Looking Ahead to the Movies of 2024 (And Not Looking Forward)

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Whether shown in theaters or on one of the streaming platforms, 2024’s releases are heavy on sequels, prequels and reboots, and this year the film industry is counting on intelligent apes, killer clowns, and bloodthirsty gladiators driving people to the box office. 

To anticipate consumer demand, a studio’s marketing army utilizes a wide variety of surveys, focus groups and interviews. The massive amount of data collected is applied to large and small-budget projects in the development stage. Studios are always willing to gamble on a few independent properties because history has shown that one or two will be surprise hits. 1999’s The Blair Witch Project was made for $500,000 and grossed $250 million world-wide. No one saw that coming.

Currently, it’s sequels to box office winners that keep the big money rolling in, and the audience demand for Part 2, 5, or 10 of a particular franchise is what determines the decision to proceed with the series or terminate it. It’s a high-stakes crapshoot to make a successful sequel as producers of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Wakanda Forever and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny discovered. Ticket-buyers can smell a loser long before opening day. On the other hand, the 1978 film Halloween was a modestly budgeted horror film that far surpassed any box office predictions. That it spawned 12 sequels is something no one foresaw. Despite a promise the franchise was ending in 2018, Michael Myers is returning to pave the way for a series of spinoffs. Creator/director John Carpenter doesn’t mind … he gets a royalty payment for each new sequel.

Wolfmen, Mummies, Vampires

Then there’s The Wolfman set for release in October. Once Ryan Gosling left the project, the film’s budget dropped dramatically. The 2010 version with Benicio del Toro barely made its money back and, in this retelling, the story takes place in modern day. 

The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001) with Brendan Fraser were moneymakers that spawned a third film and a prequel, The Scorpion King. But Van Helsing, based on the vampire hunter in Dracula (1931), broke even. Another mummy film in 2017 with Tom Cruise was a box office bomb. Conversely, a remake of The Invisible Man in 2020 cost $7 million to make and earned $100 million in release. Two horror films this year are prequels; A Quiet Place: Day One documents the beginning of the deadly alien invasion, and The Omen 1 is a precursor to the 1976 classic. On deck are more chapters from the successful Saw XI and Smile 2 franchises. Comedic sequels include Ghostbusters: The Frozen Empire with Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson, and Beetlejuice 2 with Michael Keaton. That last one might be the scariest of them all.

Films derived from comic books appear to be less prevalent than previous years. That’s probably an excellent idea given all the recent crap Marvel Studios has dumped on the public. Two strong Marvel Cinematic Universe tentpoles, Deadpool 3 and Venom 3, will prop up newcomers Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter if necessary. The latter films are Spider-Man spinoffs that do not include the titular character. One of Spidey’s most popular foes, Kraven was deemed worthy of a background storyline before the epic clash with Peter Parker’s alter-ego. Meanwhile, the rest of us are wondering when Daredeviland the Punisher will come back. It’s been way too long. And DC has Joker 2, with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga creating mayhem within Arkham Asylum. The 2019 film has grossed $1 billion dollars to date. Unless DC’s think tank was living under a rock, greenlighting a second film was nothing short of a slam dunk.

Future Shock

Alien: Romulus, the 10th entry in the franchise if you count the two Alien vs. Predator films, takes place between the 1979 film and the second from 1986. With all the sequels and prequels, it’s hard to keep track of the different storylines. Dune 2 concludes a two-part adaptation sourced from the beloved Frank Herbert novel. Viewers already know to distance themselves from the colossal disaster from 1984.

Other sci-fi releases for the year include Mad Max: Furiosa, a prequel to 2015’s Fury Road. Despite rave reviews for both Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, neither appear in the new film. The eighth Transformers film, Rise of the Unicorn, is an animated prequel that reveals the origin of Optimus Prime and his crew. Why the series got past three films would be one of life’s great mysteries if the franchise wasn’t a nonstop money machine that has delivered billions in revenue to date. Theater owners love the King Kong and Godzillamovies because their popcorn, candy, and soda sales are astronomical. Look for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes around Memorial Day. After three origin prequels, this one recounts the events from the 1968 Charlton Heston shocker.

Animated films in 2024 include The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, a story that takes place 261 years prior to events in the Peter Jackson series. Despicable Me and Kung Fu Panda are fourth chapters in their series, while Inside Out returns with a second film. Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King is the highly anticipated prequel to a franchise that’s grossed billions of dollars to date. No research was needed on that one. The Garfield Movie, in development since 2016, has arrived with the voices of Chris Pratt and Samuel L. Jackson. Paddington in Peru is a live action animated film, the third in the series. 

Action films with a huge opportunity include Beverly Hills Cop 4, Gladiator 2, Bad Boys 4 and Ballerina, a John Wick spinoff that takes place between Wick 3 and 4. We’re also looking at a reboot of Roadhouse and yet another Karate Kid.

Lastly is a heartfelt prayer that unlike previous years, studio executives realize that Samuel L. Jackson does not need to be in every film ever made.