Fall film preview: Something ‘Wicked’ this way comes, along with a ‘Running Man,’ ‘Spider Woman’ and Bruce Springsteen

CNN Monday is already September and BAM Labor Day is here the unofficial end of summer With it as consistently comes a slate of new offerings at the movies with multiple titles signaling a subtle shift from popcorn movies to the forward-looking read awards-courting entries of the fall But that s not to say there aren t a fair share of broadly-appealing titles in the mix Below is a selection of a few of the buzziest movies set to hit cineplexes between Labor Day weekend and the middle of November The Cut Sep Ever since Rocky films focused on the plight of prizefighters have been fodder for trophies come award season One of the entries this year stars Orlando Bloom as a troubled boxer who makes selected dangerous choices Caitr ona Balfe and John Turturro costar The Conjuring Last Rites Sep If you can avert your eyes from this summer s highly bizarre story involving the death of the handler of the Annabelle doll a real-life relic from the true stories upon which the Conjuring franchise is based there s its epic finale Franchise mainstays Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are back as a pair of historic paranormal investigators facing ever-mounting demonic evil Twinless Sept Judging from the trailer this modern fable about a pair of young men who connect after they each in recent days lost their identical twin brothers reads like Dead Ringers minus the body horror plus a pair of cute boys one being Dylan O Brien Gilmore Girls Lauren Graham costars Spinal Tap II The End Continues Sep It has been a while since Christopher Guest last graced us with one of his brilliant satires in the tradition of Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show and that makes sense since both of those films are now over years old Here he brings it back to the beginning with a sequel to s This is Spinal Tap the first and arguably preponderance hilarious spoof which he wrote that detected massive success The Long Walk Sep This is the first of two Stephen King adaptations coming out this fall specifically based on novellas he wrote as Richard Bachman an early pseudonym The Long Walk tells the grizzly story of boys engaged in a macabre slow race in which you must walk and never stop or die What prize waits at the end of the long walk Since this is a King adaptation the answer is more complicated than one might think Downton Abbey The Grand Finale Sep It might elicit a gasp and a clutching of pearls to realize that the original Downton Abbey series ended almost years ago That s not to say that the Granthams and Crawleys et al have been absent in the interim we ve had the pleasure of visiting with the Lords and Ladies twice since in two film sequels Now a grand finale is upon us in this third film installment bringing back a large number of franchise regulars such as Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern regrettably Maggie Smith who ruled the roost as the Dowager Countess passed away in Him Sep Co-produced by Get Out mastermind Jordan Peele Him tells the story of an impressionable young football star who comes under the influence of a former champion whose willingness to make sacrifices for success goes way too far History of Sound Sep This quiet and brooding period piece follows the secret love story between a World War I-era music prodigy Paul Mescal and a gifted participant Joshua O Connor who fashions himself into a collector of folksongs If you haven t had your fill of either of the two leads by the end of this one there s also two more starring O Connor Mastermind in October and Rebuilding in November and Hamnet starring Mescal on Thanksgiving A Big Bold Beautiful Journey Sept Margot Robbie s big-screen follow up to s Barbie is this surreal adventure opposite Colin Farrell that sees two strangers stepping through literal doors into other periods in their lives One Battle After Another Sep Paul Thomas Anderson Magnolia There Will Be Blood returns with a new opus starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio Del Toro following ex-revolutionaries who reunite to save the daughter of one of their own Good Boy Oct There s sure to be enough dog lovers and horror movie lovers out there for specific considerable overlap for this film Just in time for spooky season this haunted house movie stated from the perspective of man s best friend hopes to attract both crowds Anemone Oct Daniel Day-Lewis is back from acting retirement in his son Ronan Day-Lewis directorial debut The family drama also stars Sean Bean and Samantha Morton The Smashing Machine Oct Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt reunite after Disney s Jungle Cruise for an entirely different affair this time following Johnson looking unrecognizable as Mark Kerr the mixed-martial arts and UFC champion Kiss of the Spider Woman Oct Adapted from the novel by Manuel Puig and following the Oscar-winning adaptation this new take on the story of abused Brazilian prisoners and the make-believe world one of them escapes to stars and Andor s Diego Luna opposite Tonatiuh and a showy Jennifer Lopez in the title role Tron Ares Oct Following the now dated-feeling first installment starring Jeff Bridges and after s impressive followup Legacy the new installment in the video battle virtual reality series looks even slicker and more hi-tech if that were attainable Soundtrack courtesy of Nine Inch Nails fronted by Academy Award-winner Trent Reznor The Social Grid It Was Just an Accident Oct This Cannes Palme d Or-winning film from Iran tells a tale of revenge and expected mistaken identity with what starts out as a basic kidnapping blossoming into something much more complex After the Hunt Oct Julia Roberts Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri star in Luca Guadagnino s Call Me By Your Name who-do-you-believe tale of a sex assault accusation leveled at a high profile university This one is sure to be a talker judging from its polarizing reception at the Venice Film Festival Good Fortune Oct Starring Seth Rogen Aziz Ansari Keke Palmer Sandra Oh and Keanu Reeves in Ansari s directorial debut this movie looks like City of Angels mixed with an underdog body swap comedy Not no Springsteen Deliver Me From Nowhere Oct The tradition of biopics centered on contemporary rockers continues with this look at the rise of the Boss starring The Bear star Jeremy Allen White and the making of his formative album Nebraska Mortal Kombat II Oct Karl Urban joins the tongue-in-cheek fun in this followup to surprise hit reboot movie adaptation of the beloved s video event franchise Finish him Blue Moon Oct Ethan Hawke will take a break from terrifying audiences in The Black Phone out one week earlier on October for this historical look at the transition from Rodgers and Hart to Rodgers and Hammerstein It-girl Margaret Qualley costars in the film directed by Richard Linklater auteur of the Hawke-starring Before trilogy If I Had Legs I d Kick You Oct Let the Oscar buzz begin if it hasn t already for Rose Byrne in this arresting looking portrait of a mother in peril Costarring A AP Rocky in his second feature of the season following Apple TV s From Highest Lowest and Conan O Brien as a therapist Bugonia Oct Speaking of Oscar buzz Poor Things director Yorgos Lanthimos again teams up with his muse Emma Stone for this bizarre-looking remake of a Korean movie from Save the Green Planet in which a conspiracy theorist here played by Jesse Plemons believes a high-powered female CEO Stone is in fact an alien We are intrigued to say the least Predator Badlands Nov Elle Fanning gives us a change of pace in this latest entry in the sci-fi franchise playing an android helping a Predator who has been ousted from his clan prepare to fight the ultimate foe Die My Love Nov This festival favorite stars Jennifer Lawrence opposite Robert Pattinson as a mother in a rural setting struggling with psychosis and depression Based on the title alone it s safe to assume this one gets pretty dark Nuremberg Nov Costarring Rami Malek and Russell Crowe the latter as infamous Nazi war criminal Hermann G ring this historical epic looks at the famed trials of noted Nazi offenders following WWII and a psychiatrist who became involved Costarring John Slattery Michael Shannon and White Lotus star Leo Woodall I Wish You All The Best Nov From Tommy Dorfman I Wish You All The Best follows a trans teen who is kicked out of the house and the journey of discovery and self-acceptance that follows Costarring Cole Sprouse Alexandra Daddario again of White Lotus fame and Lena Dunham The Running Man Nov The second Stephen King adaptation on this list this too follows a macabre championship that attracts a sinister and enthusiastic audience but the twist here is that just about anyone can kill the primary contestant The titular Man is played by Glen Powell after Arnold Schwarzenegger played the role in an earlier adaptation in Rental Family Nov Oscar-winner Brendan Fraser The Whale stars in this fish-out-of-water tale of a struggling American actor in Tokyo who gets a unique job working for a Japanese rental family agency playing various stand-in roles for total strangers Wicked For Good Nov It s time to defy gravity and expectations as the followup to last year s hit musical Wicked swoops into theaters The closing chapter of the adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical in turn based on the book by Gregory Maguire tells a darker story that eventually dovetails into the beginning of The Wizard of Oz Featuring Oscar-nominees Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande