Cherry blossom season isn’t normally associated with horror, but beginning with “Scream 7” (in theaters Feb. 27), your local multiplex may soon be abloom with blood. Mark your calendars for “The Undertone” (March 13), “Ready or Not 2” (March 20), “They Will Kill You” (March 27), “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy” (April 17) and “Obsession” (May 15). Of the grisly offerings on the horizon, only Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Frankenstein-ian “The Bride!” (see below) could be said to be seasonally appropriate, with its deceptively nuptial-sounding title evoking a spring wedding. For those of us looking for escape from real-world nightmares, however, here are 10 of the most anticipated — and mostly fright-free — new movies.
Opening dates are subject to change.
‘Hoppers’
Pixar’s latest animated adventure centers on an animal-loving college student (voice of Piper Curda) who hijacks tech created by animal researchers. Called “hopping,” the technology allows her to insert her consciousness into the circuitry of a lifelike robotic beaver. Bingo! Like Dr. Dolittle, she can now talk to animals. At last year’s Annecy Animation Festival in France, Pixar’s chief creative officer Pete Docter (director of “Up”) described the film — which focuses on an animal rebellion against human encroachment, personified by Jon Hamm’s development-hungry mayor — as “Avatar” meets’ “Mission: Impossible” meets “Planet Earth.” Voice actors include Meryl Streep, Dave Franco, Melissa Villaseñor, Ego Nwodim, Vanessa Bayer, Isiah Whitlock Jr. and Bobby Moynihan. March 6.
‘The Bride!’
Move over, Guillermo del Toro. Writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s feminist take on “The Bride of Frankenstein” — set in 1930s Chicago and evoking a monster mash-up of that horror classic and “Bonnie and Clyde” — stars Christian Bale as Frank, everyone’s favorite undead freak, and Jessie Buckley as his titular love interest, a reanimated murder victim. Part punk horror and part noir romance, the film also boasts song-and-dance production numbers featuring Buckley and Bale, whose character is obsessed with movie musicals, especially those starring his favorite actor, played by the director’s brother, Jake Gyllenhaal. The filmmaker’s husband, Peter Sarsgaard, also gets in on the action, as the police detective pursuing the protagonists after their crime rampage draws the attention of the cops. March 6.
‘Project Hail Mary’
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller of “The Lego Movie” and “Spider-Verse” franchise co-direct this sci-fi thriller, written by Drew Goddard (“The Martian”). Here, Ryan Gosling plays Ryland Grace, a nerdy molecular biologist and middle school science teacher turned reluctant astronaut tasked with stopping the destruction of Earth’s sun. As with “The Martian,” a multi-Oscar nominee in 2016, this one is based on a novel by Andy Weir, and again involves a character who must rely on his own ingenuity — as well as, in this case, a mysterious helper — to save the day. March 20.
‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’
Chris Pratt and Charlie Day reprise their roles as heroic sibling plumbers Mario and Luigi — with Anya Taylor-Joy returning as Princess Peach — in a planet-hopping sequel to the “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” a trippy animated adventure based on Nintendo’s popular video game franchise. With earnings of more than $1.36 billion, that 2023 film became the fifth-highest-grossing animated feature of all time. Of course, box office doesn’t guarantee quality, then or now. But bet on this: “Galaxy” will likely appeal to gaming nerds, not newbies. April 1.
‘The Drama’
A24’s romantic dramedy stars Robert Pattinson and Zendaya as Charlie and Emma, an engaged couple whose imminent nuptials are threatened when Emma confesses to the “worst thing” she ever did. There’s no spoiler in the trailer, but the internet lost its mind last year after a script was said to have leaked. (Warning: Do not Google.) Since the movie comes from Kristoffer Borgli, the Norwegian writer-director who made his English-language debut with “Dream Scenario,” a dark social satire starring Nicolas Cage as a sad sack who keeps appearing in other people’s dreams, you can expect something at least slightly warped. April 3.
‘Michael’
When the first trailer for Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic came out last fall, it became, within 24 hours, the most viewed musical biopic trailer of all time. Made with the approval of Jackson’s estate, the film also stars the late pop star’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, the 29-year-old son of Jermaine Jackson, making his film debut in the title role. But will it include the allegations of child abuse? Producer Graham King (“Bohemian Rhapsody”) says that the film aims to “humanize but not sanitize” its subject. Dan Reed, director of a 2019 docuseries that detailed the abuse allegations, called an early draft of the screenplay “startlingly disingenuous.” Stay tuned. April 24.
‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’
Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt and director David Frankel reunite for the sequel to Frankel’s 2006 satire of fashion journalism, based on novelist Lauren Weisberger’s 2003 bestseller, a fictionalized tale inspired by the author’s stint as assistant to Vogue’s Anna Wintour. Though Weisberger wrote a sequel, “Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns,” the new film is said to deviate from the plot of that 2013 book. Blunt’s character, for instance, once the harried senior assistant to Streep’s Miranda Priestly, the Wintour-like editor of Runway magazine, now runs a luxury brand that is one of Runway’s dwindling advertisers. It sounds, in other words, like a movie about the death of print media. Fun! May 1.
‘The Sheep Detectives’
Hugh Jackman plays George Hardy, a shepherd whose flock, steeped in the lore of the murder mysteries that George reads to them, takes over the investigation when their caretaker is found murdered and the local police don’t seem up to the task. Based on a novel by Leonie Swann, the pen name of a German crime writer, the film — part live action, and part CGI animation — takes its cue from other animal allegories like “Zootopia” and its recent sequel, in which human foibles are scrutinized through the lens of Animal Planet. The voice cast includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein and Rhys Darby. May 8.
‘Billie Eilish — Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D)’
Singer Eilish and filmmaker James Cameron co-direct a music documentary, shot over four concerts last summer in Manchester, England. Utilizing immersive 3D tech developed by Cameron for his “Avatar” films, the doc takes advantage of Eilish’s elevated, 360-degree, shape-shifting, in-the-round stage, which incorporates an LED video floor similar to those Taylor Swift used on her “Eras” tour. May 8.
‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu’
The latest Star Wars feature is a pivot from the scrapped fourth season of Disney’s hugely popular sci-fi series about bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), and his 53-year-old alien toddler apprentice and charge Grogu — known to some fans as “Baby Yoda.” (Voice actor David Acord provides the adorable character’s dialogue of squeaks and babbles.) The story is set in a post-evil-empire universe, a few years after the action of “The Return of the Jedi,” where imperial warlords remain a constant nuisance. Sigourney Weaver plays Djarin’s superior. May 22.
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