There’s A Lot To Look Forward To At The Movies In 2024 - Opinion
From Shane Conto
2023 turned out to be a pretty strong year for film, right? The likes of Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan created the most important films of their career and showed why they are two of the best filmmakers working today. We all got to experience a film like Barbie that took the film world by storm. There were two animated films that pushed the whole medium to a new level with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and The Boy and the Heron. Even with great adversity with the workers strikes, this year still delivered some great work. But that just means that there is even more to be excited about in 2024.
Why is 2024 already going to be different from most recent years? There is going to be a large vacuum with the MCU only having one theatrical entry and DC taking a year to build up to the newly launched DCU (except for the completely different and strange musical sequel to Joker). Deadpool 3 will certainly be huge but it is Sony who will define the year in comic book adaptations. I personally don’t see much potential in their offerings but it does open the door for other big science fiction and fantasy films to take center stage. It has been years since non-comic book films have been the largest films coming out. We will have to see how those films shake out.
With that being said, what are those films gearing up to take the spotlight in 2024? There seems to be three that will make big splashes and take a stranglehold on science fiction. Dune Part Two is the obvious frontrunner with all the buzz in the world circling it. Not only was it already supposed to come up with increases that anticipation but it is the follow-up to a large scale awards darling with great cultural pedigree. A crazy stacked cast and the grand scale of its story makes it a must see especially in a theater. Dr. George Miller returns to the Wasteland and will be dragging us all along with him. When that trailer dropped for Furiosa, some got triggered and the excitement has exponentially grown. This film looks just as bonkers as Fury Road which is incredibly exciting. Coming out the same day as Furiosa is Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. I was ready for this franchise to be over… until I saw that trailer that looks like a big and interesting evolution of the franchise.
Will 2024 be defined as a year for directors to shine? You have a haunting remake waiting at the end of the year from folk horror auteur, Robert Eggers, in Nosferatu. We have Eggers reputation and some stills and that is plenty to get the hype on high. Ti West grabbed everyone’s attention with his one-two punch of X and Pearl. Guess what? We are getting our third entry in this surprise hit horror franchise, Maxxxine. Jeff Nichols has made some great films that capture the grass roots of America and now he is taking audiences out on the highway with his The Bikeriders. Richard Linklater is shaking up his approach with a new hitman film, Hit Man, starring the ever charismatic Glen Powell. Alex Garland is taking on a hornet’s nest of a story with Civil War that could be a masterpiece that hits incredibly close to home (or a train wreck that no one wants to see…but the jury is out). Luca Guadagnino finally gets to show his new tennis erotic drama to the world Challengers. There are plenty more as well so here is to hoping these directors get a chance to really shine in 2024.
Do you like action? There are some crazy new flicks coming your way with plenty of range. We are going to see giant monsters doing their giant monster things in Godzilla x Kong. That trailer certainly made that film look like a giant monster mash of an action thrill ride. The world of John Wick grows this year after the beautiful and epic swan song of John Wick Chapter 4 last year. Here is hoping that the Ballerina can capture the same spark with Ana de Armas leading the way and Len Wiseman at the helm. Former John Wick director David Leitch has The Fall Guy on the horizon that looks like a big scale studio action flick filled with Ryan Gosling charisma. Will Smith is back in the spotlight this summer too with a return for Bad Boys 4. If you enjoy those action comedies, Eddie Murphy is even returning to his classic role in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.
These are just a few big areas of excitement going into 2024. If that is just a few… sounds like a great year, right? We even have Kung Fu Panda 4 and Inside Out 2 to look forward to! We will already have The Book of Clarence and Mean Girls before the first month is up. There are so many (hopefully) great films to check out this year. For all those movie fans out there, we will hopefully eating good this year.
