We’re off to a promising start at the movies in the first few weeks of 2024, with the justly acclaimed late 2023 releases “All of Us Strangers,” “The Zone of Interest” and “Origin” going wide and arriving in Chicago and sparkling new films such as “Memory” and “Good Grief” proving to be well worth our time.
I’m looking forward to a myriad of titles arriving in the seasons to come, from the sex/love/crime saga “Love Lies Bleeding” to Ethan Coen’s “Drive-Away Dolls,” not to mention (OK we will mention) the 1980s period piece “Lisa Frankenstein” and the Amy Winehouse biopic “Back to Black.” As you’d expect, there’s also a full roster of highly anticipated sequels/prequels including “Dune: Part Two,” “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” “Deadpool 3,” “Inside Out 2,” “A Quiet Place: Part One” and “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.”
Narrowing it down a dozen wasn’t easy, but here are the 12 films I’m most excited about.
‘Bob Marley: One Love’ (Feb. 14)
Bob Marley has been gone for some 40 years, but he remains a generationally influential and widely beloved icon, so it’s no trifling thing to attempt a definitive biopic. There’s great reason for hope here, as Reinaldo Marcus Green (“King Richard”) is directing, the multi-talented Kingsley Ben-Adir is playing Bob Marley and the commanding screen presence that is Lashana Lynch will be portraying Rita Marley. You’ll want to see this one in a theater with the best possible sound.
‘Civil War’ (April 12)
Writer-director Alex Garland is a unique talent known for taking big swings (and usually connecting) with films such as “Ex Machina” and “Men.” This time around, Garland teams with Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny and Jesse Plemons, among other top talents, to tell the story of a team of journalists navigating their way across a United States plagued by a rapidly escalating conflict.
‘Challengers’ (April 26)
The Italian director Luca Guadagnino (“Call Me By Your Name,” “Bones and All”) helms this romantic comedy drama set against the background of Grand Slam tennis, with Zendaya starring as a tennis coach involved in a love triangle with rival champions played by Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist. I can see the “Love-All” and/or “Double Fault” headlines on the reviews already…
‘IF’ (May 17)
So it turns out that after you create imaginary friends as a kid and then you grow up and you leave them behind, they STILL EXIST, all abandoned and lonely. Nice work man! In writer-director-star John Krasinski’s blend of live action and animated storytelling, Cailey Fleming is a young girl who can still see those Imaginary Friends, aka IFs. Hey, it’s a fuzzy, furry, funny take on “The Sixth Sense”! Ryan Reynolds has a live action role, while voices are provided by pikers such as Steve Carell, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr., Matt Damon, Maya Rudolph, Jon Stewart and Emily Blunt, who I’m told has met Mr. Krasinski before.’
‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ (May 24)
Nine years after George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” announced its presence as one of the greatest action films of all time, Miller directs and co-writes the prequel, with Anya Taylor-Joy as the young Furiosa, and Chris Hemsworth as the antagonist Warlord Dementus, and with a name like Warlord Dementus, the guy was probably never going to grow up to be a cobbler or a farmer, am I right?
‘Ballerina’ (June 7)
The JWU (John Wick Universe) first expanded with the excellent TV mini-series “The Continental: From the World of John Wick,” which told the story of how Winston Scott came to be the proprietor of the New York branch of the legendary chain of hotels. Now comes the spinoff “Ballerina,” said to be set between the events of the third and fourth “John Wick” films, with Ana de Armas taking over the role of the character Rooney from “Chapter 3: Parabellum.” As you might guess from the title, de Armas plays a ballerina. A revenge-seeking ballerina. Sounds on point, or should we say en pointe. (Sorry.)
‘Twisters’ (July 19)
Nearly 30 years after the events of “Twister,” the son of the original storm returns, seeking revenge. Kidding! This ain’t “Jaws: The Revenge”! Warner Bros. says this is “new chapter” of the 1996 film, more of a stand-alone story, starring Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos, Lee Isaac Chung and Maura Tierney.
‘Borderlands’ (Aug. 9)
Director/co-writer Eli Roth adapts the acclaimed, first-person “looter-shooter” video game series of the same name, with Cate Blanchett as Lilith, a legendary outlaw returning to her home planet in search of her missing daughter. The A-list cast also includes Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Jamie Lee Curtis, Arianna Greenblatt and Édgar Ramirez. Expect lots of neon-colored pyrotechnics.
‘Beetlejuice 2’ (Sept. 6)
Arriving some 36 years after the original, “Beetlejuice” joins the likes of “Coming to America” and “Coming 2 America” (33 years), “Blade Runner” and “Blade Runner 2049” (35 years) “Top Gun” and “Top Gun: Maverick” (36 years), “Mary Poppins” and “Mary Poppins Returns” (54 years) and the all-time champ for longest gap, “Bambi” and “Bambi II” (63 years), though does anybody even remember a “Bambi II”?
Director Tim Burton has reportedly been fiddling around with the notion of a “Beetlejuice” sequel for decades, and it’s finally happening, with Michael Keaton returning as Beetlejuice, Winona Ryder back as Lydia Deetz and Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz, with Jenna Ortega joining as Lydia’s daughter Astrid, and Willem Dafoe playing a ghost detective who was a B-movie star in life. Willem Dafoe as a B-lister? That’s more unbelievable than any of the ghostly elements.
‘Wolfs’ (Sept. 20)
Talk about your ammo for a winner. Director Jon Watts, who demonstrated an extraordinary Spidey sense with “Homecoming,” “Far From Home” and “No Way Home,” teams with a pair of guys named Clooney and Pitt — fellas who have been movie stars since the 1990s and have worked with each other on a trio of heist films, among other projects. For “Wolfs” — not “Wolves,” they’re calling it “Wolfs” — George and Brad reportedly play two, um, lone-wolf fixers, assigned to the same job. You had one job, person who books fixers!
‘Joker: Folie a Deux’ (Oct. 4)
Four years after the polarizing “Joker” (I thought it was a suitably dark and hauntingly great origin story) became a billion-dollar hit and resulted in Oscar for Joaquin Phoenix, director/co-writer Todd Phillips is presenting the sequel as a musical thriller, you read that right. In addition to Phoenix reprising Arthur Fleck/Joker, Zazie Beetz returns as Sophie Drummond, Arthur’s neighbor and fantasy romantic partner, and the one and only Lady Gaga will play Dr. Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn, a therapist assigned to treat Arthur who gets a little too close to her patient. The title gives a pretty strong hint as to the direction their relationship is going: “Folie a Deux” translates to “Madness of Two” and refers to a shared delusional disorder. Sounds like this will be the feel-good musical of the year!
‘Nosferatu’ (Dec. 25)
A mere 102 years after the still-terrifying silent German Expressionist masterpiece and just in time for Christmas (!), here comes a freshly bent take on the legend. The greatly talented Robert Eggers has an affinity for twisted historical horror (“The Witch,” “The Lighthouse”), and he teams with an amazing cast including Bill Skarsgård (Pennywise in the “IT” films) as Count Orlok, and supporting players Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin and Willem Dafoe — who played the actor Max Schreck in the excellent 2000 film “Shadow of the Vampire,” which was about the making of … the original “Nosferatu.”
