Sleigh bells are ringing, snow is glistening, and we should all be happy tonight about December’s movie slate. Several new family-friendly movies will make the theaters a warm place to celebrate the holidays: Keanu Reeves joins the party in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, while Mufusa: The Lion King brings the story behind The Lion King‘s Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) to life courtesy of Academy Award-winning director Barry Jenkins (Moonlight). Executive producer Peter Jackson returns to Middle-earth with The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, an animated story set almost 200 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Kraven the Hunter, the next film in Sony Pictures’s ongoing Spider-Man universe, definitely isn’t for kids but is meant for adult comic book fans. Carry-On also isn’t child-friendly, but the action thriller about a cat-and-mouse game at LAX airport on Christmas Eve arrives just in time for the holidays. Robert Eggers‘ Nosferatu might seem like a Halloween movie, but the vampire Gothic Romance makes for an especially chilly December. J ude Law and Nicholas Hoult ground The Order, a terrifying thriller based on the non-fiction book The Silent Brotherhood. Tyler Perry‘s latest Netflix film, The Six Triple Eight, is inspired by the true story of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, World War II’s all-women, all-Black Army Corps. Last but not least, Amy Adams leads Nightbitch, a dark comedy about feminism and motherhood, general audiences can finally see Pamela Anderson‘s much-buzzed-about performance in The Last Showgirl, and Timothée Chalamet sings his way through Bob Dylan‘s catalog.
‘Y2K’
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Release Date: |
December 6, 2024 in theaters |
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Director: |
Kyle Mooney |
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Writer: |
Kyle Mooney, Evan Winter |
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Cast: |
Jaeden Martell, Julian Dennison, Rachel Zegler, Daniel Zolghadri, Lachlan Watson, Eduardo Franco, Fred Durst, Kyle Mooney, Mason Gooding, The Kid Laroi, Miles Robbins, Alicia Silverstone, Tim Heidecker, Lauren Balone, Kevin Mangold |
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Genre: |
Disaster, Comedy |
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Runtime: |
93 minutes |
Y2K offers a darkly comedic throwback to the Y2K crisis that never happened. A teen party on New Year’s Eve, 1999, turns deadly when every bit of technology — from landline phones to lawnmowers — gains sentience and goes on a worldwide murder spree.
‘Nightbitch’
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Release Date: |
December 6, 2024 in theaters |
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Director: |
Marielle Heller |
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Writer: |
Marielle Heller |
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Cast: |
Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy, Arleigh and Emmett Snowden, Zoë Chao, Mary Holland, Ella Thomas, Archana Rajan, Jessica Harper, Adrienne Rose White, Roslyn Gentle, Stacey Swift, Darius De La Cruz |
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Genre: |
Horror, Black Comedy |
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Runtime: |
98 minutes |
Exhausted by the stay-at-home mom lifestyle, her belittling husband, and the career dreams she has sacrificed, Mother (Amy Adams) slowly starts turning into a dog at night — and finds freedom in running wild.
‘The Six Triple Eight’
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Release Date: |
December 6, 2024 in limited theaters, December 20, 2024 on Netflix |
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Director: |
Tyler Perry |
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Writer: |
Tyler Perry |
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Cast: |
Kerry Washington, Sam Waterston, Susan Sarandon, Oprah Winfrey, Ebony Obsidian, Milauna Jackson, Kylie Jefferson, Shanice Shantay, Sarah Jeffery, Pepi Sonuga, Jay Reeves, Jeanté Godlock, Moriah Brown, Baadja-Lyne Odums, Gregg Sulkin, Dean Norris |
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Genre: |
War Drama |
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Runtime: |
127 minutes |
The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, led by Major Charity Adams (Kerry Washington), is sent to Europe on a supposedly hopeless mission: transport a massive backlog of handwritten mail from American soldiers to their families.
‘The Order’
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Release Date: |
December 6, 2024 in theaters |
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Director: |
Justin Kurzel |
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Writer: |
Zach Baylin |
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Cast: |
Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Jurnee Smollett, Alison Oliver, Marc Maron, Odessa Young, Huxley Fisher, Sebastian Pigott, Phillip Forest Lewitski, George Tchortov, Victor Slezak, Philip Granger, Daniel Doheny |
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Genre: |
Historical Drama, Crime, Thriller |
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Runtime: |
116 minutes |
In 1980s Idaho, FBI agents Terry Husk (Jude Law) and Joanne Carney (Jurnee Smollett) investigate a growing threat from white nationalist domestic terrorists.
‘Kraven the Hunter’
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Release Date: |
December 13, 2024 in theaters |
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Director: |
J. C. Chandor |
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Writer: |
Richard Wenk, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway |
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Cast: |
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Levi Miller, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, Russell Crowe |
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Genre: |
Superhero, Action |
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Runtime: |
127 minutes |
Sergei Kravinoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) isn’t just a hunter, but The Hunter — the best human predator in the world, and a future Spider-Man villain. Before he crosses paths with New York City’s favorite webslinger, however, Kraven must contend with the legacy of his crime lord father (Russell Crowe).
‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim’
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Release Date: |
December 13, 2024 in theaters |
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Director: |
Kenji Kamiyama |
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Writer: |
Jeffrey Addiss, Will Matthews, Phoebe Gittins, Arty Papageorgiou |
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Cast: |
Brian Cox, Gaia Wise, Luke Pasqualino, Miranda Otto, Lorraine Ashbourne, Yazdan Qafouri, Benjamin Wainwright, Laurence Ubong Williams, Shaun Dooley, Michael Wildman, Jude Akuwudike, Bilal Hasna, Janine Duvitski, Christopher Lee |
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Genre: |
Anime, Fantasy, Action |
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Runtime: |
134 minutes |
Director Kenji Kamiyama‘s anime version of Middle-earth depicts the story of Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox), the ninth king of Rohan and Helm’s Deep’s namesake, and his warrior daughter Héra (Gaia Wise), during their war against another human faction.
‘Carry-On’
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Release Date: |
December 13, 2024 on Netflix |
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Director: |
Jaume Collet-Serra |
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Writer: |
T.J. Fixman |
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Cast: |
Taron Egerton, Jason Bateman, Logan Marshall-Green, Sofia Carson, Danielle Deadwyler, Theo Rossi, Dean Norris, Sinqua Walls, Josh Brener, Joe Williamson, Curtiss Cook, Tonatiuh Elizarraraz, Gil Perez-Abraham |
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Genre: |
Action, Thriller |
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Runtime: |
Pending |
TSA agent Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) is one of the unlikely people picked to work the Christmas Eve rush at LAX. The holiday seems business as usual until an unknown man (Jason Bateman) threatens to kill everyone in the airport if Ethan doesn’t sneak a mysterious parcel onto an airplane.
‘Nickel Boys’
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Release Date: |
December 13, 2024 in theaters |
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Director: |
RaMell Ross |
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Writer: |
RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes |
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Cast: |
Ethan Herisse, Ethan Cole Sharp, Daveed Diggs, Brandon Wilson, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Hamish Linklater, Fred Hechinger, Jimmie Fails |
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Genre: |
Historical Drama |
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Runtime: |
140 minutes |
Set in the 1960s and based on the book The Nickel Boys by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead, teen boys Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson) become friends when both are forced to live in an abusive and segregated reform school.
‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’
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Release Date: |
December 20, 2024 in theaters |
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Director: |
Jeff Fowler |
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Writer: |
Pat Casey, Josh Miller, John Whittington |
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Cast: |
Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Natasha Rothwell, Shemar Moore, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Idris Elba, Krysten Ritter, Keanu Reeves |
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Genre: |
Action, Animated, Comedy |
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Runtime: |
109 minutes |
In their third big-screen live-action outing, Sonic the Hedgehog (Ben Schwartz), Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), and Knuckles (Idris Elba) reunite against Shadow (Keanu Reeves), an enemy hedgehog out for revenge.
‘Mufasa: The Lion King’
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Release Date: |
December 20, 2024 in theaters |
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Director: |
Barry Jenkins |
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Writer: |
Jeff Nathanson |
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Cast: |
Aaron Pierre, Braelyn Rankins, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Theo Somolu, John Kani, Kagiso Lediga, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Tiffany Boone, Donald Glover, Mads Mikkelsen, Thandiwe Newton, Lennie James, Blue Ivy Carter, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Preston Nyman, Anika Noni Rose, Keith David, Joanna Jones, Folake Olowofoyeku, Thuso Mbedu, Sheila Atim, Abdul Salis, Dominique Jennings |
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Genre: |
Drama, Action, Musical |
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Runtime: |
Pending |
Both a sequel and a prequel to 2019’s The Lion King, Mufasa depicts the future King of the Pridelands’ orphaned childhood, his meeting with his future wife, Sarabi (Tiffany Boone), and his relationship with his adopted brother, Taka, better known as Scar (Kelvin Harrison Jr.).
‘The Brutalist’
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Release Date: |
December 20, 2024 in theaters |
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Director: |
Brady Corbet |
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Writer: |
Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold |
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Cast: |
Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Emma Laird, Isaach de Bankolé, Alessandro Nivola, Michael Epp, Jonathan Hyde, Peter Polycarpou, Maria Sand, Salvatore Sansone |
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Genre: |
Historical Drama |
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Runtime: |
215 minutes |
László Tóth (Adrien Brody), a Holocaust survivor and architect, reunites with his family — his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) and his niece Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy, Ariane Labed) — and begins his life anew in the United States.
‘Nosferatu’
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Release Date: |
December 25, 2024 in theaters |
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Director: |
Robert Eggers |
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Writer: |
Robert Eggers |
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Cast: |
Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney |
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Genre: |
Horror |
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Runtime: |
132 minutes |
After a career directing films as varied but dependable as The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman, Robert Eggers turns his eye to Nosferatu, a remake of the legendary 1922 German silent film. Ancient vampire Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) travels from Transylvania to England in search of Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp), a deeply lonely woman and newlywed.
‘A Complete Unknown’
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Release Date: |
December 25, 2024 in theaters |
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Director: |
James Mangold |
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Writer: |
James Mangold, Jay Cocks |
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Cast: |
Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook, Dan Fogler, Norbert Leo Butz, Scoot McNairy, P. J. Byrne, Will Harrison, Eriko Hatsune, Charlie Tahan, Ryan Harris Brown, Eli Brown, Nick Pupo, Big Bill Morganfield, Laura Kariuki, Stephen Carter Carlsen, Eric Berryman, David Alan Basche, Ali Asghar Shah, Joe Tippett, James Austin Johnson, Kayli Carter, Sarah King, Alaina Surgener, Michael Chernus, Will Price |
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Genre: |
Biographical Drama |
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Runtime: |
141 minutes |
Logan director James Mangold‘s biopic follows Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) throughout his early career, specifically his period of reinvention when he began playing electric guitars instead of the traditional folk sound for which he was known.
‘Babygirl’
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Release Date: |
December 25, 2024 in theaters |
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Director: |
Halina Reijn |
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Writer: |
Halina Reijn |
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Cast: |
Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Antonio Banderas, Sophie Wilde, Esther McGregor, Vaughan Reilly, Gaite Jansen, Izabel Mar, Victor Slezak, Anoop Desai, Bartley Booz, Maxwell Whittington-Cooper, Leslie Silva, Dolly Wells |
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Genre: |
Erotic Thriller |
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Runtime: |
114 minutes |
Despite their age difference, corporate CEO Romy (Nicole Kidman) and the company’s newest promising intern, Samuel (Harris Dickinson), embark on an affair full of professional, personal, and psychological power games.
Other Movies Releasing in December 2024
December 4
- That Christmas (on Netflix)
December 6
- Werewolves (in theaters)
- Oh Canada (in theaters)
December 13
- The Last Showgirl (in theaters)
December 25
- Los Frikis (in theaters)
- The Fire Inside (in theaters)