Wicked, Moana 2, Anora and More

“Wicked,” the blockbuster movie musical that earned 10 Academy Award nominations and $727 million at the worldwide box office, will begin streaming March 21 on Peacock alongside a singalong version of the movie. Directed by Jon M. Chu (“Crazy Rich Asians,” “In the Heights,”), the musical is an adaptation of the beloved Broadway hit that tells the story of what happened before “The Wizard of Oz.” The film stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, and both of them picked up Oscar nominations for their performances. The two characters form an unlikely friendship that is soon threatened after they encounter the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum). Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater and Peter Dinklage also star.

Expect family audiences to flock to Disney+ this month as “Moana 2” makes its streaming debut after earning $1.05 billion at the worldwide box office. The first “Moana” movie is the streamer’s most-watched title in history, so there’s no reason to expect the sequel won’t be a streaming blockbuster. The movie reunites Moana (voiced by Auli’i Cravalho) and Maui (Dwayne Johnson) three years after the end of the original as they journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters. Variety‘s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman wrote in his review that “Moana 2” has “vibrant monsters and a flow of movement that keeps your eyeballs dancing.”

Sean Baker’s “Anora” won the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year and became an awards season powerhouse with six Oscar nominations, including best picture, best director and best actress. Mikey Madison plays the title character, a sex worker in New York City whose life spirals out of control after she spontaneously marries the son of a Russian oligarch. From Variety’s review: “Taken alone, ‘Anora’ is a profane kick. But seen in the context of Baker’s recurring fixations — from ‘Starlet’ to ‘Red Rocket’ — it stresses his belief that sex work is real work, that it’s more central to society than society wants to admit, and that by identifying with those we typically objectify, we can’t help but love them.”

Daniel Craig earned career-best reviews and won best actor from the National Board of Review for his wounded performance in Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer.” From Variety’s review: “Daniel Craig, shifting about a dozen gears from James Bond, doesn’t make the mistake of impersonating the older William Burroughs who became a punk icon in the ’80s: the dry voice, the beady-eyed stare of hostility. Craig gives us a pinch of that glowering Burroughs DNA, but the trick of his performance, which is bold and funny and alive, is that he’s playing the younger Burroughs before he’d passed through the looking glass of cultivated insanity.”

Hugh Grant gained some momentum this awards season for “Heretic” by picking up best actor nominations at the Golden Globes and BAFTAs. Grant is terrifying as a demented religious scholar so extreme that he traps two Mormon missionaries in his house and torments them into rejecting their faith. From Variety’s review: “Grant’s radically against-type turn to keep audiences on their toes works. The likable English actor has never gone anywhere near as dark as ‘Heretic’ demands.”

Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu” was a surprise box office force with $178 million at the worldwide box office. The period horror movie technically debuted on Peacock in the middle of February, but March marks its first full month of availability on the streamer and it demands to be seen. Lily-Rose Depp gives a tormented performance as woman upended by her psychological connection to the vampire Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard). Nicholas Hoult, Willem Dafoe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Emma Corrin co-star. 

“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” started streaming Feb. 18 on Paramount+, but it’s bound to be one of the most popular family offerings to watch at home during its first full month of availability in March. The third “Sonic” feature picks up with the title hero, Tails the Fox and Knuckles the Echidna teaming up with their nemesis Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) to take on the Shadow the Hedgehog (voiced by Keanu Reeves). The threequel grossed $483 million at the worldwide box office to become the top earner in the “Sonic” franchise so far. A fourth film is already in the works for Paramount, set to be released in 2027.

The Russo Brothers are back on Netflix after “The Grey Man” with a sci-fi action movie titled “The Electric State,” starring Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown. The streamer is surely hoping the movie is the blockbuster of the month. Set in an alternative America in the mid-1990s, “The Electric State” stars Brown as Michelle, a young girl traveling across the country in search of her missing brother amid a civil war between humanity and the robots that once served them. Pratt plays Keats, a smuggler she meets along the way.

“Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim” floundered in theaters last year but may get a second life on streaming now that it’s available to watch from home on Max. Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, “The War of the Rohirrim” takes place 261 years before the epic events of “The Fellowship of the Ring.” Featuring Helm Hammerhand as the protagonist, the film is based on a story by J.R.R. Tolkien included in the appendices of “The Lord of the Rings.” Brian Cox voices the King of Rohan, while Miranda Otto, who starred in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy, returns as Eowyn. In the animated film, the king must defend his land against an army of Dunlendings, in an origin story revealing how the stronghold Helm’s Deep got its name.

“September 5” earned an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay. Set during the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, the film follows the ABC Sports broadcasting team as they are forced to quickly shift from sports reporting to live coverage of the Israeli athletes taken hostage. John Magaro plays a young producer striving to prove himself to his boss, the legendary TV executive Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard).

Saoirse Ronan landed a BAFTA nomination for best actress thanks to “The Outrun.” She gives a riveting performance as Rona, a woman rediscovering herself after wrestling with alcoholism. Directed by Nora Fingscheidt, the film employs an innovative narrative structure that weaves three timelines together as Rona circles the drain during her decade in London, then claws her way toward recovery after returning home to the Orkney Islands in Scotland.

“Fresh” director Mimi Cave returns with the suburban thriller “Holland,” which streams on Prime Video after making its premiere at SXSW this month. Nicole Kidman plays a domesticated teacher and homemaker whose picture-perfect life with her husband (“Succession” Emmy winner Matthew Macfadyen) and son (“Belfast” breakout Jude Hill) is upended when she discovers a dark secret about her partner. Gael Garcia Bernal co-stars as a friendly colleague to Kidman’s spiraling matriarch.

Nominated for best documentary at the Oscars, Johan Grimonprez’s “Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat” explores “a moment when jazz, colonialism, and espionage collided, constructing a riveting historical rollercoaster that illuminates the political machinations behind the 1961 assassination of Congolese independence leader Patrice Lumumba. The result is a revelatory documentary richly illustrated by eyewitness accounts, official government memos, testimonies from mercenaries and CIA operatives, speeches from Lumumba himself, and a veritable canon of jazz icons.”

“The Skeleton Twins” director Craig Johnson teams up with Brandon Flynn, Brian Cox, Edie Falco, Lisa Kudrow, Dean Norris and Parker Posey for the horror-comedy “The Parenting,” streaming exclusively on Max this month. The film, written by Kent Sublette, follows a young couple who plan a weekend getaway in the country so their families can meet. But tensions soon flare when they discover their rental property is haunted by a 400-year-old poltergeist. 

Molly Manning Walker wrote and directed the critically acclaimed “How to Have Sex,” which centers on three 16-year-old best friends who encounter new friendships, sexual pressures and self-discovery during a holiday. The movie earned 12 nominations at the British Independent Film Awards, with star Mia McKenna-Bruce taking home the honors for best lead performance and best breakthrough performance.

The latest “Spongebob Squarepants” movie is actually about longtime nemesis and occasional friend Plankton, and it should be a popular title for families on Netflix this month. “Plankton: the Movie” picks up with the title character as his world is flipped upside down when his plan for world domination is thwarted. Plankton’s longtime computer wife Karen takes his quest over, forcing Plankton to team up with frenemy SpongeBob to stop her and rekindle their relationship.

“Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” opened in the No. 1 spot at the North American box office in January and grossed more than $32 million at the domestic box office. Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. team up in the crime thriller as an LASD sheriff and a suspected thief who join forces to pull of a robbery in Europe. The movie is inspired by the real-life Antwerp diamond heist that took place in 2003. A third film in the “Den of Thieves” franchise is already in active development.

From “Purple Hearts” to “Carry On,” Sofia Carson has emerged as one of Netflix’s most popular actors. That bodes well for “The Life List,” Carson’s latest Netflix original based on the novel of the same name by author Lori Nelson Spielman. The film adaptation is written and directed by Adam Brooks. Carson stars as Alex Rose, whose late mother sends her on a quest to complete a childhood bucket list. The mission inspires romance and self-discovery. Kyle Allen, José Zúñiga, Sebastian de Souza and Connie Britton co-star.

Tarrell (André Holland) has reconnected with La’Ron, the estranged father he hasn’t seen in 15 years (he’s played with layered brilliance by John Earl Jelks). La’Ron, now gray and grizzled and homeless, is a recovering addict who was rarely around and, when he was, treated his son with a ruthless indifference that edged into violence. Can Tarrell forgive him? André Holland is an actor who knows how to carve emotion out of silence. His Tarrell is fierce, haunted, and alive yet not all there, and the film shows you how everyday trauma can take on the power of personal mythology.

It’s no Guillermo del Toro or Ron Perlman, but the latest “Hellboy” movie, “The Crooked Man,” arrives on streaming this month via Hulu. The new film is based off the beloved “Crooked Man” comic storyline and stars Jack Kesy in the title role. Series creator Mike Mignola co-wrote the script and told Variety: “It’s the first Hellboy script that I read and I went, ‘Oh, it’s a horror movie,’ which is what I wanted. [Director] Brian Taylor does not have a reputation as a horror movie director. But, so far, we’ve had two horror movie directors make Hellboy movies and we’ve never gotten a horror movie.”

From Prime Video: “In this heartfelt rom-com, struggling photographer Pia (Simone Ashley) receives a prediction: true love and career success await her in the next five dates she goes on. With her sister’s wedding looming and family playing matchmaker, her ex (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) reappears, throwing both her love and professional life into chaos.”

Sadie Sink is liberating the wasteland with a guitar and her singing voice in Geremy Jasper’s “O’Dessa,” an original rock opera that Searchlight Pictures is debuting exclusively on Hulu this month. The film’s synopsis reads: “Set in a post-apocalyptic future, O’Dessa is a rock opera about a farm girl on an epic quest to recover a cherished family heirloom. Her journey leads her to a strange and dangerous city where she meets her one true love – but in order to save his soul, she must put the power of destiny and song to the ultimate test.”  The supporting cast includes Kelvin Harrison Jr., Murray Bartlett and Regina Hall.

“Rumours,” directed by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson, follows a group of world leaders who meet at the G7 — a political and economic meeting of the minds between Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — but get lost in the woods while trying to compose a joint statement. In addition to Cate Blanchett and Alicia Vikander, “Rumours” also stars Charles Dance, Roy Dupuis, Denis Ménochet, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Rolando Ravello, Takehiro Hira and Zlatko Burić. The film world premiered at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. Variety hailed the movie as “laugh-out-loud political satire” in its review.

Eva Longoria, Jesse Garcia, and Cheech Marin headline the Disney+ original movie “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip,” which follows 11-year-old Alexander and his family as they embark on a dream Spring Break vacation to Mexico City only to have all their plans go terribly wrong when they discover a cursed idol. Longoria also produced the family adventure. 

Cameron Crowe’s early-’80s documentary “Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party,” which had a one-weekend-only release in cinemas as a theatrical event in October, is set to have its streaming premiere exclusively on Paramount+ this month. Originally shot around the time of the release of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Long After Dark” album, the film was restored from its 16mm source and augmented by about 20 minutes of previously unseen bonus content, including outtakes and a newly filmed interview with Crowe and the late rocker’s daughter, Adria Petty.