From James Bond to Wonder Woman — some of the hottest blockbusters coming to cinemas this autumn

GRAB your popcorn – cinema is back, and about to banish lockdown with a string of blockbusters.

James Bond, Wonder Woman and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow will all be blasting on to the big screen in the next couple of months.

The success of Christopher Nolan’s spy thriller Tenet at the multiplexes last week shows that film lovers have been craving a return to the cinema.

There really isn’t anything like watching the action explode on a screen taller than a house and feeling the rumble under your seat when a chase scene begins.

And there will be plenty of those thrills during the autumn of 2020.

Some commentators feared that the advent of streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ could kill off cinema. But movie studios remain determined to put their major releases on the big screen first.

Here we look at the action rolling into a cinema near you soon.

THE NEW MUTANTS

Brits Maisie Williams and Charlie Heaton become comic book stars in this 13th and final instalment in the wildly popular X-Men film series.

With Anya Taylor-Joy, Alice Braga and Blu Hunt, they play five young mutants who discover they have special abilities while held captive.

Game Of Thrones actress Maisie is shapeshifter Wolfsbane and Stranger Things actor Charlie plays Cannonball, who can shoot into the air.

A horror movie in the superhero genre, The New Mutants is based on the Marvel comic strip of the same name and grossed £5million in its opening weekend in the US as one of the first notable movies to be released since the Covid-19 outbreak.

Maisie Williams responded to one review which slammed it as “the worst X-Men movie ever” by insisting: “Sounds like a must see. Get your tickets now.”

Released on Friday

THE KING’S MAN

In a spin-off from the Kingsman film series, Ralph Fiennes plays an immaculately dressed duke who must stop evil masterminds escalating World War One.

Also starring Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans and Tom Hollander, it is directed by Matthew Vaughn, who decided to cut scenes featuring mad Russian monk Rasputin’s prosthetic penis, despite the franchise’s history of X-rated humour.

He said of the fake willy — worn by Rhys, who plays Rasputin: “It needed a f**ing wide lens. I knew that some of my more crazy stuff would f*** up this movie, so I decided to get rid of it. And I realise the more conservative I was, the braver I was, weirdly.

“Kingsman was my love letter to all spy movies and Bond. Kingsman 2 expanded on that, and it was me dialling up the fun and the silliness.

“Maybe it went too far. It depends what age group you are. It surprised me, some of the vitriol, to be honest.

“But I have no problem with people being disgusted by it, or saying, ‘You went too far’. Great! That means you’re remembering it.”

Expect gentlemanly duels with canes and swords among the explosions.

Released September 16

BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC

More than 30 years after their Excellent Adventure on the big screen, bodacious time travellers Bill and Ted return as middle-aged men who must save the universe with their music.

Keanu Reeves is back as Ted and Alex Winter, who had quit acting, again plays Bill.

Legally Blonde actress Holland Taylor, who plays the Great Leader in the film, said: “I loved the first one. I liked that it was ludicrous, but the actors played it real, which is true of comedy. It has to be played deadly seriously. I loved the whole low-rent quality of the special effects.”

Get ready to party on.

Released September 23

WONDER WOMAN 1984

Comic actress Kristen Wiig plays Wonder Woman’s arch nemesis The Cheetah in this comic book adventure set in the 1980s.

The sequel to 2017’s Wonder Woman, it has partly been filmed at Warner Bros Studios in Leavesden, Hertfords. Kristen, best known for 2011 film Bridesmaids, starts off as a friend of the superhero, played by Gal Gadot, but jealousy and the acquisition of super strength changes all that.

Gal says: “The first film was about love, the simplest thing, and we could all relate.

“This one is about truth, and we see her human side, a part of her that wants something she can’t have.”

Released October 2

DEATH ON THE NILE

Sir Kenneth Branagh will be exercising his grey cells again as Agatha Christie’s Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in this follow-up to 2017’s Murder On The Orient Express.

While on holiday on the Nile in Egypt, Poirot is called upon to solve the murder of socialite Linnet Doyle.

The cast includes comic talents Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Russell Brand, so there should be plenty of lighter moments.

Sir Kenneth, who also directs this third screen adaptation of the 1937 Christie novel, said: “It’s a very dark, very sexy, unsettling kind of film.

“It certainly delivers on the travelogue as it takes you to big and exciting different places, but it’s very uncomfortable in ways people will really understand because it has to do with love, possession, lust, jealousy — big primal emotions that really get in people’s way.”

Released October 9

BLACK WIDOW

Anyone who saw last year’s Avengers: Endgame will already know that this Black Widow movie will take us back in time.

In the long overdue Marvel spin-off, Scarlett Johansson’s heroine in black leather has to deal with issues from her past as a Russian spy.

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, who also produced the film, compared it to TV series Better Call Saul, the prequel to Breaking Bad, and which he called “a wonderful example of a prequel that almost completely stands on its own . . . but it informs you about so many things you didn’t know about before”.

Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz and Ray Winstone co-star in what is sure to be a kick-ass-packed riot.

Released October 28

NO TIME TO DIE

At the start of the year, anticipation was sky high for the film that is sure to be Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond.

Now, with its April release having been put back because of cinemas closing, the excitement around No Time To Die looks like being impossible to contain.

Oscar winner Rami Malek plays Bond’s new enemy Safin and Lashana Lynch is Nomi, an 00 agent who is not prepared to get out of the way for Bond. Daniel, in his fifth adventure as the world’s most famous agent, is sure to be hoping to go out on a high in No Time To Die, the 25th film in the ultimate spy franchise.

Released November 12

DUNE

The original screen version of the epic 1965 Frank Herbert sci-fi novel, starring Kyle MacLachlan and Sting, was a box office flop in 1984, though it later became a cult hit.

With Hollywood’s hottest young actor Timothee Chalamet leading a cast that includes Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin and Charlotte Rampling, this new version should fare much better in cinemas.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve, who did such a great job in 2017 with Blade Runner 2049, it is sure to be a stylish and thought-provoking sci-fi movie.

Denis said: “Most of the main ideas of Star Wars are coming from Dune so it’s going to be a challenge to tackle this. The ambition is to do the Star Wars movie I never saw. In a way, it’s Star Wars for adults.”

Released December 18

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