The books, movies, music, TV and gigs we’re looking forward to in 2024

While it might be too early to predict what will be this year’s Barbenheimer moment, it’s the perfect time to cast our eyes toward the pop culture horizon. Not all releases have been revealed or dates determined for 2024, but here are our picks of the films, books, television series, music and live shows that are already set to ignite water cooler conversation and group chat debates during the next 12 months.

January

Have a fetch start to the new year with the long-awaited movie musical of teen classic Mean Girls hitting big screens (January 11) or at the more arthouse end of filmmaking see Sofia Coppola’s take on Elvis Presley’s other half in Priscilla (January 18). On the small screen Trent Dalton’s great Australian novel Boy Swallows Universe gets a Netflix adaptation (January 11), Nicole Kidman brings her movie star charisma to television for the Hong Kong-set Prime Video drama Expats (January 26) and Steven Spielberg executive produces Apple TV+’s World War II epic Masters of the Air (January 26). Crack open a book as Such a Fun Age author Kiley Reid continues to cleverly dissect power dynamics in her second novel Come and Get It (January 30). On the musical front catch gigs from Stick Season songwriter Noah Kahan (from January 17) and alt-pop talent Melanie Martinez (from January 30), while new albums are expected this month from Green Day, Sleater-Kinney and Kali Uchis.

Callum Turner and Austin Butler in Masters of the Air, out on January 26.

February

Expect Swiftie fever to be at full force as Taylor Swift touches down for the Australian leg of her record-breaking, economy-reviving Eras Tour (from February 16). She’s not the only pop act in town though with Pink (from February 9) and Blink-182 (from February 8) both playing live their hit-filled back catalogues. Indie music fans can boogie down at Laneway Festival (from February 3) with sets from Stormzy, Steve Lacy and Dominic Fike. Jessica Mauboy, Jennifer Lopez and MGMT are also due to drop new records this month. Watch Timothee Chalamet in blockbuster mode for sci-fi epic Dune: Part Two (February 29), while Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman face off in Todd Haynes’ Mary Kay Letourneau-inspired drama May December (February 1). Cultural commentary buffs can listen to Fran Lebowitz’s cutting wit in person at a series of speaking dates (from February 13).

Taylor Swift’s Eras tour looks set to be one of the must-see live events of 2024.Credit: Getty Images

March

Comedy fans will have plenty to choose from with Kate Winslet appearing in HBO’s political satire The Regime on Binge (March 4) as the chancellor of a crumbling fictional European autocracy and Kristen Wiig trying to break into 1969 Palm Beach high society in Apple TV+’s Palm Royale (March 20). The literary event of the year might prove to be the posthumous publishing of Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s lost novel Until August (March 12). Locally Missy Higgins is hitting the road to pay tribute to the 20th anniversary of her debut record The Sound of White (from March 28), while on the international front soul legend Gladys Knight is on a farewell tour (from March 19) and R&B outfit TLC are heading back to the ’90s for their CrazySexyCool concerts (from March 2). Expect to hear new albums from The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Libertines, Peter Garrett, The Veronicas, Sheryl Crow and Tyla.

The Veronicas are set to release a new album in March.Credit: Rick Clifford

April

The laughs continue with the arrival of Dawn French is a Huge Twat (from April 10), the British comedy legend’s cheekily titled new stand-up show, or get along to see viral funny woman Atsuko Okatsuka, who shot to fame in 2019 after performing during a 7.1-magnitude earthquake, as she visits for her first-ever Australian shows (from April 5). Be sure to clear some reading time as there are new releases from BookTok fave Emily Henry with Funny Story (April 23), Bri Lee’s debut novel The Work (April 3), Salman Rushdie’s intensely personal memoir Knife (April 16) and Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn sequel Long Island (April 30). Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagnino returns with Challengers (April 24) following a sensual love triangle set in the sweaty world of tennis starring Zendaya. Nick Cave will perform a handful of rare solo shows joined by Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood on bass guitar (from April 25), while the crystalline vocals of Katie Noonan can be heard at the all-female tribute to Karen Carpenter A Kind of Hush (from April 3).

Bri Lee’s debut novel The Work will be released in 2024.Credit: Wolter Peeters

May

Theatregoers are in for a treat this month with Melbourne and Sydney tours of Sarah Brightman doing faded showbiz glamour in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard (from May 21) and real-life friends Shane Jacobson and Todd McKenney playing off one another in Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple (from May 18). Broadway legend and multiple Tony winner Audra McDonald will also share her soprano at a series of concerts (from May 4). Viewers can either watch the genteel world of Bridgerton with season three returning to Netflix (May 16) or the decidedly more violent big-screen action of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (May 23) with Anya Taylor-Joy in the title role. Miranda July puts out her first novel in almost a decade with All Fours (May 21), while those looking for something frothier can pick up Crazy Rich Asians author Kevin Kwan’s latest Lies and Weddings (May 21).

Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa.

June

What’s the deal with Jerry Seinfeld taking so long to return to Australian shores? Thankfully the master of observational comedy is back for the first time since 2017 (from June 15). June is a dream for fans of unashamedly cheesy tunes with local Eurovision favourites Voyager on a string of rescheduled dates (from June 21) to belt out their pop metal bangers and disco pioneers Boney M performing with Maizie Williams on a goodbye tour (from June 3). Bangarra’s brand-new work Horizon (from June 11) is a First Nations cross-cultural collab between the dance company’s alumnus Deborah Brown and Maori choreographer Moss Te Ururangi Patterson, while Bell Shakespeare kick off an interstate tour of King Lear (from June 14). Only the Animals author Ceridwen Dovey is back at the short story form with her new collection Only the Astronauts (June 4) and Outline trilogy author Rachel Cusk’s latest novel Parade also releases this month.

July

No-holds-barred American comedian Chelsea Handler drops by on her Little Big Bitch tour (from July 9), while BAFTA-winning British comedian Mo Gilligan mines a more gentle, everyman style of humour (from July 10). Music lovers should start saving for Splendour in the Grass tickets with the line-up for the July festival still to be announced, though last year the headliners were Lizzo, Flume and Mumford & Sons, so expect big names. Fast-rising K-pop group Ive visit down under on their first world tour (from July 25) and American vocalist Fletcher brings her tunes of queer desire and heartbreak out for a series of rescheduled dates (from July 16). Jessie Tu made a big splash in Australian literary circles with her 2020 debut A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing, now she returns with her second novel The Honeyeater (July 2) following the life of a 30-something Australian-Taiwanese translator.

K-pop group Ive will come to Australia this year as part of their first world tour.Credit: AP

August

Video game adaptations have in the past been notoriously terrible, so here’s hoping Eli Roth’s new flick Borderlands will be more The Last of Us than 1994 Street Fighter. With Cate Blanchett, Jack Black and Jamie Lee Curtis all in the cast expectations are tentatively optimistic. Classical music devotees should make time for Australian Chamber Orchestra’s collaboration with Sydney Dance Company Silence & Rapture (from August 2) as they explore the music of Sebastian Bach and Arvo Part or check out Czech pianist Lukas Vondracek’s impressive blend of power and delicacy as part of the Piano+ international recital series (from August 26). If pop tunes are more your speed, Six the Musical returns this month on an east coast tour with its surprisingly delightful mix of earworm melodies and historical facts about the wives of Henry VIII.

Six the musical, a feminist spin on the lives of Henry VIII’s wives, will be back in Sydney.Credit: Getty

September

Some big concert tours are jetting in with seminal heavy metal band Iron Maiden turning it up to 11 (from September 1), movie star Jared Leto fronting his rock outfit Thirty Seconds to Mars (from September 12) and, on the softer side of things, the gorgeous vocals of Belinda Carlisle celebrating her solo career (from September 18). Tim Burton, Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder reunite for the heavily anticipated Beetlejuice 2 movie (September 5) with Jenna Ortega perfectly cast as the daughter of Lydia Deetz. The Australian Ballet premieres its exclusive commission Oscar (from September 13) with the work drawing on the life story of Oscar Wilde with choreography from Christopher Wheeldon. And enjoy some top-tier writing as Walkley Award-winning Sydney Morning Herald journalist Malcolm Knox releases his latest novel First Friend (September 3), a black comedy set in 1938 in Stalin’s Soviet Union.

Jared Leto fronts his rock outfit Thirty Seconds to Mars.

October

Coldplay bring their sensitive stadium rock (from October 30) for their Music of the Spheres world tour with ticketholders in for a joyous experience with confetti, lasers and balloons. Coldplay’s support act English alt-pop singer PinkPantheress also squeezes in her own headline tour (from October 29). Australia’s biggest rap export of recent years The Kid Laroi triumphantly returns this month for his first-ever local stadium tour with exact dates still to be announced. Even non-comic book diehards might be tempted to check out Joker: Folie a Deux (October 3) once they hear Joaquin Phoenix is reprising his acclaimed turn as the Joker in a movie musical spin on the DC Comics villain with Lady Gaga opposite him as Harley Quinn. Tony-winning Broadway hit Peter and the Starcatcher, a fantastical origin story of Peter Pan’s Neverland, has its Australian premiere on a national tour (from October 15) in a fresh version from Brisbane theatre company Dead Puppet Society.

Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn in Joker: Folie a Deux.Credit: Alamy

November

Canadian dancer-turned-pop-singer Tate McRae performs her bops such as TikTok favourite Greedy at a series of shows (from November 8). Probably not in attendance at that one will be fans of English post-punk pioneers The The, who can catch the new wave icons on a rare tour (from November 16). Wicked: Part One (November 28) sees the Broadway smash moving to the big screen with Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and pop star Ariana Grande as Glinda. Ridley Scott returns with Gladiator 2 (November 21), the sequel to his 2000 prestige hit, with Paul Mescal allegedly beating out Miles Teller and Austin Butler for the lead role. November also sees the final instalment of so many’s Western obsession Yellowstone on Stan, however, fans won’t need to completely say goodbye to the Dutton family tree with many spin-offs already airing and still in the pipeline.

Tate McRae of Greedy fame.

December

The year wraps up with a focus on blockbuster releases. Animated fantasy The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (December 12) expands the Tolkien cinematic universe, Mufasa: The Lion King (December 19) explores the backstory of Simba’s father’s rise to leonine power and a new Karate Kid movie with Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio is expected this month after the franchise was revitalised for a new generation by the success of the Cobra Kai TV series on Netflix. Round out 2024 with Grammy-winning American violinist Joshua Bell bringing out his Stradivarius for a solo concert to play Schubert, Tartini and more (from December 2).

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.