After taking a pandemic-sized hit in the past couple of years the global box
office is set to bounce back in a big way in 2022. Gold Class, here we come.
Audiences will be treated to a popcorn spectacular with the return of some of cinema’s biggest franchises for sequels, prequels, spin-offs, reboots and more.
Expect dinosaurs, aliens and superheroes. Lots of superheroes.
Scream
The big news in this slasher sequel is that it will be the first not to be directed by horror legend Wes Craven. He died in 2015 and will be replaced by horror aficionados Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet. Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette have somehow managed to make it this far unscathed and will all return for more. Surely at least one of them is going to end up bumped off by whoever is wearing the Ghostface mask this time around, although with the reboot in full effect there will be a host of new teens to race around and probably the franchise’s usual cultural references and in-jokes to follow as well.
Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.
Release: January.
Unchartered
Despite being one of the best-selling video games series of all time Unchartered doesn’t have the same crossover appeal of a Sonic, Mario or Pac-Man. That could change when this action adventure film with Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg and Sophia Ali hits the big screen. Anyone new to the series can look forward to treasure hunts, globe-trotting adventures and espionage thrills in the mould of Indiana Jones and Lara Croft.
Director: Ruben Fleischer.
Release: February.
Death on the Nile
Amid the swathe of big-budget superhero movies there is something comforting about an Agatha Christie adaptation still being a cinematic draw. She might be the biggest-selling fiction author of all time, but the small scale plot-driven tales are low key. After 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express bagged $350m at the box office this was quickly rushed into production. Branagh directs himself as Poirot again and is joined in the ensemble whodunit cast by a mix of Britcom stars (Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Russell Brand) and Hollywood glamour (Annette Benning, Gal Gadot).
Director: Kenneth Branagh.
Release: February.
Turning Red
Heart-warming animation specialists Pixar have a busy year ahead what with Toy Story spin-off Lightyear on the release schedule. For the studio that brought us original one-offs Inside Out, Wall-E, Soul, Brave, Up and Onward, however, we’re more interested in this tale about the difficulty of adolescence. Why? Because it is about a confident and studious 13-year-old girl who poofs into a giant red panda every time her emotions get the better of her. We already know we’re going to be hit hard in the feels.
Director: Domee Shi.
Release: March.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Rumours abound that we’ll get a glimpse at magical communities in China and Bhutan as well as more Potterverse back story in America and China in the third part of the prequel spin-off. Expect more enchanting new creatures, a glimpse at Jude Law’s young Dumbledore and Mads Mikkelsen stepping in to replace the dropped Johnny Depp as Grindlewald.
Director: David Yates.
Release: April.
Top Gun: Maverick
Flags, flight suits, sunglasses and testosterone at the ready, because ’80s call-backs and a thumping soundtrack are about to go supersonic with the return of one of the world’s greatest action stars in his most iconic role as Tom Cruise returns as Maverick. You can be sure that in the 30-something years he has been away he has not learned to do things by the book, even if in the long-awaited sequel (these planes have been delayed by production problems) Maverick has become an instructor to the next generation of pilots.
Director: Joseph Kosinski.
Release: May.
Elvis
Take the visual genius and flair for grandeur of the director of Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge! and The Great Gatsby and point it at the man who made hip wiggling and jewel-encrusted jumpsuits fashionable and this has all the ingredients to be the most colourful movie of the year. Baz Luhrmann’s take on a musical biopic based on the life of the king of rock and roll sounds like fantasy filmmaking. Tom Hanks will be dependable as Colonel Tom Parker, but all eyes will be on Austin Butler’s Elvis.
Director: Baz Luhrmann.
Release: June.
Jurassic World: Dominion
Of all these films, this is the one we want to enjoy the most. Because dinosaurs. The last outing was the first one when our love of the series started to waver and then we were shaken by crazy internet rumours about a Fast and Furious crossover. So it is with some relief that we note Sam Neil, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum will appear alongside newer franchisees Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, as dinos and humans learn to live side-by-side.
Director: Colin Trevorrow.
Release: June.
Mission: Impossible 7
As if Tom Cruise getting in the Top Gun cockpit was not exciting enough, he has been into space to film stunts for the seventh instalment of the double-crossed undercover spies saving the world franchise. We’re as excited to see the latest version of Ethan Hunt’s hair as much as what might be the best in the business set-piece stunts, techy banter with the crew (Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Rebecca Ferguson all return) and big reveal plot twists.
Director: Christopher McQuarrie.
Release: September.
Avatar 2
This is the big one. More than a decade in the making, the follow-up to the highest grossing film of all time will finally be on the screen. This is not one to wait on see on your phone later on, it will be enormous in every sense, with director James Cameron bringing back most of the original cast, inventing entirely new shooting technologies and making things even more difficult for himself by deciding to set large parts of the film underwater and simultaneously shooting a significant percentage of the next two films in the franchise at the same time.
Directors: James Cameron.
Release: December.
It’s a lot, right? And we didn’t even mention the next instalments of Sesame Street, Downton Abbey, Sonic the Hedgehog, Legally Blonde, John Wick, Toy Story, Transformers, Minions, Halloween and Paranormal Activity movies, too. There might even be some original movies along the way, as well…
The Marvel movies
We make it a total of five new instalments to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (plus whatever is happening on Disney+). Let’s keep this simple, Black Panther (Wakanda Forever, November), Thor (Love and Thunder, July) and Doctor Strange (Multiverse of Madness, May) are all back for whatever instalment on the complicated timeline they’re currently on.
Fans of each will find more of what they love about the contrasting characters, but most notable is that Doctor Strange will be directed by returning-to-the-genre Sam Raimi.
In the Venn diagram between Spiderman and Doctor Strange falls the Into the Spider-verse sequel (October) which will push the realms of imagination of writers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (the geniuses behind Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and the Lego Movies).
In terms of original/new introductions it is left to Morbius (January) the Marvel vampire who will be played by Jared Leto and hunted down by Tyrese Gibson. Expect this to be similar in tone to the slightly darker Venom films than the usual sparkly Marvel movies.
The DC movies
Not to be outdone, the other superhero lot have at least three of their own films lined up for release as well. Aquaman is back (Lost Kingdom, December) to thrash about underwater and Ezra Miller’s The Flash (November) is time-travelling his way through the DC universe to meet various incarnations of Batman, with Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton both popping up.
To complicate matters even further we will have a first look at Robert Pattinson’s take on The Batman (March). Early previews suggest it could be the most emo caped crusader yet and it has Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz), Riddler (Paul Dano) and Penguin (Colin Farrell) to contend with as well as lots of eye shadow and leather pants.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson makes a long-overdue superhero film debut (we’re not counting Tooth Fairy) in Black Adam (July). Comic book fans will already know this is a spin-off of the popular Shazam! and no doubt be looking forward to seeing Doctor Fate, Cyclone, Hawkman and Atom Smasher don their costumes. Because there aren’t enough superheroes already, right?
If you think so then you might want to look away for DC League of Super-Pets (May). It is about Superman and Batman’s dogs (Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson again) fighting crime and supervillains. No, we’re not kidding.
