"It's so over the top now in the very best way."
2022 is guaranteed to be a massive year for movies! With highly anticipated releases that were pushed back due to the pandemic finally hitting theaters, the box office is bound to see record-breaking numbers. This year's movie lineup is chock full of major franchise flicks -- including sequels that were decades in the making!
IMDb took a look at all the films set to be released in 2022 and ranked them according to those that were the most popular with their 200 million monthly visitors, determined by the number of page views over the past 12 months.
Here's what movies to look out for in 2022…
10. "The Flash"
Release Date: November 4, 2022
Ezra Miller will star in the first solo film for The Flash when it debuts later this year. While not much is known about the plot, a teaser trailer appeared to reveal that the movie may see Barry travel back in time to prevent his mother's death. Although the exact plot has not yet been confirmed, director Andy Muschietti says there are many things that will take fans by surprise.
"We can tell you there are surprises, we cannot reveal what they are. But it will probably blow your socks off…The less we talk about it the better. There's excitement behind the cameras about those surprises. You better not know them until you see them on the big screen," Andy said during a DC FanDome panel.
On big reveal we already know: Michael Keaton is confirmed to return as Batman.
9. "Uncharted"
Release Date: February 18, 2022
Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg will star in "Uncharted," bringing the massively popular video game to the big screen. The film will serve as a prequel to the games, as viewers learn the details of how Drake came to meet and befriend Sully. And, of course, the duo will be followed on their first treasure-hunting adventure across the globe.
8. "Mission: Impossible 7"
Release Date: September 30, 2022
Fans will have to wait until the end of 2022 to finally be able to see "Mission: Impossible 7," which was pushed back over a year due to the pandemic. So far, it's only known that Tom Cruise will return as international spy Ethan Hunt, taking viewers on another international adventure with some of his most dangerous stunts yet. When asked about the plot, director Christopher McQuarrie promised an emotional journey for all of the characters.
"When we went into making 'Fallout,' I said to Tom, 'I really want to make this more of an emotional journey for [Ethan Hunt].' Going into this, I said, 'I want to take what we learned from 'Fallout' and apply it to every character in the movie. I want everyone to have an emotional arc…I just want the movie to have more feeling across the board," he said on the "Light the Fuse" podcast.
7. "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness"
Release Date: May 6, 2022
In the second standalone film for Doctor Strange, the sorcerer casts a forbidden spell that opens the door to the multiverse. There he encounters an alternate version of himself, whose threat to humanity is too great even for the combined forces of Strange, Wong, and Wanda Maximoff.
6. "Jurassic World: Dominion"
Release Date: June 10, 2022
The plot of "Jurassic World: Dominion" has been kept under lock and key since being announced but one thing is for sure -- the dinosaurs have escaped. Not only will stars like Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard return for the upcoming third flick in Colin Trevorrow's "Jurassic World" trilogy but it will also feature the stars of the original films. Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum have all been confirmed to appear.
"I think when people think of what 'Dominion' might be, they're assuming it’s going to be a T. rex walking through New York City. We made a lot of different choices. And one of them is that I wanted to see dinosaurs around old stones, around something that's ancient to us, just to illustrate how much more ancient these things are," director Colin​​ Trevorrow told Empire.
5. "Killers of the Flower Moon"
Release Date: TBD 2022
Leonardo DiCaprio is set to star in "Killers of the Flower Moon," Martin Scorsese's film adaptation of the book of the same name. The haunting murder mystery tells the true story of how members of the Osage tribe were murdered under mysterious circumstances in the 1920s. The events sparked a major F.B.I. investigation involving J. Edgar Hoover and became known as one of the most monstrous crimes in American history.
4. "Top Gun: Maverick"
Release Date: May 27, 2022
After numerous delays, "Top Gun: Maverick" will finally hit theaters this year. The highly anticipated sequel to Tom Cruise's 1986 film will find Pete "Maverick" Mitchell still serving as one of the Navy's top aviators, more than 30 years later. When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw, the son of Maverick's late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka "Goose."
3. "Thor: Love and Thunder"
Release Date: July 8, 2022
The fourth installment in the Thor saga, "Thor: Love and Thunder," will see the return of stars Chris Hemsworth as well as his counterpart Natalie Portman, who appeared as Dr. Jane Foster in the first two films. Not only will Dr. Foster be back but this time she'll get the chance to wield Mjolnir for herself with her own god-like powers. Director Taika Waititi has said the film was heavily inspired by Jason Aaron's "The Mighty Thor" and will be more over the top than ever before.
"It's so over the top now in the very best way. It makes Ragnarok seem like a really run of the mill, very safe film…this new film feels like we asked a bunch of 10 year olds what should be in a movie and just said yes to everything," Taika said.
2. "Scream"
Release Date: January 14, 2022
In the relaunch of the "Scream" series, the latest installment picks up twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro. Now a new killer is wearing the Ghostface mask and is targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town's deadly past. Not only does the film feature a brand new cast but original stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette are returning to their iconic roles.
1. "The Batman"
Release Date: March 4, 2022
This year, Robert Pattinson will make his long-awaited debut as Batman in "The Batman." The film follows Batman's second year of fighting crime during which he uncovers corruption in Gotham City that connects to his own family and takes on a serial killer known as the Riddler.
"I wanted to do not an origin tale, but a tale that would still acknowledge his origins, in that it formed who he is. Like this guy, he's majorly struggling, and this is how he's trying to rise above that struggle. But that doesn't mean that he even fully understands, you know. It’s that whole idea of the shadow self and what's driving you, and how much of that you can incorporate, and how much of it you're doing that you're unaware of," director Matt Reeves told Nerdist.