Halloween is over, which means the holiday movie season will be here before you know it. Can a year in which “Obsession,” “Backrooms” and “You Can See Everything” shattered box office expectations possibly have even more surprises in store? Perhaps not on that level, but here are five films to look out for:
“The Cat in the Hat” (Nov. 6)
The first film from the newly relaunched Warner Bros. Pictures Animation is currently tracking for an opening weekend north of $40 million, but my gut says this Bill Hader-led family film will have long legs that will pay off over Thanksgiving. Word of mouth will be strong (trust me) and the only competition for families over the holiday frame is Disney’s teen-centric witch story “Hexed.” This is known/respected IP with a strong comedy bent. My money is on the zany Dr. Seuss redo ruling the roost.
“The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” (Nov. 20)
Lionsgate’s “Hunger Games” franchise proved it could move beyond Jennifer Lawrence with the 2023 prequel “Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,” which grossed $362 million worldwide. Now comes the prequel centered on Woody Harrelson’s character, “Sunrise on the Reaping,” and if it stays in line with the positive reviews of previous films in the franchise, I think it could best that “Sunrise” total. Especially with the promise of a cameo from Lawrence, Harrelson and Josh Hutcherson.
“Focker-in-Law” (Nov. 25)
Here’s something wild: “Meet the Parents” grossed $330 million worldwide in 2000. Here’s something wilder: 2004’s “Meet the Fockers” grossed $523 million. Even 2010’s critically derided “Little Fockers” made over $310 million, so history says this franchise has the potential to be massive. A Thanksgiving release is perfect, and Ariana Grande is a big draw for younger generations, as Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro and the rest of the gang return to entice those with nostalgia for the original films. Universal could bring the live-action comedy back to life this holiday season.
“Avengers: Doomsday” (Dec. 18)
A surprise for “Avengers: Doomsday” cuts both ways. If it makes $1 billion, the MCU narrative is back on track — this creative reset successfully re-engaged lapsed fans, and Marvel is in a better spot going forward. If it doesn’t crack $1 billion, it would be the first “Avengers” movie to do so and would justify the narrative that Marvel fans are no longer interested in the overarching story and instead will only be turning out for their favorite characters (see: “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”). In many ways, this is the highest-stakes film of the season.
“Mr. Irrelevant” (Dec. 25)
Paramount’s recent run of films has been somewhat uninspiring, but a holiday hit could do wonders. “Mr. Irrelevant,” which stars Superman himself David Corenswet as the final NFL draft pick of 1983, is a classic underdog story, and the true-story film has apparently been testing through the roof. The trailer hit the spot, and Tom Cruise selected Jonathan Levine to direct “Days of Thunder 2” based partially on seeing his work in this film. Could this be the word-of-mouth hit of Christmas?
Now, on to the rest as we tackle “You Can See Everything” finally winning the box office, the latest on the federal film tax credit, the Top 50 Film Schools of 2026, Row K going on ice and more in this week’s newsletter.
Box Office: ‘You Can See Everything’ Narrowly Leads ‘Clayface’ for First No. 1
A24’s “You Can See Everything” is in line to lead the weekend charts for the first time in its run with $10.6 million in its third weekend, just beating the $10.4 million second weekend of Warner Bros./DC Studios’ “Clayface.”
The buzzy documentary about Elizabeth Holmes was No. 2 on the charts in previous weekends behind “Clayface” and Paramount’s “Street Fighter.” But its critical acclaim and overwhelming word-of-mouth have pushed it to an estimated $63.9 million domestic total, currently sixth among all documentaries in U.S./Canada history.
While its 43% drop from its $19.5 million second weekend likely means it will not join Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” as the second non-music or nature doc to clear $100 million domestic, it is still a remarkable performance that has made “You Can See Everything” the second-highest grossing film in October, pushing overall grosses for the month up 37% year-over-year to $570 million and above the $556 million of October 2023, the month that brought theaters “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.”
“Clayface,” meanwhile, stands at $44 million domestic and $83 million worldwide after 10 days against a reported $40 million budget. At this pace, the DC film will not pass the $241 million global total of “Wuthering Heights” to become the highest-grossing film of Warner Bros.’ terrible 2026. But it should still be a modest theatrical success and provide some relief for the studio as it begins its Skydance ownership.
In third is Fathom/Laika’s “Wildwood,” which earned $7.5 million in its second weekend to drop just 39% from its $12.3 million opening. With a $25.8 million 10-day total, the latest film from the Portland stop-motion studio is on pace to match or slightly exceed the $48 million domestic run of its 2016 predecessor “Kubo and the Two Strings.”
In fourth is Black Bear’s “Wicker,” which as made $4.2 million in its second weekend to bring its 10-day total to $13.3 million. After acquiring the fantasy romance for $2.5 million at Sundance last year, Black Bear is enjoying its first taste of theatrical success as a U.S. distributor since launching that arm of its company last year. – Jeremy Fuster
The Spotlight
There are plenty of eyes on the midterm elections this week, but once the results are in, a group of lawmakers will quickly mobilize for a four-week blitz to pass one of the most important bills in the history of Hollywood: a federal film tax credit. With Trump’s backing, the proposed tax credit has momentum, and the aim is to get it passed before Congress breaks for the end of the year. TheWrap’s Jeremy Fuster assembled a roundtable of experts to go inside the race to pass the bill, what its impact will be and why California may not see the most benefit from it. Read the story and watch the roundtable here.
New Releases
Row K on Ice: In a Wrap exclusive, Umberto Gonzalez reports on the collapse of Row K, which is ceasing distribution operations.
Big October: Jeremy Fuster breaks down how “You Can See Everything” fueled a 37% box office rise vs. last October.
Top 50 Film Schools of 2026: Check out our annual ranking of the country’s Top 50 film schools.
Film School Cover Story: And our cover story with “Josephine” filmmaker and AFI grad Beth de Araújo.
Creator-to-Horror Pipeline: Kayla Cobb explains why content creators making horror movies was inevitable.
Alden Ehrenreich Rises: Our must-read profile of the actor’s relentless pursuit of legendary collaborators.
RIP Patrick Stewart: Read this wonderfully emotional tribute to Patrick Stewart by Drew Taylor.
Gen Z Horror Canon: Gen Z Wrap-ers Casey Loving and Alex Welch picked the 10 horror movies that mean the most to their generation.
Concession Stand
Martin Scorsese revealed he nearly directed the Angelina Jolie “Cleopatra” movie at Sony that once had David Fincher loosely attached. Then the Sony hack happened.
Connor Storrie is in talks to play the villain in Marvel’s “Ghost Rider” opposite Ryan Gosling, while Linus Sandgren (“La La Land,” “No Time to Die”) will be the DP.
David Bruckner will direct “Smile 3,” while Parker Finn — who wrote and directed the first two — remains involved as a producer.
A new Batman will be cast relatively soon, James Gunn says.
Curry Barker debuted a new horror short on YouTube on Halloween.
These “Dune 3” popcorn buckets are getting out of hand.
TheWrap on Video: What ‘Fjord’ Says About Freedom, Family and the State
TheWrap Founder and editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman and critic Ben Croll unpack the sticky themes of “Fjord” now that it’s in theaters.
Streaming Corner
- The curious case of “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth” continues. This week we learned that, despite Netflix touting the film as its first-ever IMAX release, the David Fincher/Quentin Tarantino/Brad Pitt movie will not be playing on Regal and Cinemark’s IMAX screens. Those two chains opted to devote their screens to “The Hunger Games” instead, given that Netflix’s film will only be in theaters for two weeks (then it’ll go dark, then be streaming on Christmas Day). A Netflix insider insists this outcome was expected all along, and AMC will still play the film on hundreds of screens, but this isn’t exactly the IMAX takeover we were all expecting. Would it have still gone this way had “Narnia” kept its Thanksgiving date?
What I’m Watching
Two comedy documentaries hit Netflix this month that are well worth checking out. Judd Apatow’s “Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald” is essentially a deep-dive into iconic YouTube clips of the comedian, and though it’s somewhat lacking in insight into Norm himself, that’s kind of the point — Norm was unknowable. Then there’s Jason Hehir’s “SCTV: The Greatest Show You’ve Never Heard Of,” a wonderful (and emotional) chronicle of the scrappy “SNL” rival with terrific footage of the cast reuniting to watch old clips.
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