In the season of a historic election that’s bound to keep Americans’ eyes glued to screens other than the ones at the multiplex, studios are hauling out their big guns to draw the attention of moviegoers. And I’m not just talking about The Rock’s double barrels in the holiday action-comedy Red One.

They’re hoping to keep the box office humming with Oscar bets and big stars: Tom Hanks re-teaming with Gump guide Robert Zemeckis for Here, Denzel Washington brushing off his period English in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga terrorizing Gotham in Joker: Folie à Deux.

Big names aren’t the only draw, as big-time sensuality seeps through so many offerings this year. Erstwhile secret agent Daniel Craig leads the sexy charge this fall as a writer undone by his attraction to a younger man in Luca Guadagnino’s steamy Queer. And Nicole Kidman is a CEO who can’t keep her hands off intern Harris Dickinson in Babygirl.

Where stars and skin don’t do the trick, there’s always depth and originality to draw us to the movie theater, which we hope to find in the aforementioned films, and intriguing entries like Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door, the lyrical drama Nickel Boys from RaMell Ross, and Robert Eggers’ reimagining of the vampire chiller Nosferatu. We may be a divided nation, but can’t we all agree that there’s always room for more good vampire movies?

SEPTEMBER

Never Let Go — Horror-meister Alexandre Aja (Crawl) directs Halle Berry as a rugged mom in Bird Box mode shepherding her two boys alone after the end of the world. All three must remain tethered by ropes to their decaying cabin in the woods lest some unseen evil snatch them into oblivion — or so Mom says. Maybe this is a Village situation, and she’s the monster trapping her kids in the forest. (9/20)

Transformers: One — Nearly twenty years into the film franchise, those shape-shifting robots are still winning their most crucial battle: driving toy sales for Hasbro, which reported a 35% sales jump for the brand on the back of last year’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. This year the brand celebrates its 40th anniversary, while Hasbro and partner Paramount celebrate the release of another extended toy ad, a CG-animated origin story of Optimus Prime and nemesis Megatron, voiced by Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry, joined in the cast by Scarlett Johansson, Jon Hamm, Laurence Fishburne, Steve Buscemi, and Keegan-Michael Key as Bumblebee. (9/20)

The Substance — Prestige comeback material for Demi Moore, who is often underrated but earned glowing praise at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for her raw turn in writer-director Coralie Fargeat’s celebrity-skewering body horror fantasia, which was awarded the fest’s prize for Best Screenplay. (9/20)

A Different Man — Figuratively speaking, there is such a thing as being beautiful on the inside, a quality explored ruefully in Aaron Schinberg’s captivating comic thriller about an actor with severe facial disfigurements who emerges from experimental surgery with the handsome visage of Sebastian Stan, but finds that outer beauty doesn’t solve all his problems. (9/27)

The Wild Robot — How to Train Your Dragon creator Chris Sanders adapts Peter Brown’s popular illustrated book series into a gorgeously-designed animated adventure following intelligent robot Roz (Lupita Nyong’o), stranded on an island in future Earth, which, thankfully, remains abundant with wildlife. (9/27)

Lee — Aptly enough, veteran cinematographer Ellen Kuras directs this WWII-era biopic of trailblazing female combat photographer Lee Miller, portrayed by Kate Winslet. The Oscar-winner leads a choice ensemble of Marion Cotillard, Alexander Skarsgård, Josh O’Connor, Andrea Riseborough, Noémie Merlant, and Andy Samberg, as incongruous as any comedian who pops up playing a straight role in a serious drama, à la Marlon Wayans in Requiem for a Dream. Hopefully, Andy is just as good. (9/27)

Megalopolis — Francis Ford Coppola’s sci-fi epic promises a visual feast fueled by big ideas about society, as Adam Driver portrays a visionary architect who battles defenders of the status quo to rebuild their crumbling metropolis into a new utopia. The architect’s folly might pale in comparison to Coppola’s leap of self-funding his $120 million opus. Whether or not the long-gestating project lives up to the hype, no one can say the legendary filmmaker didn’t put all his passion for boldly original cinema onto the screen. (9/27)

Will & Harper — In a timely documentary portrait of compassion and acceptance, America’s sweetheart Will Ferrell and his dear friend of 30 years, Harper Steele, share a 17-day cross-country roadtrip to shore up their bonds, as Ferrell wraps his head around Harper’s late-in-life gender transition. (9/27)

Amber Alert — Writer-director Kerry Bellessa’s low-budget thriller — about a rideshare driver and passenger who realize they’re driving behind a car matching the description of a kidnapper’s — appears to be the sort of B-movie that could quietly come and go from theaters before audiences notice. But the premise intrigues, as does the unlikely cast, with Tyler James Williams in the driver’s seat and Hayden Panettiere as the intrepid passenger, for the filmmaker’s reimagining of his 2012 found-footage feature debut, also titled Amber Alert. (9/27)

OCTOBER

Joker: Folie à Deux — He might wreak havoc in Gotham City, but Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar-certified anti-hero Arthur Fleck, in these films by The Hangover director Todd Phillips, is not exactly the Batman villain that we’ve come to know. And this sequel to 2019 crime thriller Joker is not exactly a musical according to Lady Gaga, who co-stars as Arthur’s new friend at Arkham Asylum, Harleen “Lee” Quinzell (a.k.a. Harley Quinn), who is all too eager to abet the clown-faced menace to society. (10/4)

The Outrun — Saoirse Ronan is sure to impress as a London party girl who comes crashing down, and heads back to her hometown in Scotland’s Orkney Islands to try to face her addictions, and her troubled past. (10/4)

The Apprentice — Filmgoers will be stanning Sebastian Stan this season with the actor’s one-two punch of A Different Man and his turn here as ’70s/’80s-era Donald Trump building his real estate business under the cunning mentorship of fixer Roy Cohn, portrayed by Succession‘s Jeremy Strong. Borat 2 breakout Maria Bakalova seems perfectly cast as Ivana Trump in this obviously unauthorized profile by writer-director Ali Abbasi (Holy Spider) that’s sure-to-be triggering to at least one person. (10/11)

Piece by Piece — If you’re going to give the world another music biopic, make it as refreshingly offbeat as this Lego animated docu-comedy chronicling the life and career of “Happy” artist-producer Pharrell Williams. Award-winning non-fiction filmmaker Morgan Neville (Won’t You Be My Neighbor) directs, co-wrote, and appears as a character in the meta musical, which, naturally, features new original songs by Pharrell on the soundtrack, and onscreen appearances by many of his superstar collaborators, from Snoop and Kendrick to Gwen Stefani. (10/11)

We Live in Time — Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh are Londoners who plunge into the depths of soul-shaking love in this decades-spanning romantic drama from director John Crowley, whose last decades-spanning romantic drama, Brooklyn, landed Oscar noms for its screenplay and star Saoirse Ronan, and for Best Picture. (10/11)

Venom: The Last Dance — Touted as Tom Hardy’s last outing as Eddie Brock, the lug whose body and consciousness host alien symbiote Venom, this third film promises a conclusion to Eddie’s tale of virtual possession, along with dazzling CGI creature effects, and probably some hint of multiverse shenanigans. (10/18)

Nickel Boys — Praise is building for this drama, based on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-winning novel chronicling the lives of two African-American boys sent to an abusive reform school in 1960s Florida. Shot in first-person POV, and directed by Oscar-nominated documentarian RaMell Ross (Hale County This Morning, This Evening), turning his eye towards his first non-fiction film, though the fictional Nickel Academy was, of course, inspired by an actual Florida reform school. (10/25)

Conclave — The Pope is dead, and the august task of leading the papal conclave that decides the next Pope weighs heavily on the conscience of Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, played by Ralph Fiennes, who’s earning “It’s about time” Oscar buzz for his performance, as the Cardinal uncovers — or covers up — explosive secrets inside the Vatican. (10/25)

Queer — A handful who have seen it warn we’re not ready for the searingly hot pairing of Daniel Craig, as an American expat writer in ’50s Mexico City, and newcomer Drew Starkey, as the alluring younger student who enthralls him, in Luca Guadagnino’s second erotically-charged drama of 2024, and second collaboration with Challengers screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes, here adapting the novel Queer by William Burroughs. They’re wrong, we’re ready. Bring it on, A24. (TBD)

NOVEMBER

Here — Robert Zemeckis got the Forrest Gump gang back together again, with Tom Hanks and Robin Wright starring in this adaptation of Richard McGuire’s graphic novel which depicts events at a single location at different points in time. Technophile Zemeckis employed a new generative AI program to de-age and face-swap actors in real-time for his audacious experiment where the camera never moves from that spot as centuries of life pass before its lens. (11/1)

Juror #2 — Now in his nineties, the legendary Clint Eastwood is set to ride off into the sunset and chill after this final film as a director, a courtroom thriller following a family man (Nicholas Hoult) on the jury of a murder trial, who realizes he might be responsible for the victim’s death. Let’s see if Clint’s still cooking. (11/1)

Emilia Pérez — France’s entry for the Best International Feature race at next year’s Oscars, Jacques Audiard’s ambitious Spanish-language musical crime thriller earned a rare collective Best Actress prize from Cannes for its lead cast of Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña, Adriana Paz, and trans telenovela star Karla Sofía Gascón as the title character, a Mexican drug-cartel boss seeking gender-affirming surgery. (11/13, Netflix)

Heretic — Hugh Grant channels his talent for playing a semi-charming grump in appearances on red carpets and talk shows into performing the role of a semi-charming grump in this horror thriller from Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East are the cheery missionaries whose faith is tested by whatever nightmares await them after they come knocking on this creep’s door. (11/15)

Red One — Somebody kidnaps Santa Claus, codenamed Red One, from the North Pole, and it’s up to his head of security (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) and an expert bounty hunter (Chris Evans) to find and free him in time for Christmas. A family-friendly fantasy with a high-octane shot of action from its muscle-bound stars, including J.K. Simmons as a jacked St. Nick, who might ride away on his sleigh with the whole movie. (11/15)

Elton John: Never Too Late — It is too late to catch the Rocket Man live on tour, but you can see this intimate documentary, featuring never-before-seen concert footage of the legend over the past 50 years, on theater screens in November, or in December on Disney+, where you can already stream his final concert in full, Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodgers Stadium. (11/15)

Gladiator II — An Oscar nominee and a critical darling just six films into his career, Irish actor Paul Mescal has yet to headline a mainstream box office hit. He gets his chance with Ridley Scott’s sequel to the director’s 2000 blockbuster, portraying a former heir to the Roman Empire forced to fight as a gladiator. Mescal must hold his own in the arena against fiery general Pedro Pascal, and onscreen opposite the great Denzel Washington, as an ex-slave plotting to rule. (11/22)

Wicked: Part 1 — The beloved fantasy musical, based on Gregory Maguire’s novel, finally arrives on the big screen in the first of two parts, with Jon M. Chu (In the Heights) directing the outrageously talented Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Oz’s green-skinned future Wicked Witch of the West, and pop superstar Ariana Grande as Glinda, soon-to-be Good Witch of the North, when the pair were classmates in school, years before Dorothy hit Oz. We know that ultimately the witches don’t end up friends, but what happened? Was a man involved? Is that man Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, the handsome prince who charms them both? Then we get it. (11/22)

DECEMBER

Nightbitch — Is Amy Adams’ frazzled stay-at-home mom slowly turning into a dog? She’s pretty sure she is. But, generally speaking, moms don’t transform into mutts, no matter how dog tired they are. Perhaps something else could be going on in this horror-comedy based on Rachel Yoder’s book, adapted by Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?). (12/6)

Kraven the Hunter — Oft-delayed, yet still hotly anticipated, the season’s second entry in Sony’s bumbling Spider-Verse owes much of that anticipation to star Aaron Taylor-Johnson looking fierce in this live-action debut of one of Spidey’s hammiest villains. Super-powered big-game hunter Kraven won’t really be the villain in this movie, which is crawling with Marvel bad guys and nary a superhero in sight. (12/13)

The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim — Peter Jackson presents a fresh, anime-style return to Middle Earth, as envisioned by animation master Kenji Kamayama (Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 the Last Human). Set nearly 200 years before the events of the LOTR trilogy, the film depicts the tale of Helm Hammerhand, a ruler of Rohan who must defend his kingdom against an army of fellow men. Original trilogy cast member Miranda Otto reprises her role as Éowyn, who narrates, while Brian Cox leads the voice cast as hothead King Helm. (12/13)

Mufasa: The Lion King — Some would say the best thing to come out of Disney’s 2019 “live-action” remake of The Lion King was Beyoncé’s afrobeat-inspired companion album The Gift. Disney would say that the remake pulled in over $1.6 billion at the worldwide box office, so meet Mufasa (Aaron Pierre), again, but much younger in this “live-action” look back at how Simba’s dad rose from orphan cub to Lion King. Beyoncé is back, at least briefly, voicing Queen Nala in the framing story of Simba (Donald Glover) trying to teach their cub (Blue Ivy Carter) the lessons he learned from Mufasa. Moonlight Oscar-winner Barry Jenkins directs, with the benefit of a Pride Lands tale we haven’t seen, and original songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda. (12/20)

The Room Next Door — A dynamic story of female friendship, Pedro Almodóvar’s first full-length film in English (following English-language shorts The Human Voice and last year’s queer Western Strange Way of Life) re-teams the Spanish cinema legend with his Human Voice muse Tilda Swinton, and adds Julianne Moore to the equation, which might amount to too much flame-haired fabulousness, but we can take it. (12/20)

Nosferatu — Any of the talented Skarsgård bros could have credibly tackled the role of the undead Count Orlok in this remake of the classic vampire tale, but It boy Bill seems to be the right Skarsgård for embodying the sinister ghoul envisioned by the always inventive Robert Eggers, writer-director of The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman. (12/25)

Babygirl — Indefatigable workhorse Nicole Kidman found time between limited series to film the scintillating story of a CEO who embarks on an affair with her hot young intern, well-cast with Triangle of Sadness hunk Harris Dickinson. At the Venice Film Festival, where Kidman scored Best Actress, she explained that while she felt “exposed and vulnerable” premiering the erotic thriller, she found the experience of shooting it “delicate and intimate, and very, very deep.” (12/25)

The Fire Inside — Mufasa maestro Barry Jenkins strikes again, scripting and producing this uplifting sports drama based on champion boxer Claressa “T-Rex” Shields’ real-life dream journey from the streets of Flint, Michigan to London Olympics gold. Ryan Destiny, best known for FOX’s girl-group drama Star, laces up her gloves as Shields, alongside the ever-reliable Brian Tyree Henry portraying her dogged coach. (12/25)

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