Monday is already September 1, and BAM! – Labor Day is here, the unofficial end of summer.
With it, as always, comes a slate of new offerings at the movies, with many titles signaling a subtle shift from popcorn movies to the forward-looking (read: awards-courting) entries of the fall.
But that’s not to say there aren’t a fair share of broadly-appealing titles in the mix. Below is a selection of some of the buzziest movies set to hit cineplexes between Labor Day weekend and the middle of November.
Ever since “Rocky,” films focused on the plight of prizefighters have been fodder for trophies come award season. One of the entries this year stars Orlando Bloom as a troubled boxer who makes some dangerous choices. Caitríona Balfe and John Turturro costar.
If you can avert your eyes from this summer’s highly bizarre story involving the death of the handler of the Annabelle doll – a real-life relic from the true stories upon which the “Conjuring” franchise is based – there’s its epic finale. Franchise mainstays Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are back as a pair of historic paranormal investigators facing ever-mounting demonic evil.
Judging from the trailer, this modern fable about a pair of young men who connect after they each recently lost their identical twin brothers reads like “Dead Ringers” minus the body horror, plus a pair of cute boys, one being Dylan O’Brien. “Gilmore Girls” Lauren Graham costars.
It has been a while since Christopher Guest last graced us with one of his brilliant satires, in the tradition of “Waiting for Guffman” and “Best in Show” – and that makes sense, since both of those films are now over 25 years old. Here he brings it back to the beginning with a sequel to 1984’s “This is Spinal Tap,” the first and arguably most hilarious spoof which he wrote that found massive success.
This is the first of two Stephen King adaptations coming out this fall, specifically based on novellas he wrote as Richard Bachman, an early pseudonym. “The Long Walk” tells the grizzly story of boys engaged in a macabre slow race in which you must walk and never stop… or die. What prize waits at the end of the long walk? Since this is a King adaptation, the answer is more complicated than one might think.
‘Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale’ – Sep 12
It might elicit a gasp and a clutching of pearls to realize that the original “Downton Abbey” series ended almost 10 years ago. That’s not to say that the Granthams and Crawleys et al have been absent in the interim; we’ve had the pleasure of visiting with the Lords and Ladies twice since, in two film sequels. Now a grand finale is upon us in this third film installment, bringing back many franchise regulars such as Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern (regrettably, Maggie Smith, who ruled the roost as the Dowager Countess, passed away in 2024).
Co-produced by “Get Out” mastermind Jordan Peele, “Him” tells the story of an impressionable young football star who comes under the influence of a former champion whose willingness to make sacrifices for success goes way too far.
This quiet and brooding period piece follows the secret love story between a World War I-era music prodigy (Paul Mescal) and a gifted student (Joshua O’Connor) who fashions himself into a collector of folksongs. If you haven’t had your fill of either of the two leads by the end of this one, there’s also two more starring O’Connor, “Mastermind” in October and “Rebuilding” in November, and ”Hamnet” starring Mescal on Thanksgiving.
Margot Robbie’s big-screen follow up to 2023’s “Barbie” is this surreal adventure opposite Colin Farrell that sees two strangers stepping through literal doors into other periods in their lives.
Paul Thomas Anderson (“Magnolia,” “There Will Be Blood”) returns with a new opus starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio Del Toro following ex-revolutionaries who reunite to save the daughter of one of their own.
There’s sure to be enough dog lovers and horror movie lovers out there for some considerable overlap for this film. Just in time for spooky season, this haunted house movie – told from the perspective of man’s best friend – hopes to attract both crowds.
Daniel Day-Lewis is back from acting retirement in his son Ronan Day-Lewis’ directorial debut. The family drama also stars Sean Bean and Samantha Morton.
Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt reunite after Disney’s “Jungle Cruise” for an entirely different affair, this time following Johnson looking unrecognizable as Mark Kerr, the mixed-martial arts and UFC champion.
Adapted from the novel by Manuel Puig and following the Oscar-winning 1985 adaptation, this new take on the story of abused Brazilian prisoners and the make-believe world one of them escapes to stars and “Andor’s” Diego Luna opposite Tonatiuh and a showy Jennifer Lopez in the title role.
Following the now dated-feeling 1982 first installment starring Jeff Bridges, and after 2010’s impressive followup “Legacy,” the new installment in the video game/virtual reality series looks even slicker and more hi-tech, if that were possible. Soundtrack courtesy of Nine Inch Nails, fronted by Academy Award-winner Trent Reznor (“The Social Network”).
This Cannes 2025 Palme d’Or-winning film from Iran tells a tale of revenge and potential mistaken identity, with what starts out as a basic kidnapping blossoming into something much more complex.
Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri star in Luca Guadagnino’s (“Call Me By Your Name”) who-do-you-believe tale of a sex assault accusation leveled at a high profile university. This one is sure to be a talker, judging from its polarizing reception at the Venice Film Festival.
Starring Seth Rogen, Aziz Ansari, Keke Palmer, Sandra Oh and Keanu Reeves in Ansari’s directorial debut, this movie looks like “City of Angels” mixed with an underdog/body swap comedy. Not no.
The tradition of biopics centered on contemporary rockers continues with this look at the rise of the Boss, starring “The Bear” star Jeremy Allen White, and the making of his formative 1982 album “Nebraska.”
Karl Urban joins the tongue-in-cheek fun in this followup to 2021 surprise hit reboot movie adaptation of the beloved ’90s video game franchise. Finish him!
Ethan Hawke will take a break from terrifying audiences in “The Black Phone 2” (out one week earlier, on October 17) for this historical look at the transition from Rodgers and Hart to Rodgers and Hammerstein. It-girl Margaret Qualley costars in the film directed by Richard Linklater, auteur of the Hawke-starring “Before” trilogy.
Let the Oscar buzz begin (if it hasn’t already) for Rose Byrne in this arresting looking portrait of a mother in peril. Costarring A$AP Rocky (in his second feature of the season, following Apple TV’s “From Highest 2 Lowest”) and… Conan O’Brien as a therapist.
Speaking of Oscar buzz, “Poor Things” director Yorgos Lanthimos again teams up with his muse Emma Stone for this bizarre-looking remake of a Korean movie from 2003, “Save the Green Planet,” in which a conspiracy theorist (here played by Jesse Plemons) believes a high-powered female CEO (Stone) is in fact an alien. We are intrigued, to say the least.
‘Predator: Badlands’ – Nov 7
Elle Fanning gives us a change of pace in this latest entry in the sci-fi franchise, playing an android helping a Predator who has been ousted from his clan prepare to fight the ultimate foe.
This festival favorite stars Jennifer Lawrence (opposite Robert Pattinson) as a mother in a rural setting struggling with psychosis and depression. Based on the title alone, it’s safe to assume this one gets pretty dark.
Costarring Rami Malek and Russell Crowe – the latter as infamous Nazi war criminal Hermann Göring – this historical epic looks at the famed trials of noted Nazi offenders following WWII and a psychiatrist who became involved. Costarring John Slattery, Michael Shannon and “White Lotus” star Leo Woodall.
From Tommy Dorfman, “I Wish You All The Best” follows a trans teen who is kicked out of the house, and the journey of discovery and self-acceptance that follows. Costarring Cole Sprouse, Alexandra Daddario (again of “White Lotus” fame) and Lena Dunham.
The second Stephen King adaptation on this list, this too follows a macabre game that attracts a sinister and enthusiastic audience, but the twist here is that just about anyone can kill the primary contestant. The titular “Man” is played by Glen Powell, after Arnold Schwarzenegger played the role in an earlier adaptation in 1987.
Oscar-winner Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) stars in this fish-out-of-water tale of a struggling American actor in Tokyo who gets a unique job working for a Japanese “rental family” agency, playing various stand-in roles for total strangers.
It’s time to defy gravity, and expectations, as the followup to last year’s hit musical “Wicked” swoops into theaters. The closing chapter of the adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical, in turn based on the book by Gregory Maguire, tells a darker story that eventually dovetails into the beginning of “The Wizard of Oz.” Featuring Oscar-nominees Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
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