One of the best parts about starting a new year is the anticipation around all the exciting entertainment and events coming our way. At the movies, every year throws up a mouth-watering mix of compelling blockbusters and intriguing indies – but 2019 might be the most exciting year in recent memory. Here are five reasons to get excited about going to the movies in 2019.

The Marvel Slate (Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel, Spiderman: Far From Home)

Despite coming out in 2009 and 1997 respectively, Avatar ($2.78 billion) and Titanic ($2.18 billion) are still the highest and second-highest grossing movies of all time. This year, the first film that might give them a real shake comes along in the grand finale of the Avengers franchise – Avengers: Endgame. These movies are successful for a number of reasons, but the main one being they’re really consistently good. Add to that Marvel’s first ever solo female superhero lead in Captain Marvel and Jake Gyllenhaal as the villain in Spiderman: Far From Home, and you can bank on at least three thrilling, funny experience at the movies this year.

The Return of Jordan Peele

Former sketch comedian Jordan Peele surprised everybody with his hilarious and terrifying horror-satire Get Out, which was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards and won Best Original Screenplay at the same ceremony. He’s back with another terrifying-looking film in Us, starring Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o, who should be in everything, and the promise of another film to exercise your brain and the edge of your seat in equal measure. I’ve watched the trailer, I have little to no idea what it’s about, and I can’t wait.

An original, big-budget old-school murder mystery

If you’ve ever read and loved the original Agatha Christie murder mysteries, you might be excited to learn that director of Brick, The Brothers Bloom and *checks notes* some film called Star Wars: The Last Jedi is returning with a new take on the classic detective-and-small-group-of-suspects formula. Knives Out stars Daniel Craig, Lakeith Stanfield, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette and many many more, and promises to be a love letter to and new take on the Christie formula. If you’ve ever wished you could gather a group of suspects in a room and reveal the murderer, I suspect you’ll love this.

A New Version of an Old Classic

Have you ever read Little Women? Did you cry? If you answered yes to the first question and no to the second, you’re lying, but everyone will be excited to hear that a new version of Little Women is on the way, and it’s directed by wunderkind and writer/director of the excellent Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig. What’s more, she’s reteaming with Lady Bird herself, Saoirse Ronan, and Emma Watson, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep and Timothee Chalamet are in it too – so note this one down in your calendar.

Disney Nostalgia Arrives in Full Force

2019 is going to bring us live-action (ish) remakes of Aladdin, Dumbo and The Lion King, as well as Frozen 2. Reactions to that news will be mixed (parents who can’t hear the song Let it Go anymore without shuddering might think that’s the worst news they’ve heard all year) but for a certain section of the population, these movies are going to be the highlights of the year – and Disney usually does a decent job with these remakes.

Oh, and there’s also that small matter of the final episode in the modern Star Wars trilogy coming out in December as well. It’s going to be a massive year.

By Andrew Williams