2022 is nearly over, which not only means that now is the best time to look back at the various films and TV shows that this year produced, but it’s also time for viewers to start looking ahead at what Hollywood is set to release next year. Fortunately, while there are still plenty of titles that have yet to be officially announced or dated, 2023 already promises to be another memorable year. In fact, from its handful of exciting franchise sequels to its equal number of prestige, auteur-made dramas, 2023’s release slate is shaping up to be refreshingly interesting and varied.
Earlier this week, we released our list of the 10 most anticipated TV shows that viewers can look forward to in 2023. Now, with only a few more days remaining in 2022, here are our 10 most anticipated movies of 2023.
John Wick: Chapter 4 — March 24, 2023
There aren’t many franchises that have evolved in as many interesting ways as the John Wick series. What started out as a fairly straightforward 2014 revenge film about a retired hitman has grown into a saga about an intricate, labyrinthine underground world of spies, assassins, and secret royalty. It’s a testament to the quality of the John Wick franchise, though, that its focus has never drifted too far away from Keanu Reeves’ central agent of violence.
Picking up where the franchise’s bold third installment left off, John Wick: Chapter 4 promises to continue its eponymous assassin’s complicated story while also giving Reeves the chance to face off against action movie legends like Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Scott Adkins. If it wasn’t for one other entry on this list, this March title would easily rank as 2023’s most promising action movie.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — June 2, 2023
2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse swung in out of nowhere and swiftly redefined viewers’ expectations for both superhero and animated movies alike. The film’s experimental animation style, combined with its narrative focus on Miles Morales rather than Peter Parker, helped make it feel like a genuinely unique addition to an increasingly overcrowded genre. Now, it looks like the film’s long-awaited sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, will only further honor its predecessor’s fresh, playful spirit.
Following the events of Into the Spider-Verse, the new film will follow Miles Morales as he journeys further into the Spider-Verse with his close friend, Gwen Stacy. Together, the pair will not only find themselves coming face-to-face with more alternate Spider-Men throughout the film than they could have ever imagined, but they’ll also have to fight to find a way to save every universe from what has so far only been described as “a mysterious new villain.”
Asteroid City — June 16, 2023
Wes Anderson has become so well-respected and beloved by both cinephiles and film critics alike that every film he releases is treated like an event. His next film, Asteroid City, doesn’t seem like it’ll break that tradition, either. The new coming-of-age film boasts what might be the most impressive ensemble that Anderson has ever assembled on-screen, which fans of his work will know is a major compliment.
In addition to Tom Hanks and Tilda Swinton, the film’s cast also includes Adrien Brody, Margot Robbie, Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Cranston, Jeff Goldblum, Jeffrey Wright, Maya Hawke, Edward Norton, The Whale‘s Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, and several others. The film, which was shot in Spain, will follow a group of students and parents as they gather together in a 1950s American desert town to participate in a “Junior Stargazer convention.”
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny — June 30, 2023
Coming 15 years after the immensely disappointing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it’s impossible to say whether or not 2023’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will actually be as good as fans want it to be. However, even though the new film is the first Indiana Jones adventure that wasn’t directed by Steven Spielberg, it still has a lot going for it. Not only does the new film star, among others, Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Antonio Banderas, and John Rhys-Davies, but it’s also directed by Logan and Ford v. Ferrari filmmaker James Mangold.
In recent years, Mangold has emerged as one of Hollywood’s more reliable and distinct studio directors. That doesn’t, of course, automatically mean he’ll be able to recapture the same spirit and heart present in Spielberg’s original Indiana Jones films. Either way, the film’s ultimate quality is of little importance right now. After all, a new Indiana Jones movie starring Harrison Ford was always going to nab a spot on this list.
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One — July 14, 2023
There’s only one upcoming Hollywood action film that holds more promise than John Wick: Chapter 4, and it’s Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One. Over the course of the past 20 years or so, the Mission: Impossible franchise has slowly become one of Hollywood’s most reliable, consistently entertaining film series. In 2018, the franchise even released Mission: Impossible — Fallout, which is considered by many to be the series’ best installment to date.
Now, Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie have once again reteamed for Dead Reckoning, Part One. Very little is known about the plot of the new film, but McQuarrie and Cruise have earned their place in recent years as one of Hollywood’s greatest director-actor duos, and it doesn’t look like Dead Reckoning will threaten their position in any way. As a matter of fact, the film is somehow already shaping up to be just as massive and death-defying as 2018’s Mission: Impossible — Fallout.
Oppenheimer — July 21, 2023
Oppenheimer, the 12th feature film from Dunkirk and The Dark Knight filmmaker Christopher Nolan, is set to hit theaters next summer. The film will, much like Dunkirk, explore one of the most pivotal moments of the Second World War. Starring Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Nolan’s latest feature will follow its eponymous physicist as he leads the Manhattan Project’s Los Alamos Laboratory on a journey that inevitably results in the creation of the atomic bomb.
The early trailers for Oppenheimer have sold it as a massive psychological thriller — one that blends the Manhattan Project’s infamous experiments with fiery, nightmarish images of the destruction that atom bombs have the capability to leave in their wake. The film, in other words, seems to be Nolan’s latest attempt to combine awe-inspiring spectacle with grounded, real-life science. In addition to Murphy, Oppenheimer’s stacked ensemble cast also includes Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., Kenneth Branagh, Gary Oldman, and a number of other recognizable performers.
Barbie — July 21, 2023
Few could have predicted that a film based on Mattel’s Barbie toy brand would rank firmly as one of the most promising movies of 2023. Nonetheless, here we are. A few months after a handful of wild set photos from the film’s production set the internet ablaze, Warner Bros. released a trailer for Barbie in December that turned out to be just as playful and zany as the movie’s countless internet spectators had hoped it’d be.
Right now, very few details about the plot of the Greta Gerwig-directed film have been released. However, its pastel-centric color palette and obviously self-aware attitude have already made Barbie out to be 2023’s most promising studio comedy. Much like Oppenheimer, which also hits theaters on July 21, 2023, Barbie boasts an impressive screen ensemble, too. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling lead the film as Barbie and Ken, respectively, while Will Ferrell, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Emma Mackey, Michael Cera, Simu Liu, Issa Rae, and Ncuti Gatwa round out its supporting cast.
Dune: Part Two — November 3, 2023
Dune: Part Two also counts a handful of notable newcomers among its cast, including Elvis breakout star Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, and Léa Seydoux. Considering the talent of those actors, there’s no reason to believe right now that Dune: Part Two won’t be able to bring its predecessor’s story to an exciting and satisfying conclusion. There aren’t, in other words, many other 2023 blockbusters that seem as promising right now as Dune: Part Two.
Killers of the Flower Moon — TBA
While no release date has been officially set yet for Killers of the Flower Moon, Apple TV+ has previously teased that the film will be released sometime in 2023. Taking that into account, along with the caliber of talent involved in the film, there’s simply no reason not to include this promising crime thriller on this list.
Not only is the new film the first that Goodfellas and Taxi Driver director Martin Scorsese has made since 2019’s The Irishman, but it’s also set to reunite Scorsese with his two most frequent on-screen collaborators, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. The film’s all-star cast also includes Jesse Plemons, Lily Gladstone, Brendan Fraser, John Lithgow, and several others. Based on David Grann’s 2017 novel of the same name, the film will explore the true story behind a series of murders that plagued a Native American tribe in 1920s Oklahoma, as well as the FBI’s real-life investigation into the crimes.
Beau is Afraid — TBA
Coming off the successes of both Hereditary and Midsommar, Aster’s third film was always going to land itself on a list like this. Fortunately, the few details that have been released about Beau is Afraid, along with its creepy, uncanny first poster (part of which is pictured above), all suggest that it’ll be just as unconventional and odd as anything Aster has ever made. That alone seems like reason enough to get excited for Beau is Afraid.
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