David Fincher is directing a Quentin Tarantino screenplay for the first time since 1996 with The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, a spin-off from Tarantino’s 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The film centres on Cliff Booth, the stuntman played by Brad Pitt, a character Tarantino liked enough to write a sequel script for. Fincher, known for Fight Club and The Social Network, takes the director’s seat, marking a rare collaboration where Tarantino’s script is realised by another filmmaker.
Set in 1977, the story follows Booth as he cleans up Hollywood’s messes. His latest clients include a talent agent played by Elizabeth Debicki and a TV actor portrayed by Scott Caan, both entangled with gangsters. The official synopsis describes the plot as “a cocktail of violence, ambition, and desire that could only happen in LA.” The film is scheduled for release on 25 November across the UK, the US, and Canada.
Meanwhile, the Hunger Games franchise is expanding again with a new prequel sequel titled The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. It arrives internationally on 19 and 20 November, continuing the story more than a decade after Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen last appeared in 2015’s Mockingjay – Part 2. The first prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, came out in 2023. Sunrise on the Reaping is set 40 years after that and 24 years before Katniss’s story, confusing timelines that align with Suzanne Collins’s original novels.
Joseph Zada stars as a younger version of Woody Harrelson’s character from the original films, with Ralph Fiennes stepping in as President Snow, a character originally played by Donald Sutherland. Other younger versions include Jesse Plemons as Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character, Kieran Culkin as Stanley Tucci’s, and Elle Fanning as Elizabeth Banks’s.
Also debuting this month is Elsinore, a film about Ian Charleson, who replaced Daniel Day-Lewis in the role of Hamlet at London’s National Theatre in 1989, shortly before Charleson died of AIDS. Andrew Scott plays Charleson, with Olivia Colman as his doctor and Billie Piper as his best friend. Directed by Simon Stone and written by Stephen Beresford, the film is receiving early Oscar buzz for Scott’s performance. Nick Howells of The Standard described it as “a performance of a lifetime, and one the Academy voters would need a collective bout of insanity to ignore.” Elsinore releases on 20 November in the US, 25 November in France, and 29 January in the UK and Ireland.
Jordan Firstman, known for his role in HBO’s I Love LA, wrote, directed, and stars in Club Kid, a comedy-drama about a gay club promoter in New York whose hedonistic lifestyle is interrupted by the discovery of a 10-year-old son he never knew he had. Cara Delevingne co-stars as Sophie, Peter’s business partner, with Reggie Absolom as the boy, Arlo. The film opened on 4 November in France, 6 November in the US, and 13 November in Canada. It has received positive reviews, holding a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Disney is releasing Hexed on 25 to 27 November internationally. The animated film follows Billie, a suburban teenager voiced by Hailee Steinfeld, who discovers her magical powers and enters a realm called Hexe, reminiscent of Hogwarts. The voice cast includes Jodie Foster, Tracey Ullman, Stephen Fry, and Dan Stevens. Another animated film exploring magic, an adaptation of Dr Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat, opens on 5 November.
The Meet the Parents franchise returns with Focker-in-Law, out internationally between 25 and 27 November. Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro reprise their roles as Greg Focker and Jack, joined by Owen Wilson, Blythe Danner, and Teri Polo. New cast members include Beanie Feldstein, Skyler Gisondo, and Ariana Grande, who plays the fiancée of Greg and Pam’s son. The twist is that Jack, usually the skeptic, welcomes the new family member, while Greg expresses doubts.
Finally, Sylvester Stallone’s early career is the subject of an upcoming film titled I Play Rocky, though further details remain scarce.
The month’s releases highlight an unusual collaboration between Fincher and Tarantino, a complex expansion of the Hunger Games timeline, and a wave of films driven by strong performances and unusual stories.
According to Joy Online.
