Now that summer’s slowly coming to close and the season’s blockbusters have started to trickle out of the box office, it’s time to look forward to a handful of new fall films that are coming in hot in the cooler months.
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Whether it’s movies from Hollywood heavy-hitters like Denzel Washington and Jeffrey Wright or Broadway classics coming back to the big screen like the sequel “Wicked: For Good,” there are more than a handful of Black-leading/centric films that we can’t wait to watch! Believe us when we say, this list spans across various genres, so there’s really something for everybody.
Keep reading to find out more, we’ll see you at the theaters!
“Highest to Lowest”
When a titan music mogul (Denzel Washington), widely known as having the “best ears in the business,” is targeted with a ransom plot, he is jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma. Brothers Denzel Washington and Spike Lee reunite for the 5th in their long working relationship for a reinterpretation of the great filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s crime thriller High and Low, now played out on the mean streets of modern day New York City.
Starring: Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, A$AP Rocky
Release Date: August 15 in theaters, Sep, 5 on AppleTV+
“HIM”
HIM stars former college wide-receiver Tyriq Withers as Cameron Cade, a rising-star quarterback who has devoted his life, and identity, to football. On the eve of professional football’s annual scouting Combine, Cam is attacked by an unhinged fan and suffers a potentially career-ending brain trauma. Just when all seems lost, Cam receives a lifeline when his hero, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), a legendary eight-time Championship quarterback and cultural megastar, offers to train Cam at Isaiah’s isolated compound that he shares with his celebrity influencer wife. But as Cam’s training accelerates, Isaiah’s charisma begins to curdle into something darker, sending his protégé down a disorienting rabbit hole that may cost him more than he ever bargained for.
Starring: Tyriq Withers, Marlon Wayans, Jim Jefferies
Release Date: September 19, in theaters
“Wicked: For Good”
“Wicked: For Good” follows Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West and her relationship with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. The second of a two-part feature film adaptation of the Broadway musical.
Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Release Date: November 21, in theaters
“Love Brooklyn”
Three longtime Brooklynites navigate careers, love, loss, and friendship against the rapidly changing landscape of their beloved city.
Starring: Andre Holland, Nicole Beharie, DeWanda Wise
Release Date: September 5, in theaters
“The Long Walk”
A group of teenage boys compete in an annual contest known as “The Long Walk,” where they must maintain a certain walking speed or get shot.
Starring: David Jonsson, Cooper Hoffman, Garrett Wareing
Release Date: September 12, in theaters
“One Battle After Another”
When their evil enemy resurfaces after 16 years, a group of ex-revolutionaries reunite to rescue one of their own’s daughter.
Starring: Teyana Taylor, Leonardo DiCaprio, Regina Hall
Release Date: September 26, in theaters
“The Knife”
After the mysterious appearance of a stranger in their home, a young Black family must deal with the fallout of their choices, big and small, as a steadfast detective tries to crack the case over the course of one fateful night.
Starring: Nnamdi Asomugha, Aja Naomi King, Manny Jacinto
Release Date: August 15, in theaters
“Ruth & Boaz”
Per Tyler Perry Studios, “R&B” is a modern-day retelling of the story of Ruth and Boaz, an iconic Biblical love story. Set in Tennessee, the film follows a young woman who escapes the Atlanta music scene to care for an elderly widowed woman, only to find the love of her life and gain the mother she never had.
Starring: Tyler Lepley, Serayah, Phylicia Rashad
Release Date: September 26, on Netflix
“After the Hunt”
“After The Hunt” is a gripping psychological drama about a college professor (Julia Roberts) who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star student (Ayo Edebiri) levels an accusation against one of her colleagues (Andrew Garfield), and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come into the light.
Starring: Ayo Edebiri, Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield
Release Date: October 17, in theaters
“Hedda”
From writer/director Nia DaCosta comes a provocative, modern reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s classic play. HEDDA (Tessa Thompson) finds herself torn between the lingering ache of a past love and the quiet suffocation of her present life. Over the course of one charged night, long-repressed desires and hidden tensions erupt—pulling her and everyone around her into a spiral of manipulation, passion, and betrayal.
Starring: Tessa Thompson, Nicholas Pinnock
Release Date: October 29, on Prime Video
“The Man In My Basement”
Charles Blakey, an African American man living in Sag Harbor, is stuck in a rut, out of luck and about to lose his ancestral home when a peculiar white businessman with a European accent offers to rent his basement for the summer.
Starring: Corey Hawkins, Willem Dafoe, Anna Diop
Release Date: September 12, in theaters
“Play Dirty”
An expert thief rolls out the biggest heist of his life in “Play Dirty,” an action-packed thriller from director Shane Black. Parker (Mark Wahlberg), along with Grofield (LaKeith Stanfield), Zen (Rosa Salazar) and a skilled crew, stumble onto a score that pits them against the New York mob in this gritty, clever caper.
Starring: LaKeith Stanfield, Mark Wahlberg, Keegan-Michael Key
Release Date: October 1, on Prime Video
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