15 must-see holiday movies, from 'The Marvels' and 'Napoleon' to 'Trolls 3' and 'Wish'
Before Santa arrives, this holiday season is gifting movie lovers with an iconic candy man, a trio of Marvel superwomen, a legendary wrestling family, a female Frankenstein's monster, a whole bunch of singing Trolls and, yep, Napoleon.
November and December usually are good for family-friendly films, with kids and parents coming in from the cold to movie theaters, and this season doesn't skimp with a new "Hunger Games" prequel and the most Disney-fied Disney movie in quite some time. There's also a whole bunch of prestige fare, with awards season and Oscar pundits needing something to open under the proverbial Hollywood Christmas tree.
Here's an exclusive peek at the 15 movies coming to theaters that you absolutely, positively must see before ringing in the new year:
'The Marvels' (Nov. 10)
Stars: Brie Larson, Iman Vellani, Teyonah Parris
Director: Nia DaCosta
The skinny: When their superpowers become entangled with one another thanks to a wormhole, Captain Marvel (Larson), Ms. Marvel (Vellani) and Monica Rambeau (Parris) team up to figure out how to fix their situation plus tackle a new cosmic threat.
'The Marvels' and more:Everything Marvel has in the works, from 'Captain America: Brave New World' to 'Avengers'
'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' (Nov. 17)
Stars: Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth, Viola Davis
Director: Francis Lawrence
The skinny: The pre-Katniss prequel centers on the Hunger Games going from violence to spectacle, with Zegler as young tribute Lucy and Blyth as her mentor Coriolanus Snow – who’ll become the tyrannical president of Panem decades later.
'Hunger Games' prequel:'Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' gets first trailer starring Rachel Zegler
'May December' (Nov. 17)
Stars: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton
Director: Todd Haynes
The skinny: This soapy true-crime riff (streaming on Netflix Dec. 1) centers on a couple (Moore and Melton) whose marriage is tested – 20 years after their forbidden romance made headlines – when the actress (Portman) playing the wife in a movie asks for up close and personal research.
'May December':Julianne Moore channeled Mary Kay Letourneau for Netflix's soapy new film
'Trolls Band Together' (Nov. 17)
Stars: Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, Troye Sivan
Director: Walt Dohrn
The skinny: In the animated comedy threequel, Poppy (voiced by Kendrick) finds out that Branch (Timberlake) used to be in her favorite boy band with his brothers, and the two venture to reunite the siblings and pull off a daring rescue.
'Maestro' (Nov. 22)
Stars: Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Matt Bomer
Director: Bradley Cooper
The skinny: Cooper’s “A Star Is Born” follow-up (which streams on Netflix Dec. 20) finds him portraying legendary composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein through musical successes, a long marriage to his actress love Felicia (Mulligan) and the tension caused by his gay side dalliances.
'Maestro':See Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in Netflix's first teaser trailer
'Napoleon' (Nov. 22)
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim
Director: Ridley Scott
The skinny: The historical epic (which streams on Apple TV+ at a later date) charts the rise of French military commander Napoleon Bonaparte (Phoenix) to emperor, his use of genius tactics on the battlefield and in politics, and the volatile relationship with his beloved Josephine (Kirby).
'Napoleon':First look at Joaquin Phoenix's 'mercurial' military genius
'Wish' (Nov. 22)
Stars: Ariana DeBose, Chris Pine, Alan Tudyk
Directors: Fawn Veerasunthorn and Chris Buck
The skinny: DeBose stars in the latest Disney animated musical as Asha, a teen who wishes on a star to help the people of her kingdom – and the star shows up as an excitable sidekick – but runs afoul of the powerful and egotistical King Magnifico (Pine).
'Poor Things' (Dec. 8)
Stars: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
The skinny: The dark fantasy comedy stars Stone as Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by a mad scientist (Dafoe). Yearning to see more of the world, she runs off for globetrotting adventures with a rakish attorney (Ruffalo).
'Poor Things':Emma Stone's wild Frankenstein movie doesn't 'shy away' from explicit sex
'American Fiction' (Dec. 15)
Stars: Jeffrey Wright, Sterling K. Brown, Issa Rae
Director: Cord Jefferson
The skinny: The satirical dramedy stars Wright as an academic who can’t sell his latest novel and is irked by the mainstream’s zest for tired tropes. When he writes a “Black” book to make a point, it ends up being a massive success that complicates his life.
'Wonka' (Dec. 15)
Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Hugh Grant, Sally Hawkins
Director: Paul King
The skinny: The fantastical prequel to “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” stars Chalamet as a young Willy Wonka. He dreams of owning a sweets store, but when a candy cartel shuts him out, he gets assistance from a prickly Oompa Loompa (Grant).
'All of Us Strangers' (Dec. 22)
Stars: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Claire Foy
Director: Andrew Haigh
The skinny: The drama stars Scott as a London screenwriter who visits his childhood home to reconnect with the parents (Foy and Jamie Bell) who died when he was 12 while also fostering a relationship with a man (Mescal) in his apartment building.
'The Iron Claw' (Dec. 22)
Stars: Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Lily James
Director: Sean Durkin
The skinny: Efron and White star as Kevin and Kerry Von Erich, brothers in a tight-knit Texas pro wrestling family – run by their commanding father (Holt McCallany) – who experience the heights of popularity and a series of tragic turns in the 1980s.
'The Boys in the Boat' (Dec. 25)
Stars: Joel Edgerton, Callum Turner, Hadley Robinson
Director: George Clooney
The skinny: Based on a true story, the sports drama stars Edgerton as coach of the University of Washington rowing team, a crew of young underdogs who represented America and took on the world at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
'The Color Purple' (Dec. 25)
Stars: Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson
Director: Blitz Bazawule
The skinny: The starry musical adaptation of Alice Walker's award-winning 1982 novel centers on the sisterhood of three Black women (Barrino, Brooks and Henson) in the South as they navigate domestic violence, abuse, racism and poverty in the early 20th century.
'Ferrari' (Dec. 25)
Stars: Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz, Shailene Woodley
Director: Michael Mann
The skinny: In the biopic set in 1957, Enzo Ferrari (Driver), still reeling from his son's death and weathering the implosion of his marriage, scrambles to save his auto empire from bankruptcy by entering his racing team in a dangerous 1,000-mile race across Italy.