January Movies: What have we got to look forward to this month?

Last Updated on January 12, 2024

Let’s face it – January will never be known as an excellent month for movies. It’s usually been considered a “dump month,” where studios disposed of the film they had little to no expectations for, as the idea was that all the holiday movies would still play well into the month. If people wanted to see movies, that’s what they’d see. But things have changed in recent years, with the Martin Luther King Holiday Weekend pretty lucrative, while horror films, such as last year’s M3GAN, often do well all month long.

With that in mind, here’s a preview of what we can expect this month and whether or not we think they’re worth seeing.

January 5th

Night Swim:

This horror flick from James Wan and Jason Blum has gotten some hype. It stars Wyatt Russell and The Banshees of Inisherin breakout Kerry Condon and focuses on an evil spirit haunting a swimming pool. That’s right – we’re finally getting a “haunted pool” movie. Sporting a PG-13 rating and a hefty marketing campaign, Universal is gunning for this to be this year’s M3GAN. Our horror critic, Tyler Nichols, is seeing it this week and will return with a review on Friday!

January 12th

Mean Girls: 

The world has been waiting for the all-singing, all-dancing remake of Mean Girls, right? While I question the wisdom of remaking a film that’s only 20 years old and is still a popular title, the fact that Tina Fey is back makes me hope this won’t be awful, although I must admit it’s not at the top of my must-see list.

The Book of Clarence:

I’m wary of this one because the cast is so amazing (Lakeith Stanfield, Benedict Cumberbatch, James McAvoy, etc.) that it would have come out during the holidays if the movie were any good. Biblical satires are hard to do unless you’re Monty Python, but then again, director Jeymes Samuel (The Harder They Fall) is a rising talent. 

The Beekeeper

While I’m burnt out on Jason Statham’s action movies because he rarely (if ever) allows himself to take a beating on screen, the script for The Beekeeper was raved about, and David Ayer is an interesting choice to direct. The studio has been aggressively screening this, which makes me think it must be pretty good, so I’m optimistic.

And that’s all, folks. Seriously, the theatrical calendar dries up after that, as MLK weekend is early this year, and anything the studios have faith in is opening early. The rest of the month is mainly filled with Indies, such as the mediocre Sometimes I Think About Dying, which I saw at Sundance last year. In terms of box office, I think Night Swim will be a hit, while Mean Girls will also do well. Book of Clarence is a big question mark, while I think The Beekeeper needs a really good word of mouth to do better than other recent Statham movies.

Are you looking forward to any movies this month? Let us know in the comments. Keep up with all the upcoming movies here!