With another new year beginning and new movies already starting to hit our screens, what can we be excited for in the world of cinema in 2024?
The release of the emotional One Life has got the year off to a flying start, even if the slightly disappointing remake of Mean Girls halted some progress. February does not hold out much promise for me either, as the new spy movie Argylle (featuring the return of the weirdly iconic Barbie duo of Dua Lipa and John Cena) is coupled with another potential Marvel flop in Madame Web. March will hopefully bring the year roaring back with the highly anticipated Dune: Part Two, the sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s epic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel. It will also see the return of the beloved Kung Fu Panda series with the fourth movie set to release on March 8th, and the theme of sequels continuing (sorry Martin Scorsese) in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and the widely anticipated (although personally ridiculous) next movie in the Godzill
a and King Kong franchise with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
The trend of singer biopics also continues this year with Back to Black depicting the rise to fame of pop star Amy Winehouse, with personal stories in sport also becoming a common theme as Zendaya stars in the tennis drama Challengers and Austin Butler in the motorcycle story The Bikeriders.
Mufasa: The Lion King is a Disney project that is probably not needed, but the return of Pixar in Inside Out 2 is a welcome addition to the wonderful first film.
2024 also appears to be a fantastic year for animation. Ok Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Transformers One are probably unnecessary, but the return of the minions in Despicable Me 4 will be majestic, as will The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, a prequel to Tolkien’s epic tale. Mufasa: The Lion King is a Disney project that is probably not needed, but the return of Pixar in Inside Out 2 is a welcome addition to the wonderful first film. Yet the most hotly tipped animation has to be Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, completing the mesmerising trilogy that follows the web-slinging adventures of Miles Morales and his friends.
Look we have ignored it for long enough, there are some huge films coming out that are yet to have been mentioned, so here we go. Firstly, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, will see the brilliant Anya Taylor-Joy star in the origin story of Imperator Furiosa from the original Mad Max: Fury Road film. Next, Gladiator 2. I mean it’s Gladiator 2, need I say much more!? This has potential epic status if it is anything like its predecessor. Although I am not a massive fan of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and its franchise, I can appreciate the enormity of the project and the popularity it will receive. I am far more excited for the adaptation of the West End musical, Wicked, with the film Wicked Part 1 starring Ariana Grande and having its name promise a sequel. Yet out of all these huge releases, it is actually Joker: Folie à Deux that I am most excited for (and yes, I know it is a musical!!). The first Joker film was phenomenal, and the return of the incredible Joaquin Phoenix brings a lot of promise (I am hoping the usual normality of his excellent movies returns after what can only be described as a car crash in Napoleon).
Yet it is not in fact any of these releases I have mentioned, big or small, that is my most anticipated film of the year. That award belongs to Nosferatu. Robert Eggers has established himself as one of most interesting directors of recent times, his visionary storytelling and attention to historical detail stunningly driving his films (The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman) – and his latest appears no different. Nosferatu will be a remake of the classic 1922 film of the same name (worth a watch itself), with the promise of darkness, magic and evil always in Eggers’ films providing an enticing movie which I am buzzing for. The only problem? We have to wait until Christmas day…
