Preamble

Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful 2023 that’s full of happiness, success and good times. Much like my last post in 2022, writing a top ten most anticipated films list feels like a return to some form of stability (since the pandemic), as release schedules hold firm and the cinematic cycles carry on cranking. The entire thing fills me with a giddy excitement as we can collectively dream and look forward to another year in moves. What are some of your most most hyped releases of 2023? Let me know in the comments below.

10) Salem’s Lot

Salem’s Lot is my favourite Stephen King novel. Despite thinking that the story would be best served in a long format television series, I’d be lying if I’m not curious about how it’s adapted for the silver screen.

9) Renfield

While Renfield immediately grabs my attention with Nicolas Cage playing Dracula, I do think that there’s some potential for focusing on the title character. This combined with the prospect of the movie being a comedic spin on Renfield’s time with Dracula, and we have something that’s conceptually intriguing.

8) Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

The Ant-Man movies have always felt like light interludes between the giant event-shattering movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It comes as something of a surprise that Ant-Man’s second sequel will be a foundational movie in introducing Phase 5’s overarching antagonist and perhaps narrative. I look forward to seeing if this typical intimate corner of the MCU is successful in leaping to a full-blown cosmic crisis (insofar as stakes are concerned).

7) John Wick Chapter 4

On paper, it sounds like the match of the century, Pennywise vs Neo. Keanu Reeves vs Bill Skarsgard. To quote the late Stan Lee, “Nuff said…”

6) Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1

The Mission Impossible movies have been very deft at balancing excellent action set pieces (via Tom Cruise’s penchant for doing death-defying stunts with a boyish enthusiasm) and exceptional spy intrigue. I’m curious about the balance between these elements throughout a two-part story.

5) Babylon

A movie about old Hollywood, its excesses and directed by Damien Chazelle. Colour me interested…  

4) The Fabelmans

On paper, an effort about the director putting his past on film seems like a self indulgence of the highest order. But if there’s one director who has earned the right to self-reflect via cinema then it’s Steven Spielberg.

3) Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Despite the absence of Spielberg in the directing chair, The Dial of Destiny fascinates me as a movie that could explore the sun setting on an iconic movie hero that’s collectively been with us for multiple generations.

2) Oppenheimer

It’s a testament to the teasers so far that Oppenheimer is not striking me as typical bio pic. Instead, I reckon much like Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan will deliver a towering experiential vision that only the cinema can deliver.

1) Dune Part 2

I’m very hyped for Dune Part 2. I’m excited to see Denis Villeneuve tackle the material from the book that’s arguably far stranger and difficult to adapt. At the same time, it will be a treat to see this part of the book that’s been previously confined to a seemingly elongated and rushed montage in David Lynch’s 1984 film.