Dan’s Most Anticipated Movies of 2023

I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t say I’m super looking forward to all of these movies. It’s my job to see most of them. Some on this list might be more accurately labeled as: movies you won’t have to drag me to the theater to see. Which for me, is a win.

Here they are, in order of release date.

 

A Man Called Otto

“Tom Hanks.” That’s all you have to say. Does he ever disappoint? This is an I can’t wait to see movie.

Release date: January 13
Stars: Tom Hanks, Rachel Keller, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo
Story: Otto is a grump who’s given up on life following the loss of his wife and wants to end it all. When a young family moves in nearby, he meets his match in quick-witted Marisol, leading to a friendship that will turn his world around.

Plane

Gerard Butler makes a whole lot of similar movies. And while none of them are going to win awards, or do anything new, they are usually satisfying. (There was Geostorm which wast OMG BAD!) Just so long as you don’t expect too much.

Release date: January 13
Stars: Gerard Butler, Mike Colter,Yoson An
Story: A pilot finds himself caught in a war zone after he’s forced to land his commercial aircraft during a terrible storm.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

I’m really looking forward to this one. Phase IV, of the MCU has been a rollercoaster ride—some good, some not so much. I’m hopefully this lands in the upper ranks of the recent MCU. Plus, Bill Murray is in it! Who in Hollywood hasn’t been in the MCU by now?

Release date: February 17
Stars: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors
Story: Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne, along with Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, explore the Quantum Realm, where they interact with strange creatures and embark on an adventure that goes beyond the limits of what they thought was possible.

John Wick: Chapter 4

Oh yeah. Starting with the first John Wick this franchise has been outstanding. Keanu delivers time and time again and each movie has added some new action sequence that ups the anti from the previous installment, but not in a Fast and Furious way.

Release date: March 24
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård
Story: John Wick uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

This looks like the last ride with the Guardians. I hope they live up to the moment.

Release date: May 5
Stars: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista
Story: Still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Peter Quill rallies his team to defend the universe and one of their own – a mission that could mean the end of the Guardians if not successful.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

I love the style. The first Spiderverse movie really set the bar high. I’m counting on them going higher with this one.

Release date: June 2
Stars: Shameik Moore (voice), Hailee Steinfeld (voice), Oscar Isaac (voice)
Story: Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar®-winning Spider-Verse saga, an epic adventure that will transport Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man across the Multiverse to join forces with Gwen Stacy and a new team of Spider-People to face off with a villain more powerful than anything they have ever encountered.

If you’re a big fan I recommend watching this video. The Canadian Lad does a really good job with his trailer breakdowns. He finds amazing details.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

It’s hard for me to say I’m looking forward to this. I’ll just be happy if it’s not horrible. And you know, just by sheer numbers, eventually, they have to make another good Transformer movie, right? And it does have one of my favorite actors: Michelle Yeoh. So I can look forward to seeing her work no matter how bad the rest of the movie might be.

Release date: June 9, 2023
Stars: Michelle Yeoh, Pete Davidson (voice), Peter Dinklage (voice)
Story: Reportedly based on the ‘Transformers’ spinoff ‘Beast Wars’ which feature robots that transform into robotic animals.

Elemental

This looks like a lot of fun. You never have to twist my arm to see a Pixar release.

Release data: June 16
Stars: Mamoudou Athie (voice), Leah Lewis (voice)
Story: Follows Ember and Wade, in a city where fire-, water-, land- and air-residents live together.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Let’s face it: most of the movies in this franchise have been horrible. That Scull Movie was an embaresement. It’s not Harrison Ford’s fault. The stories have just been wretched. My friends and I use to have a ritual every time we played basketball we always walked away from the court with a make, never a miss. We would want to finish with a nice shot, something with a good degree of difficulty, but just a layup would do. So long as it’s a make. Let’s hope this is the make for Indy and the character can walk away feeling good.

Release date: June 30
Stars: Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge,Mads Mikkelsen
Story: unknown at this time.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part One

Yes, yes, yes. Give me some more of Mission Impossible. I think this is one of the most underrated franchises. There were a few less-than-amazing additions early on, but starting with the forth installment they have all be top-notch. Tom Cruise just continues to amaze. This might be my second most anticipated movie of the year. You’ll see number one up soon.

Release date: July 14
Stars: Tom Cruise, Pom Klementieff, Rebecca Ferguson
Story: Seventh entry in the long-running Mission: Impossible series.

 

Oppenheimer

This looks like a very powerful movie. Christopher Nolan and his man-crush Cillian Murphy. These two are great together. Plus, Emily Blunt and Matt Damon. Wow. What a cast. Although, my guess, and I hope I’m wrong, is that Emily and Matt are going to have less than substantial roles.

Release date: July 21
Stars: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon
Story: The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.

Coyote v. Acme

There’s not a lot to go on yet, but I grew up with Road Running vs Coyote. No doubt I’ll be excited to see this… Whatever this might be. 🙂

Release date: July 21
Stars: John Cena, Will Forte, Lana Condor
Story: A story set in the ACME warehouse, the manufacturer of anything and everything used by the Looney Tunes characters.

The Marvels

I’m guessing we’ll get the trailer for the Ant Man: Quantumania premier.

Release date: July 28, 2023
Stars: Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani
Story: Sequel to the 2019 title ‘Captain Marvel’.

The Meg 2: The Trench

Oh why not? One of my favorite genres is disaster movies. I hope this is stupid fun like the first one.

Release date: August 4, 2023
Stars: Cliff Curtis, Jason Statham, Sienna Guillory
Story: Plot unknown. Sequel to the 2018 film ‘The Meg’.

The Equalizer 3

I loved the first two. Why not go for three?

Release date: September 1, 2023
Stars: Denzel Washington, David Denman, Dakota Fanning
Story: nothing yet

The Expendables 4

I just watched the trailer and it looks bad. Not the good kind of bad, but the actual bad. But it’s my kind of bad.

Release date: September 22, 2023
Stars: Jason Statham, 50 Cent, Megan Fox, Dolph Lundgren, Sylvester Stallone, Randy Couture, Iko Uwais, Tony Jaa, Andy Garcia, Levy Tran, Jacob Scipio.

Dune: Part Two

This is my MOST anticipated movie of the year. I’m a huge DUNE fan. I’ve read the book more times than I remember. I’m really looking forward to seeing how Austin Butler handles the role of Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen. And I think Florence Pugh is a great casting for Princess Irulan.

Release date: November 23, 2023
Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh
Story: This follow-up film will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

If for no other reason, I’m looking forward to this so I’ll have an excuse to rewatch the original trilogy. This is a prequel that takes place about 64 years before the events of Hunger Games.

Release date: November 17, 2023
Stars: Burn Gorman, Peter Dinklage, Viola Davis
Story: Coriolanus Snow mentors and develops feelings for the female District 12 tribute during the 10th Hunger Games.

Gremlins 3

Sure, I’m game. This could be fun.

Release date: December 15, 2023
Stars: ?
Story: A sequel to Gremlins (1984) about cute little creatures that transform into uncontrollable monsters.

Spaceless

I just now ran across this movie. But check out the story: A man wakes up inside a spacesuit tumbling helplessly through space, with a computer designed to keep him company until his air runs out, trying to solve the mystery of his death.

Release date: December 15, 2023