Christmas (and the shelf life of all the new special festive fare Prime Video added in December) is over, and a new year is nearly upon us. Fortunately Prime Video’s PR department has still managed despite the holiday season to share its customary announcement of all the new TV shows and films coming to the streaming service in January, so it’s time to find out if your Prime Video membership is going to be kicking 2024 off with a bang or a whimper.
As usual, I’m going to look first at the brand new ‘Amazon Originals’ being added within a Prime Video subscription in January, starting with new movie Foe. Dropping on January 5, Foe sees not one but two Academy Award nominees, Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal, star in the story of a couple who contentedly farm a secluded plot of land until an uninvited stranger turns up and makes a proposal to them that threatens their relationship and identity but perhaps gives them a chance to successfully join the modern world. The result is apparently “a haunting exploration of marriage and identity set in an an uncertain world”, according to Amazon’s blurb writers.
Another seemingly more light-hearted new Amazon Original movie debuting in January is Role Play. This one sees David Oyelowo and Big Bang Theory’s Kayley Cuoco playing a happily married couple who decide to spice up their relationship by role-playing that they’re strangers meeting in a bar for the first time, only for one of them to be (correctly) recognized by someone else in the bar as an international assassin with a bounty on their head. Role Play arrives on January 12.
The only other Amazon Original new ‘movie’, if you can call it that, joining Prime Video in January is Kevin James: Irregardless. This apparently family-friendly comedy special features James giving his unfiltered take on everything from motivating kids to put down their video games and why he doesn’t trust technology to how many Tater Tots he can fit in his mouth. This one drops on January 23.
Turning to new Amazon-produced Prime Video series for January, the first one out of the traps (on Jan 5) is James May: Our Man In India. As you can probably guess, this three-episode series follows the most mild-mannered member of the Grand Tour team embarking on a 3,000 mile coast to coast trip across the world’s most populous continent.
We stay in reality TV vein with new series of Dance Life and LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland, both of which debut on January 19. Dance Life charts the progress of a select group of students during their final make-or-break year at Australia’s elite ‘Brent Street’ dance studio, while LOL Ireland finds Graham Norton hosting the latest regional version of the popular format in which 10 comedians are brought together and tasked with making the others laugh while resisting cracking a smile themselves.
Sports fans, meanwhile, can have their itch scratched on January 12 by live coverage of the Superlek vs Mahmoudi kickboxing fight from 8pm ET/5pm PT, as well as a fourth season of Uninterrupted’s Top Class: The Life And Times Of The Sierra Canyon Traiblazers, where the Trailblazers try to bounce back after a disappointing end to their previous season. Uninterrupted is the only new Amazon Original to debut on the ad-powered Freevee platform available alongside the Prime Video service.
New Amazon Original drama series are headed up by Expats (January 26), which stars Nicole Kidman and depicts how a single encounter triggers a life-changing series of events for a varied group of women living in Hong Kong. There’s a new take on Zorro, too, from January 19, in the shape of a freshly minted Spanish language series, and the new Amazon Originals are rounded off by adult animation series Hazbin Hotel, in which the princess of hell sets up a kind of halfway house hotel as she pursues a seemingly impossible goal of trying to rehabilitate demons to free up room in her hugely overpopulated kingdom. You can try out this intriguing sounding series from January 19.
Turning next to new (catalogue) films and TV shows joining the US Prime Video subscription in January, three films stand out: the Oscar-winning work of heart-warming sci-fi genius that is Everything Everywhere All At Once; the distinctly average but ‘hey – it’s new’ Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts; and the decently entertaining if daft tenth instalment of the Fast And Furious franchise, cunningly called Fast X. Everything Everywhere should actually be available by the time you read this, slightly ahead of the new year, while Transformers drops on January 5, and Fast X makes its bow on January 16.
One other big addition to Prime Video that’s also actually arrived slightly ahead of the new year is Taylor Swift concert movie, The Eras Tour (Extended Version). This is, though, only available to rent; it’s not yet free within your Prime Video subscription.
Older films joining Prime Video’s catalogue titles are much more numerous than they were in December, stretching to around 160 additions in total (if you include those being added with ad breaks to Freevee service). And there are some great highlights among these ‘new oldies’.
Comedies, for instance, don’t get much funnier than 1980’s Airplane!, with its endless stream of slapstick physical gags, puns, perspective jokes and good old fashioned silliness. The laughs keep on coming with at least some sections of Woody Allen’s Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask) (1972); Paul Feig’s much funnier than it has any right to be Bridesmaids; and, in a somewhat similar vein, 2012’s Pitch Perfect.
If you want to add a healthy side of drama to the comedy, Forrest Gump finds Tom Hanks on irresistible Oscar-winning form, while a little darkness is added to the comedy formula thanks first to Jim Carrey’s memorably creepy turn in 2004’s Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, but also Jonathan Demme’s cult comedy thriller from 1986, Something Wild.
If romantic comedy is more your thing there’s a classic slice of it joining Prime Video in January in the shape of Notting Hill, in which a Hollywood superstar (Julia Roberts) falls for a humble bookshop owner (Hugh Grant) against another one of Richard Curtis’s supremely idealized visions of London.
Bad Boys adds action to its comedy heart, meanwhile, and I’d even personally stretch the humour tag to take in Quentin Tarantino’s classic and at times undeniably (albeit very darkly) hilarious crime drama, Pulp Fiction. Like all the other catalogue films mentioned so far, these last two ‘comedies’ arrive on Prime Video on January 1.
If you’re in the mood for something more downbeat, things don’t get much heavier than 1984’s 1984 (!), featuring a mesmerising turn by John Hurt as the low-ranking civil servant struggling to maintain his sanity and identity in a totalitarian superstate that persecutes individualism.
The Coen Brothers’ fantastic No Country For Old Men finds a sheriff who couldn’t resist stealing a huge sum of money from the scene of a drug gang shoot out being hunted down with palpable, gut-punching menace by Javier Bardem’s psychopathic hitman; Robert Altman’s adaptation of The Long Goodbye serves up an outstanding slice of film noir, as does Stanley Kubrick’s first film, 1956’s The Killing; and films just don’t get more grippingly nihilistic and brutal than the original 1980 Mad Max, which set the twin forces of Mel Gibson and George Miller on their way to acting and directing superstardom.
War movies are represented in Prime Video’s January catalog additions brilliantly by Steven Spielberg’s searing and visceral Saving Private Ryan, and decently by Valkyrie: An interesting if slightly undercooked Tom Cruise-starring dramatisation of Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg’s 1944 attempt to assassinate Hitler.
If you feel the need for pure action movie speed, January on Prime Video brings you the first four Mission: Impossible films, while superhero fans can indulge themselves in the original three Richard Donner/Richard Lester-directed Superman films. Once more, all of the thriller, war and superhero films I’ve just picked out are available on Prime Video from January 1.
Other excellent films dropping on Prime Video in January that don’t easily fit into neat categories are timeless heart warmer and tear jerker It’s A Wonderful Life (shame Amazon couldn’t list this in time for Christmas!); Good Will Hunting with its fantastic Robin Williams performance and remarkable career-igniting script by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck; dated but fun family film Jumanji (starring Robin Williams again); engaging Richard Attenborough-directed biopic Chaplin, starring an uncannily believable Robert Downey Junior as the groundbreaking comedian and filmmaker; and cult 1974 crime thriller, The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three.
Before I share the full list of everything that’s coming to Prime Video US in January, there are a few catalogue films arriving on Freevee, too, on January 1 that warrant a mention in my ‘highlight reel’ – even if you’ll have to put up with these ones being punctuated by adverts. (Though actually Amazon has rather shockingly just announced that it will be introducing ads to its Prime Video subscription content too by the end of the month unless you pay extra to avoid them.)
These Freevee goodies are Paul Greengrass’s gritty and ultimately – thanks to an amazing turn by Tom Hanks – emotionally devastating Captain Philips; Edgar Wright’s fun ‘driving a getaway car in time with music’ crime thriller Baby Driver; and, finally, in honour of my teen daughter’s bizarre obsession with it, Illumination Entertainment’s colourful adaptation of Dr Seuss’s The Lorax.
But now, without further ado, here in date of release order, is the full list of everything good, bad and indifferent that US Prime Video subscribers can expect to turn up in January 2024.
December 31
TV Series
Paw Patrol (2013) – Prime Video
January 1
TV Series
Peppa Pig S1-2 (2004) – Prime Video
Movies
42 (2013) – Prime Video
1984 (1985) – Prime Video
5000 Blankets (2022) – Freevee
A Dog’s Journey (2019) – Freevee
A Dog’s Purpose (2017) – Freevee
Abel’s Field (2012) – Freevee
About Last Night (2014) – Prime Video
Airplane! (1980) – Prime Video
Alfie (2004) – Prime Video
Along Came a Spider (2001) – Prime Video
Baby Driver (2017) – Freevee
Bad Boys (1995) – Prime Video
Bad Boys II (2003) – Prime Video
Before I Fall (2017) – Freevee
Bridesmaids (2011) – Prime Video
Captain Phillips (2013) – Freevee
Chaplin (1993) – Prime Video
Conan The Barbarian (1982) – Prime Video
Couples Retreat (2009) – Prime Video
Courageous (2011) – Freevee
Cruel Intentions (1999) – Prime Video
Cry Freedom (1987) – Prime Video
Dave Chappelle’s Block Party (2006) – Prime Video
Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009) – Prime Video
Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (2012) – Freevee
Europa Report (2013) – Prime Video
Everything You Always…Sex (1972) – Prime Video
Facing the Giants (2006) – Freevee
Finding Forrester (2001) – Prime Video
Fireproof (2008) – Freevee
Fled (1996) – Prime Video
Forrest Gump (1994) – Prime Video
Fruitvale Station (2013) – Freevee
Good Will Hunting (1998) – Prime Video
Heaven is for Real (2014) – Freevee
Heaven’s Gate (1981) – Prime Video
Henry Fool (1997) – Freevee
Home Again (2017) – Freevee
Hoodlum (1997) – Prime Video
How to Be a Latin Lover (2017) – Freevee
I Am Ali (2014) – Prime Video
I Am Bolt (2016) – Prime Video
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) – Prime Video
It’s A Wonderful Life (Black & White Version) (1947) – Prime Video
It’s A Wonderful Life (1947) – Prime Video
Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble In Mind (2022) – Prime Video
Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt (2012) – Prime Video
Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise (2006) – Prime Video
Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost (2011) – Prime Video
Jesse Stone: Lost In Paradise (2015) – Prime Video
Jesse Stone: Night Passage (2006) – Prime Video
Jesse Stone: No Remorse (2010) – Prime Video
Jesse Stone: Sea Change (2007) – Prime Video
Jesse Stone: Stone Cold (2007) – Prime Video
Jesse Stone: Thin Ice (2009) – Prime Video
John Lewis: Good Trouble (2020) – Prime Video
Judgment At Nuremberg (1961) – Prime Video
Jumanji (1995) – Prime Video
Jumping The Broom (2011) – Prime Video
Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) – Prime Video
Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013) – Prime Video
Legacy Peak (2022) – Freevee
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004) – Prime Video
Lifeforce (1985) – Prime Video
Like a Boss (2020) – Prime Video
Little Nicky (2000) – Prime Video
Love Happens (2009) – Prime Video
Mad Max (1980) – Prime Video
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012) – Freevee
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) – Freevee
Major Payne (1995) – Prime Video
Mary, Queen of Scots (1972) – Prime Video
Max Steel (2016) – Freevee
Miles Ahead (2016) – Prime Video
Miracles from Heaven (2016) – Freevee
Mission: Impossible (1996) – Prime Video
Mission: Impossible II (2000) – Prime Video
Mission: Impossible III (2006) – Prime Video
Mission: Impossible IV – Ghost Protocol (2011) – Prime Video
Money Train (1995) – Prime Video
Monster Family (2017) – Freevee
Moonrise (2022) – Freevee
Muscle Shoals (2013) – Prime Video
Nerve (2016) – Freevee
No Country for Old Men (2007) – Prime Video
No Good Deed (2014) – Prime Video
Non-Stop (2014) – Prime Video
Notting Hill (1999) – Prime Video
One Fine Morning (2022) – Prime Video
Overcomer (2019) – Freevee
Ozzy (2016) – Freevee
Pariah (2011) – Prime Video
Pitch Perfect (2012) – Prime Video
Prince Avalanche (2013) – Prime Video
Pulp Fiction (1994) – Prime Video
Red 2 (2013) – Prime Video
Rejoice and Shout (2011) – Prime Video
Return To Seoul (2023) – Prime Video
Role Models (2008) – Prime Video
Rollerball (1975) – Prime Video
Rules of Engagement (2000) – Prime Video
San Andreas (2015) – Prime Video
Saving Private Ryan (1998) – Prime Video
Side Effects (2013) – Prime Video
Something Wild (1986) – Prime Video
Son of Bigfoot (2017) – Freevee
Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) – Prime Video
Stargate: Continuum (2008) – Prime Video
Stargate: The Ark of Truth (2008) – Prime Video
Step Brothers (2008) – Prime Video
Sun Moon (2023) – Freevee
Superman II (1981) – Prime Video
Superman III (1983) – Prime Video
Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987) – Prime Video
Superman Returns (2006) – Prime Video
Superman: The Movie (1978) – Prime Video
Takers (2010) – Prime Video
Teen Witch (1989) – Prime Video
The Bounty Hunter (2010) – Prime Video
The Cable Guy (1996) – Prime Video
The Death Of Dick Long (2019) – Prime Video
The Eagle (2011) – Prime Video
The Eagle Huntress (2016) – Freevee
The Family (2013) – Freevee
The Giver (2014) – Prime Video
The Good Lie (2014) – Prime Video
The Grace Card (2010) – Freevee
The Gunman (2015) – Prime Video
The Killing (1956) – Prime Video
The Last House on the Left (1972) – Prime Video
The Long Goodbye (1973) – Prime Video
The Marksman (2021) – Freevee
The November Man (2014) – Freevee
The Perfect Match (2016) – Freevee
The Raid 2 (2014) – Freevee
The Story of Jacob and Joseph (1974) – Freevee
The Swan Princess: A Royal Myztery (2018) – Freevee
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) – Prime Video
The Ugly Truth (2009) – Freevee
The Wedding Planner (2001) – Prime Video
The Wiz (1978) – Prime Video
Think Like a Man (2012) – Prime Video
Think Like a Man Too (2014) – Prime Video
To Sir, With Love (1967) – Prime Video
To Write Love on Her Arms (2012) – Freevee
Transporter 3 (2008) – Freevee
Two Can Play That Game (2001) – Prime Video
Valkyrie (2008) – Prime Video
What’s The Worst That Could Happen? (2001) – Prime Video
You, Me And Dupree (2006) – Prime Video
Zola (2021) – Prime Video
January 2
Movies
The Bad Guys (2022) – Prime Video
January 5
TV Series
Hit S3 (2020) – Prime Video
James May: Our Man In India (2024) – Prime Video
Movies
*Foe (2024) – Prime Video
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023) – Prime Video
January 9
Movies
Landscape with Invisible Hand (2023) – Prime Video
The Passenger (2023) – Prime Video
January 10
Movies
The Winter Palace (2022)
January 12
TV Series
ONE Fight Night 18: Superlek vs Mahmoudi – Prime Video
Uninterrupted’s Top Class: The Life And Times Of The Sierra Canyon Trailblazers S4 (2024) – Freevee
Movies
*Role Play (2024) – Prime Video
January 16
Movies
Burn After Reading (2008) – Prime Video
Fast X (2023) – Prime Video
January 19
TV Series
Dance Life (2024) – Prime Video
Hazbin Hotel (2024) – Prime Video
LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland (2024) – Prime Video
Zorro (2024) – Prime Video
Movies
The Other Zoey (2023) – Prime Video
January 22
Terra Willy (2019) – Freevee
January 23
TV Series
Kevin James: Irregardless (2024) – Prime Video
January 26
TV Series
Expats (2024) – Prime Video
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