Hollywood stepped into 2024 on the wrong foot, coming fresh off the writers and actors strikes. Early releases like Mean Girls and Madame Web weren’t much of a relief to the box office’s dry spell. But come March, Dune: Part Two became the beacon of hope for theatre owners as it remains the highest-grossing film of 2024 yet.
Now, with June rolling in, big-name franchise films await to be premiered and there’s more to come later in the year. From Bad Boys 4, to Joker 2, Venom 3, Deadpool 3, and Saw XI, better say it, 2024 is going to be the year of sequels.
Bad Boys 4
Continuing three decades of the franchise, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are set to return in Bad Boys 4, to premiere on June 5, 2024. It follows up to the 2020 sequel, Bad Boys For Life which became the highest-grossing film of the year before the pandemic took a turn for the worse.
Bad Boys 4 marks Smith’s first blockbuster comeback following the Oscars slap controversy in 2022. He starred in Emancipation the following year but wasn’t much of a smashing return he was hoping for.
Smith and Lawrence will reprise their roles as Miami cops out on a mission to clear the name of their late senior Captain Conrad who had been wrongly set up with a drug cartel. The duo were recently seen celebrating at the Hollywood Boulevard for the movie’s premiere.
Inside Out 2
A sequel to the 2015 animated blockbuster, Inside Out 2 will hit theatres on June 14, 2024. The gang of emotions will return in Riley’s head for another adventure and with a new set of companions. The Pixar sequel has introduced four new highly relatable emotions, Anxiety, Envy, Ennui, and Embarrassment as Riley hits her teenage years.
The original installment was a massive hit, released nearly a decade ago. The film unexpectedly grossed $90 and is the biggest original box office debut in history, per Entertainment Tonight.
Twisters
Starring Glen Powell, Twisters is a throwback sequel to the classic, storm-chasing 1996 action film of the same name. Twisters is eyeing a release date of 19 July 2024. It also stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Katy O’Brian, and Anthony Ramos.
Directed by Lee Isaac Chung, the film endeavors to revive the genre of climate-panic and natural disasters. Twisters will follow a group of storm-chasers who will risk their lives to test a weather alert system. Jones’ Kate Cooper teams up with Powell’s Tyler Owens to embark on a storm-chasing adventure with their lives at stake. Powell recently told GQ that the film is going to be a “badass.”
Deadpool 3
The most anticipated Marvel movie ever and also the only one releasing in 2024, Deadpool 3 is gearing up for its big release on July 26, 2024. The R-rated third installment in the Deadpool film series starring Ryan Reynolds, this sequel is rather special.
Hugh Jackman will return as the fan-favorite X-Men mutant, Wolverine/Logan after he retired as the character in 2017’s heart-wrenching, Logan. The iconic comeback is heightened by the thrilling team-up with Reynold’s Deadpool.
Alien: Romulus
In another franchise revival effort, director Fede Alvarez is striving to revive the classic Alien film series created by Ridley Scott in 1979. Technically the seventh sequel, Alien: Romulus will officially hit theatres on August 16, 2024.
Best known for Don’t Breathe, Alvarez plans to base the storyline somewhere between Ridley Scott and James Cameron’s 1986 franchise sequels. Actors Cailee Spaeny, Isabela Merced, Aileen Wu, and David Jonsson are attached.
Transformers One
The 1984 animated series, Transformers inspired an entire live-action blockbuster franchise of cool robots surviving in Cybertron. Creator Michael Bay helmed the first five films from 2007 to 2017. Later, two more sequels transpired with 2018’s Bumblebee and 2023’s Rise of the Beasts.
Transformers One will follow the origin story of archenemies Optimus Prime and Megatron, once tied in a brother-like bond. It will explore the events that led to their fallout and become the worst enemies in the Transformers universe.
Now, Paramount is calling back to its roots by working on a Transformers animated movie set to release on September 13, 2024. It will feature a riveting voice cast of Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, John Hamm, Brian Tyree Henry, and Laurence Fishburne, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Saw XI
Following the tenth installment of the franchise, Saw XI will premiere on September 27, 2024. The slasher/horror film series launched in 2004 and has released sequels every year until 2010, on the Friday before Halloween.
The latest and tenth installment, Saw X was a box-office success and a first, met with positive reviews. Hence, its success encouraged Lionsgate to go ahead with another sequel, following the franchise’s tradition. Not much has been revealed about its plot yet.
Venom 3
Set to be the last of the most popular franchise of Sony’s Spider-Verse (SSU), Tom Hardy will star as Eddie Brock one last time in Venom 3. The sequel will hit theatres on October 25, and fans have high hopes for a final Spider-Man versus Venom battle.
Officially titled Venom: The Last Dance, it was confirmed that this will be the last of the franchise. Kelly Marcel is directing the feature.
However, Eddie Brock’s impromptu cameo in Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home sparked discussion about the character’s future in the MCU.
Joker: Folie à Deux
Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix returns as the psychopathic DC villain, Joker/Arthur Fleck, set to premiere on October 4. The highly anticipated film is also the only DC film in the 2024 roster and hopes to follow up the deafening applause for the first Joker in 2019, which hit the $1 billion mark.
Many fans had reservations about the sequel being a musical and also signing Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, his primary love interest. It is directed by The Hangover maker Todd Phillips.
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