90. “Heart Of A Lion”
After some of the best reviews of his career for “The Hate U Give,” director George Tillman Jr. returns with a film about the life and boxing career of legendary pugilist George Foreman. Forest Whitaker takes on the challenge of playing Foreman and Khris Davis, Sullivan Jones, Deion Smith, John Magaro, Matthew Glave, and Sam Trammell co-star.
Release Date: March 31, 2023, via Sony.
89. “Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania”
Having seemingly supersized his repertoire with “The Mandalorian,” Peyton Reed returns to direct the third ‘Ant-Man’ film, which looks much more epic in scope compared to the previous entries. The original gang, Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, and Michelle Pfeiffer, return, and they are joined by Kathryn Newton as Ant-Man’s daughter, Jonathan Majors as the super time-traveling villain Kang, plus Bill Murray, Randall Park, David Dastmalchian and more.
Release Date: February 17, 2023, via Disney.
88. “The Color Purple”
Not really an adaptation of Steven Spielberg’s 1985 classic, this ‘Color Purple’ is based on the 2005 stage musical, which is, in turn, based on Alice Walker‘s 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. So yes, a musical starring Fantasia, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson, Halle Bailey, Elizabeth Marvel, David Alan Grier, and many more. Blitz Bazawul (a co-director of Beyoncé’s “Black Is King”) directs; Quincy Jones and Spielberg produce.
Release Date: December 20, 2023, via Warner Bros.
87. “The Marvels”
The malleability of Marvel films fascinates. What was originally supposed to be a “Captain Marvel” sequel starring Brie Larson transforms, allowing room for two more Marvel-like characters: Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel and Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau from “WandaVision,” which feels like an inspired trio. “Candyman” legacy sequel filmmaker Nia DaCosta is at the helm, and Samuel L. Jackson, Zawe Ashton, and Park Seo-joon co-star.
Release Date: July 28, 2023, via Disney.
86. “An Afternoon with SCTV”
Once upon a time, many years ago (2018), Martin Scorsese shot a live reunion of the cast of Canadian super comedians “SCTV,” a sketch comedy troupe regarded by many as the godfathers of sketch comedy (they’re not wrong). The original group includes Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, the late John Candy, Andrea Martin, Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, Joe Flaherty, and Dave Thomas, and every surviving member turned up for this three-hour live event. Now is it finally coming out? Has it turned into something else, maybe a doc series? Who knows? But that said, surprise, Scorsese doc drops are a thing.
Release Date: TBD via Netflix.
85. “Cat Person”
Starring “Succession” star Cousin Greg himself, the inimitable Nicholas Braun, director Susanna Fogel’s “Cat Person” is based on the viral New Yorker story of the same name. Braun plays Robert, a man who starts a relationship with Margot (Emilia Jones), a younger, 20-year-old college student, paying frequent visits to the movie theater she works at. Co-starring Hope Davis, Michael Gandolfini, Fred Melamed, and Isabella Rosselini, Fogel (who co-penned “Booksmart”) is a strong fit for the material.
Release Date: TBD, via StudioCanal – AB.
84. “Rustin”
Following the success of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” director George C. Wolfe reteams with Netflix for “Rustin,” a biopic of gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who organized the 1963 March on Washington. The cast is stacked: Colman Domingo in the lead, Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, Audra McDonald, Aml Ameen, CCH Pounder, Michael Potts, and Bill Irwin. Dustin Lance Black wrote the script, and the Obamas count themselves among the producers.
Release Date: TBD, but it’s shot and may be ready for the end of the year.
83. “Elemental”
It’ll be a relatively quiet year for Pixar in 2023, with only one studio film, so let’s hope it’s a good one. Directed by “The Good Dinosaur” filmmaker Peter Sohn, “Elemental” centers on the bond between a fire element and a water element, who cannot touch each other but discover how much they have in common. Leah Lewis and Mamoudou Athie star in the lead voice roles.
Release Date: June 16, 2023, via Disney/Pixar.
82. “Damsel”
Known for “28 Weeks Later,” it’s been 11 years since his last feature, but Spanish filmmaker Juan Carlos Fresnadillo will return this year. His latest is a fantasy film about a would-be princess who is actually a sacrifice to appease a bloodthirsty dragon. Millie Bobby Brown, Nick Robinson, Angela Bassett, Robin Wright, Ray Winstone, Brooke Carter, and Shohreh Aghdashloo star.
Release Date: It’s Netflix, it’s shot, and so maybe later in the year.
81. “True Love”
It’s been a long minute since we’ve heard from “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” Gareth Edwards, and of course, it was Tony Gilroy, not Edwards, invited back to do the prequel, “Andor.” We digress. An untitled near-future sci-fi with most details under wraps, it stars John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Ralph Ineson, Allison Janney, and Ken Watanabe.
Release Date: October 6, 2023, via 20th Century Studios.
