From a Predator getting the hero treatment and Kenau Reeves receiving his wings to a fiery Avatar outing and more horror from the man behind Longlegs, here’s everything you should be checking out at your local multiplex over the next few months.
Welcome back to another instalment of The Cinematic Seven, Man of Many’s quarterly guide to what’s coming soon to a cinema near you. Here, my goal is to encourage you to trade yet another evening spent half-watching a straight-to-streaming disappointment while scrolling on your phone for an old-fashioned (and entirely more memorable) night out at the movies.
This time around, we have a new Predator outing brought to you by the team behind 2022’s outstanding Prey. Can they build on the best movie of the franchise since the original? We’re also checking out Keeper, an unnerving-looking horror flick from the man responsible for Longlegs. Whatever your thoughts on that bizarre Nicolas Cage vehicle, at least it was original, and Keeper appears to share that quality. Further, James Cameron’s Avatar franchise is returning for its third instalment this quarter, and while I personally find it hard to connect with that CGI world, I know people go nuts for it. And finally, Glen Powell steps into Arnold Schwarzenegger’s shoes for a remake of The Running Man, helmed by Shaun of the Dead’s Edgar Wright. Sounds like a good time to me.
As always, this is a streaming-free zone. Get your arse to the movies.
1. Bugonia
With Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, and Stavros Halkias heading up the cast, I couldn’t be more hyped for this new outing from visionary (yes, an apt description) director Yorgos Lanthimos. If you’ve seen any of his previous efforts, which include The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Lobster, and Poor Things, you’ll have an inkling as to why this film is so hotly anticipated around the Man of Many office.
Lanthimos’ movies never follow the Hollywood formula, and it looks like he’s sticking to that approach here. Bugonia’s synopsis outlines the plot as follows: Two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. If that doesn’t sound like a fascinating reflection of the current state of the world, where conspiracy theories abound and the gap between the elites and we plebs keeps growing, well, I don’t know what to tell you.
In cinemas: 30 October 2025
2. Good Fortune
Look, I can take or leave Aziz Ansari, writer, director, and star of Good Fortune. I thought his Master of None series was nowhere near as charming as he thought it was, and I can’t entirely separate the man from his insufferable Parks and Rec character (that one’s probably on me). Nevertheless, I’ll be checking out this flick due to the presence of Keanu Reeves as a well-meaning but inept angel named Gabriel, who meddles in the lives of a struggling gig worker and a wealthy venture capitalist.
This movie clearly has echoes of the 1996 John Travolta vehicle, Michael, but here’s hoping the presence of Seth Rogen and Sandra Oh helps to elevate the material. We should also pray to the angels that Ansari has learned how to keep his worst impulses in check. I’m doubtful, but we’ll see
In cinemas: 30 October 2025
3. Predator: Badlands
Forget what I said in the intro, Prey is the best Predator movie ever made. The original is a stone-cold classic, which gave us many quotable lines and one of the all-time memes in the form of the Schwarzenegger x Carl Weathers muscle-bulging handshake, but Prey is still a better (and far more brutal) film. Happily, director Dan Trachtenberg is back for another round of blood and guts, shifting the action from America’s Great Northern Plains of 1719 to an unknown planet in the future, which sounds considerably less interesting, but let’s see where he takes it.
Curiously, only two cast members are currently listed for the movie. The first is Elle Fanning, who plays a synthetic (i.e. android) bearing the logo of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation of Alien franchise fame. This reconfirms the link between these modern Predator movies and whatever’s happening in the world of Xenomorphs between Alien: Romulus and Alien: Earth. The other cast member is Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, playing Dek, this film’s Predator. I’m not sold on the idea of allowing the Predator to do a face turn like they did with the Terminator in T2: Judgment Day, but Trachtenberg has earned enough faith for me to wait and see.
In cinemas: 6 November 2025
4. Keeper
While last year’s Longlegs was certainly overhyped, it was an effective exercise in atmosphere, boasting some excellent (if unhinged) performances. Writer and director Osgood Perkins (son of actor Anthony Perkins, who played Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho) then returned earlier this year with The Monkey, a gloriously tongue-in-cheek gorefest. Now he’s back with another horror effort, which looks like something entirely different from his previous two.
The synopsis describes the film as a romantic anniversary trip to a secluded cabin that turns sinister when a dark presence reveals itself, forcing a couple to confront the property’s haunting past. However, if the trailer is anything to go by, Keeper will be nowhere near as conventional as that sounds. Count me in.
In cinemas: 13 November 2025
5. The Running Man
Remaking an Arnold Schwarzennger flick is always a dangerous business. Just look at the entirely forgettable 2011 take on Conan the Barbarian or the dreck that was 2012’s Total Recall starring Colin Farrell. However, The Running Man might just be the exception to the rule. With Edgar Wright at the helm and the seemingly effortlessly charismatic Glen Powell in front of the camera, this new adaptation of the Stephen King novel looks very promising indeed.
Following a game show where contestants, who are allowed to go anywhere in the world, are pursued by “hunters” hired to kill them, the film’s plot feels quite timely, given the combination of horror and shamelessness we see strewn across our modern social media platforms. And if anyone knows how to tease out those parallels and have fun doing it, it’s Wright.
In cinemas: 13 November 2025
6. Eternity
This new romantic comedy starring Elizabeth Olsen, Miles Teller, and Callum Turner actually tackles a question I’ve pondered about any potential afterlife that sees us reunited with our loved ones. What if those loved ones are not entirely compatible with one another? This idea is explored through Olsen’s character, Joan, who enters the afterlife, only to find she has one week to make an impossible decision: does she decide to share eternity with the man she spent her life with, or does she choose her first love, who died young and has waited decades for her to arrive?
This looks like a fun throwback to the high-concept romantic comedies of the ‘90s, plus, it’s always a pleasure to see Olsen doing her thing outside of the constraints of the Marvel movie machine.
In cinemas: 4 December 2025
7. Avatar: Fire and Ash
I’m not sure who could possibly be invested in this bland behemoth of a movie series, but apparently, the box office doesn’t lie. As such, the release of this third film in James Cameron’s not-at-all-ripping-off-Ferngully franchise is guaranteed to be an event. Mind you, if I felt hopeful, I might suggest that this movie bombing could be a big win for movies, as it might discourage Cameron from making Avatar 4, freeing him up for more interesting projects.
Anyway, seeing as the last instalment dealt with a water tribe of the Na’vi, this time Cameron’s going the other way, introducing a fire tribe. Cue a “live action” movie that’s almost entirely CGI and full to the brim with cliches. If that sounds remotely interesting to you, do you mind reaching out ot me and explaining why?
In cinemas: 18 December 2025
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