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Streaming
The list includes several movies with local ties, including a Leonard Bernstein biopic shot in Massachusetts and a Chris Evans drama.
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23 movies to know about in 2023
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5 must-watch movies and TV shows streaming right now
After releasing 70 original movies in 2021 and 80 original movies in 2022, Netflix is scaling back a bit in 2023.
Netflix unveiled its full list of 49 original movies for 2023 alongside a trailer highlighting scenes from many of the upcoming titles. The sizzle reel shows that Netflix will put sequels to some of its biggest hits front and center this year, with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston’s “Murder Mystery 2,” Chris Hemsworth’s “Extraction 2,” and “Luther: The Fallen Sun,” a continuation of the five-season crime thriller starring Idris Elba.
Also included on Netflix’s release list are several movies with local ties, including a Bill Russell documentary, three movies from longtime New Hampshire resident Adam Sandler, a drama starring Sudbury native Chris Evans, and Bradley Cooper’s upcoming Leonard Bernstein biopic “The Maestro,” which filmed scenes in Massachusetts last year.
Other A-Listers set to feature in Netflix movies in 2023 include Eddie Murphy, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Lopez, Jamie Foxx, Gal Gadot, Kevin Hart, Mille Bobby Brown, Zac Efron, and Julia Roberts.
Here is the full list of original movies coming to Netflix in 2023, with additional information about 10 Netflix movies with local ties highlighted up top.
“You People” (Jan. 27)
Plot: A modern-day “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “You People” stars Jonah Hill (“Superbad”) and Lauren London (“ATL”) as a couple forced to navigate the judgements and differences of their respective parents, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, David Duchovny, Eddie Murphy, and Nia Long.
Local hook: Along with the stacked central cast, former “Saturday Night Live” writer and Dorchester native Sam Jay makes her big-screen debut playing Hill’s best friend.
“Bill Russell: Legend” (Feb. 8)
Plot: Directed by Sam Pollard (“MLK/FBI”), this documentary about the late Celtics legend features exclusive interviews with Russell before his passing in 2022 as well as access to his personal archives.
Local hook: The local hook for this one is pretty self-evident. There’s a statue of Russell outside City Hall, after all. Besides interviews with Russell and his family and friends, the documentary features interviews Larry Bird, Steph Curry, Chris Paul, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and more.
“We Have A Ghost” (Feb. 24)
Plot: Kevin and his family hit the social media jackpot when they discover a ghost named Ernest haunting their new home. But when Kevin and his newfound ghostly pal begin to investigate Ernest’s past, the CIA intervenes.
Local hook: The cast includes Anthony Mackie (“The Avengers”), David Harbour (“Stranger Things”), Tig Notaro (“Army of the Dead”), and Boston native Jennifer Coolidge, who recently won a Golden Globe for her work on “The White Lotus.”
“Murder Mystery 2” (March 31)
Plot: Reprising their roles from “Murder Mystery,” Nick (Adam Sandler) and Audrey Spitz (Jennifer Aniston) are now full-time detectives with their own private agency. The pair finds themselves in the middle of a case that’s personal to them when their pal the Maharaja is kidnapped at his own wedding.
Local hook: Along Sandler and Aniston, “Murder Mystery 2” features Mark Strong (“Cruella”), Mélanie Laurent (“Inglourious Basterds”), Jodie Turner-Smith (“Queen & Slim”), and Annie Mumolo (“Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar”).
“Love at First Sight” (September TBA)
Plot: This jet-setting rom-com centers around Hadley (Haley Lu Richardson, “Split”) and Oliver (Ben Hardy, “Bohemian Rhapsody”), who meet after Hadley misses her flight from New York to London. Per Netflix: “After accidentally losing each other at customs, the probability of ever finding one another again seems impossible. But fate may have a way of defying the odds.”
Local hook: Along with Richardson and Hardy, the cast of this rom-com includes Jameela Jamil (“The Good Place”), Marblehead native Rob Delaney (“Deadpool 2”), Sally Phillips (“Veep”), and Dexter Fletcher (“Band of Brothers”).
“Pain Hustlers” (Oct. 27)
Plot: Per a studio synopsis, “Pain Hustlers” centers around a “blue-collar woman struggling to raise her daughter” who, after taking a job at a “failing pharmaceutical startup,” finds herself “involved in a dangerous racketeering scheme.”
Local hook: Directed by David Yates (“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”), “Pain Hustlers” stars Emily Blunt, Sudbury native Chris Evans, Andy Garcia (“Ocean’s 11”), Catherine O’Hara (“Home Alone”), Jay Duplass (“Industry”), and Brian d’Arcy James (“Spotlight”).
“Leo” (Nov. 22)
Plot: “Leo” is a “coming-of-age animated musical comedy” centered around a pair of classroom pets voiced by Adam Sandler and Canton resident Bill Burr. Per Netflix: “Jaded 74-year-old lizard Leo (Adam Sandler) has been stuck in the same Florida classroom for decades with his terrarium-mate turtle (Bill Burr). When he learns he has only one year left to live, he plans to escape to experience life on the outside, but instead gets caught up in the problems of his anxious students.”
Local hook: Along with Sandler and Burr, “Leo” stars Cecily Strong (“Saturday Night Live”), Jason Alexander (“Seinfeld”), and Rob Schneider (“The Animal”).
“Spaceman” (Fall TBA)
Plot: According to a studio synopsis, “Spaceman” follows an astronaut who has been sent on a deep-space mission to “collect mysterious ancient dust.” When the protagonist “finds his earthly life falling to pieces,” he seeks help from a “creature from the beginning of time lurking in the shadows of his ship.”
Local hook: The third Netflix original of 2023 starring Adam Sandler, “Spaceman” also features Carey Mulligan (“Drive”), Paul Dano (“The Fabelmans”), and Kunal Nayyar (“The Big Bang Theory”).
“Reptile” (TBA)
Plot: Per Netflix, “Following the brutal murder of a young real estate agent, a hardened detective attempts to uncover the truth in a case where nothing is as it seems and, by doing so, dismantles the illusions in his own life.”
Local hook: “Reptile” stars Benicio del Toro (“Traffic”), Justin Timberlake (“The Social Network”), Woburn native Eric Bogosian (“Uncut Gems,” “Succession”), Alicia Silverstone (“Clueless), and Domenick Lombardozzi (“The Wire”).
“Maestro” (TBA)
Plot: Directed by and starring Bradley Cooper, “Maestro” is a biopic of famed composer Leonard Bernstein, with a particular focus on his lifelong relationship with Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein (Carey Mulligan). Netflix’s logline calls the film “a love letter to life and art” and “an emotionally epic portrayal of family and love.”
Local hook: “Maestro” filmed scenes at Tanglewood, the Western Massachusetts music venue that has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937 and was the site of many transformative moments in Bernstein’s career. Along with Cooper and Mulligan, “Maestro” stars Maya Hawke (“Stranger Things”), Matt Bomer (“White Collar”), and Sarah Silverman (“Wreck-It Ralph”).
Here is the full list of new movies coming to Netflix in 2023, sorted by release date.
January-April
“Dog Gone” (Jan. 13)
“Jung-e” (Jan. 20)
“You People” (Jan. 27)
“Pamela, A Love Story” (Jan. 31)
“True Spirit” (Feb. 3)
“Your Place or Mine” (Feb. 10)
“We Have a Ghost” (Feb. 24)
“Luther: The Fallen Sun” (March 10)
“The Magician’s Elephant” (March 17)
“Murder Mystery 2” (March 31)
“A Tourist’s Guide to Love” (April 27)
May-August
“The Mother” (May 12)
“Extraction 2” (June 16)
“They Cloned Tyrone” (July 21)
“Lift” (Aug. 25)
“Happiness for Beginners” (Summer TBA)
September-December
“Love at First Sight” (September TBA)
“Damsel” (Oct. 13)
“Pain Hustlers” (Oct. 27)
“A Family Affair” (Nov. 17)
“Leo” (Nov. 22)
“Leave the World Behind” (Dec. 8)
“Spaceman” (Fall TBA)
“NYAD” (Fall TBA)
Release Date TBA
“Players”
“Monkey Man”
“Kill Boksoon”
“Chupa”
“The Out-Laws”
“Reptile”
“The Deepest Breath”
“The Monkey King”
“Rustin”
“Shirley”
“The Archies”
“Choose Love”
“Best. Christmas. Ever!”
“Maestro”
“Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget”
“Carga Maxima (Overhaul)”
“Chakda ‘Xpress”
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