As 2022 draws to a close and audiences eagerly look toward a whole new year of films ahead, a recent survey of over 5,000 moviegoers has crowned Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 the most anticipated movie of 2023.
According to the annual Most Anticipated Movies survey conducted earlier this month by Fandango, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the movie most audiences are waiting to see. Coming in at number two is the animated sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, with third place going to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. In descending order, the rest of the top ten proceeds as follows: John Wick: Chapter 4, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes, Creed III and The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
"With more than a hundred new releases heading into theaters, fans are excited to see movies back on the big screen where they belong," Fandango Managing Director Erik Davis said. “The new year promises a significant increase of movies that people want to see in theaters, from returning franchises like Indiana Jones, Creed, Hunger Games and Mission: Impossible, to highly-anticipated re-imaginings like The Little Mermaid and Haunted Mansion, to off-the-wall entertainment like Cocaine Bear and M3GAN. 2023 boasts one of the most exciting movie line-ups in years.”
In addition to what movies audiences are most excited to see, the survey also asked moviegoers about what they expect of their theatrical experience in the coming year. The survey found 99 percent of those polled were "excited to see more new movies debuting in theaters," while 97 percent will "attend the theater more often in 2023 than in 2022." The percentage of those polled who intend on seeing "six or more movies on the big screen in 2023" came to 84 percent, with 82 percent claiming the "moviegoing experience can't be recreated at home" -- a notion likely shared by the 72 percent who "would like to see more movies in IMAX and other premium large screen formats."
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Hits Theaters in May
The first trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 dropped earlier this month, teasing an emotional third installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. Shortly after, an official synopsis for the film was released, which hinted at a potential end to the ragtag team. Even so, star Pom Klementieff, who plays Mantis, suggested the threequel might not necessarily be the end of the Guardians' story after all. "It's gonna be, in some ways, the end of a chapter, you know? As the Guardians of the Galaxy family," she said. "So we'll see what happens after, it's not like, 'over, over,' but it's gonna be different after, for sure."
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 lands in theaters on May 5, 2023.
Source: Fandango