Words: Clotilde Chinnici

A new year carries many different things with it: it is new year’s resolutions for many, new jobs and opportunities for some, but it also means new films being produced. After the forced and abrupt stop to both production and distribution caused by COVID-19, 2022 can hopefully prove to be a year of a new beginning in the film industry. But with so many films in pre-production or getting ready for filming, the question of which films are being produced in 2022 comes naturally: so here is a brief list of some key films that will be produced this year. In other words, which films we can look forward to seeing on our screen in the near future.

I Wanna Dance with Somebody

Following what certainly was a successful year for musicals in 2021, 2022 seems to be heading in a similar direction with I Wanna Dance with Somebody. As the title may give away, the film is an upcoming American biographical musical that will be based on the life and career of the legendary American singer Whitney Houston. The film will star Naomi Ackie, who received a BAFTA for her role as Bonnie in The End of the F***ing World, as Whitney Houston along with Ashton Sander, who starred in the critically acclaimed movie Moonlight, Academy Award-nominated actor Stanley Tucci.

Interestingly, the film will be made with the approval of Houston’s estate. This is extremely relevant as I Wanna Dance with Somebody will be able to use Whitney Houston’s songs thanks to the estate’s approval, something crucial not only for the success of the film but also for the depiction of her career on screen. However, we might wonder how much the estate will control the depiction of Whitney Houston’s life, will this approval mean shying away from an accurate depiction that would include Whitney Houston’s lowest moments? We will have to wait until Christmas 2022, when the film will come out, to find out.

Wicked

Similarly to I Wanna Dance with Somebody, the musical trend will possibly continue throughout 2022 with the long-awaited screen adaptation of the highly successful stage musical Wicked. The 2003 musical, adapted from the homonymous 1995 book by Gregory Maguire, portrays the untold story of the witches of Oz, focusing particularly on the main character, Elphaba and how she grew up to be the Wicked Witch of the West.

A possible film adaptation of Wicked has been discussed for nearly as long as the musical has opened in theatre, with first mentions of it in 2004. In 2010, various directors, including Ryan Murphy, were reportedly under consideration for the film adaptation and two years later, it was reported that Universal Studios would be producing the film, with Stephen Daldry directing it and Winnie Holzman, who wrote the original musical’s book, overseeing the screenplay. Despite further discussion around the creative director of the films in the following year, in 2018 Universal paused the production of the film due to production scheduling, privileging the adaptation of the equally successful musical Cats. The film was then put on hold again due to the pandemic in 2020, in the same year Stephen Daldry left the production due to scheduling conflict.

Just last year, significant news regarding the production of the movie adaptation finally came out. Jon M. Chu, famous for wonderful films such as Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and, more recently, In The Heights (2021), reportedly signed to direct the adaptation and the two main characters were cast, with Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. Casting for other characters is still ongoing and, significantly, Universal is holding open audition the role of Nessa and specifically looking to “cast authentically,” as the casting call says, and “actors who are wheelchair users (ambulatory and non-ambulatory) are strongly encouraged to submit for the role.” For now, the film adaptation of the famous musical seems to be incredibly promising, and we will just have to wait to see how it evolves, with filming scheduled to begin in the UK this summer.

Pinocchio

Of course, we can definitely expect Disney to keep busy in 2022 and produce its fair share of films, with an unnamed animation film in the works. However, Disney has lately become synonymous with their live-action films of previously released famous cartoons and this year will not disappoint on that front either. In fact, the live action of Pinocchio is currently in post-production and expected to premiere at the end of this year. The plot will largely follow that of the 1940 animated film, centred around the titular character, a wooden puppet who becomes a real boy and his adventures.

The film was first announced back in 2018 with originally Sam Mendes directing the project. However, after many changes both in the directorial and screenwriting team, it was announced in 2020 that the director of the film would be Robert Zemeckis, famous for many successful films, such as  Forrest Gump (1994), The Polar Express (2004), and A Christmas Carol (2009). In terms of casting, it looks like 2022 will be a busy year for Cynthia Erivo who not only will play the main character in Wicked, but was also cast as The Blue Fairy in the upcoming Disney film Pinocchio. Erivo joins a stellar cast, with Tom Hanks playing Geppetto and Luke Evans as the Coachman, thus making it the second time the latter plays a villain in a Disney live-action. Not that we are complaining about it.

Indiana Jones 5

The fifth instalment of the famous American action-adventure series remains unnamed for the time being. Similarly, the plot of the film remains unknown. George Lucas had begun researching plot devices for a future Indiana Jones film as early as 2008 and passed the project to Kathleen Kennedy in 2012, when she became the president of Lucasfilm. The project stalled for many years since then, with the company focusing heavily on the new Star Wars sequel series. Talks of the fifth film of the successful series started to resurface in 2016 but were delayed by changes in the creative team, script rewrites and the pandemic until film for the film began in June 2021 across the world, with locations including Scotland, Italy, and Morocco. Interestingly, this unnamed project will be the first film of the Indiana Jones series to be distributed by Walt Disney Studios since its 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm, the studio that created and produced both the Indiana Jones and Star Wars franchises; similarly, it will be Lucasfilm’s first live-action film since the acquisition, outside of the Star Wars franchise.

What we know about the upcoming Indiana Jones film is mostly regarding the creatives behind it and the cast that will star in it. The good news is that Harrison Ford is reprising his role as Indiana Jones; he will be joined by new cast members, amongst them, we can find familiar names such as mad Mikkelsen, Antonio Banderas, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Shaunette Renée Wilson. However, this will sadly be the first film of the Indiana Jones series to not be written by George Lucas nor director by Steven Spielberg. The film will instead be directed by James Marigold, who took over after Spielberg stepped down in 2020. Fans of the most famous archaeologist of the world will be happy to know that not the entirety of the creative team of the film series will change: Steven Spielberg remains involved in the unnamed film as a producer and the music will still be composed by John Williams, who is responsible for the iconic and famous Indiana Jones theme song and, more broadly, for the music of the entire series.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

As we have seen with the previous films, Walt Disney Studios is distributing an overwhelming majority of what seems like this year’s biggest films, including Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as part of Phase Four of the MCU. The American superhero film will be the sequel to the 2018 film Black Panther, exploring the world of Wakanda and the characters introduced in the first film. Talks around the sequel had begun after the release of the first Black Panther and its production was later confirmed the year after. However, the death of the late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman in August 2020 changed the initial plan and script for the film. Marvel announced that they would not use a digital double of Boseman nor they would recast his role as T’Challa but instead would rewrite the film to further explore the other characters that appear in the first film, whose actors are all reprising their roles for the sequel.

Most of the creatives involved in the film were not aware of Boseman’s illness and had a solid plan for the sequel, which will not be revealed to the public. Director and co-writer Ryan Coogler, who will be directing the sequel as well, admitted that he had in mind many, many stories about the character, including how T’Challa would grow as a king future films, stories that, as he stated, “we weren’t destined to see.” He also said that working on the film without Boseman, who had held the first film together, is the hardest thing he has ever done in his career. The producer Kevin Feige stated the creatives’ intentions for the film, saying that it was a way to honour the legacy that Boseman himself helped build. Similarly, actress Lupita Nyong’o explicitly said that everyone involved in the sequel would be committed to continuing Boseman’s legacy and that the director had reshaped his script for the sequel to respect Boseman.

Legally Blonde 3

Last but absolutely not least, the long-awaited sequel of the beloved American comedy Legally Blonde is finally in production. Legally Blonde 3 was first talked about in 2018, when Reese Witherspoon, who famously plays the iconic role of Elle Woods, started negotiations with Metro-Goldyn-Mayer to not only star in the film but also produce it. Reese Witherspoon will not be the only original cast member to return to the franchise, but it has recently been released that Jennifer Coolidge will reprise her equally iconic role of Paulette Bonafonté. The film was supposed to be released in 2020 but was delayed due to COVID-19 and is currently in production with a new script written by Mindy Kaling and Dan Goor.

Most of the film, including its plot, is still kept under wraps for now except for the fact that we will see what Elle Woods is like at 40. Furthermore, Mindy Kaling has revealed that she does want to preserve the key elements of the original film, such as the fan favourite Bend and Snap, being a fan of Legally Blonde herself. She has also talked about some of the changes: the film will have many new faces in its cast and, compared to the original, there is going to be more diversity, which seems to be something really important for both Kailing and Witherspoon. The film has not started filming yet, but I for one certainly can’t wait to hear more about the plot of the film and see the photographs from set. And of course, to watch the film when it comes out in May 2022.

In short, it seems that 2022 is going to be a promising year for cinema, full of new films to fall in love with. I hope this short list gave you an idea of what films to look forward to in the upcoming year: I personally can’t wait to hear more about them, see the trailers and eventually watch these films when they get released.