The 10 most anticipated 2024 blockbusters that just might save moviegoing

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If 2023 was the year that Hollywood shut down, then 2024 will be the year in which audiences truly feel the effects of the now-settled strikes. Aside from the pandemic-era desert of, um, just a few years ago, the next 12 months of big-screen releases looks to be the most barren in modern history. But wait, it’s not all bad! There are still a handful – maybe even two handfuls! – of big, juicy, genuinely interesting blockbusters that might just save the day. Here are Hollywood’s best big-budget hopes – guaranteed to be superhero-free.

Dune: Part Two

If the sandworms finally align, this gigantic sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 sci-fi epic will come out in theatres this March, instead of its original berth of this past November. Lead Arakis rebels Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya will no doubt hit the publicity circuit hard now that they’re allowed to, as will new-to-the-franchise players Austin Butler, Léa Seydoux, Florence Pugh and Christopher Walken. (March 1, in theatres)

Mickey 17

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The last great thing to happen before the pandemic hit in 2020 was watching Bong Joon-ho win the Oscar for Parasite. Now, several years and existential crises later, the South Korean director is finally back with a new film – a high-concept sci-fi flick adapting Edward Ashton’s novel about an “expendable” clone (played by Robert Pattinson) who is sent to colonize a far-off ice planet. (March 29, in theatres)

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

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It was a case of severely unfortunate timing that the rather disappointing trailer for this new American Godzilla/Kong adventure came out the same week that Japan’s latest kaiju epic, the excellent throwback Godzilla Minus One, rocked North American audiences. But I still hold out hope for my favourite big beefy boys in their Hollywood incarnations, as they team up to fight some unknown threat in this sequel to the surprisingly solid 2021 rock-’em-sock-’em smash Godzilla vs. Kong. (April 12, in theatres)

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

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The greatest action movie ever made – that would be George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road – gets its long-in-the-works prequel with this wasteland epic starring Anya Taylor-Joy in the role Charlize Theron originated. Don’t expect quite as many assaultive pyrotechnics as Fury Road (Miller has gone on the record as saying this is not another series of extremely intense chase scenes), but so long as there’s sand, gas and vehicular mayhem, how can things possibly go wrong? (May 24, in theatres)

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

If you hate every ape you see, from chimpan-a to chimpan-z, then there’s another film to make a monkey out of thee. Yes, the ever-chugging Planet of the Apes series is getting a fresh reboot. Or perhaps it’s a sequel to the reboot? I’ve lost track, and so have you. But it doesn’t much matter so long as there’s ape-on-human battles and cute li’l primates exploring the world. (May 24, in theatres)

The Bikeriders

What’s been described by the few who saw it on the festival circuit this past fall as the “Goodfellas of the motorcycle world,” Jeff Nichols’s crime drama was seconds away from getting a Christmas-timed release before its original distributor pulled stakes. Now, the Tom Hardy/Austin Butler/Jodie Comer thriller will roar into theatres this summer, which is a better time to try to figure out just what Looney Tunes meets Marlon Brando accent Hardy is trying to pull off here. (June 21, in theatres)

Alien: Romulus

Proving the maxim that you can’t keep a good xenomorph down – which I’m sure is a maxim somewhere, even if it’s only the household of Ridley Scott – the Alien franchise is refreshing itself once again in this standalone outing from horror filmmaker Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe, the 2013 Evil Dead reboot). Not much is known about the plot, but, c’mon: Some stupid humans will encounter some hungry aliens, and that will be that. Among the fresh meat this time: Cailee Spaeny (who was excellent in Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla), Isabela Merced and David Jonsson. And no, I’m not sure who those other two are, either. But xenomorphs’s double set of jaws don’t discriminate! (Aug. 16, in theatres)

Beetlejuice 2

Easily the biggest question mark of the year is how Tim Burton might hope to pull off a sequel to his 1988 classic that doesn’t sully the unimpeachable reputation of the original. It seems impossible, and it probably is, but dang it, he’s going to try. As are original stars Michael Keaton, Catherine O’Hara and Winona Ryder. (I guess Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis were too busy?) Burton’s new muse, Wednesday star Jenna Ortega, is also along this time to tally any necessary bananas. (Sept. 6, in theatres)

Wolfs

Having once again satiated his desire to make extremely boring historical dramas for another year, George Clooney is back to working in front of the camera in this psychological thriller, and reuniting with his Ocean’s co-star Brad Pitt to boot. The pair star in the grammatically incorrect Wolfs as shadowy “fixers” – so, Clooney is back in his Michael Clayton wheelhouse – who end up competing for the same contract. Directed by Jon Watts, who just spent a decade or so making Spider-Man movies for Marvel and Sony, the new film should at the very least be better than Clooney’s The Boys in the Boat. It has to be. (Sept. 20, in theatres)

Gladiator 2

If you make it this far into the year and are still not entertained, then Ridley Scott (hi again) is heading back to the coliseum with another swords-and-sandal epic. Irish heartthrob Paul Mescal (Aftersun, All of Us Strangers) takes over fighting duties, alongside Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal and returning players Connie Nielsen, Djimon Hounsou and Derek Jacobi. Somewhere, Russell Crowe is happily wading through a field of wheat. (Nov. 22, in theatres)