Godzilla Minus Zero
Godzilla Minus Zero

Movie theaters head into the holiday season with a crowded November schedule. It includes a Japanese monster sequel, a new "Hunger Games" prequel, two animated family films and a revived "Meet the Parents" comedy, all leading into one of the busiest Thanksgiving weekends in recent years.

Here are 10 new movies to watch for, in order of release.

1. "Godzilla Minus Zero" (Nov. 6)

Director Takashi Yamazaki returns with the R-rated follow-up to his Oscar-winning "Godzilla Minus One." The story picks up in 1949, two years after the first film, with Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe back in their roles. Japan, still recovering from the war, faces a regenerated Godzilla and a new kaiju, the three-headed King Ghidorah. IMAX early-access screenings in North America began Nov. 3, the same day the film opened in Japan, and the wide release starts Nov. 6. Rotten Tomatoes readers ranked it the month's most anticipated title.

2. "The Cat in the Hat" (Nov. 6)

Warner Bros. Pictures Animation's first full-length feature adapts the Dr. Seuss book, with Bill Hader voicing the Cat. Quinta Brunson, Bowen Yang and Matt Berry are also in the voice cast.

3. "I Play Rocky" (Nov. 6)

This biopic tells how Sylvester Stallone, played by Anthony Ippolito, wrote "Rocky" after watching Muhammad Ali fight underdog Chuck Wepner, and then fought to get it made with himself in the lead. The film was runner-up for the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and early reviews praised it as a crowd-pleaser.

4. "Wild Horse Nine" (Nov. 6)

This spy thriller is set just before the 1973 coup against Chilean President Salvador Allende. CIA officers played by John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell are sent to Easter Island. Malkovich's character is terminally ill and threatens to publish an honest memoir, so their paranoid chief, played by Steve Buscemi, orders Rockwell's character to watch him.

5. "Ebenezer" (Nov. 13)

Ti West directs this PG-13 version of "A Christmas Carol," with Johnny Depp as Scrooge. Ian McKellen plays Jacob Marley and Rupert Grint plays Bob Cratchit.

6. "How to Rob a Bank" (Nov. 13)

David Leitch directs this R-rated crime film about bank robbers who broadcast their heists on social media and become famous enough to draw the FBI's attention. Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz, Pete Davidson and John C. Reilly star.

7. "The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping" (Nov. 20)

The prequel is expected to have the month's biggest opening. Francis Lawrence directs his fifth film in the franchise, adapting Suzanne Collins' 2025 novel about the 50th Hunger Games, 24 years before Katniss Everdeen's story. Joseph Zada plays a young Haymitch Abernathy, with Ralph Fiennes as President Snow, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee and Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket. Woody Harrelson, Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson return to their original roles.

Pre-release tracking projects an opening weekend of roughly $55 million to $84 million. That would beat the $44.6 million opening of 2023's "The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes."

8. "Hexed" (Nov. 25)

Walt Disney Animation Studios releases its new original film on Thanksgiving week. Hailee Steinfeld voices Billie Doe, a teenager whose hidden powers pull her into a world of witches, and Rashida Jones voices her mother. Josie Trinidad and Jason Hand direct.

9. "Focker-in-Law" (Nov. 25)

The fourth "Meet the Parents" film is the first in 16 years. Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro and Owen Wilson return, and Ariana Grande joins as the fiancée of Greg's son Henry, played by Skyler Gisondo.

10. "The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth" (Nov. 25, IMAX only)

David Fincher directs Brad Pitt from a Quentin Tarantino script that continues the story of the stuntman from "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood." It is set in 1977. Netflix is giving the film a two-week exclusive IMAX run before it begins streaming Dec. 23. Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Carla Gugino and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II co-star.

Smaller releases

Several smaller films also open this month. James Gray's "Paper Tiger," starring Miles Teller and Adam Driver, opens in limited release Nov. 13. The same day, Maika Monroe stars as a disturbed governess in the period horror film "Victorian Psycho." On Nov. 25, Angel Studios releases "Hershey," with Finn Wittrock as chocolate maker Milton Hershey.

Studios often adjust release dates late in the schedule, so moviegoers should check local theater listings as each weekend approaches.