The summer of "Barbenheimer" has officially come to a close and this unexpected cinematic phenomenon has ended up helping this season become one of the biggest box-office successes of all-time. These two films (that would be Greta Gerwig's colorful fantasia, "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer", the dramatic telling of the creation of the atomic bomb from Christopher Nolan, in case you just came out of hibernation) managed to generate a lot of money but also created an exciting buzz that spurred movie attendance, finally bringing people back to theaters which surprisingly spread across the globe.
With the writers and actors on strike, movie production has essentially come to a grinding halt. So, what does this mean for the fall movie season? The studios, still unwilling to negotiate and realizing that they will have no one to promote their expensive investments as well as running out of product to cover next year, have become skittish and decided to delay some planned upcoming releases. The most notable to date is the second part of "Dune" which was supposed to arrive in theaters in November and has been pushed off until next March. So far, no other major fall releases have announced any date changes however it's still early. It's all so unfortunate that a deal has not come together yet, leaving the momentum created this summer to probably just fizzle out if more movies are taken off the schedule. But at this moment, there are plenty of movies arriving in theaters this fall. Here is my list of upcoming films that I am anticipating and hope to actually see over the next four months:
All release dates are subject to change:
"DICKS: THE MUSICAL"
Release date: September 29, 2023
"Dicks: The Musical" is an absurdist musical-comedy based on an Off-Broadway show, "Fucking Identical Twins" by Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson. In a deranged twist on "The Parent Trap", Sharp and Jackson reprise their roles as two adult business adversaries who discover that they are actually identical twins who were separated when their parents divorced. They decide to switch places in a plot to reunite their parents (Megan Mullally and Nathan Lane) so they can all be a real family once again. Hip-Hop royalty, Megan Thee Stallion co-stars and Larry Charles ("Borat") directs.
"FOE"
Release date: October 6, 2023
Based on the novel by Iain Reid (who co-wrote the screenplay with the director, Garth Davis), "Foe" is an intense sci-fi drama set in the not-so-distant future where Junior (Paul Mescal) and his wife, Henrietta (Saoirse Ronan) are visited on their remote farm by Terrance (Aaron Pierre) who represents an aerospace corporation. He has come with an offer for Junior to work in their large space station for a couple of years. However, this invitation is extended only for him, leaving Henrietta behind in the care of a bio-mechanical duplicate of Junior while he is away.
"KILLER OF THE FLOWER MOON"
Release date: October 20, 2023
After a splashy premiere at Cannes in May, "Killer of the Flower Moon", the latest from the legendary filmmaker, Martin Scorsese, will finally reach theaters. This epic drama is an adaptation of the fact-based novel by David Grann that tells this 1920's-set story of several Osage Indians in Oklahoma discovering oil on their lands, making them very wealthy. However, this doesn't sit well with the White people running the administration in the area. Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio), a war veteran in desperate need of employment, goes to his uncle (Robert DeNiro) looking for a job. After getting work as a taxi driver, Ernest is lured by his uncle into a plot to steal land and money from the Indians. But he becomes further conflicted when he falls in love with Mollie (Lily Gladstone) who is Osage.
"THE HOLDOVERS"
Release date: October 27, 2023
In the dramatic comedy, "The Holdovers", the director, Alexander Payne's welcome return to feature films following the lukewarm reception to his 2017 sci-fi comedy, "Downsizing", a "holdover" is a college student who is unable to return to their homes during Christmas break. Paul Giamatti (who reteams with Payne for the first time since their popular 2004 road trip comedy, "Sideways") plays a much-disliked teacher who is assigned to watching these kids and runs into particular trouble with one student (Dominic Sessa). Da'Vine Joy Randolph also stars as the school's head cook who is struggling with her own personal issues.
"RUSTIN"
Release date: November 3, 2023
"Rustin" puts a long overdue spotlight on the unheralded man who helped organize the March on Washington Movements and worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. The celebrated stage director turned filmmaker, George C. Wolfe takes on the story of Bayard Rustin (played by Colman Domingo), a highly influential civil rights activist who promoted nonviolent civil resistance. But his not-so-secret homosexuality would create problems for him, particularly in his advisory role with King on the 1963 March on Washington, leaving some people concerned how this association could negatively impact the movement. Chris Rock, Jeffrey Wright, Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Audra McDonald co-star.
"THE KILLER"
Release date: November 10, 2023
Following his stiff, Hollywood bio-pic, "Mank" three years ago, David Fincher has returned to the genre he has become best associated with: the psychological thriller. "The Killer" has the director taking on a French graphic novel and putting his distinctive spin on a familiar story involving a hired assassin who is being hunted down after failing an assignment following an existential crisis. But what makes this film even more intriguing is the return to the big screen of Michael Fassbender who plays the hit-man (the Irish-German actor will also appear in Taika Watiti's sports-comedy, "Next Goal Wins" out in November). Tilda Swinton co-stars.
"NAPOLEON"
Release date: November 22, 2023
Napoleon Bonaparte was a military commander in the 18th century who during the French revolution rose to prominence to become an influential political leader. His story will be told in a big budget, English-language, Hollywood epic from acclaimed director, Ridley Scott. With Oscar-winner, Joaquin Phoenix as the Emperor, "Napoleon" will examine his rise to power and his obsessive love with Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby), a widow who was first his mistress before quickly becoming Empress of the French.
"THE COLOR PURPLE"
Release date: December 25, 2023
"The Color Purple", Alice Walker's harrowing yet moving novel about a young girl's coming-of-age and overcoming heart-wrenching obstacles she faced, has come a long way since it was first published in 1982. It was first adapted into a critically acclaimed, 1985 box-office hit film by Steven Spielberg that made stars out of Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey. Twenty years later, a musical was created of Walker's story that ran on Broadway for three years. Then a stripped-down, more enthusiastically received revival came back to New York ten years later. Now we this musical that has been filmed with Spielberg, Winfrey and Quincy Jones (who did the musical score for the 1985 movie) returning as producers and Blitz Bazawule directing this version of "The Color Purple". Fantasia Barrino (the American Idol winner making her film debut assumed the role in the original Broadway production) plays Celie; Danielle Brooks (who did the role in the 2015 revival) will play Sofia and Taraji P. Henson appears as singer Shug Avery. Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, Aunjanue Ellis, Halle Bailey, H.E.R. and Ciara rounds out the cast.
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