing. – JG
Warfare
TBA
Another A24 film which has made a splash online even without a release date is Warfare, the new upcoming Iraq War movie directed by actual veteran and former U.S. Navy SEAL, Ray Mendoza, and Alex Garland of recent Civil War fame. Based on Mendoza’s real-life experiences, the film looks like a blistering recreation of a 2006 Navy SEALs mission into territory taken by insurgents. The film is sure to push some buttons and stars D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as a younger version of Mendoza, Cosmo Jarvis, Will Poulter, Kit Connor, Michael Gandolfini, Joseph Quinn, and Charles Melton.
Netflix
Wake Up Dead Man
TBA
Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc returns for at least one more murder mystery on Netflix, and this one is seemingly a more grim affair if its U2-inspired title is to be taken at face value. Writer-director Rian Johnson has kept the story blessedly under wraps this far out, but we know as with Knives Out and Glass Onion before it, Wake Up Dead Man has a hell of a starry cast, including Glenn Close, Cailee Spaeny, Josh Brolin, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Mila Kunis, Thomas Hayden Church, and (of course) Joseph Gordon-Levitt in for his requisite cameo.
If you want a few more breadcrumbs about what to expect, know this one filmed in London and features at least one character dressed as a priest. – DC
Deliver Me from Nowhere
TBA
It was only a matter of time before the Boss got his own biopic, and Deliver Me from Nowhere comes courtesy of writer-director Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Black Mass). The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White plays an incredibly ripped Bruce Springsteen, alongside Johnny Cannizzaro as Little Steven and Jeremy Strong as his manager Jon Landau.
If that sounds like the standard biopic fair, Deliver Me from Nowhere has a few things in its favor. For one, it’s based on the respected book by Warren Zanes. Second, it focuses on Springsteen recording Nebraska, the haunting, spare album he made before the mega-hit Born in the U.S.A. – JG
The Smashing Machine
TBA
Thanks to Good Time and Uncut Gems, brothers Josh and Benny Safdie have become cinema’s top-level chroniclers of men who make terrible decisions. And like Josh on Marty Supreme, Benny may be going solo for The Smashing Machine, but he’s still focusing on men on the edge.
The Smashing Machine also deserves attention for its star. Dwayne Johnson takes a break from bland mainstream material to play Mark Kerr, a real-life mixed martial artist who rose to brutal fame in the 1990s and 2000s. Johnson’s crowd-pleasing instincts will surely make for an interesting mix with Safdie’s commitment to unnerving viewers. – JG
Frankenstein
TBA
Maggie Gyllenhaal might be giving the Bride her due, but Guillermo del Toro is not forgetting about her intended mate. In fact, his upcoming Netflix adaptation of Mary Shelley’s original novel realizes a lifelong dream for the Gothic horror maestro. The filmmaker behind Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water has indeed been chasing his Frankenstein movie since the 1990s and it finally arrives now as a fantastical vision which includes Oscar Isaac as Dr. Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi as the Monster, Mia Goth as Elizabeth Frankenstein, and intriguingly, Christoph Waltz as Dr. Pretorious, a character who has only ever appeared in… Universal Pictures’ Bride of Frankenstein.
Two Frankenstein movies in a year might be a lot, but if Robert Eggers’ success with Nosferatu (aka Dracula) proves anything, it’s that audiences never get tired of a classic if an artist can make it fresh again. – DC
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