Urchin, out 3 October
The unstoppable Harris Dickinson, he of Triangle Of Sadness and Babygirl fame, makes his directorial debut in Urchin, a UK drama that earned early praise at Cannes. Frank Dillane plays Mike, a young man who has been living on the streets for five years after a lifetime of abandonment and a spell in prison, and is now rebuilding his life – until a session of restorative justice with his victim goes awry. Complex and compelling.
The Smashing Machine, out 3 October
Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson (unrecognisable here) star in the Benny Safdie-directed The Smashing Machine, the story of legendary mixed martial arts and UFC fighter Mark Kerr. The BFI’s verdict? ‘Dwayne Johnson (formerly and forever The Rock) is so damn good in The Smashing Machine, Benny Safdie’s biopic of MMA pioneer Mark Kerr, that you kind of want to take him apart to see how he does it.’
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, out 24 October
This biographical musical drama by Scott Cooper follows Bruce Springsteen, played by Jeremy Allen White, as he makes his stark, solitary album, Nebraska. Adapted from Warren Zanes’s biography, it zeroes in on a formative two-year period in The Boss’s life – as Roger Ebert says, we find him at a time when, ‘The record company expects Springsteen to write the songs that’ll catapult him into a cultural phenomenon. But Springsteen has more pressing matters on his mind. He’s sitting alone in a dark house reading Flannery O’Connor, driving to his abandoned childhood home, going to the movies to watch ‘Night of the Hunter,’ and is repeatedly watching Terrence Malick’s ‘Badlands.’’ With a stellar supporting cast that includes Jeremy Strong and Stephen Graham, the film leans towards the soulful, meditative and moving, as opposed to the big, sweeping rock biopic.
The Running Man, out 7 November
Edgar Wright returns to the director’s chair for this adaptation of Stephen King’s The Running Man. With Glen Powell as Ben Richards, the film sets up a dystopian game show where contestants are hunted, under the watchful glare of an audience that craves spectacle. If you remember the 1987 Arnie version, you’ll know. If you don’t, well, let’s just say The Hunger Games has nothing on this – oh, and the cast is stacked (Josh Brolin, Colman Domingo, Lee Pace). Get set to hang onto the edge of your seat.
Anemone, out 7 November
Any film that stars Daniel Day Lewis is an event – and never more so than when he comes out of retirement for the role (after 2017’s Phantom Thread, he released a statement to say that he would no longer be working as an actor). And yet here he is, back, and this time directed by his 27-year-old son Ronan, with whom he co-wrote the script. Also starring Sean Bean and Samantha Morton, it has yet to premiere, but the producers, Brad Pitt’s Plan B outfit, describe it as being about ‘the complex and profound ties that exist between brothers, fathers, and sons.’ We can’t wait.
Bugonia, out 7 November
Yorgos Lanthimos + Emma Stone + Jesse Plemons = a concoction that already demands attention. The plot: two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap a powerful CEO who they believe is an alien set on destroying Earth. It’s a remake of the South Korean cult classic Save the Green Planet!, and critics at Venice have praised its dark satire, tone, performances, and strangeness. It likely won’t be a mass-blockbuster, but if you like ambitious, unsettling, weirdly funny cinema, this is one to see on the big screen.
Nuremberg, out 14 November
From writer and director James Vanderbilt comes Nuremberg, an examination of the relationship between Nazi war criminal and former commander in chief of the Luftwaffe Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe) and Douglas M. Kelley (Rami Malek), the psychiatrist whose role it is to monitor the prisoners’ mental health and stop them from committing suicide before the trial. It not only promises to be a chess match between two Oscar winners, but timely too: as fascism is once again on the rise, it serves as a reminder of the darkness that this ideology leads to.
Wicked: For Good, out 21 November
In 2024, Wicked became the most successful Broadway film adaptation of all time. Now its conclusion arrives just under a year after the first part. Directed by Jon M. Chu, with, of course, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and Jonathan Bailey resuming their now iconic roles, the next instalment finds our two protagonists embattled against an angry mob and needing one another more than ever. It promises to deepen the mythology: more stakes, more music (including two new original songs), expanded political intrigue in Oz, and the aftermath of Elphaba and Glinda’s choices.
Avatar: Fire and Ash, out 19 December
James Cameron returns with the third instalment of the Avatar saga. After the aquatic grandeur of The Way of Water, this promises new terrains, new Na’vi tribes, and very probably jaw-dropping visual spectacle. If you want an example of a film made for the cinema, this is it.
