10. “Maestro”
So impressed with “A Star Is Born,” Steven Spielberg reportedly rang up Bradley Cooper and suggested he take over the long-developing biopic himself. A couple of studios later, now it’s going to be a big Netflix awards contender that centers on the legendary composer and his relationship with his Chilean wife and TV actress Felicia Montealegre. Cooper directs and stars, Carey Mulligan is the muse, and Jeremy Strong plays a critic and writer who penned an authorized biography of the musical maestro. First look photos hit earlier this year.
Release Date: TBD, but fall 2023, and Venice is a good bet.
9. “Ferrari”
Filmmaker Michael Mann has been threatening to make a movie about the life of Italian driver and entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari for years, and he’s finally doing it with “Ferrari” which is set in 1957 as he deals with family problems while also preparing for the legendary Mille Miglia race. The stacked cast includes Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Gabriel Leone, Sarah Gadon, Jack O’Connell, and Patrick Dempsey.
Release Date: TBD whoever buys STXfilms, but presumably a Venice premiere.
8. “Priscilla”
Filmmaker Sofia Coppola had several projects in the works, but thanks to the success of “Elvis,” her next film, “Priscilla,” based on Priscilla Presley‘s memoir “Elvis and Me,” rocketed to the top of her to-do list. In very “Euphoria,” young hip casting up-and-comer Cailee Spaeny (“Devs”) stars as Priscilla Presley, and Jacob Elordi will play Elvis.
Release Date: TBD, but A24 is distributing, and shooting began in October of 2022, so a late year or late fall release seems possible.
7. “Poor Things”
From the dude that brought us “The Lobster” and “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” the inimitable Yorgos Lanthimos reteams with Emma Stone for his latest weird ball exercise, “Poor Things,” which centers on a woman, who is brought back from the dead via the brain of her unborn child after she drowns herself to escape an abusive relationship. Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, Christopher Abbott, and Margaret Qualley co-star (he’s also already shooting the follow-up, “And”), but we assume that’s 2024.
Release Date: TBD, via Searchlight and presumably awards season. – AB
6. “Disappointment Blvd.”
Following up “Midsommar,” his cathartic purge of grief and catastrophe, Ari Aster teams with the Joaquin Phoenix for “Disappointment Blvd.” Described as “an intimate, decades-spanning portrait of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time,” Aster has referred to his movie as “a nightmare comedy.” Nathan Lane, Patti LuPone, Amy Ryan, Kylie Rogers, Parker Posey, and more guest star.
Release Date: TBD, but A24 will probably seek a big festival bow, presumably at Cannes. – AB
5. “Dune: Part Two”
Having hit his $400 million threshold, filmmaker Denis Villeneuve gets to make his epic sci-fi sequel to the story of Arrakis and the Atreides family. Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Javier Bardem, and all the surviving members of the original cast return. Newcomers include Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Christopher Walken, and Léa Seydoux.
Release Date: November 3, 2023, via Warner Bros.
4. “Barbie”
High art/low art masterpiece? Clearly, director Greta Gerwig is really, really going for it with “Barbie,” a film co-written by her partner Noah Baumbach and seemingly a huge swing for the fences. The stacked cast includes Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrara, Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, Ariana Greenblatt, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Issa Rae, Michael Cera, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Will Ferrell, and it’s kind of unknown what it’s about other than a seemingly subversive take on the Mattel toy character and franchise.
Release Date: July 21, 2023, via Warner Bros.
3. “Oppenheimer”
Christopher Nolan turns the story of the Manhattan Project—the World War II undertaking that developed the first nuclear weapons—into a clock-is-ticking moral thriller. Cillian Murphy plays the titular lead scientist, and the star-studded cast includes Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Rami Malek, Gary Oldman, Alden Ehrenreich, Benny Safdie, Kenneth Branagh, and dozens more.
Release Date: July 21, 2023, via Universal Pictures.
2. “The Killer”
David Fincher reteams with his “Seven” screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker for an adaptation of a French graphic novel about an assassin who begins to psychologically crack as he develops a conscience, even as his clients continue to demand his skills. Micheal Fassbender stars, and Tilda Swinton, appears briefly, but this is apparently mostly a one-man show with just character actors like Charles Parnell. Brad Pitt’s Plan B produces.
Release Date: TBD. Presumably, Netflix saves it for the awards season.
1. “Killers Of The Flower Moon”
Martin Scorsese’s $200 million dollar-costing crime drama centers on Native American tribe members murdered under mysterious circumstances in the 1920s, sparking a major F.B.I. investigation involving J. Edgar Hoover. Jesse Plemons, Lily Gladstone, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Robert De Niro, with Brendan Fraser, Brendan Fraser, Tantoo Cardinal, and a major cast of supporting players star. Apple TV+ is footing the bill and is co-releasing the movie with Paramount Pictures.
Release Date: TBD, but Scorsese is already suggesting Cannes in May again.
Even more honorable mention picks on the next page.
