In December, we will feel the echoes of the legendary 1994 movie year as the first month of winter offers a new movie from the creators of the cult «Forrest Gump», as well as an expansion of the story of the equally cult «The Lion King». However, not only nostalgic notes will have to be limited to the average viewer: next in line is an anime based on the «Lord of the Rings» universe, another one, very soon after «Venom», a comic book from Sony and new adventures of the tireless Sonic the Hedgehog. Read more about what viewers can expect in December in our traditional article.
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Genre: historical drama
Premiere date: December 4
Release: Netflix
The film is set in 1946. A Neapolitan boy travels to northern Italy to live with a family as part of the «Treni della Felicità» initiative. It was a post-war initiative of the Italian Communist Party and the Union of Young Italians to bring children from dysfunctional families in southern Italy to the north of the country to live with families who could support them.
The plot of the film is based on the novel of the same name by Italian writer Viola Ardone, and its world premiere took place at the 19th Rome Film Festival in October. This historical drama will be available on Netflix on December 4.
Genre: animated fantasy, Christmas comedy
Premiere date: December 4
Release: Netflix
The plot of the cartoon is a series of interconnected stories about love and loneliness, family and friends, as well as about Santa Claus, who unfortunately makes a big mistake. Not to mention the presence of a huge number of holiday turkeys!
This story is based on a series of children’s books by Richard Curtis. The same man who once gave this world the Christmas romantic comedy «Love Actually» (2003) with an outstanding cast. Just as it was for Curtis back then, this will be the feature film directorial debut for director Simon Otto.
Genre: historical drama
Premiere date: December 5
Release: movie theaters
The local scenario is based on Richard McGuire’s graphic novel «Here» (2014), which takes place in New England, starting from the years before Christ and ending in the distant future. However, the main part of the story takes place in the twentieth and first decades of the twenty-first century. It is a story about love, loss, hope, struggle, etc. Throughout the movie, the camera remains in a fixed position.
30 years after the release of «Forrest Gump» on the set reunites essentially his core team — Tom Hanks and Robin Wright onscreen, and offscreen — director Robert Zemeckis, screenwriter Eric Roth, cinematographer Don Burgess, and composer Alan Silvestri. However, judging by the ratings of film critics on Rotten Tomatoes, this time Zemeckis’s ambitious project turned out to be far from as good. You will be able to see for yourself on December 5 if this is true.
Genre: epic fantasy, anime
Premiere date: December 5
Release: movie theaters
The action takes place 183 years before the events of the Peter Jackson trilogy «The Lord of the Rings» (2001-2003). This is the story of the legendary King Rogan Helm the Hammer and his family, who defend their kingdom from the army of the ruthless leader Wolfe. The latter seeks revenge on Rogan for the death of his father. Helm’s name later became the name of the Helm’s Deep fortress.
The epic fantasy legacy of J.R.R. Tolkien continues to preoccupy the minds of filmmakers and conquer both small (a series from Amazon), and the big screens, this time in anime format. We also remind you that in 2026, the audience will be able to watch «The Hunt for Gollum», directed by Andy Serkis.
Genre: epic biblical drama
Premiere date: December 6
Release: Netflix
Mary, a young Jewish girl living in Nazareth with her parents Anna and Joachim, is brought to the temple by them on the eve of her marriage to Joseph. After the incarnation and birth of Jesus, Mary is forced to hide. When Herod the Great orders the slaughter of the babies, Mary and Joseph flee to Egypt with Jesus.
The titular role of the Virgin Mary was up for grabs for 75 women, but director D.J. Caruso («Taking Lives», «xXx: Return of Xander Cage») chose 22-year-old Israeli actress and model Noa Cohen. Her partner on the set was Sir Anthony Hopkins, who played the role of King Herod.
Genre: comedy
Premiere date: December 12
Release: movie theaters
On the eve of winter, residents of an apartment building are planning to buy a generator. But its capacity is not enough to meet the needs of all the residents. This situation is compounded by old conflicts between neighbors, leading to unpredictable consequences.
Popular comedian and YouTube blogger Zhenya Yanovych, People’s Artist of Ukraine Olga Sumska, Honored Artist of Ukraine Viktor Zhdanov, blogger Mykhailo Lebiga, as well as famous actors Oleksandr Rudynskyi, Mykhailo Kukuyuk, Antonina Khyzhnyak will be joking about the day-to-day.
Genre: comedy thriller
Premiere date: December 12
Release: movie theaters
The young beauty Eva Waugh is dating three men. She is trying to decide who is better suited to the role of a one-night stand, who she should marry, and in the end — which of them is a brutal serial killer hunting for his next victim. Lucy Gale will start exposing the maniac on December 12.
Genre: action, horror
Premiere date: December 12
Release: movie theaters
After the supermoon, a hidden gene was activated in every person on the planet, causing everyone who was exposed to the moonlight to turn into a werewolf. Thus, in just one night, the number of victims went into the millions. A year later, the world is trying to prepare for another supermoon.
The director here is Stephen S. Miller — the creator of such imperishable films as the «First Kill» (2017) with Bruce Willis or «Escape Plan 2» (2018) with Stallone, but without Schwarzenegger. Frank Grillo, who has long been known to make dubious movies, played the lead role in the same opus. But, as they say, there is a buyer for every product.
Genre: action movie, thriller
Premiere date: December 13
Release: Netflix
A mysterious criminal blackmails a young Transportation Security Administration employee, Ethan Kopeck, to smuggle a dangerous cargo through security and onto an upcoming flight.
The film is directed by Spanish director Jaume Collet-Sera, who has already placed Liam Neeson in similar situations in the action thrillers «Non-Stop» (2014) and «The Commuter» (2018). This time to follow example John McClane and dealing with airplanes and bad guys on Christmas Eve will be up to Theron Edgerton.
Genre: musical drama, adventure, family
Premiere date: December 19
Release: movie theaters
After the events of «The Lion King» (2019), Mandrill Rafiki tells Simba and Nala’s daughter, Kiara, the story of the origin of two lions — her brave grandfather Mufasa and his half-brother Taka. The latter’s family adopted Mufasa, an orphan, and the young lions became inseparable friends and brothers. But later, their friendship turned into enmity, and the film has to reveal the reason this happened and which will lead to a painful tragedy we all know in the future.
«Mufasa: The Lion King» and it’s a little hard to perceive, is both a prequel and a sequel to the remake of the famous Disney cartoon «The Lion King» 1994. The project is seen as a great option for joint family leisure on pre-holiday or holiday days.
Genre: superhero action
Premiere date: December 19
Release: movie theaters
Sergei Kravinoff has a complicated relationship with his ruthless father Nikolai. Driven by the desire to confront his tyrannical relative, Kravinoff becomes one of the world’s greatest hunters — Craven.
We had no time to properly recover from the sad (not really) farewell to Venom played by Tom Hardy, the audience’s affection is being claimed by another guy who has stepped off the pages of Marvel comics.
In addition to the unpleasant fact that the character has Russian roots, Jared Leto’s involvement in the franchise seems to be gone mad Sony’s Spider-Man universe looks increasingly doomed. However, despite these disappointing factors and numerous postponements, «Craven the Hunter» finally makes it to the big screen. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Russell Crowe are at your service.
Genre: legal thriller
Premiere date: December 20
Release: Max
In a murder trial, journalist Justin Kemp serves as a juror. During the trial, he realizes that he himself may be responsible for the victim’s death. Now the hero is faced with a choice: to confess voluntarily or to manipulate other jurors for his own interests.
«Juror No. 2» — is a new directorial work by the legendary 94-year-old Clint Eastwood. Nicholas Hoult will face a difficult moral choice, and he is joined on the set by Zoey Deutch, Toni Collette, Kiefer Sutherland, J.K. Simmons, Gabrielle Basso, Chris Messina and Leslie Bibb. Currently, the critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 93% positive.
Genre: comedy detective
Premiere date: December 26
Release: movie theaters
Darren Barrenman is an ardent optimist and native Los Angeles resident who spends his days tending to his apartment building’s swimming pool. As he tries to fight to make his hometown a better place to live, the protagonist learns of a large-scale conspiracy involving water theft. So Barrenman quickly retrains as an amateur detective to bring the criminals, not literally, to justice.
«Poolman» was the directorial debut for the popular Hollywood actor Chris Pine, where he managed to gather an interesting cast — Annette Bening, Danny DeVito, Jennifer Jason Leigh, John Ortiz, Ray Wise, Clancy Brown and Pine himself in all his glory and, of course, in the title role
Genre: adventure comedy action
Premiere date: December 26
Release: movie theaters
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles face a new, extremely powerful and mysterious enemy — the black hedgehog Shadow. The trio forms an unlikely alliance with Dr. Robotnik in hopes of stopping Shadow and protecting the planet from catastrophic consequences.
The third big-screen appearance of the iconic character from the Sega video game series of the same name closes the blockbuster release of 2024. It brings back Ben Schwartz, Colin O’Shaughnessy and Idris Elba as voice actors, as well as James Marsden and Jim Carrey as Tom Wachowski and Dr. Robotnik, respectively.
It’s nice that Carrey still agreed to star in the movie despite his thoughts about ending his acting career, so this opportunity to see the unsurpassed comedian on the big screen is worth its weight in gold. And here we are promised two Jim’s for the price of one ticket. For the way Shadow’s antagonist will sound, will be responsible for Keanu Reeves.
In general, Sonic movies are far from perfect, but they do a good job of entertaining the audience (which is especially appropriate during the holidays), and they are also very popular at the box office perform is not bad. So this allows us to attribute them more to successful video game adaptations than vice versa.