Widows

Release date: November 16
Cast: Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Colin Farrell
Directed by: Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)
Why we're excited: When a group of criminals get killed in a heist gone wrong, it's up to their widows to clean up the mess and finish the job. It's such a deliciously simple hook, swiped from a 1983 crime TV series that aired in Britain, but what will likely set Widows apart is the high caliber of the cast -- a murder's row of award winners like Davis, Liam Neeson, and Robert Duvall, along with relative newcomers like Daniel Kaluuya and Cynthia Erivo -- and the behind the scenes talent, which includes Gone Girl scribe Gillian Flynn and Oscar-winning director McQueen. This looks like high-octane pulp made by deadly serious professionals.
(Watch the trailer)

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Release date: November 16
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Jude Law, Johnny Depp
Directed by: David Yates (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)
Why we're excited: More wizards! At this point, you probably know whether or not you're part of the target audience for the latest entry in author J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter prequel series, which follows Ministry of Magic creature expert Newt Scamander (Redmayne) and a dashing young professor named Albus Dumbledore (Law) in the early 20th century. Their latest adventure finds the two tracking down an evil wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Depp) and you can expect Rowling, who penned the script, will have planted all sorts of references to Potter-lore throughout the film.
(Watch the trailer)

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Release date: November 16
Cast: Tim Blake Nelson, James Franco, Liam Neeson, Zoe Kazan
Directed by: The Coen Brothers (No Country for Old Men)
Why we're excited: In a long career that's veered between absurd comedies and violent crime dramas, the Coen Brothers have rarely steered us wrong. This anthology film set in the Old West, which was initially announced as a Netflix miniseries but will now be released as a film, will give the brothers a chance to return to familiar terrain they covered in their True Grit remake but the format should give them a chance to experiment. At the same time, the pair appear to be in their comfort zone, which inevitably includes some dead bodies and bags of money. Why mess with what works?

Creed II

Release date: November 21
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Dolph Lundgren
Directed by: Steven Caple Jr. (The Land)
Why we're excited: In some ways, 2015's Creed was such a brilliant reinvention of the larger Rocky mythos that it's tempting to imagine a world where it didn't get the inevitable sequel. But come on: That wouldn't be the Rocky way. Creed director Ryan Coogler isn't returning for this follow-up, which finds Adonis Creed training for a fight against the son of Ivan Drago, but Jordan and Stallone, who shares a writing credit on this one, are still throwing the punches in this never-ending boxing saga.
(Watch the trailer)

Roma

Release date: November 21 (theatrical), December 14 (streaming)
Cast: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Marco Graf, Daniela Demesa
Directed by: Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men)
Why we're excited: Cuarón's last movie was the visually stunning space adventure Gravity, an immersive special effects extravaganza that was best viewed on a giant IMAX screen. In an odd turn of events, his next film, a more intimate historical drama set in Mexico City in the 1970s and filmed in black and white, will be distributed by Netflix, meaning many viewers might end up seeing it on their laptops, though the streaming giant recently announced the Spanish-language film will get a limited theatrical release ahead of its online debut. Will you watch what's being described by critics as "an epic, personal masterpiece" on your phone in between episodes of Ozark? That will likely be a reoccurring discussion point as Netflix attempts to position the movie as a Best Picture candidate in the coming months. 
(Watch the trailer)

The Favourite

Release date: November 23
Cast: Emma Stone, Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult
Directed by: Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster)
Why we're excited: Lanthimos, the Greek filmmaker behind surreal movies like The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, has developed an ultra-dry, clipped style of comedy that's instantly recognizable. On the surface, the period drama The Favourite looks like a departure: Based on actual history, the story follows Queen Anne (Colman) as she deals with two of her subjects, played by Stone and Weisz. But the madcap tone of the trailer, complete with respected thespians flailing about and looking ridiculous, screams Lanthimos.
(Watch the trailer)

If Beale Street Could Talk

Release date: December 14
Cast: Kiki Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Teyonah Parris
Directed by: Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
Why we're excited: Did you see Moonlight? The Best Picture winner from 2016 remains one of the most arresting features of the last few years, a work of deep emotion and formal ambition, so it only makes sense that the next film from Jenkins, an adaptation of James Baldwin's 1974 novel about a pair of young lovers, would be greeted with a high degree of anticipation. Even the trailer has more striking images than most whole movies released this year. 
(Watch the trailer)

Mary Poppins Returns

Release date: December 19
Cast: Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer
Directed by: Rob Marshall (Chicago)
Why we're excited: This sequel arrives over 50 years after the Julie Andrew original from 1964, making last year's Blade Runner 2049 look timely in comparison. Though Dick Van Dyke is the only member of the original cast to return, it should be a pleasure to see Blunt, fresh off wielding a shotgun to protect her family in the spring's horror hit A Quiet Place, step into the role of the magical nanny with a fondness for pairing medicine with a spoonful of sugar. We're guessing this one will be suitably sweet.
(Watch the trailer)

Aquaman

Release date: December 21
Cast: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson
Directed by: James Wan (Furious 7)
Why we're excited: No longer an Entourage joke, a big-budget adaptation of Aquaman will finally swim into theaters this winter armed with a multi-pronged trident and the knowing smirk of star musclebound lead Jason Momoa. While the character's appearance in 2017's Justice League didn't exactly get us psyched for his stand-alone adventure -- to be honest, it's hard to remember exactly what happened in DC's disappointing team-up-- the early images of the underwater kingdom of Atlantis look eye-popping and the first trailer has a goofy glow to it. Wan can deliver slick thrills, Momoa has movie star charisma, and DC desperately needs a win. So why not dive in? 
(Watch the trailer)

Bumblebee

Release date: December 21
Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., John Ortiz
Directed by: Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings)
Why we're excited: Yes, it's a spin-off of the Transformers movies, which are mostly odious. But this one wasn't directed by Michael Bay, doesn't star Mark Wahlberg, and probably won't be 150 minutes long like the last couple robot-fighting epics. Instead, it's a more human-scaled story of a teenager (Steinfeld) growing up in 1980s California who befriends Bumblebee, the beat-up Volkswagen sidekick from the original films. On the surface, it sounds like it will take the element that worked in the first Transformers movie -- the relationship between an adolescent and a car -- and add a little Stranger Things-like nostalgia to the mix. That might be enough to rev the engine on this lumbering franchise. 
(Watch the trailer)

Vice

Release date: December 25
Cast: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell
Directed by: Adam McKay (The Big Short)
Why we're excited: As the head writer for SNL during the Bush era, McKay skewered Dick Cheney on multiple occasions, but this biopic starring Bale as the Darth Vader-like vice president will likely go for a slightly less madcap approach. (Don't expect a Will Ferrell cameo as Dubya -- that job's going to Sam Rockwell here.) Though there haven't been many details about the movie to emerge, it's likely the political drama will feel more like HBO's recent Succession than your average episode of The West Wing.

Sign up here for our daily Thrillist email and subscribe here for our YouTube channel to get your fix of the best in food/drink/fun.