We’ve made it halfway through 2023. In the first half of the year, we got to see a couple of animated juggernauts (The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), a hit and a miss from the folks at Marvel (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania), some strong sequels (John Wick: Chapter 4, Creed III), and some selling out of our childhood memories (The Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny). But now it’s time to get serious. The rest of the summer gives us some of the most-anticipated summer releases of the year. Then, we move into awards seasons as the studios and distributors start to slowly squeeze out their Oscar-bait starting with the fall festivals. Finally, we hit the holiday movie season with its mix of big event titles and the most prestigious of prestige films…at least that’s what the studios are counting on. What should you see? A little of each. Let’s break it down by month.

July: Barbie (7/21)

In the online film-fan world, July 21 is known as OppenBarbie, as two beloved directors in filmdom square off head-to-head with two very different movies. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, detailing the countdown to the creation of the atomic bomb, fills the serious historical drama slot. The other slot is…different. Greta Gerwig, who has been hit and miss as a quirky actress but has not missed at all with her first two directorial features–2017’s Lady Bird and 2019’s Little Women–gets her biggest movie yet with a brightly colored, plastic-enhanced dive into the world of Barbie dolls. Margot Robbie (Babylon) and Ryan Gosling (La La Land) star as the iconic title character and her straight-laced boyfriend Ken. Gerwig’s first two films have used standard films settings–a coming-of-age story and an adaptation of a beloved novel–to deliver some deft insight into the life of the American woman. While it looks like it’s played for pretty broad laughs, I also expect Gerwig to use Barbie to do the same. Plus, it should be very, very funny. Other releases of note: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (7/12); Oppenheimer (7/21); Haunted Mansion (7/28).

August: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (8/2)

Okay, the thing about August is that’s where studios tend to dump the less-exciting titles from their summer lineups and hope to make something from them. So, the pickings are kinda slim. That said, the new TMNT might actually be pretty great. Did we need yet another reboot of the Turtles franchise? No. But this version uses a computer animation style similar to that used by Sony in its Spider-Verse movies and by DreamWorks in parts of its recent Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. And all those movies are awesome. So I’m saying there a chance…. Other releases of note: Meg 2: The Trench (8/4); Strays (8/18); Blue Beetle (8/18).

September: The Creator (9/29)

So. Many. Sequels. And not the ones you’ve been knocking down the door for, either. The Exped4bles (I promise that’s how they’re spelling it), My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (how many times is she getting married?), The Equalizer 3, The Nun 2, even the Paw Patrol is getting a sequel. So, I’m bucking the trend and going for one of the few original titles. Denzel’s son John David Washington (Tenet) is a burned-out ex-Special Forces guy helping fight against the AI taking over the world (when will we learn our lesson about AI?). Gareth Edwards (Star Wars: Rogue One, Godzilla) directs and co-writes (with Chris Weitz, who has written or co-written a lot of great movies), so this post-apocalyptic sci-fi action film has got some pedigree. And hey, at least it’s not a sequel. Other releases of note: A Haunting in Venice (9/15); Drive-Away Dolls (9/22), Dumb Money (which is about the 2021 GameStop stock squeeze and looks pretty dang good) (9/22).

October: Killers of the Flower Moon (10/6)

Now we’re talking. Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio reteam for their sixth feature together and the first since 2012’s The Wolf of Wall Street. Based on a true story, Leo plays a 1920’s lawman sent to investigate a series of over 60 murders of members of Oklahoma’s Osage Nation. The trailer alone looks like a work of art, so anticipation for this one is sky high. Robert DeNiro (in his tenth Scorsese film) is also along for the ride. Other releases of note: Kraven the Hunter (10/6); Five Nights at Freddy’s (10/27); Saw X (because Halloween) (10/27).

November: Dune: Part Two (11/3)

Many said that Dune was unadaptable. David Lynch’s 1980s attempt provided evidence that that might be true. And then Denis Villeneuve said, “How about doing it in two movies?” (That’s not a direct quote). And, bam! 2021’s Dune was critically lauded, made more than double its sizeable budget at the box office, and won six Oscars for its creative work. As that movie ended, Paul Atreides (a fantastic Timothée Chalamet) has proven himself worthy to the spice-desert-dwelling Fremen and begins his quest to defeat the Harkonnen and restore peace to his new home world. Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Javier Bardem, and Stellan Skarsgard all return, which help from Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, and the legendary Christopher Walken. Other releases of note: The Marvels (11/10); The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (11/17); Napoleon (11/22).

December: The Color Purple (12/22)

Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones, and Oprah Winfrey all return as producers for the adaptation of the stage musical adaptation of their 1985 classic (follow all of that?). Former American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino takes on the main role of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg’s role in the original), which she crushed on Broadway. Taraji P. Henson, Coleman Domingo, Louis Gossett Jr., Corey Hawkins, H.E.R., Ciara, and new Little Mermaid Halle Bailey are just a part of the massive cast. Ghanaian rapper and filmmaker Blitz Bazawule, who directed Beyonce’s 2020 long-form video Black is King takes on his biggest project yet by far. Other releases of note: Wonka (12/15), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (12/20), Rebel Moon (12/22).

There will be many more films, including a lot of awards competitors, that don’t have release dates yet. But these will give you a fine list to start with.

(Photo credit: Warner Brothers Entertainment)