After nearly two years of massive change for the global entertainment industry, we’re finally entering a period of relative stability. Numerous delays have seen movies pushed back again and again, but now that vaccine levels are high, and countries are starting to emerge from the COVID-induced fog, we finally have a clear view of the 2022 Australian movie release schedule.
Over the last few months, many of the films that were scheduled for the back end of 2021 (some even from 2020) have been pushed way back into this year. But, we’ve got a pretty solid idea of what this year will look like (as far as movies are concerned), so we’ve compiled a little list for you.
From Fantastic Beasts to Avatar 2 and everything in between, here’s every major sci-fi, fantasy, thriller, horror – basically every flick on the 2022 Australian movie release schedule the team at Gizmodo Australia can’t wait to see.
Table of Contents
All movies coming in 2022
You can either click through to each month or scroll to see all the movies hitting cinemas in Australia this year.
January
These flicks are no longer showing at cinemas, but we thought we’d keep this bunch here in case you’re yet to see them and, frankly, need a reminder that they still exist.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
The highly anticipated, long-awaited, direct sequel to the first two Ghostbusters movies is finally in theatres in Australia, even though viewers in the U.S. already had it for a while. And as you may have heard, Ghostbusters: Afterlife leans heavily into a deep knowledge of the original 1984 film, directed by Ivan Reitman. This time, his son Jason is behind the camera and the movie picks up the story about 30 years after audiences last heard from the franchise. Ghostbusters: Afterlife came out in Australia on January 1.
The King’s Man
The King’s Man is the prequel to the ultra-action-packed Kingsman movies and this flick has action for days. Its trailer is R-rated and holy moly, just prepare yourself for when you click through to our explainer if you’re yet to see the film. Directed by Matthew Vaughn, The King’s Man was rescheduled a whopping eight times, and some of those postponements were made even before coronavirus hit. The King’s Man finally came out on January 6 and has already been booked to hit Disney+ on February 23.
The Addams Family 2
There’s no denying this one is a bit of a let down. The U.S. got The Addams Family 2 back in October 2021. It sticks to the usual trope of taking a family on a vacation to bring everyone back together and it’s a little old. We’re also pretty salty about the long delay for Aussies, so here’s some character posters and our interview with Bill Hader. The Addams Family 2 hit cinemas in Australia on January 6.
Scream
Scream returned with another sequel (yep, a fifth movie), but it’s not called Scream 5 and is instead just called Scream. Not confusing at all. But the title isn’t the only thing making a comeback. A lot of your favourite cast members are back on board for the new Scream movie and, of course, we see our old friend Ghostface. January 13 was when Scream hit cinemas in Australia.
Nightmare Alley
Nightmare Alley is a American neo-noir psychological thriller film directed by Guillermo del Toro. If you’re not convinced this is stellar, it boasts a screenplay by del Toro and Kim Morgan, and it’s based on the 1946 novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham. The casting for this one is epic: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen and David Strathairn. Nightmare Alley came out in Australia on January 20.
February
Ah, February. Here’s what movies you might have missed.
Moonfall
Roland Emmerich really likes to blow up Earth and in his latest disaster film, he’ll do it again. This time though, it’s not climate change, Godzilla, or giant spaceships: it’s the moon. Here’s the plot: the world stands on the brink of annihilation when a mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit and sends it hurtling toward a collision course with Earth. With only weeks before impact, NASA executive Jocinda “Jo” Fowler teams up with a man from her past and a conspiracy theorist for an impossible mission into space to save humanity. Moonfall hit cinemas in Australia on February 3.
Death on the Nile
Based on the 1937 novel by Agatha Christie, Death on the Nile is a daring mystery-thriller directed by Kenneth Branagh about the emotional chaos and deadly consequences triggered by obsessive love. Here’s the plot from Disney: “Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot’s Egyptian vacation aboard a glamorous river steamer turns into a terrifying search for a murderer when a picture-perfect couple’s idyllic honeymoon is tragically cut short”. Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Gal Gadot and Armie Hammer are among the big names in the case. Death on the Nile came out in Australia February 10.
Uncharted
As it makes the move from highly successful videogame franchise to the silver screen, this is Uncharted‘s chance to reach a whole different entertainment space. From the very first Uncharted game, the series was known for impressive action sequences, and we were expecting those to be a strong focus of the movie. However, as our review details, Uncharted has been less than impressive, which sucks. Uncharted opened February 17.
Studio 666
In Studio 666, the legendary rock band Foo Fighters move into an Encino mansion steeped in grisly rock and roll history to record their much anticipated 10th album. Once in the house, Dave Grohl finds himself grappling with supernatural forces that threaten both the completion of the album and the lives of the band. There’s a catch with this horror comedy, though – it will only be out for a week. It’s soooo good, I had to give you 666 reasons why you should go see it. Studio 666 came out February 24.
March
There were a handful of movies that hit Australian cinemas in March – here’s a bit of a blurb for each (and where you can find more details on the flicks that could be still showing in a cinema near you).
The Batman
We were teased with a little more of what to expect from Matt Reeves’ long-awaited The Batman in October. Everything we’ve seen from The Batman so far has been incredibly dark and this latest trailer was more of the same. Darker even. The trailer teases violence. Did I mention this version of Batman is dark? Instead of just doing justice to the legacy left behind most recently by Christian Bale and Ben Affleck, Robert Pattinson in my opinion overlapped them. He was the right man for bringing Reeves’ vision to life when The Batman premiered on March 3.
Rumble
It’s been a long wait, but Paramount’s animated feature Rumble is finally here. We got the Rumble trailer back in February 2020 (!) and it was super cute – raising the main question, though, why wasn’t this movie made years ago? A final release date for ‘the biggest underdog story ever told’ was finally set for March 10.
The Bad Guys
The Bad Guys sounds so freaking cute. Here’s what we’ve got so far from Universal and Dreamworks: Mr Wolf, Mr Snake, Mr Piranha, Mr Shark and Ms Tarantula hatch a plot to pull off the ultimate heist. Oh, we probably should mention it’s an animation based on the books of the same name by Australian author Aaron Bailey . The Bad Guys landed in cinemas in Australia on March 31.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
The Sonic sequel finally got a name in February, which was clearly very creative. The sequel to the actually pretty solid adaptation of Sega’s iconic blue blur will spindash into theatres this March. Oh, another one of our favourite things is the logo that is…well, the old one but with a 2 on it. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 spindashed into Aussie cinemas on March 31.
Morbius
Morbius is the next film in Sony’s Marvel Spider-Man universe. We get Jared Leto (The Suicide Squad) as Michael Morbius. He’s got a rare blood disorder and wants to cure himself so he takes a dangerous risk, the result of which gives him access to powers and a dark side he didn’t know possible. Unfortunately Morbius fell flat. Morbius came out on March 31 after being delayed from January.
April
April 2022 also had a handful of bangers premiere at cinemas around Australia.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is the sequel to Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. It’s also the third instalment in the Fantastic Beasts film series and the eleventh overall in the Wizarding World franchise. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore picked up where the 2018 film The Crimes of Grindelwald left off on April 7.
Ambulance
Universal is calling Ambulance a ‘breakneck thriller’. A decorated veteran, desperate for money to cover his wife’s medical bills, asks for help from the one person he knows he shouldn’t – his brother, who is also a charismatic career criminal, and instead of a loan offers him a score: the biggest bank heist in Los Angeles history. After being pushed back from its February release date, Ambulance finally hit cinemas in Australia on April 7.
Everything Everywhere All At Once
When an inter-dimensional rupture unravels reality, an unlikely hero must channel her newfound powers to fight bizarre and bewildering dangers from the multiverse as the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Everything Everywhere All At Once hit cinemas in Australia on April 14.
The Lost City
Not to be mistaken for the 2005 drama/romance of the same name, The Lost City is an upcoming adventure/comedy flick about a reclusive romance novelist on a book tour with her cover model who gets swept up in a kidnapping attempt that lands them both in a cutthroat jungle adventure. The Lost City came our in Australia on April 14.
The Northman
It was quite a wait for The Northman, but it was worth it. If you’re yet to, we definitely recommend you sink your teeth into what can only be described as an epic Viking thriller. Directed by 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 Northman hit cinemas in Australia on April 21.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Nicolas Cage plays Nicolas Cage (who is unfulfilled and facing financial ruin), a man hired by an uber-rich guy to hang out and gets into some kind of weird, meta adventure. Basically, he accepts a $1 million offer to attend a wealthy fan’s birthday party and things take a wildly unexpected turn when a CIA operative recruits Cage for an unusual mission. It sounds very Nicolas Cage. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent debuted in Australian cinemas on April 21.
May
We have four movies coming to Australian cinemas this month, here’s what we know about the flicks already out, or soon to be out, in May.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is one of the most intriguing parts of the MCU’s fourth phase — and as we head towards the future of Marvel film releases we’re starting to get a clearer picture of what the film is about. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is an ensemble film starring an array of new and returning characters. A blurb here wouldn’t do it justice, so here’s everything we know about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, was originally due on March 24 but Disney bumped its release date to May 5.
Firestarter
In a new adaptation of Stephen King’s classic thriller from Blumhouse, a girl with extraordinary pyrokinetic powers fights to protect her family and herself from sinister forces that seek to capture and control her. Zac Efron and Sydney Lemmon play her parents (way to make me feel old), two well-meaning adults who have been on the run, desperate to hide their daughter Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong; American Horror Story: Double Feature, The Tomorrow War) from a shadowy federal agency that wants to harness her unprecedented gift for creating fire into a weapon of mass destruction. Firestarter blazes into cinemas in Australia on May 12.
Top Gun: Maverick
Tom Cruise is back, this time playing a mentor-like figure to other pilots, albeit one who can still cut it up in the skies. Expect to see Maverick suit up one last time to save somebody, but ultimately it won’t be up to him, and the rookies will have to find it within themselves to get the job done. This isn’t a spoiler, it’s just a very likely plot. Top Gun: Maverick was originally expected to come out back in mid-2019 but we have now locked in May 26.
The Bob’s Burgers Movie
When a giant sinkhole forms in front of their diner, Bob and Linda have to keep the restaurant afloat over the summer with a burger stand near the amusement park. Meanwhile, Tina, Gene, and Louise investigate the mystery of why the sinkhole formed in this animated movie musical. Also, there’s a robot. The Bob’s Burgers Movie is expected to hit cinemas in Australia on May 26.
June
So far, June 2022 creates a little bit of a dry spot on the Australian movie release schedule, but that’s OK, Lightyear is going to give us a lot to talk about when it lands.
Jurassic World: Dominion
Jurassic World: Dominion looks like an Indiana Jones dinosaur movie. We don’t know too much about this one just yet, except that post-production has wrapped up, with filmmaker Colin Trevorrow telling Twitter they had “put the last bit of reverb on the last roar”. Jurassic World: Dominion is coming to the movies on June 9.
Lightyear
The Toy Story franchise may have ended (for now) but we don’t have to say goodbye to Buzz Lightyear just yet. Pixar is tapping into one of its most famous characters with a new animated film Lightyear, and it will tell the story of the man behind the toy. Disney said the sci-fi action-adventure movie “presents the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear—the hero who inspired the toy—introducing the legendary Space Ranger who would win generations of fans.” Alrighty then. Lightyear is coming June 16.
Minions: The Rise of Gru
While Minions were originally introduced in Despicable Me as cute little servants of Gru with little backstory, the Minions movie spin-off expanded on their history and explained their purpose: to find and serve the most evil person in any given era. Now we’ve got Minions: The Rise of Gru and there seems to be a dark side to this ‘kids’ flick that hits cinemas in Australia on June 23.
The Black Phone
The trailer for The Black Phone is intense and honestly if it’s anything to go off, we’re in for days of nightmares. Here’s the official description of The Black Phone, in case you don’t want to watch the trailer: “Finney Shaw, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to Finney”. Yep. June 30 is gonna be horrorific when The Black Phone rings.
July
Here’s everything we know about the two movies scheduled so far for July.
Thor: Love and Thunder
Thor: Love and Thunder is obviously based on the Marvel Comics character Thor, aaaand it’s intended to be the direct sequel to Thor: Ragnarok and the 29th film in the MCU. We know quite a bit about Thor: Love and Thunder, some of us have already seen it and we’d tell you our thoughts, but for some stupid reason, Marvel won’t let critics put out reviews on Thor: Love and Thunder until closer to the release date. Which was April 28, but now it’s July 6.
Bullet Train
Bullet Train is an action-packed thriller directed by David Leitch (John Wick). The film is based on the novel Maria Beetle (published in English as Bullet Train) by Kōtarō Isaka. Five assassins wind up on a Japanese bullet train and soon realise their assignments are connected (yes). Brad Bitt (also yes). Bullet Train hits cinemas in Australia on July 28
August
Trying to remain neutral here, but I’m just too excited for Nope, which is one of the (currently) six (!!!) films on the Australian movie release schedule for August.
Secret Headquarters
In Secret Headquarters, a kid discovers a — you guessed it — secret headquarters underneath his home and starts to wonder if his estranged father might secretly be a superhero. Owen Wilson, Michael Peña and Jesse Williams star in this flick. Secret Headquarters hits cinemas on August 4 in Australia.
Untitled Warner Bros. Event Film
Also coming on August 4 is the Untitled Warner Bros. Event Film, so stay tuned for info on this one.
Nope
This horror flick has the most perfect title: Nope. Though Jordan Peele’s upcoming project with Universal’s been shrouded in mystery, the director’s track record of making imaginative, ambitious horror movies has given many people more than enough reason to get excited for Nope. From the looks of the movie’s trailers the subtext of its title, that excitement might end up being justified. Nope hits cinemas in Australia on August 11. It’s a yes from us.
Beast
The plot of Beast, staring Idris Elba, goes something like a father and his two teenage daughters find themselves hunted by a massive rogue lion intent on proving that the Savanna has but one apex predator. Beast should hit cinemas in Australia on August 18.
Samaritan
We don’t know too much about Samaritan, except that it’s an upcoming superhero film directed by Julius Avery, written by Bragi F. Schut and starring Sylvester Stallone and Javon Walton. Samaritan is based on the Mythos Comics graphic novels. Coming on August 25, Samaritan has been described as a dark, new take on superhero movies.
The Bride
Game of Thrones’ Nathalie Emmanuel stars as a woman who realises, maybe too late, that her new love isn’t what he seems. Big hint: the movie is said to be “Dracula-inspired.” The Bride is due August 25.
September
September is looking pretty good as far as movies coming to the big screen are concerned. Here’s what you can expect in September 2022 at the cinema.
Salem’s Lot
Stephen King, Salem’s Lot – you already know what this 1975 horror novel adaptation is going to be like. Salem’s Lot has been brought to live-action multiple times since it was first published in 1975, but previous attempts were relegated to TV. Australia will have to wait until September 8 to watch one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2022 (at least for us!), Salem’s Lot.
Blazing Samurai
Blazing Samurai is an upcoming computer-animated comedy film directed by Rob Minkoff and Mark Koetsier and written by Ed Stone and Nate Hopper, loosely inspired by Mel Brooks 1974 film Blazing Saddle. Blazing Samurai hits cinemas in Australia on September 8.
DC League of Super Pets
The DC League of Super Pets are super cute. The animation follows the adventures of crime-fighting pets Krypto the Super-Dog, Streaky the Super-Cat and Ace the Bat-Hound. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been cast Superman’s beloved canine pal, but we don’t know much else at this stage except that we have to wait until September after being pushed from May to July, then July to September. DC League of Super Pets hits cinemas in Australia on September 15.
Distant
We’ve been waiting patiently for the upcoming sci-fi flick Distant, but now we’re going to have to wait a little longer for the Spenser Cohen script to make the big screen, with Universal pushing the movie out from March to September. Distant follows an asteroid miner, Andy, who crash-lands his ‘transport ship’ on an alien planet after being struck by an asteroid. Distant has been confirmed for release on September 16.
Dark Harvest
Based on the book of the same name, Dark Harvest is set in a small U.S. Midwestern town, where a supernatural being, Sawtooth Jack, arises from the cornfields and approaches the town’s church, where violent gangs of teenage boys hungrily await their chance to confront the legendary nightmare in an annual harvest rite of life and death. Thanks David Slade for bringing Dark Harvest to the big screen on September 22.
October
October is usually the Halloween instalment of the Australian movie release schedule, so we’re banking on this list growing over the next few months. Here’s what we’ve got so far, and what you can expect.
Halloween Ends
Halloween Ends is the next instalment in the Halloween franchise and the flick following directly from Halloween Kills, which at the time of writing had only recently hit cinemas in Australia. It should be with us in time for Halloween, hopefully. Halloween Ends is expected to hit cinemas in Australia October 13.
The Woman King
The Woman King, starring Viola Davis, is an incredible, untold story inspired by true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Woman King is out in Australian cinemas on October 13.
Untitled Warner Bros. Event Film
Also coming on October 13 is another Untitled Warner Bros. Event Film, so stay tuned for info on this one.
Black Adam
Production wrapped on DC’s Black Adam movie in August 2021, giving us Dwayne Johnson as the titular anti-hero. Black Adam is the main Antagonist of superhero Shazam and a sometimes enemy, sometimes ally of the Justice League. With Warner Bros. releasing several R-rated films in the DCEU, Black Adam is being kept at a PG-13 rating. Black Adam was initially meant to hit theatres on July 28, but now it’ll release on October 20.
Bros
All we’ve got so far on the Bros plot is this: two men with commitment problems attempt a relationship. Doesn’t overly sound like something Gizmodo Australia usually gets behind right? Wrong. Bros is the first major studio film to feature an all LGBTQ+ principal cast playing heterosexual roles. And this we’re f’ing here for. Bros hits cinemas in Australia on October 27.
November
There are three movies hitting Australian cinemas in November 2022 so far – here’s a bit of a blurb for each (and where you can find more details).
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
The upcoming (and recently delayed) Black Panther sequel, Wakanda Forever, has had to shut down its production, pushing its initial July 2022 release date out to November 2022. When it finally releases, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be the 30th film in the MCU. Disney has now confirmed it’s hitting cinemas in Australia on November 10.
Strange World
In this Disney animated adventure from Don Hall (whose credits include Raya and the Last Dragon, Moana and Big Hero Six), a family of explorers will need to learn to get along if they want to succeed in their latest mission. Strange World is expected to land on November 26.
December
We can’t believe it’s May 2022 and we’re already talking about December 2022. Anyway. Here’s a few movies you can expect to see in nine months.
Violent Night
The plot (and literally everything except its genre) is unknown at this state, but we do know Violent Night is set to thrill us when it hits cinemas in Australia on December 1.
Avatar 2
Originally scheduled for 2014 and 2015, Avatar 2 and Avatar 3‘s release dates were then changed to December 2020 and 2021 before being delayed yet again. We’ve now locked in December 15 for the second instalment of James Cameron’s 2009 (!!!) Avatar. Avatar 2, fingers crossed, is coming to Australia on December 15.
Strange World
Strange World, formerly titled Searcher Clade, is an upcoming American animated adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Strange World is hitting cinemas in Australia on December 26.
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish
All credit to the Dreamworks fandom for info on this one. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (formerly known as before cancellation Puss in Boots: Nine Lives and Forty Thieves) is an upcoming sequel to Puss in Boots (2011). Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is set to be released on December 26.
2023 Australian movie release schedule
2023 is also starting to look stellar. So far we’ve got:
- Shazam! Fury Of The Gods on January 5
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania on February 16
- Babylon on January 12
- Knock at the Cabin on February 2
- Dungeons & Dragons March 2
- Haunted Mansion March 9
- Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom March 16
- Wonka on March 16
- Mario on March 30
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on May 4
- Fast & Furious 10 (Fast X) on May 18
- The Little Mermaid on May 25
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on June 1
- Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on June 8
- The Flash June 22
- Indiana Jones 5 on June 29
- Mission Impossible 7 on July 13
- Coyote vs ACME on July 20
- Barbie on July 20
- The Marvels on July 27
- Blue Beetle on August 17
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (animation) on September 7
- Untitled DC film on September 21
- Untitled Exorcist film on October 12
- Dune Part 2 on October 19
- Trolls 3 on November 30
- Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie on December 7
- Wonka on December 14
- Untitled Star Trek film on December 21
- Star Wars Rogue Squadron on December 21
If there’s anything we learned from the last two years, it’s that theatrical release dates aren’t ever completely locked in until you’re sitting in a seat at the cinema. So stay tuned to Gizmodo Australia and we’ll update this article as more information becomes available AND as the big production houses lock in more movies. The last update was made May 12, 2022.
If you want to see what sci-fi, fantasy and horror TV shows and movies are coming to streaming services this year, head over here for our master list on that!