What to expect from Hollywood in 2024: superhero lite, sequels dominate – Godzilla, Inside Out, Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn – and Parasite director goes sci-fi

After a difficult 2023, what will Hollywood give us in the year ahead? With superhero fatigue setting in, Marvel and DC Comics won’t have much to offer

If Saw XI and Kung Fu Panda 4 aren’t your thing, one sequel worth a look may be Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2. And Oscar winner Bong Joon-ho ventures into sci-fi

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Hollywood in 2024 will dial down on superheroes, but churn out sequels galore, including “Inside Out 2” (above). Parasite’s Bong Joon-ho will direct Robert Pattinson in a sci-fi movie, and Joaquin Phoenix will be back as the Joker with Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. Photo: Disney/Pixar

Published: 6:15pm, 3 Jan 2024Updated: 7:46am, 4 Jan 2024

As 2023 recedes into the distance, a lot of people in Hollywood will be happy to have seen the back of the past 12 months.

With the actors’ and writers’ strikes dominating the headlines and bringing productions to a halt, it was another difficult year for the movie business – despite the surprise uplift from the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon as Barbie and Oppenheimer gripped the public and boosted box office takings.

So what will happen in 2024? Here are eight predictions for the months ahead.

1. Box office bombs

Hollywood is still reeling from the aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on moviegoing, and box office numbers have yet to climb back to the level before the global health emergency.

Studios shouldn’t expect 2024 to bring a rebound – forecasts suggest receipts this year will be worse than in 2023. Why? Because the strikes forced a reshuffle of studio’s forthcoming releases.

Elio | Teaser Trailer

Films including Pixar’s alien saga Elio, Marvel’s Captain America: Brave New World and the latest Mission: Impossible movie will now be released in 2025. It’s the sort of news to leave cinema exhibitors quaking as they worry where the next blockbuster hit comes from.

Already, some analysts are eyeing live-action prequel Mufasa: The Lion King – not due out until December 2024 – as the film most likely to triumph. But that is a long time to wait.