Two sequels are among fall’s hottest prospects
Sequels are usually cause for film lovers to bemoan the lack of originality in Hollywood, but this season brings two hotly anticipated followups (and a few cold ones). Chris Knight looks at those and everything else coming to cinemas this fall. (Dates, as
SEQUELS
Blade Runner 2049 (Oct. 6): Ridley Scott’s quintessential sci-fi thriller, had brains and action, and remains a favourite of Gen-X Quebec director Denis Villeneuve, who was just 15 when it came out in 1982. All of which bodes well for him making the sequel. And Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Dec. 15) will no doubt feature more Luke Skywalker, but also a sad farewell to Princess Leia, given Carrie Fisher’s death last December. Thor: Ragnarok (Nov. 3) lets Chris Hemsworth and the rest of the Marvel gang answer the question: What’s a Ragnarok? Not to be outdone, DC brings Justice
League (Nov. 17), the next instalment in its cinematic universe. New to this one: Aquaman! And
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (Sept. 22) proves you can be a spy even with a name like Gary “Eggsy” Unwin.
Pitch Perfect 3 (Dec. 22) confirms what the Twilight movies already told us; you can’t keep a good Bella down. Daddy’s Home 2 (Nov. 10) asks: What if John Lithgow were Will Ferrell’s dad? And Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle updates the 1995 Robin Williams original.
BASED ON A TRUE STORY
Heroes and anti-heroes dominate the true stories this fall. In
American Made (Sept. 29), Tom Cruise plays Barry Seal, CIA operative and drug smuggler in the 1980s. In Thank You for Your
Service (Oct. 27), a group of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq struggle to rejoin society. Only
the Brave (Oct. 20) follows firefighters battling a 2013 blaze in Arizona. And Stronger (Sept. 22) features Jake Gyllenhaal as Jeff Bauman, who lost his legs in the Boston Marathon bombing. Moving to politics, Marshall
(Oct. 13) tells the story of the first African-American Supreme Court Justice. Steven Spielberg ’s
The Post (Dec. 22) stars Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep (how have these two not worked together before?) as journalists on the trail of the Pentagon Papers in 1971. Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House (Oct. 13) features Liam Neeson as Deep Throat. And slightly less current, Victoria & Abdul (Sept. 29) gives us the story of the friendship between the British Queen and an Indian servant. Now, sports. Battle of the Sexes (Sept. 22) replays the 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell). Take Every Wave (Oct. 20) tells us about big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton. And
Molly’s Game (Nov. 22) features Jessica Chastain as Molly Bloom, poker magnate. Finally, the arts. Loving Vincent
(Oct. 6) covers the life and death of Vincent van Gogh. In The Greatest Showman (Dec. 25),
Hugh Jackman plays P.T. Barnum. And in Long Time Running
(Sept. 15) co-directors Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier cover the last tour of The Tragically Hip.
FOR THE KIDS
Animated antics include The Star (Nov. 17), about a donkey’s role in the first Christmas; Coco (Nov. 22), a Pixar production about a boy’s journey through the land of the dead; Ferdinand (Dec. 15), based on the beloved
children’s book by Munro Leaf and The Lego Ninjago Movie
(Sept. 22), whose title says it all. In the realm of live action, Wonder (Nov. 17) stars Room’s Jacob Tremblay as a kid with a “facial difference” trying to fit in at a new school; and Goodbye Christopher Robin (Oct. 13) tells the story of Winnie the Pooh author A.A. Milne and his son, Christopher Robin Milne.
FEAR AND LOATHING
Horror goes analogue in Polaroid
(Dec. 1), in which an old camera kills anyone whose picture it takes. Other old-school frights include Flatliners (Sept. 29),a remake of the 1990 movie in which medical students flirt with the afterlife; It (Sept. 8), based on the 1986 novel by Stephen King;
Jigsaw (Oct. 27), latest chapter in the 13-year-old Saw franchise and The Shape of Water (Dec. 8),a monster movie from Guillermo del Toro, set in the 1960s. There’s also The Snowman
(Oct. 20), a murder mystery that should not be confused with the charming 1982 animated short; Happy Death Day (Oct. 13), best described as murder meets Groundhog Day; The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Oct. 27), the latest oddity from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos and Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! (Sept. 15), which stars Jennifer Lawrence and looks too creepy for words.
ROMANCE
Home Again (Sept. 8) stars Reese Witherspoon as a single mom who meets three young filmmakers and impulsively invites them to move in with her. The Time of Their Lives (Sept. 22) stars Joan Collins and Pauline Collins (no relation) in a wacky road-trip comedy. And Call Me By Your Name (Dec. 8) features love in Italy in the summer of 1983.
THE REST
Several fall titles are based on novels: American Assassin (Sept.
15), starring Dylan O’Brien, is adapted from one of the Mitch Rapp series by the late Vince Flynn. The Mountain Between Us (Oct. 6) is a romance-disaster flick featuring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba stuck on a mountain.
The Foreigner (Oct. 13), with Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan, is based on Stephen Leather’s 1992 novel The Chinaman; that name change was probably a good idea. And Murder on the
Orient Express (Nov. 10) is just the latest adaptation of Agatha Christie’s whodunit. Last but by no means least, Beach Rats (Sept.
22) tells of a young man trying to navigate his way into adulthood; Denzel Washington plays an idealistic defence attorney in Roman
J. Israel, Esq. (Nov. 3); a nun in training struggles with her faith in the 1960s in Novitiate (Nov. 10); the Getty kidnapping case from the 1970s inspired Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World (Dec. 8);
George Clooney returns to the director’s chair with Suburbicon
(Oct. 27), from a script by the Coen brothers; The Florida Project
(Oct. 6) presents an image of people on the margins of society; Alexander Payne’s Downsizing (Dec. 22) imagines a world where luxury living is available for those willing to shrink themselves and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Oct. 13)
stars Frances McDormand as a woman seeking resolution in the murder of her daughter.