Next year’s most unmissable films
This is my final column (stop cheering) and it’s also my first annual look ahead where I’ve had to consider which movies I’d actually pay to see.
The indignity! But, after 14 years of free tickets, at least it feels like I’m leaving the glittering world of movies in a better state than I found it.
Box-office figures have resumed an upward curve which was briefly flattened by a pandemic. Older cinemagoers are being catered for and Hollywood could finally be turning away from tired superhero franchises.
Here are the 10 movies most likely to make me open my wallet.
Happy New Year!
DUNE: PART TWO Out March 15
Director Denis Villeneuve learned from David Lynch’s overstuffed 1984 flop by covering only the first half of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel. When that sci-fi spectacular became one of the hits of 2021, Warner Brothers asked him for the second half.
Timothée Chalamet is joined by Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Christopher Walken and Léa Seydoux for a fight over the resourcerich planet of Arrakis.
BACK TO BLACK Out April 12
Rock biopics have been on a roll recently, with Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen) and Rocketman (Elton John) becoming award-laden hits.
Sam Taylor-johnson blazed a trail with Nowhere Boy, her 2009 film about John Lennon. She’s directing this drama about the rise and fall of Amy Winehouse. Marisa Abela (BBC drama Industry) plays the singer alongside Jack O’connell, Eddie Marsan and Lesley Manville.
THE FALL GUY Out May 2
As a child of the 80s, I was delighted to hear there was going to be a film based on Lee Majors’ TV stuntman. I became even more excited when I found out it would be directed by stuntman David Leitch, who co-directed the brilliant first John Wick flick. And I almost lost it when I learned it would be a tongue-in-cheek affair starring the very funny Ryan Gosling.
I just hope they keep the theme tune. An equally cheesy opening credit sequence would be a bonus.
FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA Out May 24
Veteran director George Miller taught young directors a lesson with 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, a spectacular and gloriously unhinged spin-off from his 1979 sci-fi classic.
His long overdue follow-up focuses on Furiosa, the one-handed hard nut played by an achingly cool Charlize Theron. Anya Taylor-joy, from Netflix chess drama The
Beetlejuice
Queen’s Gambit, plays a younger version of the heroine who is kidnapped and rises through the ranks of fascistic warlord Immortan Joe’s army.
THE BIKERIDERS Out June 21
A good 10 months after receiving rapturous reviews at the London Film Festival, Jeff Nichols’ biker gang drama roars into cinemas. Inspired by the 1968 photobook of the same name, the fictional story follows Tom Hardy’s Chicago trucker as he watches The Wild One on telly and sets up 1960s’ motorbike club The Vandals. Elvis star Austin Butler plays a bad boy and Jodie Comer narrates.
BEETLEJUICE 2 Out September 6
Tim Burton is set to beat Top Gun’s record for the longest gap between sequels by six months, with a follow-up to his iconic 1988 family comedy about a con-artist ghost. Michael Keaton returns in the title role, while Winona Ryder and
Catherine O’hara reprise their characters Lydia and Delia Deetz. Jenna Ortega joins the cast as Lydia’s daughter.
JOKER: FOLIE A DEUX Out October 4
Todd Phillips’ risky, gritty, adults-only film about Batman’s grinning nemesis was intended to be a one-off spin-off from Warner Brothers’ Justice League. But a massive box office return and a deserved Best Actor Oscar for Joaquin Phoenix gave Phillips the green light to hatch a nefarious follow-up. This one sounds even weirder. In Folie à Deux, he’s joined by Lady Gaga, who plays his love interest Harley Quinn. Apparently it’s “a musical thriller”.
GLADIATOR 2 Out November 22
A mere 24 years have passed since none of us were “not entertained” by Russell Crowe’s revenge-seeking gladiator. Director Ridley Scott proved he can still knock out a thrilling historical epic with Napoleon so hopes are high for the direct sequel to his Oscar-winning classic.
The story will reportedly revolve around a grown-up Lucius (played by man-of-themoment Paul Mescal), who has become emperor, and will see the return of Connie Nielsen as Lucilla and Djimon Hounsou as Juba.
There’s also a meaty role for Denzel Washington and a mysterious part played by Matt Lucas.
PADDINGTON IN PERU Out November 8
After directing this year’s festive hit Wonka, director Paul King steps aside for the marmalade-scoffing bear’s third big-screen adventure.
Newcomer Dougal Wilson takes charge as Paddington (still voiced by Ben Whishaw) returns to Peru to visit his Aunt Lucy, who now resides at the Home for Retired Bears. With the Brown family in tow, adventure ensues, somehow involving Antonio Banderas and an expedition through the Amazon rainforest.
ALTO KNIGHTS Out November 15
Rain Man and Tootsie director Barry Levinson rarely gets behind a camera these days so he must have seen something special in Nicholas Pileggi’s script. Pileggi wrote Goodfellas and the working title for this one was Wiseguys – a much-used word in Scorsese’s gangster classic. Robert De Niro takes on dual roles as rival 1950s mob bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello. The delayed release from February to awards season suggests there are Oscar hopes – and De Niro could be competing against himself.