Have Movies on Your Schedule? See What is Releasing in Theaters in January 2023

With the December holidays behind us, it’s time to start thinking about 2023 and making resolutions. One of mine is to get back to writing more consistently, specifically sharing more entertainment content. As an example, we’ve seen several movies in the theaters such as Avatar: The Way of Water, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Menu, and The Woman King to name a few. Despite my best intentions, I’ve not had time to share our thoughts other than through the monthly “coming soon” movie trailer article like this one. Of course, I’ll continue to create these lists because I use them myself to figure out which movies I want to see and get them on our personal calendar! If you’ve been following these for the past couple years, you know we try to provide the trailer, release date, genre, cast, studio, social hashtag and synopsis. We’re scaling it back this year and eliminating the studio and hashtag since people don’t really care about those when trying to pick out a movie.

While I try to only post trailers and content for movies releasing the upcoming month, sometimes one will fall late in a prior month or the date was in flux at the time I posted the prior article. That’s the case with the first one this month which released late in December. Since it’s getting a lot of buzz in movie circles, I want to make sure it’s on everyone’s radar. The rest of the trailers are January release dates.

As affiliates of Fandango, we may receive a small commission if you purchase movie tickets through one of the links we included.

The Whale

Release Date: Open now (Get Tickets)
Genre: Drama
Cast: Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins, Samantha Morton

‘The Whale’ is the story of a reclusive English teacher living with severe obesity who attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter for one last chance at redemption..

M3GAN

Release Date: January 6, 2023 (Get Tickets)
Genre: Thriller, Horror
Cast: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Lori Dungey, Stephane Garneau – Monten

M3GAN is a marvel of artificial intelligence, a life-like doll programmed to be a child’s greatest companion and a parent’s greatest ally. Designed by brilliant toy-company roboticist Gemma, M3GAN can listen and watch and learn as she becomes friend and teacher, playmate and protector, for the child she is bonded to. When Gemma suddenly becomes the caretaker of her orphaned 8-year-old niece, Cady, Gemma’s unsure and unprepared to be a parent. Under intense pressure at work, Gemma decides to pair her M3GAN prototype with Cady in an attempt to resolve both problems—a decision that will have unimaginable consequences.

A Man Called Otto

Release Date: January 13, 2023 (Get Tickets)
Genre: Comedy
Cast: Tom Hanks, Mariana Treviño, Rachel Keller, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Truman Hanks, Mike Birbiglia

A Man Called Otto tells the story of Otto Anderson (Tom Hanks), a grump who no longer sees purpose in his life following the loss of his wife. Otto is ready to end it all, but his plans are interrupted when a lively young family moves in next door, and he meets his match in quick-witted Marisol. She challenges him to see life differently, leading to an unlikely friendship that turns his world around. A heartwarming and funny story about love, loss, and life, A Man Called Otto shows that family can sometimes be found in the most unexpected places.

House Party

Release Date: January 13, 2023 (Get Tickets)
Genre: Comedy, Reboot
Cast: Tosin Cole, Jacob Latimore

Aspiring club promoters and best buds Damon (Tosin Cole) and Kevin (Jacob Latimore) are barely keeping things together. Out of money, down on their luck and about to lose the roofs over their heads—and freshly fired from their low-lift jobs as house cleaners—the pair needs a huge windfall to make their problems go away. In a ‘what the hell?’ move, they decide to host the party of the year at an exclusive mansion, the site of their last cleaning job, which just happens to belong to none other than LeBron James. No permission? No problem. What could go wrong? How about a time traveling DJ, undependable security, a runaway guest list, one borrowed Lamborghini, angry rival promoters, a stolen championship ring, escalating property damage, an angry koala..?

Plane

Release Date: January 13, 2023 (Get Tickets)
Genre: Action
Cast: Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An, Daniella Pineda, Paul Ben-Victor, Remi Adeleke, Joey Slotnick, Evan Dane Taylor, Claro de los Reyes, Tony Goldwyn

In the white-knuckle action movie PLANE, pilot Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) saves his passengers from a lightning strike by making a risky landing on a war-torn island – only to find that surviving the landing was just the beginning. When most of the passengers are taken hostage by dangerous rebels, the only person Torrance can count on for help is Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), an accused murderer who was being transported by the FBI. In order to rescue the passengers, Torrance will need Gaspare’s help, and will learn there’s more to Gaspare than meets the eye.

Missing

Release Date: January 20, 2023 (Get Tickets)
Genre: Drama, Suspense
Cast: Storm Reid, Joaquim de Almeida, Ken Leung, Amy Landecker, with Daniel Henney and Nia Long

When her mother (Nia Long) disappears while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend, June’s (Storm Reid) search for answers is hindered by international red tape. Stuck thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, June creatively uses all the latest technology at her fingertips to try and find her before it’s too late. But as she digs deeper, her digital sleuthing raises more questions than answers…and when June unravels secrets about her mom, she discovers that she never really knew her at all.

Alice, Darling

Release Date: January 20, 2023 (Get Tickets)
Genre: Thriller, Suspense
Cast: Anna Kendrick, Kaniehtiio Horn, Charlie Carrick, and Wunmi Mosaku

In the taut thriller ALICE, DARLING, Oscar® nominee Anna Kendrick stars as a woman pushed to the breaking point by her psychologically abusive boyfriend, Simon. While on vacation with two close girlfriends, Alice rediscovers the essence of herself and gains some much-needed perspective. Slowly, she starts to fray the cords of codependency that bind her. But Simon’s vengeance is as inevitable as it is shattering – and, once unleashed, it tests Alice’s strength, her courage, and the bonds of her deep-rooted friendships.

Detective Knight: Independence

Release Date: January 20, 2023 (Get Tickets)
Genre: Action
Cast: Bruce Willis, Jack Kilmer, Lochlyn Munro, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Willow Shields, Dina Meyer, and Timothy V. Murphy

Bruce Willis stars as Detective James Knight in this final, tense chapter of the trilogy. Knight’s last-minute assignment to the Independence Day shift turns into a race to stop an unbalanced ambulance EMT from imperiling the city’s festivities. The misguided vigilante, playing cop with a stolen gun and uniform, has a bank vault full of reasons to put on his own fireworks show…one that will strike dangerously close to Knight’s home.

Start the year off right with quality time at the movies. There are plenty of choices so find one that looks good and just go. If you need additional ideas, several December movies are still in theaters. Don’t forget the popcorn!

What movies are on your watch list for the month?