This past year, Hollywood gave us enough true highs to make sitting next to random strangers a thing again. In 2023, directors Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig, and Denis Villeneuve will lure us back into the dark. Two dolls, Barbie and M3gan, will burst to life, one of whom, from a distance, seems a lot more friendly than the other. Even the sequels look unusually appetizing this year: Indiana Jones will go treasure-hunting again, possibly for the last time. Adonis Creed will get back in the ring. John Wick will get annoyed and kill a bunch of people. Here are the movies we’re looking forward to most.
M3GAN
January 6 (Blumhouse/Universal)
It would appear that everyone, including us, is just dying to meet M3gan, the new It girl. In the new movie, the title of which is styled M3GAN, a scientist (Allison Williams) creates a life-size, AI-enabled doll to comfort her recently orphaned niece (Violet McGraw), but this doll from hell does so much more. She’s supersmart and adaptable! She dances! She…kills? M3GAN promises to be a slasher film for the American Girl doll generation, and we can’t wait to play. —Kase Wickman
Missing
January 20 (Sony)
A follow-up to the innovative 2018 film Searching, Missing stars Storm Reid as a young woman whose mother disappears while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend. Once again, the mystery thriller is told via computer screens, and we’re hoping that, like the first time around, the gimmick never outshines the twisty storytelling and unexpected resolution. —Rebecca Ford
Claudette Barius
Magic Mike’s Last Dance
February 10 (Warner Bros.)
The final installment in the Channing Tatum–stripper trilogy, Magic Mike’s Last Dance takes the titular character to London, where—backed by a rich investor and also love interest played by Salma Hayek—he’s creating a new show that aims to make every woman feel “she can have whatever she wants whenever she wants.” Steven Soderbergh, who helmed the 2012 original film, returns to direct and we expect the ab-showcasing costumes and sexy dance numbers will be back and better than ever as well. —R.F.
Cocaine Bear
February 24 (Universal Pictures)
“A bear did cocaine” is a line uttered in this comedy thriller inspired by a real-life bear who was found dead in the ’80s next to a duffel bag of coke. (Really). Directed by Elizabeth Banks and produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie and 22 Jump Street), the film depicts the bear going on a murderous, drug-fueled rampage that locals must stop. (The actual bear died after ingesting the cocaine, which had been dropped by a convicted drug smuggler parachuting in Georgia.) The movie stars Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr., and Ray Liotta in one of his final roles. —Julie Miller
John Wick: Chapter 4
March 24 (Lionsgate)
There’s something irresistible about the sorrowful, existentially confused face that Keanu Reeves makes as John Wick—it’s like he’s asking his victims, Why are you making me kill you? And, seriously, how good do I look in this suit? The balletic-action franchise now finds the hit man of legend traveling the world, rooting out underworld kingpins, and coming to terms with his late wife, who gave him that puppy that time. “I’m going to need a gun,” Wick says in the trailer. To say the least. —Jeff Giles
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
April 7 (Universal)
Yes, we’re as worried about Chris Pratt playing Mario as you are. But otherwise, we’re very curious about The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Nintendo is incredibly stingy about licensing its video game properties to film studios, so maybe we can assume there is something especially worthy about this project. If nothing else, the film will tide us over until the next Mario game is released. Once that arrives, we’ll be too busy chasing moons or stars or whatever it is this time to care much about Pratt’s Italian-ish accent. —Richard Lawson.
Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret
April 28 (Lionsgate)
Vanity Fair
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