1) Top Gun: Maverick (May)
Tom Cruise returns in this increasingly belated sequel to Tony Scott's 1986 mega-hit. At present, we are scheduled to "feel the need – the need for speed" once again with Cruise's ace jet fighter Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell in May, but at this rate Cruise's other big budget sequel Mission:Impossible 7 might well beat it to the box office.
2) The 355 (January)
Here's one you won't have to wait for: Director Simon Kinberg's spy thriller The 355 opens in cinemas today (unless a fresh Covid crisis has closed them all again) and features Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o, Diane Kruger and Penelope Cruz on the trail of a stolen doomsday weapon.
3) Moonfall (February)
Turns out it won't be some mega comet from the depths of space that will wipe out humanity – our very own Moon is about to give it a go and only astronauts Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson and John Bradley can stop it in Roland Emmerich's entertainingly ludicrous looking sci-fi disaster flick.
4) The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (April)
On the subject of 'entertainingly ludicrous', how about Nicolas Cage playing a fictionalised version of himself who agrees to go undercover to help take down a superfan who's also a Mexican druglord (Pedro Pascal)? Sign. Me. Up.
5) Avatar 2 (December)
James Cameron's 2009 sci-fi epic Avatar was visually stunning but a wee bit lacking in the compelling storytelling stakes. Here's hoping he can build upon its successes and learn from its failings for the first of his two loooong-in-the-making sequels.
6) Knives Out 2 (TBC)
Can there be anyone who's not currently looking forward to the return of drawling detective extraordinaire Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) in another lavishly staged whodunnit from Rian Johnson featuring a star-studded ensemble cast (Dave Bautista, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson, Ethan Hawke etc)? No? Good.
7) The Batman (March)
Robert Pattinson is Ba – sorry, 'The' Batman – in yet another 'dark and gritty' movie adaptation of the classic DC comic. Just what the doctor ordered to wash the acrid taste of 'Batfleck' out of your mouth.
8) The Flash (November)
You have to feel a bit sorry for auld Robbo, really. He finally gets the chance to play Batman and then it's announced that Michael frikken Keaton is putting on his Batsuit for the first time in 30 years in the new Flash flick starring Ezra Miller in the title role. "Holy being upstaged by one of cinema's most beloved Batmans, The Batman", or something.
9) The Northman (April)
No, it's not a new Batman villain: this Northman is an historical Viking epic from The Lighthouse director Robert Eggers starring Alexander Skarsgard, Nicole Kidman, Anna-Taylor Joy, Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe. Expect highly cinematic weirdness.
10) Jurassic World: Dominion (June)
Let the running and the screaming re-commence in earnest as OG Jurassic Park cast members Sam Neil, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum return to help young pretender Chris Pratt and co try to rid the Earth of dinosaurs – again.
11) Elvis (June)
Tom Hanks plays Col Tom Parker and Austin Butler inhabits ol' snakehips himself in Baz Luhrmann's musical biopic of 'the king' which will no doubt feature a soundtrack chock full of Elvis mega-hits.
12) She Said (November)
Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan star as US journos Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, the reporters who helped expose the awful truth of the abuse perpetrated by disgraced Hollywood bigwig Harvey Weinstein. Maria Schrader's film named for the pair's 2019 book should be a powerful watch.
13) Nope (July)
Jordan Peele dons his writer/producer/director hat for another horror that will no doubt be laced with resonant truths about racism in modern America. What's it about? That's a closely guarded secret – however, it definitely stars Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun.
14) Scream (January)
Whether this is a re-boot, a belated sequel to 2011's Scream 4 or a bit of both, the film that will immediately be referred to as 'Scream 5' regardless of its actual title features a new selection of slasher fodder alongside the survivors of the late Wes Craven's originals. But who will be behind the Ghostface mask this time?
15) Death on The Nile (February)
That moustache is back as Sir Kenneth of Branagh returns to direct himself once again as Agatha Christie's super sleuth Hercule Poirot in an adaptation of the classic whodunnit. No doubt his editors are still frantically trimming out as much of Armie Hammer's screen time as its narrative structure can withstand.
16) Thor: Love and Thunder (July)
On the subject of sequels to Ken Branagh pictures, Taika Waititi's second time behind the camera with the Thor franchise seems to be shaping up to be just as stylish and amusingly crazed as Thor: Ragnarok and I, for one, am OK with that.
17) Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse (Part One) (October)
Animated Spider-Kid Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) returns for another super-fun superhero adventure across the multiverse with Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) and other web-slingin' wall-crawlers.
18) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (November)
How do you do a sequel to Black Panther without the late Chadwick Boseman as its hero? We're about to find out: Lupita Nyong'o, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke and Angela Bassett all return from the first film, joined by Martin Freeman and Michaela Coel.
19) Bullet Train (July 15)
Adapted from Kotaro Isaka's novel about hired guns who end up fighting it out a Japanese bullet train, this film from David Leitch (John Wick, Atomic Blonde) features Brad Pitt, Aaron-Tayor Johnson, Michael Shannon, Brian Tyree Henry and Sandra Bullock among its cast.
20) Killers of The Flower Moon (TBC)
Martin Scorsese directs Leonardo Di Caprio, Robert De Niro and Jesse Plemons in a movie inspired by the real life series of murders in Oklahoma's Native American community which became one of the first big FBI cases in the 1920s.
21) Havoc (TBC)
The writer/director of The Raid movies Gareth Evans returns with this crime thriller starring Tom Hardy, Timothy Olyphant and Forest Whitaker, a tale of a detective (Hardy) attempting to extract a politician's son from a nest of criminals and corrupt cops.
22) Mission:Impossible 7 (September)
Tom Cruise doubles down in his campaign to become this year's most dominant Hollywood A-lister with the latest instalment of the Mission:Impossible franchise, this one made under trying circumstances during the pandemic in a purpose built Covid-proof village. Hopefully, the actual film will be worth the effort.
