If you feel like you are drowning in Barbie and Oppenheimer content, you’re not alone.
The marketing campaigns of two of this year’s biggest films, which will both be released in three days, have been undeniably successful. Not only does it seem like half of London has turned pink, but the same-day release of the two contrasting films has become a major talking point around both office water coolers and in Whatsapp groups: on Boppenheimer or Barbenheimer day (July 21), does one see Barbie or Oppenheimer first?
It’s been a lot. While some people are on board for all the Boppenheimer content, others are completely exhausted.
If that’s you, fear not. It’s all going to be over very soon. And happily, there are a tonne of other fantastic films coming up this year: from Martin Scorsese’s Twenties murder-drama, Killers of the Flower Moon, to Ridley Scott’s historical epic, Napoleon.
So hang tight, regular scheduling will commence soon. Here’s our pick of some of the biggest films coming this year.
The Creator (October 6)
British filmmaker Gareth Edwards, who made the 2016 Star Wars blockbuster, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, turns his attention to another space-focused project in The Creator. The film couldn’t be more topical: it tells the story of a future war where humans are battling AI. It’s the job of special agent Joshua (John David Washington) to track down The Creator – a programmer with the power to develop advanced AI that will wipe out humanity.
With Hans Zimmer composing the film’s score, and Edwards writing the screenplay alongside Chris Weitz (About a Boy, The Golden Compass, Pinocchio) The Creator is set to be one of the year’s most exciting releases. Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, Allison Janney and Ralph Ineson also star.
Killers of the Flower Moon (October 20)
Martin Scorsese’s latest project, Killers of the Flower Moon, is a whopping three-and-a-half-hour crime-drama set in Twenties Oklahoma, telling the story of the murders of dozens of Native Americans that took place in the state around the same time that oil was discovered on its land.
Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Ernest Burkhart, a war vet who goes to Oklahoma to meet his uncle William Hale (Robert De Niro), a cattleman and businessman, to try and find work. The crime drama, which has been written by Scorsese alongside Eric Roth – who also wrote Forrest Gump (1994), The Insider (1999), Munich (2005) and Dune (2021) – will also star Brendan Fraser, Jesse Plemons, John Lithgow, singer Jack White, Louis Cancelmi, Lily Gladstone and Tantoo Cardinal.
The early reviews have heaped praise on 80-year-old Scorsese: “Martin Scorsese has made an arresting masterpiece,” said The Standard. “This movie is bound to be controversial. And the genius who made it wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Pain Hustlers (October 27)
David Yates has spent the last 16 years on Harry Potter projects: first he directed the last four Harry Potter films, then he directed the three Fantastic Beasts Wizarding World prequel films. Now the director turns his talents to a very different kind of movie. Pain Hustlers is based on a 2018 New York Times Magazine article, and follows the story of high school dropout Liza Drake, who lands a new job which ends up drawing her into a far-reaching criminal conspiracy.
Emily Blunt plays Drake, while Chris Evans, Andy García, Catherine O’Hara, Jay Duplass and Brian d’Arcy James also star.
Dune: Part Two (November 3)
In 2021, Denis Villeneuve did what no director had been able to do before: he managed to successfully adapt Frank Herbert’s Sixties science fiction novel, Dune, for the silver screen.
With a cast that included Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Stellan Skarsgård, Josh Brolin, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem, Chang Chen, Charlotte Rampling and Dave Bautista, Villeneuve told the complicated story of the rise and fall of House Atreides, a noble family who has been asked by the Emperor to take over the running of Arrakis in lieu of the malevolent House Harkonnen. The film was a huge success, making $402 million at the Box Office.
This November the second chapter is released. Picking up from part one, now Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya’s characters, Paul and Chani, must grapple with their destiny as Paul adapts to his new life on the incredibly hazardous and inhospitable desert planet Arrakis.
The Killer (November 10)
David Fincher, the director behind Seven (1995), Fight Club (1999), Zodiac (2007), The Social Network (2010) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), is a master of the thriller genre, which means his next project, The Killer, a psychological action thriller starring Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton, is likely to be another winner.
The film, which is an adaptation of the French Nineties graphic novel series, has been written by Seven writer Andrew Kevin Walker. It will tell the story of an assassin who starts to have a crisis of conscience.
The Marvels (November 10)
The Marvels, the sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel, finally lands in cinemas this November. Brie Larson returns to play Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel and Samuel L. Jackson returns to play Nick Fury. Meanwhile, Teyonah Parris is Monica Rambeau, an astronaut working for Fury, and Iman Vellani‘s Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel also turns up.
It goes without saying that every time a Marvel film drops it becomes one of the major releases of the year, and The Marvels promises to be no different: Captain Marvel made $1.131 billion at the Box Office.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (November 17)
It’s been eight years since The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 was released, meaning that Hunger Games fans have been on absolute tenterhooks waiting for the release of the franchise’s next film. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which is based on Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins’ 2020 novel, is a spin-off of the original storyline, focusing on the earlier life of Coriolanus Snow, who will later become president. At this point in the story he’s 18 years old and is assigned to mentor tribute Lucy Gray Baird.
There’s an almost brand new cast, including Tom Blyth who will play Snow, Rachel Zegler as Baird, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Jason Schwartzman, Viola Davis and Fionnula Flanagan, but director Francis Lawrence, who has been behind the camera since 2013’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, returns to direct.
Napoleon (November 24)
Then next up is Ridley Scott’s latest epic, Napoleon, which will star Joaquin Phoenix as the French emperor. Napoleon will tell the story of Napoleon Bonaparte’s rise to power – battles and war strategy aplenty – while also focusing on his volatile relationship with his wife Empress Joséphine. Phoenix will play Napoleon, while Vanessa Kirby will play Joséphine.
The film looks like it’s going to be a cracker: it has been written by David Scarpa, who wrote The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) and All the Money in the World (2017). And if the trailer is anything to go by – think slow-motion battle scenes, cannon fire and explosions, raucous and angry (French) crowds, incredible costumes, exquisite sets (which include deserts and palaces) and snogging – it’s going to be a real humdinger.
Wonka (December 15)
When the trailer for Timothée Chalamet’s next film, Wonka, dropped six days ago it surprised some of his fans. There was little known about the upcoming film, other than that it was going to explore Willy Wonka’s early life. Nevertheless, fans had expected a dark origin story of sorts. This was not that: Chalamet is singing, there are large-scale choreographed dance sequences, and the trailer seems to promise a feel-good kids’ movie, dropping just in time for Christmas.
Given that the film has been made by Paddington director Paul King, perhaps this should have been expected. But Chalamet’s past roles – such as in Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All, where he plays a young cannibal – lead audiences to believe his take on Wonka might be less lighthearted. Similarly, author Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka is an eccentric character, giving lots of scope for actors to make the role their own.
Either way, it’s one to mark in the diary: who doesn’t want to see Chalamet run around Oxford dressed as the peculiar inventor, with a supporting cast including Matt Lucas, Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant as an Oompa-Loompa and Sally Hawkins?
