FORCE-FUL LINEUP
Latest Star Wars chapter leads star-studded fall film schedule.
It was a long time ago, in a multiplex not far away, when last a movie season was dominated by a behemoth the size of Star Wars: Episode VII. But the rest of the forceful six were early summer fare, opening in mid-May from 1977 through 2005. The Force Awakens arrives Dec. 18, a spot once reserved for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy and, more recently, for the Hobbit prequels. If it proves a good fit for Star Wars, you can count on it becoming the franchise’s roost for — well, forever, give or take.
But a wise Jedi once said: Always two there are. The fall season also sees the release of the hotly awaited sequel Hotel Transylvania 2, opening Sept. 25, directed by Grand Moff Tarkin — sorry, that should be Genndy Tartakovsky — and answering the question: Did Vlad shoot first? Here are some more pairings coming soon. (Dates subject to change: Always in motion is the future.)
Spectre (Nov. 6) features the fourth 007 outing by Daniel Craig and the first by Christoph Waltz, who’s always better when he’s bad. Heck, he might outvillain Christopher Walken and Christopher Lee. Also: Bridge of Spies (Oct. 18), directed by Steven Spielberg and featuring Tom Hanks as a lawyer trying to negotiate a prisoner exchange during the Cold War.
Far frontiers
Matt Damon gets stranded on Mars in Ridley Scott’s The Martian (Oct. 2). But at least there’s no intelligent life trying to kill him. That would be the story of the whaleship Essex, attacked by its prey in Ron Howard’s In the Heart of the Sea (Dec. 11).
Young adult phenoms
The Hunger Games delivers dessert on Nov. 20 with Mockingjay — Part 2. But The Maze Runner, based on a five-book series, is just hitting its stride Sept. 18 with The Scorch Trials, a.k.a. part 2.
Other literary types
The children’s Goosebumps series makes its first leap to the big screen on Oct. 16, while Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein makes its 44th (but who’s counting) with Victor Frankenstein (Nov. 25), starring Daniel Radcliffe as Igor.
Novel adaptations
The season also brings adaptations of Colm Toíbín’s 2009 historical novel Brooklyn (Nov. 20), and of Michael Punke’s 2003 novel The Revenant, itself based on the life of frontiersman Hugh Glass (Dec. 25).
Animation
The Peanuts gang returns to the big screen for the first time in 35 years with The Peanuts Movie on Nov. 6. To be fair, their last outing was called Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don’t Come Back!). Pixar returns to theatre for the first time in five months with The Good Dinosaur, Nov. 25.
Oscar docs get remade
2014’s Citizenfour won the Oscar for best documentary for its tale of U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden. Now Oliver Stone gives us Snowden (Dec. 25), with Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the lead. And if you like the sound of that, you’ll probably appreciate Gordon-Levitt in The Walk (Sept. 30) as Philippe Petit, a French tightrope walker and subject of another Oscar-winning doc, 2008’s Man on Wire. Bonus biopic: Steve Jobs (Oct. 9), with Michael Fassbender, because Gordon-Levitt was too busy.
Kathryn Bigelow’s 1991 Point Break gets a remake with, alas, no Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze or their hair. And 2009’s The Secret in Their Eyes, a foreignlanguage Oscar winner and one of the best films ever, makes its English-language debut Nov. 20 with Julia Roberts in the lead.
More real people
Will Smith stars as Bennet Omalu, the doctor who brought to light the true cost of chronic brain damage in NFL athletes (Dec. 25). And Bryan Cranston leads an ensemble cast in Trumbo (Nov. 6), about blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo.
Gangbusters
Johnny Depp plays real life criminal James (Whitey) Bulger in Black Mass (Sept. 18). Tom Hardy does him one better, playing twin baddies Reggie and Ronnie Kray in Legend (Oct. 2).
In the news
Boston Globe journalists take on the Catholic Church in Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight (Nov. 6), while Dan Rather (Robert Redford) gets embroiled in a controversial story about George W. Bush in Truth (Oct. 16).
Musical medleys
Jem and the Holograms move from 1980s TV series to the big screen on Oct. 23. The same week but on another note, Bill Murray tries to help a young girl become an Afghanistan music sensation in Rock the Kasbah. And for an encore, the Hank Williams story, a.k.a. I Saw the Light, opens Dec. 4.
Blasts from the past
The Iron Giant, an animated marvel from 1999, returns to theatres Oct. 4 and 5 in the remastered Iron Giant: Signature Edition. So does Back to the Future (Oct. 21), given that 2015 is the future to which Marty McFly travelled in the 1985 hit. (Also, mark your calendars: Only 800,686 years until The Time Machine gets its own special screening.)
Films that dare to speak their names
In Carol (Dec. 18), based on the 1952 novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, a New York shopgirl (Rooney Mara) falls for a beautiful socialite (Cate Blanchett). And proving that some things never change, Freeheld (Oct. 16) tells the story of a police officer (Julianne Moore) fighting for pension benefits for her same-sex partner (Ellen Page).
Right place, wrong sex
Opening Nov. 27, The Danish Girl stars Eddie Redmayne as an artist living in 1920s Copenhagen who realizes he should be a she. And tackling the issue from the other side and in a new millennium, About Ray (Sept. 18) gives us a teenager (Elle Fanning) transitioning to male from female.
By the numbers
The 33 (Nov. 13) retells the 2010 Chilean mine disaster, which trapped 33 miners underground. 99 Homes (Oct. 2) gives us Michael Shannon as an unscrupulous real estate broker profiting from subprime mortgages. And because numbers come in threes, there’s The Hateful Eight (Dec. 25), with Quentin Tarantino returning to the 19th century he had such fun with in Django Unchained.
Highs and lows
Twelve climbers died trying to reach the top of the world in 1996. The story is told in Everest (Sept. 25). And Crimson Peak (Oct. 16) sounds like a mountain-climbing story, but the only thing ascending in this hauntedhouse horror from Guillermo del Toro is a feeling of dread.
Young and old
Peter Pan gets an origin story on Oct. 9 with Pan. Youth (Dec. 4) oddly stars Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel, with a combined age of 158. And sounding youthful but falling somewhere in the middle are the Indo-Canadian gangsters at the heart of Deepa Mehta’s Beeba Boys (Oct. 16).
The plague years
In Cooties (Sept. 18), a mysterious virus turns schoolkids into zombies, with the teachers fighting to survive. While in Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (Oct. 30), it’s the scouts who have to take charge when zombies attack. Mopping up is Vin Diesel in The Last Witch Hunter, on Oct. 23.
More horror
On Nov. 13, Rings continues the franchise started by 2002’s The Ring. The scariest thing about this one: It still features something called a videotape. And Oct. 23 brings Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension. Will there be jump-scares? Boo! If you need more frights, try Knock Knock (Oct. 9), in which Keanu Reeves is terrorized by two young women.
Love the Cooper
Bradley Cooper stars as a burnt-out chef trying to make a fresh start in Burnt (formerly titled Adam Jones), opening Oct. 23. He’s also in Joy from David O. Russell, opening Dec. 25 and featuring other Russell regulars Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro. There’s also the Christmas comedy Love the Coopers (Nov. 13), which, ironically, does not star any Coopers.
Bank jobs
On Oct. 9 in Masterminds, Zach Galifianakis heads an inept crew of bank robbers that includes Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis and Owen Wilson. And Oct. 30 brings Victoria, a oneshot, two-hour-and-20-minute tale of an impromptu robbery in Berlin.
It’s a family affair
In Goodnight Mommy (Sept. 25), nine-year-old twins begin to suspect their mother is an impostor. Daddy’s Home (Dec. 25) has a stepfather (Will Ferrell) floundering when the real dad (Mark Wahlberg) turns up. There’s also Sisters on Dec. 18, with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler playing the siblings they already practically are.
Total recall
In Atom Egoyan’s Remember (Oct. 23), a man suffering from dementia tries to track down the concentration camp guard who murdered his family. In Regression (Oct. 30), a man is accused of a crime he can’t remember.
Christmas comes early with The Night Before, opening Nov. 25, about three friends on the search for a wild party in New York on Christmas Eve. Then on Dec. 4 you can see Krampus, about an anti-Claus who only goes after the naughty.
Rooms for rent
Oct. 9 brings the latest indecipherable but enjoyable Guy Maddin tale, The Forbidden Room; while Sept. 18 sees the release of The Disappointments Room, about scary stuff in the attic. There’s also just plain Room (Oct. 16), based on the novel by Emma Donoghue.
War! What is it good for? Movie plots!
Paul Gross, whose last film as director was the First World War drama Passchendaele, returns with a more modern tale of bellicosity in Hyena Road on Oct. 9. The war on drugs gets hot in Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario on Oct. 2.
Educational cinema
You might not know more about chess after watching Pawn Sacrifice (Sept. 25), but you’ll have a better sense of the historic Bobby Fischer/ Boris Spassky matchup. And you’ll know more about Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani female-education advocate, after seeing He Named Me Malala (Oct. 9).