After smash hit releases like Inside Out 2, Twisters and Alien: Romulus, the summer blockbuster season has sadly drawn to a close.
But never fear – the autumn has its own cinematic delights to offer, from anti-aging cloning gone horrifically wrong, to the hijinks of Britain’s favourite duffel-coated, marmalade-loving bear, to the return of DC Comics’s The Joker (but make it a musical). Get your popcorn ready.
Here are the 20 biggest film releases to see this autumn
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
After 36 years in limbo, Michael Keaton’s undead prankster gets the Top Gun: Maverick treatment, raising literal hell in Winter River with a new generation of Deetzes. Sept 6
Firebrand
Jude Law is a compellingly rancid Henry VIII, pitted against Alicia Vikander’s Katherine Parr, his religious opposite, who endangers herself with a miscarriage.Sept 6
The Critic
Adapting Anthony Quinn’s Curtain Call, Patrick Marber has fashioned a dapper thriller set in 1930s London, about a theatre critic (Ian McKellen) embroiled in deceit and murder. Gemma Arterton and Mark Strong co-star. Sept 13
Lee
Kate Winslet stars in a handsomely upholstered, gumption-first biopic of model turned photographer Lee Miller, whose uncompromising shots from Second World War frontlines stunned the world. Sept 13
The Substance
Demi Moore’s comeback is an outrageously grotesque plunge into full-bore body horror about stardom’s shelf-life. Margaret Qualley, as a younger clone, comes crawling out of Demi’s spine, but then the two go to war. Sept 20
Wolfs
Brad Pitt and George Clooney pal up for an underworld caper in which two suave fixers, tasked with the same clean-up op, tread testily on one another’s toes. Sept 20
The Outrun
Saoirse Ronan is abrasive and persuasive in this rehab memoir based on Amy Liptrot’s prize-winning 2016 book, about retreating to more elemental living in the Orkneys to escape a boozy personal hell in London. Sept 27
Megalopolis
Outrageous folly? Avant-garde masterwork? Francis Ford Coppola’s maximalist sci-fi epic, about a genius architect (Adam Driver) remaking New York in his image, argues strongly for both. Sept 27
Joker: Folie à Deux
Joaquin Phoenix is back, falling head over heels for Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn while locked up at Arkham State Hospital. And it’s a musical! Oct 4
Transformers One
Toy Story 4’s Josh Cooley brings a wry, playful touch to this animated reboot, which gives us the shape-shifting robots as plasticky comrades on a 1980s-style sci-fi world. Oct 11
The Wild Robot
DreamWorks Animation forges a path into the post-CGI era with this digitally hand-painted coming-of-age tale, adapted from Peter Brown’s best-selling children’s book. Oct 18
The Apprentice
Behold Donald Trump’s origins in all their greasy detail, with Sebastian Stan as the Manhattan property shark with big plans. Jeremy Strong looms vampirically as his mentor, cut-throat lawyer Roy Cohn. Oct 18
Timestalker
In her follow-up to Prevenge, Alice Lowe writes, directs and stars in this science-fiction comedy about a woman serially reincarnated and stalked across multiple time periods by the same rotter. Oct 18
Anora
Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner – with star-in-waiting Mikey Madison as a stripper who, on a whim, elopes with the f*ckless son of an oligarch – delivers a sustained blast of joyous screwball havoc. Nov 1
Paddington in Peru
Third time will surely continue the charm in this self-explanatory new adventure, which starts with an ill-fated trip to Paddington’s Aunt Lucy in Peru – she’s got lost somewhere in the Amazonian rainforest. Nov 8
Gladiator II
Paul Mescal takes up Russell Crowe’s tunic and blade in Ridley Scott’s hotly anticipated next-generation extension to his Best Picture-winning Roman epic. Nov 15
Wicked
Universal’s film transfer of the Broadway smash has been split in half, with the second part due in a year. Cynthia Erivo is the wicked one, Ariana Grande the good one, and Jeff Goldblum is the wizard. Nov 22
Conclave
Robert Harris’s thriller about a papal succession rocked by conspiracy reaches the screen, with Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow all as cardinals, and All Quiet on the Western Front’s Edward Berger directing.Nov 29
All We Imagine As Light
Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix winner is a stunner. A Mumbai city symphony focusing on two migrant nurses: one abandoned by her husband, the other secretly in love with a Muslim boyfriend.Nov 29
Moana 2
Disney’s Polynesian princess sets sail with old friends on another animated adventure, with new songs from the TikTok-famous duo behind The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical. Nov 29
