Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” was the movie of the summer. Less than a month after it opened in theaters, it crossed the $1 billion mark to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie worldwide, and it’s been fun to see audiences debate the movie’s themes and Nolan’s changes from Homer’s original.
The fall movie season may not have a similarly singular film on the calendar, but two big franchises are returning. That would be “Dune: Part Three” and “Avengers: Doomsday,” which are going head-to-head with the same release date on Dec. 18. You already know if either one is of interest to you, so save the date — or, conversely, go ahead and make plans to give other titles your box office dollars that weekend to let studios know you’re interested in other kinds of movies, as well.
A couple of Chicago documentaries are coming up, albeit on TV. Chicago native Mr. T became a pop cultural staple in the 1980s thanks to roles in “Rocky III” and “The A-Team” (he still maintains a home in the South Loop) and he is the subject of “Mr T: I Pity the Fool,” premiering on Netflix Sept. 8. And on PBS, Chicago’s own Joffrey Ballet gets the spotlight in a documentary from Kartemquin Films about a two-week choreography competition wherein artists from Brazil, India, Puerto Rico, Brooklyn and Chicago “race against the clock to transform personal stories” into choreography. “Joffrey Ballet: The Next Movement” premieres Sept. 18.
More Top Picks Best Diet For Heart Disease
On the festival side, Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Fest runs Sept. 17-27, and the 62nd Chicago International Film Fest runs Oct. 14-25.
Here’s a look at what’s coming to theaters (listed by date of release, with one streaming exception):
“Practical Magic 2”
The 1998 original witchy rom-com starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman was a flop initially, but ultimately became a cult classic. Bullock and Kidman are back for this sequel — you didn’t think we’d get through the fall without a few remakes to make your eyes glaze over, did you? — which takes place now-ish, as they face a new crisis regarding their magical powers. The film’s director is Susanne Bier, who last worked with Kidman on the frothy Netflix series “The Perfect Couple” (Sept. 10)
“The Uprising”
Andrew Garfield plays a 14th-century English peasant who sparks a rebellion after he loses his wife and children to the bubonic plague, and with the king asking for unreasonable taxes, well … enough is enough. Said event would later become known as the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. The film is written and directed by Paul Greengrass, who told People magazine it is an early example of common people taking center stage and when “history was no longer going to be about kings and queens and the rich and powerful.” (Sept. 11)
“Primetime”
It’s been a busy year for Robert Pattinson, who is back on the big screen playing a once-regular presence on the small screen: Chris Hansen, host of “To Catch a Predator,” which was one of the more notorious TV phenomena of the early 2000s. Were his TV stings honest attempts at exposing pedophiles, or was that mission secondary to capturing gawk-worthy, exploitative moments for the camera? Count on Pattinson to bring his wonderfully layered weirdness to the role. (Sept. 25)
“Digger”
Tom Cruise is back on the big screen and he’s playing a character other than Ethan Hunt. That’s reason enough to be curious. In a satirical dark comedy from Alejandro G. Iñárritu, he stars as Digger Rockwell, an eccentric oil tycoon whose company sets off an ecological disaster. Instead of stunts, which have predominated in Cruise’s output over the last decade or so, expect plenty of prosthetics glued to the man’s face. Truly, the idea of Cruise doing something outside the more typically heroic confines of his recent output is exciting. He’s a real actor in addition to being a movie star, and it’s nice to know he’s still willing to break from the expected. The cast also includes Riz Ahmed, John Goodman and Sandra Hüller. (Oct. 2)
More Top Picks Compost Teas
“The Social Reckoning”
A follow-up to 2010’s “The Social Network,” this film is written and directed by Aaron Sorkin and stars Jeremy Allen White as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and Mikey Madison as a Facebook whistleblower looking to expose some of the company’s worst secrets. Putting “reckoning” in the title is certainly a choice. Is that meant sincerely or ironically? What kind of reckoning has Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg (played here by Jeremy Strong) experienced as a result of this real-world whistleblower’s willingness to come forward? When it comes to major Hollywood movies taking on The Issues of Our Day, it’s always worth asking: What is the filmmaker trying to say, if anything? Here’s hoping Sorkin will give audiences some real meat to chew on. (Oct. 9)
“Matchbox: The Movie”
If Lego and Barbie can have their own movies, why not Matchbox? Not sure what to expect tonally from this movie starring John Cena, which is described as an “action-packed globetrotting adventure about a group of friends since childhood who have their lives upended when an undercover CIA agent, their long-absent leader, returns to their small town and unwittingly gets them embroiled in a frantic international pursuit to save the world.” And I thought it would have been about … Matchbox cars. (Streaming Oct. 9 on Apple TV)
“Other Mommy”
In a perfect world, no one is more trustworthy than Mom. But what if there’s a Mom doppelganger in the home — one with a creepy smile that screams “AI” — who is terrorizing both her young daughter and husband? That’s the premise for this horror movie starring Jessica Chastain, based on the 2024 novel “Incidents Around the House” by Josh Malerman. (Oct. 9)
“How to Rob a Bank”
An action-comedy heist movie starring Nicholas Hoult, Christian Slater, John C. Reilly and Zoë Kravit about bank robbers who brag about their exploits on social media because their crimes are motivated by their desire to push back against a rigged system. But that means it’s impossible to stay under the radar (“Let’s make some content” is their rallying cry) and the FBI are on their tail. But apparently the trade-off is worth it: “You know what is more powerful than money?” a character asks. “An audience.” (Nov. 13)
“I Play Rocky”
A biopic about Sylvester Stallone and “Rocky,” the 1976 movie that turned him into a household name. In his 20s, Stallone struggled to land roles. And when he did, he was pigeonholed as the thug. So he wrote a script about an underdog boxer. The film became a hit and changed his life, but his path there was, well … a rocky one. Studios liked the script and wanted to make it — with anyone but Stallone in the title role. The man needed a paycheck badly and could have taken the money and run, but he stuck to his guns and the rest is history. Anthony Ippolito plays Stallone. (Nov. 20)
“Focker-in-Law”
Long, long, long sigh. Sorry, was I supposed to write something about the movie itself? Wasn’t a fan of 2000’s “Meet the Parents,” but whatever. Two more movies followed: 2004’s “Meet the Fockers” and 2010’s “Little Fockers.” So here we are in 2026 with the fourth incarnation of this franchise starring Ben Stiller as the guy who has a hard-ass for a father-in-law, played by Robert De Niro. This time, it’s the next generation introducing a new mate. (Nov. 25)
More Top Picks Why Reading Is Hard After A Concussion