Anticipating: Cinema 2023

[Neon Ignition]

December is looming and with it the hopes of 2022's box office rests with Avatar's belated sequel following a year that much like in gaming, has been impacted by the industry still catching up from the COVID era shut downs. 2023 see's those effects subside and the number of films increase but as things have now changed there is a greater focus on bankable franchise names to draw audiences in.

It will remain to be seen which films suffer the fates of bombs such as Strange World and which soar to the unimaginable success of Top Gun: Maverick but for certain nostalgia fuelled content has proven a winner.

Above is a list of 2023's currently known and scheduled notable releases, with many more likely to be added as the year goes on.

Which are you looking forward to and how are you feeling about returning to the cinema in 2023 as companies begin to scale back streaming Day 1 releases in favour of the big screen?

[wakka]

I chose Mission Impossible - if nothing else the practical stuntwork will be incredible, but I generally think they've got a great formula for this series now and I really enjoyed the last couple - Strays, and Barbie.

Strays is a new one on me (I googled several on the list I hadn't heard of). It sounds quite intriguing though, a comedy with talking dogs featuring Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx and directed by Josh Greenbaum. Ferrell with the right material or enough scope to ad lib just kills me even in a mediocre-to-bad film, and Jamie Foxx is always good value. Greenbaum did Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar, which I haven't actually seen but have been meaning to watch for ages, and seems an interesting filmmaker.

Barbie is one where I've just absolutely loved the aesthetic of the few promotional shots they've released. I'm fascinated to see how this one turns out. Again, it's directed by a new-ish feature filmmaker (Greta Gerwig) where I've not seen the prior work yet (Lady Bird and Little Women) but heard only good things.

Looking forward to all three.

[QualityChimp]

Wow, what a strong list!

There are loads I want to see there!

All of the Marvel films are fun and I'll probably see a few of those (if I catch up!).
Plenty of fun stuff to see with the kids, too. Trolls 3 and Mario, for example.
The Meg 2 could be good, especially with Ben Wheatley helming it - that's an intriguing combo of concept and director!

However, if I could pick only one, it would be Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie Mission: Impossible 43.

They've really hit their stride and look forward to seeing where they go next with them.

[Neon Ignition]

In reality I'll see all if not close to all the films on the list and more. It's looking like a solid year and I'm keen to dive in on it so I voted for the ones I'm currently most keen on which are:

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Shazam: Fury of the Gods
John Wick: Chapter Four
Fast and Furious 10
Indiana Jones 5
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Part I
The Flash
Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3
Evil Dead Rise
Super Mario Bros.
Ghostbusters IV

[wakka]

The Meg 2 could be good, especially with Ben Wheatley helming it - that's an intriguing combo of concept and director!

I forgot he was doing this. I didn't like the first Meg. The extensive sanitisation for a family audience and over-emphasis on fantasy, Marvelified technology ironically defanged what could've been a decent cornball actioner.

But I'll be very intrigued to see what Wheatley does with the material. I loved Kill List.