Another year of moviegoing is upon us and 2023 already looks set to be the biggest year of films since before the pandemic.
Blockbusters are well and truly back this year, as 2023 will an embarrassment of big screen riches releasing all the way until Christmas. After a couple of shaky post-pandemic years, it’s safe to assume 2023 is when everything will return to normal.
Here are ten upcoming movies we’re excited for.
1. Barbie
We were already looking forward to Greta Gerwig’s oddball take on Barbie since we first saw all the behind-the-scenes photos last summer, but the 2001: A Space Odyssey-parodying teaser trailer has only taken that hype to new heights.
Much like The Lego Movie, this live action Barbie film appears to have more comic bite than you’d expect – call it a feature length toy commercial at your own peril.
It hits theaters on July 21, meaning it’ll make a fantastic double bill with the next movie on this list.
2. Oppenheimer
A new Christopher Nolan movie is always a gigantic event, but this one will be more explosive than most. Quite literally, as he avoided using CGI to replicate atomic bomb tests.
The director’s biopic of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer boasts an all-star cast led by Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, and Matt Damon. With that starry cast and awards-friendly subject matter, we have to wonder: will this be the next Best Picture winner?
We’ll find out when it arrives in theaters on July 21.
3. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
After singlehandedly saving blockbuster cinema with Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise is returning as Ethan Hunt for the franchise’s first two-part instalment.
This time, the star’s death-defying stunts are a bigger selling point than ever before as he pushes the boat out to new levels. How many other action movies would market themselves via a ten minute behind the scenes video featuring Cruise repeatedly driving a motorcycle off a cliff?
The movie arrives in theaters on July 14.
4. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
This year is packed with a ton of MCU adventures, from Ant-Man and The Marvels to the trilogy-closing Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3.
But our most anticipated superhero movie exists outside of this cinematic universe, as Miles Morales returns to our screens in this much-delayed sequel.
This time the multiverse will prove even more expansive than ever, as we get a whole host of new Spider-Men (including Oscar Isaac’s Spider-Man 2099), as well as the weirdest big screen foe yet: The Spot, voiced by Jason Schwartzman.
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse will hit our screens on June 2.
5. Dune: Part Two
Warner Bros. Pictures
The spice will flow once again this year as the epic second instalment in this sci-fi series aims to live up to the promise of the first.
Picking up exactly where that left off, this time around it’s a revenge drama, with Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) seeking vengeance on those who destroyed his family.
This will mean a showdown with Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha, while other newcomers will include Florence Pugh and Christopher Walken. It’s set to be the action-packed finale of every nerd’s dreams.
It’ll arrive in theaters on November 2.
6. John Wick: Chapter 4
After a four-year wait, John Wick is returning to our screens in an adventure that will further explore the lore surrounding the “high table” currently on his tail.
This globe-trotting instalment will see him venture all over the world, as he journeys to find new alliances in Europe to Japan that can save him before he’s taken out. Naturally, this will mean a lot of intense punch-em-ups.
What are you doing on March 24? Because we’re thinking he’s back.
7. Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny
Steven Spielberg is no longer in the director’s chair, but with Harrison Ford set to hang up the whip, this fifth Indiana Jones outing will be one to cherish.
This time we catch up with Indy in the late sixties for a story that takes place against the backdrop of the Space Race as we see our hero become uneasy about NASA hiring several former Nazis to help beat the Soviet Union.
One of these is Mads Mikkelsen’s villain, who sees this as an opportunity to make up for Germany’s humiliating war defeat.
Indiana Jones will be back on our screens on June 30.
8. Evil Dead Rise
The fifth instalment in the Evil Dead franchise leaves the cabin in the woods behind in favor of central Los Angeles, where the Book Of The Dead has been found in the bowels of a crowded apartment building. Carnage will likely ensue.
After 2013’s straightforward reboot, this looks set to revitalize the campy carnage of Sam Raimi’s original trilogy. We hope it’s as groovy as it looks and will find out if it is on April 21.
9. Killers Of The Flower Moon
AppleTV+
A new Martin Scorsese movie is always an event and his latest effort sees him tick a new genre off his filmmaking bucket list: the Western.
Adapted from the acclaimed 2017 non-fiction book of the same name, the film charts a series of murders in 1920s Oklahoma that led to the birth of the FBI.
Scorsese’s regular collaborators Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro lead a cast that also includes Jesse Plemons, Lily Gladstone, and Brendan Fraser.
No release date has been set, but AppleTV+ are aiming for it to premiere at Cannes in May, so we’re hoping it arrives on our screens shortly afterwards.
10. Wonka
Warner Bros. Pictures
Finally, we look ahead to the Christmas season which is when we’ll get a musical prequel to Roald Dahl’s beloved story Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, courtesy of Paddington 2 director Paul King.
This origin tale of a young Willy Wonka will see Timothée Chalamet don the famous hat – test audiences who have seen early footage seem to agree it’s as mouthwatering as a Wonka bar.
It’ll hit the big screen on December 15.
