It’s been a weird year for movies. For months, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, many theaters around the country have been closed entirely, and even those that haven’t been shut down have been limited when it comes to new titles. In response to the global pandemic and the social distancing and stay-at-home orders that have come with it, studios have pushed the release dates of several movies and pulled others from their theatrical slates altogether in favor of pushing them right out on streaming services instead.
The direct-to-streaming dump has been an especially popular option for family and children’s films, like Universal’s Trolls World Tour, which premiered on Video on Demand platforms this spring, and Disney’s Artemis Fowl, which was set for a theatrical release in May before the pandemic but ended up dropping on Disney+ in June instead. Taking a movie that was bound for theaters and sharing it with the world on streaming services in their living rooms first might seem like a downgrade, but the world (including the entertainment world) has been forced to adjust.
Still, that doesn’t mean theaters are totally dead or studios have given up hope that some of 2020’s biggest movies will be seen for the first time on some of the country’s biggest screens. There are still plenty of movies bound for big-screen releases (at the moment, at least—the pandemic isn’t over and we’re all going to have to continue to adjust). Here are some of the best new movies that are still scheduled to be released in fall 2020.
A Quiet Place Part II
After being pushed from the March schedule because of the coronavirus pandemic, John Krasinski’s follow-up to his popular 2018 horror movie is set to hit theaters in September. The movie follows the surviving members of the Abbott family as they leave the safety of their farm into a world now full of noise-sensitive killer aliens and other threats, apparently.
September 4
The King’s Man
This prequel serves as an origin story for the Kingsman series. Like the other movies in the franchise, it boasts a bunch of action, sharp fashion, and a cast of attractive British men to look at. It’s basically a recipe for escapism, which we could all use right about now.
September 18
Wonder Woman 1984
Wonder Woman is back (finally), this time with some seriously amazing ’80s fashion. Oh, and a new world-saving adventure (duh) and, apparently, her presumed-dead-in-World-War-I beau, Steve Trevor (…huh?).
October 2
Candyman
Jordan Peele penned this new installment in the iconic horror franchise, which is (potentially confusingly) a direct sequel to the 1992 movie of the same name. The movie follows an artist who lives in a luxury condo that’s been built in the now-gentrified Cabrini Green neighborhood terrorized by the supernatural slasher villain in the ’92 movie.
October 16
The French Dispatch
If you like to look at pretty things, The French Dispatch (about the French bureau of a fictional Kansas newspaper) is a must-see. Not only is it directed by Wes Anderson, which means it will be #AestheticGoals, but it also stars the very beautiful Timothée Chalamet (along with an ensemble cast of other beautiful humans, of course).
October 16
Black Widow
Originally scheduled for a May release, Marvel’s long (long, long) awaited Black Widow movie was pushed to the fall because of the pandemic. Now, the beloved character is finally getting her well-deserved solo film—and kicking off Phase Four of the MCU.
November 6
No Time to Die
Knives Out stars Daniel Craig and Ana de Armas are reuniting this fall for the newest James Bond movie, No Time to Die. The spy thriller takes place five years after the events of Spectre, when Bond has left active service. Naturally, he’s pulled back into the spy life.
November 20
Soul
Pixar’s latest work of animated art is scheduled for our viewing pleasure this fall. The film follows a middle school music teacher who is in the process of realizing his lifelong dream of performing jazz for a big audience when an accident causes his soul to detach from his body and end up stuck in The Great Before—the place where souls start out before being put into bodies.
November 20
