2022's Theatrical Release Slate

This is the full release schedule for the 2022 calendar year. It is important to note that there are a few factors that could alter release dates going forward. To start, Spider-Man: No Way Home had significant carryover from week one to week two so some movies may move release dates to space out to add a little breathing room. For example, The Flash
and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever are currently slated in back to back weeks and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is scheduled as counterprogramming to Avatar 2. Also, Netflix and other streamers tend not to release their dates until closer to the release, so this list does not include streaming titles. There are some titles that are expected to go theatrical

January 7th, 2022: The 355

Directed by Simon Kinberg of X-Men: Dark Phoenix fame, The 355 follows a team of elite agents from around the world who unite to reclaim a top-secret weapon that has been stolen by a mercenary.

January 12th, 2022: Belle

A Japanese animated movie from Mamoru Hosoda (Mirai) and follows the story of a young social outcast who assumes a new identity when she joins a massive online virtual community.

January 14th, 2022: Scream

Directed by newcomer directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, Scream picks up 25 years after the original with a new killer in the same mask. Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox both reprise their roles from the original with newcomers like Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega filling out the cast.

January 21st, 2022: The King’s Daughter

The first of two movies in 2022 from Soul Surfer director Sean McNamera features Pierce Brosnan as King Louis XIV who captures a mermaid to siphon off her life force so he can be immortal until his daughter forms an emotional bond with the mermaid.

January 21st, 2022: Cyrano

The latest adaptation of the 19th century play Cyrano de Bergerac directed by Joe Wright and starring Peter Dinklage in the titular role. Fun fact, this is the 10th direct theatrical adaptation, 11th direct live action adaptation. It was previously done in 1900, 1925, 1946, 1950, 1962, 1972, 1985, 1990, and 2008 with a television movie in 1938 which just further proves that there isn’t a sudden interest in only developing established IP into movies by the major studios.

January 28th, 2022: Morbius

For better or for worse, Sony seems intent on developing these Spider-Man-adjacent movies so Jared Leto stars as the titular Morbius. Morbius is considered the “living vampire” because at the time of the character’s creation, Marvel Comics was still adherent to the Comics Code (the MPAA or ESRB but for comics) and one of the rules was that there could not be any undead characters. Directed by Daniel Espinosa (Life) and written by Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama (Power Rangers, Gods of Egypt, and Dracula Untold), the pedigree behind this film does not exactly inspire confidence in its quality.

February 4th, 2022: Moonfall

Roland Emmerich directs his latest disaster movie in which the Moon ends up on a collision course with Earth after an unknown force knocks it out of orbit. Halle Berry stars alongside Josh Gad, Patrick Wilson, and Donald Sutherland.

February 4th, 2022: Jackass Forever

It’s another Jackass
movie. No more needs to be said.

February 11th, 2022: Death on the Nile

A follow-up to Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express, a new ensemble cast (Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Annette Benning, Letitia Wright, among others) is assembled to adapt Agatha Christie’s iconic murder mystery novel.

February 11th, 2022: Marry Me

Jennifer Lopez plays Kat Valdez, a massive pop star who is set to get married in a social media entertainment event. The event goes awry when her fiancé is caught cheating on her with her assistant on the day of the wedding. Instead of cancelling the event, she decides to marry a man in the crowd (Owen Wilson) and hijinks ensue. Directed by Kat Coiro and also starring Jimmy Fallon and Sarah Silverman.

February 18th, 2022: Uncharted

Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg star in this adaptation of the classic PlayStation game Uncharted.
It follows adventurer Nathan Drake as he sets out to find the lost city El Dorado. Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland and Venom) directs.

February 25th, 2022: Studio 666

The Foo Fighters move into a mansion to record their 10th studio album, only to discover that the mansion is haunted. It is live action and features Whitney Cummings and Jeff Garlin, so it is safe to assume it is a comedy.

February 25th, 2022: The Outfit

Mark Rylance stars as a tailor who makes luxurious suits for organized crime who ends up at the center of a mob war.

March 4th, 2022: The Batman

Matt Reeves directs a heavily noir-inspired Batman movie starring Robert Pattinson as Batman, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred, Colin Farrell as The Penguin, and Paul Dano as (allegedly) The Riddler.

March 11th, 2022: Turning Red

Pixar’s first movie of the year follows Mei Lee who is entering adolescence with the added hardship of turning into a giant red panda any time she gets too excited.

March 18th, 2022: Downton Abbey: A New Era

A sequel to the last Downton Abbey movie which was a continuation of the BBC Downton Abbey show. The cast reprises as expected.

March 18th, 2022: Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre

Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza, Hugh Grant, and Josh Hartnett star in this Guy Ritchie directed espionage movie about agents who are attempting to secure a bioweapon from a multimillionaire using a movie star as their way in to gather information.

March 25th, 2022: The Lost City

While on a book tour, a writer (Sandra Bullock) and her cover model (Channing Tatum) are abducted by a billionaire who is trying to use her to find a treasure she talks about in her latest book. Also in the cast is Brad Pitt, Oscar Nunez, and Daniel Radcliffe. The movie is directed by Aaron Nee, who is slated to direct the upcoming Masters of the Universe movie.

March 25th, 2022: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Swiss Army Man director Daniel Kwan brings the story of a woman who can save the multiverse by tapping into the lives she lives in other parallel universes. Michelle Yeoh leads the cast of this movie.

April 1st, 2022: The Contractor

Tarik Saleh makes his directorial debut telling the story of a dishonorably discharged Special Forces soldier who joins a private military contractor to make ends meet for his family. Chris Pine, Kiefer Sutherland, and Ben Foster star.

April 8th, 2022: Sonic the Hedgehog 2

A sequel to the 2020 surprise hit Sonic the Hedgehog. Jeff Fowler returns to direct while James Marsden, Jim Carrey, and Ben Schwartz reprise. Colleen O’Shaughnessey reprises her role as Tails from the video games and Idris Elba joins the cast as Knuckles.

April 8th, 2022: Ambulance

It seems like someone played Grand Theft Auto V and thought “hey I can make my fooling around in Los Santos into a movie”, giving birth to this movie. Michael Bay directs (as if there is any doubt) and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Eiza Gonzalez star.

April 15th, 2022: Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Until Warner Brothers stops making movies, they will continue to spit out these Fantastic Beasts movies. The director is still David Yates, the movie is still written by J.K. Rowling, and the cast is all the same except now Grindelwald is played by Mads Mikkelsen instead of Johnny Depp.

April 22nd, 2022: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Nicholas Cage plays his most daring role yet playing a fictionalized version of himself who is recruited by the CIA to use his skills from his most famous roles to take down a dangerous superfan. Pedro Pascal, Neil Patrick Harris, and Tiffany Haddish co-star in a movie directed by Tom Gormican.

April 22nd, 2022: The Northman

Alexander Skarsgard plays a Viking prince on a revenge mission after his father is murdered in front of him. Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, and Ethan Hawke also star in a movie directed by Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse and The Witch).

April 29th, 2022: 65

All that’s known about this movie is that it is directed by the duo who wrote A Quiet Place alongside John Krasinski (Scott Beck and Bryan Woods), it stars Adam Driver in the lead, and it is a sci-fi thriller about an astronaut who lands on an alien planet to learn he is not alone.

April 29th, 2022: Memory

Liam Neeson plays an aged assassin who turns on those who hire him after he is asked to cross a line he will not cross. His age begins to get the best of him as his skills start to fail as his memory does. Martin Campbell directs and Guy Pearce costars.

May 6th, 2022: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Following Scott Derrickson’s departure, Sam Raimi steps into the director’s chair for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Following the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home (and Loki, WandaVision, and What If…?) Steven Strange finds himself at the center of an impending multiversal catastrophe. Benedict Cumberbatch reprises his role as Steven Strange alongside Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff, Benedict Wong’s Wong, Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Mordo, and Rachel McAdams’s Christine Palmer. Notably this movie will also introduce Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez/Miss America.

May 20th, 2022: Hold Your Fire

A documentary about the longest hostage siege in the history of the NYPD.

May 27th, 2022: Top Gun: Maverick

The synopsis for this sequel to the classic Top Gun simply says that Maverick aims to prove that regular human pilots are just as good as drone-controlled aircrafts. Tom Cruise reprises alongside Val Kilmer and Jennifer Connelly and series newcomers Miles Teller and Jon Hamm. Joseph Kosinski of Tron: Legacy
fame directs.

June 10th, 2022: Jurassic World: Dominion

Jurassic World: Dominion appears to be the Jurassic Park version of Spider-Man: No Way Home or Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Everyone you love is back, probably because Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was not that good. Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, Chris Pratt, and Bryce Dallas Howard all reprise for Colin Trevorrow’s third Jurassic World movie.

June 17th, 2022: Lightyear

In a lengthy exorcise to recast Chris Evans into Tim Allen’s role as Buzz Lightyear, Pixar’s second movie of 2022 is a prequel to Toy Story about the man that the Buzz Lightyear toy is based on.

June 24th, 2022: Elvis

Baz Luhrmann directs a biopic about the King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley. Austin Butler stars in the title role and is joined by Tom Hanks, Gary Clark Jr., and Yola.

June 24th, 2022: Where the Crawdads Sing

Based on Delia Owens’s 2018 novel of the same name, Where the Crawdads Sing tells the story of a young woman is branded a murderer after her boyfriend mysteriously turns up dead. Daisy Edgar-Jones stars in the lead of the movie as Kya and is directed by Olivia Newman.

July 8th, 2022: Thor: Love and Thunder

Marvel Studios makes their first “fourth movie” (Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame were really two parts of one movie) with Thor: Love and Thunder. The plot is kept under wraps but Chris Hemsworth is reprising as Thor and Tessa Thompson is reprising as Valkyrie. Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill, Karen Gillan’s Nebula and Sean Gunn’s Kraglin all reprise from the Guardians of the Galaxy series while Natalie Portman and Jaimie Alexander reprise as Jane Foster (as Thor as well) and Lady Sif. Newcomers include Christian Bale as the villainous Gorr the God Butcher and Russell Crowe as Zeus. Taika Waititi returns to direct.

July 15th, 2022: Bed Rest

Weird things begin to happen to an expectant mother when she is confined to bed rest. Lori Evans Taylor makes her directorial debut starring Melissa Barrera.

July 15th, 2022: Bullet Train

Hobbes and Shaw director David Leitch brings the 2010 novel by Kotaro Isaka to life and tells the story of five assassins with interconnected assignments all on a bullet train. Brad Pitt, Joey King, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson star.

July 22nd, 2022: Nope

Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya star in Jordan Peele’s third horror movie.

July 29th, 2022: Black Adam

The Shazam-adjacent anti-hero Black Adam makes his cinematic debut played by none other than Dwayne Johnson. With the Justice Society of America assembled, it appears that Black Adam will be the villain of this movie facing off against Isis (Sarah Shahi), Dr. Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell). Jungle Cruise director Jaume Collet-Serra teams up with Dwayne Johnson again for this movie.

August 19th, 2022: Beast

Idris Elba plays the father of two teenage girls who are all being hunted by lions. Baltasar Kormakur directs.

August 26th, 2022: Samaritan

A superhero goes missing after a massive battle and the world assumes him to be dead. It turns out that he is not and he has just been in hiding ever since. Sylvester Stallone leads the movie directed by Overlord director Julius Avery.

August 31st, 2022: On A Wing And A Prayer

Soul Surfer director Sean McNamera’s second movie of the year follows a passenger on a plane who is forced to make an emergency landing after the pilot unexpectedly dies mid-flight. Dennis Quaid and Heather Graham star.

September 9th, 2022: Salem’s Lot

Steven King’s Salem’s Lot gets adapted for the screen again. Gary Dauberman directs this movie after writing IT Chapter 2 and directing Annabelle Comes Home.

September 16th, 2022: The Woman King

The Secret Life of Bees director Gina Prince-Bythewood tells the story of the Kingdom of Dahomey in Africa and how Nanisca managed to fight off the French and neighboring kingdoms who sought to do them harm. Viola Davis plays Nanisca with Lashana Lynch and John Boyega also in major roles.

September 16th, 2022: Distant

Will Speck and Josh Gordon direct this sci-fi drama about an asteroid miner who finds himself stranded on an alien planet and forced to make his way to the other survivor on the planet. Anthony Ramos, Naomi Scott, and Rachel Brosnahan star.

September 23rd, 2022: Don’t Worry Darling

A 1950’s housewife begins to believe she is living in a simulation. Olivia Wilde directs and Florence Pugh, Chris Pine, Harry Styles, Gemma Chan, and Nick Kroll star.

September 30th, 2022: Mission: Impossible 7

The synopsis that has been released just says “Ethan Hunt returns in a seventh installment” so they know why the viewers are there. Christopher McQuarrie returns to direct and Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Vanessa Kirby star.

October 7th, 2022: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part 1

Joaquim Dos Santos directs the sequel to the Academy Award winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. This time Miles takes a dip into the multiverse and encounters some familiar faces (Spider-Gwen/Ghost-Spider) and meets some new ones (Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 and Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman).

October 7th, 2022: Till

Chinonye Chukwu (Clemency) directs a biopic about Emmett Till’s mother’s quest for justice after her son is lynched. Starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danielle Deadwyler, and Frankie Faison.

October 7th, 2022: TAR

Todd Field directs a biopic about Lydia Tar, the first woman to conduct a major German orchestra. Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong, and Julian Glover star.

October 14th, 2022: Halloween Ends

The (hopefully final) conclusion to the Halloween franchise. David Gordon Green finishes out the trilogy and Jamie Lee Curtis reprises one more time as Laurie Strode to face off against Michael Meyers.

November 4th, 2022: The Flash

While it may be called The Flash, this movie is more of an event movie than a solo movie. As of writing this, the titular character is kind of extraneous to the movie it seems as it appears to be more of a vehicle to bring in more than one new Batman in a pseudo-retelling of the comic The Flashpoint Paradox. Issue is, nothing about Barry Allen as a character has been set up, nor has his relationship with Eobard Thawne been set up, so all of this key information for the story to work is missing. Oh well, there are Batmen in the movie so rejoice. Ezra Miller reprises from Justice League as Barry Allen/The Flash while both Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton reprise as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Kiersey Clemons finally will get her due as Iris West and (according to IMDb) a bunch of returning cast members will be joining this movie. Man of Steel’s Faora (Antje Traue) and General Zod (Michael Shannon) are listed in the cast alongside Aquaman’s Tom Curry (Temuera Morrison). Oh and for good measure, here’s Sasha Calle making her debut as the DCEU Supergirl as well.

November 4th, 2022: Untitled David O Russell Movie

David O Russell manages to pull a massive cast for his next movie including Christian Bale, Anya Taylor-Joy, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Chris Rock, and Timothy Olyphant. That said, there are no plot details available.

November 11th, 2022: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Following the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman, Marvel Studios will not be recasting the role of T’Challa. Shuri will almost certainly be taking up the Black Panther mantle in this movie. No villain has been announced yet but it is rumored to be Namor the Sub-Mariner. The majority of the cast is reprising including Martin Freeman’s Everett Ross and Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia. Newcomer Riri Williams will make her cinematic debut in this movie, played by Dominique Thorne. Ryan Coogler returns to direct.

November 18th, 2022: She Said

Maria Schrader directs the story of how the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke for the New York Times. Carey Mulligan plays Megan Twohey and Zoe Kazan plays Jodi Kantor.

November 23rd, 2022: Creed 3

No details are available yet except that Jonathan Majors (Loki) has joined the film in an undisclosed role and Michael B. Jordan will be directing the movie.

December 16th, 2022: Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

Jason Momoa returns to the ocean in this James Wan directed movie. Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, Amber Heard, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Dolph Lundgren are all reprising with no word yet on who the villain is or who is playing said villain.

December 16th, 2022: Avatar 2

It’s been over ten years but thankfully Avatar 2 is almost here. It is set to explore the oceans of Pandora. James Cameron returns to direct and Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, and Steven Lang all reprise their roles.

December 23rd, 2022: I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Naomi Ackie (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) plays Whitney Houston in a biopic about her life. Also stars Ashton Sanders, Nafessa Williams, and Stanley Tucci. Directed by Kasi Lemmons (Harriet).

December 25th, 2022: Babylon

Damien Chazelle almost nabbed a Best Picture win with La La Land so he’s going back to Hollywood to make a movie about how great movies are. This movie has a huge cast including Samara Weaving, Margot Robbie, Olivia Wilde, Tobey Maguire, Brad Pitt, Jean Smart, Katherine Waterston, Phoebe Tonkin, and Chloe Fineman.