Fall to the movies
Lea Thompson, Sarah Davenport, Allie Jennings, Melanie Stone and Elise Jones in “Little Women.”
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in “A Star is Born.”
Jon Hamm, Jeff Bridges and Cynthia Erivo in “Bad Times at the El Royale.”
Sunny Suljic in “Mid90s.”
Sissy Spacek and Robert Redford in “The Old Man & the Gun.”
Joseph Mazzello, Rami Malek and Gwilyn Lee in “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Claudi Kim, Zoe Kravitz, Ezra Miller and Callum Turner in “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.”
Olivia Colman in “The Favourite.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Emily Blunt, Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh and Joel Dawson in “Mary Poppings Returns.”
With the summer of 2018 now officially Thanos-ed, Hollywood is ready to get serious. Studios will launch their big Oscar contenders, and names like Lady Gaga, Neil Armstrong and Dick Cheney will be part of the conversation this year.
Don’t worry, though. Hollywood can’t leave the silliness behind completely, because Aquaman, giant robots and more than a few Fantastic Beasts will also be on hand to close out the year.
Here’s a hasty evaluation of the next few months in cinema. Release dates subject to change.
* - movie is considered an Oscar contender or has already earned praise from critics at various festivals.
Open this weekend:
Hell Fest
Teens enter a scare-centric theme park and get attacked by a real murderer. Whee! Fun!
Little Women
A modern-set version of the classic story, probably with references to Instagram.
Night School
Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish team-up for a broad comedy about a GED-prep class.
Smallfoot
Nice try, movie, but we know this animated movie is about a BIGfoot.
OCTOBER
Oct. 5
A Star is Born*
Early buzz on this Bradley Cooper-directed remake has focused on the dazzling performance by Lady Gaga as an aspiring singer. The trailer screened in front of literally every movie this summer, so the studio is also apparently keen on it.
Venom
The black-gooed Spider-Man villain gets his own movie and a surprising A-list cast in the form of Tom Hardy and Michelle Williams. The movie isn’t part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so don’t expect an Iron Man cameo.
Oct. 12
Bad Times at the El Royale
A group of strangers meet at a mysterious, rundown motel. Drew Goddard, the guy behind the wonderfully twisted “The Cabin in the Woods,” directs, so expect some surprises. With Chris Hemsworth, Jeff Bridges and more.
First Man*
Ryan Gosling plays Neil Armstrong in this historical drama from “La La Land” director Damien Chazelle.
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween
Based on characters and situations from those numerous R.L. Stine books. The first film’s star, Jack Black, appears to be sitting out the sequel.
Oct. 19
Halloween
The latest sequel in the long-running horror franchise ignores everything except the 1978 classic and brings original star Jamie Lee Curtis back to face Michael Myers.
Oct. 26
Hunter Killer
Gerard Butler keeps getting cheapie action movies… this one’s about Navy Seals rescuing the Russian president. NO COLLUSION!
Johnny English Strikes Again
But if you don’t go to the see the movie, he can’t.
Expanding in October
Beautiful Boy*
A father (Steve Carell) struggles to help his drug-addicted son (Timothee Chalamet) in this adaptation of the David Sheff memoir.
Mid90s*
Jonah Hill makes his directorial debut with this drama about skateboarding youth in the, uh, mid ‘90s.
The Old Man & the Gun*
Robert Redford previously announced this crime/heist drama as his swan song, then critics said they liked it, so he said, “Naw, gurrl, I’ll be back.” That’s an exact quote.
Can You Ever Forgive Me?*
Melissa McCarthy gets serious for this fact-based drama about a writer who began forging and selling letters by famous deceased authors. McCarthy earned high marks after the movie screened at the Toronto Film Festival.
The Hate U Give*
A girl witnesses the shooting of her childhood friend by a police officer in this adaptation of the Angie Thomas novel.
NOVEMBER
Nov. 2
Bohemian Rhapsody
A biopic on Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, played by “Mr. Robot” star Rami Malek.
Nobody’s Fool
Tiffany Haddish again, this time headlining the latest Tyler Perry effort.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
Disney’s CGI spectacle version of “The Nutcracker.” It could be fine, but the trailer is visually overloaded.
Nov. 9
Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch
A CGI-animated update of the classic holiday tale with Benedict Cumberbatch voicing the lovable villain.
The Girl in the Spider’s Web
Hollywood takes another stab at a Lisbeth Salander movie. This film is based on the series’ fourth book installment, with Emmy winner Claire Foy as the dragon-tattooed computer hacker.
Overlord
Formerly a “Cloverfield” connected adventure, this WWII-set thriller finds two soldiers behind enemy lines facing some kind of monstrous/sci-fi threat.
Nov. 16
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
A young Dumbledore (Jude Law) factors into this J.K. Rowling-penned sequel. Here’s hoping this one sparks a little more magic than the first spinoff of the “Harry Potter” franchise.
Instant Family
Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne decide to foster three siblings in this comedy. Hey, Mahk, I’ve got four little kids at home so go looking for your kudos elsewhere.
Widows*
A crime drama from “12 Years a Slave” director Steve McQueen with Viola Davis leading a crew of wives who take on their dead husbands’ last big heist. It scored big with festival-goers earlier this month.
Nov. 21
Creed 2
Follow-up to the excellent 2015 boxing drama with returning stars Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson and Sylvester Stallone back for more. Bonus: “Rocky” franchise fans will also be pleased to see Dolph Lundgren credited in the cast.
Green Book*
Viggo Mortensen plays a bouncer hired to drive an African-American classical pianist (“Moonlight” Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali) on a tour through the South circa 1960s. Praised on the festival circuit, the drama is directed by Peter Farrelly (yes, one of those goofball Farrelly Brothers).
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Sequel to Disney’s “Wreck-It Ralph,” which worked perfectly fine as a standalone feature. Sigh.
Robin Hood
Yes, another one. This time with Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx.
Second Act
Jennifer Lopez plays a low-wage worker who fibs her way into a high pressure consulting job at an accomplished finance firm. Hilarity supposedly ensues.
Nov. 30
No wide releases scheduled. What? Five wide releases just before Thanksgiving not enough for you?
Expanding in November
The Front Runner*
Hugh Jackman stars as Senator Gary Hart in this historical drama about a sex scandal that derails his 1988 presidential campaign. There’s an obvious comment to be made here about the movie’s timeliness, but you can just use your imagination.
The Favourite*
A twisted costume drama from “The Lobster” director Yorgos Lanthimos with Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone jockeying around the 18th century British crown.
If Beale Street Could Talk*
“Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins returns with this romantic drama based on the James Baldwin novel. Based on reaction from the Toronto Film Festival, Jenkins might be in the Best Picture mix again.
Anna and the Apocalypse
Just when you think the genre is all played out, here comes a Christmas-set British musical about the zombie apocalypse.
DECEMBER
Dec. 7
The Silence
Sally Draper from “Mad Men” (that would be actress Kiernan Shipka) fights off underground spooks in this horror film also starring Stanley Tucci, known to friends as The Tooch.
Dec. 14
Mortal Engines
The first in a planned series of films based on the post-apocalyptic, steampunk novels by Philip Reeve. I can’t believe I just typed the word “steampunk.” Anyway, Peter Jackson produces, with one of his longtime collaborators, Christian Rivers, in the director’s chair.
Roma (debuts on Netflix)*
Netflix may finally break into the Best Picture race with this much-ballyhooed drama from director Alfonso Cuaron about a ‘70s-era middle-class family in Mexico City.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Stop with those “Infinity War” tears because the wall-crawler is already back on the big screen, albeit in an animated adventure that has nothing to do with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I still don’t feel so good, Mr. Stark...
Dec. 19
Mary Poppins Returns
Disney just can’t leave well enough alone. At least this decades-late sequel boasts a dynamite cast, including Lin Manuel Miranda, Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and the always terrific Emily Blunt in the title role.
Dec. 21
Alita: Battle Angel
This sci-fi adventure checks the proper nerd boxes - James Cameron produces, Robert Rodriguez directs and the story is based on a beloved Manga series. BUT, the motion capture-created lead character just looks freaky.
Aquaman
So it’s come to this. An actual live-action Aquaman movie. Jason Mamoa returns after his appearance in DC’s disastrous “Justice League” movie, and some people think he’s perfectly bro-riffic in the part. Director James Wan (“The Conjuring,” “Furious 7”) at least knows what to do with this kind of genre material, and, wait, how did they trick Nicole Kidman into this movie?
Bumblebee
An ‘80s-set “Transformers” prequel about the yellow robot who, despite incredible advanced alien technology, never can fix his electronic voice box. Hailee Steinfeld stars, and, thank heavens, franchise director/cinematic ghoul Michael Bay sits this one out.
Holmes & Watson
Former “Step-Brothers” Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly reteam for, well, the Ferrell and Reilly take on the Arthur Conan Doyle classic mysteries.
Welcome to Marwen*
In this real-life inspired drama, Steve Carell plays an assault victim who copes with the trauma by building a massive World War II-era miniature town on his front lawn. Robert Zemeckis (“Cast Away,” “Flight”) directs.
Dec. 25
On the Basis of Sex*
Felicity Jones plays the Notorious RBG in this biopic about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Expanding in December
Ben is Back*
Lucas Hedges plays a recovering addict who bails on rehab to visit family for Christmas, including his mother, played by Julia Roberts.
Vice*
Writer/director Adam McKay, in his follow-up to “The Big Short,” follows former Vice President Dick Cheney (played by a deep undercover Christian Bale) in his days as everybody’s least favorite 2000s-era politician. Amy Adams, Steve Carell and Sam Rockwell round out the cast.
Destroyer*
Nicole Kidman plays a cop who tussles with a Los Angeles gang years after being placed undercover with them. This sounds more like the kind of role you’d expect from an acting giant like Kidman, but never forget, she’s appearing in “Aquaman.”