Summary
- Dave Bautista is a former wrestler and actor who is perhaps best known for playing Drax in
Guardians of the Galaxy
. - Several of his upcoming movies and TV shows are franchise titles including
My Spy: The Eternal City
and
Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas
. - Upcoming original works featuring Bautista include the assassin comedy
The KIller’s Game
and the Pamela Anderson movie
The Last Showgirl
.
Dave Bautista has a wide variety of movies and television shows coming in the next few years. The star first rose to prominence as a cultural figure when he performed as a professional wrestler with the WWE beginning in 1999, operating under the name Batista. Although he did not fully retire from wrestling until 2019, since the mid-2000s, various Dave Bautista movies and television shows have helped cement his reputation as a performer with several iconic characters under his belt.
The ex-wrestler actor is likely best known for playing the overly literal warrior Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe subfranchise Guardians of the Galaxy. However, he has gone on to appear in blockbusters from other franchises, including the James Bond movie Spectre, the legacy sequel Blade Runner 2049, the whodunit Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and the sci-fi epics Dune and Dune: Part Two. Several of the movies and television shows that he has coming soon are similarly part of major franchises, though quite a few are original works with franchise potential of their own.
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1 My Spy: The Eternal City
Release Date: July 18, 2024
The Eternal City is a sequel to the under-the-radar 2020 comedy My Spy. That title, which was delayed from its original August 19 release date, got caught up in the global theater closures that struck during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. While the $18 million movie only ended up making $10.5 million at the box office during a scattershot international release, it became a decent streaming hit when it was acquired by Prime Video and premiered on the platform in June 2020.
Although early development on My Spy: The Eternal City was announced in 2020, it didn’t go into production until early 2023. In addition to Bautista, Chloe Coleman, Kristen Schaal, and Ken Jeong will all reprise their original roles in the upcoming movie. This time around, they are also joined by Anna Faris, Craig Robinson, and Flula Borg. Like many comedy sequels ranging from Muppets Most Wanted to Book Club: The Next Chapter, the movie moves the setting to Europe for a comic adventure through Italy.
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2 The Killer’s Game
Release Date: September 13, 2024
Bautista will follow My Spy: The Eternal City with another explosive action-comedy. The Killer’s Game, which was helmed by Day Shift director J. J. Perry, follows a hitman who orders a hit on himself while dealing with a fatal diagnosis, only to be forced to survive an onslaught of killers when he discovers his test results were mistaken. The movie is based on the 1997 novel of the same name that was written by Jay Bonansinga, who is perhaps best known for collaborating with Robert Kirkman on a series of spinoff novels set in the universe of The Walking Dead.
The movie, which has been in development since the mid-1990s, is finally making it to the big screen in September 2024. The Killer’s Game features a star-studded cast that also includes Ben Kingsley, Sofia Boutella, Terry Crews, Scott Adkins, and Bautista’s fellow WWE wrestler Drew McIntyre. It will also feature a reunion with his MCU co-star Pom Klementieff, who originated the character of Mantis onscreen in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
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3 In the Lost Lands
Release Date: 2024
In the Lost Lands is an upcoming fantasy movie adapted from the short story of the same name by George R. R. Martin. The author is best known for penning the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, which were adapted into the smash hit HBO series Game of Thrones, which recently spawned the prequel spinoff House of the Dragon. The standalone story follows a sorceress and a wanderer who embark on a quest to help a queen gain the power of shape-shifting.
The wanderer in question will be played by Dave Bautista, who stars in the movie opposite Milla Jovovich. On hand to direct is Jovovich’s husband and frequent collaborator Paul W. S. Anderson, with whom she has made multiple Resident Evil movies as well as 2020’s Monster Hunter. At the time of writing, the movie is still in post-production, though it is still expected to be released sometime before the end of 2024.
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4 Aang: The Last Airbender
Release Date: January 20, 2026
Aang: The Last Airbender, which was recently delayed to 2026, is a new animated movie set in the same universe as the landmark animated shows Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. The movie, which is being executive produced by the original show’s creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, is being directed by franchise veteran Lauren Montgomery. It is set to follow the adult years of the avatar Aang, who was the lead character of the original show.
The movie, which is tightly interlocked with the animated series, is not related to Netflix’s recent live-action adaptation of the original show. The exact character that Dave Bautista is set to voice is currently unknown, though it has been revealed that he will play a villainous role in the project. It remains to be seen if he will be playing an original character or an older version of a familiar face from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
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5 Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas
Release Date: TBD
Another animated franchise project, Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas is set to be a prequel that takes place in the world of Zack Snyder’s zombie heist movie Army of the Dead, which premiered on Netflix in 2021. In that live-action movie, Dave Bautista played the lead character, mercenary Scott Ward. He reprised the role in a cameo in the live-action prequel movie Army of Thieves, and is also set to voice Scott in the new series opposite returning stars Ana de la Reguera, Ella Purnell, Tig Notaro, and Omari Hardwick.
Lost Vegas has had a complicated production history, and in fact, it was announced in March 2023 that it had hit a snag due to technical issues. However, Snyder confirmed nine months later that it was mostly complete, though the animation was only in an early animatic form. It is unclear when the project will actually be completed, if it will be released in animatic form, or if it will never end up being released.
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6 The Last Showgirl
Release Date: TBD
The Last Showgirl is an upcoming drama that is currently in post-production. The movie was directed by Gia Coppola, the granddaughter of Francis Ford Coppola who is part of the legendary’s director’s extensive Hollywood family, which also includes Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Nicolas Cage, Sofia Coppola, and more. The screenplay, which was written by The Good Place‘s Kate Gersten, follows a showgirl who is forced to find her way in life after her show suddenly closes down following a 30-year run.
The showgirl is set to be played by screen icon Pamela Anderson, who plays the lead opposite a star-studded cast that also includes Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis, The Social Network‘s Brenda Song, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina‘s Kiernan Shipka, and Scream Queens‘ Billie Lourd. Dave Bautista is set to play a supporting role in the movie, though the exact nature of his character is currently unknown at the time of writing.
7 Trap House
Release Date: TBD
Trap House, which is also in post-production, is an action-thriller that was written by The Fast and the Furious‘ Gary Scott Thompson along with The Hitman’s Bodyguard‘s Tom O’Connor. It was directed by Michael Dowse, who previously collaborated with Bautista on the action-comedy Stuber, in which he played an LAPD detective who enlists the help of an unwitting Uber driver played by Kumail Nanjiani.
Dave Bautista will take the lead in Trap House as a DEA agent who is working to try and stop a group of teenagers, who are his and his partner’s children, from staging a heist against a cartel. The cast of the movie also includes Avatar: The Way of Water and Scream VI‘s Jack Champion, It and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves‘ Sophia Lillis, La Reina del Sur‘s Kate del Castillo, Hocus Pocus 2‘s Whitney Peak, The Watcher‘s Bobby Cannavale, and Star Trek: Discovery‘s Blu del Barrio.
8 Afterburn
Release Date: TBD
Afterburn is one of the most recently announced upcoming projects set to star Dave Bautista. The movie, which has strong franchise potential, was first announced in February 2024 ahead of production kicking off in April. It was adapted by Matt Johnson and Nimrod Antal from the Red 5 graphic novel of the same name. It has reunited Bautista with director J.J. Perry, who also helmed his upcoming title The Killer’s Game.
Bautista will star in the movie as Jake, a treasure hunter in a post-apocalyptic world where technology has been disabled by a solar flare who embarks on an adventure to steal the Mona Lisa for his clients before anybody else can get to it. The movie is also set to star Olga Kurylenko and, in a supporting role, screen icon Samuel L. Jackson, who plays Nick Fury in the MCU opposite Bautista’s Drax. Jackson will play Valentine, a freedom fighter.
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9 Grendel
Release Date: TBD
It was announced that Bautista would be starring in Grendel in May 2024. The movie, which is currently in pre-production, is being developed by the Jim Henson Company. The director that is currently attached to the project is Robert D. Krzykowski, who is best known for The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot. The story is based on the John Gardner novel of the same name, which itself was inspired by the Old English epic poem Beowulf.
Dave Bautista will be playing Beowulf himself. However, the lead character will be the monstrous Grendel, who is set to be played by Oscar-winner Jeff Bridges. The cast also includes 1883‘s Sam Elliott as The Dragon, Breaking Bad‘s Bryan Cranston as King Hrothgar, Last Night in Soho‘s Thomasin McKenzie as Queen Wealhtheow, musician T Bone Burnett in an unspecified role )in addition to penning original music), and Poldark‘s Aidan Turner as Unferth.