The 50 most anticipated new movies of 2024
01.01.2024 - 15:25
/ polygon.com
Followers of the movie release calendar just can’t get a moment’s peace: As soon as COVID-19-era disruptions were smoothed out and production pipelines mostly restored in 2023, a lengthy two-guild strike threw everything out of whack again. Delays, shifts, and cancellations galore added to the usual mix of theatrical releases and (fewer, but still notable) direct-to-streaming productions.
Then again, it wouldn’t be a look at the movie year that lies ahead without a bunch of unpredictable shifts, no matter the cause. Even if the first quarter of 2024 looks more barren than usual and a few superheroes may have flown straight out of the summer skies, the year still has plenty of titles worth anticipating — as this list of 50 particularly exciting-sounding movies proves. This year has ghosts, apes, pandas, sentient emotions, killer ballerinas, gladiators, vampires, sandworms, bioexorcists, and no fewer than three Spider-Man movies that do not feature Spider-Man. As always, these dates are subject to change, but here’s how 2024 is shaping up right now.
Release date: In theaters Jan. 12
Director: Jeymes Samuel
Cast: LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, Teyana Taylor
Jeymes Samuel, who previously directed Netflix’s visually arresting all-star WesternThe Harder They Fall, turns his sights on a Biblical adventure with a comic twist. There’s definitely something rather Life of Brian about the idea of Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield), the twin brother of the apostle Thomas, positioning himself as a new messiah to better his station in life.
Release date: In theaters Jan. 12
Directors: Samantha Jayne, Arturo Perez Jr.
Cast: Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Tina Fey
The unusual movie-to-stage-musical-to-movie-musical pipeline has one all-time-great success (Little Shop of Horrors) and a bunch more failed curiosities, like the 2005 version of The Producers. What Mean Girls has going for it is the constant presence of screenwriter/co-star Tina Fey, who wrote both movies as well as the Broadway musical that bridges them. There’s something appealing about the idea of a comedy writer allowed to revise and update such trendy-yet-timeless material over the course of 20 years.
Release date: On Prime Video Jan. 12
Director: Thomas Vincent
Cast: Kaley Cuoco, David Oyelowo, Bill Nighy
Emma (Kaley Cuoco) is a normal New Jersey suburbanite, married to the mild-mannered Dave (David Oyelowo), who has no idea that she’s also a contract killer. After learning the truth, he winds up on a wild, violent adventure with his ass-kicking spouse. In other words, they’re going to tell each other some True Lies?
Release date: In theaters Feb. 2
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Cast: Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Henry Cavill
Matthew Vaughn has directed movies for 20