Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore arrive on the red carpet for the premiere of 'The Substance' at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, during the Toronto International Film Festival, in Toronto on Sept. 5, 2024 (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston)
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The seasonal differences of the movie calendar have eroded a little bit with time. Neither of the last two Oscar juggernauts -- "Oppenheimer," "Everything Everywhere All at Once" -- opened in the fall, the traditional launching pad of Academy Awards hopefuls.
And just the same, fall tends to be nearly as stuffed as summer is with sequels, horror thrillers and would-be blockbusters.
Still, some of the old rules still apply. A large percentage of 2024's best movies are set to unspool in the coming months.
So with that in mind, here are some of the most anticipated films of this fall, from large to small and everything in between.
My Old Ass
A psychedelic trip makes for an unusual meeting in the latest from director Megan Park ("The Fallout"). After sipping some mushroom-infused tea, 18-year-old Elliott (Maisy Stella) finds herself joined by her future self, played by Aubrey Plaza, on a camping trip on the lakes of Muskoka, outside Toronto. (Sept. 13, in theaters)
Will & Harper
When former "Saturday Night Live" writer Harper Steele came out as trans, she sent an email to friends and family. An old friend and "SNL" colleague, Will Ferrell, responded with the suggestion that they travel the country together. The result is this tender and contemplative documentary, by "Barb and Star Go to Del Mar" director Josh Greenbaum, about their 16-day road trip. (Sept. 13; on Netflix Sept. 27)
Speak No Evil
Christian Tafdrup's 2022 Danish horror film was potent enough that it led to this Blumhouse remake just two years later. James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis and Aisling Franciosi star in a thriller about how much can go wrong on a idyllic countryside vacation. (Sept. 13, in theaters)
A Different Man
Sebastian Stan stars as Edward, an actor with neurofibromatosis who, after experimental surgery, is cured of his facial disfigurement. But the changes for Edward, who lives next to a friendly playwright (Renate Reinsve of "The Worst Person in the World"), turn out to be a mixed blessing. With a compelling co-starring turn by actor Adam Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis. (Sept. 20, in theaters)
His Three Daughters
Writer-director Azazel Jacobs' latest stars Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen as sisters who gather in the New York apartment of their dying father. A highlight of the season, "His Three Daughters" is one of the most memorable tales of siblinghood, and of a death in the family, in recent memory. (Sept. 20 on Netflix)
The Substance
A hit out of the Cannes Film Festival, Coralie Fargeat's body-horror parable stars Demi Moore as a TV star who's deemed too old by male producers. A mysterious service, though, offers her the ability to change into a younger twin (Margaret Qualley) -- so long as she doesn't remain so for too long. "The Substance" seems sure to go down as a classic satire of Hollywood ageism and youth obsession. (Sept. 20, in theaters)
Wolfs
Brad Pitt and George Clooney play rival fixers who discover they've been hired for the same job in Jon Watts' comic caper. Presumably more charming actors weren't available, so Watts had to suffice with Clooney and Pitt. (Sept. 20, in theaters; Apple TV+ on Sept. 27)
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui's documentary seeks to capture the full arc of Reeve's life, from the massive stardom that followed 1978's "Superman" to his resiliency following an accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down in 1995. (Sept. 21, in theaters)
The Wild Robot
This DreamWorks Animation release, adapted from Peter Brown's popular book series, follows a robot (voiced by Lupita Nyong'o) who crash lands in a forested wildness where it, seeking a task, raises a runt goose (Kit Connor) until it's able to fly. (Sept. 27, in theaters)
Megalopolis
Francis Ford Coppola's first film in 13 years stars Adam Driver as Caesar, a visionary with dreams of a utopian New York. Giancarlo Esposito, Aubrey Plaza, Laurence Fishburne and Shia LeBeouf co-star in this wildly ambitious epic that has already earned a wide spectrum of reaction. (Sept. 27, in theaters)
Joker: Folie a Deux
Five years after their rabble-rousing Oscar nominated DC Comics blockbuster, director Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix are back for more antihero fun. This time, it's a musical, and Lady Gaga is playing Harley Quinn. (Oct. 4, in theaters)
The Outrun
Saoirse Ronan stars in Nora Fingscheidt's adaptation of Amy Liptrot's memoir of addiction. Ronan plays a young woman just out of rehab and returning home to the Orkney Islands in Scotland. (Oct. 4, in theaters)
The Apprentice
Opening just weeks before the U.S. election is Ali Abbasi's portrait of a young Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan) under the tutelage of Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong). The film, which the Trump reelection campaign has called "pure malicious defamation," is made with some of the '80s aesthetics of its setting. (Oct. 11, in theaters)
Piece by Piece
What's cooler than a documentary about your life? What about a documentary made with Lego? In this film, directed by Morgan Neville ("Won't You Be My Neighbor?"), Pharrell Williams tells his life story brick by brick. (Oct. 11, in theaters)
Saturday Night
While all eyes will be on "Saturday Night Live" on the small screen this fall, the sketch comedy show will also have an origin story in theaters. Director Jason Reitman ("Juno," "Up in the Air") directs this mid-'70s dramatization of the chaotic infancy of the NBC institution, with Gabriel LaBelle as creator Lorne Michaels. (Oct. 11, in theaters)
We Live in Time
Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield star in this human-scaled drama, directed by John Crowley ("Brooklyn," "The Goldfinch") about a relationship charted not always chronologically, through romance, sickness and parenthood. Tissues are recommended. (Oct. 11, in theaters)
Anora
Sean Baker ("The Florida Project," "Red Rocket") has long been one of most vital American independent directors. But he takes a step further with "Anora," the Palme d'Or winner at this year's Cannes Film Festival. It stars Mikey Madison as a Brooklyn sex worker whose Vegas marriage to the son of a Russian oligarch prompts a farcical effort by his family's henchmen to have it annulled. (Oct. 18, in theaters)
Nickel Boys
RaMell Ross' feature directorial debut, selected as the opening night film at the New York Film Festival, adapts Colson Whitehead's 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about two Black teens (Ethan Harisse, Brandon Wilson) who become wards of juvenile reform school in 1960s Florida. Ross previously directed the Oscar-nominated documentary "Hale County This Morning, This Evening." (Oct. 25, in theaters)
Venom: The Last Dance
Tom Hardy is back as the most volatile split-personality superhuman: Eddie Brock and his symbiote Venom -- arguably the most captivating double act in comic book movies. In this, the third in the series following 2018's "Venom" and 2021's "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," both are on the run. (Oct. 25, in theaters)
Dahomey
Writer-director Mati Diop ("Atlantics") creates testimonials for a few dozen African artworks taken from the West African kingdom of Dahomey during France's colonial rule in this, the winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. Diop dramatizes the artworks' stories through what she's called "magical documentary." (Oct. 25, theaters)
Memoir of a Snail
Adam Elliot's stop-motion drama, some 10 years in the making, follows the life of Grace Puddle (voiced by Sarah Snook), who begins collecting snails after her mother's death. After her father dies, too, she and her twin brother (Kodi Smit-McPhee) are separated. (Oct. 25, theaters)
Blitz
Director Steve McQueen ("12 Years a Slave") returns to World War II for this drama set in a London under siege from Nazi bombs. Saoirse Ronan plays a single mother trying to protect her young son (Elliott Heffernan). (Nov. 1, theaters)
Conclave
A new Pope is needed. Enter Ralph Fiennes. In director Edward Berger's follow-up to "All Quiet on the Western Front," Fiennes stars as Cardinal Lawrence, one of the Vatican figures who gather for a conclave to choose a new pontiff. When Lawrence uncovers a secret that others would rather stay hidden, the conclave teeters toward going up in smoke. (Nov. 1, theaters)
Emilia Perez
It's not every day we get a musical about a Mexican drug lord who transitions into a woman. Even more surprising is that French director Jacques Audiard pulls it off. Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofia Gascon and Selena Gomez star in one of the more audacious movies of the year. (Nov. 1 in theaters; on Netflix Nov. 13th)
Here
Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks have a long and fruitful history together dating back to "Forrest Gump" and "Cast Away." Less good was 2022's "Pinocchio," so hopefully the pair are back on track in "Here." Appearing to be filmed in one take, Zemeckis' latest chronicles a single spot of land through history. After a home is built on it, Hanks and Robin Wright move in and raise a family. (Nov. 1, in theaters)
A Real Pain
Jesse Eisenberg wrote, directed and stars in this buddy dramedy about two cousins (the other is played by Kieran Culkin) who travel to Poland to honor their grandmother. The two are near opposites played to type: Eisenberg is a sensitive neurotic, Culkin a charismatic idler. Together, they create a funny, poignant two-hander. (Nov. 1, in theaters)
Bird
British filmmaker Andrea Arnold has dabbled in TV and documentary in recent years, which makes "Bird" her first film since 2016's "American Honey." Here, she returns to a working-class English backdrop for a gritty story laced with fable. A 12-year-old girl (Nykia Adams) who lives with her father (Barry Keoghan) is visited by a peculiar stranger (Franz Rogowski). (Nov. 8, in theaters)
Heretic
The distance Hugh Grant has traveled from rom-com protagonist seems likely to reach a new peak in this A24 horror thriller from "A Quiet Place" co-writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East play a pair of proselytizing Mormon missionaries who knock on the wrong door. (Nov. 15, in theaters)
All We Imagine as Light
Payal Kapadia's ode to female friendship, a prize-winner at Cannes, is about two Mumbai nurses (Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha) striving for love and happiness while working and commuting long hours in the Indian metropolis. (Nov. 15, in theaters)
Gladiator II
Twenty-four years after "Gladiator," Ridley Scott is back with more swords, sandals and … a rhino. Yes, that horned mammal makes its way into the Colosseum this time, but it's far from the only new addition. Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal star in this sequel, set several decades following the events of the original movie. (Nov. 22, in theaters)
Wicked
Before "Wicked" was a Broadway smash, it was a 1995 book and nearly a movie. The big-screen was, perhaps, always the most fitting medium for a "Wizard of the Oz" riff. In this Jon M. Chu-directed film, Cynthia Erivo plays the woman who'll become the Wicked Witch of the West, while Ariana Grande plays Glinda. This "Wicked" will be split in two, with part two arriving in late 2025. (Nov. 22, in theaters)
The Piano Lesson
Washington has set himself the task of bringing August Wilson's plays to the big screen. In this adaptation of Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winner, he produces while son Malcolm Washington directs, and son John David Washington stars. Led by a powerhouse performance by Danielle Deadwyler, "The Piano Lesson" depicts a Pittsburgh family in 1936 reckoning with a family heirloom, a piano, which doubles as a metaphor for the legacy of slavery. (Nov. 22, on Netflix)
Moana 2
A little "Moana" confusion would be understandable. There's a separate live-action "Moana" in development and this film was originally planned as a series. But "Moana 2" ultimately, came together as a big-screen sequel to the 2016 original. Lin-Manuel Miranda isn't returning on the music front, but most everyone else is, including voice actors Auli'li Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson. The film, set about three years after the original, finds Moana heading back on an ocean adventure, this time with her sister (voiced by Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda) aboard, as well as several others. (Nov. 27, in theaters)
American officials did not condemn India's response to explosive accusations that its government has been involved in an escalating number of violent crimes in Canada.
A Metro Vancouver man will spend up to four years in prison before he is deported after pleading guilty to a triple stabbing that left his sister-in-law dead and two others, including a two-year-old girl, seriously injured.
When you go through the chore of cleaning your home, you hope the end result is a safer, healthier environment for you and your loved ones. But some of the products you are using might put your health at risk.
Amid mounting pressure from within the Liberal caucus for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to consider stepping down as party leader, Liberal MP Anthony Housefather says there should be 'robust' conversations on the topic.
Canada is listing the pro-Palestinian group Samidoun as a terrorist group, while the U.S. has added a Canadian citizen affiliated with the organization to its counter-terrorism list.
Rock guitarist Jake E. Lee, who’s played with heavy metal heavyweight Ozzy Osbourne, was hospitalized early Tuesday morning after he was shot “multiple times” in Las Vegas, a representative for the musician told CNN in a statement.
For the second straight month, grocery prices in Canada rose faster than the inflation rate, and beef in particular is significantly pricier than it was last year.
From his shrink wrap shock to his obsession with luxury, King Charles III's personal life seems to be filled with surprises, that’s according to a new book by biographer Tom Bower.
Toronto city staff opted not to install GPS devices on untracked parks maintenance vehicles even though they only cost $200 apiece, the audit committee heard Tuesday, in the fallout of a damning investigation that revealed field crews systemically parked at plazas and restaurants while logging on their timesheets that they were on the job.
A Winnipeg high school student placed second in an international neuroscience contest where she competed against nearly 3,000 other students from 40 countries in Chicago, Ill.
Representatives of a British Columbia Sikh temple whose president was shot dead last year, as well as the Sikh independence group he was involved in, say their communities won't feel safe until India's consulates in Vancouver and Toronto are shut down.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday refused to say whether he's spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving office, but if the two did speak Trump said, it would be 'a smart thing' for the United States.
Alexei Moskalyov, a Russian man jailed for two years for discrediting the army after his daughter drew an anti-war picture, alleged after his release on Tuesday that he had been held in dreadful conditions.
From his shrink wrap shock to his obsession with luxury, King Charles III's personal life seems to be filled with surprises, that’s according to a new book by biographer Tom Bower.
North Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson sued CNN on Tuesday over its recent report that he made explicit racial and sexual posts on a pornography website’s message board, calling the reporting reckless and defamatory.
Amid mounting pressure from within the Liberal caucus for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to consider stepping down as party leader, Liberal MP Anthony Housefather says there should be 'robust' conversations on the topic.
When you go through the chore of cleaning your home, you hope the end result is a safer, healthier environment for you and your loved ones. But some of the products you are using might put your health at risk.
A Winnipeg high school student placed second in an international neuroscience contest where she competed against nearly 3,000 other students from 40 countries in Chicago, Ill.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says a Listeria outbreak linked to several plant-based milks appears to be over with no additional cases reported since August.
Hong Kong's oldest zoo is seeking answers in a monkey medical mystery after nine animals died in two days, including three members of a critically endangered species.
A NASA spacecraft rocketed away Monday on a quest to explore Jupiter’s tantalizing moon Europa and reveal whether its vast hidden ocean might hold the keys to life.
Rock guitarist Jake E. Lee, who’s played with heavy metal heavyweight Ozzy Osbourne, was hospitalized early Tuesday morning after he was shot “multiple times” in Las Vegas, a representative for the musician told CNN in a statement.
Rufus Wainwright says he was 'horrified' to learn that Donald Trump played his cover version of 'Hallelujah' during a presidential campaign event in Pennsylvania on Monday.
The chances of a half-percentage point interest rate cut by the Bank of Canada became more likely Tuesday after Statistics Canada reported the annual inflation rate fell to 1.6 per cent in September.
Cash-starved Boeing, contending with massive financial losses from a crippling strike and years of operational and safety problems, is turning to major banks and Wall Street to raise tens of billions of dollars in cash.
The more than US$3-billion settlement TD Bank Group has reached with U.S. regulators for its failures to oversee money laundering risks has underlined what some say are relatively weak enforcement options in Canada.
Jane Xue sent her dog, a 2-year-old Samoyed named OK, off to her first day of work in mid-September. Her employer? A dog cafe in Fuzhou, in southeastern China.
The PGA of America is facing backlash and accusations of pricing out fans, with a single day ticket for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York, costing just under US$750.
The Ontario Provincial Police says the number of fatal collisions caused by distracted driving on the roads it patrols has increased by 40 per cent compared to this time last year.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled on Thursday his vision of a 'a fun, exciting future,' an 'age of abundance' full of his company’s self-driving cars without steering wheels, parking lots turned into parks and robots that will walk among the population – that he once again promised would be available within a few years.
Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) Chef Paul Natrall, the man behind Indigenous food truck Mr. Bannock, is bringing cooking classes on First Nations fare to schools and offices throughout Metro Vancouver.
Canadian hip hop artist Dillan King says running 100 marathons in 100 days was not only the hardest thing he has ever done, but the 'proudest accomplishment' of his entire life.
Jeff Warner from Aidie Creek Gardens in the northern Ontario community of Englehart has a passion for growing big pumpkins and his effort is paying off in more ways than one.
Featuring multiple subway lines and rapid bus routes, Vancouver-Little Mountain, a new riding for B.C.'s 2024 provincial election, is rapidly densifying.
Representatives of a British Columbia Sikh temple whose president was shot dead last year, as well as the Sikh independence group he was involved in, say their communities won't feel safe until India's consulates in Vancouver and Toronto are shut down.
Toronto city staff opted not to install GPS devices on untracked parks maintenance vehicles even though they only cost $200 apiece, the audit committee heard Tuesday, in the fallout of a damning investigation that revealed field crews systemically parked at plazas and restaurants while logging on their timesheets that they were on the job.
Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria says the provincial government is introducing legislation that would require municipalities to receive provincial approval before removing traffic lanes to install new bike paths.
Representatives of a British Columbia Sikh temple whose president was shot dead last year, as well as the Sikh independence group he was involved in, say their communities won't feel safe until India's consulates in Vancouver and Toronto are shut down.
As officials with the Calgary Public Library prepare to reopen locations on Wednesday, many questions about the cybersecurity breach that closed them remain unanswered.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her government is launching a $7-million series of ads against the federal government's proposed cap on oil and gas emissions, a move she believes will hurt production and "kill jobs."
Alberta rolled out its fall immunization campaign on Tuesday, but people hoping to get both a flu and COVID-19 vaccine at the same time might have to wait, with many pharmacies yet to receive a shipment of the new COVID shots.
More than 40 employees at Best Theratronics Ltd. in Kanata went on strike five and a half months ago - a situation that Canada's largest private sector union says is highly unusual.
Hundreds of would-be voters waited outside the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) offices on Tuesday, the last night to register for the upcoming school board election on Nov. 3.
Montreal police (SPVM) said a suspect was “caught red-handed” spray painting graffiti on the SPVM’s North Operations Centre building in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough on Tuesday.
In an effort to make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists, the City of Montreal is planning to make long-awaited changes to the St-Pierre interchange in LaSalle.
The Alberta government continues to divvy up its provincial health authority, with the health minister saying the new agency responsible for primary care is expected to be up and running by November.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her government is launching a $7-million series of ads against the federal government's proposed cap on oil and gas emissions, a move she believes will hurt production and "kill jobs."
Three people, including a child, were killed in two separate collisions on Highway 101 in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley over the Thanksgiving weekend.
The Nova Scotia government says that in the coming days it will start building a 500-metre-long berm to protect a low-lying land link between the province and New Brunswick.
A 28-year-old Winnipegger is facing charges after an altercation unfolded between a store employee and a man who allegedly tried to steal merchandise from a West Alexander area store.
Winnipeg's mayor is asking for patience from motorists during anticipated traffic delays at Portage and Main, as work begins to reopen the famed intersection.
The stage is set at Saskatchewan's Legislative Building for the 2024 Leaders Debate. The event follows a tradition of broadcast events that began all the way back in 1957.
The early fall season has been an entertaining time for northern lights viewing. Aurora Borealis, as it is also known, is a night sky phenomenon which can happen throughout the year.
Impaired driving charges against a Brampton, Ont., man have been dismissed after his lawyer successfully argued that his Charter rights were breached during his Sudbury-area arrest.
A Greater Sudbury woman is upset about the charges laid against the man accused of attacking her son and a group of his colleagues downtown on Saturday.
It took the full day for a jury to be selected in the trial of two people charged in connection with the shooting death of an 18-year-old Western University student more than three years ago.
“I wasn't using a walker in July, but I am now using walker all the time,” said Martyn, who is struggling to move and can’t stand for long periods of time.
Family and friends of Soham Lane of Harrow, Ont. are gathering this week to remember the late 16 year old who died suddenly earlier this month following a collision on Oct. 6.
Despite a high rate of mortgage-free homeowners in the Windsor-Essex region, experts believe higher costs and interest rates will make paid-off homes less of a reality in the coming years.
New Democrat Leader David Eby is making a late appeal to voters to support his party even if they never have before, as the British Columbia election campaign enters the home stretch.
A Metro Vancouver man will spend up to four years in prison before he is deported after pleading guilty to a triple stabbing that left his sister-in-law dead and two others, including a two-year-old girl, seriously injured.
Lawyers for the founders of Vancouver's Drug User Liberation Front say their clients are being wrongfully criminalized for operating a club that provided untainted drugs to people who would otherwise be at the mercy of a toxic and deadly illicit drug supply.
A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.
Health-care advocates say the province's plan for a new primary care agency, operating separately from Alberta Health Services, won't help with doctor shortages in Lethbridge.
A suspected impaired driver who tried to walk away after running a red light and crashing into a ditch is facing several charges, Sault police said Tuesday.
Home sales declined in North Bay in September compared to a year earlier, but sale prices held firm, according to data from the Canadian Real Estate Association.
A Conservative MP from Newfoundland and Labrador says some small towns in his rural riding are overrun with crime, but police say they haven't received reports to that effect.
As millions in federal funding flow into a Labrador group whose claims of Inuit identity have been rejected by Indigenous organizations across Canada, a national Inuit leader worries the Liberal government is putting the rights of Indigenous Peoples at risk.