With the start of every new year comes the promise of a brand-new crop of forward-thinking, innovative movies.
Last year was shaped by blockbuster hits like “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” touching stories such as “Past Lives” and “The Holdovers” and so many great films beyond that.
With an already stellar line-up of new releases, 2024 should make for another year filled with fantastic trips to the cinema. Here are just a few of the films to start getting excited about in 2024.
Directing developments
Five years after the record-breaking and beloved 2019 film “Parasite,” the cinematic magic of Bong Joon-Ho will return to theaters with a science fiction film starring Robert Pattinson: “Mickey 17.”
Alongside fellow stars Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette and Steven Yeun, Pattinson will play an “expendable” employee (Mickey 17) of an expedition traveling to a new planet.
Upon the release of its auspicious trailer, Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” caught the eye of many.
Having already showcased his ability to craft compelling love stories with “Call Me By Your Name” and “Bones and All,” Guadagnino could strike again with this tennis-meets-romance movie exploring a love triangle between its main characters. With Zendaya at the heart of this affair, “Challengers” has the potential to become one of 2024’s most popular films.
After Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s prolific start to the 2020s, directing the acclaimed “Drive My Car” and “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” his next move is one to watch. This year will see the theatrical release of his next project: “Evil Does Not Exist.” The film is set in a small Japanese village where a high-end “glamping” site is set to be built in their town, and the film itself is set to be widely released throughout 2024.
We’ll soon also see a legendary director return to the game after quite some time. Francis Ford Coppola, director of “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now,” is back with “Megalopolis.” Coppola began writing this film in the 1980s, and he will finally take it to the big screen with a star-studded cast and a budget bankrolled by Coppola himself.
On top of these anticipated releases, Ethan Coen will go solo on the queer comedy “Drive-Away Dolls” in February 2024, missing his usual directing partner and brother Joel Coen. Terrence Malick also returns as he retells the story of Christ in “The Way of the Wind.”
Horror in 2024
A24 is set to continue to dominate the horror genre with “I Saw the TV Glow,” directed and written by Jane Schoenbrun. After several compelling works focusing on technology and terror in the modern age, the up-and-coming director now has a chance to launch themself into the mainstream with their first major release.
Best known for “The Lighthouse” and “The VVitch,” Robbert Eggers is back again with his fourth feature film: “Nosferatu.”
“Nosferatu” will be the second remake of the 1922 German classic of the same name – adapted from Bram Stoker's 1879 novel “Dracula.” Willem Dafoe plays a professor in the film while Bill Skarsgård returns to horror once again, this time playing the villainous vampire.
“Longlegs”
Up until Jan. 30, little was known about NEON’s 2024 horror flick. Still its 36-second teaser trailer fostered an eager audience. After its title, poster, cast and trailer were released, viewers can now expect a crime thriller starring Nicolas Cage and Maika Monroe.
“Cuckoo,” “Weapons” and “Your Monster,” as well as “Late Night with the Devil” and “Vermines” (both of which are awaiting a theatrical release in the U.S.), are five more films that horror fans should be getting excited for this year.
The never-ending sequels
Like any other year of modern cinema, 2024 will have no shortage of sequels.
On the animation side of things, DreamWorks and Disney have “Kung-Fu Panda 4” and “Inside Out 2” as two of their biggest releases of the year. “Kung-Fu Panda 4” will see the beloved Jack Black return as Po in what is rumored to be the start of a new series of Kung-Fu Panda films.
“Inside Out 2” will look to build off of its remarkably effective portrayal of adolescent life with the introduction of a new emotion to the cast: anxiety (Maya Hawke).
Alongside the world of animation, the Mad Max universe will expand with the release of its fifth film: “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.” A prequel to the most recent 2015 installment of the series, “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Furiosa” will tell the story of the titular character, as portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy.
In the superhero world, DC fans can expect the return of Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker in “Joker: Folie à Deux.” Although Todd Phillips’ 2019 “Joker” was originally set to be a stand-alone film, this Joker’s story will be continued with the introduction of pop icon Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” “Deadpool 3,” “Despicable Me 4,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Gladiator 2” and “Mufasa: The Lion King” are some other sequels to keep an eye out for.
So far, 2024 seems to be shaping up quite nicely in a cinematic sense. These films, and countless others, will hopefully produce another year of entertainment to keep us all sane.
This article was edited by Bailey Hobbs, Sara Winick and Abigail Pritchard. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Isabelle Kravis and Charlie Mennuti.
