NO THEATRE? NO PROBLEM
There are great shows and films to stream near you
We should have seen it coming. Even before the ink was dry on this paper's fall movie look-ahead, No Time to Die had shifted its release date from November to next April, while Dune pushed itself all the way to next October, and Disney decided to release Soul on its streaming service, and not in cinemas at all. Then Quebec ordered movie theatres in Montreal and Quebec City to close, and Ontario followed suit in hard-hit Toronto, Ottawa and Peel region.
Streaming services are another matter. Here are some of the highlights the major streamers will feature this autumn. (Dates are subject to change.)
EXTREME CHRISTMAS HOLIDATE
You couldn't engineer a better title than this one. Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey star as two holiday-hating singles who pledge to be each other's plusones over a year of festivities. (Netflix, Oct. 28)
OPERATION CHRISTMAS DROP
Kat Graham plays a congressional aide, and Alexander Ludwig a captain on the Air Force base she's been ordered to close. (Netflix, Nov. 5)
DASH& LILY
Based on a YA novel, this stars Austin Abrams and Midori Francis as two teens who keep crossing paths in New York at Christmas time. (Netflix, Nov. 10)
JINGLE JANGLE: A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY
Forest Whitaker plays a master toymaker whose magical invention sets off all manner of flying, singing and dancing. (Netflix, Nov. 13)
THE LEGO STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL
The 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special remains a famously low point in the franchise, so it's doubtless with tongue in cheek that this brick-themed show debuts on Life Day, yet another calendar date taken over by the Force. (Disney+, Nov. 17)
THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES 2
Kurt Russell dons the beard and coat to play Saint Nick in this sequel to the 2018 original. (Netflix, Nov. 25)
MARIAH CAREY'S MAGICAL CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
Celebrity guests join the singer-songwriter for an evening of holiday music, including that song. You know the one. (AppleTV+, December)
MORE MUSIC CLOUDS
Not all musical programming is Christmas-themed. This one stars Fin Argus in the true story of Zach Sobiech, who wrote a hit single about his battle with cancer. (Disney+, Oct. 16)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN'S LETTER TO YOU
The singer-songwriter's 20th studio album also has a documentary about its creation. (AppleTV+, Oct. 23)
IN WONDER
Canada's Shawn Mendes also has a new album coming out, and a documentary about his career to date. (He's only 22!)
(Netflix, Nov. 23)
THE PROM
The 2018 Broadway musical about Broadway actors gets the big/small-screen treatment with Andrew Rannells, James Corden, Nicole Kidman and (of course) Meryl Streep. (Netflix, Dec. 11)
SCIENCE FICTION OVER THE MOON
This U.S.-Chinese animated co-production tells the story of a young girl's quest to build a rocket and visit the moon goddess. (Netflix, Oct. 23)
THE MANDALORIAN SEASON 2
Stock up on Baby Yoda stocking stuffers before the highly anticipated second season of the Star Wars spinoff lands. (Disney+,
Oct. 30)
THE MIDNIGHT SKY
George Clooney directs and stars in the story of a lonely scientist trying to stop an astronaut (Felicity Jones) from returning home to a mysterious catastrophe. (Netflix, December)
DRAMA REBECCA
Ben Wheatley (High-Rise, Free Fire) adapts the same Daphne du Maurier novel as Alfred Hitchcock did in 1940. (Netflix, Oct. 21)
LAST CALL
Director Gavin Michael Booth presents the story of a phone call from a suicidal alcoholic, presented in two split-screen single takes. (Amazon, Oct. 27)
MANK
Director David Fincher seems to be channelling Citizen Kane in this story of its screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman). (Netflix,
Dec. 4)
I'M YOUR WOMAN
Rachel Brosnahan stars as a woman forced to flee with her baby after her husband gets in trouble with criminals. (Amazon, Dec. 11)
MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM
Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman star in this adaptation of the 1982 play set in a recording studio in 1920s Chicago. (Netflix, Dec. 18)
DOCS TIME
Director Garrett Bradley follows the story of Rob Rich, serving a 60-year sentence, and of his wife's fight for his freedom. (Amazon, Oct. 16)
BECOMING YOU
Olivia Colman narrates this series about how a child's first 2,000 days shape the rest of their lives. (AppleTV+, Nov. 13)
EARTH AT NIGHT
IN COLOR Tom Hiddleston narrates a look at our planet's nocturnal creatures. (AppleTV+, Dec. 4)
COMEDY MY NEXT GUEST NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION
Former talk-show host David Letterman returns with a third season of his, um, new talk show. (Netflix, Oct. 21)
ON THE ROCKS
Sofia Coppola's story of a suspicious wife (Rashida Jones) and her philandering father
(Bill Murray) comes to the small screen. (AppleTV+, Oct. 23)
BORAT 2
Also known as Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. (Amazon, Oct. 23)
THE PRINCESS SWITCH: SWITCHED AGAIN
Sequel to the 2018 Netflix movie that featured two Vanessa Hudgenses, this one ups the ante by adding a third Vanessa Hudgens. (Netflix, Nov. 19)
COMING 2 AMERICA
A mere 32 years after Eddie Murphy starred in Coming to America, the sequel finds his character looking for a lost heir. (Amazon, Dec. 18)
SOUL
Jamie Foxx is a music teacher whose soul gets separated from his body after an accident. (Disney+, Dec. 25)
HORROR UN SOLVED MYSTERIES VOL .2
It's really more like Volume 16, what with the long-running documentary series airing sporadically on various networks since 1988. (Netflix, Oct. 19)
HIS HOUSE
A refugee couple in Britain is given a haunted flat by the council and aren't allowed to move. (Netflix, Oct. 30)