Cinemas are not about to play the end credits.
Motion pictures will keep on rolling as big-screen numbers show a recuperating film industry.
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The 2021 box office finished at an improved $21.4 billion. Although this is still 48% below the average of the last three pre-pandemic years ($41.3 billion), it is a 78% increase on 2020’s $12-billion turnout.
Blockbusters like Spider-Man: No Way Home, which was the highest-grossing film in 2021 at over $1.5 billion, were credited for cinematic success worldwide.
Asia-Pacific accounted for more than half (53 percent) of the worldwide box office last year at $11.3 billion. Locally, the Philippines reopened cinemas in late 2021 when the government issued new COVID-19 guidelines.
Industry experts forecast an exponential increase in demand for content in 2022, with some organizations even opting to release films simultaneously in theaters and on-demand.
“While going out to movies has taken a hit in 2020 and 2021, the love of movies and good stories has only increased during that time,” film training and networking organization Raindance posted on its website.
With a lineup of high-profile titles expected to become commercial and critical successes this year, perhaps the film industry can continue its upward trajectory.
Here is a preview of movies that will come out this year in the Philippines and internationally.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Release Date: January 26, 2022 (Philippines)
Synopsis: “When a single mom and her two kids arrive in a small town, they begin to discover their connection to the original Ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather left behind.”
Scream
Release Date: February 2, 2022 (Philippines)
Synopsis: “Twenty-five years after the original series of murders in Woodsboro, a new Ghostface emerges, and Sidney Prescott must return to uncover the truth.”
Uncharted
Release Date: February 23, 2022 (Philippines)
Synopsis: “The story is a prequel to the games, starring Holland as a younger Drake, showing us details of how he came to meet and befriend Sully.”
The Batman
Release Date: March 2, 2022 (Philippines)
Synopsis: “In his second year of fighting crime, Batman uncovers corruption in Gotham City that connects to his own family while facing a serial killer known as the Riddler.”
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Release Date: May 4, 2022 (Philippines)
Synopsis: “Dr. Stephen Strange casts a forbidden spell that opens the door to the multiverse, including an alternate version of himself, whose threat to humanity is too great for the combined forces of Strange, Wong, and Wanda Maximoff.”
The Worst Person in the World
Release Date: February 4, 2022 (International)
Synopsis: “The chronicles of four years in the life of Julie, a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is.”
Renate Reinsve won Best Actress at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival for her portrayal of Julie in this Norwegian film.
Drive My Car
Release Date: February 4, 2022 (International)
Synopsis: “Yusuke Kafuku is a stage actor and director happily married to his playwright wife. Then one day she disappears.”
The Japanese film is based on the short story of the same name by Haruki Murakami. It won Best Screenplay at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes 2022.
The Northman
Release Date: April 22, 2022 (International)
Synopsis: “From acclaimed director Robert Eggers, The Northman is an epic revenge thriller that explores how far a Viking prince will go to seek justice for his murdered father.”
The epic historical film by Eggers, who directed the acclaimed horror films The Witch and The Lighthouse, features an ensemble cast that includes Björk in her narrative feature comeback after two decades.
Nope
Release Date: July 22, 2022 (International)
There is currently no available synopsis for the third feature-length project of Academy Award-winning filmmaker Jordan Peele, who directed the acclaimed horror films Get Out and Us.
Peele posted the first and only teaser so far of Nope in July 2021, excluding any details. All that is known outside of the release date is the cast consisting of Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and Steven Yeun.
Kaluuya was nominated Best Actor at the Academy Awards in 2018 for Get Out, for which Peele received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Avatar 2
Release Date: December 16, 2022 (International)
Synopsis: “Jake Sully lives with his newfound family formed on the planet of Pandora. Once a familiar threat returns to finish what was previously started, Jake must work with Neytiri and the army of the Na’vi race to protect their planet.”
This is the first of many sequels in the pipeline since Avatar broke box office records in 2009. After a decade in development, Avatar 2 is finally planned for a release at the year’s close.
