To round off a great 2023 and with eyes already on the next year of film, we’ve curated a selection of some of the most anticipated new films coming out in 2024 – with their Australian release dates confirmed where possible. We start with films that already have their tantalising trailers out, and finish with a few that haven’t revealed any footage yet but are on the radar nonetheless.
2024 in a nutshell: The completion of Ti West’s X trilogy! Dune part two! New Bong Joon Ho! New Sofia Coppola! New Robert Eggers! Jeremy Allen White as a wrestler! Paddington in Peru! A Lord of the Rings animated feature! And musical after musical after musical….
If you’re looking for a summary of the Australian TV and streaming options of 2024, look no further than this article. If you’re looking for Australian-made cinema releases in 2024, you can find that list here.
Otherwise, read on.
Read: Five-star film reviews: top ten movies of 2023
Jump to:
The Holdovers
- Director: Alexander Payne
- Cast includes: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa
- Synopsis: A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school remains on campus during Christmas break to babysit a handful of students with nowhere to go. He soon forms an unlikely bond with a brainy but damaged troublemaker, and with the school’s head cook, a woman who just lost a son in the Vietnam War.
- Release date: 11 January 2024
- Why we’re excited: Though its Australian release is coming a little late, this Christmas film with a retro feel and dialogue-driven drama looks to be a new classic.
The Bikeriders
- Director: Jeff Nichols
- Cast includes: Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy
- Synopsis: Set in the 1960s, it follows the rise of a fictional Chicago motorcycle club. Seen through the lives of its members, the club evolves over the course of a decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s unique way of life.
- Release date: 25 January 2024
- Why we’re excited: Tom Hardy and Austin Butler as bikers – what more do you need?
Lisa Frankenstein
- Director: Zelda Williams
- Cast includes: Cole Sprouse, Kathryn Newton
- Synopsis: A ‘coming-of-rage’ love story from Oscar-winning writer Diablo Cody (Jennifer’s Body) about a misunderstood teenager and her high school crush, who happens to be a handsome corpse. After a set of playfully horrific circumstances bring him back to life, the two embark on a murderous journey to find love, happiness… and a few missing body parts along the way.
- Release date: TBC in 2024
- Why we’re excited: Robin Williams’ daughter is making her directorial debut with this campy retelling of Frankenstein from writer Diablo Cody, and it looks like it’ll have us in stitches.
The Iron Claw
- Director: Sean Durkin
- Cast includes: Zac Effron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson
- Synopsis: Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White head up this A24 sports biopic as members of the Von Erich family, a hugely successful but tragedy-tainted wrestling dynasty with a history going back to the 1960s.
- Release date: 18 January 2024
- Why we’re excited: For those of us that have enjoyed Jeremy Allen White’s dramatic work in The Bear, this is a chance to see how he fares alongside movie star Zac Effron in what looks to be a heart-wrenching story of family pressure and spotting legends.
Priscilla
- Director: Sofia Coppola
- Cast includes: Jacob Elordi, Cailee Spaeny
- Synopsis: When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend.
- Release date: 18 January 2024
- Why we’re excited: Auteur Sofia Coppola is giving us the antidote to 2022’s Elvis with her take on the Priscilla Presley story, with rising Australian star Jacob Elordi starring as Elvis.
The Color Purple
- Director: Blitz Bazawule
- Cast includes: Taraji P. Henson, Haille Bailey, Danielle Brooks
- Synopsis: Musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel about the life-long struggles of an African American woman living in the south during the early 1900s.
- Release date: 25 January 2024
- Why we’re excited: Haille Bailey deserves to be a star in her own right, since she is a supremely talented actor and singer that just happened to star in a lackluster Little Mermaid adaptation.
Drive-Away Dolls
- Director: Ethan Coen
- Cast includes: Pedro Pascal, Matt Damon, Margaret Qualley
- Synopsis: The story follows Jamie (Qualley), an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan, The Broken Hearts Gallery) who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.
- Release date: 22 February 2024
- Why we’re excited: It’s Ethan minus Joel in this Coen brother’s first solo directorial effort, which has the potential to be an even greater female road-trip film than Thelma & Louise.
Dune: Part Two
- Director: Denis Villeneuve
- Cast includes: Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Stellan Skarsgard
- Synopsis: In the second part of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of author Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction epic, Duke Paul Atreides joins the Fremen and begins a spiritual and martial journey to become Muad’dib, while trying to prevent the horrible but inevitable future he’s witnessed: a Holy War in his name, spreading throughout the known universe.
- Release date: 29 February 2024
- Why we’re excited: Dune part one left us in awe of Villeneuve’s realisation of the worlds of Frank Herbert’s novel, and it definitely left us wanting more. The long awaited sequel finally comes to cinemas in February.
Mickey 17
- Director: Bong Joon Ho
- Cast includes: Robert Pattinson, Mark Ruffalo, Steven Yuen
- Synopsis: Robert Pattinson stars in Oscar-winning filmmaker Bong Joon-ho’s (Parasite) adaptation of the science fiction novel by Edward Ashton, which follows the story of a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonise the ice world Niflheim. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact.
- Release date: DELAYED INDEFINITELY
- Why we’re excited: Since Parasite invaded our minds in 2019 with its chilling aesthetic and biting social commentary, we’ve all been waiting to see what Korean director Bong Joon-ho will do next.
Furiosa
- Director: George Miller
- Cast includes: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
- Synopsis: Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit) is Furiosa, the one-armed renegade warrior from George Miller’s Oscar winner Mad Max: Fury Road, in this story taking place before she met Max. Co-stars Chris Hemsworth and Emmy winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Candyman).
- Release date: 23 May 2024
- Why we’re excited: Which Aussie isn’t excited for this film?? It’s the origin story of Charlize Theron’s Furiosa, this time with Anya Taylor-Joy in the driver’s seat and a slew of even more insane characters lighting up the Australian desert with souped-up trucks and acrobatic stunts.
MaXXXine
- Director: Ti West
- Cast includes: Mia Goth, Kevin Bacon, Helena Bonham Carter
- Synopsis: Following 2022’s X and Pearl, filmmaker Ti West and star Mia Goth complete their starstruck horror trilogy with this story set in 1980s Los Angeles, following Maxine continuing her journey towards fame after the events of X.
- Release date: TBC in 2024
- Why we’re excited: MaXXXine concludes the trilogy of scream queen Mia Goth’s fame-obsessed heroine slasher flicks (with Pearl being the highlight so far), following directly from X into the neon-soaked 80s.
Read: Pearl is a gory and glamorous masterpiece
Other films coming in 2024 that don’t have a trailer yet:
Nosferatu
- Director: Robert Eggers
- Cast includes: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corin, Bill Skarsgard
- Synopsis: Writer-director Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse) takes on the classic gothic vampire tale, made renown to cinema a century ago with the silent 1922 version. The story follows the obsession between a haunted young woman in 19th century Germany and the ancient Transylvanian vampire who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him.
- Release date: December 2024
- Why we’re excited: The Lighthouse was deliciously mad, and it will be great to see Eggers’ gothic sensibilities dialed up to 11 in Nosferatu. Also looking forward to Skarsgard’s monstrous character work as the vampire himself.
Joker: Folie à Deux
- Director: Todd Phillips
- Cast includes: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga
- Synopsis: Joaquin Phoenix returns to the role that earned him an Academy Award, reuniting with director Todd Phillips for this sequel to 2019’s Joker. Co-stars fellow Oscar-winner Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn.
- Release date: 3 October 2024
- Why we’re excited: Joker was certainly a divisive take on the Clown Prince of Crime, and the sequel will surely be no different. Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn will be, if anything, highly entertaining.
Gladiator II
- Director: Ridley Scott
- Cast includes: Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal
- Synopsis: Ridley Scott returns to Ancient Rome with this follow-up to his Oscar-winning classic centered on Lucius, the son of Maximus’ love Lucilla, after Maximus’ death.
- Release date: 21 November 2024
- Why we’re excited: It is truly the era of Paul Mescal, and his layered & complex acting plus the return of an epic tale of Ancient Rome will surely spell success.
Wicked: Part One
- Director: John M. Chu
- Cast includes: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jeff Goldblum
- Synopsis: Director Jon M Chu’s (In the Heights) two-part adaptation of the stage musical hit, a prequel to cinema classic The Wizard of Oz, starring Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and The Greatest Showman‘s Keala Settle.
- Release date: 28 November 2024
- Why we’re excited: Adapting such a beloved stage musical to film is always a risky move, but with the stellar vocal talents of Grande and Erivo, John M. Chu might just pull it off.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
- Director: Kenji Kamiyama
- Cast includes: Miranda Otto, Brian Cox
- Synopsis: The untold story behind Helm’s Deep, hundreds of years before the fateful war, telling the life and bloodsoaked times of its founder, Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan.
- Release date: 12 December 2024
- Why we’re excited: It will be interesting to see The Lord of the Rings get the prestige anime treatment, bringing to life scenes that would have been insanely costly and otherwise impossible in live action.
Paddington in Peru
- Director: Dougal Wilson
- Cast includes: Ben Whishaw, Antonio Banderas, Rachel Zegler
- Synopsis: The third film in the series follows Paddington and the Brown family as they visit Aunt Lucy in Peru, but a mystery sends them to the Amazon rainforest and up Peruvian mountains.
- Release date: TBC in 2024
- Why we’re excited: Paddington 2 gets a lot of deserved praise for turning the little bear from Peru into an icon of cinema – we can’t wait to see what else he gets up to in the third installment of the trilogy.
Fun Home
- Director: Sam Gold
- Cast includes: Jack Gyllenhaal
- Synopsis: Based on the musical and Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir, Fun Home concerns Bechdel’s discovery of her own sexuality, her relationship with her gay father, and her attempts to unlock the mysteries surrounding his life.
- Release date: TBC in 2024
- Why we’re excited: Alison Bechdel may be best known for the feminist ‘test’ that scores films based on whether two women talk to each other for longer than a minute, but Fun Home – the musical based on the comic book based on her life – should be the thing that cements her place in history forever.
Untitled Wallace & Gromit movie
Read: Has Aardman, the studio behind Wallace & Gromit, run out of clay for future animations?
- Director: Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham
- Cast includes: TBC
- Synopsis: TBC
- Release date: TBC in 2024
- Why we’re excited: The last time Wallace & Gromit graced our screens was 2005 in Curse of the Were-Rabbit. With this new project on the horizon, Aardman has the chance to remind us why they are the masters of clay-mation.
Stay tuned for more news on upcoming releases and local films in 2024 on ScreenHub.
