“Being the Ricardos“
It’s shocking to realize just how long it’s taken for Hollywood to produce a biopic on television and comedy titan Lucille Ball, best known for her sitcom “I Love Lucy.” Writer and director Aaron Sorkin look to fix that with his adaptation of a short window in the actress’s life where she faced personal and political accusations and cultural taboos, all of which threaten the relationship between her and her husband, Desi Arnaz. Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem play the power couple while J.K. Simmons, Nina Arianda, Jake Lacy, and Alia Shawkat round out the cast.
Release Date: December 10 in theaters and then December 21 on Amazon Prime.
“West Side Story“
Despite the hesitancy that comes when any filmmaker – even one as celebrated as Steven Spielberg – tries to remake a classic, it would seem based on first reactions that his adaptation of the musical “West Side Story” will prove to be yet another success for the director. In this iteration, the film stars Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, Mike Faist, and David Alvarez as members of the Jets and Sharks, and legendary Rita Moreno returns to the story that earned her an Oscar, albeit in a different role. With lyrics composed by the recently late Stephen Sondheim and a script from Tony Kushner, the film is the first musical Spielberg directed in his long career.
Release Date: December 10 in theaters via 20th Century Studios.
“Don’t Look Up“
Few directors assemble as eclectic casts as Adam McKay does. In his latest, the doomsday film “Don’t Look Up,” the cast includes everyone from A-listers like Leonardo Dicaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Timothée Chalamet, and pop singer Ariana Grande. Dicaprio and Lawrence play two-level astronomers who must go on a giant media tour to warn humanity of an approaching comet that will destroy the planet. The black comedy that also looks to satirize climate change deniers, McKay’s film looks like it will be oddly timely.
Release Date: December 10 in theaters and then December 24 on Netflix.
“The Hand of God“
Paolo Sorrentino, director of projects such as “The Great Beauty,” “Youth,” and “The Young Pope,” knows something of spectacle and excess. He scales this down, though, in his latest film, “The Hand of God,” which follows a young man growing up in 1980s Naples, Italy, as he experiences crushing heartbreak and liberation after he’s inadvertently saved from a freak accident by soccer legend Diego Maradona. Filippo Scotti, Teresa Saponangelo and Toni Servillo star. Italy’s pick for the Oscars, our critic, wrote, “Layered, rich, complex, and chock full of ideas, Sorrentino’s latest is, in some ways, a great summarizing artistic statement.”
Release Date: December 15 on streaming via Netflix.
“Spider-Man: No Way Home“
This year, Marvel Studios continues to dominate the box office with their upcoming release of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” the third in the Tom Holland-led trilogy. Following the events of “Far From Home,” the latest film follows Peter Parker as he asks Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to help him return his life to the way it was before his identity was exposed. Of course, based on the trailers, we know that goes array. With the promise of villains from the Sam Raimi universe making appearances such as Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock and Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, it will be interesting to see how returning director Jon Watts bridges those worlds. Zendaya, Marisa Tomei and Jacob Batalon also star.
Release: December 17 in theaters via Sony