A tradition like no other…my most anticipated films list! Even though pulling together the information on these movies takes eons, not to mention the formatting, it’s a rewarding endeavor. Next year looks like a really intriguing year, and I say that because it seems like a returning to the type of scheduling we had pre-pandemic, but we’re also in a world where there’s more flexibility in where films premiere and other players than usual. I tried to take stock of all we know and the rumors to pull together this list, so without further ado, here’s my top 50 most anticipated movies of 2022!
Top 50 Most Anticipated Movies of 2022
A Love Song
Dir. Max Walker-Silverman
Writer: Max Walker-Silverman
Starring: Dale Dickey, Wes Studi, John Way, Michelle Wilson
Synopsis: Two childhood sweethearts, both now widowed, share a night by a lake in the mountains. A love story for those who are alone.
Release Date: premiering at Sundance Film Festival
Avatar 2
Dir. James Cameron
Writer: James Cameron, Josh Friedman
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, Dileep Rao, CCH Pounder, Matt Gerald, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell, Michelle Yeoh, Jemaine Clement, Oona Chaplin, Vin Diesel, CJ Jones
Synopsis: Jake Sully and Neytiri have formed a family and are doing anything to stay together. However, they are forced to leave their home and explore the different regions of Pandora; when an old threat returns to finish what they started. Jake has never faced a bigger challenge.
Release Date: December 16 (allegedly)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Dir. Ryan Coogler
Writer: Ryan Coogler, Joe Robert Cole
Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Dominique Thorne
Synopsis: TBD
Release Date: November 11
Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power
Dir. Nina Menkes
Synopsis: BRAINWASHED: Sex-Camera-Power is about the politics of cinematic shot design, and how this meta-level of filmmaking affects and intersects with the twin epidemics of sexual abuse/assault and employment discrimination against women, especially in the film industry.
Release Date: premiering at Sundance Film Festival
Bros
Dir. Nicholas Stoller
Writer: Nicholas Stoller, Billy Eichner
Starring: Jim Rash, Billy Eichner, Guillermo Diaz, Peter Kim, Judd Apatow, Luke Macfarlane, Eve Lindley, Dot-Marie Jones, Symone, Justin Covington, Becca Blackwell, Miss Lawrence, D’Lo Srijaerajah, Guy Branum, TS Madison
Synopsis: Two men with commitment problems attempt a relationship.
Release Date: August 12
Bullet Train
Dir. David Leitch
Writer: Zak Olkewicz
Starring: Brad Pitt, Brian Tyree Henry, Sandra Bullock, Logan Lerman, Joey King, Michael Shannon, Antoine Fuqua, Andrew Koji, Aaron Johnson, Zazie Beetz, David Leitch, Zak Olkewicz, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Masi Oka, Kelly McCormick
Synopsis: A hitmen and assassins with conflicting motives are all on a train in Tokyo.
Release Date: July 15
Call Jane
Dir. Phyllis Nagy
Writer: Hayley Schore, Roshan Sethi
Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Mara, Chris Messina, John Magaro, Aida Turturro, Wunmi Mosaku, Cory Michael Smith
Synopsis: A married woman with an unwanted pregnancy lives in a time in America where she can’t get a legal abortion and works with a group of suburban women to find help.
Release Date: premiering at Sundance Film Festival
Catch the Fair One
Dir. Josef Kubota Wladyka
Writer: Josef Kubota Wladyka
Starring: Kali Reis, Daniel Henshall, Tiffany Chu, Michael Drayer, Kimberly Guerrero, Lisa Emery and Kevin Dunn.
Synopsis: A Native American boxer embarks on the fight of her life when she goes in search of her missing sister.
Release Date: February 11
Dark Harvest
Dir. David Slade
Writer: Michael Gilio
Starring: Casey Likes, E’myri Crutchfield, Jeremy Davies, Elizabeth Reaser, Luke Kirby
Synopsis: Every fall in a small Midwestern town, a supernatural specter named “Sawtooth Jack” arises from the cornfields and approaches the town’s church, where violent gangs of teenage boys hungrily await their chance to confront the legendary nightmare in an annual harvest rite of life and death. Richie Shepard lives in the shadow of his big brother who won last year’s “October Prize” to get his ticket out of town. To prove himself and join his brother, Richie pairs up with restless dreamer Kelly Haines, who will do whatever it takes to escape this dead-end town. Against the rules and the odds, Richie and Kelly decide to hunt down the legendary nightmare to win the Run and their freedom, together.
Release Date: Sept 9 (allegedly)
Descendant
Dir. Margaret Brown
Synopsis: History exists beyond what is written. The Africatown residents in Mobile, Alabama, have shared stories about their origins for generations. Their community was founded by enslaved ancestors who were transported in 1860 aboard the last known and illegal slave ship, Clotilda. Though the ship was intentionally destroyed upon arrival, its memory and legacy weren’t. Now, the long-awaited discovery of the Clotilda’s remains offers this community a tangible link to their ancestors and validation of a history so many tried to bury.
Release Date: premiering at Sundance Film Festival
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Dir. Sam Raimi
Writer: Jade Bartlett and Michael Waldron
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Xochitl Gomez
Synopsis: Dr. Stephen Strange’s continuing research on the Time Stone is hindered by a friend-turned-enemy, resulting in Strange unleashing unspeakable evil.
Release Date: May 6
Don’t Worry Darling
Dir. Olivia Wilde
Writer: Katie Silberman
Starring: Florence Pugh, Olivia Wilde, Harry Styles, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, Chris Pine
Synopsis: An unhappy housewife in the 1950s discovers a disturbing truth, while her loving husband hides a dark secret.
Release Date: September 23
Every Day in Kaimuki
Dir. Alika Tengan
Writer: Naz Kawakami, Alika Tengan
Starring: Naz Kawakami, Rina White, Holden Mandrial-Santos
Synopsis: Naz, a cynical and charismatic 20-something, has spent his entire life in tranquil O’ahu, Hawaiʻi, skateboarding with his friends and hosting a nightly radio show where he spotlights emerging musicians. When his girlfriend Sloane nabs the chance to move to bustling New York, Naz begins preparing for their big move, planning every detail down to his cat’s absurd flight plan. Even when dreaming about what life outside the island might look like, however, Naz wonders whether uprooting his world is the right decision, and if anywhere will ever really feel like home when he’s always been an eternal outsider.
Release Date: premiering at Sundance Film Festival
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Dir. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
Writer: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, James Hong, Jonathan Ke Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis
Synopsis: An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save the world by exploring other universes connecting with the lives she could have led.
Release Date: March 11
Fire Island
Dir. Andrew Ahn
Writer: Joel Kim Booster
Starring: Bowen Yang, Joel Kim Booster, Conrad Ricamora, James Scully, Matt Rogers, Tomas Matos, Torian Miller, Nick Adams
Synopsis: A pair of best friends set out to have a legendary week-long summer vacation with the help of cheap rosé and a group of eclectic friends.
Release Date: TBD
The Flash
Dir. Andy Muschietti
Writer: Christina Hodson
Starring: Ezra Miller, Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton, Sasha Calle, Kiersey Clemons, Maribel Verdú, Ron Livingston
Synopsis: Barry Allen travels back in time to prevent his mother’s murder, which brings unintended consequences to his timeline.
Release Date: November 4 (allegedly)
Framing Agnes
Dir. Chase Joynt
Writer: Chase Joynt, Morgan M Page
Starring: Angelica Ross, Jen Richards, Zackary Drucker, Max Wolf Valerio, Silas Howard, Stephen Ira
Synopsis: Agnes, the pioneering, pseudonymized transgender woman who participated in Harold Garfinkel’s gender health research at UCLA in the 1960s, has long stood as a figurehead of trans history. In this rigorous cinematic exercise that blends fiction and nonfiction, director Chase Joynt explores where and how her platform has become a pigeonhole. Framing Agnes endeavors to widen the frame through which trans history is viewed — one that has remained too narrow to capture the multiplicity of experiences eclipsed by Agnes’s. Through a collaborative practice of reimagination, an impressive lineup of trans stars (Zackary Drucker, Angelica Ross, Jen Richards, Max Wolf Valerio, Silas Howard, and Stephen Ira) take on vividly rendered, impeccably vintage reenactments, bringing to life groundbreaking artifacts of trans healthcare.
Release Date: premiering at Sundance Film Festival
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Dir. Sophie Hyde
Writer: Katy Brand
Starring: Emma Thompson, Daryl McCormack
Synopsis: Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson) doesn’t know good sex. Whatever it may be, Nancy, a retired schoolteacher, is pretty sure she has never had it, but she is determined to finally do something about that.
Release Date: premiering at Sundance Film Festival
Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
Dir. Adamma Ebo
Writer: Adamma Ebo
Starring: Regina Hall, Sterling K. Brown
Synopsis: As the proud first lady of a Southern Baptist megachurch, Trinitie Childs carries immense responsibility on her shoulders. Her church, Wander To Greater Paths, once served a congregation in the tens of thousands, but after a scandal involving her husband, Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs, forced the church to close temporarily, Trinitie is struggling to manage the aftermath. Now Trinitie and Lee-Curtis must rebuild their congregation and reconcile their faith by all means necessary to make the biggest comeback that commodified religion has ever seen.
Release Date: premiering at Sundance Film Festival
Jacob and the Sea Beast
Dir. Chris Williams
Writer: Chris Williams
Synopsis: A legendary sea monster hunter’s life is turned upside down when a young girl stows away on his ship and befriends the most dangerous beast of them all.
Release Date: TBD
Knives Out 2
Dir. Rian Johnson
Writer: Rian Johnson
Starring: Daniel Craig, Dave Bautista, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Madelyn Cline, Jessica Henwick, Ethan Hawke
Synopsis: Benoit Blanc, a master detective, takes on a new murder case.
Release Date: TBD
The Lost City
Dir. Aaron and Adam Nee
Writer: Aaron and Adam Nee, Oren Uziel and Dana Fox, Seth Gordon
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Patti Harrison, Oscar Nunez, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Daniel Radcliffe
Synopsis: A reclusive romance novelist on a book tour with her cover model gets swept up in kidnapping attempt that lands them both in a cutthroat jungle adventure.
Release Date: March 25
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Dir. Dean Fleischer-Camp
Writer: Jenny Slate, Dean Fleischer-Camp, Nick Paley
Starring: Jenny Slate, Isabella Rossellini, Rosa Salazar, Thomas Mann
Synopsis: An adorable one-inch-tall shell is discovered by a documentary filmmaker bringing him unprecedented dangers and a new hope at finding his long-lost family.
Release Date: TBD
Mission: Impossible 7
Dir. Christopher McQuarrie
Writer: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Frederick Schmidt, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, Esai Morales, Rob Delaney, Charles Parnell, Indira Varma, Mark Gatiss, Cary Elwes
Synopsis: It will be the seventh installment of the Mission: Impossible film series.
Release Date: September 30
Moonfall
Dir. Roland Emmerich
Writer: Roland Emmerich, Harald Kloser, Spenser Cohen
Starring: Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Charlie Plummer, Michael Peña, and Donald Sutherland
Synopsis: A mysterious force knocks the Moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it. With mere weeks before impact and the world on the brink of annihilation, NASA executive and former astronaut Jo Fowler (Halle Berry) is convinced she has the key to saving us all – but only one astronaut from her past, Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) and conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman (John Bradley) believe her. These unlikely heroes will mount an impossible last-ditch mission into space, leaving behind everyone they love, only to find out that our Moon is not what we think it is.
Release Date: February 4
Mr. Malcolm’s List
Dir. Emma Holly Jones
Writer: Suzanne Allain
Starring: Freida Pinto, Sope Dirisu, Theo James, Zawe Ashton, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Ashley Park
Synopsis: A young woman in 1800s England enlists the help of her friend to get revenge on a suitor who rejected her for failing a requirement of his list.
Release Date: TBD
Mrs Harris Goes to Paris
Dir. Anthony Fabian
Writer: Anthony Fabian, Carroll Cartwright, Keith Thompson, Olivia Hetreed
Starring: Lesley Manville, Isabelle Huppert, Jason Isaacs, Lambert Wilson, Alba Baptista, Lucas Bravo, Rose Williams
Synopsis: Set in 1950s London, a widowed cleaning lady becomes obsessed with a couture Dior dress and embarks on an adventure to Paris.
Release Date: May 6
Nope
Dir. Jordan Peele
Writer: Jordan Peele
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun
Synopsis: TBD
Release Date: July 22
The Northman
Dir. Robert Eggers
Writer: Robert Eggers, Sjón
Starring: Alexander Skarsgard, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Björk, Ralph Ineson, Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe
Synopsis: The Northman is an epic revenge thriller, that explores how far a Viking prince will go to seek justice for his murdered father.
Release Date: April 22
Samaritan
Dir. Julius Avery
Writer: Bragi F. Schut
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Javon Walton, Martin Starr, Pilou Asbæk, Dascha Polanco, Moisés Arias
Synopsis: A young boy comes to the realization that a famed superhero, who was thought to have gone missing after an epic battle twenty years ago, may in fact still be around.
Release Date: August 26
Secret Headquarters
Dir. Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
Writer: Josh Koenigsberg, Christopher Yost, Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
Starring: Owen Wilson, Michael Peña, and Jesse Williams
Synopsis: The film is about Charlie Kincaid, a kid who discovers a secret headquarters under his home that seems to belong to a superhero. He shares it with his friends, and they start to believe that his estranged father might have a secret double life.
Release Date: August 12
Shotgun Wedding
Dir. Jason Moore
Writer: Mark Hammer, Liz Meriwether
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel, Sônia Braga, Jennifer Coolidge, Lenny Kravitz, Cheech Marin
Synopsis: Darcy and Tom get their lovable but very opinionated families for the ultimate destination wedding just as the couple get cold feet. But suddenly everyone’s lives are in danger when the entire party is taken hostage. The couple must work together to save their loved ones — if they don’t end up killing each other first.
Release Date: June 29
Something in the Dirt
Dir. Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead
Writer: Justin Benson
Starring: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead
Synopsis: When neighbors John and Levi witness supernatural events in their Los Angeles apartment building, they realize documenting the paranormal could inject some fame and fortune into their wasted lives. An ever-deeper, darker rabbit hole, their friendship frays as they uncover the dangers of the phenomena, the city, and each other.
Release Date: premiering at Sundance Film Festival
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Dir. Jeff Fowler
Writer: Pat Casey, Josh Miller, John Whittington
Starring: James Marsden, Ben Schwartz, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, Shemar Moore, Idris Elba, Jim Carrey
Synopsis: After the events of Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Sonic stays alone in Green Hills while Tom and Maddie Wachowski go on vacation. When Doctor Eggman returns to find the Master Emerald with the help of Knuckles the Echidna, Sonic and his new friend Miles “Tails” Prower set out to stop him.
Release Date: April 8
Spellbound
Dir. Vicky Jenson
Writer: Lauren Hynek, Elizabeth Martin, Linda Woolverton
Synopsis: Spellbound tells the story of Elian, a teenager who comes of age using her magical powers to defend her family when the opposing forces of light and darkness threaten to divide her kingdom.
Release Date: November 11
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Part One
Dir. Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson
Writer: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and David Callaham
Starring: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac
Synopsis: Miles Morales / Spider-Man goes on an adventure across the multiverse with Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman, Miguel O’Hara / Spider-Man 2099 and a new team of Spider-People to face a powerful villain.
Release Date: October 7
Starbright
Dir. Francesco Lucente
Writer: Joseph Bitonti, Olimpia Lucente
Starring: John Rhys Davies, Ted Levine, Diego Boneta and Gbenga Akinnagbe
Synopsis: A young orphan escapes the realities of her life by fantasizing about, and then entering, a fairy tale world.
Release Date: May 27
Strange World
Dir. Don Hall
Writer: Qui Nguyen
Synopsis: The legendary Clades are a family of explorers whose differences threatened to topple their latest and most crucial mission.
Release Date: November 23
Tar
Dir. Todd Field
Writer: Todd Field
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Noemie Merlant, Mark Strong
Synopsis: Follows Lydia Tar, the first-ever female chief conductor of a major German orchestra.
Release Date: October 7
The Outfit
Dir. Graham Moore
Writer: Graham Moore, Johnathan McClain
Starring: Mark Rylance, Zoey Deutch, Dylan O’Brien, Johnny Flyn
Synopsis: Leonard is an English tailor who used to craft suits on London’s world-famous Savile Row. After a personal tragedy he finds himself in Chicago, operating a small tailor shop in a rough part of town where he makes beautiful clothes for the only people around who can afford them: a family of vicious gangsters.
Release Date: February 25
The School for Good and Evil
Dir. Paul Feig
Writer: David Magee, Laura Solon, Malia Scotch Marmo, Soman Chainani
Starring: Sofia Wylie, Sophia Anne Caruso, Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington
Synopsis: It follows the adventures of best friends Sophie and Agatha who are kidnapped to the School for Good and Evil. After their fortunes are reversed, Sophie and Agatha try to figure out a way to return home and their friendship is put to the test.
Release Date: TBD
Thor: Love and Thunder
Dir. Taika Waititi
Writer: Taika Waititi, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Chris Pratt, Jaimie Alexander, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Jeff Goldblum, Vin Diesel
Synopsis: The film would adapt elements from Jason Aaron’s run on the Mighty Thor comic book, which sees Portman’s character Jane Foster take on the mantle and powers of Thor whilst suffering from cancer.
Release Date: July 8
Three Thousand Years of Longing
Dir. George Miller
Writer: George Miller
Starring: Idris Elba, Tilda Swinton
Synopsis: A scholar, content with life, encounters a Djinn who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom. Their conversation, in a hotel room in Istanbul, leads to consequences neither would have expected
Release Date: TBD
Ticket to Paradise
Dir. Ol Parker
Writer: Ol Parker, Daniel Pipski
Starring: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Billie Lourd, Kaitlyn Dever, Lucas Bravo
Synopsis: University of Chicago graduate Wren Butler accompanies her best friend Lily on a post-graduation jaunt to Bali. After Lily abruptly decides to marry a local, her divorced parents try to stop their daughter from making the same mistake they once made 25 years ago. Meanwhile, Wren stays in Bali for the festivities and, in the process, finds her own love with a local doctor.
Release Date: October 21
Till
Dir. Chinonye Chukwu
Writer: Keith Beauchamp, Chinonye Chukwu, Michael Reilly
Starring: Haley Bennett, Danielle Deadwyler, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Patrick Thomas
Synopsis: The story of Emmett Louis Till and the legacy of his mother who pursued justice for her lynched son.
Release Date: October 7
Turning Red
Dir. Domee Shi
Writer: Domee Shi, Julia Cho
Starring: Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Hyein Park, Orion Lee, Wai Ching Ho, James Hong
Synopsis: Set in Toronto, between 2002 and 2003, the film centers around Meilin “Mei” Lee, a confident thirteen-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl who is torn between staying her mother’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. And as if changes to her interests, relationships, and body were not enough, whenever she gets too excited or stressed, she “poofs” into a giant red panda due to her ancestors’ mystical connection with red pandas.
Release Date: March 11
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Dir: Tom Gormican
Writer: Tom Gormican, Kevin Etten
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Tiffany Haddish, Neil Patrick Harris
Synopsis: Nicolas Cage begrudgingly accepts a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a Mexican billionaire super fan. When things take a wild turn, Nic is forced to become a version of some of his most iconic and beloved characters in order to extricate his wife and daughter from the fan who is a notorious drug lord.
Release Date: April 22
Violence of Action
Dir. Tarik Saleh
Writer: J.P. Davis
Starring: Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Eddie Marsan, Gillian Jacobs, Fares Fares, Tarik Saleh, Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Nina Hoss, Amira Casar, J.P. Davis, Esther Hornstein, J.D. Pardo
Synopsis: After being involuntarily discharged from the U.S. Special Forces, James Harper (Chris Pine) decides to support his family by joining a private contracting organization alongside his best friend (Ben Foster) and under the command of a fellow veteran (Kiefer Sutherland). Overseas on a covert mission, Harper must evade those trying to kill him while making his way back home.
Release Date: March 18
Violent Night
Dir. Tommy Wirkola
Writer: Pat Casey and Josh Miller
Starring: David Harbour
Synopsis: Coal-dark holiday thriller that says you should always bet on red.
Release Date: December 2
The Woman King
Dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood
Writer: Dana Stevens
Starring: Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, John Boyega
Synopsis: In the Kingdom of Dahomey, Nanisca is the general of the all-female military unit and Nawi is an ambitious recruit. Together, the pair fought enemies who violated their honor, enslaved their people, and threatened to destroy everything they have lived for.
Release Date: September 16