October’s release calendar is unusually dense, offering a mix of prestige dramas, franchise entries, and festival carryovers. From Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt to Guillermo del Toro’s long-awaited Frankenstein, the month spans intimate chamber pieces, studio tentpoles, and a handful of carefully timed horror films.
Even nostalgia has a place, with Casper returning for its 30th anniversary.
Let’s have a look at some of the most-awaited releases hitting screens this October.
Play Dirty (2025)
October 1, 2025 | Thriller/Action
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, LaKeith Stanfield, Rosa Salazar
Director: Shane Black
Based on Donald E. Westlake’s Parker novels, this Amazon MGM crime thriller follows Parker, a professional thief leading a high-stakes heist. Black brings back his mix of hardboiled action and sharp dialogue, with Wahlberg at the center and Stanfield, Salazar, and others in supporting roles.
Casper (30th Anniversary Re-Release) (2025)
Cast: Christina Ricci, Bill Pullman (original 1995 cast)
Director: Brad Silberling (original)
Universal is re-releasing the 1995 family classic for its 30th anniversary. While early rumors pointed to a modern reboot, the October 3 release is confirmed as an anniversary theatrical re-release of the beloved “friendly ghost” film.
The Smashing Machine (2025)
October 3, 2025 (USA) | Sport/Drama
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt
Director: Benny Safdie
A biographical drama about legendary MMA fighter Mark Kerr. Johnson stars as Kerr, with Blunt as his wife, in a story about dominance in the ring and struggles with addiction. Premiered at Venice 2025 and released via A24 in the U.S.
Shell (2025)
October 3, 2025 | Comedy| Horror | Thriller
Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Kate Hudson, Kaia Gerber
Director: Max Minghella
Premiered at TIFF 2024, it is a horror-satire set in the beauty industry, following an actress (Moss) desperate for a comeback who joins a wellness program led by a charismatic CEO (Hudson).
Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror (2025)
October 3, 2025 (Ireland) | Documentary
Cast: Documentary ensemble including Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon (interviews)
Director: Linus O’Brien
A documentary on the legacy of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, from its stage origins to cult midnight screenings. Features interviews with cast, creators, and fans.
After the Hunt (2025)
October 10, 2025 (UK) | Crime/Drama
Cast: Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, Ayo Edebiri
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Roberts plays a college professor whose world unravels when her star student (Edebiri) accuses a fellow professor (Garfield) of misconduct. Caught between loyalty, truth, and her own past, she must navigate an explosive scandal that tests the limits of morality and power.
TRON: Ares (2025)
October 10, 2025 (USA) | Sci-fi/Action
Cast: Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jeff Bridges, Jodie Turner-Smith
Director: Joachim Rønning
The third Tron film follows Ares, a sentient program who crosses into the human world. Disney’s high-profile release expands the digital landscape with new stakes and philosophical undertones.
Kiss of the Spider Woman (2025)
October 10, 2025 (USA) | Musical/Thriller
Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Diego Luna
Director: Bill Condon
A new musical adaptation of Manuel Puig’s novel about two men sharing a prison cell whose fantasies blur into reality. The haunting figure of the Spider Woman becomes both an escape and a mirror of their deepest desires and fears.
Vicious (2025)
| Horror
Cast: Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega
Director: Leigh Janiak
Two sisters face a malevolent entity haunting their family home. As the supernatural threat intensifies, they must unravel long-buried secrets that tie their family’s trauma to the evil consuming them.
A House of Dynamite (2025)
October 24, 2025 | Thriller/Drama
Cast: Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Gabriel Basso
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
A real-time nuclear-crisis thriller, Bigelow’s film follows leaders, scientists, and soldiers grappling with the fallout of an unidentified missile launch. As conflicting intelligence spreads, each decision could mean the difference between peace and global catastrophe.
Urchin – (UK); limited U.S. (2025)
October 3, 2025 (UK) | Comedy/Drama
Cast: Frank Dillane, Megan Northam, Karyna Khymchuk, Shonagh Marie, Amr Waked
Director: Harris Dickinson
In his feature directorial debut, Dickinson follows Mike, a rough sleeper in London, attempting to break free from addiction and life on the margins. After a stint in prison, he takes rehab, odd jobs, and a temporary home to rebuild—but each step forward seems to pull him back into a cycle of desperation and self-destruction.
Roofman (2025)
October 10, 2025 (USA) | Drama/Crime
Cast: Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst
Director: Derek Cianfrance
Based on the astonishing true story of Jeffrey Manchester, a fugitive who escaped prison and secretly lived in the rafters of a Toys “R” Us. What starts as a daring act of survival becomes a gripping double life—sneaking through ceiling vents by night, blending into suburbia by day—until desire, loneliness, and a single mistake bring his hidden world crashing down.
The Ballad of a Small Player (2025)
October 16, 2025 | Drama/Crime
Cast: Colin Farrell, Tilda Swinton
Director: Edward Berger
Based on Lawrence Osborne’s novel, an English gambler hiding in Macau becomes entangled with a mysterious woman in a noir-tinged story of risk and obsession.
Our Fault – (2025)
October 16, 2025 | Romance
Cast: Nicole Wallace, Gabriel Guevara
Director: Domingo González
The third and final film in the Culpables saga picks up with Noah and Nick facing the ultimate test of their relationship. After the highs and lows of My Fault and Your Fault, their passion collides with family pressures, past mistakes, and the threat of losing each other for good.
Black Phone 2 (2025)
October 17, 2025 |Horror/Thriller
Cast: Mason Thames
Director: Scott Derrickson
The sequel revisits the world of the Grabber, expanding on supernatural connections and survivor trauma. As the eerie black phone rings again, new victims and old voices intertwine in a story of fear and resilience.
Good Fortune (2025)
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, Aziz Ansari
Director: Aziz Ansari
A comedy about two unlucky men stumbling into “good fortune” that may not be as fortunate as it seems. Their streak of blessings soon spirals into absurd chaos, testing their friendship and sanity.
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein (2025)
October 17, 2025 | Horror/Sci-fi
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Mia Goth, Oscar Isaac (attached)
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Del Toro’s long-awaited adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel is expected to be a gothic, emotional take on the classic monster tale. With his signature mix of spectacle and empathy, it promises a tragic story where creation, loss, and humanity blur into one haunting vision.
Blue Moon – October 17 (limited) (2025)
October 24, 2025 (USA) | Musical/Drama
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Scott
Director: Richard Linklater
Set in real time on March 31, 1943, Blue Moon follows lyricist Lorenz Hart as he retreats to the bar of Sardi’s on the opening night of Oklahoma!—wrestling with feelings of loss, professional betrayal, and his own insecurities while his former partner Richard Rodgers celebrates a new creative chapter.
Stitch Head (2025)
October 29 | Family/Adventure
Cast: Asa Butterfield, Joel Fry, Alison Steadman, Rob Brydon, Fern Brady, Tia Bannon, Jamali Maddix
Director: Steve Hudson
A CG-animated family fantasy based on Guy Bass’s book. In a castle above Grubbers Nubbin, the forgotten creation Stitch Head must protect his home when a travelling freak show tempts him with fame and freedom.
Bone Lake (2025)
October 3, 2025 | Documentary
Cast: Maddie Hasson, Alex Roe, Andra Nechita, Marco Pigossi
Director: Mercedes Bryce Morgan
A horror-thriller where a romantic lake getaway turns sinister after another couple arrives, drawing them into a night of seduction and survival.
Conclusion
Together, these films show how October balances two goals: setting up awards contenders while still giving audiences big, crowd-pleasing stories.
Guadagnino’s After the Hunt positions itself as an Oscar-season provocation, while Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine leans into bruising, character-first intensity. Del Toro’s Frankenstein and Disney’s Tron: Ares pull in opposite directions—one a gothic meditation, the other a neon blockbuster—while horror from Vicious to Black Phone 2 are prepped for their claim on Halloween.
With anniversaries like Casper and revivals like Rocky Horror, October isn’t only about what’s new, but also about keeping the past alive. The effect is a simple variety of cinema’s greatest variety – all in one month.
