Alright! Today, in my favorite yearly tradition, I'm making my list of the most anticipated movies of the coming year, but here's the gimmick - it's proportional to the year's last two digits, so instead of your typical top ten or twenty, we have twenty-three of 2023's finest cinema it has to offer. We have a promising batch this year - sci-fi adaptations, Willy Wonka prequels, superhero sequels, biopics, and a Barbie movie whose hype level is unfathomable.
Here are my lists for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, which I don't particularly recommend unless you want to see a gallery on how my writing has evolved over the past six years. They're fun, but not particularly refined, and certainly not the essay that this one is.
But first, let's start off easy with some movies that just barely missed the cut:
- Knock at the Cabin - February 3rd
- Next Goal Wins - April 21st
- Meg 2: The Trench - August 4th
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - November 17th
- Wish - November 22nd
- The Color Purple - December 20th
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| Let's begin. |
24. Renfield - April 14th
23. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts - June 9th
Riding largely on the goodwill earned by 2018's Bumblebee, also known as the first Transformers movie since 1986 to not disappoint, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a loose sequel wherein some archaeologists accidentally discover three new factions of Transformers: The Maximals, the Predacons, and the Terrorcons. While those names probably don't mean much to anyone outside of the Transformers fandom, the gist is that the Autobots are going to go up against robots who turn into gorillas, falcons, cheetahs, and other predators, which sounds unfathomably cool regardless of the film’s expectedly poor quality.
Like every Transformers movie before it, Rise of the Beasts needs a human lead to ground all the sweeping action in - and this time it's everyone's favorite musical alumni Anthony Ramos (Hamilton, In the Heights, Ironheart), whose likability and charm hopefully aren’t smothered by two hours of CGI slog. While we can hope that this will continue Bumblebee’s winning streak, expectations are admittedly low. Here’s to hoping it doesn’t, well, suck.
22. The Marvels - July 28th
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| Here's to hoping they don't play "I'm Just A Girl" over the finale again. |
Ms. Marvel is the biggest draw to the point where it becomes just about the only draw - but a passable B+ weekly adventure from Marvel is more often than not satisfying, if not particularly special when eight a year come out to varying degrees of “okay.” It was between this and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes for the #21 spot with a November release, and The Marvels just barely won it out thanks to goodwill from Ms. Marvel and the fact that the other’s title is very, very long and I didn't want to type it again.
21. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - March 3rd
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, a movie whose title I would rather not type again, looks like one of this year's most promising original-ish blockbusters thanks to a promising ensemble cast and a very fun trailer set to Led Zeppelin's "A Whole Lotta Love." Based on everyone's favorite role-playing fantasy game, Honor Among Thieves is about a party that accidentally releases the greatest evil the world's ever known and must now deal with the consequences... a concept that should sound very familiar to anyone who ever played a D&D campaign.
Aside from minor brand recognition, Honor Among Thieves also turns heads by just looking fun. Fun from the ruffian group of weirdos (Including an overconfident bard played by Chris Pine), fun from the gelatinous cube, fun from the gung-ho take on worldbuilding, and fun from dragon-filled action scenes that are sure to play well in IMAX. It's a pleasure pick, yes, but it seems more Princess Bride than Warcraft - to paraphrase another fantasy flick, "I think there's more to this movie than meets the eye."
20. Harold and the Purple Crayon - June 30th
From the director of Ice Age and Rio comes an adaptation of the classic children’s book Harold and the Purple Crayon, which follows the four-year-old Harold as he creates a world of pure imagination by simply drawing it with his magic purple crayon. How much of the childlike wonder stays in the film remains to be seen, but we do know at least one thing: the film stars the 42-year-old Zachary Levi, so we’re probably not looking at an honest-to-God adaption of the four-year-old Harold’s story.
Aside from that, details are sparse, with the main plot of the movie still being a mystery. Will it be a Christopher Robin-esque story about a grown-up Harold who has to rediscover his imagination ahead of AJR’s Broadway musical where a grown-up Harold has to rediscover his imagination? Will it be a Where the Wild Things Are ode to the classic source material? Will it be the next Bedtime Stories? Whatever it may be, the jury is cautiously optimistic for little Harold.
19. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - April 28th
Starring in this tale are Abby Ryder Forster (Ant-Man) and everyone's favorite mean girl Rachel McAdams, joined by 90s darling Kathy Bates (Misery, Titanic, The Office). But it's not the leading ladies that sell the movie - it's the emotional journey, the life and times of Margaret and her quest to find God that sells the movie. The book walks a razor's edge of being heartwarming, critical, and faith-rewarding without ever becoming completely beholden to any one of those ideas. Here's to hoping the movie maintains the same edge.
18. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom - December 25th
2018's Aquaman was just about every movie genre wrapped in one, a bang for your buck the likes of which are rarely seen. A romance, an action comedy, an epic, a superhero flick, a family drama, a globe-trotting adventure, fish out of water comedy, the badass-ization of comic’s greatest punchline since the 70s, you name it, Aquaman did it. What remains to be seen is if Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom can up the ante. Details are sparse, but we know Lost Kingdom is adding at least one more trope to the Aquaman trope belt - buddy cop. The movie will see Aquaman team up with his estranged brother Orm the Ocean Master as a mysterious lost kingdom threatens Atlantis.
Along with a cameo from Ben Affleck and/or Michael Keaton's Batman and a larger villain role for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's Black Manta, it's comforting to know that DC is more open to playing around in its large sandbox of mythos without straining to set up a Justice League movie. If Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom can match the zaniness of the original, we don’t exactly have a slam dunk on our hands, but we do have a very fun three-point field goal.
17. Kraven the Hunter - October 6th
If you're not already invested in Sony's baffling cinematic universe, where they hope to create a Sinister Six lineup consisting of Venom, Vulture, Morbius, Kraven the Hunter, El Muerto, and... Hypno-Hustler? If that doesn’t do it for you, this little tidbit should get you fully on board for Kraven: This version of comic’s greatest hunter will be an animal lover. Truly, Sony remains unparalleled in its artistic and directorial vision to do whatever it pleases with its characters, even if it defies all known logic - and I for one am all here for it. Let the #Kravensweep begin.
It's Huntin' Time
16. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One - July 14th
Despite barely remembering the first one and only seeing Fallout once, like, three years ago, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (Yet another movie with a title I would rather not type again) seems promising. The Tom Cruise brand has never been stronger after the blowout success of Top Gun: Maverick, and M:I is hoping to continue the streak with a scenery-chewing ensemble and the promise of a giant train explosion somewhere in the runtime.
Apparently, director Christopher McQuarrie saw how much people loved how Christopher Nolan exploded a real jet for Tenet and upped the ante with a train that runs off a bridge and into a quarry. While I'm no fan of the franchise, I do admire when filmmakers make our inner five-year-olds smile with giant explosions. Just knowing that they ran a train off a bridge for this movie makes it worth the ticket price.
Fun fact, because of numerous delays, M:I - DRP1 was also on 2021’s and 2022’s lists. Third time’s the charm, right?
15. Shazam! Fury of the Gods - March 17th
2019’s Shazam! was a bona fide success, the first true blowout critical/commercial success of DC’s modern era that eschewed the doom and gloom audiences had grown to associate with the brand. It was funny, peppy, and well-beloved by all. To what extent the sequel, Fury of the Gods, maintains that same energy still remains to be seen. The movie is about the Shazam family as they confront the daughters of Atlas known as the Hesperides - cue the world-ending stakes and explosions.
While I absolutely love the first film, the sequel has me worried - I’m not a big fan of the Shazam family dynamic outside of Mary Marvel, the newer costumes have texture but lost their kitschy charm, and the movie seems to have been thrown in the same tan/gold/gray mud that Black Adam fell into. These are minor complaints, but I’d rather keep expectations low and once again be pleasantly surprised by the better Captain Marvel than set them too high and feel whelmed.
14. Nimona - 2023
An adaptation of the comics of the same name by ND Stevenson, Nimona tells the story of a shapeshifter who helps disgraced knight Ballister Blackheart in his revenge quest against the hero who took his arm in a jousting match. When their plan goes awry, Nimona is the only one who can clear Blackheart’s name and save him from his impending execution. While that sounds like a typical by-the-book fantasy quest, here's the catch: Nimona is not your typical fantasy heroine - she likes murdering people, likes to cause property damage, and is an aspiring supervillain.
Originally developed under Blue Sky before Disney shut the studio down and canceled the project due to its LGBT under and overtones (Disney would rather keep the gay themes to never-ending “firsts” rather than actual themes), Nimona found an unlikely/likely savior in Netflix, which is always more than happy to sweep up rejects from big movie studios. Releasing sometime in 2023 and starring Chloë Grace Moretz (The Tale of Princess Kaguya) in the titular role, Nimona is shaping up to be quite the spectacle.
13. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania - February 17th
The next and final installment in the Ant-Man trilogy, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania sees the titular characters travel into the Quantum realm after a science experiment goes terribly wrong, bringing them into conflict with MODOK, a very charismatic quantum pirate played by Bill Murray, and Phase Five's big bad Kang the Conqueror, who's looking to be one of Marvel's best based on the short snippets from trailers and the energy Jonathan Majors brought to Loki.
Kang the Conqueror's introduction is particularly enticing for, once again, fans of the animated shows made for kids a decade ago. Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes had a fantastic and intimidating portrayal of Kang, quickly catching everyone's eye as a warlord from the 41st century who goes back in time to stop the Kree-Skrull war before it begins. I mean, it's exciting and all to see Paul Rudd's Ant-Man again, and the first two movies were highly enjoyable (If forgettable), but the real draw here is the villain. Kang is looking to make a splash in the MCU (Shoot, the next Avengers movie is called "The Kang Dynasty"), and the clash of the gravitas Kang has with Ant-Man's typically breezy attitude will be quite the spectacle to watch, provided they don't drown it out in shoddy green screen work.
12. Blue Beetle - August 18th
After Black Adam changed the hierarchy of power and The Flash spawned outside of police stations like it was GTA, Blue Beetle is poised to be the hit of 2023 that nobody saw coming. Starring Xolo Maridueña as the titular beetle of a blue color, the film is about the teenage Jamie Reyes, who, after gaining a powerful exoskeleton after an alien scarab grafts onto him, must now learn how to fight crime while balancing his great power and great responsibility.
11. The Super Mario Bros. Movie - April 7th
Following his voice-acting role as Barley Lightfoot in Onward and ahead of his voice-acting role as Garfield, Chris Pratt is voicing the world's most famous plumber in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the first attempt at a Mario movie since 1993's infamous attempt that forgot to follow up on the "Bros," Goombas, and Bowser parts of the game, instead creating a relatively interesting (If still terrible) take on the Mario game involving alternate universes and terrifying turtles terrors.
Illumination's newest attempt looks to be a much more faithful adaptation, ripe with accurate character designs, luscious animation, and an archetypal but still very fun premise (Mario teams up with Toad to get to the Mushroom Kingdom and defeat Bowser). It looks fun through and through, a surprisingly competent and visually fantastic adaptation from the people who made Minions and Sing, albeit with the gimmicky cast comprised of celebrities (Including but not limited to Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, and Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong).
10. Wonka - December 15th
From the director and writers of Paddington (No further pitch needed, I'm sold) comes a prequel no one asked for but will likely end up loving. Wonka tells the story of the young Willy Wonka before the Chocolate Factory and the minutiae of big business caught up to him - out and about having wacky adventures, finding Oompa Loompas, and learning that the real chocolate was the friends we made along the way.
Everyone’s favorite teen heartthrob Timothée Chalamet stars as the title character, the next to play the role in a long line of greats beginning with Gene Wilder and most recently Johnny Depp, although it remains to be seen how much of the eccentricities/literal madness make it into Chalamet’s interpretation. Like the assorted Chocolate Factory flicks before it, Wonka will be a musical and is expected to feature at least seven numbers throughout its runtime, hopefully making it the first musical people go to see in theaters since, like, what, The Greatest Showman in ‘17? While a Willy Wonka prequel is admittedly ill-advised, the goodwill of Paddington, Chalamet’s track record, fantastic costumes, and just a dash of pure imagination make Wonka a movie to look out for. It doesn’t feel like your typical cash grab nostalgia-fueled prequel, more Oz the Great and Powerful than Fantastic Beasts. And I *loved* Oz the Great and Powerful.
9. How Do You Live? - July 14th, 2023
The next Studio Ghibli movie and the "final" final film of Hayao Miyazaki, How Do You Live? is an adaptation of the novel of the same name, the charming story of a young fifteen-year-old navigating the ups and downs of high school while finding a frame of reference for his world view. Framed as a Screwtape Letters-type story written between an uncle and nephew, it's perfectly suited for Studio Ghibli's trademark quiet and unnervingly nostalgic feel-good messages about life.
8. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny - June 30th
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| I always knew someday you'd come walking back through my door. I never doubted that. Something made it inevitable. |
The fifth Indiana Jones, which was due back in 2019 before being delayed to 2020, 2021, 2022, and finally 2023, is ending its four-year streak of eluding my list with a #13 placement. While Indiana Jones’s status as a cultural icon has not diminished since his trilogy ended back in ‘89, even though they really tried back in '08, James Mangold (Logan, Ford v Ferrari) is trying to bring Indy back into today's modern cinema landscape where every 80s franchise is resuscitated for better or for worse.
Set in New York City during the 60s, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will see Indiana Jones grappling with the changing times and the space race, joined by fan-favorite Sallah, everyone's favorite John Rhys-Davies character not named Gimli, and Mads Mikkelsen as an ex-Nazi soldier turned NASA member that puts Indy's residual and understandable distrust of Nazis to the test. While it might seem foolhardy to continue an action franchise that now stars an 80-year-old and ended perfectly with The Last Crusade, one must admit that, given Mangold's knack for crafting the perfect ending for cinematic icons (Again, he's the guy that made Logan), this movie will not be making this up as it goes.
7. Elemental - June 16th
Earth. Water. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four elements lived together in harmony. But everything changed when Ember met Wade. Only true love, the common link between all four elements, could bond them, but when the world needed it most it vanished. A few weeks passed and Ember and Wade discovered a new love, an unlikely rom-com scenario named serendipity. But while serendipity is serendipitous, they still have a lot to discover before they're ready to fall in love.
With the cheeky names (Ember is a fire lady and Wade is a water man), fun gimmicky animation, a trailer that barely feels oriented towards kids at all, and the novelty of Pixar taking on the rom-com, Elemental feels truly different than anything else from Pixar in the best way. After years of disappointments, Disney+ releases, and a now former CEO who screwed over animation at every turn, Elemental might be the first bona fide Pixar hit since Coco.
6. Oppenheimer - July 21st
Oppenheimer, an aptly named biopic about the father of the atomic bomb J. Robert Oppenheimer, whose innovations led to the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and subsequent win for the Allies during WWII, blasts into theaters this July. While an Oppenheimer biopic is exciting in general and enough to warrant inclusion on the list, the big kicker here is that the movie is directed by the one and only Christopher Nolan, of whom the goodwill earned from The Dark Knight is everlasting, and who also made my favorite film of all time Interstellar.
Director notwithstanding, Oppenheimer catches the eye due to the impressive ensemble - Cillian Murphy stars as the titular Death, the destroyer of worlds, and the rest of the cast are rounded off by Emily Blunt, Robert Downey, Jr., Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Matthew Modine, Alden Ehrenreich, Kenneth Branagh, Casey Affleck, and Gary Oldman, the last of which plays Harry S. Truman. That's almost as many celebrities as your average Illumination cartoon, almost all of which have a few Oscar nominations under their collective belts and are likely looking to add a few wins in there. Unless it, you know, gets snubbed like every other Christopher Nolan movie.
5. The Flash - June 23rd
After a tumultuous production with eight different release dates, six different directors, two different Batmen, a lead waging a one-man war against Hawaii, a giant costume downgrade, and one alleged soft reboot to help clear up the DCEU’s messy continuity, The Flash is running into theaters this June for better or for worse. Promising a multiverse of madness with multiple Flashes (Including an even awkwarder Barry Allen?), Michael Keaton’s Batman, the return of Michael Shannon’s General Zod, Temuera Morrison as Aquaman’s dad, alleged cameos from Christopher Reeve, Adam West, and Lynda Carter, Wonder Woman, and the return of Supergirl to the big screen after the incident in ‘84, the greatest draws of The Flash seems to be just about everything but The Flash.
Looking like a loose adaptation of DC’s iconic Flashpoint comic, wherein Barry Allen goes back in time to save his mother’s murder only to get stuck in an alternate timeline, The Flash is playing in the multiversal sandbox that’s become oh so popular these past few years, using it to tell a heartfelt story about loss and struggling through acceptance… or use it as an excuse to have a bunch of flashy cameos and sell more Batman merch. Based on the first trailer I'd wager the latter, but the optimistic naïveté of my youth remains. On a personal note, a Flash movie is something I’ve wanted since getting hooked on Justice League Unlimited at the ripe age of three, so it is of great importance to me that they not mess this one up… or worse, drown in a never-ending supply of cameos and Batman. Here’s to hoping it’s more No Way Home than Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - May 5th
In 2014, Marvel Studios cemented their pop culture reputation for taking c-list heroes and turning them into A+ blockbusters with Guardians of the Galaxy, a plucky origin story from James Gunn that inspired the 2010s trend of setting every big action setpiece to your dad's favorite 70s hits. Now, nine years later, the trilogy and a half is coming to a close with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which sees the titular heroes face off against the High Evolutionary and Adam Warlock while still reeling from their own losses in Avengers: Infinity War.
But it's not the colossal mythology of the MCU or the buzzy villains that earns Vol. 3 its place on the list, it's the promise of a heartfelt conclusion to the Guardians. The cameos and speculation are fun and all, but when it really comes down to it audiences show up for these movies because they love the characters, and no 2010s franchise exemplified that more so than the makeshift family known as the Guardians of the Galaxy. And nothing hurts more than saying goodbye to family.
3. Dune: Part Two - November 3rd
The sequel to 2021's Dune and the adaptation of the second half of the original novel, Dune: Part Two sees Paul Atreides start to lead the Fremen people of Dune as he fulfills his destiny as the prophesied messiah of the universe known as Maud'Dib, going against the feared Baron Harkonnen who orchestrated the downfall of House Atreides in the last movie. The first film was the book exactly as I imagined it, a near-perfect adaptation of an allegedly unfilmable novel that joins the ranks of Life of Pi and The Lord of the Rings as pitch-perfect adaptations.
However, the first film was not without fault - methodical pacing makes the movie feel slow, and the fact it only captured the first half of the novel left little payoff. Dune: Part Two seeks to remedy those problems, as the novel's second half is essentially one giant payoff battle between House Atreides and Harkonnen, filled with spice overdoses, Abominations, riding sandworms, and the fulfillment of the quintessential hero's journey layered with an undercurrent that critiques the white savior narrative.
The works of Frank Herbert are deep and complex, and the fact Denis Villeneuve managed to get halfway there at all is impressive, even more so given the visual and musical intensity that cinematographer Greg Fraiser (Rogue One, The Batman) and composer Hans Zimmer (Interstellar, The Dark Knight) created to fit the world of Arrakis. The second film looks to be one-upping its predecessor in every way, providing an even bigger and grander scale, more characters perfectly cast (Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Christopher Walken), and a cleaner narrative now that the set-up and world building has been taken care of. Anyone who has read the novel can tell you that if you liked the first movie... you haven't seen anything yet. This is where it starts to get good.
2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - June 2nd
1. Barbie - July 21st
Greta Gerwig's last two movies (Lady Bird, Little Women) were both lovely critically acclaimed coming-of-age stories that got nominated for a total of eleven Oscars, two of which were Best Picture. Her next movie? Barbie, which is about Barbie and Ken as they leave Barbieland to traverse the real world. A decidedly different vibe than her previous efforts, but I am confident regardless in Gerwig's ability to make something out of what started as a star vehicle for... Amy Schumer? What?
Anyways, the ever-enjoyable fish-out-of-water comedy is always made better by an assortment of fun and wacky characters, which Barbie has in spades - Margot Robbie stars as Barbie, Ryan Gosling is Ken, Barbieland is populated by Kens and Barbies played by Simu Liu, Michael Cera, Ncuti Gatwa, and Rhea Perlman, and the man chasing the Barbie and Ken across the real world is none other than Will Ferrell, starring as the CEO of Mattel. Throw in a thousand fun and silly Barbie outfits in live-action, a hilarious premise/brand execution, 2001 references, and a ton of pink, and we have the Barbie movie to end all Barbie movies.
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