25 Fall Movies We’re Dying to See: From ‘Everest’ to ‘The Hateful Eight’

TheWrap Fall Preview 2015: TheWrap picks the movies you need to see before the end of the year

A storm of fall movies is coming our way, and the lineup looks pretty impressive.

From highly anticipated big-budget epics like “Everest” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” to smaller films such as “Truth,” there is something on the movie roster for everyone.

Here, TheWrap narrows down the 25 titles with that have left us tingling with anticipation — and ready to pre-order our tickets.

black-mass-featured
Warner Bros.

“Black Mass”
Cast: Johnny Depp, Dakota Johnson, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Corey Stoll, Kevin Bacon, Adam Scott, Peter Sarsgaard
Director: Scott Cooper
Release date: Sept. 18
What’s it about: The true story follows Whitey Bulger (Depp), a notorious violent criminal in South Boston who became an FBI informant in order to take down a rival Mafia family invading his turf.
Why we’re excited to see it: Warner Bros. has been releasing trailers consistently, and the star-studded cast and the compelling story is bound to break Depp’s streak of box office flops.

Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures

“Everest”
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Keira Knightley, Robin Wright, Sam Worthington, Josh Brolin, Jason Clarke
Director: Baltasar Kormakur
Release Date: Sept. 25
What it’s about: Based on a real-life tragedy from 1996, the film follows an expedition of mountain climbers to Mt. Everest who fall prey to a severe snowstorm.
Why we’re excited to see it: The trailer exposes amazing aerial shots, a great storyline and scenes that get our heart racing. Moreover, Jake Gyllenhaal has been on a roll lately, with films such as “Southpaw” and “Nightcrawler.”

Lionsgate
Lionsgate

“Sicario”
Cast: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio del Toro
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Release Date: Sept. 18
What it’s about: A young FBI agent (Blunt) is recruited to a special task force to battle drug smuggling along the U.S./Mexican border, and finds herself in a deadly moral quagmire.
Why we’re excited to see it: Canadian director Villeneuve proved himself to be a master of tough, tense filmmaking with “Prisoners,” and this brutal drug-war drama looks comparably dark and compelling (though also violent enough to have caused a few walkouts at the Cannes Film Festival). There’s also great buzz for del Toro.

Sony/Tristar
Sony/Tristar

“The Walk”
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, James Badge Dale, Ben Schwartz
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Release Date: Oct. 9
What’s it about: The true story of a French high-wire artist named Philippe Petit who attempted to walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.
Why we’re excited to see it: The trailer already gets our hearts pumping as we watch Gordon-Levitt prepare for the dangerous walk. And the aerial shots and cinematography should look even better in 3D.

The Martian
Fox

“The Martian”
Cast: Matt Damon, Kate Mara, Kristin Wiig, Jessica Chastain, Michael Pena, Sean Bean
Director: Ridley Scott
Release Date: Oct. 2
What It’s about: During a mission to Mars, Mark Watney is taken for dead after a fierce storm and left behind. But he survives only to find himself stranded on a hostile planet and struggling to send a signal to Earth.
Why we’re excited to see it:  It’s another space movie that is bound to offer great cinematography. Moreover, it boasts an amazing cast and unique storyline based on Andy Weir’s best-selling 2011 novel.

Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures

“Steve Jobs”
Cast
: Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels, Katerine Waterston
Director: Danny Boyle
Release date: Oct. 9
What it’s about: The story of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs as seen during three of the company’s biggest product launches.
Why we’re excited to see it: After Ashton Kutcher underwhelmed as the tech innovator in 2013’s “Jobs,” it will be exciting to see what Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender can bring to the role. But Aaron Sorkin’s first screenplay since 2011’s “Moneyball” has attracted major talent, including director Danny Boyle and Seth Rogen in a serious turn as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

Walt Disney Studios
Walt Disney Studios

“Bridge of Spies”
Cast: Tom Hanks, Amy Ryan, Alan Alda, Austin Stowell, Mark Rylance
Director: Steven Spielberg
Release Date: Oct. 16
What’s it about: During the Cold War, a U.S. lawyer (Hanks) is recruited by the CIA to rescue a pilot captured in the Soviet Union.
Why we’re excited to see it: It’s a historical feature with fan favorite Hanks, and it has been 11 years since Hanks and Spielberg have collaborated on a film (“The Terminal”).

Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics

“Truth”
Cast: Robert Redford, Cate Blanchett, Topher Grace, Elisabeth Moss, Dennis Quaid
Director: James Vanderbilt
Release date: Oct. 16
What’s it about: Based on the nonfiction book “Truth and Duty” by Mary Mapes, the drama recounts the real-life relationship between CBS anchor Dan Rather (Redford) and his producer Mapes (Blanchett) over several major news stories the pair broke — including one erroneous report that would blemish their reputations and that of the CBS News.
Why we’re excited to see it: The scandal that ended the career of one of the most trusted faces in TV journalism is ripe fodder for the directorial debut of “The Amazing Spider-Man” screenwriter James Vanderbilt.

Fox Searchlight Acquires 'Brooklyn'
Fox Searchlight

“Brooklyn”
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, Emory Cohen, Michael Zegen
Director: John Crowley
Release Date: Nov. 6
What it’s about: Ellis Lacey, an Irish immigrant in 1950s New York City, finds herself torn between two men and two countries.
Why we’re excited to see it: This old-fashioned period drama, based on an acclaimed novel by Colm Toíbín, garnered major buzz at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. And Ronan, an Oscar nominee at age 13 for 2007’s “Atonement,” has a meaty grown-up role to follow her quirky turn in last year’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”

MGM
MGM

“Spectre”
Cast: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista, Monica Bellucci, Lea Seydoux

Director: Sam Mendes
Release date: Nov. 6
What’s it about: A cryptic message from his past sends James Bond (Craig) on a quest to uncover a sinister organization while M (Fiennes) battles political forces that want to shut down the British secret service.
Why we’re excited to see it: Mendes returns to the franchise after “Skyfall,” this time abetted by two-time Oscar winner Waltz, who plays the dastardly head of the titular criminal syndicate.

Open Road
Open Road

“Spotlight”
Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Stanley Tucci, Billy Crudup, Brian d’Arcy James, John Slattery
Director: Tom McCarthy
Release date: Nov. 6
What’s it about: A group of investigative journalists at the Boston Globe uncover the Roman Catholic Church’s widespread cover-up of priests sexually abusing children.
Why we’re excited to see it: A top-notch cast tackles a controversial ripped-from-the-headlines story with ramifications both personal and global — that’s enough for us to forget that McCarthy’s last film was “The Cobbler.”

20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox

“The Peanuts Movie”
Cast: Noah Schnapps, Hadley Belle Miller
Director: Steve Martino
Release date: Nov. 6
What’s it about: Snoopy embarks upon his greatest mission as he and his team take to the skies to pursue their arch-nemesis, the Red Baron, while his best pal Charlie Brown begins his own epic quest back home on the ground.
Why we’re excited to see it: Charles M. Schultz’s animated creations played a major role in our childhoods and it’s only fair that today’s kids are given equal opportunity to experience beloved characters in all their CG-rendered 3D glory.

Universal
Universal

“By the Sea”
Cast: Angelina Jolie Pitt, Brad Pitt
Director: Angelina Jolie Pitt
Release Date: Nov. 13
What it’s about: Set in the 1970s, a former dancer and her husband travel through France together as they seem to grow apart.
Why we’re excited to see it: The couple hasn’t been on screen together since they flashed notoriously strong chemistry in the 2007 action film “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” — though this drama seems to be almost intentionally anti-romantic.

Cate Blanchett in Carol
The Weinstein Company

“Carol”
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler
Director: Todd Haynes
Release Date: Nov. 20
What it’s about: In early 1950s Manhattan, a young, naive photojournalist (Mara) finds herself drawn to a bold, alluring older woman (Blanchett) in a world where same-sex liaisons are taboo.
Why we’re excited to see it: Almost every review out of Cannes used the word exquisite, both for Haynes’ delicate direction and for a pair of lead performances destined to put Blanchett and Mara in the center of the awards conversation.

STX Entertainment
STX Entertainment

“Secret in Their Eyes”
Cast: Julia Roberts, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman
Director: Billy Ray
Release Date: Nov. 20
What it’s about: The daughter of an FBI agent (Roberts) is murdered, and her partner (Ejiofor) spends years looking for enough evidence to convict the killer before the agent takes matters into her own hands.
Why we’re excited to see it: It’s a remake of Juan Jose Campanella’s 2009 film “El secreto de sus ojos,” a surprise winner of the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. We hear that “Captain Phillips” screenwriter Ray has made significant changes while preserving the original’s DNA.

Lionsgate
Lionsgate

“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2”
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Elizabeth Banks, Natalie Dormer, Jena Malone, Gwendoline Christie, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Director: Francis Lawrence
Release date: Nov. 20
What’s it about: After being symbolized as the “Mockingjay,” Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) and District 13 engage in an all-out revolution against the autocratic Capitol.
Why we’re excited to see it: It’s the grand finale of the blockbuster franchise and we want to see President Snow (Sutherland) get what he deserves. Not to mention find out whether Katniss (Lawrence) winds up with Peeta (Hutcherson) or Gale (Hemsworth).

Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures

“The Good Dinosaur”
Cast: Raymond Ochoa, Jeffrey Wright, Steve Zahn, A.J. Buckley, Anna Pacquin, Sam Elliott, Frances McDormand
Director: Peter Sohn
Release date: Nov. 25
What’s it about: In an alternate universe where Earth was never hit by the asteroid that caused the dinosaurs’ extinction, an orphaned Apatosaurus named Arlo wanders away from his home in the Clawed-Tooth Mountains and stumbles upon a human cave-boy whom he names Spot.
Why we’re excited to see it: After the success of “Inside Out” in June, Pixar has set the bar high for its second film of 2015.

In the Heart of the Sea trailer
Warner Bros.

“In the Heart of the Sea”
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy, Ben Whishaw, Tom Holland, Brendan Gleeson,  Michelle Fairley
Director: Ron Howard
Release date: Dec. 11
What’s it about: Based on Nathaniel Philbrick’s 2000 nonfiction best-seller, this whale of a tale chronicles the sinking of the Essex, a ship whose crew was forced to resort to cannibalism after being stranded at sea for 90 days. Whishaw plays Herman Melville, who went on to write a little book called “Moby-Dick” based on the tragedy.
Why we’re excited to see it: The film, delayed nearly a year to the heart of awards season, will be a true test of Hemsworth’s star power in the wake of “Blackhat” and Howard is also looking to get some of his big-budget mojo back following “Rush” and “The Dilemma.”

Tina Fey, Amy Poehler 'Sisters' Trailer
Universal

“Sisters”
Cast: Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, John Cena, Kate McKinnon, Maya Rudolph
Director: Jason Moore
Release Date: Dec. 18
What’s it about: Two sisters (Poehler and Fey) throw one last hurrah before their parents sell the home where they grew up.
Why we’re excited to see it: Re-teaming for the first time since 2008’s “Baby Mama,” before, so it’s likely to generate laughs and quotable lines.

star wars

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
Cast: John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Andy Serkis, Max von Sydow, Lupita Nyong’o, Simon Pegg
Director: J.J. Abrams
Release date: Dec. 18
What’s it about: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the cast of the original trilogy meets the next generation in this epic space tale of good and evil. Plot details are vaguer than “True Detective” at this point.
Why we’re excited to see it: As if we need a reason. But we can’t wait to see how J.J. Abrams puts his stamp on the franchise and how it benefits from today’s state-of-the-art visual effects. We’re also eager to see the original cast reunite, if only for sentimental, nostalgic reasons.

Sony/Columbia
Sony/Columbia

“Concussion”
Cast: Will Smith, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Alec Baldwin, Stephen Moyer, Luke Wilson
Director: Peter Landesman
Release Date: Dec. 25
What’s it about: Smith stars as Dr. Bennet Omalu, the neuropathologist who made the discovery of CTE, the football-related brain trauma.
Why we’re excited to see it: The film delves into the science behind a question that we all want an answer to — how do football players not have brain traumas more often? Plus, Will Smith returns to a meaty dramatic role.

20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox

“Joy”
Cast
: Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Dascha Polanco, Virginia Maden, Isabella Rossellini, Edgar Ramirez
Director: David O. Russell
Release date:  Dec. 25
What it’s about: The true story of Joy Mangano, a single mother of three who invented a range of household products that eventually made her a millionaire.
Why we’re excited to see it: Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, and David O. Russell have proven their success as a team with films like “Silver Linings Playbook” and “American Hustle.”

Open Road Films
Open Road Films

“Snowden”
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Tom Wilkinson, Zachary Quinto, Nicolas Cage, Scott Eastwood, Timothy Olyphant
Director: Oliver Stone
Release date: Dec. 25
What’s it about: Gordon-Levitt plays Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower who leaked classified information from the NSA in June 2013.
Why we’re excited to see it: Last year’s Oscar-winning documentary “Citizenfour” already provided a thrilling take on Snowden, and now Oliver Stone provide his latest cinematic take on recent American history with another starry cast.

Weinstein Company
Weinstein Company

“The Hateful Eight”
Cast: Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, Bruce Dern, Michael Madsen, Demian Bichir, Channing Tatum
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Release date: Dec. 25 (limited in 70mm), Jan. 8 (wide release)
What’s it about: Set in Wyoming in the years following the Civil War, a bounty hunter (Russell) and his female fugitive (Jason Leigh) meet six strangers at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a snowy mountain pass.
Why we’re excited to see it: The eighth film from Quentin Tarantino was shot in glorious 70 mm and puts the stars of his past films like “Pulp Fiction,” “Reservoir Dogs,” “Death Proof” and “Django Unchained” in close quarters where blood will inevitably be spilled. Plus, we’re dying to see how closely the finished film resembles the leaked first draft of the script.

Fox
Fox

“The Revenant”
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Release Date: Dec. 25
What it’s about: Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Hugh Glass, a trapper on the American frontier of the 1820s who sets out to find the people who left him for dead after he was mauled by a bear.
Why we’re excited to see it: DiCaprio and Hardy on screen together in González Iñárritu’s first film since “Birdman” Count us in.

See more coverage of TheWrap’s Fall Movie Preview:

9 Burning Questions: Will Johnny Depp Snap His Losing Streak? Can Any Holiday Film Survive ‘Star Wars’?

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