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2018 Fall film slate includes horror, adventure and more superheroes

By Karen Butler
Jason Momoa's "Aquaman" is set for release Dec. 21. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.
1 of 5 | Jason Momoa's "Aquaman" is set for release Dec. 21. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Aug. 24 (UPI) -- The 2018 fall/winter film season is packed with family-friendly adventures, high-octane action movies and sleep-disrupting horror flicks -- many of which are remakes, sequels or adaptations of existing intellectual properties.

September

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The Nun is the latest creepy chapter in The Conjuring/Annabelle universe.

Corin Hardy directed the new tale of terror about a priest with a haunted past and a novitiate about to take her final vows who are sent by the Vatican to investigate the apparent suicide of a young nun at a cloistered abbey in Romania. The origin story of the demonic nun introduced in The Conjuring 2 stars Demian Bichir, Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Charlotte Hope, Ingrid Bisu and Bonnie Aarons. It will start haunting theaters Sept 7.

Set for release Sept. 14, The Predator follows the crew of a spaceship as they battle a new breed of intergalactic monsters. Shane Black of Lethal Weapon and The Nice Guys fame helmed the sci-fi/horror hybrid, which stars Jason Tremblay, Sterling K. Brown, Keegan-Michael Key and Olivia Munn. The Predator franchise dates back to 1987 and is comprised of five installments, including this one.

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American Psycho and Shattered Glass alum Chloe Sevigny takes a stab at portraying 19th-century, presumed axe murder Lizzie Borden in Lizzie, which is also due in theaters Sept. 14. Twilight actress Kristen Stewart co-stars as housemaid Bridget Sullivan, who develops an intimate relationship with Borden, a wealthy young woman acquitted of slaying her parents in the family home in Massachusetts. The film's ensemble also includes Jamey Sheridan and Fiona Shaw.

October

The fourth version of the musical A Star is Born features Bradley Cooper as an artist who discovers a bright, young talent played by Lady Gaga and falls in love with her. Previous screen incarnations with different casts premiered in 1937, 1954 and 1976. The '76 movie is possibly the most famous, with Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand burning up the screen.

The re-make scheduled for release Oct. 5 marks Cooper's directorial debut. He also co-wrote and produced the movie, which co-stars Andrew Dice Clay, Dave Chappelle and Sam Elliott. Although she had a role in the TV series American Horror Story, A Star is Born will be Gaga's first major film acting job.

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The Dark Knight Rises and Mad Max: Fury Road tough guy Tom Hardy plays the anti-hero at the core of the Marvel Comic book adaptation Venom, hitting screens Oct. 5. Hardy's character becomes a vigilante after he is infected with an alien parasite. Also appearing in the film are Riz Ahmed, Michelle Williams and Woody Harrelson.

Jamie Lee Curtis returns to her indelible role of Lorie Strode in the next chapter in the Michael Myers serial-killer saga. Halloween takes place 40 years after the events of the first Halloween movie and is its direct sequel, ignoring completely the other nine movies in the canon. Co-starring Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Virginia Gardner and Nick Castle, it was directed by David Gordon Green from a screenplay Green wrote with Jeff Fradley and Danny McBride. Opens Oct. 19.

November

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is a fantasy movie with roots in E.T.A. Hoffman's story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King and the Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker. It stars Mackenzie Foy, Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, Jayden Fowora-Knight, Eugenio Derbez, Matthew Macfadyen, Richard E. Grant and Morgan Freeman. Directed by Lasse Hallstrom and Joe Johnston, it will be released Nov. 2.

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Bohemian Rhapsody, the Queen biopic featuring Mr. Robot actor Rami Malek as music icon Freddie Mercury, opens Nov. 2. The movie chronicles the rock band's meteoric rise to fame with hits like "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Someone to Love," "We Will Rock You," "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Under Pressure," while also offering a glimpse at Mercury's love life. The singer died in 1991 from bronchopneumonia as a complication of AIDs. He was 45.

Anthony McCarten wrote the screenplay for the film, which boasts surviving Queen members Brian May and Taylor as music producers. The cast includes Allen Leech, Gwilym Lee and Joe Mazzello.

Filmmaker Dexter Fletcher was hired as the new director of the movie after original director Bryan Singer was fired because of unexcused absences from the set in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct.

Sherlock standout Benedict Cumberbatch will lend his distinctive voice to the green grump in the new telling of Dr. Seuss' classic Christmas story The Grinch. It is set to open Nov. 9.

The Crown star Claire Foy takes over the role of vengeful hacker Lisbeth Salander from Rooney Mara in the global crime thriller The Girl in the Spider's Web, which is set for release Nov. 9. Mara played Lisbeth in 2012's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, directed by David Fincher. Don't Breathe filmmaker Fede Alvarez helmed Spider's Web. Sylvia Hoeks and Stephen Merchant co-star.

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A Wrinkle in Time and Star Trek actor Chris Pine plays medieval warrior Robert the Bruce in The Outlaw King, due out Nov. 9. Some moviegoers may remember Robert as a supporting character in the 1995 film Braveheart where he was played by Angus Macfadyen. Pine's version of the historical figure is seen trying to organize his fellow Scotsmen to fight the British for their freedom from tyranny after his family is attacked. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Florence Pugh, Tony Curran, Stephen Dillane and Billy Howle co-star.

The year will wrap up with a variety of fantasy and superhero pictures.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is the second of five planned Harry Potter prequels. Starring Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterson, Johnny Depp and Jude Law, Grindelwald is to open Nov. 16. This episode finds Redmayne's kind-hearted magizoologist and his wizardy friends caught up in a battle of good and evil involving cherished Hogwarts instructor Albus Dumbledore (Law) and his Muggle-hating nemesis Grindelwald (Depp.)

December

The animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse imagines a world where several young people -- including teen Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) -- can share the role of the masked, good-doing webslinger. The vocal cast includes Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Jake Johnson, Liev Schreiber, Lily Tomlin and Brian Tyree Henry. It opens Dec. 14.

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Game of Thrones alum Jason Momoa plays the titular superhero who can communicate with water creatures in the DC Comics adaptation Aquaman, due in theaters Dec. 21. The character appeared briefly in the films Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, but this is his first standalone adventure. Nicole Kidman plays his mother, the queen of Atlantis; Willem Dafoe plays his adviser; and Amber Heard plays his love interest.

Set in 1987, Bumblebee is a prequel to 2007's Transformers that gives the beloved alien Autobot his own origins movie. True Grit and The Edge of Seventeen actress Hailee Steinfeld plays the young woman who finds him in a California junkyard and befriends him. It opens Dec. 21. John Cena, John Ortiz and Jorge Lendeborg Jr. co-star. Kubo and the Two Strings filmmaker Travis Knight directed.

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