10 new movies we can’t wait to see in theaters this fall: ‘Dune,’ Bond and more
Time to get off the couch and into the movie theater!
Unlike last fall, when film fans had nothing but Netflix and a handful of other streaming services to satisfy their cravings, 2021 is packed with big-screen blockbusters.
Here are the 10 films our critic is most looking forward to.
“Dear Evan Hansen”
Sept. 24, in theaters
What a year for movie-musicals. First there was the amazing “In the Heights,” and at Christmas we get Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.” But coming up next is the film version of the Tony Award-winning teen drama “Dear Evan Hansen.” There has been some controversy over Ben Platt reprising his Broadway role as a high-schooler at age 27, but the guy won the Best Actor Tony for a reason.
“The Many Saints of Newark”
Oct. 1, in theaters and on HBO Max
Don’t fuhgeddaboudit. Tony Soprano is back — in miniature — in this prequel to the groundbreaking HBO drama “The Sopranos,” which is set in New Jersey during the future mafioso’s childhood. What’s most intriguing about this film though is who’s playing promising young Anthony — the late James Gandolfini’s 22-year-old son Michael.
“No Time To Die”
Oct. 8, in theaters
No time like the present! The new 007 – and possibly Daniel Craig’s last outing — was the first movie to be delayed by the pandemic and now it’s finally seeing the light of day (or the dark of cinemas, anyway). It’s the starriest Bond movie in years, with Oscar-winner Rami Malek as the villain and Ana de Armas (“Knives Out”) as the Bond girl.
“Mass”
Oct. 8, in theaters
This is the hardest movie to recommend on this list. It’s also one of my favorite movies of the year. “Mass,” which premiered at Sundance, is about the aftermath of a school shooting. Two parents (Martha Plimpton and Jason Isaacs) whose son was killed years earlier meet the parents of the shooter (Ann Dowd and Reed Birney) in a church for a conversation. It is shattering, and features some of the finest acting you’ve seen on-screen in a long time.
“Halloween Kills”
Oct. 15, in theaters and on Peacock
You’ll be shocked to hear this — shocked, I say! — but Michael Myers didn’t actually die at the end of 2018’s “Halloween.” The masked serial killer is still lumbering around Illinois and he still wants to kill poor Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). The last film returned the series to its roots of being, well, good. And the same talented director, David Gordon Green, is back along with the indomitable Jamie Lee Curtis. Bloody good.
“Dune”
Oct. 22, in theaters and on HBO Max
Can director Denis Villeneuve go right where David Lynch infamously went wrong in 1984? Frank Herbert’s detailed, epic sci-fi novel is tough to tackle, but early reports out of the Venice Film Festival say the “Blade Runner 2049” director has tamed the sandy beast. It helps that he reeled in hot young stars Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya.
“The French Dispatch”
Oct. 22, in theaters
What fun it’s been to watch Wes Anderson go from cult flicks like 1996’s “Bottle Rocket” to a guaranteed Oscar contender with 2014’s “Grand Budapest Hotel” and now “The French Dispatch” without losing his signature dry sense of humor and pastel color scheme. “Dispatch,” about a Parisian magazine, features many of Anderson’s usual stars such as Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Anjelica Huston, but with new additions: Chalamet, Saoirse Ronan and that sexy young heartthrob Henry Winkler. Ehhhhhhh!
“Eternals”
Nov. 5, in theaters
Now that’s what you call a turnaround. Fresh off of winning the Best Director and Best Picture Oscars for “Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao has made… a Marvel movie?! Yes, it’s the first time a Best Director winner has helmed an MCU flick, and from the beautiful trailer, you can tell. The movie introduces us to the Eternals, millennia-old beings who watch over earth, played by the likes of Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Gemma Chan and Kumail Nanjiani.
“Spencer”
Nov. 5, in theaters
America always has Royals fever, but now we’re really burning up. The latest season of “The Crown,” in which Emma Corrin plays Princess Diana, is nominated for a slew of Emmys; the Broadway musical about “Diana” is on the way to the stage — and Netflix; and “Spencer,” a new drama that stars Kristen Stewart as the struggling Di is earning raves at the Venice Film Festival. Stewart, critics are saying, might be the best people’s princess of them all.
“Ghostbusters: Afterlife”
Nov. 11, in theaters
The all-female 2016 “Ghostbusters” was so bad it felt like somebody crossed their streams (a big no-no, as “Ghostbusters” fans know). The new movie should make amends for that misstep. For one, original stars Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts are in it, alongside Paul Rudd. (Harold Ramis, who played Egon, sadly died in 2014.) Going further, the design of the ghosts are based on the classic New York original.