Let's face it gang, 2024 is probably not going to be one of the finest movie years ever. The collateral damage from the studio's decision to prolong the actors and writer's strikes has wreaked havoc on the release schedule to the point where nearly every movie on the calendar outside of the next 6-10 weeks or so has a legit threat to be delayed and several months (particularly in the backhalf of the year) barely have any scheduled releases at all. It's a pretty brutal, self-inflicted crisis for an industry that has just started to recover from its COVID losses over the past 18-24 months.
Even with the strong possibility of a barren, chaotic cinematic year on the horizon, there are still a number of intriguing titles that are currently set to release in 2024's opening period. From titles that got pushed back from the fall 2023 slate due to the strikes (Challengers, Dune: Part Two, Drive-Away Dolls, The Book of Clarence) to some long-gestating remakes/adaptations/biopics (Road House, Madame Web, Bob Marley: One Love) finally making their way to the screen to the always exciting hodgepodge of titles that could only be released during the early months of the year (Night Swim, The Beekeeper, I.S.S.), there's enough diversity in genres, budget, etc. among the pack to make up for the less steady stream of product. Here are the 10 movies I'm most excited to watch from January-April.
10.Road House (March 21):
Is remaking a transcendent piece of 80's B-action trash a possible recipe for disaster? No question. That being said, there is a realistic possibility that the pairing of Doug Liman and Jake Gyllenhaal have the deranged cheeseball juice required to bring the legend of the badass throat-ripping bouncer James Dalton to a new generation.
9.The Beekeeper (January 12):
January action movies are a beautiful breed and The Beekeeper looks like it could be the latest classic entry in this calendar-driven subgenre. Jason Statham plays a literal beekeeper/retired member of a covert assassin/spy group known as the Beekeepers who decides to break out his old skills after his neighbor (Phylicia Rashad) commits suicide after getting caught up in a phishing scam that leaves her bankrupt. The marketing has the look of a knowingly ridiculous B-revenge movie with Statham operating at the peak of his snarky tough guy powers and if that translates to the finished product, it'll be an early year highlight.
8.Civil War (April 26):
While this could easily prove to be a groan-worthy, tone-deaf disaster given its subject matter, I'm a big enough fan of Alex Garland's work to give it a shot.
7.Love Lies Bleeding (March 8):
A scuzzy crime thriller that features Kristen Stewart as a lesbian gym owner who enters a relationship with a mysterious bodybuilder (Katy O'Brian) and a wacky wig-wearing Ed Harris as her ruthless criminal father is a 10/10 sales pitch for me. A24's endorsement of Rose Glass' sophomore feature by having it debut at Sundance later this month only furthers ups my excitement level.
6.Challengers (April 26):
A seemingly pretty mainstream, romantic sports dramedy anchored by one of the biggest stars on the planet in Zendaya is a pretty huge departure from the rest of Luca Guadagnino's filmography and I'm very curious to see how he can adapt to a world that appears to be so far removed from his darker, sadder indie comfort zone.
5.Drive-Away Dolls (February 23):
Ethan Coen's first solo directorial effort looks a whole lot like the quirky crime comedies he's been regularly churning out with his brother Joel for the past 30+ years, which is totally fine by me-especially since he recruited a stellar cast that includes Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Colman Domingo, Beanie Feldstein and Pedro Pascal to partake in the goofy shenanigans.
4.Argylle (February 2):
Apple handed Matthew Vaughn $200 or so million to make an original globe-trotting spy action movie with one of the splashier large casts (Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O'Hara, John Cena, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, Sofia Boutella) we've seen assembled for a movie in recent memory. While I have some reservations about whether its goofy yet ambitious premise of a reclusive spy novelist (Howard) getting dragged into the real-life world of espionage will actually work, but I'm eager to see what an expert action craftsman like Vaughn cooked up with the biggest budget of his career regardless.
3.Mickey 17 (March 29):
If I were a gambling man, I would say that Warner Brothers is going to push Mickey 17 out of this portion of the calendar since there's no marketing out for it yet and the cash-strapped WB just released 3 movies during the holiday season and has the heavy-hitting trio of Dune Part Two, Godzilla x Kong and Furiosa currently lined up for March-May. But since it's still on the calendar as of today, I'll happily declare my excitement to see Bong Joon-ho to take on an ambitious sci-fi flick that boasts an absolutely loaded ensemble cast (Robert Pattinson, Steven Yeun, Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo) as his first project since Parasite.
2.Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (April 12):
Godzilla vs. Kong was the rock'em, sock'em monster battle royale that I'd been waiting forever to see and Adam Wingard's return to the director's chair along with the promise of Godzilla and Kong teaming up to fight together has me hopeful that a whole lot of massive popcorn entertainment magic will once again be on the menu.
1.Dune: Part Two (March 1):
Part One was a pretty damn impressive opening chapter to the Dune saga. If Denis Villeneuve can stick the landing on the bigger, more action-heavy second installment, Dune could very well go down as one of the greatest franchises in cinema history and further solidify the French Canadian filmmaker's burgeoning auteur status.
Also Plan on Seeing:
Self Reliance (January 3 theaters/January 12 streaming)
Night Swim (January 5)
The Book of Clarence (January 12)
Lift (January 12)
Mean Girls (January 12)
I.S.S. (January 19)
Miller's Girl (January 26)
The Underdoggs (January 26)
Bob Marley: One Love (February 14)
Madame Web (February 14)
Spaceman (March 1)
Ricky Stanicky (March 7)
Kung Fu Panda 4 (March 8)
The American Society of Magical Negroes (March 22)
Late Night with the Devil (March 22)
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (March 29)
Wicked Little Letters (March 29)
Rebel Moon-Part Two: The Scargiver (April 19)
The plethora of 2023 titles that didn't release in my area before the end of the year including All of Us Strangers, Origin and The Zone of Interest
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