What slot themes could be driven to success by 2024’s biggest movies?

The slots genre has been one of the main factors behind the spectacular rise in popularity of online casinos, but predicting which themes are going to be most popular next isn’t an easy task. As these games become more closely linked to popular culture, we’ve seen slots based on the likes of fishing, pirates, and Vikings hit the peak in recent years. Could this year’s biggest movies give us a clue about future slot trends? 

Wild West Slots and The Horizon: An American Saga

Horizon: An American Saga is a hugely ambitious series of Western movies written and directed by Kevin Costner, who also stars as Hayes Ellison. Costner has called it his passion project and pumped a huge amount of his own cash into making it. Chapter 1 has just been released and the second part is set for an August release, with two more chapters still to come. The first chapter was well-received at its Cannes Film Festival premiere, but reviews have been mixed. Some reviewers have been impressed by the scale of this epic movie and the beautiful presentation, but others feel that it drags on too long without very much happening. 

It’s not yet clear how successful the Horizon series will be, but it seems certain to be one of this year’s most talked-about movies, which could be good news for the many slots based on Western themes. Look through one of the best gambling sites and you’ll see titles like Gold Heist, JohnnyCa$h, and Gunslinger’s Gold. These slots tend to feature rugged cowboys and wily bandits among the symbols, with a gold mining setting particularly popular. Wildshot and Wild and Wanted are among the latest slot releases, so the Western theme seems set to carry on.

The Roman Slots and Gladiator

2000’s Gladiator was a runaway success that sparked a lot of interest in the Roman Empire. The plot for a sequel has proved to be immensely troublesome as Russell Crowe’s lead character dies at the end of the original. However, Gladiator 2 resolves the issue by focusing on Lucius Verus, who was seen as the heir of the Emperor in the original movies. It will be released in November this year and hopes are high that it will give the Roman slot genre a boost.

Slots such as Caesar’s Empire and Hail Caesar are among the existing slots based on this empire, although it lags behind other themes like Ancient Egypt and Greek mythology in terms of the total number of games. It’s easy to imagine the top slot development companies looking ahead to the release of Gladiator 2 and planning some more Roman-based games to tie in with it in case it becomes a huge hit.

Animal-Based Slots and Mufasa: The Lion King

Slots based on wild animals have long been among the most sought-after casino games. Whether they’re set on the African savannah or the great American wilderness, these games have always been great fun to look at and play. Animal Wilds, Buffalo Bounty, and Crocodile Hunt are among the leading titles, but there are many others available, with a particular focus on buffalos currently.

Mufasa: The Lion King is a prequel to the 1994 classic The Lion King. Created as a musical drama with a photorealistic presentation, it will be released toward the end of the year and could lead to a new surge of interest in African wildlife that gets slots developers thinking about adding this theme to their portfolio. For affiliates, any extremely popular new movie like this will have them checking their stats to see if it leads to new players trying some games.

Sci-Fi Slots and Alien: Romulus

Science fiction is one of those genres that’s arguably under-represented in the slots world. Games like Alien Fruits, Cosmic Fruits, and Back to Venus take a light-hearted approach to the genre but few slot developers have set their sights on making an authentic sci-fi adventure, which is surprising when we consider the recent success of movies like Rebel Moon and Dune.

Alien: Romulus is one of the most eagerly-awaited sci-fi releases of 2024 and may encourage more games exploring the alien world. This is the seventh installment in the Alien franchise that began with 1979’s Alien and was last seen in 2017 with Alien: Covenant. The new film is set in the period between the first and second movies, with the promise of introducing the most terrifying form of life in the universe, known as a xenomorph. Described as dark and claustrophobic, Alien: Romulus has already been shown in an extended preview that drew praise from audience members at CinemaCon.

We can probably expect to see new slots based on all these genres, since they’re already popular in online casinos. If any of the films we’ve mentioned become huge hits, it could mean that extra slots are made to satisfy public demand. However, fans of any of these genres can already find a good mixture of existing slots in the meantime.