Five movies to watch out for this year

Lupita Nyong’o is expected to reprise her role in ‘Black panther- Wakanda Forever’. [Courtesy]

The 2009 Sci-Fi action film Avatar, one of the highest earners to date, has a worldwide Box Office gross of 2.8 million dollars (over Sh323 billion). This year will see Avatar 2 released.

So what are some of the biggest films expected this year?

Black Panther- Wakanda Forever

Kenya’s own Hollywood star Lupita Nyong’o stars in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film and its sequels, making it a major one to watch for her fans back home. The film is a sequel of 2018 American superhero movie Black Panther.

The 2018 blockbuster chronicled the enthralling journey of King T’challa (the late Chadwick Bosman) of the fictional Wakanda tribe as he fought to secure the safety of his people.

Entertainment magazine Us Weekly wrote that although Marvel has been mum on which actors have been confirmed to return, “Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Winston Duke, Martin Freeman, Letitia Wright, Daniel Kaluuya, Florence Kasumba and Danai Garura all expected to reprise their roles from the first film.”

The film is expected to premiere in theatres on November 11, 2022.

Avatar 2

The Sci-Fi film Avatar is a futuristic production that takes viewers through the story of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a disabled former Marine who becomes a part of the ‘Avatar’ program after the death of his brother.

In the first film, the year is 2154 and human beings have depleted the earth’s natural resources.

“On the lush alien world of Pandora live the Na’vi, beings who appear primitive, but are highly evolved. Because the planet’s environment is poisonous, human/Na’vi hybrids, called Avatars, must link to human minds to allow for free movement on Pandora,” reads in part its synopsis.

Canadian TV and film review website Screen Rant predicts that Avatar 2 will be a major Box Office success, just like its predecessor.

Avatar 2 is expected to be released to theatres on December 16, 2022.

Mission: Impossible 7

Mission: Impossible is a series of action spy films starring Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, and Frederick Schmidt. The first of the films was released in 1996, with consequent sequels in 2000, 2006, 2011, 2015 and 2018. Screen Rant attributes the anticipation for Mission Impossible:7 to its consistent critical and commercial success of the franchise.

The film has a tentative release date of September 30, 2022.

Thor: Love and thunder

Thor, a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) American superhero film was released in 2011. It told the tale of Thor (Chris Hemsworth) an ‘Asgard’ crown prince who was banished from Asgard to Earth after igniting a war.

The franchise was described by the Washington Post as funny and light-hearted in a way that breaks the monotony in the plots of Hollywood superhero movies.

The sequels Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017) have been released since.

The tentative release date for Thor: Love and Thunder is July 8, 2022.

Minions: The rise or Gru

What better way to bring the whole family together than for a comedy animation movie night?

The American computer-animated comedy film Minions was released in 2015 to huge Box Office success, making $1.1 billion (over Sh131 billion) worldwide and becoming the fifth highest-grossing film that year.

The film was described on Rotten Tomatoes as hilarious, but The Guardian concurs with critics who say that the movie from which it spins off, 2010 comedy animation Despicable Me was funnier and definitely a “tough act to follow”.

The film is expected to hit theatres on July 1, 2022.