Final Destination: Bloodlines (May 16)
The Final Destination series went out on top with the delightfully gnarly Final Destination 5, which perfected the franchise’s Rube Goldberg scares. Directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein make the jump from Disney Channel movies to the big screen to helm the latest entry, the first in 14 years. As with previous Final Destination films, Bloodlines doesn’t boast the biggest names in its cast, with Stargirl‘s Brec Bassinger in the lead. But the biggest draw remains the late, great Tony Todd, appearing one last time as the knowing mortician William Bludworth.
28 Years Later (June 20)
Few properties have more claim to the zombie resurgence of the 2000s than Danny Boyle‘s aggressive and innovative 28 Days Later in 2002. After sitting out the 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later, Boyle returns to the franchise for 28 Years Later. To be honest, the first trailer for 28 Years Later doesn’t offer much we haven’t seen from the many, many zombie stories that followed Boyle’s first outing. However, Boyle and frequent collaborator Alex Garland have never been people who do the expected. Chances are that stars Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes will deal with some surprising twists, especially as the movie sets up another sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, for 2026.
M3GAN 2.0 (June 27)
The first M3GAN became a hit thanks in part to Blumhouse‘s strong internet advertising campaign. The sequel M3GAN 2.0 doesn’t have that same element of surprise, but it does have the same creative team returning, with Gerard Johnstone directing, Akela Cooper writing, and James Wan producing. Also back are Allison Williams and Violet McGraw as an aunt and niece brought together after a tragedy leaves the latter orphaned, and Amie Donald and Jenna Davis as the body and voice of M3GAN as well.
I Know What You Did Last Summer Sequel (July 18)
I Know What You Did Last Summer never reached the heights of the Scream movies it aped, but it still had a healthy audience. That was enough to get two sequels about a vengeful fisherman chasing Jennifer Love Hewitt and her pals. Reportedly, Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. will show up in this latest entry, but not as the leads. Instead Madelyn Cline of Outer Banks and Glass Onion fame will be the beleaguered heroine this time around. Thor: Love & Thunder co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson steps in to direct, with journalist Sam Lansky and Scrambled‘s Leah McKendrick also writing the script.
The Conjuring: Last Rites (September 5)
Unlikely as it seems, The Conjuring franchise has become one of the most reliable shared universes outside of the MCU, spinning off movies about Annabelle, the Nun, and La Llorona (they can’t all be winners). The mainline series returns for its fourth and supposedly final entry, The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are back to put a lovable spin on real-world scam artists paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren and Michael Chaves, who helmed The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and The Curse of La Llorona, directs.
The Bride! (September 26)
Speaking of shared universes, the MCU still pales in comparison to the monster movies that Universal Pictures made from the 1930s through the ’50s. Attempts to repeat the success of those first movies has failed (RIP Dark Universe), but the legacy of those classic characters will never stay in the ground for long. Thus enters Maggie Gyllenhaal, writer and director of The Bride!, which reimagines the original as a tale of woman’s liberation in 1930s Chicago. Jesse Buckley stars as a murdered woman, rebuilt as a mate for the Monster (Christian Bale). Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard and Annette Bening co-star.