Disney Movies We’re Excited to Watch in 2022
Folks, if you work in the movie industry, the past two years have been like a waking nightmare.
Nobody can plan anything because Coronavirus keeps coming back right when we think it’s over.
Some films never had a chance due to the pandemic. Since these productions cost tens of millions of dollars, most theatrical release dates are in air quotes.
We think we know when the films will come out, but we may just be kidding ourselves.
To that point, Exhibitor Relations, the most respected movie tracking service on the planet, lists four untitled Disney-owned products as coming out in 2022. Unfortunately, I…can’t help you with those.
What I can do is list the nine confirmed Disney properties that will debut in theaters this year, presuming nothing else crazy happens.
Here are the Disney movies you should get to watch in 2022!
Death on the Nile – February 11th
History will remember Murder on the Orient Express as one of the last great 20th Century Fox releases.
The ensemble cast of this whodunnit enticed film lovers to take a chance on what was a dead genre at the time.
The Hercule Poirot tale earned $352 million against a $55 million budget and was generally well-regarded.
When Disney acquired Fox’s assets, a sequel came into play. Disney started production less than six months after it finalized the Fox purchase.
In a perfect world, the movie would have entered theaters in 2020, but…well, you know.
For this reason, Death on the Nile twisted in the wind long enough for co-star Armie Hammer to suffer a staggering fall from grace. He’s not a good person.
So, Disney delayed Death on the Nile again, pushing it into 2022. On February 11th, we’ll finally get to watch the movie filmed two and a half years ago.
Let’s hope Death on the Nile is worth the wait.
Turning Red – March 11th
Pixar had planned a big year in 2020, with Onward and Soul both debuting in theaters.
Unfortunately, the pandemic wiped out Onward, a delightful and well-intended movie. Then, Soul wound up as a Disney+ exclusive.
In 2021, Luca also received a Disney+ release. So, Pixar hasn’t made an impact at the box office in a while.
Hopefully, pandemic willing, that should change in March. Turning Red embodies the best of Pixar.
The studio has mastered the art of elevator pitch stories that belie the depth and nuance of the subject matter.
In this instance, the creator of the Academy Award-winning Bao, Domee Shi, will become the second woman to direct a Pixar title (Brave’s Brenda Chapman was the first).
The story involves a 13-year-old girl who sometimes hulks out and turns into a massive red panda. She literally turns red.
Turning Red features a brilliant concept and a spectacular trailer. I have high hopes for this one.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – May 6th, 2022
Without giving away any spoilers from Spider-Man: No Way Home, Stephen Strange just screwed up badly.
Now, the onus falls on him to fix a disastrous problem. That’s where we left off with a Sony movie. Now, Disney’s MCU will show what happens next.
Both studios deserve tremendous credit for putting their egos aside enough to create a brilliant blockbuster in Spider-Man.
Will the hot streak continue with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness? The answer is definitely yes.
This new movie will double as a sequel to WandaVision and possibly Loki in addition to the first Doctor Strange film. So, it’s the MCU’s greatest hits.
We’re all there for that, right?
Bob’s Burgers – May 27th
Here’s another Fox title whose fate got disrupted by the pandemic. Bob’s Burgers has played on Sundays for 12 (!) seasons now.
Somehow, the animated series is only the third oldest of Fox’s revered Sunday night lineup because we also have Family Guy and The Simpsons.
Still, the show has tons of fans, including a dear friend who expressed physical pain over the news that the pandemic delayed the film for a year.
In a perfect world, this film would have opened in 2020. But, instead, fans like him must wait until Memorial Day Weekend in 2022.
By the way, the star of this show, H. Jon Benjamin, also leads the cast of Archer. So he’s got to be some sort of weird trivia footnote.
A few years ago, he starred in two Fox shows. Now, he stars in the same two series…for Disney. That’s weird, right?
Lightyear – June 17th
Okay, I tried to talk up Turning Red because I’m so excited about that project.
However, I’m also a realist. The overwhelming majority of Pixar fans don’t have Turning Red at the top of their Must-Watch List.
That honor belongs to Lightyear, the Toy Story prequel about the real Buzz Lightyear.
Okay, technically, it’s the fictional origin story about the Buzz Lightyear toy, but Pixar will apparently play this one straight.
Chris Evans takes over as the voice of Buzz for the next generation of fans. That move has proven controversial to some, but I think it’s a casting masterstroke.
On paper, Lightyear looks like the biggest animated blockbuster of 2022. So I’m sure we’ll talk about it a ton over the next few months.
Thor: Love and Thunder – July 8th
For a while, 2022 looked like the most crowded MCU schedule ever on the theatrical side.
At various points, at least five and possibly six films could have debuted in 2022.
Alas, filming during a pandemic isn’t easy. Plus, movie special effects companies are absolutely overwhelmed right now.
So, Marvel trimmed its schedule to three 2022 films. The middle one is the fourth release in the Thor franchise. And it has a killer hook.
Natalie Portman returns to the series as Jane Foster. At some point during this story, she’ll become Lady Thor.
Is the switch temporary or permanent? Nobody knows for sure yet. However, the comic that inspired this film is among the most popular of the 21st century.
As if that’s not enough reason to want to watch, the Guardians of the Galaxy will appear as well.
Suffice to say that this film’s gonna be massive. But it’s not the top Marvel title on the 2022 calendar…
Black Panther Wakanda Forever – November 11th
This one’s gonna hit us all in the feels. There’s no avoiding it.
In August of 2020, Chadwick Boseman died unexpectedly. He’d apparently lived with cancer for four years but hadn’t told anyone.
So, the entire time he was filming Black Panther, he was receiving cancer treatments.
Despite battling such a devastating illness, Boseman delivered the performance of a generation as T’Challa, the leader of Wakanda.
Black Panther evolved into a cultural touchstone and earned so much revenue that it provided outsized totals on multiple Disney quarterly earnings reports.
You could legitimately tell the Black Panther factor on the ledgers.
Now, director Ryan Coogler must tell a new story about how Wakanda goes on without T’Challa, who will not be re-cast.
Production on the sequel has included several setbacks. Currently, principal photography is on hold while the film’s star, Letitia Wright, recovers.
The actress suffered an on-set injury that fractured her shoulder and concussed her. Somehow, everyone miscalculated the severity of her injuries initially.
So, the production has shut down while she recuperates. As such, this release seems like the one most likely to experience a delay into 2023.
However, the day it enters theaters, it’ll shatter box office records. We’re talking about one of the most anticipated movies of the past five years.
Strange World – November 23rd
Here’s the title you’ve likely heard the least about. Originally called Searcher Clade, this project represents the 61st release from Walt Disney Animation Studios.
That’s honestly a pretty random and lazy name for a movie. I heard it used to be called Searcher Clade and honestly, that’s much better https://t.co/4f6gEhzW8r
— just an anxious bisexual who loves cartoons (@cartoongirl55) December 9, 2021
For that reason alone, you’re sure to watch it. After all, the two most recent Disney animated titles are Raya and the Last Dragon and Encanto, both of which are masterpieces.
The story involves a family of famous explorers. They’re the “searcher” Clades from the old title.
They explore a “Strange World” during this story, which makes it sound like The Incredibles in Adventureland.
Fittingly, the film’s director, Don Hall, also helmed Big Hero 6. He also co-directed Raya and the Last Dragon.
So, the action in Strange World should be top-notch.
Avatar 2 – December 16th
In my career as a box office analyst, I think that the film for which I did the most interviews was Avatar.
Nobody could understand why this seemingly innocuous project suddenly evolved into a box office juggernaut. It ultimately became the most successful blockbuster ever.
All that happened in 2009 and early 2010, though. Since then, critics have repeatedly questioned the societal impact of Avatar.
In fact, Disney faced brutal criticism when it announced an Avatar themed land. These attacks continued right up until Pandora – The World of Avatar opened.
Since then, nobody has said a word because the theme park version of Pandora is so remarkable.
I mention this because a similar phenomenon has occurred with Avatar 2. People have mercilessly attacked it for taking too long to come out.
They’ve also questioned whether anybody wanted an Avatar sequel. My answer to these comments is that I’m watching history repeat itself.
A celebrity you’d know once grilled me about whether Avatar would earn more box office than Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
The difference in box office between those projects is about, oh, $2.3 billion…with a B.
James Cameron makes gorgeous movies that people want to watch. So I fully expect that the trailers for Avatar 2 will rope people in, just like happened in 2009.
Expect Avatar 2 to be every bit the massive story in December of 2022 that Spider-Man: No Way Home is right now.
New details about Avatar 2 reveal that Jake and Neytiri have adopted a human and started a family. https://t.co/icKuRyawWF pic.twitter.com/FUKrb7ETlY
— IGN (@IGN) December 21, 2021