The production and release of several movies were delayed this year due to the ongoing strikes. But in 2024, things can move full steam ahead. From big-name musicals like Mean Girls, Joker: Folie a Deux and Wicked: Part One to romantic dramas and thrillers like Challengers and Love Lies Bleeding, here are the most anticipated films of 2024:
Mean Girls
Directed by: Arturo Perez Jr., Samantha Jayne
Starring: Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auliʻi Cravalho, Bebe Wood, Jaquel Spivey, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, Jenna Fischer, Jon Hamm, Ashley Park
Premieres: January 12, 2024
Avantika plays Karen Shetty, Angourie Rice plays Cady Heron, Renee Rapp plays Regina George and Bebe Wood plays Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls
Jojo Whilden/Paramount © 2023 Paramount Pictures
We’re all exhausted by reboot mania, but the new Mean Girls movie isn’t actually a direct remake of Tina Fey’s classic 2004 comedy starring Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams. Though it’s not clear from the marketing, this is actually an adaptation of the stage musical Mean Girls, which itself was an adaptation of the film made for modern times. You can still expect Regina George (Renée Rapp) to be running North Shore High School, but she’ll be belting out a few tunes along the way.
How to Have Sex
Directed by: Molly Manning Walker
Starring: Mia McKenna-Bruce, Lara Peake, Samuel Bottomley, Shaun Thomas, Enva Lewis and Laura Ambler
Premieres: February 2, 2024
Mia McKenna-Bruce in How to Have Sex
IMDB
While Walker’s feature debut covers much of the ground many coming-of-age films do with a story about three British teenage girls spending a summer drinking, clubbing, and hooking up, it’s already been lauded for its authentic depiction of these rites of passages, winning the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes this year.
Lisa Frankenstein
Directed by: Zelda Williams
Starring: Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse
Premieres: February 9, 2024
Kathryn Newton stars as Lisa Swallows in Lisa Frankenstein
Michele K. Short/Focus Features
Written by Diablo Cody (Juno), this 1989-set horror comedy film stars Kathryn Newton as “a misunderstood teenage Goth girl named Lisa Swallows, who reanimates a handsome corpse from the Victorian era (Cole Sprouse) during a lightning storm and starts to rebuild him into the man of her dreams by using a broken tanning machine in her garage. After going through a playfully horrific transformation, the romantic duo embarks on a murderous journey to find true love, happiness, and a few missing body parts along the way.”
Madame Web
Directed by: S.J. Clarkson
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced, Tahar Rahim, Emma Roberts, Mike Epps, Adam Scott, and Zosia Mamet
Premieres: February 14, 2024
Dakota Johnson in Madame Web
IMDB
The Spider-Man universe keeps on giving; in this case, Dakota Johnson stars as clairvoyant Madame Web in a female-centered, action-packed film whose cast also include Sydney Sweeney and Zosia Mamet.
Drive-Away Dolls
Directed by: Ethan Coen
Starring: Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, Pedro Pascal, Bill Camp, Matt Damon, Joey Slotnick
Premieres: February 23, 2024
Margaret Qually and Geraldine Viswanathan in Drive Away Dolls
Courtesy of Working Title / Focus Features
Ethan Coen makes his solo directorial debut with comedy Drive Away Dolls. Per its description, the film follows Jamie (Margaret Qualley), an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.
Dune: Part Two
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård
Premieres: March 1, 2024
Timothée Chalamet in Dune: Part Two
Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
The second installment of Denis Villeneuve’s epic space saga will be even longer than the first—which itself was Villeneuve’s longest film to date. That means even more Timmy + Zendaya, more Florence Pugh, more blue-eyed space adventures and yes, more space worms.
Love Lies Bleeding
Directed by: Rose Glass
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian, Jena Malone, Anna Baryshnikov, Dave Franco and Ed Harris
Premieres: March 8, 2024
Katy O’Brian and Kristen Stewart in Love Lies Bleeding
A24
Kristen Stewart leads this lesbian bodybuilder crime drama—an electric, noir-feeling thriller involving car chases, gym rats, and lots and lots of guns.
Mickey 17
Directed by: Bong Joon-ho
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo, Steven Yeun
Premieres: March 29, 2024
Robert Pattinson in Mickey 17
IMDB
South Korean director Bong Joon-ho follows up his Academy Award-winning film Parasite with this adaptation of the sci-fi novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton. Robert Pattinson stars as a disposable employee—one whose body is regenerated with previous memories intact every time he dies—on a mission to colonize a distant world.
Challengers
Directed by: Luca Guadagnino
Starring: Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, Mike Faist
Premieres: April 26, 2024
Mike Faist, Zendaya and Josh O’Connor in Challengers
Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures
Zendaya stars in Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, a sexy tennis drama which centers on the relationships between between a tennis prodigy-turned-coach (Zendaya), her husband, who is currently a struggling former champion (Mike Faist) and his former best friend (Josh O’Connor)—who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend.
Civil War
Directed by: Alex Garland
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jesse Plemons, Nick Offerman
Premieres: April 26, 2024
Kirsten Dunst in Civil War
IMDB
Alex Garland’s (Ex Machina, Annihilation) fourth film sees the United States engaged in civil war, with married couple Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons leading the cast. Per a description, the provocative film charts a “race to the White House in a near-future America balanced on the razor’s edge.”
Back to Black
Directed by: Sam Taylor-Johnson
Starring: Marisa Abela, Jack O’Connell, Lesley Manville, Eddie Marsan
Premieres: May 10, 2024
Marisa Abela in Back to Black
Courtesy of Dean Rogers/Focus Features
Although early responses to first looks at the film haven’t been all positive, Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black is certainly highly anticipated. Industry star Marisa Abela will portray the late singer, who died at age 27 in 2011. Notably, the film has the full support of the Amy Winehouse estate.
The Bikeriders
Directed by: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, Norman Reedus, Boyd Holbrook
Premieres: June 21, 2024
Austin Butler in The Bikeriders
IMDB
Jeff Nichols’s period drama is inspired by the 1967 photobook of the same name, and chronicles the rise of a Chicago motorcycle club over the course of a decade, through the lens of its members.
Joker: Folie á Deux
Directed by: Todd Phillips
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Zazie Beetz, Catherine Keener, and Jacob Lofland
Premieres: October 4, 2024
Lady Gaga in Joker: Folie à Deux
IMDB
Director Todd Phillips is behind the follow-up to the massively successful film that earned Joaquin Phoenix the Best Actor Oscar for his take on Batman villain Joker. This time, Lady Gaga will join Phoenix as his love interest Harley Quinn—and will bring to life the most notable aspect of an already notable project, which is that it’s also a musical.
Wicked: Part One
Directed by: Jon M. Chu
Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Premieres: November 27, 2024
Although on-set drama has been overshadowing its release, part one of the legendary Broadway musical is finally coming to the big screen. Director Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights) will bring audiences to Oz, with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande playing Elphaba and Glinda, respectively.
Nosferatu
Directed by: Robert Eggers
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe
Premieres: December 25, 2024
Lily-Rose Depp in Nosferatu
Courtesy of Focus Features
Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse) follows up his action epic The Northman with a longtime passion project—the remake of the classic 1922 vampire film of the same name. The film follows a young woman (Lily-Rose Depp) and the vampire (Bill Skarsgård) who is obsessed with her.
The Idea of You
Directed by: Michael Showalter
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Nicholas Galitzine
Premieres: TBD 2024
Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine in The Idea of You
Prime Video
An adaptation of Robinne Lee’s novel of the same name, The Idea of You stars Anne Hathaway as a 40-year-old mother who has a romance with the 24-year-old singer (Nicholas Galitzine, in a role based on Harry Styles) of her 16-year-old daughter’s favorite band after they meet at Coachella. Enough said.
Problemista
Directed by: Julio Torres
Starring: Julio Torres, Tilda Swinton, RZA, Isabella Rossellini, Larry Owens, Greta Lee
Premieres: TBD 2024
Julio Torres and Tilda Swinton in Problemista
IMDB
Problemista is a surrealist comedy written, directed, starring, and co-produced by Julio Torres (Los Espookys). Torres plays Alejandro, an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador, struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. As time on his work visa runs out, a job assisting an erratic art-world outcast (Tilda Swinton) becomes his only hope to stay in the country and realize his dream.