As we head into the new year, there’s no doubt that 2023 is going to be a massive year for the film industry. How do we know? Because there’s already a range of conversations being had around which films will dominate the Hollywood box office, which will garner some award buzz and which will perhaps not live up to the hype.

For some, the “hype” sits around which Hollywood celebrities will be featuring in leading roles. Sometimes it’s around a combination of material and the director at the helm (in 2023, some legendary directors will be resurfacing). And then for others, it might just be the excitement of seeing Margot Robbie playing Barbie.

So, to entertain the conversation around the biggest movies of 2023, we’ve rounded up what we think to be the most anticipated film released set to hit our screens in the months to come.

Cocaine Bear

From its title, you might think that Cocaine Bear is a parody of some kind, but in fact, it’s a true story based on a real-life Grizzly bear that consumed a portion of cocaine that went missing in a Georgia forest. … just minus the grizzly deaths the film portrays. You can see how the prospect of a bear stumbling across cocaine makes for a thrilling Hollywood film, and judging by its trailer, it looks to be quite the life. We’re eager to see how this one turns out.

Release date: February 24


Killers of the Flower Moon 

Undoubtedly one of the biggest releases to come in 2023 is Martin Scorsese’s upcoming American Western crime drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Brendan Fraser. Based on David Grann’s best-selling novel, “Killers of the Flower Moon” and around the true events of the ‘Reign of Terror’, the film is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation that sparked a major F.B.I. investigation involving J. Edgar Hoover.

Release date: May, 2023

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Indiana Jones returns for another swashbuckling adventure, and one we believe will be veteran actor Harrison Ford’s last time saving the world as the brooding archaeologist. Set in the 1960s and during the height of the coveted ‘Space Race’ between the US and the Soviet Union, the trailer opens with a classic Indiana Jones frame: Jones navigating an extremely dangerous situation trying to outrun the villains – who will be played by Mads Mikkelsen and Antonio Banderas – that are undoubtedly after an artefact or piece of information Jones holds.

Release date: June 30

Oppenheimer

A Christopher Nolan masterpiece in the making, Oppenheimer is based on the 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, written by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin. It’s set to be an extraordinary glimpse at Cillian Murphy leading the ensemble as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who was credited as one of the “founding fathers” of the atomic bomb, and criticised for his role in the Manhattan Project – the World War II development that ultimately led to the first nuclear weapons (and subsequently, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).

Release date: July 1

Barbie 

We’ve finally witnessed a first glimpse of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie & Ken, and we’re unashamed to say we want more. Greta Gerwig has the Herculean task of bringing the world of Barbie to life; Barbie (Robbie) is dealing with the pressures of being the “perfect doll”, and soon finds herself being expelled from Barbieland for not meeting the standards of what it takes to be a Barbie doll. In the process, she sets off for the human world to find her ideal happiness.

Release date: July 21

Dune: Part 2

When the award-winning film Dune hit cinemas in 2021, the flow of positivity for Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi adventure was immense… and for good reason. When you combine a stellar script (adapted from the classic Frank Herbert novel) with a stellar cast and crew, what do you expect? The second film takes off where the first finished… in the desert of Arrakis. Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) is on a mission to avenge his fallen family, but all the while must face a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the universe.

Release date: November 3

 

Wonka

While details are still scarce, what we do know about Paul King’s upcoming Willy Wonka (played by Timothée Chalamet) adaptation is that this story , rather focusing on the traditional story we all know and love, will tell the tale of a young Willy Wonka and how he met the Oompa-Loompas on one of his earliest adventures.

Release date: December 15