Movies to open over the holidays

Sydney Glover
Staff Writer

As we enter the holiday season there are a great deal of new movies coming out. Some of these have been highly marketed and some are possible hidden gems. Either way ‘tis the season to grab a bowl of popcorn and watch a new movie. 

If you want to catch a movie this weekend and the next, here are some great options. 

The fourth installment of the Ghostbusters franchise, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” will be coming to theaters Nov. 19. This movie will follow the life of a single mother and her children moving to a small town. There they discover the connection they have to the original Ghostbusters. This film will feature Finn Wolfhard, from “Stranger Things” as well as McKenna Grace, Sigourney Weaver, who played in the original Ghostbusters, and Paul Rudd who currently plays Antman in the Marvel movies. 

If you love sports and Will Smith, then this next movie is for you. “King Richard” will be dropping in theaters on Nov. 19. This movie will tell the true story of Richard Williams, the father of the legendary tennis stars Serena Williams and Venus Williams. It will offer insight to how a man with little to no knowledge of tennis went on to raise two of the best tennis players ever. Not only will it share the hardships that he went through raising his children, but it will also show his past troubles. Smith will be playing Richard Williams in this upcoming film and you can see it in theaters or on HBO Max.

Disney’s “Encanto” movie will be released Nov. 24. Hidden in the mountains of Colombia lives the Madrigal family. They have been blessed by the magic of “Encanto.” This gave every family member a unique power. However, the main character, Mirabel is the only one without powers. Disney sticks to their favorite storyline; henceforth, the magic of “Encanto” is in danger so Mirabel must venture off to save the magic and her family. Nonetheless, it looks to be a very heartwarming story that is a must-see for Disney lovers. 

Additionally, Lady Gaga will be starring as Lady Gucci in “House of Gucci” which will be released Nov. 24. Starring alongside her will be Jared Leto, who played Joker in DC’s “Suicide Squad”, Adam Driver a two-time Golden Globe nominee, and Salma Hayek who also played in the Marvel film “Eternals”. This film will be based on Sara Gay Forden’s book “The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed,” which will tell the shocking story behind the well-known Italian fashion house family empire. Furthermore, the story line will span over three decades showing the love, betrayal, and murder that the family was a part of.

 The highly anticipated “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is set to be released Dec. 17. This movie will star Tom Holland as Spider-Man, with some returning actors such as Zendaya and Jacob Batalon; however, it will also feature new actors to this series such as Alfred Molina who will be reprising his role as Doc Ock but in a different series.  In the last of the three Spider-Man films we will see Spider-Man deal with the struggles of the world now knowing his real identity, Peter Parker. Additionally, he will seek Doctor Strange for help with this new found problem. Little else is known about the plot. Nonetheless, this movie is expected to be another game changer project and will reprise villains from Toby Maguire’s and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man movies. 

If you want to catch a movie close to Christmas here are a few ideas. “Sing 2”, “The Matrix Resurrections,” and “The King’s Man” all come out on Friday, Dec. 22. 

“Sing 2” is the sequel to the first “Sing” movie that came out in 2016. This is an animated film that will feature Matthew McConaughey, Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon, among others. This movie will show what happened after the last movie left off and will follow Buster on his journey to debut a new show for the Crystal Tower Theater. It is sure to be a great movie to watch with younger siblings or cousins. 

The long awaited fourth movie in the Matrix franchise is almost here. This series quickly became a cult classic not only nationwide but worldwide as well. The first movie made $465.3 million at the box office worldwide in 1999. The original movie follows the main character Neo on his quest to figure out what the Matrix is. He then teams up with Morpheus and Trinity to go discover the answer to his question. In the upcoming film, “The Matrix” fans will get to see Neo’s life take a shocking course where he winds up back in the Matrix.  

Finally, the prequel film in the Kingsmen series titled “The King’s Man” is coming out in a little over a month. This movie will take us back in time to the early 1900’s, where we will get to see the origins of the Kingsman organization. This movie will star Colin Harth as Harry Hart, Gemma Arterton as Polly, and Aaron Taylor Johnson as Lee Unwin. 

So, if you find yourself without something to do this holiday season you can always go to the theaters. You will find an array of different movies, maybe even a hidden gem.