It’s a new year of movies! In the past, movie studios saved their big releases for key holiday weekends (Memorial Day, July 4th, Christmas—you get it) and the first months of the year were seen as a dumping ground: a graveyard of genre movies in which the studios had little confidence. That’s changed in recent years, as studios, afraid of competition, ventured into those dead months and found there was money to be made. And luckily for you, dear reader, I’ve compiled 10 movies releasing this spring to mark on your calendar! As always, I tried to create a healthy balance of high-brow and popcorn entertainment, as it’s good for the soul to consume both.
Honorable mentions: Moonfall (February 4); The Outfit (February 25); Morbius (April 1)—I’m convinced this movie isn’t real; Thirteen Lives (April 15)
10. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (April 15)
Why To See It: Do people still care about these? Even so, here’s another one. They’ve smartly recast Johnny Depp’s Grindelwald with Mads Mikkelsen (who can do no wrong), and they have an opportunity to swerve this prequel series from uninspired fan service into a story of its own—but if they botch this movie too, maybe give Harry Potter a rest (…until the original cast agrees to return for that inevitable Cursed Child adaptation).
9. Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre (March 18)
Why To See It: Your mileage may vary on Guy Ritchie, especially with how he presents his stylistic action, but he’s assembled Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza, Cary Elwes, and Hugh Grant for a spy romp, and it will likely be an enjoyably garbage time.
8. Scream (January 14)
Why To See It: The fifth entry in the meta horror franchise sees the return of series staples (Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette) and is doing surprisingly well critically and commercially. If horror is your bag, this is a good reason to catch a weekend matinee.
7. Death on the Nile (February 11)
Why To See It: Kenneth Branagh is reprising directing duties and his role as detective Hercule Poirot after the moderate success of 2017’s Murder of the Orient Express for this Agatha Christie follow-up. He’s surrounded again by a fantastic cast, but the most compelling mystery is how much editing is needed to minimize Armie Hammer‘s role?
6. Ambulance (April 8)
Why To See It: Even when it’s a mess of indecipherable metal, Michael Bay at least knows how to frame and shoot action—so teaming with Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abduh-Mateen II for a crime thriller with a silly high concept sounds like a serviceable way to spend an afternoon.
5. 65 (April 29)
Why To See It: Adam Driver in a science-fiction thriller from Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (co-writers of A Quiet Place) as an astronaut who crash-lands on a mysterious planet. It’s all right there, guys.
4. Everything Everywhere All at Once (March 25)
Why To See It: The men behind the astoundingly bizarre Swiss Army Man are directing a science fiction film with Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’s Short Round!), and freaking Jamie Lee Curtis. No proof of concept required.
3. The Northman (April 22)
Why To See It: Acclaimed director Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse, The Witch) is back with a Viking revenge epic, featuring Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Willem Dafoe. It’s sure to be a bleak, existential affair, with amazing visuals and stellar performances.
2. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (April 22)
Why To See It: Cinema’s king, Nicolas Cage, is playing a fictionalized version of himself, as he is kidnapped by a superfan drug lord (Pedro Pascal!) and forced to recreate iconic characters of his past. The film looks hilarious, is clearly the next step in Sir Nicolas’ ascension, and will be a balm if Cage is snubbed at the Oscars for Pig.
1. The Batman (March 4)
Why To See It: We’re weeks away from the hotly-anticipated retooling of the caped crusader, with Robert Pattinson donning the cowl against a disturbing update of The Riddler (an intriguing performance by Paul Dano). Director and co-writer Matt Reeves, who previously brought surprising gravitas and emotion to the most recent Planet of the Apes installments, is promising a Batman story that hearkens back to the character’s detective roots. It looks like a grim mix between The Dark Knight and Se7en, and while we’ve had plenty of gritty explorations of this character, I’m excited to see what Reeves and Pattinson bring to the table. And let’s just rip this bandaid off now—the movie is three hours long.
Great preview! Very interested to see all of these, except for AMBULANCE.