We’re pretty much done with the summer movie season, and while it hasn’t been a total bust, it has been a bit of a letdown. But hope begins anew with every new season, and there’s reason to be excited by the films coming up for the remainder of 2016. We’ve got huge franchise pictures likeFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,Doctor Strange, andRogue One: A Star Wars Storysitting comfortably alongside major awards films likeBilly Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,Hacksaw Ridge, andLoving. We’ve also got some solid-looking comedies likeKeeping Up with the Joneses,Bad Santa 2, andOffice Christmas Party. It’s a diverse slate for the rest of the year, and it can be a bit overwhelming.
That’s why we’ve cut it down to the 42 movies that should be on your radar for the next four months. Granted, there could be some breakthrough pictures at TIFF and we still don’t have an exact release date forSilence, but for movies with a fixed release date, these are the most promising of the bunch. Read on for why you should be excited about what’s on tap for fall 2016.
The Light Between Oceans
Release Date:September 2nd
Director:Derek Cianfrance
Cast:Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz, Bryan Brown, and Jack Thompson
Synopsis:A lighthouse keeper and his wife living off the coast of Western Australia raise a baby they rescue from an adrift rowboat.
Why We’re Excited for It:Don’t let the ignominious Labor Day weekend release fool you. WhileThe Light Between Oceansis definitely getting dumped, it looks like that release date is more to do with studio politics than the actual quality of the film. Also, after Cianfrance’sBlue ValentineandThe Place Beyond the Pines, anything he does is pretty much a must-see. -Matt Goldberg
Director:Luke Scott
Cast:Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy, Toby Jones, Rose Leslie, Boyd Holbrook, Michelle Yeoh, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Paul Giamatti
Synopsis:A corporate troubleshooter (Kate Mara) is sent to a remote, top-secret location, where she is to investigate and evaluate aterrifying accident. She learns the event was triggered by a seemingly innocent “human,” who presents a mystery of both infinite promise and incalculable danger.
Why We’re Excited for It:Feature film debuts are always exciting. Most filmmakers work long and hard to get to that point, whether in film school or on the sets of other productions, so there’s an electricity in seeing their long-developed directorial vision manifest for the first time. In this particular case, the director happens to beLuke Scott, sonRidley Scott, who’s spent his entire life visiting major movie productions and learning how a set is run from an industry legend. Obviously, that advantage doesn’t garuntee a great filmmaker, but it helps. In Scott’s case, he’s also got an impressive short film behind him, the 2010 sci-fiLoom,which he wrote and directed. While imperfect,Loomdemonstrated a promising command of style and tone, if hampered somewhat by a miscalculated script.
Yoga Hosers
Director:Kevin Smith
Cast:Lily-Rose Depp, Harley Quinn Smith, Johnny Depp, Genesis Rodriguez, Justin Long, Adam Brody, Tyler Posey, Haley Joel Osmet
Official Synopsis:15-year-old yoga-nuts Colleen Collette (Harley Quinn Smith) and Colleen McKenzie (Lily-Rose Depp) love their smart phones and hate their after school job at Manitoban convenience store Eh-2-Zed. But when an ancient evil rises from beneath Canada’s crust and threatens their big invitation to a Grade 12 party, the Colleens join forces with the legendary man-hunter from Montreal named Guy Lapointe (Johnny Depp) to fight for their lives with all seven Chakras, one Warrior Pose at a time. Depp, Depp the younger and Smith the younger are returning in the roles they created for Tusk.
Why We’re Excited for It:“Excited” perhaps isn’t the correct word here; curious would be more appropriate. Especially after reading our very own Adam Chitwood’s befuddledreviewfrom Sundance. Nazi sausage monsters?Yoga Hosersdoes sounds like something that must be seen to be believed. And that’s something. -Brian Formo
Before I Wake
Release Date:Since posting, Relativity has bumped this from September 9 to “TBD”
Director:Mike Flanagan
Cast:Jacob Tremblay, Kate Bosworth
Official Synopsis:Foster parents Mark and Jessie welcome 8-year-old Cody into their home. The boy tells Jessie that he’s terrified to fall asleep, but she assumes it’s just a natural fear for any young child. The couple become startled when their dead biological son suddenly appears in their living room. To their surprise, Cody’s dreams can magically become real but so can his nightmares. Mark and Jessie must now uncover the truth behind Cody’s mysterious ability before his imagination harms them all.
Why We’re Excited For It:ThoughBrie Larsontook home the Oscar forRoom,Jacob Tremblaywalked away from 2015 the true winner, having won the hearts of nearly every soft-hearted individual in the country. Add Tremblay’s understated charm to the ever-promising showings ofMike Flanagan(likeOculusandHush), andBefore I Wakeseems like the horror no-brainer of the year. The film, which has been caught up in Relativity’s legal woes for nearly a year now, has had a wildly troubled release – though I’d wager that’s due to complicated legal dealings rather than concerns over the film’s quality. With a horror pedigree, star power, and a promising trailer,Before I Wakecould be one of fall’s biggest surprises – if it ever makes it to theaters. -Aubrey Page
Release Date:September 9th
Director:Clint Eastwood
Cast:Tom Hanks, Laura Linney, Aaron Eckhart, Sam Huntington, Anna Gunn, Autumn Reeser, Jerry Ferrara, Mike O’Malley
Official Synopsis:On August 01, 2025, the world witnessed the “Miracle on the Hudson” when Captain “Sully” Sullenberger glided his disabled plane onto the frigid waters of the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 aboard. However, even as Sully was being heralded by the public and the media for his unprecedented feat of aviation skill, an investigation was unfolding that threatened to destroy his reputation and his career.
Why We’re Excited for It:For me, Clint Eastwood remains inarguably one of the most galvanic and intimate political filmmakers that America currently has, andSullylooks to continue that tradition. If we’re to believe the trailer, the thematic core is the questioning of one’s motives in grand actions, specifically in the case of Captain Sully Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) landing a plane on the Hudson river when it looked like the scheduled landing would have proven led to a fatal crash. This must have tremendous reverberating personal feelings for the man who spoke to an invisible President Obama and recently supported Donald Trump’s presidential bid out of some bitter feelings toward the “pussy generation.”
Eastwood certainly doesn’t make it easy for you to take him seriously or even like him, but if you take that leap, his films resist simple categorization and are truly balanced in their view of domestic and international politics.American Sniper, for whatever it ignores in Chris Kyle’s history of racism and right-wing philosophizing, is one of the most ferociously anti-war films made this decade, or any other decade for that matter.Sullylooks to similarly consider questions of age and being haunted by one’s past, and the simultaneous honor and horror of being an American hero. -Chris Cabin
Blair Witch
Release Date:September 16th
Director:Adam Wingard
Cast:Corbin Reid, Wes Robinson, Valorie Curry, James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez, Brandon Scott
Official Synopsis:A group of college students venture into the Black Hills Forest in Maryland to uncover the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of James’ sister who many believe is connected to the legend of the Blair Witch. At first the group is hopeful, especially when a pair of locals offer to act as guides through the dark and winding woods, but as the endless night wears on, the group is visited by a menacing presence. Slowly, they begin to realize the legend is all too real and more sinister than they could have imagined.
Why We’re Excited for It:Sure, it’s a nice surprise that the film that was namedThe Woodsturned out to be anaturalist remakeofThe Blair Witch Project, but that’s not why this movie is here. This movie is here because ofAdam Wingard, the brilliant indie filmmaker who has directed at least two of the best horror films of the decade –You’re Nextand theJohn CarpenterodeThe Guest– and a regular colleague of indie heavyweightJoe Swanberg. Word from our very own Steve Weinberg is that it’s great, and the latest trailer for the film lends credence to that opinion. Even if early word wasn’t overwhelming positive, however, seeing the new Wingard would be required by any fan of independent filmmaking or horror. -Chris Cabin
Director:Oliver Stone
Cast:Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Tom Wilkinson, Scott Eastwood, Logan Marshall-Green, Timothy Olyphant, Ben Schnetzer, LaKeith Lee Stanfield, Rhys Ifans, and Nicolas Cage.
Official Synopsis:NSA employee Edward Snowden leaks thousands of classified documents to the press.
Why We’re Excited for It:Oliver Stonemay not always make great movies, but he always makes interesting ones, and who better to take on one of our generation’s greatest moments of political history and controversy than the director who has devoted most of his career to his historical passion. Centered onEdward Snowden, the deeply divisive former NSA Agent who illegally leaked thousands of confidential documents and uncoverd a deep-rooted corruption in the American government, in the process. Thanks to that subject matter, Snowden is poised to contain a complex discourse on patriotism and heroism, and if Stone is weilding the verve and acuity that makes his great films legendary, it could be a defnitive cinematic crystalization of a history we’re still living. At the very least, it’s bound to spark some incindiary dinner discussions. –Haleigh Foutch
The Magnificent Seven
Release Date:September 23rd
Director:Antoine Fuqua
Cast:Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Byung-Hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, and Peter Sarsgaard.
Official Synopsis:Director Antoine Fuqua brings his modern vision to a classic story in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures’ and Columbia Pictures’ The Magnificent Seven. With the town of Rose Creek under the deadly control of industrialist Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard), the desperate townspeople employ protection from seven outlaws, bounty hunters, gamblers and hired guns – Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington), Josh Farraday (Chris Pratt), Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke), Jack Horne (Vincent D’Onofrio), Billy Rocks (Byung-Hun Lee), Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), and Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier). As they prepare the town for the violent showdown that they know is coming, these seven mercenaries find themselves fighting for more than money.
Why We’re Excited for It:While directorAntoine Fuquahas more misses than hits (there’s a reason his films always have to sell him as “The Director of Training Day” even though that film came out 15 years ago and it falls apart in the third act), his previous film,The Equalizer, was surprisingly fun and that sense of fun looks to permeateThe Magnificent Seven. The director’s also got himself a great cast, and it looks like Washington and Pratt have tremendous chemistry, so I’m eager to see them bounce off each other. Also, I’m a sucker for new Westerns since studios barely make them any more, and hopefullyThe Magnificent Sevenwill be a worthwhile remake. -Matt Goldberg
Director:Nicholas Stoller, Doug Sweetland
Cast:Andy Samberg, Jennifer Aniston, Ty Burrell, Kelsey Grammer, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Katie Crown, and Danny Trejo
Official Synopsis:Storks deliver babies…or at least they used to. Now they deliver packages for global internet giant Cornerstore. Junior, the company’s top delivery stork, is about to be promoted when he accidentally activates the Baby Making Machine, producing an adorable and wholly unauthorized baby girl. Desperate to deliver this bundle of trouble before the boss gets wise, Junior and his friend Tulip, the only human on Stork Mountain, race to make their first-ever baby drop – in a wild and revealing journey that could make more than one family whole and restore the storks’ true mission in the world.
Why We’re Excited for It:It looks cute! While I don’t expectStorksto set the world on fire or revolution animation, the trailers have been funny and endearing, which is what you want if the premise of your movie is about birds and humans working together to deliver a baby to expectant parents. The movie also has the added benefit of coming from director Nicholas Stoller, who has really grown as a director over the his past few features, and I’m interested to see how he’ll tackle an animated movie. -Matt Goldberg
Queen of Katwe
Director:Mira Nair
Cast:David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong’o, and Madina Nalwanga
Synopsis:“Queen of Katwe” is based on the vibrant true story of a young girl from the streets of rural Uganda whose world rapidly changes when she is introduced to the game of chess, and, as a result of the support she receives from her family and community, is instilled with the confidence and determination she needs to pursue her dream of becoming an international chess champion.
Why We’re Excited for It:There’s nothing wrong with a good old fashioned uplifting true story, and the folks at Disney have gotten mighty good at telling them over the years. What makesQueen of Katweextra enticing, though, is that it marksLupita Nyong’o’s first live-action, non-motion capture role since winning the Oscar for her jaw-dropping turn in12 Years a Slave.
