When it comes to the biggest and best new movies coming out in 2022, there’s one that fans have had an agonisingly long wait. Before coronavirus was even a thing, Top Gun: Maverick had already been delayed from an original release date of 12 July 2019 to 26 June 2020 – a date that was then rescheduled to 2 July 2021, once coronavirus was a thing, and then pushed back to 19 November 2021. The all-action sequel will, finally (surely!) hit cinemas on 27 May 2022. Interestingly, since the film left post-production, both Netflix and Apple TV+ have unsuccessfully attempted to purchase its distribution rights – Paramount preferring to release the big-budget blockbuster in theatres instead (a resounding win for anyone looking forward to barrelling through the full jet fighter experience on the big screen).

Despite the growing number of movies launching straight to streaming services – last year Warner Bros. released its entire movie slate in theatres and on HBO Max simultaneously – many production companies, increasingly at the behest of directors it seems, are supporting theatres by releasing their movies there first (Cameron, Scorsese and Spielberg have all been vocal in their belief in the magic of cinema).

From that other long-awaited Tom Cruise action film, Mission: Impossible 7, to Bradley Cooper’s Nightmare Alley, to the latest Scorsese-DiCaprio collaboration, The Killers of the Flower Moon, these are the top cinema releases to pencil in your calendars for 2022 (with the emphasis very much on pencil, rather than pen)…

Licorice Pizza

Release date: 1 January 2022 Who’s directing? Paul Thomas Anderson Who’s starring? Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper

What’s the story?

A sepia-tinged coming-of-age comedy-drama set in California’s San Fernando Valley in 1973, Licorice Pizza spins out from the chance encounter between 25-year-old photographer’s assistant Alana Kane (played by Alana Haim) and 15-year-old, self-assured child actor Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman). Nostalgic, oddball, and at times slapstick, Licorice Pizza once again demonstrates Paul Thomas Anderson’s sharp eye for the small details that can grow to connect distinctly different people.

Boiling Point

Release date: 7 January 2022 Who’s directing? Philip BarantiniWho’s starring? Stephen Graham, Vinette Robinson, Alice Feetham

What’s the story?

Following critically-acclaimed performances in TV series Time and Channel 4’s Covid care home drama Help last year, everyone’s favourite everyman actor, Stephen Graham, returns to the big screen in Boiling Point, playing the put-upon head chef of a high-pressure restaurant in Dalston. Supposedly shot in one 90-minute take, the camera buzzes between kitchen and tables to provide a fly-on-the-wall take on staff trying to cope with the demands of difficult diners and a surprise visit from a health and safety inspector on the busiest night of the year.

Nightmare Alley

Release date: 21 January 2022 Who’s directing? Guillermo del ToroWho’s starring? Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette

What’s the story?

Arriving 75 years after the original Nightmare Alley, a film based on the William Lindsay Gresham book of the same name from 1946, Guillermo del Toro’s version casts Bradley Cooper as the charming but down-on-his-luck Stanton Carlisle who ingratiates himself to clairvoyant Zeena (Toni Collette) and her has-been magician husband Pete (David Strathairn) at a travelling carnival. Learning the tricks of the trade, Stanton plots to con a dangerous tycoon (Richard Jenkins) with the aid of a mysterious psychiatrist (Cate Blanchett), who he underestimates at his peril.

Belfast

Release date: 21 January 2022 Who’s directing? Kenneth BranaghWho’s starring? Jamie Dornan, Judi Dench, Jude Hill, Lewis McAskie, Caitriona Balfe

What’s the story?

A semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale from writer-director Kenneth Branagh set in 1960s, working-class Belfast. Described by Branagh as his “most personal film”, Belfast follows the life of a nine-year-old boy as his world is turned upside by the political tumult in Northern Ireland. The film tied with The Power of the Dog when it received seven nominations at the 79th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Drama, but eventually lost out on the biggest award to its Jane Campion-directed rival.

Strawberry Mansion

Release date: 18 February Who’s directing? Kentucker Audley, Albert BirneyWho’s starring? Kentucker Audley, Albert Birney, Ephraim Birney

What’s the story?

Low-budget, low-tech surrealist sci-fi movie Strawberry Mansion sees director-actors Kentucker Audley and Albert Birney attempt to save our dreams from advertisers who invade our sleeping thoughts and governments who try to tax them. Set in the not-so-distant future (2035), the film follows Birney to the home of an eccentric artist, whose dreams he’s been sent to audit. Exploring her subconscious through a library of VHS tapes, he finds himself falling in love.

The Batman

Release date: 4 March 2022 Who’s directing? Matt Reeves Who’s starring? Zoë Kravitz, Andy Serkis, Jeffrey Wright, Paul Dano, Colin Farrell, Robert Pattinson

What’s the story?

The Ben Affleck Batman film that never was. Having signed up to write, direct and lead the latest big-screen Bruce Wayne blockbuster in 2015, Affleck made way for incoming director Matt Reeves in 2017, who recast a much younger Robert Pattinson in the lead role and rewrote the story to explore an earlier period in the Batman story. A 30-year-old Bruce Wayne is in only his second year of fighting crime when he uncovers a trail of corruption that leads to his own family, all while trying to outwit a serial killer known by the moniker, the Riddler.

Ambulance

Release date: 25 March 2022 Who’s directing? Michael Bay Who’s starring? Jake Gyllenhaal, Yayha Abdul-Mateen II, Chris Fedak, James Vanderbilt, Keir O’Donnell

What’s the story?

Did you catch the original Danish Ambulance back in 2005? No, us neither. Michael Bay’s reboot follows adopted brothers, war veteran William (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and long-time criminal Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal), as they attempt a $32 million bank heist in order to pay for their dying mother’s health care bill (how expensive is medical care in America?!). When the plan begins to unravel, they steal an ambulance to look after the LAPD officer they’ve accidentally shot.

The Outfit

Release date: 8 April Who’s directing? Graham Moore Who’s starring? Mark Rylance, Dylan O’Brien, Zoey Deutch, Johnny Flynn

What’s the story?

Graham Moore, the Oscar-winning writer behind The Imitation Game, makes his directorial debut with The Outfit. Actually shot in London, the film is set in Chicago where, after a personal tragedy, ex-Savile Row tailor Leonard (Rylance) has relocated and is now making bespoke suits for members of the mob from a small workshop in a less-than-salubrious part of town. When things get a little too close to home, Leonard must outwit the gangsters in order to survive the night.

Top Gun: Maverick

Release date: 27 May 2022 Who’s directing? Joseph KosinskiWho’s starring? Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Glen Powell

What’s the story?

Delayed more times than even No Time To Die, the second Top Gun will finally hit cinema screens in May 2022, 36 years after the original film was released and three years after this sequel was first slated to launch. Perhaps Tom Cruise’s favourite ever character, fighter jet pilot Pete Mitchell is back in the clouds, persuaded out of retirement to re-join the US Navy’s San Diego flying school to coach a new crop of trainee pilots. Expect to feel the G-force of every barrel roll and loop-the-loop.

Jurassic World: Dominion

Release date: 10 June 2022 Who’s directing? Colin TrevorrowWho’s starring? Sam Neill, Chris Pratt, Omar Sy, Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, Justice Smith

What’s the story?

Laura Dern, Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum will appear onscreen together for the first time since 1993 when Jurassic World: Dominion drops in theatres in June. The sixth movie in the record-breaking Jurassic Park franchise will introduce a slew of new dinosaur species, all seemingly intent on turning the main characters into mincemeat. Having auctioned engineered dinosaurs to companies across the world, humans must now deal with the inevitable consequences.

The Black Phone

Release date: 24 June 2022 Who’s directing? Scott Derrickson Who’s starring? Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Jeremy Davies

What’s the story?

In this supernatural horror by Sinister director Scott Derrickson, shy, 13-year old Finney (Mason Thames) is abducted by a sadistic serial killer (Ethan Hawke) and trapped in a sound-proof basement. While in captivity, Finney finds a disconnected black telephone, which begins to ring, and discovers he can hear the voices of his captor’s previous victims, who help him to avoid meeting the same fate as they did.

Where The Crawdads Sing

Release date: 22 July 2022 Who’s directing? Olivia Newman Who’s starring? Daisy Edgar-Jones, Harris Dickinson, David Strathairn

What’s the story?

Based on the breathtaking novel of the same name by Delia Owens, Where the Crawdads Sing follows Kya – portrayed by Normal People star Daisy Edgar-Jones – a young woman who is abandoned by her family and left to fend for herself in the marsh she calls home. Mythologised and known only as ‘Marsh Girl’ by the locals, Kya later becomes the lead suspect in the murder of a man with whom she was once romantically involved.

Don’t Worry Darling

Release date: 23 September 2022 Who’s directing? Olivia Wilde Who’s starring? Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Gemma Chan, Chris Pine

What’s the story?

Described by director Olivia Wilde as ‘The Feminine Mystique on acid’, sexy, psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling follows 1950s housewife Alice (Florence Pugh) living in a utopian experimental community with her husband, Jack (Harry Styles). Set in the dry California desert, the mid-century period piece sees leading lady Alice – unhappy with her life – begin to notice odd goings-on in her hyper-perfect neighbourhood and becomes overcome with worry that her husband is hiding something big behind the glamour.

Mission: Impossible 7

Release date: September 2022 Who’s directing? Christopher McQuarrie Who’s starring? Tom Cruise, Vanessa Kirby, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell

What’s the story?

In the hotly-anticipated seventh installment of the Mission: Impossible film series, Tom Cruise is back as IMF agent Ethan Hunt. Details of the plot are sparse, but Cruise will be joined by Simon Pegg and Rebecca Ferguson who will return in their roles as Benji Dunn and Isla Faust, respectively. Also returning is Vanessa Kirby as arms dealer Alanna Mitsopolis, the White Widow, who first appeared in 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout. New to the franchise is Hayley Atwell – of Marvel’s Agent Carter – in the role of Grace, a character with ambiguous loyalties, who director Christopher McQuarrie described as “a destructive force of nature”.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Release date: 11 November 2022 Who’s directing? Ryan Coogler Who’s starring? Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Angela Bassett

What’s the story?

Though we don’t know a lot about the follow-up to 2018’s Black Panther – the Marvel Cinematic Universe is expert at keeping things under wraps – we do know the film will return to Wakanda following the events of Avengers: End Game. Many familiar faces reprise their roles for the sequel, including Letitia Wright as Wakandan princess and tech whizz Shuri, and Martin Freeman as CIA agent Everett K. Ross. The 30^th installment from the MCU, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever promises to continue exploring the mystical African nation, though, sadly, without leading man, T’Challah, who Marvel chose not to recast following the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman in 2020.

She Said

Release date: 18 November 2022 Who’s directing? Maria Schrader Who’s starring? Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson

What’s the story?

This dramatic re-telling of the sexual harassment case that toppled Harvey Weinstein and kickstarted the #MeToo movement follows New York Times journalists Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Katan) as they work to unearth decades of allegations against the former film producer and break one of the biggest stories of a generation. Directed by Maria Schrader – of 2020 mini-series Deutschland ‘89 – the film chronicles how Twohey and Kantor helped spark a powerful movement that saw hundreds of women speak up about their experiences of sexual harassment, shattering the culture of silence around sexual misconduct in the film industry and bringing forth a reckoning which saw abusers answer for their actions, including Weinstein, who was subsequently sentenced to 23 years in prison.

Avatar 2

Release date: 16 December 2022 Who’s directing? James Cameron Who’s starring? Sigourney Weaver, Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Kate Winslet, Stephen Lang

What’s the story?

13 years after James Cameron first transported us all to Pandora, the Avatar franchise returns in the first of four planned sequels. Tipped to be as visually arresting as the first installment, Avatar 2 follows hero Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his young family as old threats return to their planet, forcing Jake and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) to abandon their home and embark on a journey across Pandora in search of safety for their children, working with the Na’vi to protect their precious home from RDA mining efforts.

The Killers of the Flower Moon

Release date: TBA Who’s directing? Martin Scorsese Who’s starring? Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser, Lily Gladstone

What’s the story?

In Martin Scorsese’s first Western, the acclaimed director turns his lens to the true tale of a series of mysterious murders, which plagued the Osage nation in Oklahoma during the 1920s (following the discovery of valuable oil deposits on Osage land) and sparked the FBI’s first major investigation. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Ernest Burkart, a conflicted rancher caught between his Osage wife, Mollie (Lily Gladstone), and his powerful uncle, William Hale (Robert De Niro), who quickly becomes the focus of FBI investigators. Scorsese’s film follows the FBI investigation and the parallel struggle of the Osage people to protect their land and their lives, shedding light on an horrific chapter in American history.

Read more: Every James Bond theme ranked