It would be fair to say 2022 was not a vintage year in cinema, reflected in UK box office receipts which remain around a third below the pre-pandemic year of 2019. That’s not to say there weren’t some enjoyable releases (such as The Banshees of Inisherin, Triangle of Sadness and The Northman) – but the biggest hits of the year consisted of superhero franchises and movie sequels (Top Gun: Maverick, Avatar: The Way of Water, Jurassic World Dominion, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, etc).
It’s a situation which looks to continue in 2023, with Marvel and less-successful rival DC churning out at least eight movie releases over the year, together with yet another Fast and Furious sequel (Fast X), the third of Kenneth Branagh’s tepid Poirot pictures (A Haunting in Venice), The Expendables 4, The Equalizer 3, Creed III, Scream VI and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, to name but a few.
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