After a summer of IP runoff and franchise fatigue, the fall movie season is mere weeks away, ready to rescue cinephiles from the dog days of algorithm-approved sludge. We are now entering the corridor of prestige, where films with Oscar hopes get unveiled.
I’m counting only 20 days before the Venice Film Festival kicks off the fall movie season, followed by Telluride, Toronto, New York, San Sebastián and London. September to December is when we are supposed to get the good stuff—but what’s the actual forecast?
The biggest story is the films skipping festivals altogether, the two major ones being David Fincher’s “Cliff Booth” and Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s “Digger”—the others include Aaron Sorkin’s “The Social Reckoning” and Luca Guadagnino’s “Artificial.” Major studios are now shying away from fests and going straight to theatrical rollouts to kickstart Oscar buzz.
Then there are the films that are not only absent from fest lineups but have yet to be dated, with no promo released, not a single image; they include Edward Berger’s “The Riders,” Ron Howard’s “Alone at Dawn,” Fernando Meirelles’ “Here Comes the Flood” and Greg Kwedar’s “Saturn Return”—all of these probably punted to 2027.
Scrolling through the list of big titles, suddenly this year’s Cannes looks like an oasis of cinematic quality, which wasn’t how the press portrayed it. Rule of thumb: if Cannes, which is the festival where every major filmmaker wants to debut their films, save for cowardly Hollywood studios, has a weak slate, then a domino effect usually occurs throughout the rest of the year at the other major festivals.
That said, any fall that is set to unveil new works from David Fincher, Denis Villeneuve, Mike Leigh, Martin McDonagh, Lee Chang-dong, Zach Cregger and Alejandro G. Iñárritu can’t be that bad, right?
My most anticipated is easily David Fincher’s “Cliff Booth”—if it doesn’t get delayed until next year. Fincher + Tarantino is an undeniably irresistible combination: two filmmakers with wildly different sensibilities but a shared obsession with violence and the darker corners of Hollywood. Add Brad Pitt back as Cliff Booth, and you have the kind of cinematic collision that feels impossible to resist. Fincher taking on Tarantino’s character is the real hook—what does the director of “Se7en,” “Zodiac” and “The Social Network” do with this world? If Fincher brings his icy precision to Tarantino’s pulp, “Cliff Booth” could be the fall’s great wild card, and frankly, I can’t wait.
I’ve narrowed down the hundreds upon hundreds of films that will premiere this fall to 35 titles— not counting already-premiered stuff from Cannes, Berlin and Sundance. Vote for your most anticipated.
It’s been seven years since Alma Har’el’s feature debut, “Honey Boy,” which was written by and starred Shia LaBeouf — she is now set to direct her next film, with a very talented cast.