November is an important month to the box-office annual profile. With the holiday season starting in earnest, Hollywood has big hopes for some hits that will attract families and friends who love adding some cinematic spice to their pumpkin pie. Sixteen sea-to-shining-sea releases are slated for the November movies to be released.NOVEMBER 2ndA play on the classic tale, The Nutcracker And The Four Realms has Misty Copeland, Mackenzie Foy, Morgan Freeman leading an impressive cast. Clara (Foy) longs for the unique key that will open an invaluable present her deceased mother has left her. An adventure ensues which leads them through four realms, the Land of Snowflakes, the Land of Flowers, the Land of Sweets, and finally the sinister fourth that is dominated by Mother Ginger – played by the legendary Helen Mirren. Guaranteed to bring some fantastic fantasy family fun!Bohemian Rhapsody is the highly-anticipated Queen and Freddie Mercury bio-pic. The years have done nothing but expand the appreciation for Queen and Mercury’s trailblazing career. The movie follows their rise, struggles, and triumphs, culminating in their reunion for Live Aid when Mercury and the band delivered a performance for the ages while Mercury was in dire health straits. Rami Malek stars as the ultimate original Mercury.Nobody’s Fool stars Tiffany Haddish, Tika Sumpter, and Omari Hardwick in a comedic drama focused on two sisters who are opposites. Haddish is the wild seed of the family who turns to her successful sister Sumpter for help. But they both learn that surface appearances surely don’t tell the full tale of lives.NOVEMBER 9thOverlord is a war drama that finds American paratroopers behind enemy lines executing a mission that is critical for the impending D-Day invasion. They run into entanglements in the Nazi-occupied village that their intelligence reports hadn’t prepared them for. Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, and Jacob Anderson have leading roles.A return to the classic, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch hits the screen this week. And with the legendary TV special and the groundbreaking smashing success of the live-version starring Jim Carrey years back, why not revisit this fertile ground out of the brilliant mind of Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss.) Bendict Cumberbatch voices the lead of the infamous green curmudgeon who lives in a cave with his dog Max above Who-Ville.A new installment of the popular series that spun (no pun intended) out of the original novels by Steig Larsson is The Girl In the Spider’s Web: A New Dragon Tattoo Story. Lisbeth Sanders is the high-tech street justice fighter who works with reporter Mikael Blomkvist as personal domestic abuse crimes are linked to a bigger net of corruption and danger. Clarie Foy makes a second appearance as a lead this month, as well as Sylvia Hoeks, and Claes Bang.
NOVEMBER 16thFantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindewald stars Eddie Redmayne, Zoe Kravitz, and Johnny Depp in this sequel that delves deeper into the wizarding world of Harry Potter’s predecessors. Dumbeldore wages a dangerous battle to stop the pure-blood wizard bigots from taking over all non-magicals as the world threatens to splinter under the threat.Widows depicts the struggle of four women whose criminal husbands have been killed, and now other underworld power-players are demanding that the women pay off their husbands’ outstanding debts. Director Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave) and writer Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) combine talents in this modern-crime drama.A comedic alternative can be found with Instant Family. Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie (Rose Byrne) explore the world of foster care, and before you know it they are doing their best to keep their noses above water with not one child but three siblings – including a rebellious teenager. Billed as comedy but this situation can obviously become scary really quickly!At Eternity’s Gate stars the marvelous Willem Dafoe as the troubled genius Vincent van Gogh. It is not a meticulous biography but a composite based on VvG’s letters, life events, conjecture, and imagination.NOVEMBER 18thThe Possession of Hannah Grace stars Shay Mitchell, Stana Katic, and Grey Damon in a tale of exorcism, death, and a woman who works in a morgue. You can surely imply that demonic forces, terrible torment, and a struggle for the soul will ensue!NOVEMBER 21stThis Wednesday before Thanksgiving brings five more openings that producers hope will deliver a bountiful haul over the long Thanksgiving weekend. Robin Hood leads the pack – another classic story that has had a long Hollywood history. This iteration brings Jamie Foxx, Taron Egerton, and Eve Hewson front and center. It spins the story so that this Hood is a crusader who teams with a Moorish leader in revolt against the corrupt royal crown.Ralph Breaks the Internet is an ambitious animated flick with the voice talents of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, and Jack McBrayer. The universe of the Internet must be traversed in the hopes of saving a beloved video game on the verge of extinction. Can we assume ‘Ready Player One’ in an animated feature perhaps?The Front Runner brings some old school political intrigue that tells the story of top presidential candidate Gary Hart whose 1988 bid for the Oval Office is shattered amidst an extramarital affair accusation with a woman named Donna Rice. Many of us old enough to recall the events may mark it as the beginning of a whole new level of scrutiny and sexual scandal that have impacted our nation and politics ever since. Vera Farmiga, Courtney Ford, and Kaitlyn Dever star.The eagerly anticipated Creed II rolls out with Sly Stallone, Michael B. Jordan, and Tessa Thompson back. The first Creed film invigorated audiences with the depths of its performances, its intriguing story-lines, and its overall stellar execution. Let’s hope this one is half as a good and we’ll have another winner in the boxing ring and the box office!And finally, a film that may surprise with some Oscar-buzz is Green Book. It stars Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, and Linda Cardellini and focuses on the real-life relationship between a NYC nightclub bouncer who takes the job as a Jamaican-American pianist’s chauffeur during a Deep South tour in the heart of 1960's civil rights unrest.Those are the national releases coming to the silver screen in November. There are numerous others in limited runs and even some coming back around for an Oscar ‘refresher’ release so they won’t be forgotten during award-season. When it’s time to tell your story, be sure to contact Steven James! We’ll provide the lights and camera, and together we’ll stir up the action!
