Movies That Will Blow Everyone Away In 2022 And Beyond

Once upon a time, we could count on summer movie season to deliver all the biggest films. Of course, now that "season" seems to be a year-round thing. Granted, 2020 threw a wrench into Hollywood's plans, but it seems that the film industry is finally back in business.

That's especially true if you look at the upcoming projects that studios have to offer. Across the next several years, we can expect continuations of beloved franchises, intriguing reboots, and years-in-the-making dream projects that are bound for box office glory. So, prepare to get super psyched for the biggest films arriving in 2022 and beyond.

Updated on July 5, 2022: Whether you're going to the theater or streaming from home, there's no shortage of awesome movies on the way. And as a result, we've updated this list to keep you current on all the comedies, action flicks, and horror films in the works. From release dates to cast and crew info, here's the latest on all the movies that will blow you away in the coming years.

Announced without a title back in the fall of 2020, "Nope" was revealed as the name of Oscar winner Jordan Peele's third feature in the summer of 2021, along with a cryptic poster that featured a rain cloud with a triangle banner one might see at a used car lot stringing out behind it. We still don't know the full significance of that image, but thanks to the film's Super Bowl trailer in February of 2022, we do have a few more disturbing images to go with it now.

"Nope" packs an all-star cast –- including Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and Steve Yeun –- and Peele's attention to creepy detail will take us into a still-mysterious story involving a ranching family who's been involved in the motion picture world since its inception. When we meet them, they're touting their experiences as Black horse trainers in Hollywood, but their lives are soon upset by a very mysterious event. In the trailer, the event takes the form of power outages, lights in the sky, strange hands reaching out, and other phenomena both terrifying and fascinating. Those images –- along with the teasing question "what's a bad miracle?" –- are basically all we have to go on at this point, but that just makes "Nope" more alluring. We'll finally get the answers when the film hits theaters July 22, 2022.

It's a very good time for high-concept action movies featuring major stars, whether we're talking about the world of "John Wick" or the Bob Odenkirk-starring "Nobody." "Bullet Train," the next film from "John Wick" and "Atomic Blonde" alum David Leitch, is another showcase for that kind of filmmaking, boasting a killer story hook, a stacked cast, and what promises to be some of the best action you'll see on the big screen in the coming years.

Based on the Kotaro Isaka novel, the film will follow a group of assassins who all happen to be taking a trip on the same Japanese bullet train. As the journey goes on, they find that their respective assignments have some unexpected connections, and the resulting clashes will present a great opportunity for some fun, close-quarter fight scenes.

The cast of the film is led by none other than Brad Pitt, who used to employ Leitch as his stunt double back in the "Fight Club" days, but Pitt is far from the only major star involved in the production. "Bullet Train" has a jam-packed cast that also includes Joey King, Sandra Bullock, Brian Tyree Henry, Zazie Beetz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Andrew Koji, Michael Shannon, Lady Gaga, Hiroyuki Sanada, and more. The film launched production during the pandemic, wrapped shooting in the spring of 2021, and will arrive July 29, 2022.

Almost immediately after "Knives Out" rose to become a major mystery hit over the 2019 holiday season, writer/director Rian Johnson began talking about potential plans for a sequel. Those plans took very solid — and very ambitious — shape in the spring of 2021, when Netflix signed on to a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars that would set Johnson and company up for two "Knives Out" sequel films at the streaming giant. With the backing of Netflix and a lot of goodwill built up from the first film, Johnson set to work and began building a predictably stacked cast.

While the first "Knives Out" film boasted an impressive roster of talent that included Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Ana de Armas, and others, only Daniel Craig is expected to return from the first film, reprising his role as private detective Benoit Blanc to take on yet another mystery. The nature of that mystery remains unclear, although we know at least some of the film has been shot in Greece. Plus, the ensemble Johnson's building to populate the new story is arguably more impressive than the one from the first film. In the first half of 2021, the production added some major stars, including Dave Bautista, Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Jessica Henwick, and Madelyn Cline to its cast, ahead of a production start later in the year.

The "Knives Out" sequel — titled "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" — doesn't have a firm release date yet, but when it finally hits Netflix sometime during holiday season 2022, it might just be the all-star mystery to end all other all-star mysteries.

After "Halloween" proved to be a massive horror hit in the fall of 2018, Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions announced that the sequel would form the first part of a trilogy focusing on the ongoing battle between Michael Myers and Laurie Strode. After a pandemic delay of approximately a year, the second film, "Halloween Kills," arrived in October of 2021 and established a frightening new status quo for Michael and Laurie, setting the stage for "Halloween Ends" to arrive in the fall of 2022.

At this point, we still don't know very much about "Halloween Ends," but director David Gordon Green has offered a couple of tantalizing details. For one thing, the film will feature a time jump to the present day, after both "Halloween" and "Halloween Ends" were set over the course of Halloween night, 2018. That means four years will have passed since we last caught up with Laurie and Michael, and all sorts of things could have happened in the meantime. Plus, Green has made it clear that, as far as he's concerned, the story is over with the aptly named "Halloween Ends," which means we should expect a fiery, bloody conclusion.

"Halloween Ends" is in theaters October 14, 2022.

A sequel to "Black Panther" has been something Marvel Studios has been eager about ever since the first film rocketed to massive commercial and critical success in 2018. We've known pretty much ever since the original film's opening weekend that a follow-up film was coming, but in 2020, everything surrounding that particular sequel changed when its star, Chadwick Boseman, died at the age of just 43. That left a lot of lingering questions, and in December of 2020 Marvel Studios finally started to answer some of them.

During a Disney Investor Day presentation, Marvel Studios Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige announced that "Black Panther 2" would indeed still be moving forward under the leadership of director Ryan Coogler, but we shouldn't expect another actor to embody King T'Challa of Wakanda. Instead, we should prepare for a film that, according to Feige, will honor Boseman's memory while also "continue to explore the world of Wakanda." That's especially true now that we know the sequel will be titled "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever."

However it takes shape, "Wakanda Forever" is now set to hit theaters November 11, 2022.

In late 2018 and early 2019, Warner Bros. did a lot of work to inject some fun into its DC Comics Extended Universe. That effort began with "Aquaman," which was a massive box office hit over the 2018 holiday season, and then continued with "Shazam!," which arrived in early 2019 and attained acclaim in its own right. It never rose to the box office heights of "Aquaman," but the film's $364 million worldwide box office haul was solid for a film of its size. It was also apparently enough to greenlight a sequel.

Warner Bros. announced in late 2019 that a "Shazam!" sequel was on the way. Zachary Levi is set to return to the title role in the film, with writer Henry Gayden and director David F. Sandberg also set to return behind the camera. In 2020, the title was revealed to be "Shazam! Fury of the Gods." There's no word yet on exactly what the plot will be, but the original film set up plenty of opportunities for new foes, including the potential inclusion of Black Adam after his own film drops. But whether or not he appears, we know that Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu will be showing up as villains, playing sisters named Hespera and Kalypso. They're daughters of the god Atlas, which sets the stage for a colossal confrontation. Plus, Rachel Zegler of "West Side Story" will also play one of Atlas' daughters, although we're not sure if she's going to be Shazam's ally or enemy. 

"Fury of the Gods" is currently expected to arrive on December 21, 2022. The film debuted a first look, featuring behind-the-scenes footage and creature designs for various mythical figures, during DC FanDome 2021.

Even before "Mad Max: Fury Road" arrived to melt our faces off in 2015, writer and director George Miller was contemplating another follow-up film in the "Mad Max" universe, including a story centered on Furiosa, the defiant warrior played in "Fury Road" by Charlize Theron.

Eventually, after several years of potential evolutions for the project, Warner Bros. announced in 2020 that Miller's next film would be "Furiosa," a prequel film focused on the title character's adventures in the years before "Fury Road." Because his heroine is younger this time around, Miller didn't cast Theron again and opted instead for "The Witch" and "Last Night in Soho" star Anya Taylor-Joy in the role. The supporting cast also includes Chris Hemsworth in a still-unknown part, along with English actor Tom Burke.

As for the plot, the official plot synopsis (via Collider) says, "As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home." We can expect the film to arrive May 24, 2024, provided there aren't any "Fury Road"-length production delays this time around.

In 2018, MGM decided it was time to bring the beloved video game franchise "Tomb Raider" back to the big screen with a new take that hewed closer to the more recent installments of the game series. Starring Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft, the film dove into Croft's first treasure hunt as she followed in the footsteps of her father. The film grossed $275 million worldwide, enough to set development of a sequel in motion.

In the fall of 2019 we thought we'd found out when we'd see that sequel. The studio set it for a March 19, 2021 release date, almost three years to the day after the first film, with Vikander set to return to her starring role as Lara Croft, and director Ben Wheatley attached to helm. But after some reshuffling that briefly saw the project removed from the calendar completely, it was announced in January of 2021 that "Lovecraft Country" showrunner Misha Green is now onboard as writer-director, though the film's development delays mean that it still doesn't have a firm release date.

The earliest rumblings about Disney's purchase of Fox immediately sent waves of anticipation through Marvel fandom. By the time the deal was done, nerds everywhere were champing at the bit for any news about the future of the two major Marvel properties that could finally be folded into the MCU: the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. Apart from a few mentions, though, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige kept largely quiet about the future of the characters for some time.

Then came Disney's Investor Day presentation in December of 2020, when Feige announced that a "Fantastic Four" movie is on the horizon. Sadly, we still know very little about what this film — which will mark the first MCU appearance of the title team — will hold by the time we finally see it. And while Jon Watts — the filmmaker behind all three Tom Holland "Spider-Man" movies — was originally set to direct, he has since stepped down from the project. The movie currently remains a mystery, but we're excited to see where things go.

It's taken quite a while for Hollywood to adapt Tomi Adeyemi's bestselling fantasy novel "Children of Blood and Bone" into a feature film. In December 2020 during a Disney Investor Day presentation, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced that her studio would bring the novel to life. And at first, "Children of Blood and Bone" sounded like it would be a perfect fit for the company behind "Star Wars." After all, Adeyemi's novel tells the story of Zélie Adebola, who teams up with a rogue princess to fight a tyrannical monarchy and restore magic to the land where she lives. 

But eventually, there was drama behind the scenes. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Adeyemi wanted to write the screenplay, but Lucasfilm said no. The film was also allegedly moving too slow for the author, especially as Lucasfilm was spending most of its time on its various "Star Wars" projects. So "Children of Blood and Bone" said farewell to Lucasfilm and has found a new home at Paramount, where Adeyemi can now write the script. As for when we'll see the finished film, we have no idea. But we're sure it will be an epic fantasy and worth the wait.

Sometimes movies can get you excited based on a single star and a one-paragraph plot description alone. That's the case with "Stay Frosty," a film that didn't hit our radar until May 2021 but has already landed on our must-see list, with very good reason.

Deadline reported on May 7, 2021 that Warner Bros. Pictures had just won a high-profile bidding war for the film's script, one from up-and-coming writer Tyler Marceca, and that the project had already landed "Extraction" director Sam Hargrave to helm it and the great Idris Elba to star. So, what's the project that attracted this much attention this quickly got to offer in the story department?

Elba will star as a man who survives a gunshot to the head, then wakes up with two major concerns in his life. The first, obviously, is that someone wants to kill him, but he's not sure who or why. The second is that it's the holiday season, and he needs to get home to see his son for Christmas. What follows is a kind of '80s action throwback piece that balances a hunt for an assassin with a home-for-the-holidays journey. It sounds like fun even without Elba in the lead, but with his star power attached, it could be the kind of thing that launches a franchise.

"Stay Frosty" doesn't yet have a release date, but hopefully by 2022, we'll know more about when we can expect it.

When "Birds of Prey" arrived in the winter of 2020, it seemed to provide a couple of key ingredients for the future of the DCEU. The first, and most obvious, was a continued stepping stone for Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn to grow and prosper in the universe, and the second was a whole new range of supporting characters who could steal scenes and presumably be spun off into their own films should the interest be there. Well, it took a little while, but the first of those potential spinoffs is finally on the way.

In August 2021, Collider reported that HBO Max is developing a "Black Canary" film starring Jurnee Smollett in the title role, returning as Dinah Lance after she originated the character's big-screen version in "Birds of Prey." Joining her on the project is Misha Green, who developed the acclaimed HBO series "Lovecraft Country," in which Smollett also starred.

As of this writing, there are no plot details available, so we don't yet know what the "Black Canary" movie will deal with or where in the DCEU timeline it'll pick up with the character, but the project joins an ever-growing list of HBO Max projects designed to tie into Warner Bros. theatrical releases for DC Comics characters. Among the other announced projects, we've got a Gotham City police drama tied to "The Batman," a "Peacemaker" series tied to "The Suicide Squad," and a "Batgirl" film that will reportedly feature the return of J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Jim Gordon.

Many years ago, writer/director Zack Snyder developed a pitch for a "Star Wars" film in the days before Disney purchased the Lucasfilm empire. He never got to make that movie, but the concept continued to grow and evolve. Now, thanks to Snyder's agreement with Netflix, we're going to get to see it as "Rebel Moon."

Directed by Snyder, who also co-wrote the film, "Rebel Moon" will marshal both an all-star cast and Snyder's knack for epic visuals to tell the story of a young woman tasked with finding warriors to defend a galactic colony in the far reaches of space against an evil regime. In February of 2022, Netflix shared the first concept art for the series, revealing its "Star Wars" influence, and the film also boasts an incredible cast. "Rebel Moon" is set to star Sofia Boutella, Ray Fisher, Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou, and Doona Bae in the leading roles. Deadline has also revealed that Cary Elwes, Corey Stoll, Michiel Huisman, and Alfonso Herrera will star in the pic.

Like Snyder's "Army of the Dead," "Rebel Moon" is the first installment in a planned franchise for Netflix. The film does not yet have a release date, but it's expected to begin production in 2022 for a release in 2023 or 2024.

After scoring a hit with "The Invisible Man" for Universal and Blumhouse in early 2020, writer/director Leigh Whannell announced that his next project would be a new take on "The Woflman," reimagining that particular Universal monster for a new era. That was intriguing enough, but things got even more intriguing when it was revealed that Ryan Gosling had signed on for the title role in the project, giving a boost to a high-profile horror project before it had even made it to the full casting phase.

Since then, things have changed up a bit. Whannell has moved away from the project, and director Derek Cianfrance –- who directed Gosling in both "Blue Valentine" and "The Place Beyond the Pines" – has stepped in to direct. As for progress on the film itself, producer Jason Blum noted in the fall of 2021 that they're still working on getting the script in a place where Gosling is pleased enough with it to move forward. That means we probably won't see this film for another couple of years, but it's definitely worth keeping on your radar if you're a horror fan.

In 2020, the Oscars surprised movie lovers everywhere when they named Bong Joon-ho's Korean thriller "Parasite" the Best Picture of 2019, the first non-English film to earn that honor. The film's extraordinary success, after years of international acclaim for Bong, meant that virtually everyone was waiting to see what the filmmaker would do next. Now, two years later, he's picked his next project.

Deadline reported in January of 2022 that Bong's next film will be an adaptation of "Mickey7," a new novel by Edward Ashton published in February of 2022. The sci-fi story follows the title character, a regenerated human known as an "Expendable," sent on a dangerous expedition to explore an ice world, with many memories of his previous six lives intact. To make the whole package more enticing, Bong has reportedly cast Robert Pattinson, fresh off "The Batman," in the film's leading role. Deadline has also reported that Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette, and Naomi Ackie of "The Rise of Skywalker" will be joining the project.

The project is still relatively new, so it's too soon to tell how closely the final film will stick to its source material. It's also not yet clear how soon we can expect to see it, but given that the project already has its star, there's a good chance we'll learn more soon.

The last "Planet of the Apes" film arrived in 2017, when director Matt Reeves concluded a modern trilogy with "War for the Planet of the Apes." Back in 2019, we got word that "Maze Runner" filmmaker Wes Ball would be working on a new iteration of the franchise now that the rights have shifted from Fox over to Disney, but at the time, we didn't know much about what would come next or when to expect it. Now, we have some answers to at least some of those questions.

In March of 2022, current 20th Century Studios President Steve Asbell offered a very brief update to "Planet of the Apes" by noting that the studio is expecting a draft of Josh Friedman's script to arrive very soon. If that's the case, Asbell noted the film could enter production by "late summer" or "early fall" of 2022, which would put it on the release calendar for sometime in 2023 or 2024. Beyond that, we don't know much about what to expect. Ball has previously suggested that he's not doing yet another reboot of the "Apes" franchise, but it's hard to tell at the moment exactly what that means in terms of what timeline the film will follow or where in that timeline it'll pick things up. Now, though, we at least know there's movement.

It's been 15 years since "I Am Legend," the post-apocalyptic hit that remains one of the high marks of Will Smith's blockbuster career. Talk of a sequel to the film, which featured Smith fighting to survive as the last human in a world where everyone else has transformed into monsters, dates back to at least 2012, but for a long time, nothing materialized.

That changed in March of 2022, when it was revealed that Smith and "Creed" star Michael B. Jordan are teaming up for a sequel to the film, which will reunite Smith with the original movie's co-writer, Akiva Goldsman. Goldsman is set to script the film, Smith will produce, and both Smith and Jordan will star in the next chapter of the saga. Given that Smith's character apparently died in the original film, it's not exactly clear how that next chapter will unfold, but now we know it's at least on the way.

The "I Am Legend" sequel does not yet have a release date.

The much-hyped origin story of the Clown Prince of Crime, Todd Phillips' "Joker" emerged as one of the most successful films of 2019, becoming the first R-rated movie to cross the $1 billion mark at the box office and earning 11 Oscar nominations and two wins along the way. All that success meant talk of a sequel was inevitable, but it took a while for the story to actually come together.

In June of 2022, Phillips posted the title page of a new script titled "Joker: Folie a Deux," essentially giving fans confirmation that he and star Joaquin Phoenix were set for a second installment in the "Joker" story. Just days later, the project picked up even more steam when it was reported that pop star and actress Lady Gaga was in negotiations to play the film's version of Harley Quinn. Reports of Gaga's involvement also revealed that "Folie a Deux" is developing as a musical sequel to the original film, generating even more interest in the project.

"Joker: Folie a Deux" does not yet have a release date, but all signs point to it becoming a powerhouse release in whatever year it eventually comes out.