Must-see movies of 2024
2024 will be the year of sequels, set to hit the big screen in the hope of replicating the success of their first instalments. There's something for everyone, and anticipation varies from film to film, but some of them promise to be huge blockbusters. From Inside Out 2 and its new meme-ridden protagonist, Anxiety, to Russell Crow's return in the armour of Gladiator, to Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga's madcap musical Joker: Folie à Deux.
Challengers (April 26)
Luca Guadagnino, director of titles such as Call me by your name or Bones and All (both starring Timothée Chalamet) brings us Challengers. It features a love triangle between Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Fais, three young athletes who meet at a professional tennis tournament and see their relationships marked by betrayal and competitiveness.
Dune: Part 2 (March 1)
Sci-fi cinema is in for a treat because yes, Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya are returning to the Dune universe with Denis Villeneuve. The first film ended with Paul officially joining the Fremen and planning to bring peace to Arrakis. Fans can expect to see Chalamet riding a sandworm in Dune: Part 2, but what else is in store?
Inside Out 2 (June 14)
The sequel to 2015's Best Animated Feature Oscar winner Inside Out is now a reality, as evidenced by its trailer, the most watched in Pixar's history. The new visitors to Riley's teenage mind will be Envy, Ennui, Anxiety and Shame. These emotions will arrive at the control centre we saw in the first film and turn everything upside down.
Beetlejuice 2 (September 6)
Tim Burton's Beetlejuice 2 will once again feature Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton, as well as the arrival of Jenna Ortega, star of Netflix's Wednesday.
Joker: Folie à deux (October 4)
Its predecessor was undoubtedly one of the standout films of 2019, so the bar is set high. Joker's critical acclaim was remarkable and its awards tally phenomenal (Joaquin Phoenix took home every prize there is), and audiences responded very positively to it. In fact, the movie grossed over 1 billion at the international box office on a budget of only 60 million. Let's see if Todd Phillips repeats his success with this new musical genre proposal.
Gladiator 2 (November 22)
Gladiator is, for many, one of Ridley Scott's best films, despite its questionable historical rigour. The director takes a gamble with his sequel, set 25 years after the scene in the wheat fields, and follows in the footsteps of Lucius, Lucilla's son, now played by the highly-rated Paul Mescal. The cast also includes Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington and Barry Keoghan.
Mufasa: The Lion King (December 20)
The long-awaited return of Mufasa is not a sequel, but a live-action prequel, given that it is now increasingly common to go back in time. Mufasa: The Lion King will focus on the origins of Simba's father, exploring his childhood alongside his fearsome brother Scar. Barry Jenkins, responsible for the Oscar-winning Moonlight (2016), is directing the project started by Jon Favreau in 2019.
The unmissable series this year
We cannot forget the small screen either, which presents some of its greatest treasures for 2024 on streaming platforms.
Masters of the Air (January 26)
Set during World War II, it tells the true story of the Bloody Hundredth, a group of American bombers who conducted dangerous raids over Nazi Germany while dealing with freezing conditions, a lack of oxygen and the sheer terror of combat. This Apple TV+ series has the added bonus of being produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks and stars Austin Butler, who rose to fame in his role as Elvis. Masters of the Air competes in epicness, realism and emotion with Blood Brothers and The Pacific.
3 Body Problem (March 21)
David Benioff and DB Weiss, the creative minds behind Game of Thrones, have joined forces with Netflix on a mission to adapt one of the best science fiction trilogies of recent times, that of Chinese writer Liu Cixin, to an audiovisual format. Its first instalment, 3 Body Problem, stems from a premise as recurrent as it is disturbing: although the chances of some kind of extraterrestrial intelligent life visiting Earth on a regular basis are impossibly high... what if, even so, it were to happen?
Bridgerton season 3 (May 16)
The central romance of the third season of the world's favourite series about royals is that of Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan), as told in Julia Quinn's Seducing Mr Bridgerton. Netflix will split the season into two batches of four episodes each (for the sake of spacing out your binge-watching), which can be enjoyed in May and June, two weeks apart so as not to make fandom too desperate. In an effort to create a concept of its own, Bridgerton is breaking away from Quinn's literary saga, skipping the novel dedicated to Benedict Bridgerton for the time being.
Agatha: Darkhold Diaries (Fall 2024)
Following the success of WandaVision, one of the highest-rated series in the Marvel Universe on Disney+, comes the spin-off of charismatic villain Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), initially titled Agatha: Coven of Chaos. Back in Westview, it makes sense that it would explain what happens to the witch after she gets trapped in Agnes' "persona" at the end of the series. The Hollywood writers' and actors' strike delayed its long-awaited premiere, scheduled for 2023, and relegated it to a tentative release date around Halloween.