Want to know what’s new in theaters this week? Catch these exciting releases on the big screen:
Everyone’s favorite giant crimson canine arrived in theaters this week. Based on the classic children’s book series, Clifford The Big Red Dog follows the madcap adventures of the titular pooch and his owner, Emily Elizabeth.
Also, Kenneth Branagh’s autobiographical coming-of-age drama Belfast, which is garnering tons of awards buzz, and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tick, Tick…Boom!, a musical about Rent creator Jonathan Larson, both hit the big screen exclusively this Friday.
Get your tickets for those and other new movies here.
Need a quick recap of the past week in movie news? Here are the highlights:
Leonardo DiCaprio to portray Jim Jones: He’s portrayed Howard Hughes, J. Edgar Hoover and Jim Carroll, and now Leonardo DiCaprio is adding another real person to his resume. Deadline reports that the Oscar-winning actor will star as Jim Jones in an eponymous biopic for MGM.
The movie is written and will be executive produced by Venom and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle screenwriter Scott Rosenberg based on the tragic true story of its titular figure. In the 1970s, Jones led a religious cult that led to the deaths of 900 members in a mass suicide involving poisoned Kool-Aid.
Tom Hardy teams up with Channing Tatum: Speaking of movies based on true stories, DiCaprio’s Inception and The Revenant co-star Tom Hardy will co-lead a movie about the Afghanistan military evacuation this past summer. According to Deadline, Channing Tatum will also star in the untitled drama.
Universal Pictures will produce the movie from a pitch by George Nolfi, writer of The Bourne Ultimatum and writer and director of The Adjustment Bureau. The real-life plot will follow three former members of a special forces team who return to Afghanistan to rescue allies and families left behind.
Jake Gyllenhaal enters Road House: Remember when Jake Gyllenhaal co-starred with Patrick Swayze in Donnie Darko? Now Gyllenhaal is taking over a role made famous by Swayze. Deadline reports that the younger actor is in talks to star in a remake of the late elder actor’s 1989 action movie Road House.
The Bourne Identity helmer Doug Liman will direct this version for MGM. The original, a cult classic, is about a bouncer at a Missouri bar called the Double Deuce who winds up going up against a corrupt businessman. Details about the redo are unknown, as it will be given another rewrite to suit its new lead.
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are Wicked: On the subject of remakes, Wicked, the Broadway musical twist on The Wizard of Oz, is finally heading to the big screen and has just landed on its two stars. Per their respective Instagram announcements, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo will star in the adaptation.
Grande will play Glinda, a.k.a. “the Good Witch,” while the Oscar-nominated Erivo has the role of Elphaba, who is best known as the witch crushed by Dorothy’s house in the 1939 classic. In the Heights helmer Jon M. Chu is directing the prequel for Universal.
Jon M. Chu heads to The Places You’ll Go: In addition to the Wicked casting announcements, Jon M. Chu is also in the news this week for an another adaptation. According to Deadline, the director will take on an animated project for the first time with Oh, The Places You’ll Go!, based on the children’s book by Dr. Seuss.
The Warner Bros. feature, which is due in theaters in 2027, will follow a little boy on adventures around the world and through the ups and downs of life. Like Wicked and many of Chu’s other movies, this one will also be a musical.
