“Sunday Morning” takes a look at new entertainment offerings in the coming months, from screens to the stage, from music to the page.
Movies
“Misty Green” (Opens Oct. 9)
Comedian Chris Rock directs this comedy-drama starring Rosalind Eleazar (“Slow Horses”) as a once-successful actress trying to regain both employment and dignity in a hostile Hollywood. Rock, Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya, Anna Kendrick and Anthony Anderson co-star.
To watch a trailer click on the video player below:
“Musk” (opens in N.Y. and L.A. Oct. 9, following by nationwide release)
Ace documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney (an Oscar-winner for “Taxi to the Dark Side”) directs a nearly four-hour examination of Elon Musk, covering the tech titan’s rise to power as a builder of electric cars and AI data centers; a preacher for interplanetary colonization; a buyer of Twitter; and (as head of the Trump administration’s DOGE initiative) a hatchet man for government agencies. Gibney did not have access to Musk himself for on-camera interviews, so he settled for maybe the next best thing: a computer-generated Musk avatar.
“Wild Horse Nine” (Opens Nov. 6)
Martin McDonagh (“In Bruges,” “The Banshees of Inisherin”) is back with another black comedy, set against the backdrop of the 1973 coup in Chile, involving two CIA officers (John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell) whose friendship is tested when one becomes a bit too loose with the state secrets. Malkovich won the best actor award at the Venice Film Festival.
“The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth” (Opens in IMAX Nov. 25; streams on Netflix beginning Dec. 23)
Brad Pitt, who won an Oscar playing a stunt double in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” returns to the character in a spinoff written by Tarantino and directed by David Fincher, whose body of work includes the Pitt vehicles “Seven,” “Fight Club,” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”
“The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” (In theaters and IMAX Nov. 20)
The sixth entry in the dystopian series, adapted from Suzanne Collins’ books, stars Joseph Zada as a young tribute who enters the contest, from which there can be only one survivor. Costarring Jesse Plemons, Elle Fanning, Maya Hawke, Kieran Culkin, Glenn Close, and Ralph Fiennes as President Snow.
Music
“Frequency of Love” by Victoria Monét (Lovett Music/RCA, Oct. 2)
The three-time Grammy-winner (including for best new artist) releases her second album following her 2023 breakout, “Jaguar II.”
Play “Reach Out”:
“The Hard Truth” by Wynonna Judd (ANTI-Records, Oct. 2)
“The Hard Truth” is the country artist’s tenth studio album – and her first in 10 years – and promises songs of “grit, grace, and hard-won wisdom.”
Play “Kentucky Queen”:
“She’s the Best” by Troye Sivan (EMI/Interscope, Oct. 9)
The singer-songwriter’s last album, 2023’s “Something to Give Each Other,” hit #1 in Australia, and produced the hits “Rush” and “One of Your Girls.”
Play “She’s the Best”:
“Mud” by Remi Wolf (Island Records, Oct. 9)
The funk-soul singer who toured with Halsey, Lourde and Olivia Rodrigo is releasing her third album.
Play “Bottle”:
“Everything Has Changed” by Danielle Ponder (Dead Oceans, Oct. 9)
This is the sophomore album from Ponder, a former public defender attorney, whose debut was 2022’s “Some of Us Are Brave.”
Play “Sun and Moon”:
TV and Streaming
“East of Eden” (Netflix, Oct. 1)
The John Steinbeck saga gets an extended treatment, this time starring Florence Pugh as the dastardly Cathy Ames.
“War” (HBO, Oct. 1)
Sienna Miller and Dominic West star in this legal drama set in an elite London law firm, in which a divorce case gets exceedingly nasty.
“Carrie” (Prime Video, debuts Oct. 7)
The Stephen King thriller about a bullied teenage girl discovering her telekinetic powers (originally played by Sissy Spacek) is now a series from TV horror showrunner Mike Flanagan, starring Summer H. Howell as Carrie.
“Cupertino” (CBS, Paramount+, debuts Oct. 8)
Mike Colter and Rachel Keller play attorneys taking on the biggest adversaries in Silicon Valley.
“The Good Daughter” (Peacock, Nov. 12)
Adapted from Karin Slaughter’s 2017 crime novel, about a decades-old family tragedy that resurfaces. Stars Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy.
Theater
New York City:
“Wanted,” James Earl Jones Theatre (Begins Oct. 12)
This musical tells of two Black sisters passing as white in 1893 Texas. Created by Angelica Chéri (a descendant of the Clarke Sisters) and Ross Baum, it stars Grammy-winner Ledisi, Grammy-nominee Luke James, Bradley Jaden, Solea Pfeiffer and Liisi LaFontaine.
“The Fantasticks,” Second Stage/Hayes Theater (previews begin Oct. 22)
The longest-running Off-Broadway musical of all time (with more than 17,000 performances), the Tom Jones-Harvey Schmidt classic about love has been reinterpreted for its Broadway premiere with two male leads, Maxim Chlumecky and Nathan Levy.
“Imitation of Life,” The Shed (Nov. 21, 2026-Jan. 3, 2027)
Inspired by the 1933 Fannie Hurst novel (which was adapted twice by Hollywood), this new musical written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage, with music and lyrics by John Legend, stars Adrienne Warren (a Tony-winner for “Tina”). Directed by Whitney White (“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” “Liberation”).
“Inter Alia,” Music Box Theatre (previews begin Nov. 10)
Rosamund Pike (who won an Olivier Award for her performance in the London production) stars in this legal drama by Suzie Miller, the writer-director of “Prima Facie.”
“Spring Awakening,” Studio Seaview (Nov. 27, 2026-Feb. 14, 2027)
With the recent passing of composer Duncan Sheik, this revival of Sheik and Steven Sater’s Tony-winning rock musical – featuring young people coming of age in 19th century Germany – will be extra poignant.
Around the country:
“Mexodus,” Alliance Theatre, Atlanta (Oct. 2-16)
Originally produced Off-Broadway, this hip hop musical by Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, winner of four Lucille Lortel Awards (including outstanding musical), tells of enslaved people fleeing across the border to Mexico.
“Women+ on the Edge of Democracy,” The Flynn Center, Burlington, Vt. (Oct. 24)
Thirty-six specially commissioned plays and monologues written by female playwrights, exploring the state of democracy today, will be performed over 12 hours.
“The Music Man,” Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles (Oct. 27-Nov.8)
Yes, there’s trouble in River City, and the national tour of the classic Meredith Willson musical is bringing it to L.A.
“GRIM,” La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego (Oct. 27-Dec. 6)
The world premiere of a musical about the Grim Reaper retiring from his job, ready to pass it off to his daughter – but is she up to the task?
Take a peek at a workshop of “GRIM”:
“Wilderness Generation,” Studio Theatre, Washington, D.C. (Nov. 18, 2026-Jan. 3, 2027)
Written by Pulitzer Prize-winner James Ijames (“Fat Ham”), this comedy of four cousins tasked with closing up their grandmother’s house leads to generational tensions and family secrets spilled.
Books
Fiction:
“Ply” by Hernan Diaz (Riverhead Books; Sept. 29)
In this futuristic novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Trust” and “In the Distance,” Hernan Diaz imagines a technological invention that could transform society in incalculable ways.
“The Radiance” by Ayad Akhtar (S&S/Summit Books; Sept. 29)
A writer undergoes a spiritual reawakening while recovering from a hit-and-run accident, in this latest novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and author of “American Dervish” and “Homeland Elegies.”
“Other Worlds Than These” by Stephen King and Peter Straub; illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (Scribner; Oct. 6)
The third and final book in the horror masters’ Talisman Trilogy completes the adventure of Jack Sawyer.
“Partita” by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperCollins; Oct. 6)
Kingsolver, who won the Pulitzer Prize for her 2023 novel “Demon Copperhead,” is back with the story of a young musician’s love affair, and of news she receives decades later that could reshape her life.
“Peck & Peck” by Bonnie Garmus (Scribner; Oct. 13)
The bestselling author of “Lessons in Chemistry” returns with a tale of New York’s publishing world in the 1980s, in which a young man gains employment at an idiosyncratic poetry journey, headed by two battling twin brothers.
Non-fiction:
“Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7th Hostages” by Brett McGurk (Crown; Oct. 6)
An insider account by the American who mediated negotiations involving Israel, Hamas, and other Middle East nations to free those kidnapped by the Oct. 7 terrorists.
“Look at Me” by Dustin Hoffman (Simon Six; Nov. 10)
An autobiography by the Oscar-winning star of such classics as “The Graduate,” “Midnight Cowboy,” “All the President’s Men,” and “Tootsie.”
“Promise Me, America” by Joe Biden (Little, Brown & Co.; Nov. 17)
The former president, who took office just weeks after the January 6th insurrection sought to overturn his election victory, writes of his years in the White House – from his landmark policy wins, to withdrawing from his 2024 campaign for reelection.
“On the Records: 80 Musicians on Beloved and Overlooked Albums” by Brian Beck and Piotr Orlov (Clarkson Potter; Nov. 17)
Scores of musical artists, from Dolly Parton and Brian Eno to Chris Stapleton and Billie Eilish, contribute essays on albums that they believe deserve greater acclaim.
“Secrets: A Reporter’s Memoir” by Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster; Nov. 24)
The celebrated journalist who has written on some of the most potent political figures of our time now makes the story about himself.
Produced by Liza Monasebian. Editor: Chad Cardin.
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