OCTOBER 2

The Martian

This movie is getting nearly the same release that Gravity did two years earlier. It is pretty much taking a lot of what Gravity did and upping the stakes: Big movie star, terrible accident in space, has to survive alone. Now if it can match the seven Oscars Gravity pulled in, that would be a real feat.

OCTOBER 9

Steve Jobs

This was the Steve Jobs movie that many were anticipating, especially after the TV-movie quality Ashton Kutcher biopic crashed and burned. Then the Sony hack happened and revealed a lot of behind the scenes drama surrounding the production. Still, this film has an award winning director at the helm and a great actor in the lead, so maybe it can pull through and be the big critical and financial hit the studio is looking for. 

Pan

After a delay from an initial summer release, this new take on Peter Pan lands in a strange spot on the schedule.  Kids are still in school, it doesn’t have a spooky holiday theme, and I doubt it’s going to be much of an Oscar contender. Maybe it will give audiences that summer movie feel in the middle of fall.

OCTOBER 16

Goosebumps Movie

Instead of adapting individual books, the movie is going all in and bringing multiple stories to life in one big plot. Seems similar to Pixels conceptually, but I'm sure everyone involved is hoping for a better result than that disaster. It's releasing in the right season at least.

Crimson Peak

As a fan of Pan's Labyrinth I've been anticipating this del Toro film for a while. Again it's an appropriate time of year for something creepy and hopefully audiences are ready for a horror throwback that isn't another found footage clone.

OCTOBER 23

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension

Did I say found footage clone? Producers promise this is the last of the Paranormal Activity films, though with the franchise circling the drain and the sub-genre doing the same, it probably couldn’t sustain much longer anyway. Perhaps the promise of a conclusion gives it the box office boost the studio is looking for.

Jem and the Holograms

Ouch, that trailer. Just like with World War Z, I think the studio picked up this property for name recognition and nothing more. It doesn’t even look like the campy fun that was the Josie and the Pussycats movie, just a straight cash-in on nostalgia with a kid’s TV movie plot.

The Last Witch Hunter

Vin Diesel’s career is very much like a roller coaster, and with the resurgence of the Fast and Furious franchise, he’s back on top. Will taking another high concept fantasy project send him back down again or will he continue riding high for now? I don’t know if he’s yet to have a big hit movie where his co-star wasn’t a vehicle.

NOVEMBER 6

The Peanuts Movie

It’s great they’ve found a way to incorporate the 2D art style of the original Peanuts comics and cartoons into the 3D computer animation of this new film. The only issue is that it doesn’t appear to tread any new territory for the characters, but maybe exposing it to a new generation is reason enough to get this made.

Spectre

With rumors circulating that Daniel Craig’s reign as James Bond might be done soon, this latest chapter picks right up where Skyfall left off. This movie is poised to rake in some serious money before the holiday season kicks in a few weeks later.

And that’s it for fall and it won’t be long before the holiday movies start breaking box office records with two major franchises taking over the rest of November and December. Will there be room for any other movies in the coming months? Check out my holiday preview in November to see. Be sure to rank the movies from the fall season below and feel free to comment about any of the movies I didn’t mention.