Take your seats: The 14 new movies we can’t wait to see

We’ve all recovered from the Oscars (well, I’m still mad about Barbie’s shutout), but it’s time to turn our attention to what’s coming next. From sequels to reboots, rom-coms and Ryan Gosling, consider this your must-see movie list for the next few months.

Back to Black

Biopics about musicians have been hot property recently – Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen), Rocketman (Elton John), Elvis (er, Elvis), Maestro (Leonard Bernstein) and One Love (Bob Marley) – now it’s Amy Winehouse’s turn. The British singer died of alcohol poisoning in 2011, aged just 27, after a turbulent few years in which she released two critically acclaimed albums, Frank and Back to Black. Starring Marissa Abela as the singer and Eddie Marsan as her controversial father Mitch, this is pretty standard biopic fare but Abela’s vocals remind you of Winehouse’s immense talent. April 11

Late Night With the Devil

After receiving the seal of approval from the master of horror Stephen King and selling out at the Sydney and Melbourne film festivals last year, this retro Australian fright fest finally gets a wide release. Directed by brothers Cameron and Colin Cairnes, it’s a throwback to classic 1970s possession horror – think old-school spinning heads – that takes its inspiration from late-night talk shows. Rising US actor David Dastmalchian plays Jack Delroy, who is all smooth patter on his show Night Owls, but will do anything to keep his ratings up. When it opened in the US at the end of March, Variety reported that it scored $666,666 at the box office. Spooky, eh? April 11

Civil War

A tyrannical US president has ripped up the constitution, disbanded the FBI, ordered airstrikes across the country and declared the media enemies of the state. Meanwhile, armed thugs stalk the country, terrorising anyone who doesn’t agree with the president. I’ll leave you to decide if any of this sounds – cough – plausible, but what is beyond debate is that any time Kirsten Dunst appears on screen, it’s a good time. Dunst plays a photojournalist travelling from New York City to Washington DC with three other journalists as they try to interview the president (Nick Offerman). On the film nerd side, it’s indie studio A24’s biggest blockbuster as it moves into more commercial fare. April 11

Challengers

Tennis gets its sexy back in Italian director Luca Guadagnino’s psychosexual thriller, starring Zendaya as a former tennis champion playing dangerous games with her “little white boys” – Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor. The pair are rivals on and off the court, as Zendaya’s Tashi Donaldson sends them into a spin as their coach and lover. It’s less the strawberries and cream of Wimbledon and more the sweaty heat of Indecent Proposal.

And, as a bonus, the tennis is actually good! Zendaya trained with Andre Agassi’s former coach Brad Gilbert for months to get her game right and the result is game, set and match to the Euphoria and Spider-Man star. April 18

Freud’s Last Session

At 86 years of age, Anthony Hopkins shows no signs of slowing down, pumping out at least one film a year. The film is an adaptation of Mark St Germain’s 2010 play, in which a meeting is imagined between two Great Men (give it an Oscar!): the atheist psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (Hopkins) and the Christian author CS Lewis (Matthew Goode). The pair spar over the existence of God – a conversation that always ends well – but it’s a generally delightful meeting of minds. April 18

The Fall Guy

I’m Just Ken, aka Ryan Gosling, leans further into his silly side in this riotous action rom-com co-starring Emily Blunt. Filmed in Sydney (and giving our skip bins their biggest starring role yet), it’s a loose update of the 1980s TV show of the same name. Gosling’s stuntman Colt Seavers is on the trail of missing action star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who disappeared while filming a splashy sci-fi drama that’s being directed by Colt’s ex, Jody Moreno (Blunt). It’s a wonderfully fun film and after his Oscar performance, Gosling can do no wrong and his chemistry with Blunt is giving delightfully old-fashioned His Girl Friday vibes. April 24

The Idea of You

This is the only straight-to-streaming film I’m including in this list because you can’t go past a quality rom-com, especially when it stars Anne Hathaway. She plays Solene, a 40-year-old art dealer who, through the magic of time, space and cinema, begins a relationship with Hayes Campbell, the hot 24-year-old lead singer from the boy band August Moon (cough Harry Styles, One Direction). Yes, it’s the kind of age-gap romance we’d complain about if the sexes were reversed, but who cares when the trailer gives this much sizzle. May 2, Amazon Prime Video

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Yes, it’s another reboot (also see Alien: Romulus, released on August 15, starring Priscilla’s Cailee Spaeny, who also stars in Civil War), but we’re giving this one props because it was filmed largely in Sydney. The action picks up years after the Matt Reeves trilogy, with the apes now firmly in charge. Ruled by Proximus Caesar, they hunt humans, but another ape has other ideas, as he works with a young woman, Mae (Freya Allan), to restore an ape/human balance. Or something. It looks a bit mad, but not as creepy as Tim Burton’s 2001 Planet of the Apes. May 9

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Chris Hemsworth is almost unrecognisable with his wonderfully large prosthetic nose as Dr Dementus in George Miller’s prequel to his 2015 Oscar-winning Mad Max: Fury Road. This is the origin story of Imperator Furiosa, who was originally played by Charlize Theron in Fury Road, and is now played by Anya Taylor-Joy.

The story begins with Furiosa’s kidnapping as a young girl by Hemsworth’s mad warlord and her long battle to return home. Filmed in the red dust around Broken Hill, Furiosa also sees the debut of Lachy Hulme as Immortan Joe and Angus Sampson as the Organic Mechanic. It looks totally bonkers, which is how all Mad Max movies should be. May 23

The Crow

Bill Skarsgard officially cements his place as the creepiest Skarsgard (see also bloody martial arts revenge saga Boy Kills World, released on May 2) with this remake of the cursed Gen X cult favourite. The 1994 original was infamous because of the death of its star Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee, who was accidentally killed on set after a live bullet was left in a gun instead of blank ammunition. The plot pretty much follows the original, with Eric Draven (Skarsgard) turning into a crow, via some higgly jiggly voodoo, so he can avenge the murder of his girlfriend (FKA Twigs). Expect lots of eyeliner, tattoos and men in their 40s reliving late-night high school trips to the cinema. June 6

Inside Out 2

The best Pixar animation – justice for Bing Bong! – finally gets a sequel. Our teenage heroine Riley is entering puberty, which means her emotions – Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust – have to accommodate newbies Anxiety, Embarrassment and Ennui. When the trailer was released in March, it broke Disney’s record for the most viewed trailer in 24 hours, with 157 million views, beating Frozen II. If you can’t wait until June, check out the super-cute short Riley’s First Date on Disney+. June 13

The Bikeriders

Austin Butler has been busy since he stepped into the King’s blue suede shoes – and an Oscar nomination – for Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. After ticking off Dune: Part 2 and Masters of the Air, he brings his furrowed brow to a Midwestern motorcycle club just as it begins to attract a new, more dangerous crowd. Although the film is fictional, writer and director Jeff Nichols was inspired by Danny Lyon’s 1967 photo book, which depicted the lives of the Chicago motorcycle gang the Outlaws. Jodie Comer and Tom Hardy deliver Big Accent Energy, while Michael Shannon terrifies as usual. July 4

Twisters

Glen Powell brings his smarmy charm, employed so effectively in Anyone But You and Top Gun: Maverick, to this kinda sequel to the 1996 blockbuster, which follows a group of storm chasers into the eye of several large and very frightening tornadoes. Daisy Edgar-Jones plays Kate Cooper, the daughter of the characters played by Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton in the original, with Powell as a social media “tornado wrangler”. Does the plot matter? Hell no! It’s a fun return to the weather blockbusters of old (and just ignore the rising panic that comes with realising the increase in tornadoes may be linked to climate change). July 18

Deadpool & Wolverine

Speaking of smarmy charm, Ryan Reynolds is back for the third time as the foul-mouthed, red-suited superhero, but this time he’s talked his best mate Hugh Jackman into reprising Wolverine as well. Matthew Macfadyen stars as Paradox, who recruits Deadpool to help save the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but then tricks him, I think. Plot details are scarce – and being Deadpool, I wouldn’t necessarily believe any of them – but it looks like Reynolds and Jackman are having a blast. July 25

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.