Wicked won the fall 2024 film season. It holds 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed $474.4 million in the US. Moana 2 and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice also cleared $290 million, while Joker: Folie a Deux was the biggest miss at 31%.
Updated October 29, 2026.
Blockbuster season doesn’t end when summer does. Whether you love action, big star casts or a well-made remake, the fall of 2024 had something for you. Back in August 2024 this post looked ahead at eight big fall releases, in no particular order. Here is how each one actually did, with US grosses as Rotten Tomatoes lists them.
Fall movie seasons arrive every year, and the shape rarely changes. The big sequels open loudest. The stranger bets, the ones with a real director behind them, tend to find their crowd over the holidays. Anyone who has argued with a friend about a movie knows that critics and the crowd don’t always agree.
Fall film lineup results at a glance
| Film | US release | Rotten Tomatoes | US gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joker: Folie a Deux | October 4, 2024 | 31% | $58.2 million |
| Gladiator II | November 22, 2024 | 70% | $168.8 million |
| Wicked | November 22, 2024 | 88% | $474.4 million |
| Red One | November 15, 2024 | 29% | $97.0 million |
| Beetlejuice Beetlejuice | September 6, 2024 | 76% | $292.1 million |
| Nosferatu | December 25, 2024 | 85% | $95.4 million |
| Venom: The Last Dance | October 25, 2024 | 40% | $90.0 million |
| Moana 2 | November 27, 2024 | 61% | $460.4 million |
Joker: Folie A Deux
Director: Todd Phillips
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Zazie Beetz, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland, and Harry Lawtey
Release Date: October 4, 2024
Synopsis: In the 2019 film, Arthur Fleck went from a lonely man with good intentions to a killer. This sequel picks up two years later. Fleck is in Arkham State Hospital awaiting trial for the crimes of the first film. There he finds comfort in music and meets Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, a fellow patient played by Lady Gaga. The sequel is half courtroom drama and half jukebox musical. “Folie a deux” is French for a delusion shared by two people.
How it did: Warner Bros. released it with a $190 million production budget, according to The Numbers. It earned $58.2 million in the US and holds 31% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences gave it a CinemaScore of D, which Wikipedia reports as the lowest ever for a comic book film. A title that promised Lady Gaga and a musical twist ended up as the season’s clearest double miss. Most people have sat through a sequel that didn’t live up to the one they loved.
Gladiator 2
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Paul Mescal, Joseph Quinn, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, and Derek Jacobi.
Release Date: November 22, 2024
Synopsis: Ridley Scott returns to the arena of his 2000 original. Paul Mescal plays Lucius, a man who tries to live a quiet life in Numidia until a Roman army invades his home. He ends up fighting in Rome’s gladiator games. There he falls under the control of Macrinus, played by Denzel Washington, a rich and powerful man who has plans against the two emperors who rule Rome. The trailer shows the Colosseum flooded for a sea battle, and ancient Rome really did stage mock sea battles in flooded arenas.
How it did: Paramount’s sequel cost a reported $310 million gross, per The Hollywood Reporter, and $210 million net, per Deadline. It took in $168.8 million in the US and about $462 million worldwide. Critics gave it 70% on Rotten Tomatoes. Its one Oscar nomination, for costume design, lost to Wicked at the 97th Academy Awards. That is a solid reception with a very large bill attached.
Wicked: Part One
Director: Jon M. Chu
Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, and Keala Settle.
Release Date: November 22, 2024
Synopsis: The film adapts the first act of the Broadway musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman. That show is itself based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel about the Wicked Witch of the West. The story follows Elphaba, a woman who is shunned because of her green skin, and Glinda, a fellow witch who loves the spotlight. They become unlikely friends, and after a run-in with the Wizard of Oz, their paths split. Maguire made up the name Elphaba from the initials of L. Frank Baum, who wrote The Wizard of Oz.
How it did: On a $150 million budget it earned $474.4 million in the US and roughly $760 million worldwide. It holds 88% from critics and 95% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. It earned 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and won two: costume design and production design. For a musical adaptation, that is the strongest result of the season. Fans of big fantasy worlds may also like our list of the best fantasy films of all time.
Red One
Director: Jake Kasdan
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Kiernan Shipka, J.K. Simmons, Lucy Liu, Bonnie Hunt, Nick Kroll.
Release Date: November 15, 2024
Synopsis: Santa is kidnapped on Christmas Eve. The head of his security detail, played by Johnson, has to team up with a hacker played by Evans to get him back.
How it did: Amazon MGM Studios planned it as a Prime Video Christmas release for 2023, then moved it to theaters after the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Reports put the budget between $200 million and $250 million. TheWrap said late arrivals on set added about $50 million, which producer Hiram Garcia disputed. It earned $97.0 million in the US. Critics gave it 29% and audiences 89%, the widest gap on this list.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Jenna Ortega, Monica Bellucci, Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux
Release Date: September 6, 2024
Synopsis: Over three decades after the 1988 original, Lydia Deetz hosts a paranormal talk show and has drifted apart from her daughter Astrid. Lydia is still haunted by what Beetlejuice put her through in the first film. A family death brings three generations of the Deetz family back to Winter River. When Astrid finds a mysterious door to the afterlife, trouble starts, and Betelgeuse comes back to cause mischief. Burton said he wanted to strip things back to the basics, with good actors and real puppets.
How it did: Warner Bros. opened it at the 81st Venice Film Festival on August 28, 2024. It then earned $111 million in its US opening weekend, the second-biggest of Burton’s career, and $292.1 million in the US overall. It holds 76% on Rotten Tomatoes. Bringing back Keaton, Ryder and O’Hara was the right call. Most of us love it when a favorite cast gets back together for one more round.
Nosferatu
Director: Robert Eggers
Starring: Bill Skarsgard, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney, Willem Dafoe
Release Date: December 25, 2024
Synopsis: Eggers remakes the 1922 silent film Nosferatu, which was itself inspired by Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula. The story is set in Wisburg, Germany, in 1838. Count Orlok, played by Bill Skarsgard, becomes obsessed with Ellen Hutter, played by Lily-Rose Depp, and his vampire nature makes that obsession dangerous. Anyone who has seen a few vampire movies knows there are a lot of ways to tell the same story. Horror fans hoped this one could bring new life to vampire films, with a more serious take on the old stories and less romance.
How it did: Focus Features released it on Christmas Day. On a $50 million budget it earned $95.4 million in the US, per Rotten Tomatoes, and $182.1 million worldwide, according to The Numbers. Critics gave it 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. Eggers also wrote and directed The Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman, which is why horror fans took this vampire film seriously from the start.
Venom: Last Dance
Director: Kelly Marcel
Starring: Tom Hardy, Juno Temple, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Peggy Lu, Rhys Ifans, Stephen Graham, Cristo Fernandez
Release Date: October 25, 2024
Synopsis: The third film in the series, after Venom (2018) and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), was written and directed by Kelly Marcel in her directing debut. Eddie Brock and Venom run from both of their worlds. Armed forces led by a military man are chasing them, and a creature called a Xenophage hunts them too.
How it did: Sony Pictures released it as the end of the trilogy. The villain turned out to be Knull, the creator of the symbiotes, played by Andy Serkis. It earned $90.0 million in the US and holds 40% on Rotten Tomatoes, against 79% from audiences. Tom Hardy has said “never say never” about a return.
Moana 2
Director: David G. Derrick Jr., with Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Auli’i Cravalho, Alan Tudyk, Nicole Scherzinger, Temuera Morrison, Rose Matafeo, Hualalai Chung, Rachel House
Release Date: November 27, 2024
Synopsis: Moana is named her island’s first master wayfinder in a thousand years. A call from her ancestors sends her and a crew across the sea to find and raise a sunken island that is behind a wave of storms. She asks the demigod Maui to join her again, and along the way they cross paths with a mysterious demigoddess named Matangi.
How it did: It began in 2020 as a Disney+ series and became a theatrical sequel in 2024. Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear wrote the main songs, since Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote songs for the first film, was unavailable. The pair are known for The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical. Most parents know every song from a kid’s favorite animated movie by heart, whether they planned to or not. It opened to $139.8 million in the US, a record for a Walt Disney Animation Studios film and for a Thanksgiving-weekend release. It earned $460.4 million in the US and about $1.059 billion worldwide. Critics gave it 61% and audiences 85%.
What the fall film lineup tells us
Three films cleared $290 million in the US: Wicked, Moana 2 and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. All three had a built-in audience and a clear promise. The two most expensive sequels, Joker and Gladiator II, did not earn back their budgets at the US box office. Nosferatu, the smallest bet, finished near the top of the critics’ list for $50 million.
Fall film lineup questions
What was the biggest hit of the fall film lineup?
Wicked. It opened November 22, 2024, holds 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and earned $474.4 million in the US, according to Rotten Tomatoes. Moana 2 came close at $460.4 million. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was third at $292.1 million. No other title in this group reached $200 million at the US box office.
Which fall film lineup titles did critics like best?
Wicked led with 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, followed by Nosferatu at 85%, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice at 76% and Gladiator II at 70%. Moana 2 sat at 61% and Venom: The Last Dance at 40%. Joker: Folie a Deux at 31% and Red One at 29% were the two lowest scores.
Did audiences and critics agree on the fall film lineup?
Often not. Red One drew 29% from critics and 89% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Venom: The Last Dance went from 40% to 79%, and Moana 2 from 61% to 85%. Joker: Folie a Deux was the exception, with 31% from both groups.
Which films in the fall film lineup were sequels?
Five of the eight: Joker: Folie a Deux, Gladiator II, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Venom: The Last Dance and Moana 2. Wicked adapts a Broadway musical, Nosferatu remakes a 1922 film, and Red One is an original story. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice arrived more than three decades after its predecessor.
For more on what is coming to theaters, see Top 5 Most Anticipated Summer Movies and Top 10 Cult Classic Films.