“Babylon”
The winter season is saving one of the biggest films for last, with director Damien Chazelle’s (“La La Land”) 1920s Hollywood story “Babylon” getting a release right before the awards calendar ends. We don’t know too much about this project just yet, but the massive cast is enough alone to whet our appetites to see how the “La La Land” director takes on Hollywood again: Brad Pitt, Olivia Wilde, Margot Robbie, Samara Weaving, Tobey Maguire, Jean Smart, Katherine Waterston, Eric Roberts, Phoebe Tonkin, Flea, Max Minghella, Lukas Haas, Spike Jonze, Jovan Adepo, and Jennifer Grant star.
Release Date: December 25 via Paramount Pictures.
Not Yet Dated, But Likely Coming Later This Fall
“Causeway”
And with the season still coming together, a few of our anticipated titles don’t yet have specific release dates. A24 alone hasn’t put down dates for Lila Neugebauer’s “Causeway,” in which Jennifer Lawrence plays a soldier returning home to New Orleans. Bryan Tyree Henry co-stars.
Distributor: A24 and Apple TV+.
“Close”
Lukas Dhont’s winner of the Grand Jury Prize from this year’s Cannes Film Festival is a coming-of-age story starring Eden Dambrine and Gustav De Waele. We can be sure that A24 will try to turn this movie’s festival favorite status into an awards favorite; expect to see this one more in 2023, but it’s getting a qualifying run in 2022.
Distributor: A24.
“My Father’s Dragon”
The visionary animators of Cartoon Saloon (“The Secret of Kells,” “Song of the Sea”) return with Netflix support, as the streaming service is taking on their latest, as directed by Nora Twomey (“The Breadwinner”). Based on the Newberry-honored book by Ruth Stiles Gannett, this movie about a kid who runs away to an island, searching for a dragon, boasts a massive ensemble voice cast: Jacob Tremblay, Gaten Matarazzo, Golshifteh Farahani, Dianne Wiest, Rita Moreno, Chris O’Dowd, Judy Greer, Alan Cumming, Yara Shahidi, Jackie Earle Haley, Mary Kay Place, Leighton Meester, Spence Moore II, Adam Brody, Charlyne Yi, Maggie Lincoln, Jack Smith, Whoopi Goldberg, and Ian McShane. The film is set to get some type of theatrical release and then be available on streaming in November.
Distributor: Netflix.
“Spirited”
We should be learning more soon about this musical version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, which gives us the on-screen pairing of Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds. Sean Anders and John Morris (“Sex Drive”) have written and directed this Yuletide curiosity which also stars Aimee Carrero, Jen Tullock, Octavia Spencer, P.J. Byrne, and Joe Tippett. We know how much Will Ferrell loves to sing in movies, so we should expect a lot of that, at the very least.
Distributor: Apple TV+.
“The Whale”
Darren Aronofsky’s latest film since 2017’s “Mother!” puts Brendan Fraser in his first major lead film role in a long time. He will play a reclusive man living with severe obesity who tries to reunite with his daughter. The project is based on the play by Samuel D. Hunter, and Fraser’s performance has already received a special recognition from the Toronto International Film Festival.
Distributor: A24.
“The Wonder”
Based on the novel by Emma Donoghue (“Room”), this psychological story is about a young girl who can fast for long periods of time with no negative effects, causing a hysteria in her home of the Irish Midlands in 1862. Florence Pugh stars as the nurse who travels to investigate the phenomenon, and to see if something stranger is afoot. This upcoming Netflix film from director Sebastián Lelio also stars Tom Burke, Niamh Algar, Elaine Cassidy, Kila Lord Cassidy, Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds, and David Wilmot. “The Wonder” is expected to have a select theatrical release in November, and be available for streaming in December.
Distributor: Netflix.
