Jane Blinston

The new theatrical version of “Wicked”, the wildly popular Broadway musical, stars Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba.

The fall always offers great avenues for films to use as their themes, and studios like Disney always wait to drop their most stunning hits around this time.

So here’s a sneak peak of some of the most anticipated major movies to hit the theaters with their release dates.

“Joker: Folie à Duex” (Oct. 4)

Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn joins returning lead Joaquin Phoenix for “Joker: Folie à Deux”.

Two years after the events of the first movie, Arthur Fleck, also known as the Joker, meets Harley, the love of his life, while institutionalized at a mental hospital. The film follows his distorted romance through Arthur’s journey to freedom as a movement to liberate him erupts following his arrest in the first movie.

With the reputation most recent musical movies have garnered, DC is trying their best to keep the musical nature of this film a secret.

The movie is described just as a feature film even though it includes 15 songs. All trailers and advertising don’t mention the songs at all. Seeing how this aspect of the film is hidden, I’m concerned it may be because it’s simply not good.

Although I never saw the first “Joker”, I know audiences had split opinions. Some admired the film’s message, while others thought it was unoriginal and trying too hard to be profound. Hopefully this new film solidifies its reputation as the former perspective.

“Smile 2” (Oct. 18)

“Smile 2” features Naomi Scott as pop star Skye Riley in the sequel to the well received horror film.

After witnessing an old friend’s death, Skye begins experiencing terrifying events as she embarks on a world tour.

Finding out the Smile entity is haunting her, Skye starts going to drastic measures to get rid of it. She eventually has to face the dark secrets of her past. Meanwhile, Joel is continuing to search for answers after the events of the first “Smile” film.

Despite the limited plot information, this sequel seems very intriguing. Using a pop star offers an interesting concept for writers to work with as Skye could pass it on to an entire concert audience, or sacrifice her fame to save herself by murdering someone.

Plus, the cinematography looks amazing with the trailer featuring unique shots that are perfect for this film.

I’m really looking forward to this as a perfect spooky Halloween watch.

“Venom: The Last Dance” (Oct. 24)

Eddie Brock and Venom are back on the silver screen as they run from a cryptic military man in “Venom 3: The Last Dance”. Audiences also will meet a second antagonist in Knull, god of Venom’s fellow symbiotes.

Tom Hardy and Peggy Lu return to their roles as Eddie Brock and Mrs. Chen, along with newcomers Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Dr. Payne and Orwell Taylor respectively.

Although the trailer offered a vague understanding of the plot, the exploration of alien life and the further powers of Venom as well as the fight scenes looked great.

There are also expectations for Eddie’s world to open up to those of other superheroes. For example, many have their fingers crossed that Spiderman finds Venom’s symbiote in his next movie. The ending of this film could have effects that ripple through the MCU.

“Red One” (Nov. 15)

Finally, we’ve reached a completely original upcoming major film, “Red One”, featuring a star-studded cast including Dwayne Johnson, J.K. Simmons and Chris Evans. This is a feel good comedy audiences can look forward to watching with the family around the Thanksgiving holiday.

Johnson plays himself, just like all his other movies, but this time within the context of the head of security at the North Pole who is in charge of solving the mystery when Santa Claus goes missing.

Evans is hired as the world’s best tracker to help in this mission. The main characters traverse through the holiday world, meeting whimsical characters like the polar bear security and beach-dwelling snowmen that are sure to delight fans all ages.

Although it doesn’t promise to be a sophisticated piece of cinema by any means, “Red One” seems like it should be a funny film to get audiences in the Christmas spirit.
“Wicked” (Nov. 22)

The first half of the live action film based on the beloved Broadway musical “Wicked” has been highly anticipated by fans hoping for a faithful adaptation.

Featuring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as Glinda and Elphaba, respectively, “Wicked” follows a popularity-pursuing student Glinda and her green-skinned roommate, Elphaba, as they become Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

Even though I haven’t seen the original musical, seeing the trailer for the wondrous world of Oz pulled me in, convincing me to watch this rendition.

The bright and clean cinematography shows off the fantastical elements of Oz, while the actors seem to be perfect for their characters. I hope this will make a good homage to the original story.
“Moana 2” (Nov. 27)

Sandwiched between the failure of sequel “Lightyear” and the already highly contentious Snow White remake, Disney had the genius idea of releasing “Moana 2.”

Three years after the events of the first movie, Moana played by Aul’i Cravalho is called by her ancestors to embark on another adventure beyond Motunui. This time, audiences introduced to Moana’s younger sister, Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda) while getting to enjoy the return of beloved characters Maui (Dwayne Johnson) and Heihei.

It worries me that the movie was originally meant to be a series (the format change was probably due to the writers’ strikes last year). I’m not sure if the studio will be able to properly merge the episodes into a theatrical experience.

But the film does seem to breathe new life into the world of Moana, intermixing old characters and locations with fresh new concepts, and visuals.

For the sake of my childhood self, I hope this is more of a successful “Inside Out 2” rather than the humiliating sequel, “Ralph Breaks the Internet”.

“Mufasa: The Lion King” (Dec. 20)

As Rafiki, the shahman monkey, tells Simba’s kids the story of their grandfather, the audience learns of Mufasa’s true origins in, “Mufasa: The Lion King”.

The life-like animation tells the tale of an adopted cub that rose to be king, consequently losing his brother to bitterness. Mufasa and Scar seem to have a more nuanced background than I expected, making the plot so much more interesting.

But I don’t know if the same can be said for the animation.

When I first saw 2019’s “Lion King”, I was somewhat unsettled by the animation that was in such contrast to that of the vibrant first film. But my young cousin watched in awe next to me and declared it as her favorite movie for the next couple years.

Most people aren’t sure whether to celebrate a new addition to a beloved story or be put off by the seemingly lifeless animation.

I’m mostly excited to see what this year’s films have to offer. But with this film being another sequel, I’m definitely going in with a critical mindset, trying to find out if any of these movies truly have watch-worthy qualities in them.

And I also hope more people expand out of the conventional realm of blockbusters to mix up their watch list with more humble, inspired films for the closing half of this year.