Last year was a relatively quiet one for science fiction, but 2024 is thankfully going to be much better for fans of the genre. From adventures on other worlds to the return of the ever-popular Godzilla, there are going to be some fantastic sci-fi movies releasing in 2024. Most of the sci-fi films this year are either going to be book adaptations or sequels.
This year will also be filled with sci-fi stories that don’t necessarily take place in outer space, and instead are set in a wide range of locales, from parallel universes to distant planets. If you love sci-fi, 2024 is going to be a great year for you, offering lots of variety and many highly anticipated movies that will likely be huge box office hits.
Dune: Part 2 (March 1)
Based on the famous 1965 novel and serving as a follow-up to 2021’s Dune, Dune: Part Two will see Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) team up with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen clan to get revenge and hopefully keep their world from being torn apart. Much like the first film, the sequel is stocked with an all-star cast that includes Josh Brolin, Oppenheimer‘s Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, and Austin Butler, who will be portraying the villainous Feyd-Rautha.
In an interview with Empire, director Denis Villeneuve shared how Butler brought life to his character in the film, saying, “Austin brought something that is a cross between a psychopath killer, an Olympic sword master, a snake, and Mick Jagger.” Dune fans also have more to look forward to in 2024 as well since it’s rumored that the Max series Dune: Prophecy will be released on the streamer at the end of the year.
Spaceman (March 1)
Adam Sandler plays an astronaut with marital problems in Spaceman. Based on the novel Spaceman of Bohemia, the film centers on a lonely astronaut as he traverses a planet while being accompanied by a mysterious creature (The Batman‘s Paul Dano). The two discuss life, love, and what it means to be alive. Spaceman will definitely be more drama than action, similar to other sci-fi movies like Another Earth.
Spaceman is already receiving some praise and accolades as well. It will have its premiere at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival, and the book’s author Jaroslav Kalfar told Netflix’s Tudum that he’s seen the movie and loves it. “I was completely blown away when I saw the film. I’ve seen it twice now,” he said. “I think all the people out there who love weird things and weird art will hopefully be delighted by it.”
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (March 22)
Serving as a sequel to 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the upcoming Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire sees the Spengler family move from Oklahoma to New York City to work alongside the original Ghostbusters in their iconic Manhattan firehouse. But after they arrive, a supernatural force known as the “Death Chill” plummets the world into a deep freeze.
Everyone from the previous film, including Paul Rudd, Bill Murray, Annie Potts, and Dan Aykroyd, is reprising their roles. Newcomers to the cast include Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Alyn Lind.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (March 29)
The Monsterverse grows larger in 2024 with the release of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. In the wake of 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, the monstrous duo must tackle a new and dangerous titan that threatens them both — and the existence of the entire world. Director Adam Wingard told IGN a little of what fans can expect from the new monster.
“We wanted to come up with an antagonist that would … be a match for [both] Kong and Godzilla, and that’s really hard to do,” the director said. “There’s a lot more to this character and how he’s a threat, and that’s going to be something that’s going to be fun to kind of dole out.” This time around, Godzilla even has neon pink spinal spikes thanks to some new powers. And based on the trailer, there’s going to be a lot of giant apes.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (May 24)
Yep, Planet of the Apes is getting another sequel. In some ways, it’s the franchise that never dies. After the first movie premiered in 1968, it was quickly followed by four sequels and a TV series. Then came the 2004 reboot, and after that movie didn’t perform well, it was rebooted again in 2011 with Rise of the Planet of the Apes. And that is where the modern franchise began.
The new film, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, will be the third sequel in the series and shows what happened after the disastrous battles in 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes. Now, the apes are safely sequestered away in the Oasis and humanity has devolved into primal beasts due to the mutated Simian Flu. Director Wes Ball even told Entertainment Weekly that he has plans for even more sequels, saying, “We certainly think there is a lot more story to be told, not just in the Planet of the Apes legacy of it all, but in terms of these characters we’ve created and the arcs that we’re thinking about.”
Twisters (July 19)
There’s no “fiction” behind the science of tornadoes … but in the Twister film series, the science is heavily left behind and the imagination truly takes over. Twenty-eight years after the first movie, the sequel Twisters will hit theaters. Judging by the title, we can only hope that instead of one nefarious tornado, the movie is going to have a bunch plop down and cause absolute chaos (which actually does happen in real life and is known as a tornado cluster).
Screenwriter Mark L. Smith told Collider that climate change inspired the new movie. “Because of climate change, what used to be tornado alley going through a certain stretch … It now extends so much further east,” Smith said. “And it’s moving across, and the dates are wider, and the numbers are higher, and the storms themselves are more violent.” Hopefully, Twisters will also bring us more flying cows like the original did in 1996.
Alien: Romulus (August 16)
Another massive franchise returning this year is Alien. The new film Alien: Romulus will be set between the first two movies and centers around a group of inhabitants on a distant planet who get an unwanted visitor … the xenomorph. Ridley Scott isn’t involved in the new movie, which was written and directed by Fede Alvarez, who is best known for 2013’s Evil Dead remake.
But Alvarez says that Scott has seen his movie and, according to The Escapist, he loved it. Alvarez revealed that after watching the movie, Scott said, “Fede, what can I say? It’s fucking great.” Since the Alien franchise often crosses between horror and sci-fi, Alien: Romulus could also be one of 2024’s best horror movies if it can recapture the scary elements of the earlier movies.
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (TBA, summer)
The wildest sci-fi movie of 2024 is going to be The Day the Earth Blew Up, which will be an old-school animated movie starring Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. In the film, the ragtag duo discovers an alien plan to control people’s minds, and it’s up to them to save Earth. In late 2023, Variety confirmed that the movie is set for a theatrical release and will be the first theatrically released Looney Tunes movie ever.
In a world that constantly seems to get more depressing and more enraging, the classic antics of the Looney Tunes gang could be a welcomed reprieve for audiences, potentially giving the film a shot at becoming a huge hit. Regardless, it will be fun to see Porky Pig stammer “Th-tha-tha-that’s all folks!” at the end of the movie.
The Electric State (TBA, summer)
Yet another book adaption blated for 2024, The Electric State will star Stranger Things season 5 star Millie Bobby Brown as an orphaned girl who, with the help of a robot, traverses the American West looking for her missing brother. The movie is set in 1997 and takes place in an alternate universe where society crumbled during the technological revolution and is now pitted in an endless war against a race of drones.
The Electric State is also gaining a lot of buzz because it’s being directed by the Russo Brothers. The brothers have been wanting to turn the graphic novel into a film for years now — they originally bought the rights in 2017. Since they were able to create hits like Avengers: Endgame, it’s hopeful that the movie can become an epic sci-fi adventure. Joining Brown in the cast are Chris Pratt and Stanley Tucci, who both know their way around a massive sci-fi adventure.
Distant (TBA, 2024)
In Distant, a blue-collar asteroid miner named Andy (Anthony Ramos) crash-lands on an alien planet and sets out to search for the only other survivor from the crash. His only companion on the journey is the AI program that’s installed in his spacesuit, L.E.O.N.A.R.D. (voiced by Zachary Quinto).
Tension builds throughout the film when Andy discovers that the other survivor is trapped inside her escape pod and both of their oxygen tanks are slowly depleting … all without any hope of rescue in sight. Amblin, the movie’s production company, has also hinted that L.E.O.N.A.R.D. isn’t much help in Andy’s fight for survival, adding some humor to the otherwise bleak story.
