People are starting to head back to the theaters after largely being absent—thanks to the Coronavirus—for almost two years. We saw Spider-Man: No Way Home break records with its release a few weeks back and these aren’t simply box office marks for the pandemic, but for pre-pandemic numbers as well. The timing is perfect, as the calendar switches from 2021 to 2022, a fresh slate of flicks are at the ready to entertain, enlighten and above all else, sweep audiences away from 90 minutes to two hours and provide some much-needed escape for a human race that has suffered immensely in the last two years.
So, without further ado, let’s look at 25 films that have The Movie Mensch’s blood pressure rising in anticipation. They are listed in order of release date, not in terms of which movies we are looking forward to most. Although, from our write-up, that shouldn’t be too difficult to discern!
1. Scream
Directed by: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett—the directing duo known as Radio Silence, who gave us the delightfully wicked thriller Ready or Not.
Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jack Quaid, Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Dylan Minnette, Marley Shelton
Deets: Ghostface is back to terrify a whole new generation. But don’t fear youngsters, the veteran crew who has battled this masked madman—including Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courteney Cox—are back to show them the way to outsmart a slasher.
Opening on: January 14, 2022
2. Jackass Forever
Directed by: Jeff Tremaine
Starring: Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Wee Man, Ehren McGhehey, Sean McInerney
Deets: The boys are back (and girls!) for another 90 minutes of mayhem and self-injury that has entertained fans of the Jackass franchise for decades now. The best part from the trailer is how it seems that Johnny Knoxville, the head Jackass, has smartly employed some new (younger) players and appears to be ready to pass the torch to a totally game group of young stars who will be joining Knoxville and Steve-O, amongst others, for a frenzied fest of insane stunts that will have you cringing equally as much as you laugh-out-loud.
Opening on: February 4, 2022
3. Death on the Nile
Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Annette Bening, Rose Leslie, Letitia Wright
Deets: After the success of Murder on the Orient Express, it’s hardly a shock that Fox green-lit a follow-up featuring another murder and the perfect detective to be on the case, Branagh’s Hercule Poirot. The Belfast helmer pulls double duty here again as director and star of another Agatha Christie murder mystery that has stood the test of time and should make for one fun thrill ride down one of the world’s most iconic waterways.
Opening on: February 11, 2022
4. The Outfit
Directed by: Graham Moore
Starring: Mark Rylance, Zoey Deutch, Dylan O’Brien, Johnny Flynn
Deets: Mark Rylance stars in a crime drama about a Savile Row tailor who relocates to Chicago and winds up with a clientele of gangsters. Eventually, he finds himself in a position where he must outsmart a group of these customers (i.e., the mobsters) in order to survive. Rylance, a recent Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner for 2016’s Bridge of Spies, is a classically trained stage actor who dazzles in everything. Cannot wait to see him headline a story with a premise such as The Outfit, which also stars Dylan O’Brien, Zoey Deutch, and is directed by Graham Moore, who is making his big-screen directorial debut after serving as a screenwriter for years on such projects as The Imitation Game.
Release Date: February 25, 2022
5. The Batman
Directed by: Matt Reeves
Starring: Robert Pattinson as Batman, Jeffrey Wright is Commissioner Gordon, Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle, Paul Dano as The Riddler, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard is District Attorney Gil Colson , Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennywise, Colin Farrell as The Penguin
Deets: After slaying it with his work on Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes, Reeves turns his attention to one of comics’ most iconic characters, the one, and only Batman. Tapping Pattinson to play The Dark Knight, we think, is a stroke of genius. He has grown exponentially as a thespian since those Twilight days and judging by those The Batman teasers, his angsty take on Bruce Wayne is a unique one that we have never seen prior. Toss in the fact that it seems that a slew of fan favorites are in this first new chapter of The Bat since Ben Affleck hung up his cape—from The Riddler to Catwoman and The Penguin—and the belief that Reeves can do no wrong and you have one highly anticipated journey into the world of The Batman.
Opening on: March 4, 2022
6. The Lost City
Directed by: Aaron Nee, Adam Nee
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Brad Pitt, Daniel Radcliffe
Deets: If you loved Romancing the Stone, then The Lost City is guaranteed to work its magic on you! Bullock stars as a romance writer while Tatum is her longtime cover model who it appears seems to believe he is the character he solely portrays on book covers. Brad Pitt works his way into the picture as a true hero to Bullock’s writer who winds up in all sorts of peril, all while that pesky writer’s deadline hangs over her head while her life is hanging in the balance. Then, there’s Harry Potter himself, Radcliffe portraying our baddie and it appears that The Lost City will be 2022’s first drama-comedy-thriller with a dash of romance tossed in for good measure.
Opening on: March 25, 2022
7. Ambulance
Directed by: Michael Bay
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza Gonzalez, Garret Dillahunt
Deets: Michael Bay tones down his blockbuster tendencies just a bit (presumably) for this smaller-scale thriller about a pair of thieves who unknowingly rob an ambulance carrying a paramedic (Gyllenhaal) and a patient in critical condition. This remake of a Danish film has been in development since 2015 but filming finally got underway in January of 2021. Expect classic Bay tropes, but massively reduced to the inside of an ambulance. With the acting chops of this ensemble, Ambulance could add up to one heck of a thrill ride.
Opening on: April 8, 2022
8. Bullet Train
Directed by: David Leitch
Starring: Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock Michael Shannon, and Zazie Beetz
Deets: We don’t know a whole lot about Bullet Train in terms of plot. However, we do know that it has a stupendous cast worthy of our collective attention. The film follows five assassins who are stuck on a train where literally all of their missions go wrong. If that doesn’t whet your creative palate, then nothing will. With a slew of mega-hits already under his belt, director Leitch (Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Deadpool 2, and John Wick) is more than well-versed working on big blockbusters with ensemble casts. Add to that the bevy of talent included in this particular ensemble, and you have a powder keg of a hit waiting to blow up.
Opening on: April 8, 2022
9. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Director: David Yates
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Alison Sudol, Mads Mikkelsen, Katherine Waterson, Ezra Miller, Jude Law, and Dan Fogler
Deets: The third film in the Fantastic Beasts series still centers on everyone trying to stop Gellert Grindelwald’s nefarious plans. This time, Mads Mikkelsen (Arctic) has replaced Johnny Depp in playing the dark wizard. Love Depp, and he was great as Grindelwald. But there is something truly otherworldly about Mikkelsen that our passion for Fantastic Beasts has suddenly hit a new high, simply on the Mikkelsen casting news alone. Now, in order to stop him, Albus Dumbledore (Law) sends Newt Scamander (Redmayne) and his friends on a secret mission. This is Yates’ seventh film set in the world of Harry Potter and we cannot think of anyone more suited to commandingly take the reins of this franchise and take it absolutely anywhere it needs to go.
Release Date: April 15, 2022
10. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Directed by: Tom Gormican
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal
Deets: As you can guess from the title, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a tongue-in-cheek parody starring Hollywood’s prodigal son: Nic Cage. More specifically, it’s a movie that follows Nic Cage playing Nic Cage making his comeback as—you guessed it—Nic Cage. The plot centers on the actor earning one million dollars to meet an eccentric billionaire for his birthday. The only thing is everything gets completely turned upside-down when said billionaire turns out to be a drug kingpin. It seems that—in the best of ways—the film is beyond self-aware. The normally serious actor (and Oscar winner) channels a performance that’s the definition of meta, is also utterly hilarious, and radically more laidback than arguable anything else he has done in his career.
11. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Xochitl Gomez
Deets: Fresh off his blockbuster success donning the robe once again as Doctor Strange in the third Tom Holland Spider-Man solo film, No Way Home, Cumberbatch deals with the fallout of what he did in that flick in the highly anticipated follow-up to 2016’s Doctor Strange. This will play an enormous part in laying the groundwork for the “meat” of Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Almost everyone is back from the first film, including Olsen, Wong, McAdams, and it will be nice to see Ejiofor and Gomez find their way into the MCU. Oh, and having Sam Raimi take the director’s chair for this second Strange film has us even more eagerly anticipating the Avenger’s return. After all, it was Raimi’s Spider-Man sequel of 2004 that I consider one of the best superhero movies made ever.
Opening on: May 6, 2022
12. John Wick: Chapter 4
Directed by: Chad Stahelski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Lance Reddick, Ian McShane
Deets: Rejoice, ye faithful, for the action-thriller gods smile upon us. We dealt with the terribleness of Covid, and for surviving it, we have been rewarded with a cavalcade of great movies and highly anticipated flicks that got delayed due to the pandemic. The fourth installment of one of the greatest action-thriller franchises in cinematic history, John Wick, is now merely four months away from getting into our eyeballs! Bar none, if you’re looking for revolutionary fight choreography, world-building, and unhinged action sequences, John Wick reigns supreme. The third movie already had us convinced that everyone in the city of Manhattan was a trained killer, and its ending teased an even more unleashed John Wick. So, keeping in line with that momentum, John Wick Chapter 4 is literally Keanu Reeves vs. the world. He’s been shot, stabbed, blown up, and thrown off a building, yet he’s coming back to end things once and for all. Well, at least to set it up for that in John Wick: Chapter 5.
Opening on: May 27
13. Jurassic World: Dominion
Directed by: Colin Trevorrow
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, Omar Sy, BD Wong
Deets: Goldblum closed out the last chapter of the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World franchises by declaring humans would have to learn to co-exist with dinosaurs. They are on the mainland… and multiplying. Though the specifics of the plot of this trilogy-capper are being kept under pretty tight wraps, it’s safe to assume it will deal with the ramifications of Lost Kingdom. Regardless of how it all plays out, narratively, in Dominion, the big news with this third Jurassic World flick is that the original trifecta of stars from 1993’s Jurassic Park—Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Goldblum, are returning alongside Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt. On paper, this sounds epic. Toss in the return of Jurassic World I director Trevorrow and you can color us eagerly eager.
Opening on: June 10, 2022
14. Thor: Love and Thunder
Directed by: Taika Waititi
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff
Deets: Marvel’s second film of 2022 is the highly anticipated follow-up to Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok, which redefined the iconic character to the delight of critics and audiences alike back in 2017. Portman’s Jane Foster will return to the series and her to say her role will expand is a gross understatement. Let’s just say that it’s been teased that Foster will get to wield Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, at some point! Can you imagine the cheers from the audience?! We also know that Thompson’s Valkyrie will return, and Thor will meet up with a few Guardians of the Galaxy—including Pratt, Bautista, Klementieff, and Gillan, to face down Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher. So, you know, good times all around.
Opening on: July 8, 2022
15. Nope
Directed by: Jordan Peele
Starring: Keke Palmer, Daniel Kaluuya, Steven Yeun
Deets: After the runaway success of Get Out and Us, Peele got busy and really fast while navigating a pandemic. The heralded and Oscar-winning storyteller has made his third feature. As is to be expected, not much is known about Nope, except that it will star Keke Palmer, Daniel Kaluuya (of Get Out fame), and Steven Yeun (Minari), and it will remain in the horror genre.
Opening on: July 22, 2022
16. Black Adam
Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Pierce Brosnan, Aldis Hodge
Deets: It’s been a long time coming, folks, but Dwayne Johnson appearing in a DCEU film will finally arrive in 2022. The Rock has been attached to star in Black Adam since 2014. The arch-rival to Shazam (Zachary Levi) could not have found a better helmer than what they got in the man who gave us The Shallows and Run All Night, Collet-Serra. Not much is known about the plot, as it should be, but this much is a sure thing… it’s about time that Johnson got the opportunity to play in the superhero sandbox. I mean, he’s a walking archetype, no CG needed!
Opening on: July 29, 2022
17. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Directed by: Joel Crawford & Januel Mercado
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Chris Miller
Deets: DreamWorks Animation finally got around to making a sequel to the 2011 Shrek spin-off, Puss in Boots! This is a sequel that took The Movie Mensch by surprise. Even though the world waited 14 years for The Incredibles 2, I never thought that DreamWorks would make Puss fans sit for a full decade-plus one to revisit the swashbuckling kitty iconically voiced by Banderas. After the success of Puss in Boots and the fact that the studio behind it was not Pixar—it started to appear that this puppy was not happening. But then, while doing research for this feature, upon discovery I actually said, “OMG” out loud when reading that this indeed was a thing. Not a lot is known about the plot, other than a quick sentence that is intriguing, to say the least. So, Puss in Boots has already expired eight of his nine lives. Since every cat has nine lives, that means our animated feline hero has one life left. Unless he does something about it.
Opening on: September 23, 2022
18. Mission: Impossible 7
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Cary Elwes, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Esai Morales
Deets: Cruise returns to duty for the seventh installment in the franchise that gets better with age. As the superstar has added years to his resume, he also has exponentially highlighted his willingness to engage in death-defying stunts as the blockbuster series based on the iconic Cold War television classic. McQuarrie will also be back as writer and director after serving those roles in the last two films. Hopefully, he’ll be able to pull off a hat trick with a third Certified Fresh film in a row. Something tells me… that’s not all that Impossible.
Opening on: September 30, 2022
19. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One)
Directed by: Joaquim Dos Santos
Starring: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac, Issa Rae, Jake Johnson
Deets: The Oscar-winning animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a big hit with critics and audiences alike and swept the so-called awards season back in 2019. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) is one of the most anticipated flicks of the year, even though audiences know that this is the first of two parts. Shameik Moore is set to voice Miles Morales again, with Hailee Steinfeld’s Gwen Stacy and Oscar Isaac’s Miguel O’Hara (aka Spider-Man 2099) joining him. We also know that Issa Rae is set to voice Jessica Drew (aka Spider-Woman), and it’s likely that Jake Johnson’s Peter Parker will be back as well.
Opening on: October 7, 2022
20. Halloween Ends
Directed by: David Gordon Green
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Nick Castle, Kyle Richards
Deets: Director Green and writers Danny McBride and Scott Teems successfully sequel-booted (is that a word now? reboot-queled, maybe?) the Halloween franchise with 2018’s Halloween, and based on its reception, they decided to go ahead and give us all a full trilogy. That trilogy concludes with the appropriately titled Halloween Ends, in which Curtis’ Laurie Strode will presumably defeat Michael Myers forever. Or will she…?
Opening on: October 14, 2022
21. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Directed by: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Winston Duke, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya
Deets: In a terribly sad and shocking turn of events, the world lost Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman to colon cancer in 2020, and both filmmakers and fans across the globe mourned his passing. This obviously led to questions about what would happen to the Marvel character that he so memorably and iconically brought to life. He was also set to become an important piece of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s future. We’re still getting a second Black Panther film in 2022, and Boseman will not be recast. It’s the smartest and best move, and it’s the right thing to do. The story will, instead, shift gears and focus on King T’Challa’s spunky sister Shuri, played by Wright. Outside of that, we don’t know what the film will entail, including how T’Challa’s absence will be addressed. But, sometimes, surprises are a good thing.
Opening on: November 11, 2022
22. She Said
Starring: Zoe Kazan, Carey Mulligan
Directed by: Maria Schrader, who gave us I’m Your Man (2021 German film featuring Dan Stevens that this writer absolutely loved)—a surefire Best Foreign Language nominee—returns towards the end of this new year with a timely piece.
Deets: Mulligan (Promising Young Woman) and Kazan (The Big Sick) star as the real-life New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor as they break the Harvey Weinstein #MeToo story. The movie is based on their book of the same name and if it does its job, the film could serve as the definitive cinematic record for the seismic change in society, and yes even Hollywood, which was pitch-perfectly chronicled in Kantor and Twohey’s non-fiction bestseller.
Opening on: November 18, 2022
23. The Fabelmans
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Tony Kushner, who penned West Side Story and Lincoln for Spielberg. He also wrote the gift that is Angels in America.
Starring: Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Paul Dano, Judd Hirsch
Deets: All one needs to know is that The Fabelmans is an autobiographical look at the Southern California childhood of one Steven Spielberg. Given his frankness about his childhood serving as a non-stop flow of imagination inspiration and wonder, prepare yourself for what will likely be Spielberg’s most personal and wondrous cinematic exploration yet. Yes, that is saying something.
Opening on: November 23, 2022
25. Killers of the Flower Moon
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, John Lithgow, Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser, and Lily Gladstone
Deets: Closing out our list, we have Killers of the Flower Moon, the Scorsese follow-up to The Irishman. Killers stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, John Lithgow, and Brendan Fraser. Part crime exposé, part drama, all impressive—the narrative follows a major F.B.I. investigation involving J. Edgar Hoover after members of the Osage tribe are murdered under nefarious and vastly mysterious circumstances. Given that summary, the cast, and filmmaker behind it, regardless of when Killers of the Flower Moon arrives, look for The Movie Mensch to be first in line.
Opening on: TBA