Upcoming Sci-Fi Movies to Watch in 2024

With Dune: Part Two and Civil War in theaters, it’s already been a great year for sci-fi, and that doesn’t even count goofball flicks like Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, or any other movies with the word “empire” in the title. Sure, it’s not all perfect. Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17, starring Robert Pattinson, has been pulled from the release schedule and there’s no way that Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse will release this year. But overall, 2024 has been a strong start for sci-fi movies.

Even better, 2024 isn’t even halfway done. Per tradition, Den of Geek has put together a list of the big sci-fi movies heading your way for the rest of the year. This list doesn’t include upcoming sci-fi movies without firm release dates, but it will when they are announced. It will also be updated to add any movies we may have missed, so feel free to shout those out in the comments!

Rebel Moon Part 2: The Scargiver – April 19

Both a director’s cut and a sequel to Rebel Moon is on the way. Rebel Moon Part Two: The Scargiver has “kind of a different tone,” the polarizing director told RadioTimes of his next Netflix endeavor. “The first movie’s gathering the team and the second movie’s kind of like we start to get to know the village. It’s [like] Days of Heaven, kind of a weird harvesting movie and then it’s like a full war. It’s kind of a different experience but with a real ending. With a real, ‘This is where we are.'” Alright then.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Re-Release – May 3

Twenty-five years ago, the general populace waited on tenterhooks for the release of The Phantom Menace, the first new Star Wars movie since Return of the Jedi in 1983. Back then, many Original Trilogy fans wandered out of theaters wondering if they even liked Star Wars anymore. But as disappointed as the adults were with The Phantom Menace, a bunch of kids saw it and loved it. And now those kids are adults with money, so Disney is bringing back the first prequel back to theaters for a limited run to celebrate its big anniversary.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes – May 8

Set almost three centuries after the events of the last Apes movie, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes imagines a time where humans have been reduced to a feral state, while the apes have fully taken over and are now hunting down the last traces of human tech on the planet. In this still-dangerous environment, a young chimpanzee called Noa sets out on a journey with a human girl called Mae. Maze Runner director Wes Ball takes the reins from Matt Reeves as this new Apes trilogy gets underway.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – May 24

This prequel to 2015’s cult hit Mad Max: Fury Road stars Anya Taylor-Joy as a younger version of war captain Imperator Furiosa (previously portrayed by Charlize Theron). When she is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and forced to join a Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus (Chris Hemswoth against type), Furiosa has to survive many trials during a war between two Tyrants as she attempts to find a way back home. Furiosa was originally scheduled to be released in the summer of 2023, but like a few other films on this list, it saw its release bumped due to the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes last year.

Atlas – May 24

For those who prefer to stay at home on May 24, Netflix offers a different type of sci-fi epic with Atlas. Jennifer Lopez stars as Atlas Shepherd, a scientists whose mission to save humanity from artificial intelligence goes awry. Lopez stars alongside Simu Liu, who still hasn’t been signed on for Shang-Chi 2 despite stealing nearly every scene in Barbie, and the always reliable Sterling K. Brown. Written by Leo Sardarian and Aron Eli Coleite and directed by Brad Peyton, Atlas promises a timely “humanity vs. AI” story.

A Quiet Place: Day 1 – June 28

Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, and Djimon Hounsou beef up the cast of this prequel set in the A Quiet Place universe. The story focuses on Nyong’o’s character as the adorably violent QP Pie monsters first take hold of New York. Michael Sarnoski directs based on a screenplay he wrote from an idea cooked up in tandem with franchise creator John Krasinski. We’re always wary of prequels, but this one’s got a quality cast and Pig was a great flick!

Deadpool & Wolverine – July 26

It looks like Wade Wilson will finally collide with the rest of the X-Men in the only MCU film now set for release in 2024. Alongside Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with a Mouth, Hugh Jackman reprises his role as Wolverine in this movie set before the character’s death in Logan. As Marvel struggles to keep the threequel’s surprises under wraps, leaks from the set indicate that there will be a big turnout from the Fox X-Men universe here, but the only thing we do know for sure is that Dogpool will finally make an appearance.

Borderlands – August 9

An unhinged crockpot of talent simmers on the upcoming Borderlands movie. Based on Gearbox’s hit video game series of the same name, Eli Roth (Thanksgiving) directs Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Bobby Lee, and Jamie Lee Curtis in what is sure to be one of 2024’s most irreverent and bonkers sci-fi action comedies. Blanchett plays Lilith, a mysterious outlaw who has to return to her home planet Pandora (not that one) in order to find the missing daughter of the universe’s most powerful bastard. We’re in!

Alien: Romulus – August 16

Cailee Spaeny continues on her mission to become the busiest actress around in 2024. Following her star turns in Priscilla, Spaeny is in the main cast of two big sci-fi movies this year – Civil War and the upcoming Alien: Romulus, which is set between the events of Alien and Aliens. Originally, the movie was going to go straight to Hulu, but after Prey did so well on streaming, 20th Century Studios had a change of heart and switched it to a theatrical release. Romulus is still cloaked in secrecy, but we certainly hope it serves to reenergize the franchise like the most recent Predator movie did.

Kraven the Hunter – August 30

After a string of delays, Kraven the Hunter is finally heading to theaters this summer. Mind you, not many people have been sitting around twiddling their thumbs in agony waiting for Sony’s conservationist superhero tale, especially Madame Web‘s disastrous bow earlier this year, but Kraven (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson here) does have his fans, and they deserve to finally see him in action. It’ll be the second time that the movie’s star has portrayed a Marvel Comics character on screen, having previously appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron as Pietro Maximoff aka Quicksilver, and if he doesn’t die at the end of Kraven, he’ll have made it further than he did in 2015 at least!

Transformers One – September 13

The first animated feature-length film for the Transformers franchise in a very, very long time! Transformers One is a prequel story set outside the movies, one that digs deeper into Megatron and Optimus Prime’s early years on Cybertron, and the war that consumed their planet. The film, which is an origin tale of sorts for Cybertron, has a stacked voice cast that includes Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Jon Hamm, Laurence Fishburne, and Keegan-Michael Key.

Venom: The Last Dance – October 25

With Marvel and DC largely sitting out 2024, Sony makes a play for superhero supremacy with yet another Spider-Man villain universe release. Honestly, we deserve to have Venom: The Last Dance come out this year. After all, our tongue-in-cheek embrace of a clunky franchise with a gonzo Tom Hardy performance gave Sony the confidence to make other non-spider Spider-Man movies. Hardy returns for his third outing as Eddie Brock and his symbiote partner Venom, as does screenwriter Kelly Marcel, who also steps into the director’s chair this time. Newcomers Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor join them to try to keep the absurdity going long enough to get Sony to green light a Gibbon movie.

The Electric State – TBA 2024

With Deadpool & Wolverine, Kevin Feige hopes to start a Marvel resurgence. At the same time, some of the biggest names from the MCU’s heyday try to stake their claim with The Electric State, based on the dystopian novel by Simon Stålenhag. The Electric State re-assembles Avengers: Endgame directing siblings Joe and Anthony Russo with writing duo Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Because it’s a Netflix movie, The Electric State stars Millie Bobby Brown, but the Russos and co. will get some help from one of their favorites from the MCU days, Chris Pratt. Will that combination remind fans of everything they loved about hit films from a decade ago? Or will it prove that Feige’s better off without them?

All of the other major 2024 movie releases are listed here!