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With the new year underway, it is time to take a look forward at the movies that will be coming this year and which ones have the potential to have a huge cultural impact. As with past years, each month will have one movie selected to represent it and, due to the fact that as of writing most of the major announcements are major tentpoles, these will be mostly entries from major franchises.
January: I.S.S.
This film comes out reasonably soon and has a large ensemble cast featuring Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina, and John Gallagher Jr. It tells the story of astronauts who hail from both the United States and Russia who are living aboard the International Space Station when nuclear war breaks out on the planet below. Both sides are thrust into a fight for their survival as they have to wrest control of a cure for radiation sickness from the other and return to the planet as the last hope for their country.
February: Madame Web
Full disclosure, this movie will probably be inadequate and the first trailer makes it look like a rejected CW pilot for an Arrowverse show, but there is the potential that this movie will be watchable unlike Kraven the Hunter and Venom 3. This film stars Dakota Johnson as the titular Madame Web who does battle against Ezekiel Simms who is trying to kill three other Spider-Women played by Isabela Merced, Sydney Sweeney, and Celeste O’Connor before they get their powers.
March: Dune Part 2
Dune Part 2 was supposed to come out last year, however, due to the AMPTP refusing to pay the writers and actors fair wages and give fair protections against Artificial Intelligence, the film had to be delayed because the actors were not able to do press appearances as a promotion. This movie will culminate the story of the first Dune novel and features newcomers Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha, Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, and Christopher Walken as Emperor Shaddam IV.
April: Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire
Another example of a movie that will probably not be very good but is still worth shouting out is Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire. The Legendary Pictures monster-verse movies have varied in quality and the monster action is not terrible, but by and large most of the human aspects have been subpar. Still, the idea of Godzilla getting a power-up before teaming up with Kong to fight a new monster seems like just the right level of insanity for what this movie needs to be.
May: Furiosa
It has been 10 years since Mad Max: Fury Road came out and the prequel is finally arriving in theaters. Anya-Taylor Joy plays the younger version of Furiosa (previously played by Charlize Theron) as she tries to make her way home after being abducted by a horde of bikers led by Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). If someone did not get enough of futuristic dystopian science fiction movies set in a desert after Dune Part 2, this movie is definitely worth a watch.
June: Inside Out 2
Another sequel after almost a decade, the sequel to Inside Out finally hits theaters this June. This time Riley and her emotions need to deal with the arrival of adolescence and the new emotions that come with it, including Anxiety (Maya Hawke). Pixar continues the trend of aging the cast with the audience (Toy Story 3 has a story about giving up childhood toys as kids who grew up with the movie would be Andy’s age and Monster’s University tells a story about going away to college and the challenges therein) so this has the potential to be a major box office earner.
July: Untitled Deadpool 3
This is listed as Untitled Deadpool 3 because that’s how Disney continues to refer to the film, indicating that there will probably be a title change between now and July. Very little is known about this movie besides the fact that Hugh Jackman will be reprising his role as Wolverine and Jennifer Garner will (allegedly) be reprising her role as Elektra. According to early rumors, this film will be the Spider-Man: No Way Home for the Fox Universe, however until there is confirmation from Marvel Studios, all that’s confirmed is that this will be the Wolverine/Deadpool team-up movie people have waited for.
August: Alien: Romulus
Originally a Hulu movie like Prey, Alien: Romulus takes place between Alien and Aliens and stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla) and Isabela Merced (Madame Web). Outside of that, not much is known about the plot of this movie.
September: Transformers One
There has been a lot of success in recent years for franchises to release an all-ages animated version of something people love. Transformers One has the potential to be the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem or Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse for the Transformers franchise. This movie has a massive ensemble cast including Keegan-Michael Key, Chris Hemsworth, Lawrence Fishburne, Scarlett Johansson, and Jon Hamm.
October: Joker: Folie a Deux
Arguably a sequel to 2018’s Joker will ruin the ending by explaining to the audience just how much of that movie actually happened but considering it made over a billion dollars on a $70 million budget a sequel was inevitable. This time, Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker is joined by Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn for a musical entry into this elseworlds narrative about the origin of the iconic DC villain.
November: Wicked Part 1
Speaking of musicals, the long-gestating film adaptation of the iconic Broadway production Wicked finally hits theaters this November as the major release the weekend of Thanksgiving. Jon Chu (In The Heights) directs while the film stars Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Elphaba in this prequel to The Wizard of Oz.
December: Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim
December has the potential to be a major month for films this year with Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Mufasa sharing the month, however, the most intriguing entry to come out this month is Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim. Last year, the CEO of Embracer said that they had to work harder to “exploit” the Lord of the Rings franchise (that’s a quote) and it appears Warner Brothers has heeded that advice with an animated movie set over 200 years before The Fellowship of the Ring and tells the story of King Helm Hammerhand of Rohan who ends up being the namesake for Helm’s Deep.
