Who knows what 2023 will end up holding for movies, but to start the new year at least, the industry is in a better spot than it was this time last year. Studios are seemingly less jumpy to actually put stuff in theaters as evidenced by the January-April slate that has significantly less dead space and more notable titles (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, John Wick: Chapter 4 and Creed III are among the headliners) than the same period a year ago as well as multiple films that were initially intended for streaming that have pivoted to theatrical (House Party, Magic Mike's Last Dance, Evil Dead Rise). Will this steadier stream of new titles translate into a flood of quality titles? I hope so because the more well-received projects enter theaters, the better business will be and any success they enjoy these days is worthy of celebration.
The streaming slate, on the other hand, is pretty much completely unsettled per usual with Netflix and Amazon continuing to not reveal their early year slates past January for reasons that remains a complete mystery (maybe they just don't care about what they put out until May?) Right now, the shining stars of their lineups are You People-the directorial debut from Kenya Barris that stars a splashy ensemble topped by Jonah Hill, Eddie Murphy and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and Shotgun Wedding-a romantic action comedy starring Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel and Jennifer Coolidge that was originally slated to be released theatrically last summer before the cash-strapped Lionsgate sold off its US rights to Prime Video. Long-in-the-can titles such as They Cloned Tyrone, Reptile, We Have a Ghost, The Mothership and Somebody I Used to Know all feel like strong possibilities to surface at some point in the latter three months of the year's inaugural quarter but considering how long these services hold off on releasing certain titles, this expectation could easily prove to be mostly or completely wrong.
Here are the 10 titles from the batch of titles currently slated for release in January-April that I'm most looking forward to watching.
10.Infinity Pool (January 27):
While I felt that he left some meat on the bone with his last film (2020's Possessor), Brandon Cronenberg has a gift for coming up with fascinating, outside the box concepts and Mia Goth is on such a tear in the horror/thriller space recently that I will get any excited about any genre projects she appears in.
9.M3GAN (January 6):
Akela Cooper proved herself to be a savant of writing campy horror with Malignant and making a movie about a killer doll for the TikTok generation presents her with the ideal canvas to paint another unhinged, hilarious masterpiece. Real shame this isn't rated R though.
8.Knock at the Cabin (February 3):
As predictably erratic as the quality of his films are, M. Night Shyamalan's movies are almost always interesting and this thriller about a cult (Dave Bautista, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Rupert Grint, Abby Quinn) who breaks into the cabin where a family (Jonathan Groff, Ben Alridge, Kristen Cui) is vacationing and demands for one of them to sacrifice their life in order to prevent the apocalypse from happening looks like it could be one of his hits.
7.The Covenant (April 21):
The "fuck it, I'm just going to have fun" era continues for Jake Gyllenhaal as he teams up with Guy Ritchie for an action flick about an Afghan interpreter (Dar Salim) tasked with carrying an injured solider (Gyllenhaal) to safety. It sounds like it's going to be more Wrath of Man than Snatch, but it'll likely be a good time regardless.
6.Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (March 31):
I've never played Dungeons and Dragons nor do I care to, but the latest movie adaptation looks super entertaining and I'm really curious to see how John Frances Daley and Jonathan Goldstein handle a blockbuster after they directed the hell out of Game Night.
5.Renfield (April 14):
Nicolas Cage playing Dracula in a comedy action horror movie is something that seems almost too be good to true. Fingers crossed that the rest of Renfield can live up to the excellence of whatever madness Cage decided to cook up for this performance.
4.Cocaine Bear (February 24):
There's something beautifully poetic about Ray Liotta's final prominent film role being an 80's drug kingpin in a purposefully over-the-top project about a grizzly bear eating a bunch of cocaine, becoming super aggressive and going on a killing spree in the woods of Georgia. Having a great ensemble (Keri Russell, O'Shea Jackson Jr, Alden Ehrenreich, Isaiah Whitlock Jr., Margo Martindale, Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and a director in Elizabeth Banks that has an extensive comedy background alongside the late iconic character actor only increases the odds of Cocaine Bear being B-movie bliss.
3.Scream VI (March 10):
Scream 2022 proved that Tyler Gilett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin could honor Wes Craven's legacy while also making Scream into their own thing. Seeing where they take the series next-especially in a setting that's as massive as New York City with a presumed dead character from the past (Hayden Panettiere's Kirby Reed from Scream 4)-is going to be very exciting.
2.Creed III (March 3):
Severing ties with the legacy of the Rocky franchise feels like the next logical progression for the Creed films and making Creed III a film about Adonis' past coming back to haunt him seems like an excellent way to do just that. The reported high scores from test audiences and potential for a spectacular antagonist turn from ascending star Jonathan Majors as the former best friend of Adonis who turns his world upside down only further elevates the pre-release hype for Michael B. Jordan's directorial debut.
1.John Wick: Chapter 4 (March 24):
The gold standard for Hollywood action movies is finally back after a longer-than-expected 4-year hiatus and this time Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Sanada, Bill Skarsgard, Clancy Brown, Shamier Anderson Scott Adkins and Rina Sawayama are joining the party as Mr. Wick travels overseas after being left for dead by his longtime friend/mentor Winston (Ian McShane) at the end of the previous film. Although having several behind-the-scenes franchise regulars including writer Derek Kolstad, stunt/fight coordinator Jonathan Eusebio and 2nd unit director Darrin Prescott be absent from this one makes me a little bit nervous that John Wick: Chapter 4 could mark a regression for this absurdly consistent franchise, I have confidence in Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves' ability to advance John Wick's fascinating mythology and deliver some absolutely breathtaking action sequences.
Also Plan on Seeing:
House Party (January 13)
Plane (January 13)
Missing (January 20)
When You Finish Saving the World (January 20)
Shotgun Wedding (January 27)
You People (January 27)
Magic Mike's Last Dance (February 10)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (February 17)
Inside (March 10)
65 (March 17)
Shazam! Fury of the Gods (March 17)
Champions (March 24)
Chevalier (April 7)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (April 7)
Mafia Mamma (April 14)
Quasi (April 20)
The 2022 Films That Didn't Release in My Area Until 2023 (Women Talking, A Man Called Otto, The Son, Alice, Darling, Return to Seoul, Broker, Close)
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