DUBAI: From long-awaited sequels to an intriguing biopic, these are the Fall/Winter films we’re most looking forward to
Gladiator II
Starring: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen
Director: Ridley Scott
When: Nov. 21
Discussions about a sequel to Scott’s huge 2000 hit “Gladiator” reportedly began the following year. It was another 17 years before official confirmation of “Gladiator II” was given, and a further five years before filming actually began. So there’s a considerable weight of expectation for all involved, particularly Paul Mescal, who is essentially stepping into the sandals of Russell Crowe’s iconic Maximus Decimus Meridius — albeit as a different character. Mescal plays Lucius, grandson of Rome’s former emperor, Marcus Aurelius, and son of Lucilla (Nielsen) — Marcus Aurelius’ oldest child — making Lucius the former heir to the Roman Empire. He is living with his family in North Africa when the Roman army invade and he is captured and forced into slavery. Inspired by the story of Maximus, Lucius resolves to fight as a gladiator and resist tyranny, under the guidance of the power-hungry Macrinus (Denzel Washington).
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Starring: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
When: Sept. 5
The sequel to Burton’s 1988 cult-classic comedy horror sees Keaton reprise his role as the decidedly non-woke ‘bio-exorcist’ Beetlegeuse, while Ryder and Catherine O’Hara return as Lydia and Delia Deetz, and Ortega plays Lydia’s teenage daughter Astrid. Thirty-six years on from the events of the original, the three generations of Deetz females return to the family home in Winter River, where Astrid accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife, allowing Beetleguese to return to the world of the living and wreak havoc again.
Joker: Folie à Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Zazie Beets
Director: Todd Phillips
When: Oct. 3
The sequel to Phillips’ acclaimed 2019 movie “Joker” once again features Phoenix as the title character, loosely based on the arch-rival of Batman from DC Comics. Set two years on from the events of “Joker,” Arthur Fleck/Joker is now a patient at Gotham’s Arkham Asylum, where he falls in love with his music therapist Harleen ‘Lee’ Quinzel (Lady Gaga). The pair begin to experience shared delusions, and Quinzel transforms into her alter-ego of Harley Quinn. Outside the psychiatric hospital’s walls, Fleck’s followers launch a protest movement to secure his release.
Wicked
Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh
Director: Jon M. Chu
When: Nov. 21
The first of a two-film adaptation of the hugely successful stage musical of the same name, which is based on character’s from “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” It is set in the Land of Oz, and follows green-skinned Elphaba (Erivo) — a misunderstood young woman who ultimately becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, adversary of Dorothy Gale in the “Oz” novels — and her friendship-turned-rivalry with the popular Galinda Upland, who becomes the mighty Glinda the Good. When the pair encounter the Wizard of Oz, their lives take very different trajectories.
A Complete Unknown
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning
Director: James Mangold
When: Dec. 24
Chalamet plays arguably the world’s greatest singer-songwriter, Bob Dylan, in this biopic that covers Dylan’s rise to prominence in the New York (then wider US) folk-music scene up to his controversial (for folk-music aficionados) switch from acoustic to electric instrumentation on his fifth album in 1965, and his subsequent live performances over the next couple of years (including his famed appearance at the Newport Folk Festival), where he was booed by many in the audience for what they saw as a betrayal of his roots, but which has since been recognized as one of his most inspiring creative periods and a vital moment in the development of folk rock.
Nosferatu
Starring: Bill Skarsgard, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp
Director: Robert Eggers
When: Dec. 24
Remake of the seminal silent German 1922 classic (itself based on Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”), about a young woman, Ellen (Depp) who becomes the obsession of Count Orlok (Skarsgard), a terrifying vampire who will stop at nothing to possess her. It requires some serious self-confidence to remake such an acclaimed piece of pop-culture, but Eggers has considerable pedigree as writer-director of two of the most accomplished and atmospheric horror (or, at least, horror-adjacent) films in recent memory, “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse.”
