Hollywood laid an egg in 2020, but a happier ending may be written in 2021. To halt the spread of the COVID-19 virus, moviegoers avoided large venues like movie theaters and some film houses closed their doors. As Variety reports, domestic box office revenues totaled $2.2 billion in 2020, a 40-year low and an 80% year-over-year flop from 2019.

Although the year-end receipts for 2021 have yet to be tallied, film studios can expect a bump up in revenues. According to Box Office Mojo, the domestic movie market rang up total gross revenues of nearly $4 billion as of late December 2021.

With the COVID crisis still raging, it’s hard to predict how the box office will fare next year if theaters are forced once again to shutter and people decide to stay home and stream movies. Yet if the December release of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is any indication, 2022 could be a boffo year at the box office. The Marvel Universe film raked in $600 million globally over its debut weekend, the third highest cash total for an opening weekend ever, Deadline reports.

The most anticipated movies in 2022 could catch crowds of moviegoers like the latest Spider-Man installment considering many are sequels to previous smash hits. Hollywood loves sequels because they have a built-in audience of fans. 

For followers of fictional legal eagle Elle Woods, Reese Witherspoon reprises her role as the smart blonde attorney in “Legally Blonde 3”. The plot hasn’t been revealed, but many of the original cast are returning. Let’s hope none of the sequels end up as one of the 25 worst sequels of all time.

Another Marvel Comics mainstay, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” continues the Black Panther saga. The role of T’Challa was not recast after the death of Chadwick Boseman, who played the Black Panther in the original film. Here is the every Marvel, ranked from worst to best.

Adult action fare and fantasy sci-fi themes dominate the upcoming films. James Cameron directs “Avatar 2,” the second in his “Avatar” franchise. After much delays, the sequel to the 2009 science fiction epic is scheduled to hit movie screens in late 2022. And those pesky dinosaurs will return in “Jurassic World: Dominion,” the third installment in the Jurassic series starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.

And Batman once again heeds the bat signal to save Gotham. In “The Batman,” the superhero (played by Robert Pattinson) battles the Riddler, who has gone a murderous rampage through the city. 

It’s not all adult action fare, however. The kids can have their day with “Sesame Street.” If you’re looking for something completely different, give a look to “Under the Boardwalk,” an animated musical adventure about hermit crabs at the Jersey Shore. With so much to choose from, maybe Hollywood will have a Hollywood ending in 2022.

Click here to see the most anticipated movies of 2022

To identify the most anticipated movies of 2022, 24/7 Wall St. used data on anticipated movies from The Numbers, a movie database of budgets, box office figures, and other information. Data on actors and directors came from IMDb.

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