By Patrick Cremona

Published: Wednesday, 27 April 2022 at 12:00 am


We’re just about a third of the way into the year and we’ve already seen some terrific films released so far, from ambitious revenge epics like The Northman to charming adventure romances like The Lost City – not to mention massive blockbusters such as The Batman.

And the good news is that there is still a lot to look forward to for the rest of 2022, with some exciting new films in a range of different genres and styles.

May is looking like a particularly good month if you’re a fan of multiverse movies: not only is the latest film in the MCU – Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – released at the start of the month, but there’s also epic new sci-fi flick Everything Everywhere All at Once as well.

Moving into June and July there’s everything from new Pixar flick Lightyear to Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic, while Jordan Peele is back with what looks to be an intriguing third feature titled Nope.

And there are some huge films towards the end of the year as well – including the long-awaited release of the first Avatar sequel, 13 years after the original broke box office records around the world.

Read on for all the major films that have been confirmed for 2022 so far –and don’t forget to mark some of those release dates in your diaries.

April

Downton Abbey: A New Era

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Ben Blackall / © 2022 Focus Features, LLC

Date of release: 29th April 2022

Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Joanne Froggatt and Penelope Wilton

Director: Simon Curtis

Follow-up to the 2019 feature film in which the Crawley family travel to the South of France to uncover the mystery of the Dowager Countess’s past.

May

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness

Date of release: 5th May 2022

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen and Xochitl Gomez

Director: Sam Raimi

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.

Firestarter

Date of release: 13th May 2022

Cast: Zac Efron, Sydney Lemmon, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Michael Greyeyes, Kurtwood Smith, John Beasley and Gloria Reuben.

Director: Keith Thomas

A young girl tries to understand how she mysteriously gained the power to set things on fire with her mind.

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Date of release: 13th May 2022

Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., James Hong and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Director: Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

An ageing Chinese immigrant is swept up in a wild adventure, where she alone can save the world by exploring other universes connecting with the lives she could have led.

Father Stu

Date of release: 13th May 2022

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Jacki Weaver, Mel Gibson and Teresa Ruiz

Director: Rosalind Ross

Follows the life of Father Stuart Long, a boxer-turned-priest who inspired countless people during his journey from self-destruction to redemption.

Benediction

Date of release: 20th May 2022

Cast: Jack Lowden, Peter Capaldi, Simon Russell Beale, Jeremy Irvine, Calam Lynch, Kate Phillips, Gemma Jones and Ben Daniels

Director: Terrence Davies

The story of English poet, writer and soldier Siegfried Sassoon.

The Road Dance

Date of release: 20th May 2022

Cast: Hermione Corfield, Morven Christie, Will Fletcher and Mark Gatiss

Director: Richie Adams

A young girl lives in the Outer Hebrides in a small village in the years just before WWI. Isolated and hard by the shore, her life takes a dramatic change when a terrible tragedy befalls her.

Bob’s Burgers

Date of release: 27th May 2022

Cast: H Jon Benjamin, Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman, Larry Murphy, John Roberts, Kristen Schaal

Director: Loren Bouchard

Feature film based on the animated TV series.

Top Gun: Maverick

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Paramount Pictures

Release date: 27th May 2022

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Val Kilmer, Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris

Director: Joseph Kosinski

In Top Gun: Maverick, after more than 30 years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete Mitchell is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him.

June

Men

Date of release: 1st June 2022

Cast: Jessie Buckley, Rory Kinnear, Paapa Essiedu and Gayle Rankin

Director: Alex Garland

A young woman goes on a solo vacation to the English countryside following the death of her ex-husband.

Dashcam

Date of release: 3rd June 2022

Cast: Annie Hardy, Amar Chadha-Patel, Angela Enahoro and Seylan Baxter

Director: Rob Savage

Two friends on a horror-fuelled road trip livestream the most terrifying night of their lives.

Jurassic World: Dominion

Date of release: 10th June 2022

Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, Daniella Pineda, Isabella Sermon, Justice Smith, Omar Sy and BD Wong

Director: Colin Trevorrow

Latest entry in the long-running franchise – with plot kept under wraps.

Lightyear

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Pixar

Date of release: 17th June 2022

Cast: Chris Evans, Taika Waititi

Director: Angus MacLane

The story of Buzz Lightyear and his adventures to infinity and beyond.

Good Luck To Tou, Leo Grande

Date of release: 17th June 2022

Cast: Emma Thompson, Daryl McCormack, Isabella Laughland, Charlotte Ware and Carina Lopes

Director: Sophie Hyde

Retired widow Nancy Stokes hires a good-looking young sex worker called Leo Grande, in the hope of enjoying a night of pleasure and self-discovery after an unfulfilling married life.

The Black Phone

Date of release: 24th June 2022

Cast: Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies and James Ransone

Director: Scott Derrickson

After being abducted by a child killer and locked in a soundproof basement, a 13-year-old boy starts receiving calls on a disconnected phone from the killer’s previous victims.

Elvis

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Warnes Bros

Date of release: 24th June 2022

Cast:  Tom Hanks, Austin Butler, Olivia DeJonge, Yola Quartey, Luke Bracey, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Dacre Montgomery, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh and David Wenham

Director: Baz Luhrmann

A look at the life of the legendary rock and roll star, Elvis Presley.

July

Nitram

Date of release: 1st July 2022

Cast: Caleb Landry Jones, Judy Davis, Essie Davis and Anthony LaPaglia

Director: Justin Kurzel

Events leading up to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre on Tasmania in an attempt to understand why and how the atrocity occurred.

Minions 2: The Rise Of Gru

Date of release: 1st July 2022

Cast: Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin, Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, RZA, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, Danny Trejo, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, and Alan Arkin

Director: Kyle Balda

The untold story of one 12-year-old’s dream to become the world’s greatest supervillain.

The Princess

Date of release: 1st July 2022

Cast: Joey King, Dominic Cooper, Olga Kurylenko and Veronica Ngo

Director: Le-Van Kiet

When a strong-willed princess refuses to wed the cruel sociopath, she is kidnapped and locked in a remote tower of her father’s castle.

Joyride

Date of release: 1st July 2022

Cast: Olivia Colman, Charlie Reid and Lochlann Ó Mearáin

Director: Emer Reynolds

A train-wreck on an adventure who is ready to give away her new-born baby is joined by a cheeky street urchin.

Thor: Love and Thunder