Sequels, prequels and remakes — 2024 movies and series expand on familiar stories we love

2023 has had a good share of blockbusters — looking at you, Barbie — and a great line-up of festive season films — watch Spirited; skip Best Christmas Ever! — but 2024 is a veritable goodie bag of exciting family flicks, biopics, long-awaited sequels and remakes. Here is a non-exhaustive list of what to look forward to in the new year.

Challengers

The movie was supposed to have come out in September, but the Screen Actors Guild strike pushed it to 2024. The romantic drama starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist follows the lives of three tennis players caught in a lover’s web. As Tachi Duncan, a tennis champion turned coach, Zendaya must rescue her husband from a recurring losing streak. The hardcore coach’s task is made much more difficult when she prepares her partner to face off with his former best friend — who also happens to be Tachi’s ex-lover. How will filmmaker Luca Guadagnino untangle this messy plot? The movie is rated R and will hit cinemas on 26 April.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJOPZYaNVgQ

Despicable Me 4

Gru and the minions are back! The family favourite will come out on 5 July. It has been eight years since Despicable Me 3 was released and a couple of spin-offs have been keeping us entertained over the years, but we have all missed Gru’s grumpiness and his melting heart for the kids and the minions. Expect a cheerful ride.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74RIFFCiQDk

Griselda

Sofia Vergara is almost unrecognisable in multilayered prosthetics and make-up as she plays Griselda Blanco, the iconic creator of one of the most profitable cartels of all time. Vergara channels her inner Colombian drug lord as she pulls off being a determined businesswoman and devoted mother in the six-episode Netflix series coming out on 25 January. Using equal parts charm and savagery, Blanco balances family life and business, becoming known as the Black Widow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcF0A-Gy-Ng

Inside Out 2

It’s been 10 years since the first Inside Out hit the screens — yes, you read that right — but the Oscar-award-winning movie is still one of Pixar’s most successful animations. The first film followed young Riley as she navigated a move to a new city. In this one, we meet her again at the beginning of the teen years as she becomes acquainted with all the new and conflicting emotions that come during that period of drastic change. It will be incredibly exciting to meet Riley again, along with her four main emotions — joy, sadness, fear and disgust — plus a few extras. Inside Out 2 will hit the big screen on 14 June.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWavstJydZU

Mean Girls

The Plastics are making a comeback — or are they being recycled? The classic It-girl movie, a product of the comedic genius of Tina Fey, is getting a modern facelift 20 years after the original. The plot is pretty much the same as the original, and the famous lines that have become Instagram quotes are all in there, but the A-list girl clique is full of fresh faces.

The new girl in school, Cady Heron, played by Angourie Rice, joins the elite group ruled by Regina George, who would rather drink petrol than be outshone by anyone else. Heron becomes obsessed with dethroning the group’s top dog, and along the way falls for her ex-boyfriend, played by Aaron Samuels. After various twists and turns in which she realises how depressing and unrealistic perfection is, Heron must learn who she is inside. The remake will show in cinemas from 19 January. #GetInLoser.

Mean girls. (Photo: Supplied)

Mufasa: The Lion King

One of the most legendary musicals of our time is exploring more of its storyline by going into the past. Mufasa: The Lion King follows Simba as he fights to fulfil the wishes of his father, Mufasa, to follow in his paw prints and become a good and respected leader of the Pride Lands while teaching his cub to do the same. This quest takes Simba back to Mufasa’s story to learn more about his relationship with Scar, Simba’s notorious uncle. Catch the action in cinemas from 20 December 2024.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF_zbL3vm74

Boy Swallows Universe

This eight-episode Netflix series follows a young boy, Eli Bell, played by Felix Cameron, and his selectively mute brother in Brisbane in the 1980s as they embark on an odyssey of love, redemption and retribution after a drug lord tears their family apart. Since his father vanished and his stepfather is a heroine dealer, Bell is without a male role model, so he goes out into the world hoping to understand what a good man is like. The sudden appearance of his biological father and falling for the girl of his dreams feature in Bell’s journey. The series airs on 11 January.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii1UQ-D4dvw

Bob Marley: One Love

Paramount is honouring the late legendary reggae musician in a biopic to be released on Valentine’s Day next year. Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, the movie follows Marley’s career, his rise to fame and the events leading to his death in the early 1980s. The film stars Kingsley Ben-Adir as Marley, a pick approved by Marley’s son, Ziggy.

Bob Marley: One Love. (Photo: Supplied)

Lift

Netflix is upping its game next year with new, exciting movies. Lift stars comedian Kevin Hart as the ex-boyfriend of a master thief who teams up with a crew to steal millions of dollars in gold bullion being transported on a 777 passenger flight. The thriller-comedy will be available to watch on Netflix on 17 January.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2L-Sa_6MU0

Kung Fu Panda 4

The fan-favourite animated movie will be available to watch in cinemas from 8 March. Join in the excitement of going on a new adventure in ancient China with Po, his fellow students and his enormous appetite. It’s been nine years since the last Kung Fu Panda movie. We’re hoping that Po ends his beef with his biggest nemesis and villain, Chameleon, once and for all.

Kung Fu Panda. (Photo: DreamWorks Animation)

DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R29.