Kevin Wozniak
The summer movie season is officially over, and it’s now time for the best cinematic season of the year: the fall movie season. While some might like the summer more because of the endless blockbusters, the fall movie season is my favorite because it combines every season together. Most people think the fall movie season is awards season, and that is a big part of it, but we also get big-budget blockbusters, entertaining genre junk, indie gems, and some surprises throughout the season. It’s also primetime for high-profile film festivals like Venice, TIFF, New York, and Chicago.
This fall movie season, which I’m counting from the beginning of September through the end of December, is absolutely stacked. I listed twenty films, but the list could have easily been doubled. We’ve got filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson, Guillermo del Toro, and James Cameron dropping movies this fall, as well as seeing the return of cinema icons like Daniel Day-Lewis, James L. Brooks, and Kathryn Bigelow. The twenty films I chose represent everything great about the fall movie season. There are plenty of award contenders, but also films that will blow up the box office and some that may not be as known to regular filmgoing audiences. Here are my picks for the most exciting movies coming out the rest of 2025.
The Conjuring: Last Rites (Michael Chaves, 9/5)
The final entry in the Conjuring series finds Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) taking on their most intense case yet. While it probably would have been a good idea to release this closer to Halloween, a horror movie is a great way to usher us into the fall season.
One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson 9/26)
Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as an ex-revolutionary who reunites with his old crew to take back his kidnapped daughter. This is my most anticipated movie for the rest of the year and could be a major awards player.
The Smashing Machine (Benny Safdie, 10/3)
Is Dwayne Johnson bound for Oscar glory? In Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, he plays UFC fighter Mark Kerr and looks at the hardships he faced on his road to the top. Johnson looks spectacular in the trailer, and you can always count on an inspirational sports movie to be a hit with critics and audiences.
Anemone (Ronan Day-Lewis, 10/10)
Ronan Day-Lewis brought his father, three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis, out of retirement to star in his directorial debut, a family drama about the complex relationships between fathers, sons, and brothers. We haven’t seen Daniel Day-Lewis on the big screen since 2017’s Phantom Thread, so it will be a real treat to see the legend perform for us again.
After the Hunt (Luca Guadagnino, 10/10)
Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt finds a college professor whose personal and professional life are at a crossroads when a star student levels accusations against a faculty member. Featuring a star-studded cast of Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, Ayo Edebiri, Chloe Sevigne, and Michael Stuhlbarg, and a timely and complicated subject, After the Hunt could be one of the hottest titles dropping this fall.
It Was Just an Accident (Jafar Panahi, 10/15)
Winner of this year’s Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival was Jafar Panahi’s crime-thriller about a small mishap that triggers a string of bigger problems. Panahi has been one of the great world cinema directors over the last fifteen years, and I cannot wait to see his award-winning film.
A House of Dynamite (Kathyrn Bigelow, October 24)
Kathryn Bigelow’s first film since 2017’s Detroit is a political thriller starring Rebecca Ferguson, Idris Elba, Anthony Ramos, and Jared Harris about White House staffers grappling with an impending missile crisis on America.
Frankenstein (Guillermo del Toro, 10/17)
If there was one director who was perfect to make a new Frankenstein film, Guillermo del Toro would be my first choice. del Toro casts Oscar Isaac as Dr. Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as his monster for his adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel.
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (Scott Cooper, 10/24)
Jeremy Allen White stars as Bruce Springsteen in Scott Cooper’s look at Springsteen’s creation of his album, Nebraska. Looking to follow in the footsteps of last year’s A Complete Unknown, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere looks to be a box office and awards sensation.
Bugonia (Yorgos Lanthimos, 10/24)
Yorgos Lanthimos’ new film stars Jesse Plemons as a conspiracy theorist who kidnaps a high-power CEO (Emma Stone) under the suspicion that she is an alien. Lanthimos is a visionary, and any movie he makes is, at the very least, interesting and unique.
Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier, 11/7)
Joachim Trier’s follow-up to his Oscar-nominated The Worst Person in the World is an exploration of family, memory, and reconciliation. Starring Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Elle Fanning, and Anders Danielsen Lie, Sentimental Value has been one of the most talked-about movies since its premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The Running Man (Edgar Wright, 11/14)
Genre maestro Edgar Wright takes on Stephen King with his adaptation of The Running Man. Glen Powell stars as a man who joins a game show where he is hunted by people hired to kill him. The trailer promises a lot of action and spectacle, exactly what we want from an Edgar Wright movie.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (Ruben Fleischer, 11/14)
Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, and Woody Harrelson return as our lovable thieving magicians in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t. The Horsemen, now retired, are forced back into the game following a diamond heist, and they must team up with a crew of younger magicians to help them. The first two Now You See Me films made over $300 million at the box office worldwide, and I imagine Now You See Me: Now You Don’t will be yet another success for this franchise.
Wicked: For Good (John M. Chu, 11/21)
Not much needs to be said about Wicked: For Good. The second part of John M. Chu’s 2024 sensation is poised to be one of the biggest movies of the year.
Zootopia 2 (Jared Bush & Byron Howard, 11/26)
Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman return as Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde to solve another case in Zootopia 2, the sequel to the 2016 Best Animated Feature Oscar winner that could be the biggest animated movie of the year.
Hamnet (Cholé Zhao,11/28)
Oscar-winning director Cholé Zhao’s newest film stars Jesse Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare, wife of William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal), as she struggles with the loss of her only son, Hamnet.
Jay Kelly (Noah Baumbach, 12/5)
Noah Baumbach’s latest dramedy finds George Clooney and Adam Sandler playing an aging movie star (Clooney) and his devoted manager (Sandler) on a whirlwind and unexpected journey. This looks to be one of the biggest awards players this season, with early word saying there will be a strong push for Clooney and Sandler.
Ella McCay (James L. Brooks, 12/12)
Oscar-winning writer/director James L. Brooks returns to the big screen for the first time since 2010’s How Do You Know with Ella McCay, a new dramedy about an idealistic young woman (Emma Mackey) who juggles her family and work life. The return of Brooks is all I need to be excited about his one.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Rian Johnson, 12/12)
Daniel Craig returns as Benoit Blanc to solve another star-studded murder mystery in Rian Johnson’s third Knives Out film.
Avatar: Fire and Ash (James Cameron, 12/19)
James Cameron takes us back to Pandora with the third entry of his billion-dollar franchise, this time introducing us to a fiery new Na’vi tribe called the Ash People.
Other movies to keep an eye out for: Twinless (9/5), If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (10/10), Tron: Ares (10/8), Nouvelle Vague (10/31), Marty Supreme (12/25)
