Oh, the sound I just made. M. Night Shyamalan has been sorta-kinda mounting a comeback for almost a decade now, starting with 2015’s low-budget horror The Visit all the way through to last year’s end-of-the-world-thriller Knock at the Cabin. (Let’s just skip over Glass, all right? It still hurts.) As an old Shyamalan-head, I’ve mostly greeted the renaissance with respectable grunts, but there’s something about the premise of his latest, Trap, slated to hit theaters August 9.
Josh Hartnett plays a hot dad who’s taking his teenage daughter to see a vaguely Rihanna-esque superstar — played by Shyamalan’s own offspring Saleka (whose sister Ishana is also hitting theaters this summer with her own directorial debut) — when he notices cops massing at the venue. Naturally, one wonders: Terrorism? Aliens? A rival superstar mounting a siege? Not quite. As Hot Dad Hartnett learns from a merch-stand employee, the cops hope to capture a serial killer they believe is attending the concert. Turns out, Hot Dad Hartnett happens to have a nanny cam watching the victim in his basement. Did we forget this is a Shyamalan flick? Now that’s a twist. Will it be the only one? Hope not!
Robert Pattinson’slast space sci-fi film saw the actor playing a prisoner made to serve his sentence on a shuttle hurtling toward a black hole (among other human-rights offenses, including really messed-up sexual harassment). His next space drama? Mickey 17, a Bong Joon Ho joint based on the novel Mickey7, by Edward Ashton, which tells the story of an employee on an expedition to colonize an ice world — but he’s doing it only for the check. He is cloned so he can continue the dangerous mission, and the number 7 is a reference to how many times he dies. Bong — who wrote, directed, and produced the film — explained the title change via an interpreter at CinemaCon. “I killed him 10 more times!” he said, per Variety. The Oscar-winning Parasite director said that Pattinson was perfect for the part because “he’s got this crazy thing in his eyes,” adding that he believed the actor had the creativity to play all the different variations of the character. Meanwhile, Pattinson — who called Bong his “hero” — said he was told the part was “impossible” when he first got the script, which excited him.
A press tour has been a long time coming for this Warner Bros. film, which was originally set to hit theaters on March 29, 2024 and was later delayed indefinitely. According to Variety, the movie needed more time to finish after the Hollywood strikes and other production shifts. It finally received a release date, and is now set to hit theaters on January 31, 2025.
Not much has been said about the script, but the first look at the film depicts a comatose Pattinson emerging from sleep in what appears to be a cryogenic freezer in what seems like a tricked-out MRI machine in a long, sparse room. Steven Yeun (Minari), Naomi Ackie (I Wanna Dance With Somebody), Toni Collette (Hereditary), and Mark Ruffalo (the Hulk) round out the cast. If Bong’s previous films are anything to go by, Mickey 17 is likely shaping up to be another social thriller. We just hope it’ll thaw on schedule.
Yeah, he can have all my caps. Photo: Prime Video/YouTube
Ella Purnell’s time on Yellowjackets may be over, but she’s ready to set the world on fire in a new series for Amazon. Purnell joins Walton Goggins and Aaron Motenas the stars of a new show based on the long-running Fallout video-game franchise. Set in a dieselpunk post-nuclear wasteland, the Fallout games explore issues of morality, strategy, and how much Mad Max can inspire a work before you have to give out an associate-producer credit.
Bethesda director Todd Howard said on the Lex Fridman podcast that the show won’t directly adapt any of the games, but instead will go off-map. “For this, it was ‘Let’s do something that exists in the world of Fallout.’ It’s not retelling a game’s story. It’s basically an area of the map and like, Let’s tell a story here that fits in the world we built and doesn’t break any of the rules,” he said. “It can reference things in the games, but isn’t a retelling of the games. It exists in the same world, but it’s its own unique thing, so it adds to it.” Varietysays that Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan will executive produce, fresh from Westworld getting sent to the Valley Beyond by HBO.
Various Fallout games have taken place in the irradiated ruins of California, West Virginia, Las Vegas, Boston, and Washington, D.C. Prime Video released a tweet showing people in jumpsuits for Vault 33, which has been identified as part of Los Angeles. Within the games, LA is known as the Boneyard. By 2296 (when the series takes place), the Boneyard has been “civilized” under the New Californian Republic’s flag for years. The Fallout series takes place after all the games, whose timelines give Jeremy Bearimy a run for its money (Fallout Shelter is Tuesdays, and also July, and sometimes never).
Per Variety, Purnell will be playing an “upbeat and uncannily direct” woman, with all-American gumption and a dangerous twinkle in her eye. That describes almost every female NPC in the games. Empirereports that Purnell will be a vault-dweller leaving her safe shelter for the first time ever. Aaron Moten will be playing Maximus, a member of the Brotherhood of Steel (like…techno-monks?). According to Deadline, Goggins is playing a ghoul — humans whose flesh has melted off owing to nuclear radiation. But an upside? They’re essentially immortal. At the show’s March 6 press conference, the crew revealed Goggins’s ghoul is known only as the Ghoul. “The Ghoul is, in some ways, the poet Virgil in Dante’s Inferno. He’s the guide, if you will, through this irradiated hellscape that we find ourselves in in this post-apocalyptic world,” Goggins said. Pre-Great War, the Ghoul was known as Cooper Howard, and he acted as spokesman for Vault-Tec, the shady corporation that built the series’s iconic vaults.
All three will be searching for the same MacGuffin. “We talked a lot about The Good, The Bad And The Ugly,” co-creator Graham Wagner told Empire. “That’s three characters in search of a box of gold, so we asked ourselves, ‘What’s the gold in this world?’” Chris Parnell, Michael Emerson, Zach Cherry, Kyle MacLachlan and Xelia Mendes-Jones have also been cast as series regulars.
Hopefully not. The crew made a point at the March 6 press conference to talk about how cathartic it is working on an apocalyptic show with a sense of humor. “I think you also have a moment that we’re in right now in which the world, you know, it seems to be evermore frightening and dour,” said executive producer and director Jonathan Nolan. “And so an opportunity for us to work on a show that gets to look that in the eye, right, and we get to talk about the end of the world, but to do it with a sense of humor. There’s a thread of optimism woven into the show.”
Fallout comes to Prime Video a few days earlier than anticipated. On Monday, they announced the show will be streaming all eight episodes on April 10, 2024.
The Matrix has been reloaded, revolutionized, and resurrected. What’s left? Drew Goddard aims to find out. Entertainment Weeklyjust announced that The Matrix 5 is in the offing, this time directed by zero Wachowski sisters. The fifth Matrix movie (we’re not counting the Animatrix? okay, good to know) is currently in development, with Lana Wachowski attached to executive produce. Warner Bros. Motion Pictures president of production Jesse Ehrman said the film will go “deeper into the franchise’s fantasy world,” per EW. “Drew came to Warner Bros. with a new idea that we all believe would be an incredible way to continue the Matrix world, by both honoring what Lana and Lilly began over 25 years ago and offering a unique perspective based on his own love of the series and characters,” he said.
The Matrix franchise’s world is already pretty deep. The lore is dense, especially if you add in info from The Animatrix and the video game. And we don’t necessarily need Neo at the center. We could get a Logan-esque jawn where Agent Smith saves the “There Is No Spoon” kid for some reason. Or the Oracle’s wild teen years. Cypher trying different restaurants, No Reservations-style. Both Morpheuses on a cross-country road trip solving mysteries? The possibilities are infinite.
“I am your cool, slutty daddy,” The Last of Usstar Pedro Pascal famously said on the red carpet for HBO’s latest blockbuster series, based on the postapocalyptic video game. Weeks later, the network renewed The Last of Us for a second season. Is there a correlation between Pascal thirst and a renewal? Maybe so! The first season, which aired its harrowing finale last March,was largely a faithful adaptation of the original game, with a few notable exceptions, and ended in the same spot as the game. But HBO is like a hungry zombie wanting more, more, more! The show’s co-creators, Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and Neil Druckmann (co-president of Naughty Dog, the video-game development company behind TLOU), haven’t been super-forthcoming with details about Joel (Pascal) and Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) televisual fates in the months following its official renewal. Still, it seems like high time we compiled everything we do know about the upcoming second season, and you won’t even have to threaten us with a switchblade to get the info.
Even with all the cool, slutty daddy thirst, record viewership may be the main reason. Episode one has surpassed 22 million viewers domestically, up nearly five times from its January 2023 premiere audience. The second episode did even better by about a million viewers, tallying an audience of 5.7 million across HBO Max and linear telecast platforms, a 22 percent jump. It was the largest week-two audience growth for any HBO Original drama series in the history of the network. The critical darling tells the story of smuggler Joel (Pascal) who must deliver an important child (played by Bella Ramsey, not Grogu) across America after a fungal outbreak created a horde of cannibalistic zombie-esque people-creatures. Gabriel Luna, Anna Torv, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett, Nick Offerman, Melanie Lynskey, and Storm Reid also star.
Kaitlyn Dever of Booksmart fame joins the series as one of several prominent new characters, Deadline reported on January 9. She plays Abby, a soldier seeking vengeance on those who harmed her loved ones. “Our casting process for season two has been identical to season one: We look for world-class actors who embody the souls of the characters in the source material,” said Mazin and Druckmann in a statement. On January 10, Variety confirmed Young Mazino of Beef and SZA music-video fame will play Jesse, “a pillar of his community who puts everyone else’s needs before his own, sometimes at terrible cost.” “Young is one of those rare actors who is immediately undeniable the moment you see him,” the co-creators said. They’re talking about his face card.
Another round of casting announcements dropped on March 1. Per Variety, Top Gun’s Danny Ramirez will be taking on another military role and star as Manny, a loyal soldier whose “sunny outlook belies the pain of old wounds and a fear that he will fail his friends when they need him most.” Ariela Barer will play a young doctor named Mel whose commitment to saving lives is challenged by “the realities of war and tribalism,” Tati Gabrielle will play a military medic named Nora struggling with past “sins,” and Spencer Lord will play a “gentle soul” named Owen who is “trapped in a warrior’s body, condemned to fight an enemy he refuses to hate.” Truly, none of these characters can catch a break.
Yes and no. The Last of Us: Part II is an even more expansive game than the first, so the story of the second game will be split over multiple seasons. How many? There’s no way to know. When pressed on how many seasons the game adaptation will take, Mazin and Druckmann went cold. “You have noted correctly that we will not say how many,” Mazin told GQ. “But more than one is factually correct.” The second game (SPOILER ALERT) largely takes place four years after the original game, which gives quite a bit of leeway if Mazin and Druckmann want to build that story out. Plus fans of the game know something seismic happens relatively early on in the second game’s plot — the kind of thing that feels like a season ender, rather than a season opener. At this point, it seems like the only thing we know is what we don’t know.
From a bird’s-eye view, Mazin and Druckmann seem pretty happy with the first season of the show and ready to give another installment along those same lines. “Our goal remains exactly what it was for the first season, which is to deliver a show that makes fans happy,” Mazin said to GQ. Still, the creators acknowledged some things season two could do to improve on the first. The biggest has to do not with plot but with setting. Some, including Stephen King, have noted that Joel and Ellie’s cross-country road trip doesn’t really feel … cross-country at times. That’s partially due to the fact that the entire first season was filmed in Canada. “My goal is to do better next season, now that we’ve learned some lessons,” Mazin said in a press conference, according to TV Line. “Every now and then [in season one] you get a little bit of an ‘Oh, it’s Canada,’ when we don’t want it to be Canada.”
Oh, you’re so impatient. Players of the game were forced to wait seven full years between the first and second installments to learn the fates of Joel and Ellie, but it seems unlikely that TV watchers will have to wait anywhere near that long. The GQ interviewer references audiences needing to wait “two years” to find out the fate of the main characters, which neither creator disputes. Just for context, season one began filming in July 2021 and arrived on HBO last January. If they replicate that timeline, we can expect season two in fall 2024 at the earliest. Still, Druckmann noted to GQ that, with this season, “I find that the process is easier.” So maybe they’ll speed it up a little? The Hollywood Reporter has reported thatthe show is preparing to begin production in the spring, with a likely 2025 premiere. As long as nobody has to wait seven years again, we’ll take what we can get.
The reboot of The Crow has been gestating for more than 15 years, and now it’s finally ready to hatch. To be fair, there was some omens hovering over the project. Based on James O’Barr’s comic-book series of the same name, the latest film adaptation has seen a revolving door of writers, directors, producers, and stars, making the simple fact that it even has a release date no small feat. Not to mention the fact that the 1994 cult classic isn’t exactly known for its moderate box-office success. Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee, tragically died on the set of the first film after being shot by a prop gun.
The new team got Ghost in the Shell and Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders to guide The Crow to a landing. Bill Skarsgård and FKA Twigs snagged lead roles in the film about an undead man who vows to avenge his brutally murdered wife. Now that’s a casting decision that has fan-fiction writers racing to their keyboards at superhero speeds. So what else do we know about the comic-book movie in a time famously mediocre for comic-book movies?
Had this film arrived a decade ago with these stars and this aesthetic, it would have sent the witchy Tumblr girl economy into overdrive. In one first-look image, Eric (Skarsgård) and Shelly (Twigs) do their best interpretation of René Magritte’s The Lovers, kissing despite being separated by a sheer white curtain. In another, the couple share a look beside a campfire with Eric’s evil-eye tattoo peeking out from his T-shirt and “Lullaby” inked above his eyebrow. While Lee’s Eric sports a bob and monochromatic clown makeup à la a Kiss bandmate, the 2024 version opts for heavy black rings around the eyes and a cartoonish smile line drawn in thick eyeliner.
Rock bands Joy Division and the Cure were of no small influence to the director when he was working on the film. “Look, I grew up listening to Joy Division and the Cure, and this movie is a bit like a Cure song — the beauty of melancholy,” Sanders toldVanity Fair in an interview dated February 28. Okay. He decided the project was for him when he realized he could make a “dark romance, something that dealt with loss, grief, and the ethereal veil between life and death and reaching through that.” Sanders hasn’t given us any details on what we can expect plotwise, but he did tellDeadline he wanted to “reimagine The Crow as a foreboding voice of today.”
The cast list has seen higher turnover rates than digital journalism gigs. But despite losing Bradley Cooper, Tom Hiddleston, Luke Evans, Jake Huston, and Jason Momoa, the show will go on. Isabella Wei stars alongside Skarsgård and Twigs as Zadie, while Danny Huston, Laura Birn, Sami Bouajila, and Jordan Bolger joinThe Crow in undisclosed roles.
Ah yes, the four Rs of the film industry: reduce, reuse, recycle, and remake. Per Variety, Spike Lee and Denzel Washington are reuniting to give us an English-language version of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller High and Low (which was itself a loose adaptation of Ed McBain’s 1959 pulp novel King’s Ransom). Kurosawa’s take followed a Japanese businessman who is targeted by a ransom-hungry kidnapper. It’s not too surprising that Lee is doing this project; he’s been a longtime fan of Kurosawa, previously telling Vulture that She’s Gotta Have It was inspired by Rashomon. Lee wrote the script with playwright Alan Fox, and production is scheduled to begin in March. This will mark Lee and Washington’s first movie together since 2006’s Inside Man, and fifth collab overall. Their version of High and Low will be released in theaters by A24 before launching on Apple TV+. We’ll have to wait and see if the film will end up being a career high or low (sorry, had to do it).
She might kill her ex. Photo: Andrew Chin/Getty Images
The Grammys are for the girls this year. An impressive number of women are nominated for music’s top honors, and now, many of them will be taking the stage too. The boys are performing with girls as well — Brandy is joining Burna Boy along with 21 Savage, while Tracy Chapman will duet her song “Fast Car” with Luke Combs. Grande Girlie Joni Mitchell will take the stage for the very first time in Grammys history. SZA, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and Olivia Rodrigo are also set to perform — as well as Billy Joel, an honorary girlie after Rodrigo name-dropped him in her 2021 song “Deja Vu.” Variety also reported that Miley Cyrus was rehearsing to perform “Flowers,” which was perhaps meant to be a surprise given that she has yet to officially be announced as a performer.
Meanwhile,SZA, Phoebe Bridgers, and Victoria Monét are some of the night’s top honorees — not to mention Taylor Swift, who’s looking to set some records with Midnights. It all goes down February 4 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Below is everything you need to know before you get the girls together to watch.
SZA leads the Grammy pack with nine nominations for her second album, SOS, including in the top categories of Album, Record, and Song of the Year. Bridgers and Monét are just behind her with seven apiece, followed by the rest of boygenius, Jack Antonoff, Batiste, Brandy Clark, Miley Cyrus, Eilish, Rodrigo, and a little lady named Taylor Swift, all with six each. Women showed up strong when the nominees were announced on November 10, with female artists in seven out of the eight slots for Album, Record, and Song of the Year. SZA has a chance to add some serious hardware, Swift could set a record for Album of the Year wins — or Batiste could surprise us all again after playing the dark horse in 2022. Don’t put it past the Academy.
Even Burna Boy will be joined by a girlie, when Brandy takes the stage for the first time in decades alongside him and 21 Savage for the Grammys’ first-ever Afrobeats performance. Tracy Chapman will make an even rarer appearance to prove she really does like Combs’s “Fast Car” cover, dueting her hit with him. They’re just two legends scheduled, along with Mitchell (for the first time ever), Joel (for the first time in decades), and U2 (live from the Sphere in Las Vegas). SZA, Rodrigo, Eilish, and Lipa are also among the women performing — and some of the night’s top nominees. They could be part of a few brewing Grammy Moments™: a possible Barbie medley between Eilish and Lipa and a chance for Rodrigo to perform with one of her faves, Joel. Travis Scott will also perform.
Nope — it’s Trevor Noah again. The comedian is hosting the Grammys for the fourth consecutive year, the Academy announced on December 13. Hey, at least this show can hold down a host. Noah is also up for some hardware himself this year, in Best Comedy Album for I Wish You Would.
The women are back as announced presenters, however. Christina Aguilera, Meryl Streep, Samara Joy, Taylor Tomlinson, and Oprah Winfrey are all set to present. Oh, and Lionel Richie, Lenny Kravitz, Maluma, and Barbie boy Mark Ronson.
As usual, most of the Grammy Awards will be given out before the televised show. That happens at the Premiere Ceremony, which streams on February 4 beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on YouTube. And with a somewhat loaded list of performers, this year’s may actually be worth tuning in to. They’ll include singer-songwriter Clark, a top nominee with six nods, as well as nominees Laufey, Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, Kirk Franklin, Gaby Moreno, Adam Blackstone, and Bob James. Other performers will include Sheila E., Pentatonix, Larkin Poe, Jordin Sparks, and J. Ivy, plus drummer Harvey Mason Sr., father of the Recording Academy’s own CEO. Songwriter of the Year nominee Justin Tranter will host the preshow; presenters include current nominees Carly Pearce, Natalia Lafourcade, Rufus Wainwright, Patti Austin, and Molly Tuttle, along with Jimmy Jam.
Quite a lot, actually. Most prominently, the number of nominees in the Big Four categories (Album, Record, and Song of the Year, plus Best New Artist) is being reduced from ten to eight. The Academy had upped the nominees in those categories to ten just two years ago, out of diversity concerns; there had been eight nominees since the 2019 awards. Also, the Non-Classical Producer of the Year and Songwriter of the Year will move to the general category, where all Academy members can vote on those awards. The Grammys are adding three awards this year: Best African Music Performance, Best Pop Dance Recording, and Best Alternative Jazz Album. Oh, and at least you won’t have to worry about AI — the Academy added a rule against contributions by artificial intelligence to submissions.
The ceremony will air on CBS and Paramount+ With Showtime on February 4, beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
This story has been updated throughout with additional information.
Los Angeles might have a little rain this week, but they are fully suit-ing up. NBC has hired Victoria Mahoney as the director for a Suits spin-off pilot set in Southern California. While no cast list is confirmed yet, NBC shared that the show will follow a lawyer named Ted Black, who “reinvented himself representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles.” However, his past comes back to haunt him and his colleagues, who “can’t help but mix their personal and professional lives.” First, the cast of Suits hosted the Golden Globes red carpet, and then it took over the Nielsen Top Ten list, coming out as the most streamed show of last year. Now, they’re coming for the rest of Hollywood. Maybe an old friend and star, Meghan Markle, can make a cameo to finally be able to say “Poppycock!”
After eight painful, Abbott Elementary–less months, the teachers agreed to end the strike and are ready to reopen their classrooms. The workplace sitcom is returning for season three on February 7, giving you just enough time finish your homework (find 20 minutes of free time during the workday to watch). A promo assures us that Abbott is staying true to its Emmy-winning form. That is, quirky and funny and heartfelt and, probably, depicting one of Principal Ava Coleman’s latest scams or chaotic pranks. “Welcome back, slackers,” the remarkably unprofessional and unserious principal (Janelle James) yawps over the school intercom in the first trailer for the upcoming season. “I got cameras all over this joint.” The second trailer goes into further detail, showing that for once Ava is trying to do a good job…which is somehow so much worse then when she was half-assing it.
Characters who should be used to constant surveillance of a documentary crew — remember, the show is an Office-style mockumentary — still shudder in fear over Ava’s potential threat to their privacy in the workplace. While the principal cackles at her own CCTV monitor, teacher Jacob (Chris Perfetti) makes his own plans to thwart her. “She must be stopped,” he vows. The second trailer shows the other teachers turning Gregory Eddie (Tyler James Williams) into a honeypot, or “Jeremy Allen Black” as Ava calls him. Whatever chaos Ava may relentlessly drag into the workplace is nothing in comparison to dealing with a broke school system that does nothing to support its students. Like, there’s new iPads (four) for Janine’s (creator Quinta Brunson) entire classroom, but only one of them is working. Just your average Wednesday at Abbott Elementary.
2023 was a great year for movies, but we’ve spent enough time talking about 2023. We’re done with her. It’s time to think about 2024 and all the new movies we can’t wait to see.
The new year is an opportunity to wipe the slate clean. For cinephiles, it’s a brief period of optimism; a chance to really mean it when we say we’ll keep up with new movie releases. And I do mean it, just like I mean it every year. Following the WGA and SAG strikes of 2023, the trades are predicting fewer new movie releases, which may very well be true. But there are still plenty of new movies hitting theaters this year for us to get worked up over—even if the year looks a little front-loaded at the moment.
Mean Girls (January 12)
(Paramount)
Despite not being marketed as such, Mean Girls is indeed a musical. Based on the Broadway production, which in turn is based on the 2003 comedy (which was based on a book!), Mean Girls features Renee Rapp reprising her stage role as Regina George alongside returning star and screenwriter Tina Fey. The new ensemble also includes Angourie Rice, Avantika Vandanapu, Bebe Wood, and Ashley Park. –Britt Hayes
The Book of Clarence (January 12)
(Sony Pictures Releasing)
LaKeith Stanfield actually has two movies hitting theaters on January 12: action-thriller The Beekeeper, co-starring Jason Statham, and The Book of Clarence. We’re a little more stoked for the latter, a biblical-era dramedy and the second film from Jeymes Samuel (a.k.a. British singer-songwriter The Bullitts). Stanfield plays the titular role, a man struggling to make ends meet for his family when he decides to follow in Jesus’ footsteps—at first as a scheme, but we know how these things turn out. –BH
The Kitchen (January 19)
(Netflix)
We all want to know what a Barney movie directed by Daniel Kaluuya will look like, and The Kitchen might give us something of an idea. Kaluuya makes his feature directing debut alongside Kibwe Tavares with this dystopian sci-fi set in a version of London where social housing is eliminated. Starring Jedaiah Bannerman, Kano, and Hope Ikpoku, The Kitchen looks like a real conversation starter. –BH
Miller’s Girl (January 26)
(Lionsgate)
Another one sure to get people talking is Miller’s Girl, an indie thriller that evokes the erotic thrillers and dramas of the ‘90s. Jenna Ortega stars as a college student who becomes intimately involved with her professor (Martin Freeman) during a creative writing assignment. After last year’s Fair Play, we’re eager to see another movie that navigates the complexities of gendered power dynamics. This one comes to us from first-time feature filmmaker Jade Bartlett, and gives Ortega a chance to explore her range. –BH
Argylle (February 2)
(Universal Pictures)
What is Argylle? No one knows. We’ve seen trailers for it. Maybe. We know it stars Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, John Cena, Samuel L. Jackson, and Dua Lipa. And also there’s a cat? Matthew Vaughn’s latest is, according the synopsis, about a novelist (Howard) whose books about a dashing spy (Cavill) begin resembling the actual doings of a real spy organization. It sounds a little like Le Magnifique, the wacky 1973 French film starring Jean-Paul Belmondo. –BH
Lisa Frankenstein (February 9)
(Focus Features)
It’s written by Diablo Cody. It’s the feature directorial debut of Zelda Williams (daughter of the late Robin). It stars Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse. It’s a Frankenstein riff set in the ‘80s. It’s called LISA FRANKENSTEIN for crying out loud. What more could you possibly need here? –BH
Madame Web (February 14)
(Sony Pictures)
We’ll finally get to see what happened when he was in the Amazon with her mom when she was researching spiders, right before she died! Madame Web is Sony’s latest attempt to expand its Spider-Man universe, this time with actual Spidey-people instead of villains and antiheroes people may or may not care about. (That said, I am so down for Venom 3 and the return of The Brock Report.) Starring Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, and Isabela Merced, Madame Web is a Valentine’s Day movie, apparently, because girls? –BH
Drive-Away Dolls (February 23)
(Focus Features)
The first solo effort from Ethan Coen (of the Coen Brothers), Drive-Away Dollsis an exciting film for a number of reasons. One, we’re getting Pedro Pascal in a Coen movie, but we’re also seeing a female-centric story from the filmmaker. Centered on Jamie (Margaret Qualley) as she goes through a break-up and her friend Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan), who’s helping her through it, the trailers make Drive-Away Dolls look like a return to the Coen antics we’ve come to love over the years. Getting to see Ethan Coen shine on his own (as Joel Coen has already done) is exciting! –Rachel Leishman
Dune: Part Two (March 1)
(Warner Bros.)
While I was tempted to mount a Jan. 6 on Warner Bros. to liberate Dune: Part Two from the vault (no jury would convict me), I’m glad I decided to remain a free woman so that I can see Denis Villeneuve’s epic sequel in a movie the-a-ter. Timothée Chalamet, fresh off Wonka, returns as ostensible chosen one Paul Atreides, leading the Fremen (including love interest Chani, played by Zendaya) in a revolt against the corrupt forces of the galaxy. –BH
Love Lies Bleeding (March 8)
(A24)
Rose Glass’ follow-up to the haunting Saint Maud is Love Lies Bleeding, a romantic thriller starring Kristen Stewart as Lou, a gym owner who gets it bad for bodybuilder Jackie (Katy M. O’Brian). Come for the lesbian crime thriller that’s giving off Bound vibes, stay for scary Ed Harris with a skullet. –BH
Imaginary (March 8)
(Lionsgate)
Last January, Blumhouse introduced us to M3GAN, who briefly became the Mariah Carey of horror. This year, Blumhouse seems to be hitting the same sweet spot (or trying to) with Imaginary. DeWanda Wise plays a woman who returns to her childhood home to discover that her imaginary friend is so pissed at her for moving away and growing up that it possesses the body of a teddy bear to get revenge. Sounds wild, let’s go. –BH
The American Society of Magical Negroes (March 22)
(Focus Features)
Actor and comedian Kobi Libii makes his directing debut with The American Society of Magical Negroes, which imagines a world in which the tired racist trope is crucial to the functioning of society. Justice Smith stars as a young man recruited by the eponymous society, comprised of Black people with magical abilities, each assigned to help a white person navigate life. Co-starring David Alan Grier, Aisha Hinds, Rupert Friend, and Nicole Byer, The American Society of Magical Negroes looks hilarious and maybe a little sweet, too? –BH
Mickey 17 (March 29)
(Warner Bros.)
Three years after sweeping the Oscars with Parasite, Bong Joon-ho is finally back, and this time he’s returning to the science fiction genre. Based on a novel by Edward Ashton, Mickey 17 is set in the future, and stars Robert Pattinson as a worker clone sent on a mission to help colonize the ice world Niflheim. Not that you should need more reasons to watch after that description, but Director Bong’s latest co-stars Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette, and Steven Yeun. –BH
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (April 12)
(Warner Bros.)
Legendary’s MonsterVerse gets a little bigger with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which brings back director Adam Wingard for the ultimate showdown. Two titans enter the ring (which is our planet, btw) and duke it out for … actually, I don’t really know why they’re fighting. This seems like an intersectional situation where they need to realize that people have been pitting them against each other and that they should just team up and kill us already. –BH
Civil War (April 26)
(A24)
Alex Garland is best known for dark, genre-bending sci-fi (Annihilation, Ex Machina) and horror (28 Days Later, Men), which makes his latest film something of a curiosity. Civil War is set in an imminent future in which the United States has dissolved into warring political factions, and follows the journalists (led by Kirsten Dunst) covering the conflict. Civil War might be Garland’s most ambitious film in more than one aspect; his work, while relatively grounded, doesn’t typically deal in current events. It also reunites the filmmaker with Devs stars Nick Offerman, Cailee Spaeny, and Stephen McKinley Henderson, and co-stars Wagner Moura and Jesse Plemons. –BH
Challengers (April 26)
(Amazon MGM Studios)
The minute we learned what Challengers is about, we were hooked. A movie in which Zendaya is married to Mike Faist but also sort of being in a throuple with Josh O’Connor? We’re in. Yes, there is tennis involved, but okay, whatever. The new Luca Guadagnino film was written by Justin Kuritzkes, the partner of Celine Song (who wrote and directed Past Lives, leading plenty of people to make comparisons to their relationship). There are just a lot of things going on with Challengersthat make it exciting, and we’ve been hyped about it since last summer! –RL
The Fall Guy (May 3)
(Universal Pictures)
What is better than Ryan Gosling behind the wheel of a car? Ryan Gosling as a stuntman—yes, again, but this time it’s funny. The Fall Guyis giving “What if Drive was sort of light-hearted and maybe a bit like The Nice Guys?” and I’m not exactly mad about it. Starring Gosling and Emily Blunt, we can just pretend like this is another Barbenheimer right? Written by Drew Pearce (Iron Man 3, Hotel Artemis), directed by David Leitch (John Wick, Atomic Blonde), and sort of based on the TV series of the same name, The Fall Guy has me stoked to see Ryan Gosling in a car again. –RL
Back to Black (May 10)
(Focus Features)
Amy Winehouse was a once-in-a-lifetime talent, with a soulful voice and indelible songwriting to match. Her life and her career were far too brief, cut short by painful struggles with addiction and an eating disorder, which exacerbated the pressures of fame and the demands of her work. Some of this was explored in the documentary Amy, which drew the ire of the late singer’s father, Mitch Winehouse, who felt he was unfairly represented. Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, Back to Black stars Industry‘s Marisa Abela as Amy Winehouse, whose estate cooperated with the production. While that means we’ll get to hear Winehouse’s music in the film, there’s a chance it might not dig as deep as some of her fans would like. All the same, Abela is fiercely talented and definitely looks the part, Taylor-Johnson is a fine director, and as a Winehouse fan, I’m eager to see how Back to Black shakes out. –BH
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (May 24)
(Warner Bros.)
George Miller’s long-developing Fury Road follow-up is finally upon us. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (that title couldn’t be more studio-mandated if it tried) features Anya Taylor-Joy in the title role and explores her life before Max—when a younger Furiosa was taken from the Green Place of Many Mothers by the sinister Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) to the Citadel, where she begins plotting her liberation. As far as I’m concerned, George Miller can do whatever the hell he wants. If Furiosa is half as good as Fury Road, we should count ourselves lucky. –BH
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (May 24)
(20th Century Studios)
In the tradition of the classic Planet of the Apes films, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes centers on a new main character, Noa (Owen Teague), a chimpanzee disillusioned by the apes’ corrupt leader, Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand) and his oppression of other apes. Set 300 years after the events in Rise, Dawn, and War for the Planet of the Apes, Kingdom is directed by Wes Ball (the Maze Runner series), and seems to be good enough to land him a gig directing the live-action Legend of Zelda movie for Nintendo. –BH
Ballerina (June 7)
(Lionsgate)
I’m absolutely torn on Ballerina. On the one hand, John Wick is an incredible franchise and Ana de Armas is inarguably talented and fun to watch. On the other hand, Ballerina—potentially the first in a series of John Wick spinoff movies—was directed by Len Wiseman, a guy with an underwhelming track record (Underworld, Live Free or Die Hard, Total Recall remake) that does not gel with the dynamic action of the Wick movies. THAT SAID: the ballerina assassin lore teased in the third Wick movie was like catnip to me, and if this thing is good, we might have a solid substitute for the Black Widow movie we should’ve gotten. –BH
The Watchers (June 7)
(Head of Zeus)
We’re getting two Shyamalan movies this year. Ishana Shyamalan, daughter of M. Night, is making her feature directing debut with The Watchers, based on the novel by A.M. Shine. Starring Dakota Fanning and Georgina Campbell, the horror film centers on an artist who gets stuck in a cabin in an Irish forest with three strangers and must contend with the mysterious creatures that stalk them each night. –BH
Inside Out 2 (June 14)
(Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Remember when a bunch of adults cried in a movie theater over Inside Out? Well, now we can do that again with Inside Out 2! Pixar is back with Riley and all the emotions in her head and this time, she’s got a new one: Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke)! As someone who very much wishes I had Inside Out when I was growing up, I can’t wait to see what the sequel has in store for Riley and how I will embarrass myself again in a theater, sobbing over a movie for children. –RL
Twisters (July 19)
(Warner Bros.)
What’s better than the 1996 film Twister? A sequel with Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Anthony Ramos. The original film starred Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt as part of a crew of scientists and storm chasers working together to launch Dorothy (a data-gathering device). What we’re getting with Twisters is a direct sequel to the film, and look, great. I don’t care what happens, it’s a sequel to Twister. We’re so in. –RL
Deadpool 3 (July 26)
(Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Logan (Hugh Jackman) dealing with Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is how our love of Reynolds as Deadpool began, so we are very excited for Deadpool 3. Any time there is a new Deadpool movie, we’re gifted with whatever nonsense Ryan Reynolds is up to, and we’ve been getting a whole bunch of treats because he is truly on one with this movie. Still, it’s just fun to know that Wade and Logan are back in action, and we can’t wait to see what director Shawn Levy and Co. have in store for us, especially now that Deadpool belongs to Disney. –RL
Trap (August 2)
(Carlos Alvarez, Getty Images)
M. Night Shyamalan’s latest co-stars his other daughter, Saleka Shyamalan, alongside Josh Hartnett and Hayley Mills (yes, of The Parent Trap fame). We know pretty much nothing about Trap, which isn’t likely to change until we see a trailer in the next few months. Speaking with NME, Shyamalan described it as “very unusual and very new compared to what I’ve been trying to do (recently).” The filmmaker has been on one heck of a run since returning with The Visit, and I can’t wait to see whatever the hell he’s up to with Trap. –BH
Alien: Romulus (August 16)
(20th Century Studios)
The latest installment in the Alien franchise comes from Fede Álvarez, the filmmaker behind Evil Dead (2013) and Don’t Breathe, and stars Cailee Spaeny and Isabela Merced. Spaeny recently revealed that Alien: Romulus is set between Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) and James Cameron’s Aliens (1986). Will Álvarez’s film bridge the differences between the two, sort of like Doctor Sleep did with the Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick versions of The Shining? That’s my only hope. Well, that, and more practical xenomorphs. –BH
Kraven the Hunter (August 30)
(Sony Pictures)
Am I the one person in this world determined to love and support Kraven the Hunterno matter what? Yes. That’s okay. Directed by J.C. Chandor (Triple Frontier), Kraven promises to bring to life one of Spider-Man’s greatest foes: Sergei Kravinoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Famously, Kraven loves animals but also is a hunter (hence the name). How that is going to work without Spider-Man will be interesting, but I am just so excited to see my boy in live action that I don’t even care! Kraven is coming! –RL
Beetlejuice 2 (September 6)
(Warner Bros.)
We don’t need to relitigate the ups and downs of Tim Burton’s career, but suffice it to say, the visionary director has a little something to prove with Beetlejuice 2. But with Michael Keaton back as the ghost with the most and Winona Ryder reprising her role as Lydia Deetz (every goth girl’s platonic ideal) alongside Jenna Ortega, I’m optimistic for what this sequel could be. –BH
Saw XI (September 27)
(Lionsgate)
It’s wild that it took seven films for the Saw franchise to figure out how to course-correct the grievous error of killing off its main antagonist in the third film. Saw X was such a damn good time that I am fully back on the Saw hype train. Saw XI was almost immediately greenlit, and I can’t wait to see what silly prequel-sidequel-inbetweenquel nonsense is in store. –BH
Joker: Folie à Deux (October 4)
(Warner Bros.)
If you told us that we’d be excited about Joker: Folie à Deux after so many of us didn’t like the first Joker movie, I wouldn’t believe you. And yet I truly cannot wait to see Joker: Folie à Deux. I’m going to blame the Harley Quinn-and-Joker of it all. Todd Phillips’ sequel to Joker features Lady Gaga as Harley and is said to be a musical—all elements that make me increasingly more excited about this. –RL
Venom 3 (November 8)
(Sony Pictures)
I have but one request for Venom 3: Bring back The Brock Report. We need to see Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock back in VICE reporter mode, maybe with a little help from his sidekick and number one tater tot fan Venom. Venom 2 was a surprising success that managed to overcome the clownery of the first film’s post-credits teaser and deliver a superior sequel. With Venom 2 screenwriter Kelly Marcel back on board and also sitting in the director’s chair, we’re sure to get a little more of that goofy, gloopy magic. –BH
Gladiator 2 (November 22)
(Universal Pictures)
Ridley Scott is on a roll. The 86-year-old filmmaker is following up 2023’s Napoleon with another historical epic—a sequel to his own Gladiator, released in 2000. This time, Scott’s courting the fan girls with Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Denzel Washington, and Fred Hechinger. Just make a wall calendar, why don’t you! –BH
Wicked Part One (November 27)
(Universal Stage Production)
Wickedis being split into two parts, which means Part One will (probably) end with Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) singing “Defying Gravity” and leaving us gooped. So why are we excited? Because it is Wicked. For the record, Wicked does rule even if I do think it is an overrated musical. But with Jon M. Chu at the helm and a cast that includes Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, and Bowen Yang, I can’t help but look forward to this one. –RL
Nosferatu (December 25)
(Focus Features)
The big holiday treat this year is Nosferatu, a new iteration of F.W. Murnau’s silent horror classic from Robert Eggers, the filmmaker behind The Witch and The Northman. Eggers’ retelling is set in 19th-century Germany and follows a young woman tormented by the ghastly vampire who is obsessed with her (relatable). Nosferatu stars Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe (but of course), Nicholas Hoult, Emma Corrin, and Bill Skarsgard as—who else?—the vampire Count Orlok. –BH
(featured image: TriStar Pictures / Warner Bros. / Focus Features / A24)
