Going to a movie theater this holiday season might be out of the question for most Americans, but fortunately you don’t have to leave the house to see some of the biggest Christmas movie releases.
Among the films coming out just in time to spread some Christmas cheer are “News of the World,” “Wonder Woman 1984,” “Promising Young Woman” and “The Midnight Sky,” just to name a few.
In the interest of being thorough, we’ll note some films are for some reason debuting this week in theaters only, with eventual home video release TBD. We’ve included them below, but of course we want to remind you that COVID-19 has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, and theaters across the country are being shut down due to the risk of spreading the disease. So, we urge you to keep that in mind before you decide to sit in an enclosed room with a bunch of other people before you’ve received the vaccine.
In any event, read on for a list of the top films coming out this holiday — and of course, where to watch them.
STREAMING
The following films are either coming out strictly via streaming services, or simultaneously with a limited theatrical run.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Sylvie’s Love
Release date: Dec. 23
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
Starring Tessa Thompson and Eugene Ashe, “Sylvie’s Love” tells the story of a woman who falls in love with a rising saxophone star while working in her father’s record store in 1950s Harlem, New York.
The Midnight Sky
Release date: Dec. 23
Where to watch: Netflix
“The Midnight Sky” stars George Clooney as a solitary scientist stationed in a post-apocalyptic Antarctica as he works to stop a crew of astronauts from returning home to a worldwide disaster.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Inc.
Wonder Woman 1984
Release date: Dec. 25
Where to watch: HBO Max; also available in select theaters.
The superhero sequel moved around the calendar quite a bit trying to pick a good theatrical release date, but even the daughter of Zeus doesn’t have the power defeat COVID-19, and so it is the film ultimately skipped theaters entirely.
Cr. Ryan Green/NETFLIX © 2020
We Can Be Heroes
Release date: Dec. 25
Where to watch: Netflix
Feel old yet? This is the sequel to the 2005 kids cult hit “Sharkboy and Lavagirl.” Yeah, yeah you do. Set several years after “Sharkboy and Lavagirl,” this time out the world is attacked by alien invaders who capture Earth’s superheroes, leaving their kids to try and take it back. It stars Pedro Pascal, Priyanka Chopra and Christian Slater alongside original Lavagirl Taylor Dooley.
Walt Disney Studios/Pixar
Soul
Release date: Dec. 25
Where to watch: Disney+
Disney/Pixar’s “Soul” is another casualty of COVID-19, skipping theaters entirely. From director Peter Docter (“Up” and “Inside Out”) it stars Jamie Foxx as Joe Gardner, a jazz pianist and teacher who goes on an incredible quest to reunite his soul with his body after an accident.
Universal Pictures
News of the World
Release date: Dec. 25
Where to watch: Netflix, with limited theatrical release in America.
Tom Hanks plays a traveling news reader trekking across the southwest who encounters an orphan raised by the Kiowa people. The two go looking for her real home, and do some bonding along the way (in between shoot-outs).
THEATERS ONLY (For Now)
The following films will be in theaters only during the Christmas holidays, with streaming release coming at a later date. But as we said above, COVID-19 has already killed hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S., and the country is seeing new infection records set on a near daily basis. Also, it’s easily spread inside enclosed spaces. So please, we urge you to be careful and consider waiting for home video.
Amazon Studios
One Night in Miami
Release date: Dec. 25
Where to watch: Limited theatrical release; It will move to Amazon Prime Video on Jan. 15/
Regina King’s directorial debut tells the fictionalized account of Muhammad Ali’s first Heavyweight Boxing Championship win in 1964 — just 10 days before he renounced his birth name, Cassius Clay — stars Eli Goree as Ali and Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcom X. Leslie Odom Jr., Lance Reddick, and Michael Imperioli also join.
Merie Weismiller Wallace / Focus Features
Promising Young Woman
Release date: Dec. 25
Where to watch: Limited theatrical release; Home video release TBA.
This dramedy from director and writer Emerald Fennell about a woman getting revenge on every man who’s wronged her stars Carey Mulligan, Laverne Cox, Alison Brie, Bo Burnam, Adam Brody and Jennifer Coolidge. So, yeah, obviously you’re going to watch it.
Photo-Credit-Greta-De-Lazzaris
Pinocchio
Release date: Dec. 25
Where to watch: Limited theatrical release
Roberto Benigni’ stars in this adaptation of the 1883 children’s book — this movie, BTW, has no connection to Disney’s 1940 animated adaptation — as puppeteer Gepetto, with Frederico Ielapi as the talking puppet who just wants to be a real boy.
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