24 Things To Get Excited About From The World Of Entertainment In 2024

The New Year period can make many of us nostalgic – but it’s also a great opportunity to look forward to the fresh 12 months that lie ahead of us.

And when it comes to the world of entertainment, there’s plenty of new music, TV and film to get excited about in the coming year.

Here are 24 big entertainment moments coming up in 2024 that we’re already looking forward to…

1. This year’s Eurovision already promises to be a big one

We were a little concerned that Mae Muller’s (very undeserved) last place finish in 2023 might have put an abrupt stop to the Eurovision momentum that had been building in the UK since Sam Ryder gave us our highest placement in almost a quarter of a century the previous year.

Fortunately, the news that Olly Alexander is planning to pick up the mantle in 2024 has already got plenty of people intrigued as to what the former Years & Years frontman could have up his sleeve on stage in Malmö.

Couple this with the fact that the contest is returning to Sweden on what just happens to be the 50th anniversary of ABBA’s iconic win for Waterloo, and we can guarantee we will be seated when 11 May rolls around.

2. Who’s ready for one last adventure into the Upside Down?

After catapulting its young cast to international stardom and seeing in the 2022 Kate Bush resurgence in a way nobody could have predicted, it’s almost time for the curtain to come down on Stranger Things.

David Harbour has already teased that fans are in for a “terrific” finale that will wrap up all of the show’s existing loose ends, giving it a more satisfying end than some of its sci-fi counterparts.

3. Taylor Swift’s Eras tour arrives on UK shores

British Swifties have been patient as their cousins across the pond exchanged friendship bracelets, screamed along with their favourite hits and generally soaked up everything the Eras tour has to offer. And now, they’re being rewarded for it.

Taylor Swift is set to bring her record-breaking world tour to Europe in the summer of 2024, with a string of dates planned for Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and London, marking the Grammy winner’s first headlining shows on UK soil since her appearance at Capital’s Jingle Bell Ball in 2019.

If you’re anywhere near any of those venues later in the year, we might suggest… some ear defenders

4. The Joker sequel step-kicks its way into cinemas

The original Joker film may have been critically lauded and nominated for a string of Oscars, but it also faced heavy (and, in our opinion, justified) criticism for its depiction of gun violence, heavy-handed mental health themes and the way its few female characters were portrayed.

Why, then, are we so excited for its sequel?

Well, if the above image of Lady Gaga in character as the Joker’s right-hand woman Harley Quinn isn’t enough, perhaps the fact the whole thing is a musical might.

The film itself could (and, if we’re being honest, quite possibly will) be a total mess, but it’ll be worth it for the press tour alone. Joaquin Phoenix and “Lee” herself promoting the same project? Bring it on.

5. The Traitors is finally back

This is one fans have been waiting a long time for (for context, we initially had The Traitors’ second season as part of our list of things to look forward to in 2023…), so we can only pray that the new batch of episodes can live up to the original run.

Oh, and as if the thought of Claudia Winkleman and her enormous roll-necks being back in the castle isn’t exciting enough, there’s also the second US run (yes, the one featuring Ekin-Su, John Bercow and Drag Race finalist Peppermint, among plenty of others), which promises to bring chaos, if nothing else.

6. But The Traitors isn’t the only reality show getting a second season in 2024

One of the surprising reality shows that had us most gripped in 2023 was BBC Three’s I Kissed A Boy, in which single queer men went on the search for romance under the watchful eye of Dannii Minogue.

I Kissed A Boy has already been confirmed for a second season later in the year, albeit with one twist – this time the contestants will all be women from within the LGBTQ+ community. 

This gives us just six short months to work out how to spell “masseria” without having to look it up first…

7. North Shore High School throws open its doors for an all-singing, all-dancing spectacular

Despite what the trailer would have you believe, the new Mean Girls movie is not a straight-forward retelling of the classic teen comedy, but a big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical it inspired.

With modern tweaks, an impressive cast including Renée Rapp, Angourie Rice and Auli’i Cravalho (otherwise known as Disney’s Moana!) and a Plastics-esque boast that this is “not your mother’s Mean Girls”, we’re curious to see how the musical translates to the big screen – even if the original film has set a particularly high bar.

Oh, and if you like what you see, the musical is also making its long-awaited West End debut in the summer of 2024.

8. The Color Purple promises to take us all on an emotional journey

Another classic film that’s getting the movie musical treatment in 2024 is The Color Purple.

This new version has already made its cinema debut across the pond, where it’s been met with a hugely positive reception, including Golden Globe nominations for a number of its cast members, including Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks, who previously shot to fame as part of the Orange Is The New Black cast.

9. Yep, 2024 is going to be a big year for musical theatre fans

In December, musical theatre devotees will get the film adaptation they’ve been waiting more than 20 years for when Wicked finally hits cinemas.

Much has been made of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande stepping into the iconic roles made famous by Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenowith in the Broadway classic, but we’re just as excited to see Jonathan Bailey’s turn as Fieyro, recent Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh putting her spin on Madame Morrible and Ethan Slater (…) as Galinda’s admirer, Boq.

Director Jon M Chu made the decision to split Wicked in two parts, with the second half (which was previously delayed due to the 2023 Hollywood strikes) slated for release next year.

10. Oh, and speaking of Ariana Grande…

Four years is hardly an abnormal amount of time to keep fans waiting for music, particularly as in that time Ariana Grande has released new collaborations with The Weeknd, Doja Cat and Demi Lovato, but that hasn’t stopped the Arianators from growing impatient for new material.

Fortunately, the pop icon has teased that a new album is on the cards for 2024 – and given big changes in both Ariana’s personal and professional life since her last release, we truly can’t wait to hear what she’s cooking up for us this time around.

11. Girls Aloud return to the stage after more than a decade

Undoubtedly one of the most-anticipated live tours of 2024 is coming this summer, when Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts, Cheryl Tweedy and Kimberley Walsh perform together as Girls Aloud for the first time since 2013.

Of course, these live shows mark the girl group’s first since the death of bandmate Sarah Harding in 2021, so it’s sure to be a bittersweet show with plenty of emotional moments.

However, the four-piece have also assured us all that the tour will be a celebration of their 20-year career, packed with both hits and deep cuts for the true Girls Aloud stans.

12. Celebrity Big Brother is back, people!

After Big Brother surpassed our expectations last year, ITV has confirmed that not only will Celebrity Big Brother be back on our screens in 2024, they’re so confident in the format that it’ll be airing on their main channel, rather than sister station ITV2.

What calibre of celeb will ITV be signing up? What has Big Brother got in store for his famous housemates this time around? What will AJ Odudu be wearing?

All this and more are to be revealed when the CBB compound re-opens its colourful doors.

13. The Love Island villa welcomes back some familiar faces

Let’s just call a spade a spade here… Love Island hasn’t quite been cutting through in the way it usually does in recent series, particularly when it comes to its oft-derided winter seasons, has it? So it’s fair to say that the show’s upcoming All Stars run has a fair bit riding on it.

Quite how it’s going to differentiate itself from that Love Island Games show (which aired in the US 2023 and featured pretty much all of your old faves, as well as host Maya Jama) remains to be seen, but we’ll definitely be tuning in to find out.

14. Oh, and while we’re on the subject of All Stars, Drag Race is giving us more ‘déjà Ru’ than ever before next year

As well as the 16th (16th!!!) series of the regular US show in 2024, it was previously revealed that the first ever Global All Stars series of RuPaul’s Drag Race wrapped filming in Colombia last year (check out the rumoured line-up here).

In addition to this, Drag Race España (one of Drag Race’s most underrated franchises, we can’t recommend it enough if you’re yet to give it a go), will air its first ever All Stars run this year, while old favourites will also be returning for the second season of the divisive UK vs. The World format, which will mark the first time in herstory that a British series of Drag Race has offered a cash prize for its winner.

Drag Race fatigue? What Drag Race fatigue?

15. Inside Out 2 introduces us to some more complex emotions

After, let’s face it, a pretty shaky year for Disney in 2023, the company is no doubt hoping to reverse its fortunes in the coming year with Pixar’s latest sequel, Inside Out 2.

In a previous trailer, it was revealed that the existing emotions we met in the first film would be joined by new addition Anxiety in the follow-up film, but it also left us on a cliffhanger when it was teased that even more feelings would be introduced.

Disney sequels, as we all know, have been fairly hit-and-miss in the past, but we’re hoping they wouldn’t mess with a format as beloved as Inside Out unless they had a sure-fire hit on their hands.

16. Dua Lipa unveils album number three

Sophomore slump was not something Dua Lipa needed to worry about with her second album, after Future Nostalgia smashed expectations and exceeded the success of her self-titled debut.

After teasing what she’s got in store for us on album number three with the lead single Houdini, and collaborators including Danny L Harle and Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, we are ready for whatever Dula Peep wants to bestow upon us in 2024.

17. Jade Thirlwall steps into the spotlight as a solo artist for the first time

Given her penchant for all things theatrical and camp (not to mention, y’know, her enormous talent), Jade Thirlwall is definitely the Little Mix star whose solo music we were most excited about when the three-piece announced in 2022 that they’d be going on hiatus.

Leigh-Anne Pinnock already won us over with her solo tracks My Love and Don’t Say Love last year, so our expectations are pretty high – but we’re still confident that if anyone can meet them, it’s Jade.

So far, the Geordie icon has remained pretty tight-lipped about what she’s cooking up, although reports in the press have claimed she’s worked with dance producer Jax Jones, Bastille frontman Dan Smith and singer-songwriter MNEK, who was previously behind Little Mix hits Touch, Confetti and their final number one, Sweet Melody.

18. The Night Agent is back for a second run

Believe it or not, The Night Agent was Netflix’s biggest show in the first half of last year, so the streaming giant wasted zero time in commissioning a second series.

Expect just as much action from the spy drama in its upcoming season – but don’t worry, there’s still plenty of time to catch up on its first run before then.

19. Kate Winslet takes the lead in one of the year’s most intriguing new shows

Between Mare Of Easttown and I Am Ruth, Kate Winslet has been choosing her TV roles very well in recent history, and it looks like she’s onto another winner with The Regime, in which she plays the chancellor of a crumbling government in a fictional European country.

Throw in ridiculously over-the-top performances, larger-than-life costumes and sets and supporting performances from HuffPost faves Hugh Grant and Andrea Riseborough, and we’re confident that this latest offering from the team that gave us Succession is going to be one of the year’s biggest hits.

Don’t believe us? Check out the chaotic trailer here. 

20. At long last, it’s almost time for Dune 2 

During the Hollywood strikes last year, film bosses made the unpopular decision to delay a number of big-name projects, despite them being finished, because its A-list cast would not be able to do promo.

Among the most disappointing of these was the long-awaited Dune sequel, which was moved from November 2022 to March 2023 (although when the strikes were over, this delay was then reduced by two weeks).

While Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya and Rebecca Ferguson are all returning for this much-anticipated sequel, they’ll be joined by a handful of exciting new additions, most notably Oscar nominees Austin Butler and Florence Pugh

21. Zendaya steps onto the court in Challengers

Another film we were gutted to see being delayed due to the strikes, was the drama Challengers.

While a sports-themed movie about a trio of tennis pros mightn’t usually sound like our sort of thing, the fact it features a love triangle made up of Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, with Call Me By Your Name and We Are Who We Are filmmaker Luca Guadagnino on directing duties, it’s safe to say that this is definitely up our street… or should that be up our tennis court? On our tennis court? Whatever, we don’t know anything about tennis, but we do know we’ll be seated on opening night when Challengers finally hits cinemas.

22. One of horror’s most iconic movies gets the modern remake treatment

If there’s one thing Bill Skarsgård proved to the world in the It movies, it’s that he’s more than comfortable playing weirdos. After putting his spin on Pennywise the terrifying clown, the new Nosferatu remake will see him reinventing another of horror’s most iconic figures, the vampire Count Orlok.

More than 100 years after the still-beloved classic film’s original release, who could be better than Robert Eggers (whose past credits include The Witch and The Lighthouse) to reimagine it for the modern era

And can we just talk about the supporting cast for a second? Emma Corrin. Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Willem Defoe. Nicholas Hoult. Lily-Rose Depp. We. Are. So. There.

23. One Day is being adapted for a new generation

In 2011, David Nicholls’ much-loved romance novel One Day was given the big-screen treatment, with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess in the lead roles as two life-long friends who we check in on the same day over a number of years.

Netflix is now adapting the same story into a new TV show, this time around with The White Lotus’ Leo Woodall and This Is Going To Hurt’s Ambika Mod as Dexter and Emma.

24. Agatha Harkness is about to become the official queen of 2024

Three years after Marvel gagged us with the twist that it was, indeed, Agatha All Along, Kathryn Hahn is finally getting to take the lead in the studio’s long-awaited TV series.

She’s not going it alone, though, with Agatha’s coven in Darkhold Diaries including Aubrey Plaza (incredible), Heartstopper’s Joe Locke (amazing) and Broadway legend Patti LuPone (talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show-stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique). Yes, witch!