The pandemic has taught us to be wary of ‘predictions’ and for cinema it’s all a gamble since the only prediction to bet on is to have theaters full again. Nonetheless, it’s all about imagining the most anticipated films, record-breaking blockbusters and the titles of the most titled directors.
The annual survey by Fandango, the US ticket resale giant, in revealing that the title at the top of expectations for 2023 is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, reveals encouraging data such as 99% enthusiastic about seeing new films, 97% promise to go to theaters more often in 2023, 82% saying the cinema experience cannot be recreated at home.
In short, with these premises according to what analysts say, 2023 which boasts one of the most exciting film line-ups in recent years could be the turning point year at the box office. It must be said that 9 of the top 10 must-see films of 2023 are sequels, all ten are franchises.
Here they are: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 with Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana, (May 3); SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (June 1); ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA (February 15); JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 with Keanu Reeves (March 23); INDIANA JONES AND THE WHEEL OF DESTINY with Harrison Ford who returns young and for the first time with a director who is not named Steven Spielberg but James Mangold (summer); AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM with Jason Momoa and Ben Affleck (December 25); MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART 1 with stainless Tom Cruise in the new sequel also shot in Italy (July 14); THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE SERPENT with Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman and Viola Davis (November 17); CREED III (March 3) and the SUPER MARIO BROS. (April 7).
These are 10 eagerly awaited blockbusters, but there are many other titles in which interest is spasmodic for the actor’s performance, for the award-winning director, for the production operation. Starting with KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, the new Martin Scorsese with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro awaited for a year now, the story in the 1920s of the FBI investigation into the mysterious killing of members of the Osage tribe.
It is also clear that WONKA with Timotheè Chalamet (also the protagonist in DUNE 2 by Denis Villeneuve) in the role of the young Willy Wonka, in the adventure based on Roald Dahl and starring Olivia Colman and Sally Hawkins is at the top of the list, as also BARBIE with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in the ultra-pop transposition of Greta Gerwig and THE LITTLE MERMAID Halle Bailey in the remake of the 1989 Disney classic. Among the dramas NAPOLEON, a new reading of the emperor Bonaparte directed by Ridley Scott and Joaquin Phoenix in the role of the title (with Vanessa Kirby and Ludivine Sagnier in the female parts) and OPPENHEIMER by Christopher Nolan with ‘Peaky Blinders’ Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., story of the scientist and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.
It is there that Melanie Laurent’s debut in THE NIGHTINGALE with Dakota Fanning and Elle Fanning awaits, sisters also on the screen committed to surviving the Nazi occupation in France.
Michael Fassbender fans await his return to the cinema after a few years and will be satisfied with two films: THE KILLER by David Fincher in which he plays a ruthless assassin and with NEXT GOAL WINS, the sports adventure of the American Samoan football team, known for the brutal 2001 game 31-0. On the subject of sport, but on tennis courts, the new film by Luca Guadagnino CHALLENGERS takes place with Zendaya and Josh O’Connor, to be released in 2023.
Channing Tatum takes off his clothes for Steven Soderbergh one last time in MAGIC MIKE’S LAST DANCE, while Adam Driver in Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ 65 dons his astronaut suit to crash on a foreign planet, discovering he landed on prehistoric Earth. He will be on the set until March but Francis Ford Coppola’s MEGALOPOLIS should be released within the year with a cast that includes Adam Driver and Forest Whitaker among others. And the new Wes Anderson is expected with ASTEROID CITY and the ‘usual’ cast of stars with Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Tilda Swinton, Scarlett Johansson. Tom Hanks is also the protagonist of the Swedish remake A MAN CALLED OTTO, while Olivia Colman is in theaters in February with EMPIRE OF LIGHT by Sam Mendes. January is the month of BABYLON, the new film by Damien Chazelle with Brad Pitt, while February 9th arrives in the TAR with Cate Blanchett star performer and on the 23rd THE WHALE the exciting film by Darren Aronofsky with Brendan Fraser.
Many titles are expected from European cinema in 2023, including JEANNE DU BARRY with the return to the big screen of Johnny Depp in the role of King Louis XV directed by the French director Maïwenn, who will play the courtesan herself. THE OLD OAK by master Ken Loach and at Easter THE PALACE, the black comedy by Roman Polanski set in a luxury hotel in Switzerland with Mickey Rourke (and among others our Fortunato Cerlino). In Italy it is the year of the return to theaters of Garrone, Moretti and Bellocchio. (HANDLE).
The cinema to come, the most anticipated of 2023
