*By Max Godnick* As summer becomes autumn, temperatures will drop, the leaves will turn pumpkin-spice brown ー and blockbusters will turn to Oscar bait. The Venice Film Festival [marked](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/08/venice-film-festival-kicks-award-season-180829063823134.html) the unofficial start of awards season this week, signaling a line of new contenders to begin their long (and in some cases, inevitable) marches to the podium. Summer will be a hard act to follow after $4.4 billion in ticket sales, just shy of the record-holding $4.7 billion season in 2013. Competition is also strong on the [small screen](https://cheddar.com/videos/fall-tv-preview-reboots-remakes-roseanne-without-roseanne) as dozens of prestige series are soon to hit networks and streaming platforms. But fall remains the movie industry's equivalent of prime time. Not since ["The Hurt Locker"](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hurt_locker/) in 2009 has a Best Picture winner premiered before Labor Day. And this year it's not just biopics and tearjerkers. Big-budget popcorn fare will finally have a shot at awards glory too, thanks to the Academy's [controversial](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-oscars-get-shorter-younger-and-more-relevant-with-new-changes) new "Achievement in Popular Film" award. Cheddar spoke with Brian Truitt, entertainment writer at USA Today, on Friday about the season's most highly anticipated releases. **"First Man" (Universal): Premiering October 12** Ryan Gosling is Neil Armstrong in this dramatization of the first manned (get it?) mission to the moon. The film's premiere earned a three-minute standing ovation in Venice this week, and early reviews have praised strong performances from Gosling and co-star Claire Foy ("The Crown"), high-octane special effects, and another strong turn from director Damien Chazelle, who came [oh-so-close](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCQn_FkFElI&t=3s) to winning Best Picture for "La La Land" in 2017. "First Man" has already [drummed up](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fox-friends-calls-ryan-gosling-an-idiot-for-moon-landing-comments_us_5b8943aee4b0cf7b0034eb15) some controversy ahead of its release. *Truitt's Take:* "This is bigger than anything \[Chazelle's\] ever done. This is not really a Neil Armstrong biopic, but just about all the disasters the space program had to deal with going up to the 1969 moon landing. You see a real visionary making a story here. It's not going to be a run of the mill space story. I think there's going to be a lot of interesting stuff that he puts in here." **"A Star Is Born" (Warner Bros.): Premiering October 5** Lady Gaga is trading in her meat dress for a meet-cute in her first starring film role. Bradley Cooper doubles as the director and leading man of this remake of a remake of a remake of the classic story of an aspiring ingenue catching her big break. The movie rises tonight at the Venice Film Festival, and at least one critic already broke an embargo to [gush](http://www.vulture.com/2018/08/a-star-is-born-review-dubs-it-greatest-film-of-all-time.html) about what he calls the greatest movie in cinematic history. *Truitt's Take:* "This is the one I can't wait for. I don't get that excited by trailers a lot, but when I saw the trailer for this I was like, 'Ok I'm in, whatever happens, I'm in for this.' Because it is Lady Gaga at her least Lady Gaga-ness. She's kind of a stripped-down singer-songwriter here, and Bradley Cooper's never directed a film before. It looks really cool, he sings, we already know he can act and talk like an alien raccoon, so this will be kind of the next step for him." **"Bohemian Rhapsody" (20th Century Fox): Premiering November 2** Is this the real life, or is this just fantasy? That might be the question Fox is asking itself after finally getting this Freddie Mercury biopic to the big screen after an eight-year production process. Sacha Baron Cohen was originally tapped to don the Queen frontman's iconic mustache before creative differences with the real Queen led to the hiring of Rami Malek ("Mr. Robot"). Portraying a musical hero is among the most sure-fire ways for an actor to win his first Oscar ー just ask Jamie Foxx or Reese Witherspoon. *Truitt's Take:* "Everybody loves Freddie Mercury, everybody loves Queen. So I feel like if it doesn't nail everything about this, it may divide a lot of people." **"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Crimes of Grindelwald" (Warner Bros.): Premiering November 16** And now for the blockbusters. Harry Potter is officially an extended cinematic universe thanks to this sequel to the 2016 spin-off. Eddie Redmayne returns alongside Jude Law, playing a (much) younger Albus Dumbledore than audiences know. But it's Johnny Depp's turn as the titular wizard that's plaguing the characters with a dash of the dark arts. Warner Bros. hopes Depp's [personal troubles](https://people.com/movies/johnny-depp-claims-amber-heard-assault-she-denies/) won't stand in the way of surpassing the first movie's $814 million haul. *Truitt's Take:* "I think this could be really interesting. I loved the first 'Fantastic Beasts.' I was a little hesitant going into that, just because I was like, 'Are we passed Harry Potter a little bit?' But 'Fantastic Beasts' recaptured that magic for me in a lot of ways." **"Venom" (Sony): Premiering October 5** It's a Spider-Man movie without Spider-Man ー or Marvel Studios. Disney snagged back the rights to the friendly neighborhood vigilante from Sony in 2015, but the studio still has a roster of other satellite characters and villains from the Spidey-verse. Tom Hardy plays the reptilian anti-hero with a tongue rivaling only that of Kiss's Gene Simmons in this new turn. The English actor is used to obscuring his famous face for his biggest roles after ["The Dark Knight Rises"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDuetklFtDQ), ["Mad Max: Fury Road"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcgn4EY5_S8), and ["Dunkirk"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ml0r-5U3lw). But have no fear, Hardos ー [the poster](https://geektyrant.com/news/new-poster-for-venom-highlights-tom-hardys-transformation) still shows half of it. *Truitt's Take:* "We don't know how this connects yet. We don't know if there are going to be little Easter eggs, like somebody talks about Steve Rogers in passing or something, we just don't know that yet. It does seem like this is very much standalone. We have not been introduced to Venom in the Marvel Studios film yet."

Share:
More In Culture
Dating App Hinge Is Giving Single Daters With Kids $100 to Go to Childcare
Hinge users who have children can opt-in to a $100 stipend up to $25,000 for childcare. Logan Ury, the director of relationship science for the online dating platform, noted the issue as an obstacle for single parents who want to go out on dates. "We have heard that singles with children have a hard time going on dates for one of the reasons being that it's just hard to find childcare and it's hard to be able to afford it," she said. Ury also said that the hot topic among Hinge's users is mental health and the prioritizing of mental health.
Rock & Rock Hall of Fame Announces 2022 Nominations
Dolly Parton, Eminem, Lionel Richie, and Carly Simon are just a few of the nominees announced for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2022 induction. Results of the voting will be released in May, however, the ceremony date has yet to be announced.
How A.I. is Reinventing Remembrance; Biodiversity of the Humboldt Current
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: CEO of HereAfter AI discusses how artificial intelligence can be used to preserve family history and stories, and allow you to 'talk' to loved ones that have passed; Creator of the board game 'Travel Explore Discover' explains how she came up with the idea for this informative and educational board game, and how she's using the proceeds to give back to her community; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'The Humboldt Current.'
Despite Black Participation in Stock Market Lagging, Investment Gap Might Improve
According to the Federal Reserve, the investment gap between Black and white Americans has remained substantial, with only 34 percent of Black households joining in on the historic rise in the markets. Stacey Tisdale, the first Black woman to have reported from the NYSE and the CEO and president of Mind Money Media Inc., said that the data might not be as disheartening as it seems. "I think that number is very deceiving. That Federal Reserve study is actually from 2019, and it's very important that we all look beneath that number and look beneath the surface because there is nothing short of an investing revolution going on in the Black community," Tisdale said.
How 'HereAfter AI' is Reinventing Remembrance
James Vlahos, Co-Founder and CEO of HereAfter AI, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how artificial intelligence can be used to preserve family history and stories, and allow you to 'talk' to loved ones that have passed.
Tik Talk: Meet The LSU Tiger Girls, National Champions & Comeback Queens
An award-winning performance by the LSU Tiger Girls dance team is going viral on TikTok, but like many other viral tiktoks, this one had a larger story to tell. The story goes back to 2021 when for the first time in 22 years, the LSU dance team was informed it could not compete at Universal Dance Association Nationals. The team made their anticipated return to UDA Nationals this year with a performance that delivered a strong and clear message to their university. The LSU Tiger Girls walked away from the competition with their first national championship title in 12 years, redemption against the university that held them back, and of course- millions of new fans and friends on TikTok.
Factorial Energy Raises $200 Million to Accelerate Commercialization of Its Solid-State Batteries for Electric Vehicles
Solid-state battery maker Factorial Energy recently raised $200 million in a Series D round led by Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis. Factorial says the funding will be used to accelerate commercial production and deployment of its solid-state battery technology, which the company says is safer, and offers up to 50% more driving range than current lithium-ion technology. Factorial also has joint development agreements (announced in late 2021) with Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Hyundai, three of the top 10 global automotive manufacturers, to commercialize its batteries. Factorial CEO Siyu Huang joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Brian Flores Lawsuit Looks to Address NFL's Lack of Diversity at the Top
Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL over racial discrimination, exposing a long-running problem the NFL has had with diversity in its top coaching and management positions. Eric Mitchell, the president and CEO of public relations and communications company LifeFlip Media, joined Cheddar News to delve into the scandal rocking the pro football world just before the Super Bowl. "There is a problem. If you look at who owns teams in the NFL, it's right, it's a good old boys club, it's a bunch of old white guys," he said. "So, it's exposing something that's been around for ages and now that we're sitting in 2022 has come up."
Katie Taylor, Amanda Serrano on Being First Female Boxing Headliners at MSG
This April, Madison Square Garden will be hosting the first-ever women's boxing match to headline at the arena in its 140 years of history in boxing. Undisputed lightweight champion, Katie Taylor, and seven-division champion, Amanda Serrano, will go head-to-head for a career-high guaranteed seven-figure purse for both of them. The pair joined Cheddar News to talk about the upcoming "fight of their lives." "I mean, this is the first step I believe," said Serrano. "Unheard of, two women headlining the Garden, we get in the biggest paydays of our career, I hope it continues to break down barriers."
Load More