The New Year’s film fare includes a menu of flicks originally intended for release last year. Our cinematic wish for 2022 is that audiences are sufficiently entertained as they settle in for a long winter’s viewing.

BY LAURA D.C. KOLNOSK

THE KING’S DAUGHTER JANUARY 21 (RATED PG)
Pierce Brosnan portrays a harried and hirsute King Louis XIV, striving to contain both his illegitimate daughter and her discovery of a mermaid like creature in the kingdom. Originally filmed in 2014 at the Palace of Versailles, the spectacle combines action, adventure, romance, and fantasy. Julie Andrews provides the narration. Also starring William Hurt, Rachel Griffiths, and Pablo Schreiber. China’s highest paid actress and pop singer, Bingbing Fan, (The 355), is the mermaid.

CYRANO JANUARY 21 (RATED PG-13)
Lavish costumes, swordfights, forbidden romance, and, in this version, singing(!) promise a refreshed interpretation of Edmond Rostand’s 1897 tale of Cyrano de Bergerac. Inspired casting choice Peter Dink lage as Cyrano places emphasis on his physical stature rather than the classic Cyrano’s oversized nose. In the tale, Cyrano ghostwrites love letters to the lovely Roxanne (Haley Bennett), on behalf of his friend Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), who eventually discovers Cyrano is writing from the heart because he loves her, too.

MARRY ME FEBRUARY 11 (PG-13)
Long delayed by COVID, the musical rom-com stars J.Lo as half of an A-list celebrity couple (the other half is played by Colombian musician Maluma in his fi lm debut). The action begins with the pair about to get married live on stage, but as the ceremony commences, Lopez’s Kat Valdez discovers her intended is a cheater. During her meltdown, she spots audience member Charlie (Owen Wilson), a divorced math teacher, and decides to marry him on the spot instead.

MOONFALL FEBRUARY 4 (UNRATED)
According to disaster master Roland Emmerich, director of Independence Day, the first men on the moon in 1969 found something terrible that has been kept secret for 50 years. As the moon breaks orbit and hurtles toward Earth, three astronauts portrayed by Oscar winner Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, and John Bradley undertake a Hail Mary space mission and make startling discoveries of their own, as CGI scenes of our planet’s apocalyptic destruction flash across the big screen. Co-starring Kelly Yu, Michael Peña, and Donald Sutherland.

THE TIGER RISING JANUARY 21 (PG)
Dennis Quaid and New Jersey’s Queen Latifah star in this beautifully rendered adaptation of the YA novel by Kate DiCamillo about friendship and love, blended with fantasy. Starting a new life in a rural Florida motel after his mother dies, and hounded by school bullies, young Rob Horton revels in his imagination. He meets two unexpected neighbors: a classmate dealing with her own issues, and a Bengal tiger hidden in a cage by the dastardly motel owner (Quaid). The pair is aided by the mysterious Willie May (Latifah) as they confront their challenges together.

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH JANUARY 14 (R)
Academy Award winner Denzel Washington now joins the roster of legendary actors who have embodied William Shakespeare’s tragic Scottish lord. Convinced by three witches he should be king, Macbeth embarks on a disastrous quest to fulfill their prophecy. Multi-award winner Frances McDormand delivers a powerful take on Lady Macbeth. Written and directed by McDormand’s husband Joel Coen of the Coen Brothers, and filmed in black and white entirely on a soundstage, this one will debut in theaters, followed by release on Apple TV+.

DOG FEBRUARY 18 (PG-13)
A fresh take on the buddy road trip comedy pairs a troubled canine war veteran with a former Army Ranger of the human persuasion. Ranger Briggs (Channing Tatum) agrees to take a fallen soldier’s sometimes aggressive dog to his funeral in exchange for a chance to reenter the military. The film’s tagline: “A filthy animal unfit for human company, and a dog.” Their whirlwind trip down the Pacific Coast Highway is fraught with danger, laughs, and law breaking as the unlikely pair chart a course to their destination and their futures. Tatum co-directed.