2023, for movies, will be known as the year “Barbenheimer” thrived, while Marvel, DC, and Disney (yes, we know Marvel is a part of Disney, but we’re talking brands here) took a notable hit. What will this mean for 2024 at the multiplex? Well, we don’t know what’ll rake in the most dough, and we’re not trying to predict the winners and losers, but we do know what we’re curious to see. And we’ve got a list of 40 flippin’ films here that we’re intrigued by for next year.
Time will tell whether or not new installments of Dune, Kung Fu Panda, Godzilla, Bad Boys, Ghostbusters, Alien, Sonic the Hedgehog, Inside Out, Twister, A Quiet Place, Joker, Beetlejuice, Planet of the Apes, Karate Kid, and Gladiator do the trick. After a year of discourse regarding “superhero fatigue,” will audiences welcome so many dang sequels?
Meanwhile, the MCU is scaling back to just one film – Deadpool 3 – while the Sony Spider-Man Universe (sans Spider-Man) ramps up with three feature films in Madame Web, Kraven the Hunter, and Venom 3. Buckle up, folks, it’s gonna be a blockbuster 2024!
MEAN GIRLS
Current U.S. release date: January 12, 2024
It’s not exactly obvious from its current ad campaign, but Mean Girls 2024 is a musical. Based on the Broadway musical that was based on the 2004 Tina Fey-penned comedy, this brand spankin’ 20-years-later Mean Girls finds Tina Fey and Tim Meadows reprising their high school faculty roles while every other character is played by a fresh new face. Spider-Man’s Angourie Rice takes over the Cady Heron role while Reneé Rapp plays the new Regina George, leader of the Plastics (a role she played on Broadway). Jenna Fischer, Jon Hamm, and Busy Philipps also star.
ARGYLLE
Current U.S. release date: February 2, 2024
The latest action/comedy from Kingsman’s Matthew Vaughn stars Bryce Dallas Howard as a shy spy novelist who gets drawn into the real world of espionage when her latest book accidentally mirrors the real life activities of a criminal syndicate. Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Samuel L. Jackson, and Dua Lipa co-star while Henry Cavill and John Cena play larger-than-life characters from her books.
LISA FRANKENSTEIN
Current U.S. release date: February 9, 2024
Robin Williams’ daughter, Zelda Williams, makes her feature-length directorial debut with totally tubular horror-comedy Lisa Frankenstein. Written by Diablo Cody (Juno, Jennifer’s Body), the story follows a misunderstood teen girl (Kathryn Newton) as she reanimates a handsome corpse (Cole Sprouse) from the Victorian era.
MADAME WEB
Current U.S. release date: February 14, 2024
The next Sony Spider-Man Universe film – you know, the ones oddly featuring either a Spidey villain or Spidey supporting character in the main role – is Madame Web, starring Dakota Johnson as a NYC paramedic, Cassie Webb, who develops clairvoyant powers that allow her access to the “spider world.” Charged with a new mission to protect three young women with interdimensional Spider-Women futures – Sydney Sweeney’s Julia Carpenter, Celeste O’Connor’s Mattie Franklin, and Isabela Merced’s Anya Corazon – Cassie must also confront her own past.
DUNE: PART TWO
Current U.S. release date: March 1, 2024
The spice flows once more as Dune: Part Two, which had its 2023 release date moved because of strike reasons, lands in March now, ready to continue Paul Atreides’ journey as he unites with Chani and the Fremen, seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, and Dave Bautista all return while Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux, and Christopher Walken join the sandy mix.
LOVE LIES BLEEDING
Current U.S. release date: March 8, 2024
Love Lies Bleeding, the follow-up film from Saint Maud‘s Rose Glass, stars Kristen Stewart as a reclusive gym manager who falls hard for an ambitious bodybuilder (Katy O’Brian) headed through town to Vegas in pursuit of her dream, inadvertently pulling them both deep into the web of Lou’s criminal family. Ed Harris, Jena Malone, and Dave Franco co-star.
KUNG FU PANDA 4
Current U.S. release date: March 29, 2024
The Panda gang is back, with Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Dustin Hoffman, David Cross, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu all reprising their hit franchise voices. It’s been 8 years since the last Kung Fu Panda cinematic outing and this time Jack Black’s Po finds himself training a new kung fu practitioner (Awkwafina) to take his place as Dragon Warrior while also squaring off against a villain called the Chameleon (Viola Davis) who conjures villains from the past.
GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE
Current U.S. release date: March 29, 2024
The new and old generations of Ghostbusters unite once more in this sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife, as Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, and Mckenna Grace battle an evil force threatening New York, known as the Death Chill, alongside Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson. Annie Potts is also back as Janine while William Atherton returns for the first time since the 1984 original as prickly EPA inspector Walter Peck.
GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE
Current U.S. release date: April 12, 2024
Big things are happening for Godzilla these days, what with Godzilla Minus One commanding the box office and Apple TV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters adding more depth and details to Legendary’s MonsterVerse. The next chapter for Legendary is Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which brings back Godzilla vs. Kong director Adam Wingard and reunites him with The Guest’s Dan Stevens. Rebecca Hall and Brian Tyree Henry also return from the last MonsterVerse film, for an adventure that pits a now buddy-buddy Godzilla and Kong against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world.
ABIGAIL
Current U.S. release date: April 19, 2024
The team behind Ready or Not, 2022’s Scream, and Scream VI, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, and Chad Villella — known under the collective name Radio Silence — are back with a new spooky offering loosely based on 1936’s Dracula’s Daughter, housed on a group of kidnappers who abduct a little girl for ransom only to discover she is not what she seems. Scream series fans understandably bumming that neither Melissa Barrera nor Radio Silence are returning now for Scream 7 can at least see them join forces here again, in a film that also stars Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin Durand, Alisha Weir and the late Angus Cloud.
CIVIL WAR
Current U.S. release date: April 26
Written and directed by Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Devs, Annihilation), Civil War might be the scariest non-horror film headed our way next year. Starring Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, and Nick Offerman, Civil War follows a crew out journalist as they trek through a near-future America on the brink of disaster in exactly the way the title implies.
CHALLENGERS
Current U.S. release date: April 26, 2024
Zendaya stars in Challengers, a new rom-com from Bones and All’s Luca Guadagnino, about the wife and coach of a Grand Slam champion who signs him up for a Challenger event against her former lover. Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist also star while the movie itself already has garnered a ton of buzz from the threesome angle shown in the trailer. Challengers was set to release in 2023 but became one of the first films to get bumped to 2024 due to the strike as the studio knew it needed the stars to promote it properly..
KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Current U.S. release date: May 10, 2024
The latest chapter in the Planet of the Apes prequel/alternate timeline franchise picks up 300 years after the events of 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes, as many different ape civilizations have emerged while humans have regressed into a feral state. When the ape leader Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand) enslaves other clans, Noa (Owen Teague), a common chimpanzee, embarks on a harrowing journey alongside a young human named Mae (The Witcher’s Freya Allan).
FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA
Current U.S. release date: May 24, 2024
George Miller is back with a new Mad Max, this time focusing on a young Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) as she’s kidnapped from the Green Place of Many Mothers and into the hands of a Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). Furiosa plots a way back home as tyrants wage a brutal war. A younger version of Fury Road’s Immortan Joe is also set to appear, as well as (presumably) some of the most incredible car stunts ever achieved.
BALLERINA
Current U.S. release date: June 7, 2024
Ana de Armas stars in this Len Wiseman-directed John Wick spinoff/prequel that takes place between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and John Wick: Chapter 4. Keanu Reeves, Anjelica Huston, the late Lance Reddick, and Ian McShane reprise their Wick-verse roles for this story of Rooney (de Armas), a ballerina/assassin who seeks revenge by hunting the murderers of her family. Gabriel Byrne and Norman Reedus also star.
INSIDE OUT 2
Current U.S. release date: June 14, 2024
As Disney spends its winter and spring releasing Pixar’s Soul, Luca, and Turning Red in theaters for the first time, after they all debuted exclusively on Disney+ of the last few years, it will return to a hit IP for the summer, unleashing Pixar’s Inside Out 2. The film will bring viewersback into the mind ofRiley, now a teenager experiencing Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke) for the first time. Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, and Lewis Black are back to voice Joy, Sadness, and Anger, while Tony Hale and Liza Lapira take over as Fear and Disgust.
BAD BOYS 4
Current U.S. release date: June 14, 2024
Will Smith’s first big blockbuster return after The Slappening is a smart one, delving back into Bad Boys territory, which proved it was still a viable franchise back at the tip of 2020 when Bad Boys for Life made itself a nice profit right before the pandemic. Smith and Martin Lawrence return for this new shoot’ em up, bringing back Bad Boys for Life’s AMMO agents Vanessa Hudgens and Alexander Ludwig. Also starring Rhea Seehorn, Eric Dane, Ioan Gruffudd, and DJ Khaled.
THE BIKERIDERS
Current U.S. release date: June 21, 2024
The latest from Jeff Nichols (Mud, Midnight Special), is The Bikeriders, hitting screens in July after a year delay due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. Set in the ’60s, The Bikeriders follows the rise of a fictional Chicago motorcycle club as seen through the lives of its members as it transforms into a sinister gang. Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, Norman Reedus, and Michael Shannon star.
A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE
Current U.S. release date: June 28, 2024
Pig’s Michael Sarnoski writes and directs this Quiet Place prequel, from a story by A Quiet Place star/director John Krasinski, about the beginnings of the franchise’s alien monster invasion. Set in New York City, Day One stars Lupita Nyong’o, Stranger Things’ Joseph Quinn, Hereditary’s Alex Wolff, and Djimon Hounsou reprising his A Quiet Place Part II role.
TWISTERS
Current U.S. release date: July 19, 2024
Is it a reboot? A sequel? A bit of both? Twisters is described as a “new chapter” of the 1996 film Twister, starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, and Anthony Ramos. Minari’s Lee Isaac Chung directs this update of a classic ‘90s disaster movie – as one of the latest acclaimed indie directors to leap headfirst into a big budget blockbuster – which also features Kiernan Shipka, soon-to-be-Superman David Corenswet, TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe, and Maura Tierney.
DEADPOOL 3
Current U.S. release date: July 26, 2024
After the weak performances of Quantumania and The Marvels, the MCU’s only movie in 2024 certainly feels like much more of a surefire hit. It also feels like… not quite an MCU movie? It is, of course, since this is the film that will bring Deadpool into the MCU fold and under the wing of Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios, but it’s all happening via the X-Men properties 20th Century Fox used to control the movie rights to and that whole Deadpool/X-verse they created (which was always severely clunky, timeline-wise).
Of course, Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with the Mouth will most likely have a lot of fun making meta-gags at the multiverse’s expense, bringing Hugh Jackman’s grouchy Wolverine along for the ride (donning a costume that finally looks like the comics’ version). Morena Baccarin and Brianna Hildebrand are back in their previous Deadpool roles while Jennifer Garner, thanks to multiversal reasons, once again dons the assassin’s tights of Elektra Natchios.
BORDERLANDS
Current U.S. release date: August 9, 2024
In and out of development for almost a decade, Borderlands, based on the popular video game series developed by Gearbox Software, was filmed back in spring of 2021, boasting an all-star ensemble of Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Gina Gershon, Janina Gavankar, and Jack Black (as the voice of Claptrap). Directed by Eli Roth, the film underwent a couple weeks of reshoots by Deadpool director Tim Miller at the beginning of 2023. Also, during this two year delay, Ariana Greenblatt, who plays Tiny Tina in the film, has gone on to play young Ahsoka on Ahsoka and Sasha in Barbie. Anyhow, it’s finally coming out, in August, exposing unsuspecting moviegoers to the world of Pandora, Vault Hunters, and warring weapons manufacturers.
Untitled Alien Movie
Current U.S. release date: August 16, 2024
Sometimes referred to as Alien: Romulus, the upcoming seventh Alien movie (not counting the two Alien vs. Predator films) is one of two separate Alien offerings in 2024, the other being a Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion) TV series from FX, as Disney seems to be going big with another franchise they got when they bought 20th Century Fox. The new Alien movie, from Evil Dead’s Fede Álvarez, is set between the events of 1979’s original Alien and 1986’s Aliens, and stars Cailee Spaeny (Devs, Priscilla), Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold), and Shadow and Bone’s Archie Renaux. The full plot is still under wraps.
KRAVEN THE HUNTER
Current U.S. release date: August 30, 2024
Originally set for 2023, Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, got bumped to summer 2024 during the strikes, making for a very crowded year for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Do average theater-goers even know these aren’t made by Marvel Studios? Who can say? Regardless, even with Marvel Studios and DC scaling back for a year, 2024 will still be chock full of superhero flicks. Especially these movies where traditional Spidey foes are turned into do-gooders – or anti-do-gooders of some sort. Taylor-Johnson plays a hunter with animalistic powers, an extreme “conservationist,” Kraven, while Russell Crowe plays his domineering dad, Fred Hechinger plays Chameleon, Alessandro Nivola plays Rhino, Christopher Abbott plays Foreigner, and Ariana DeBose plays Calypso.
BEETLEJUICE 2
Current U.S. release date: September 6, 2024
Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, and composer Danny Elfman return to the Beetlejuice well, 35 years after the original, for a new tale that introduces Wednesday’s Jenna Ortega as (according to rumor) Lydia Deetz’s daughter. Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux, and Monica Bellucci co-star.
TRANSFORMERS ONE
Current U.S. release date: September 13th, 2024
Transformers One is an animated prequel film that’s set on Cybertron and focuses on the relationship between Optimus Prime and Megatron. Sounds cool, right? Well wait until you hear the voice cast. Chris Hemsworth is Optimus, Brian Tyree Henry is Megatron, and then you’ve got Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Jon Hamm, and Laurence Fishburne rounding out the cast.
SAW XI
Current U.S. release date: September 27th, 2024
Annnnd we’re a go for a new Saw movie, after Saw X was received better, both commercially and critically, than expected this past year. No word yet on if it’s a direct sequel to the 2023 film (which was set in the franchise’s early days) or if Tobin Bell will return or any of that, though it’s worth noting longtime Saw franchise producer Mark Burg told Fandom, when Saw X was coming out, “Should this movie work, I think fans can expect to see Tobin Bell in the next Saw movie.” And it certainly did work, soooo…
The only detail we know for sure so far is that writers Peter Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg — who also wrote Saw films Jigsaw and Spiral — won’t return this time out after penning three entries in a row.
JOKER: FOLIE A DEUX
Current U.S. release date: October 4, 2024
The much-anticipated follow up to the billion dollar-grossing Joker film is finally upon us (well, 10 months from now), adding Lady Gaga to the mix as Harley Quinn. This time out, the film is a full on musical, as Joker (Joaquin Phoenix) and Harley will sing and dance their way through Gotham with their own particular brand of madness. Zazie Beetz reprises her role from the first film while Brendan Gleeson and Catherine Keener join the party, with Harry Lawtey another new addition as Harvey Dent.
SMILE 2
Current U.S. release date: October 18, 2024
Parker Finn’s Smile was a breakout horror hit in 2022 so it’s not surprising that the grinning demon, who demands that its victims inflict trauma on others to pass on its wicked curse, is back, with Finn once more guiding the story. Details are scarce so far, with Aladdin‘s Naomi Scott signing on to star, though there’s certainly room for the first film’s Kyle Gallner to return if it’s to be a direct continuation.
VENOM 3
Current U.S. release date: November 8, 2024
Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage writer Kelly Marcel makes her directorial debut with the third Venom film, from a story she worked on with star Tom Hardy. Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor are on board for the movie, but in undisclosed roles as of now and there’s no word yet on the story details.
GLADIATOR 2
Current U.S. release date: November 22, 2024
Best Picture-winner Gladiator is getting a decades-later sequel with Ridley Scott back at the helm and with a cast that includes Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal as well as returning stars Connie Nielsen, Derek Jacobi, and Djimon Hounsou. At the center of the story is Paul Mescal as Lucius Verus, the son of Nielsen’s Lucillas, taking over the role portrayed by Spencer Treat Clark in the 2000 movie.
WICKED: PART ONE
Current U.S. release date: November 27, 2023
This adaptation of Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz’s famous stage musical, Wicked, has been split into two parts, set to debut a year apart. Directed by Crazy Rich Asians and In the Heights’ Jon M. Chu, Wicked tells the story of The Wizard of Oz from the Wicked Witch of the West’s point of view as a woman born with green skin growing up in a world with a lot of hate toward her. Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Bowen Yang, and Michelle Yeoh star, with Jeff Goldblum in as the Wizard of Oz himself.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM
Current U.S. release date: December 13, 2024
This animated Lord of the Rings prequel takes place 261 years before the events in The Fellowship of the Ring, telling the story of Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox), a legendary King of Rohan who must defend against an army of Dunlendings, creating the stronghold of Helm’s Deep. Narrating the film is Miranda Otto, once more playing the role of Éowyn.
KARATE KID
Current U.S. release date: December 13, 2024
A new Karate Kid movie is underway, one that’s separate from the Cobra Kai sequel series, yet still starring Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso. This particular Karate Kid, which the Cobra Kai creators were apparently consulted about — though they’re not active creators on it — will blend the original Karate Kid films with 2010’s reboot by bringing in Jackie Chan’s karate mentor Mr. Han from that film. Here’s hoping those conversations with the Cobra Kai gang were about making sure the film could co-exist with the series, not contradict it.
MUFASA: THE LION KING
Current U.S. release date: December 20, 2024
Get ready for a prequel to the billion dollar-grossing 2019 The Lion King remake, with Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, and John Kani as Pumbaa, Timon, and Rafiki, respectively. Mufasa focuses on the relationship between Mufasa and his brother Scar, as younger lions, and hails, surprisingly, from Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk director Barry Jenkins.
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3
Current U.S. release date: December 20, 2024
Not much is known about Sonic 3 at this point other than Ben Schwartz, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, and Idris Elba returning to voice Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, James Marsden and Tika Sumpter reprising their roles as Tom and Maddie, and Shadow the Hedgehog being a part of the story (having been teased at the end of Sonic 2). Jeff Fowler is also back to direct.
NOSFERATU
Current U.S. release date: December 24, 2024
Robert Eggers, of The Witch and The Northman fame, is making Christmas ‘24 a festive, vampiric blast having remade the classic 1922 silent film Nosferatu (which itself was an unofficial spin on Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula). This gothic tale of obsession follows a haunted young woman (Lily-Rose Depp) who finds herself the target of the terrifying vampire (Bill Skarsgård) that’s infatuated with her. Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Willem Dafoe co-star.
MAXXXINE
Current U.S. release date: TBD 2024
Ti West completes his ambitious “X” trilogy – that began with the slasher-y X and continued with the delusional murder madness of Pearl – with MaXXXine, which follows Mia Goth’s character from X as she attempts to continue her career in early ‘80s Los Angeles (with, we assume, disturbing consequences). The rest of the all-star cast includes Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, Halsey, and Kevin Bacon.
BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F
Current U.S. release date: TBD 2024
After being in various stages of development for decades, a fourth Beverly Hills Cop movie is upon us in 2024 via Netflix. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F brings Eddie Murphy back to his blockbuster ’80s role, Detroit-turned-Beverly Hills cop Axel Foley, for a new case that has Axel investigating murder and corruption within the impeccable Beverly Hills Police Department. Zola’s Taylour Paige plays Foley’s estranged daughter while Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays her ex-boyfriend, who becomes Axel’s new partner. Kevin Bacon also stars while franchise alumni Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser and Bronson Pinchot all make return appearances.
MICKEY 17
Current U.S. release date: TBD 2024
Parasite’s Bong Joon-ho is back with a new flick starring Robert Pattinson, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo. Based on the sci-fi novel by Edward Ashton, the story follows Pattinson’s Mickey, a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. As an “expendable,” Mickey’s body is regenerated with most of his memories intact every time he dies.
