Here are the 30+ movies you’re going to be talking about this season. |
The fall movie season — when studios traditionally put away the superheroes and haul out the Oscar bait — has arrived, but there’s really not much traditional about this year. First of all, the entertainment world is still being roiled by the pandemic, so while 2021 may not be as much of a disaster as last year was, things remain in flux. The fall film schedule could be thrown into chaos at any moment, and the move to the digital realm, something that began before COVID, continues apace. With that mind, here are more than 30 of the notable films set for release between September and the end of November.
Sept. 3
“Cinderella” — A contemporary musical update of the fairy tale starring Camila Cabello, Idina Menzel and Billy Porter. Amazon Prime Video.
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” — A relatively minor Marvel character gets his own vehicle, starring Simu Liu as the martial-arts hero. Awkwafina and Hong Kong legend Tony Leung co-star. Theaters.
Sept. 10
“The Card Counter” — Director Paul Schrader, who made the powerful “First Reformed” in 2017,
returns with a revenge thriller, starring Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan and Willem Dafoe, about an ex-military interrogator turned gambler. Theaters.
“Come From Away” — The hit Broadway musical, about the passengers aboard U.S.-bound flights on 9/11 who were rerouted to a small town in Newfoundland, moves to the screen. Apple TV+.
Sept. 17
“Blue Bayou” — Korean American indie director Justin Chon (“Ms. Purple,” “Gook”) moves up the Hollywood ladder with a drama starring himself and Alicia Vikander (“The Danish Girl”). They play a Louisiana couple who find their lives upended when he’s threatened with deportation. Theaters.
“Cry Macho” — Clint Eastwood portrays a has-been rodeo star who finds his life changed after taking a job involving rescuing a boy from his alcoholic mother. Theaters and HBO Max.
“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” — Musical set in northern England about a kid who wants to become a globally famous drag queen. Amazon Prime Video.
“The Eyes of Tammy Faye” — Director Michael Showalter reintroduces the world to the life of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, who survived the crumbling of the empire that she and her husband, Jim, had built. Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield star. Theaters.
“The Nowhere Inn” — Texan Annie Clark, aka the musician St. Vincent, and Carrie Brownstein (the band Sleater-Kinney, “Portlandia”) are friends in real life, and they wrote this kinda-sortameta-documentary about St. Vincent’s music. Theaters, video on demand and digital platforms.
Sept. 24
“Dear Evan Hansen” — Ben Platt reprises his role in the Broadway hit about a high school senior with social anxiety disorder who has to come to terms with the suicide of a classmate. Julianne Moore, Amy Adams and Kaitlyn
Dever co-star. Theaters.
Oct. 1
“The Many Saints of Newark” — Michael Gandolfini plays a young Tony Soprano is the prequel to “The Sopranos.” Ray Liotta, Leslie Odom Jr., Vera Farmiga, Corey Stoll and Jon Bernthal are also featured. Theaters and HBO Max.
Oct. 8
“No Time to Die” — It looks as if the new James Bond, with Cary Fukunaga (“True Detective”) directing, finally will land this fall. Theaters.
Oct. 15
“Halloween Kills” — The latest installment in the Michael Myers saga. Theaters.
“The Last Duel” — Ridley Scott reunites Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in this 14th-century-set drama revolving around a duel. Adam Driver and Jodie Comer co-star. Theaters.
“The Velvet Underground” — The groundbreaking underground New York band, featuring Lou
Reed and John Cale, gets its due in this documentary from Todd Haynes (“Far From Heaven,” “Velvet Goldmine”). Apple TV+.
Oct. 22
“Dune” — After David Lynch’s generally badly reviewed 1984 version, Frank Herbert’s epic science-fiction novel, set in a future of interstellar feudalism, returns to the big screen with Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Dave Bautista, Javier Bardem and Oscar Isaac. Theaters and HBO Max.
“The French Dispatch” — Houston’s Wes Anderson returns with his first live-action film since “The Grand Budapest Hotel” in 2014. Timothée Chalamet, Saoirse Ronan, Owen Wilson, Elisabeth Moss and Jeffrey Wright are characters in a fictional French town in the early 20th century. Theaters.
Oct. 29
“Antlers” — This horror-thriller about a strange student, starring Keri Russell and Jesse Plemmons, was one of the films that got caught up in the great pandemic delay of 2020. Scott Cooper (“Black Mass,” “Crazy Heart”) directs. Theaters.
“Last Night in Soho” — Director Edgar Wright, fresh from his Sparks documentary, returns to the world of fantasy with a fashion designer who finds a way to go back to the ’60s. Anya Taylor-Joy and Matt Smith star. Theaters.
Nov. 3
“The Harder They Fall” — Idris Elba and Regina King head up this Western that also stars LaKeith Stanfield, Zazie Beatz, Jonathan Majors and Delroy Lindo. Netflix.
Nov. 5
“Eternals” — This latest installment in the Marvel universe has lots of people curious because it’s directed by Chloé Zhao, who made the very un-Marvel-like “Nomadland.” Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harrington, Ma Deong-seok (“Train to Busan”) and a very jacked Kumail Nanjiani star. TBA: theaters and possibly Disney+.
“Finch” — In an apocalyptic future, a man (Tom Hanks) builds and teaches a robot to care for his dog after he’s gone. Apple TV+.
“Spencer” — Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana with Pablo Larraín (“Jackie”) directing. Theaters.
Nov. 11
“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” — Jason Reitman (“Juno,” “Up in the Air”) is the son of Ivan Reitman, who made the original “Ghostbusters.” He picks up the mantle with this next-generation story that also happens to feature some of the original cast. Theaters.
Nov. 12
“Belfast” — Kenneth Branagh directs Jamie Dornan and Ciarán Hinds in a drama about a family living in Northern Ireland in the ’60s, just as “the troubles” were beginning. Theaters.
“Red Notice” — Action comedy, with Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot and Dwayne Johnson, about an Interpol agent and an art thief.
Netflix.
“Tick, Tick…Boom!” — LinManuel Miranda makes his directorial feature-film debut with a musical about a young theater composer. It’s based on a book by Jonathan Larson (“Rent”) and screenplay by Steve Levenson (“Fosse/Verdon,” “Dear Evan Hansen”). Andrew Garfield and Vanessa Hudgens star. Netflix.
Nov. 19
“King Richard” — Will Smith portrays Richard Williams, the father of tennis champs Venus and Serena, in this biopic directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (“Joe Bell,” “Monsters and Men”). Theaters and HBO Max.
“Top Gun Maverick” — After being pushed back a few times, the “Top Gun” sequel finally lands, with Cruise returning and bringing along with him Val Kilmer, Miles Teller, Ed Harris and Jon Hamm. Theaters.
Nov. 24
“Encanto” — Animated Disney film in which a Colombian girl has to come to terms with the fact that she’s the only member of her family who doesn’t have magical powers. Theaters.
“House of Gucci” —The famous Gucci fashion family is the inspiration for this story about a family’s empire and what they do to keep it. Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino and Salma Hayek star. Theaters.
TBA
“Hypnotic” — Austin-based filmmaker Robert Rodriguez directs this action-comedy starring Ben Affleck and Alice Braga about a detective and a secret government program. Netflix.
“Julia” — Documentary chronicling the life of groundbreaking cookbook author Julia Child.
Theaters.
“Red Rocket” — Sean Baker makes films that radiate with a sense of place — “Tangerine” in Los Angeles, “The Florida Project” in the Sunshine State — and now he turns his lens on Texas with this Galveston-shot drama about a down-on-his-luck porn star who returns to his Texas hometown only to find a lot of people don’t want him back. Theaters.