The big features hitting theaters
This week sees the release of The Equalizer 3 from Sony Pictures. Despite the fact that it stars Denzel Washington and follows two successful films from 2014 and 2018, no press screenings have been arranged for it. Since there isn’t anything new to review, it seems like a good time to examine what is coming from studios in the next couple of months. Just remember that with the writer and actor strikes in Hollywood, release dates for some efforts may unexpectedly shift.
More sequels will premier on theater screens on Sept. 8. The Nun II from New Line is a follow-up to the 2018 original and part of The Conjuring franchise. In this period creeper, the protagonist from the original returns. She must square off once again with a demonic nun terrorizing a Catholic boarding school in France.
If you prefer comedy, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 is an option. After Fotoula “Toula” Portokalos’ father passes away, the Portokalos family sets out to visit the patriarch’s childhood home in Greece. The title will be released by Focus Features.
The following week, Kenneth Branagh returns as Hercule Poirot for another murder/mystery based on an Agatha Christie novel. 20th Century Studios’ A Haunting in Venice follows the detective to a séance, where one of the attendees is murdered and he must solve the crime. Like the other films in the series, it boasts an impressive supporting cast of potential suspects, including Jamie Dornan, Michelle Yeoh, Kelly Reilly, Tina Fey and more.
If you want to stay home on Sept. 15, Netflix is offering Love at First Sight, a rom-com with Haely Lu Richardson and Ben Hardy about two young people who fall in love while on a flight together. After she loses his contact information, the lead does everything she can to try and find her potential love interest.
On Sept. 22, Sylvester Stallone is returning to the big screen with Expend4bles, the fourth movie in the Lionsgate series. He teams up with Jason Statham, 50 Cent, Megan Fox, Dolph Lundgren, Jony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Randy Couture and Andy Garcia to take on an arms dealer and his army of terrorists, who are in possession of some nuclear missiles.
Netflix is debuting a sequel the same week with Spy Kids: Armageddon, a reboot of the popular film series from the 2000s. Robert Rodriguez returns to direct this tale about the children of secret agents who must become spies themselves after an evil game developer threatens the world.
The Creator is a post-apocalyptic science-fiction/thriller with John David Washington that is set during a war between humanity and artificial intelligence. A soldier is tasked with tracking down and eliminating a superweapon created by the machines, but finds the mission incredibly difficult after finding and befriending his target. This epic from 20th Century Studios opens in theaters Sept. 29.
PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie is a follow-up to PAW Patrol: The Movie, which was released two years ago by Paramount Pictures and was very successful at the box office. The animated family feature also opens in theaters on Sept. 29. This time out, the pups discover a meteor that gives them superpowers. The villainous mayor from the previous adventure breaks out of prison to gain the space rock’s magical abilities and take down the heroes.
The same weekend, Lionsgate is releasing Saw X, which sees the return of the sinister Jigsaw. This tale actually takes place between the events of Saw and Saw II and follows the familiar character as he targets a group of individuals in Mexico scamming patients with a miracle cure for cancer.
And Apple TV+ is debuting Flora and Son, a musical/comedy set in Ireland. It follows a single mother with a troubled son as she tries to get him off the streets with a guitar and music lessons. It stars Eve Hewson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Orén Kinlan and Jack Reynor. The film should be in a few theaters a week earlier before it arrives on the streaming service on Sept. 29.
The fall season kicks off to a busy start with several major titles. Although it has been bumped around a few times, the biopic Dumb Money from Sony is currently scheduled to arrive in cinemas on Oct. 6. It stars Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D’Onofrio, America Ferrera, Shailene Woodley, Nick Offerman, Seth Rogen and many more. It tells the story of the Game Stop stock market squeeze and how it occurred.
Relativity is still promoting the action/comedy Freelance starring John Cena and Alison Brie for Oct. 6. Cena plays an ex-special agent assigned to protect a reporter doing an interview with the president of a foreign nation. When a coup occurs during the interview, the pair have to escape into the jungle.
The Marsh King’s Daughter is a drama from Lionsgate about a woman seeking revenge on the man who kidnapped her mother. This film stars Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn.
Amazon Studios is releasing Foe, at theaters (it will eventually arrive on Prime, but no date has been set). It is a futuristic sci-fi/thriller with Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal about a young couple working a farm who are visited by an uninvited stranger.
And the Netflix drama Reptile features Benicio Del Toro as an obsessive detective who begins to question his own choices while working a difficult case.
With Halloween approaching, there are plenty of horror features that start arriving in mid-October. On the 13th, Universal is putting out The Exorcist: Believer, which has been described as a follow-up to the 1973 classic. Set in modern day, two girls disappear, only to come home days later under demonic possession. Ellen Burstyn returns from the original film as Chris MacNeil.
Fair Play is a Netflix thriller with Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich about a young couple working at a cutthroat corporate hedge fund trading firm. When she gets promoted and takes new responsibilities, their relationship begins to suffer and they turn on each other.
The faith-based drama Ordinary Angels with Hilary Swank is also arriving from Lionsgate at theaters on Oct. 13. It follows an alcoholic hairdresser who sets out to help a widowed dad pay the medical bills for his daughter.
The big movie of the month is Killers of the Flower Moon, which opens in limited release on the 6th before going wide across the country on Oct. 20. This Apple TV+ and Paramount Pictures co-production reteams director Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, Casino, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Irishman) with frequent onscreen collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio. Based on the 2017 book of the same name, the story is set in the 1920s and revolves around the investigation of a series of murders in the Osage Nation committed after oil was discovered on their land. Just be sure to buy a snack, as the movie is said to be nearly three and a half hours in length.
And if you enjoy the video game Five Nights at Freddy’s, Universal is releasing a live-action adaptation in cinemas on Oct. 27 .
These are but a sampling of movies that will (hopefully) all be coming down the pipeline very shortly.
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By Glenn Kay
For the Sun
