Cinema is happening these days on such a grand scale that it can be easy to lose track of everything exciting which is coming out in a certain month, never mind a whole year. The vast array of excitingmoviesbeing featured at cinemas now that Hollywood has truly bounced back from COVID-19 once and for all is, frankly, enormous.
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From smaller films to the grandest franchise films, some have already been heavily marketed despite far-off release dates. But some others have been waiting quietly this far into the year, with huge marketing campaigns surely still to come.
8Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
It seems like an insane idea with the scope ofDungeons & Dragonsto ever try and turn the game into a single film. While there is no word yet on how much of a franchise is being planned with these characters,Honor Among Thieveshasn’t spread much word yet about the release of the new film.
With a big cast including Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Hugh Grant, and Rege-Jean Page, the film seems to have everything that it needs for success. The style has been compared by directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein to be comparable toThor: Ragnarök, so it remains to be seen if this more comedic style can perform at the box office without the MCU brand name. The film is scheduled for a wide cinema release at the end of March.
7Beau Is Afraid
A smaller-scale film perhaps but one that is no less expected to be a big deal, Ari Aster is one of the biggest breakout directors in the world of indie films in recent years. After makingHereditaryandMidsommar, fans will no doubt be hugely excited to see what comes next, andBeau Is Afraidwill be his third feature release.
Starring Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Ryan,Beau Is Afraidsounds like another strange entry in Aster’s catalog of films. The official synopsis calls it “a story of an anxiety-ridden man who embarks on an epic odyssey home after his mother suddenly dies” and the film describes the difficulties he experiences along the way as being supernatural in nature. The film will surely intrigue fans ofHereditaryandMidsommar, butthus far little has been heardabout it ahead of its April release.
6Extraction 2
Chris Hemsworth’s Netflix filmExtractionwas one of the bigger successes that the company has managed so far in its forays toward making its own blockbusters. Starring Hemsworth as a black-market mercenary called Tyler Rake who must rescue the kidnapped son of an international crime lord, the film seemingly ended with Rake’s death.
However, things aren’t always what they seem, and Hemsworthhas returned as the characterfor a sequel. Not much is known thus far about the story or the mission that Rake will take on in the sequel, but the film is slated for a June release on Netflix, and while not much has been seen from it so far, it is likely to be another roaring win for the streaming service.
5Killers Of The Flower Moon
It is strange to have heard so relatively little about a Martin Scorsese film with the release expected currently to be sometime in May. The film is based on a 2017 book about a series of murders that took place in Oklahoma in the 1920s after oil was discovered in the Osage Nation.
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The film isn’t just directed by Scorsese but stars hisfrequent collaborators Leonardo DiCaprioand Robert De Niro to boot. The potentially massive project, which could easily generate Academy Awards interest for next season, could be debuting at one of the major film festivals this year since an official release date is still elusive.
4Blue Beetle
It would be surprising for every superhero film released in 2023 to have been heavy on marketing so far since there are so many of them. The unusual thing aboutBlue Beetleis the film was originally set for an HBO Max release but was later changed to a theatrical one. This should say something promising about Warner Bros' hopes for the film.
Starring Xolo Mariduena ofCobra Kaifame,Blue Beetleis one of the most beloved but often underrated DC Comics superheroes. While not much is known aboutwhat the film will focus on, the fact that the film wasn’t canceled or shelved like the unfortunateBatgirlfilm remains a very positive sign for expectations.
3The Nun 2
The Conjuringuniverse has remained one of the bigger horror properties in the world for a decade now, and it can be difficult for even fans of the franchise to keep track of what films are coming out and when. While production for new Conjuring-verse films has slowed down of late, the spin-off filmThe Nunis getting a sequel in September.
Though word around the film hasbeen fairly quiet so far, it is confirmed that Bonnie Aarons will return as the Nun, and Taissa Farmiga is expected to reprise her role from the first film, alongside franchise newcomer Storm Reid. The two will supposedly tackle the pair as they come face-to-face with Valak once more in the 1950s in France.
Despite there not being much hype built for the release so far, thisHunger Gamesprequel film isn’t slated to come out until mid-November, so there is plenty of time yet. Telling a very different sort of story around theHunger Games, this prequel will take a young Coriolanus Snow, before he was President of Panem and was simply a mentor at the games, and tell a vivid story about a different game.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakeswillbe a dark taleof the early years of the Capitol and their citizenry. While it won’t have the triumphant feel of the original Hunger Games franchise, there will be much for fans of those films in this, and they will definitely want to get their tickets.
1Untitled Ghostbusters: Afterlife Sequel
While the late December release date leaves things a little shaky over whether we will actually see this film in 2023, it is a huge film that fans haven’t evenbeen told the name of yet. Jason Reitman returns to direct alongside returning cast members Carrie Coon, McKenna Grace, and Finn Wolfhard. Paul Rudd has not yet been confirmed.
All that is known about the potential plot is that, as teased inAfterlife, the setting will be the New York-based firehouse from the originalGhostbusterfilms. Whether the film gets delayed or hits screens around Christmas, there is very little hype surrounding it yet.
