Culture

Furiosa, Dune and Winehouse: part two of a guide to the most anticipated movie premieres of 2024

19.01.2024Ksenia Batyshkina

In a previous ZIMA piece on movie releases in 2024, we put together a guide to premieres that will delight audiences with their novelty, authorial approach or unusual scripted adaptations. But let's not forget that the coming year will also bring viewers high-profile and, in part, unexpected sequels, prequels and spin-offs. We tell you more about it in our selection.

Dune: part two

The sequel, which fans of the sci-fi saga have been waiting for so long, was supposed to hit the big screens back in the fall of 2023, but due to the strike of actors who refused to participate in the promotion campaign, the premiere of the sequel was postponed to March 2024. Recall that the first part was able to please, as fans of the source material – the novels of Frank Herbert, and all moviegoers. One of the reasons for the success of the picture was the ability of director Denis Villeneuve to filigree combine elements of auteur cinema and classic blockbuster.

“Dune: Part Two” is a direct sequel to the first movie, the narrative of which ended halfway through the first book in the “Dune” series. You can definitely expect stunning visuals and a whole host of first-rate stars in the lead roles – Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, Rebbeca Ferguson and many more.

The movie is scheduled to premiere in the UK on March 1, 2024.

Beetlejuice 2

Perhaps the most unexpected sequel on the 2024 sequel list, as it’s been nothing less than 36 years since the first installment was released. The director’s chair went to the author of the first movie – the “great and terrible”, as he is sometimes called by his colleagues, Tim Burton. The cast from the first “Beetlejuice” – Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton – will return to the screens, but the cast will also include new characters played by Monica Belucci, Jenna Ortega (who worked with Burton in the series “Wansday”) and Willem Defoe.

Furiosa: The Mad Max Chronicles.

Director George Martin – the creator of the universe of “Mad Max”, despite the expectations of the audience, decided first to release not a sequel to the movie released in 2015 and made a sensation – “Mad Max: Fury Road”, and make a spin-off about the central character – Furiosa, the role of which in the first part played the peerless Charlize Theron.

The movie will tell the story of the kidnapping of a one-armed female warrior and her mother from a matriarchal society and the girl’s rise to become one of the Warlords of Immortan Joe’s armies. Young Furiosa will be played by Anya Taylor-Joy, while the role of Warlord Dementus, the leader of a violent gang of bikers who travel the badlands in search of profit, went to Chris Hemsworth.

The movie is scheduled to premiere in the UK May 24, 2024.

Gladiator 2

Another unexpected sequel to 2024. The first “Gladiator” was released in 2000 and not only became a roaring success among audiences and critics, but went on to win 5 Academy Awards. The second installment will also be directed by Ridley Scott. The action of the sequel according to plans announced by the film crew in 2022, will take place 20 years after the events of the first picture – in 200 AD. Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal and Paul Mescal will play the lead roles.

The plot will revolve around Lucius, the nephew of the main antagonist from the first part, Commodus. The young man decides that he does not want to be next in line for the Roman throne, but instead wishes to become a heroic gladiator, as the brave Maximus once did.

The film is scheduled to premiere in the UK on November 22, 2024.

Joker: Madness for Two.

In the director’s chair again Todd Phillips, but the genre of the movie has changed a lot – instead of a thriller, the creators unexpectedly announced a dark musical. The actions of the picture will begin in a mental institution Arkham, where the protagonist (aka anti-hero) Joker, played by Joaquin Phoenix, meets his love Harley Quinn, who will be played by singer and for more than five years actress – Lady Gaga. This is not a typical comic book movie, but a movie that was able to change the audience’s perception of the variation in superhero movies. The success of the second installment is no less hoped for than the success of the first.

The movie is scheduled to premiere in the UK on October 4, 2024.

Back to Black.

Despite the fact that this movie is neither a sequel, prequel nor spin-off, we couldn’t pass by such a premiere and not write about it. Last week, the first trailer for a biopic about Amy Winehouse was released (which we also wrote about in ZimaMagazine’s Telegram feed). The film is scheduled for release in April 2024 and is directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, who previously gained acclaim for her exploration of John Lennon’s early years in Nowhere Boy. The movie, which is already eagerly awaited by fans of the British soul singer’s work (and more), was made with the blessing of the Winehouse family.

The role of Amy herself in “Back to Black” was played by Marisa Abela, and the role of her grandmother went to Lesley Manville, who played the “late” Princess Margaret in the series “The Crown”. In the character of Winehouse’s father, the famous British actor – Eddie Marsan – will appear on the screen.

The movie is scheduled to premiere in the UK April 12, 2024.

Cruella 2.

The sequel to the colorful comedy drama about the charismatic villain from the original Disney animated film “101 Dalmatians” will be staged as a movie musical. The 2021 film caused a stir, primarily due to its work on costumes and visuals of the characters, for which it won two Academy Awards in 2022 – Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

The events of the first tape stopped on the fact that the heroine Emma Stone passed the way of becoming from a poor girl to a “stylish predator” and left in her environment exclusively trusted persons. Details of the sequel’s plot have yet to be revealed by the team, but we can definitely expect exciting new intrigue and hard work from the costume designers.

The movie is scheduled to have its world premiere in the second half of 2024, but the exact release date is being kept secret for now.

Read also ZIMA’s piece, “The Most Anticipated Movie Premieres of 2024: Part 1.”

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