List: My 15 Most Anticipated Movies Of Fall 2019

naterichard98
Jul 21, 2019
7 min read

Let's face it, 2019 has been a bit of a disappointing year for movies. Yes there were plenty of truly great films, but there have also been a pretty large number of big-budgeted disappointments from the likes of Men In Black: International, Dark Phoenix, Dumbo, and Godzilla: King Of The Monsters. Though there's still plenty of time for the year to pick itself up with a fresh batch of Oscar contenders, blockbusters, and indies coming in the Fall season, here are 15 films that have the potential to be big winners.

Honorable Mentions:

- Zombieland 2: Douple Tap (October 18) A sequel to the hit 2009 horror-comedy starring Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, and Abigail Breslin

- Uncut Gems (December 13) The Safdie Brothers' Good Time followup, a crime-drama starring Adam Sandler, Idina Menzel, Lakeith Stanfield, and Pom Klementieff

- The Aeronauts (October 25) A survival-adventure film reuniting The Theory of Everything co-stars Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones

- Frozen 2 (November 22) The highly anticipated sequel to massively successful animated Disney film featuring the voices of Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, and Jonathan Groff

- The Last Thing He Wanted (Date Unknown) The latest film from Mudbound director Dee Rees, a political thriller starring Anne Hathaway, Willem Dafoe, and Ben Affleck

15. Jumanji: The Next Level (December 13)

Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle surprised audiences everywhere when it debuted in theaters during December 2017, the film was frequently hilarious, charming, and massively entertaining. There's also no denying that Jack Black stole the entire film with his portrayal of a typical teenage girl. Comedy sequels can often fail to live up to the heights of their predecessors, but the fact that the entire team from the last film is back on board and new additions such as Awkwafina and Danny DeVito, make Jumanji: The Next Level look like a game worth playing. Plus how can you beat Dwayne Johnson channeling his inner Danny DeVito?

14. Just Mercy (December 25)

Short Term 12 and future Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton has aligned an all-star cast for this civil rights drama starring Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Brie Larson, and O'Shea Jackson Jr. The film is based upon the memoir of influential lawyer Bryan Stevenson and focuses on Stevenson tackling the case of Walter McMillian, a man who has been falsely accused and imprisoned for murder. While Cretton's last film, The Glass Castle was a disappointment, this film feels like a surefire Oscar-contender and even possibly our next best picture winner. Most of it all it could possibly finally land Jordan an Oscar-nod after being unfairly passed over time and time again.

13. Ad Astra (September 20)

Brad Pitt and director James Gray team for this sci-fi epic following an astronaut in search of his lost father. The trailers promise some spectacular visuals, a mind-bending story, and a strong cast alongside Pitt including Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler, and Donald Sutherland. Ad Astra has potential to be this year's Interstellar or Gravity.

12. Bombshell (December 20)

Bombshell (or whatever the title ends up being) tackles some extremely tough subject matter involving the Roger Ailes scandal, but it features one of the strongest casts of the entire year including Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, Allison Janney, John Lithgow, Kate McKinnon, and so many more. To top that off the film's screenplay is being written by Oscar winner Charles Randolph, the co-writer of The Big Short. Expect this to be a major player come awards season.

11. Little Women (December 25)

Typically most would brush off yet another adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott classic, as it seems like every year we get another adaptation on television or on the big screen. Though this year's Little Women is not one to brush off, as Lady Bird filmmaker Greta Gerwig is stepping behind the camera for this on with a stacked cast to back her up including Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, Timothee Chalamet, and Bob Odenkirk.

10. Doctor Sleep (November 8)

The Haunting Of Hill House and Gerald's Game director Mike Flanagan has proven to horror fans that he's the next big name in horror movies. With Doctor Sleep, Flanagan walks a tight line making both an adaptation of Stephen King's book as well a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's take on The Shining. Early buzz for the film is incredibly strong and the trailer promises something that's going to please fans of the source material as well as fans of the 1980 horror classic. Plus the casting of Ewan McGregor and Rebecca Ferguson adds some extra excitement to the film.

9. The Goldfinch (September 13)

John Crowley's highly anticipated adaptation of Donna Tartt's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel certainly has a lot of clout around it. The trailer promises an emotional story backed by stunning cinematography by Oscar-winner Roger Deakins. It's also hard to go wrong with a cast that includes names from the likes of Ansel Elgort, Nicole Kidman, Sarah Paulson, Finn Wolfhard, Oakes Fegley, and Jeffrey Wright. Warner Bros. and Amazon Studios are parading the film as their next big Oscar-contender, so hopefully we start to hear more come festival time.

8. It Chapter Two (September 6)

It was not one of the highest grossing movies of 2017 but the adaptation of the first half of Stephen King's horror epic became the highest grossing horror film of all time. Andy Muschietti returns to the director's chair for the sequel that adapts the latter part of the book with A-list stars like Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, and Bill Hader taking on the adult versions of Bev, Bill, and Richie. The trailer promises that the scare factor and get even darker than the last film and Muschietti has stated that the film will also bring in some of the weirder aspects of King's classic that weren't used in the last film.

7. Jojo Rabbit (October 18)

Taika Waititi is quickly becoming one of the most truly unique and offbeat directors working in Hollywood. Whether it be directing the acclaimed indies from the likes of What We Do In The Shadows and Hunt For The Wilderpeople or being behind the camera on blockbusters such as Thor: Ragnarok; Waititi always manages to bring his signature sense of humor wherever he goes. Waititi describes Jojo Rabbit as an anti-hate satire, the film which follows a young boy (who happens to have Hitler as his imaginary friend) who learns that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home. Waititi will also be in front of the camera as the imaginary Hitler while Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell also star.

6. Joker (October 4)

Todd Phillips' Joker is bound to be a controversial one. The teaser trailer promises something truly morbid and grounded in cynicism, this isn't your typical comic-book movie, this is first and foremost an R-rated dramatic thriller. Joaquin Phoenix plays Arthur Fleck, a tortured and mentally disturbed comedian whose descent into madness begins his descent into the most iconic villain in comics, the Joker. The film won't please the comic book purists, as Phillips has went on record and stated that he isn't drawing from of the source material.

5. Knives Out (November 27)

Rian Johnson has assembled one of hell of a cast with this murder mystery black comedy, with names like Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, and Christopher Plummer filling out the marquee. Johnson may have ruffled some feathers with his Star Wars film, but for fans of his filmography, Knives Out looks like it'll definitely be worth checking out.

4. Ford v. Ferrari (November 15)

James Mangold is one of the most underrated filmmakers working in Hollywood; his last film the Wolverine film Logan garnered critical acclaim and even earned an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Ford v. Ferrari is the true story of a team of Americans who are tasked with building the Ford GT40, a racing car with the potential to defeat the dominant Ferrari. Christian Bale and Matt Damon headline the film and the trailer released in May is still one of the best trailers of the year.

3. A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (November 22)

It's next to impossible for someone to truly portray an icon in American culture like Mr. Rogers, but if anyone can do it Tom Hanks is the one whose more than capable. Directed by Marielle Heller, this drama follows a cynical journalist who is tasked to right a profile piece on Fred Rogers and after meeting him starts to have a most positive outlook on life. Won't You Be My Neighbor was easily one of the best films of last year and resparked America's love of Mr. Rogers, so hopefully A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood can deliver on telling a touching uplifting tale.

2. The Irishman (Date Unknown)

Martin Scorsese's highly anticipated big-budgeted gangster flick finds the director reteaming with Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, as well as finally getting to work with the one and only Al Pacino, will not only be the biggest movie Netflix has ever done, but it'll also be the biggest movie Scorsese has done. With an estimated budget of around $200 million, the acclaimed director will use de-aging technology on it's older actors to have them play both the older and younger versions of Frank Sheeran and Jimmy Hoffa. All eyes will be on this film come awards season to see how Scorsese and co. will be able to pull this off.

1. Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (December 20)

It's the end of the Skywalker saga as well know it, well at least for now. The ninth installment in the main Star Wars storyline sees J.J. Abrams return to the franchise and hopefully will be able to unite the fandom once again. Not much of the story is known, but it has been confirmed that the film will feature the return of both Emperor Palpatine and Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian. Will we finally learn more about Rey's origins? How will they incorporate Leia into the mix after the tragic passing of Carrie Fisher? Is there any sense of redemption left for Kylo Ren? We'll find out in Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker.

What movies are you looking forward to during the Fall 2019 movie season? Did I leave any off? Sound off in the comments below! For more lists, reviews, essays, and opinions, keep reading MovieHound.