From ‘Wicked’ To ‘Moana 2’

In the summer of 2023, we had “Barbenheimer,” and the holiday season of 2024 will have “Glicked” as Gladiator II star Paul Mescal has dubbed the release date of November 22, on which the Jon M. Chu musical adaptation and the Ridley Scott sequel will debut in theaters together.

Several films will arrive before and in the wake of the latest box office showdown including Disney’s Moana 2, which almost went up against Wicked before the first part of the film duology shifted earlier to the same Friday as Gladiator II.

Red One – November 15

Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu and others form the ragtag crew with the mission of rescuing Santa (J.K. Simmons) this Christmas in Amazon MGM’s Red One. Kiernan Shipka plays an icy-eyed villain, and there are humanoid polar bears, snowmen and Krampuses as well. The mix of action-packed holiday whimsy will accompany several other new Christmas flicks arriving this year.

Gladiator II – November 22

Ridley Scott’s sequel to 2000’s Best Picture Oscar winner Gladiator stars Paul Mescal as Lucius, son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), and Pedro Pascal as General Marcus Acacius. Joseph Quinn appears as Emperor Geta, and Fred Hechinger plays Emperor Caracalla. Denzel Washington plays a power broker named Macrinus. Mescal’s character connects the two films.

RELATED: Everything We Know About ‘Gladiator II’ So Far

Wicked – November 22

Jon M. Chu’s Wicked stars Ariana Grande as Galinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba as well as Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Michelle Yeoh as Madam Morrible, Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz, Ethan Slater as Boq, Bowen Yang as Pfannee, Peter Dinklage as Dr. Dillamond and others.

RELATED: Everything We Know About ‘Wicked’ So Far

Moana 2 – November 27

Disney’s sequel to the beloved 2016 animated adventure Moana arrives in theaters just before Thanksgiving, making it the perfect family watch on or after the holiday. The sequel reunites Moana (Auli’I Cravalho) and Maui (Dwayne Johnson) three years after the events that restored the heart of Te Fiti.

RELATED: Everything We Know About ‘Moana 2’ So Far

Kraven the Hunter – December 13

J.C. Chandor directs the latest Sony Marvel installment, written by Richard Wenk, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as Sergei Kravinoff, whose tense relationship with his father Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe) fuels his backstory. Fred Hechinger will play Dmitri Smerdyakov, Ariana DeBose is Calypso, and Christopher Abbott will play The Foreigner.

The Lord of The Rings: The War of the Rohirrim – December 13

While waiting for the next season of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, an animated LOTR prequel movie will arrive in theaters. Taking place 200 years before the war of the one ring to rule them all, the feature follows Princess Hèra (Gaia Wise) as she faces furious vengeance of Wulf (Luke Pasqualino), who seeks revenge for the death of his father. Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox), King of Rohan, will have to defend the stronghold of Hornbug from the angry son of the man he killed. Miranda Otto narrates the film as Éowyn.

Mufasa: The Lion King – December 20

Five years after the live-action The Lion King, Barry Jenkins directs the prequel story of Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) and Scar (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), who eventually became Simba’s Uncle Scar. The story also introduces big bad Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen), a ghostly looking lion who wants to conquer the pride. Blue Ivy Carter will lend her voice to the film, as well as her mom Beyoncé Knowles Carter, who voiced Nala in the 2019 film. Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner return as Pumbaa and Timon, respectively.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 – December 20

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 introduces Keanu Reeves’ villainous hedgehog mutation, Project Shadow, who can teleport in space. Ben Schwartz voices Shado, Idris Elba voices Knuckles and Colleen O’Shaughnessey voices Tails. James Marsden appears as Tom Wachowski, and Jim Carrey again will play Dr. Robotnik, whose crazy mustache and bald head are key to helping Sonic and team save the world.

Nosferatu – Christmas Day (December 25)

Those still in a spooky mood can unwrap Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu on Christmas Day. The vampire thriller stars Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Willem Dafoe, Emma Corrin, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Bill Skarsgård and more.

A Complete Unknown – Christmas Day (December 25)

Timothée Chalamet brings rock legend Bob Dylan to life and sings in A Complete Unknown. The biopic also stars Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo, Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash, Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie, Dan Fogler as Albert Grossman and more.