Photo Credit/Columbia Pictures-20th Century Studios-Apple TV+-Universal Pictures-Warner Bros.-Marvel Studios-Lionsgate Films
After “Barbenheimer,” the double bill of high-profile releases Barbie and Oppenheimer, became a cultural phenomenon and reinvigorated moviegoing, you may more than ever be wondering what other films to look forward to. Don’t worry! The Pacer has you covered as it highlights what movies might leave you as enraptured as a wondrous world of pink and plastic or as rattled as the gargantuan big-screen detonation of an atomic bomb.
Of course, this piece would be remiss without acknowledging the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. As the unions continue to negotiate with the studios for fair and equitable wages, that places an asterisk on the release schedule as it is in a fluid state. Please refer to a separate piece in this issue to stay informed on this important topic.
As of the time of publication, here are the most notable releases in the fall film schedule:
Aug. 25:
Gran Turismo
This racing movie from the director of District 9 could provide rip-roaring thrills. Based on the incredible true story, the film follows a struggling, working-class player of the Gran Turismo video games who uses his skills to win a series of Nissan-sponsored gaming competitions to become an actual professional race car driver. It’s an inspiring underdog story as he teams up with his trainer (David Harbour, Netflix’s Stranger Things), a disgraced former driver, to take on the most elite sport in the world.
(PG-13/Theaters)
Retribution
Liam Neeson has become the unofficial king of the B-movie, and the latest edition to his late-career oeuvre could satisfy fans of the all-thrills-no-frills genre. Neeson portrays a bank executive who, while driving his children to school, receives a bomb threat. Confined to this single mobile location like in the action classic Speed, he must follow a series of commands, and the car wired to explode if he stops.
(Rating TBD/Theaters)
Sept. 1:
Bottoms
Rising stars Rachel Sennott (Bodies Bodies Bodies) and Ayo Edebriri (TV’s The Bear) headline this new high school comedy that promises to be raunchy, raucous and risible. They portray two queer best friends who start a fight club to meet cheerleaders, but their hilariously brutal enterprise quickly spirals out of control.
(R/Theaters)
The Equalizer 3
The legendary Denzel Washington returns to the explosive Equalizer action series to tie up loose ends in this trilogy capper. Retiring from his hardened life as a government assassin, Robert McCall (Washington) resides in Southern Italy to escape his violent past self, but he may have to unleash it once more to protect his friends and newfound family from the Sicilian Mafia.
(R/Theaters)
Sept. 8:
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3
The Portakalos clan reunites for the second sequel to the beloved comedy classic. Reeling from the loss of their family patriarch Gus, the lovably dysfunctional bunch travels to Greece for a family reunion, and healing and hijinks are sure to ensue in the exotic locale.
(PG-13/Theaters)
The Nun II
Set in the Conjuring shared universe, this follow-up to the 2018 spine-tingler is sure to provide chills for horror junkies. Four years after the first film’s conclusion, Sister Irene’s Catholic milieu is once again terrorized by a demonic force, who takes the shape of a ghoulish nun, at a boarding school in France.
(Rating TBD/Theaters)
Sept. 15:
A Haunting in Venice
After Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and Death on the Nile (2022), Shakespeare auteur Kenneth Branagh directs his third adaptation from Agatha Christie’s iconic mystery series revolving around the dapper, mustached sleuth Hercule Poirot, whom Branagh also portrays. This latest entry deviates from the classical detective trappings and adopts a gothic aesthetic as Poirot investigates a murder at a séance, and the stacked ensemble cast includes Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades trilogy, Belfast), Tina Fey (Mean Girls, TV’s 30 Rock) and recent Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once).
(PG-13/Theaters)
Sept. 22:
Dumb Money
This account of recent history promises to be a riotous look into 21st financial panic in the vein of The Big Short. Deemed as the “ultimate David versus Goliath tale,” the movie tells the insane true story of the 2021 events surrounding the rapid increase of GameStop stock and how a rag-tag group of investors on Reddit flipped the script on Wall Street. The formidable cast includes Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley and Seth Rogen.
(Rating TBD/Theaters)
Expend4bles
If that title wasn’t any indication, this is the fourth entry in pulp series The Expendables, which pays homage to action blockbusters of the 1980s and 1990s with many of the genre’s stars from then and now. Jason Statham, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Dolph Lundgren, Sylvester Stallone and more assemble as the titular team of mercenaries hired to do the government’s dirty work, this time trying to thwart a terrorist organization whose nuclear warheads could ignite an international crisis.
(R/Theaters)
Sept. 29:
PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie
If you’re a dog lover looking for some family-friendly fluff, this latest animation about a group of talking furry friends may leave you rolling over in delight. This time around, the pups gain superpowers from a mysterious meteor, and they jump into the fray against their arch-nemesis and a new foe who want to steal their powers.
(PG/Theaters)
Saw X
Gore hounds will want to see this tenth installment in the ongoing Saw franchise, which serves as an interlude between the first and second entry, about the infamous serial killer who traps his victims in deranged games of psychological torture. After traveling to Mexico for an alleged miracle cure for his cancer and being defrauded, John Kramer/Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) returns to his work and exacts revenge on his scammers with another round of grisly traps.
(Rating TBD/Theaters)
The Creator
This dystopian futuristic science fiction thriller has a timely angle. As a war rages on between humanity and artificial intelligence, a hardened ex-special forces agent John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman) is recruited to locate and neutralize the elusive architect of advanced A.I. who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war and mankind itself.
(PG-13/Theaters)
Oct. 13:
The Exorcist: Believer
Ignoring the continuity of other installments, this direct follow-up to the bone-chilling 1973 horror classic is slated to be the opening chapter of a legacy sequel trilogy akin to the recent trio of Halloween films, even borrowing its director David Gordon Green. Desperate for help, the parents, including one played by Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton), of two demonically possessed girls seek out someone who shares their supernatural experience: Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn, returning), the mother from the original film.
(R/Theaters)
Fair Play
This battle of the sexes erotic thriller, starring Phoebe Dynever (TV’s Bridgerton) and Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story), premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year to critical acclaim. An ambitious couple keeps their steamy romance a secret so they both can continue to hack their way through a cutthroat hedge fund firm, but when one receives an unexpected promotion, it drives a wedge in their relationship as power dynamics shift and psychological warfare ensues.
(R/Netflix)
Oct. 20:
Killers of the Flower Moon
Venerable filmmaker Martin Scorsese, who has helmed such acclaimed pictures as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street and The Irishman, returns for his latest epic on American crime and greed. Starring frequent Scorsese collaborators Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, this large-scale 1920s western chronicles the FBI’s investigation into the murders of the Osage Native American tribe’s members after oil is discovered on their land. The film has already received rave reviews after premiering at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, and it is set to play on Apple TV+ later in the fall after having a wide theatrical run.
(R/Theaters and Apple TV+)
Oct. 27:
Five Nights at Freddy’s
Based on the popular video game franchise, this horror-comedy follows a troubled security guard (Josh Hutcherson, the Hunger Games trilogy) who begrudgingly takes a late-night job at an abandoned family entertainment center. He soon realizes that he isn’t alone as the dilapidated animatronic characters come to life after midnight to stalk and slash their next victim. The film premieres in theaters and on Peacock on the same date.
(PG-13/Theaters and Peacock)
Pain Hustlers
Headlined by megawatt stars Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place, Mary Poppins Returns) and Chris Evans (Marvel’s Captain America films), this darkly comedic crime drama is about a struggling single mother (Blunt) who begins working at a bankrupt pharmaceutical company, and she unwittingly becomes embroiled in a dangerous racketeering scheme and criminal conspiracy.
(R/Netflix)
Priscilla
Acclaimed writer-director Sofia Coppola, whose rich tales of feminine melancholy include The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette, finds an apt new subject in Priscilla Presley (Cailee Spaeny, The Craft: Legacy), who meets Elvis (Jacob Elordi, TV’s Euphoria) on his meteoric rise to fame as the filmmaker examines an unseen side of the great American myth. Many of Coppola’s films are about the isolation of the female experience living on the fringes of a man’s world, and it will be interesting to see what new dimensions she brings to this complicated woman after last year’s Elvis trivialized her story.
(Rating TBD/Theaters)
Nov. 3:
Dune: Part Two
2021’s seismic science fiction film Dune adapted the first half of Frank Herbert’s seminal novel, and genre aesthete Denis Villeneuve also brings to life the latter half, which is said to shift from mood piece laying the groundwork of the story to its essence as an expansive war epic. After his noble family is beleaguered from the throne by malevolent forces for control of a desert planet and its valuable resources, prince and “chosen one” Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) unites with indigenous tribe the Fremen while his romance with one of its members Chani (Zendaya) deepens.
(Rating TBD/Theaters)
Nov. 10:
The Holdovers
This film seems to be a throwback to the crowd-pleasing dramedies of the 1980s, and it could potentially provide its own memorable blend of yuks and pathos. A lonely and curmudgeonly teacher (Paul Giamatti, Sideways) at a New England prep school is forced to babysit a handful of students with nowhere to go over Christmas break, but he may form a meaningful connection with a damaged troublemaker and the academy’s bereaved head cook (Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dolemite Is My Name).
(R/Theaters)
The Killer
Revered director David Fincher, whose films include The Social Network, Gone Girl, Se7en and Fight Club, helms another cold, calculating psychological thriller that mirrors its subject. Michael Fassbender (X-Men franchise) portrays a methodical assassin who begins to unravel after a fateful near-miss, and he battles his employers and himself on an international manhunt.
(R/Netflix)
The Marvels
This sequel to Marvel’s 2019 smash hit Captain Marvel, starring Brie Larson as the titular hero, widens its cast as it expands the franchise’s shared universe, adding Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) of Ms. Marvel and Monica Rambeua (Teyonah Parris) of WandaVision. Captain Marvel’s superpowers become entangled with the two women’s, and they must learn to work together to achieve a dire galactic mission as they swap places anytime they use their abilities.
(Rating TBD/Theaters)
Nov. 17:
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Set 64 years before the initial installment, this prequel to the Hunger Games franchise tracks President Coriolanus Snow’s rise to power during one of the early dystopian battle royales. Before he would become the tyrannical president of Panem, the 18-year-old Snow (Tom Blyth) is assigned to mentor a tribute named Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler, West Side Story) from the impoverished District 12, and though their situation at first seems hopeless, her knack for showmanship and his political savvy may turn the odds in their favor as Snow begins to develop feelings for Baird. Viola Davis (The Woman King) co-stars as the devious head gamemaker of the 10th Hunger Games.
(Rating TBD/Theaters)
Next Goal Wins
Writer-director Taika Waititi of Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit fame brings his snarky yet sweet sensibilities to this sports dramedy. After a recent fall from grace, a cutthroat Dutch-American soccer coach (Michael Fassbender, X-Men franchise) is tasked with turning the American Samoa national team, considered one of the weakest in the world, into an elite squad, but he might develop a sensitive side as he embraces the team as a found family.
(PG-13/Theaters)
Trolls Band Together
After two films of sparkly musical misadventures based on the Good Luck Trolls dolls, the bubbly Poppy (Anna Kedrick) and dour yet endearing Branch (Justin Timberlake) are officially a couple. After Poppy discovers Branch was part of a boy band (Doesn’t that sound familiar?) with his brothers and one is kidnapped by nefarious pop-star villains, the two embark on a journey to save him and reunite with his long lost family. The supporting voice cast includes Camila Cabello, Eric André, Kid Cudi, Daveed Diggs, Amy Schumer, RuPaul, Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Kenan Thompson.
(PG/Theaters)
