The new year is shaping up to be jam-packed with epic movies, and Fandango polled 5,000 film fans to find out their picks for most anticipated 2023 blockbusters.
Check out the top 10 selections for most anticipated 2023 blockbusters below, bask in the awesomeness of their trailers, and get pumped.
10. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
- Release date March 7, 2023
- Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic
- Starring Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black
This movie won’t be the only way Mario fans can celebrate their favorite video game hero in 2023. Super Nintendo World opens Feb. 17 at Universal Studios Hollywood. The area will include an exciting attraction based on “Mario Kart.” A similar, but bigger, version of this land will open with Universal’s Epic Universe, a new theme park opening in Orlando in 2025. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” comes from Illumination, the same animation studio behind “Minions,” already a family favorite franchise in Universal parks.
9. Creed III
- Release date March 3, 2023
- Directed by Michael B. Jordan
- Starring Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors, Wood Harris
Michael B. Jordan makes his directorial debut in this third installment of the “Rocky” spinoff film series.
8. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes
- Release date Nov. 17, 2023
- Directed by Francis Lawrence
- Starring Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Hunter Schafer, Jaston Schwartzman
This prequel to “The Hunter Games” will be the first new entry for the franchise since “Mocking Jay – Part 2” in 2015. Director Francis Lawrence previously helmed every volume in the series except for the original in 2012.
7. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1
- Release date July 14, 2023
- Directed by Christopher McQuarrie
- Starrin Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson
This is the seventh movie in the action-packed “Mission: Impossible” series. It will be followed by “Dead Reckoning Part 2,” currently slated for June 2024.
6. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
- Release date Dec. 25, 2023
- Directed by James Wan
- Starring Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson
This sequel to 2018’s “Aquaman” retains its original director, James Wan, who also directed “The Conjuring.”
5. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
- Release date June 30, 2023
- Directed by James Mangold
- Starring Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies
This highly anticipated fifth entry in the “Indiana Jones” saga comes 15 years after we last saw Harrison Ford don his iconic Indy hat. It’s also the first movie of the series not directed by Steven Spielberg.
4. John Wick: Chapter 4
- Release date March 24, 2023
- Directed by Chad Stahelski
- Starring Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne
Liongate’s official description for this fourth “John Wick” story says its titular hero will “face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes.”
3. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
- Release date Feb. 17, 2023
- Directed by Peyton Reed
- Starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton
This is the third movie in the “Ant-Man and the Wasp” series. Its trailers and poster show the return of Jonathan Majors as Kang, who Marvel fans first met in season one of “Loki.” Kang is poised to be a key player in the future of Marvel as the namesake of 2025’s “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.” Guests at Disney California Adventure can dine on oversized food items at Pym’s Test Kitchen inside Avengers Campus, themed to the world of Ant-Man.
2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
- Release date June 2, 2023
- Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson
- Starring Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac, Jake Johnson
This repeatedly delayed sequel teases more spider-people than ever before. 2018’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, so expectations are high for this follow-up.
1. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3
- Release date May 5, 2023
- Directed by James Gunn
- Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautisa, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff
The teaser trailer to this reportedly final volume promises an emotional, captivating adventure. And who doesn’t love a new “Guardians” mix tape? In addition to the first two “Guardians” movies, James Gunn also directed the footage filmed for “Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind,” which opened in 2022 at Epcot.
One thing is clear: with nine of the most anticipated 2023 blockbusters being prequels or sequels of major box office hits, movie fans are extremely loyal to tried and true franchises.
See you at the movies!
