2023 was a gigantic year for the movies, from the massive success of Barbie and Oppenheimer, to excellent indies like Skinamarink, How to Blow Up a Pipeline and Past Lives. This year, audiences clamored for a theatrical experience, while showing that a great story is more important than brainless action. It's in this interesting cinematic landscape that we head into 2024, which already shows promise as an equally great year for the movies. 2024 will see the release of such highly-anticipated projects as Furiosa and Deadpool 3, while also giving us the latest films from directors like Bong Joon-ho and George Miller. We'll go back into the world of Inside Out, return to the original vampire story with Nosferatu, and sing along with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga.
2024 is already shaping up to be a wild, packed year full of great films. Let's take a look at some of our most anticipated titles for the upcoming year.
'Hit Man'
June 7
Richard Linklater produced and directed Hit Man, a rom-com thriller starring Glen Powell as an undercover cop who poses as a hitman. His mission is complicated when he tries to save a woman. The film also features Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Retta, and Molly Bernard. The screenplay, based on Skip Hollandsworth's 2001 Texas Monthly article of the same name, was co-written by Linklater and Powell. Hit Man’s wide release has been hotly anticipated by critics and fans ever since it first premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in 2023. A film that’s already received universal acclaim from its festival showings, Hit Man has been described as a hilarious, “deceptively dark” film that perfectly showcases Powell’s acting abilities. Powell has delivered some brilliant performances in recent years in films like Top Gun: Maverick and Apollo 10 1?2: A Space Age Childhood (another Linklater movie). Add in the fact that an acclaimed filmmaker like Linklater is in the director’s chair, and it’s easy to see why Hit Man is expected to be one of the best movies of the year.

Hit Man
- Release Date
- May 24, 2024
- Runtime
- 116 minutes
- Director
- Richard Linklater
Cast
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Gary Johnson
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'Inside Out 2'
June 14
2024 starts with Pixar at an odd place. Their most recent film, 2023's Elemental, seemed like it was going to be a bomb at the box office, before slowly becoming the highest-grossing film by the studio in half a decade. The film before that, 2022's Lightyear, was the first financially disappointing sequel from Pixar, while their recent original projects, Turning Red, Luca, and Soul, went directly to Disney+ (even though they'll be finally receiving a theatrical release in early 2024 as well). Right now in regards to Pixar, it seems like sure things are becoming an uncertainty, while original projects are starting to once again show their worth. So what does all of this mean for their latest sequel, Inside Out 2?
Inside Out 2 takes us back inside the mind of Riley, who is now a teenager and dealing with all sorts of new emotions, including Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke). Taking over directorial duties from Pete Docter is Pixar story supervisor and member of the Pixar Senior Creative Team, Kelsey Mann, while co-writer of the first film, Meg LeFauve, takes over sole writing duties for the sequel. Also interesting is that while Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, and Lewis Black will be returning as Joy, Sadness, and Anger, respectively, Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling will not be returning as Fear and Disgust after a pay dispute, and will be replaced by Tony Hale and Liza Lapira. Inside Out quickly became one of Pixar's most beloved properties, and one of the few animated films ever to get an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. It's been a while since Pixar has had a bonafide blockbuster hit, but Inside Out 2 could break the recent mold. —Ross Bonaime

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Inside Out 2
- Release Date
- June 14, 2024
Inside Out 2 follows the emotional journey of a now-teenage Riley as she encounters new challenges and emotions. As her mind expands, so does the complexity of her inner world, where new emotions must collaborate with old ones to guide her through adolescence, creating dynamic and heartfelt experiences.
- Cast
- Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Kensington Tallman, Liza Lapira, Tony Hale, Lewis Black, Phyllis Smith, Ayo Edebiri, Lilimar, Grace Lu, Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, Paul Walter Hauser, Yvette Nicole Brown, Ron Funches, James Austin Johnson, Yong Yea, Steve Purcell, Dave Goelz, Kirk R. Thatcher, Frank Oz, Paula Pell, June Squibb, Pete Docter, Paula Poundstone, John Ratzenberger, Sarayu Blue, Flea, Bobby Moynihan, Kendall Coyne Schofield
- Director
- Kelsey Mann
'Kind of Kindness'
June 21
Not much is known about Kinds of Kindness, but after the excellent Poor Things, all we really need to know is that Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone are collaborating yet again. What we do know is that Kinds of Kindness is an anthology film written by Lanthimos along with his The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Lobster, and Dogtooth co-writer Efthimis Filippou. In addition to Stone, Kind of Kindness also features Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe (who reportedly was slapped by Stone 20 times for a scene), Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, and Hunter Schafer. Who knows what bonkers ideas Kinds of Kindness has in store for us, but all we need to know is that, thankfully, Lanthimos doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon. —Ross Bonaime
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