Trailers of the Week: ‘Jojo Rabbit,’ Mister Rogers Biopic, Linda Ronstadt Doc

On deck: Tom Hanks asks if you would be his neighbor; Cynthia Erivo goes underground; Helen Mirren gets regal, Russian style; Linda Ronstadt gets the documentary she deserves; Zombieland gets a sequel, for better or worse; and we get a second peek at two major upcoming awards-season movies. Behold, your trailers-of-the-week round-up.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Tom Hanks as the late, great Fred Rogers — ’nuff said, right? Getting the movies’ modern incarnation of Jimmy Stewart to portray TV’s personification of kindness is a casting coup, and it takes exactly three seconds of Hanks, clad in a red cardigan and singing the film’s title, to make your heart melt. It’s based on Esquire journalist Tom Junod’s profile of the iconic PBS star, which ended up turning into a friendship between the two men. The Americans‘ Matthew Rhys plays a character based on the writer; director Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) is calling the shots behind the camera. We’re already tearing up. Nov. 22nd.

Catherine the Great
She’s played a ton of queens, so why not an empress as well? Helen Mirren is the woman who ruled Russia from 1762 to 1796 (thanks, Wikipedia!) and turned the country into a force to be reckoned with. Judging from the teaser for this HBO miniseries, her story is getting the full lush-period-piece-epic treatment from the network. Expect lots of violence, gowns and scowling. Should we just hand Mirren the Emmy now? Fall 2019.

Gemini Man
The rise of this de-aging technology in Hollywood still has us a little unnerved, to be honest, but look: If it’s going to give us a middle-aged Will Smith having to outfight and outwit a younger Will Smith, who are we to say it’s wrong? Ang Lee’s action film pits Smith’s over-the-hill hit man against a killer clone who looks like he just stepped off the Fresh Prince of Bel Air set. Clive Owen shows up in this second official trailer to look sinister; Mary Elisabeth Winstead drops by for some gunfire and sympathy; at one point, somebody punches a person in the face with the back tire of a motorcycle while driving it. Sold! Oct. 11th.

The Goldfinch
Because it’s not a fall movie season unless there’s an adaptation of a major literary work, and this tony take on Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer-prize-winning novel definitely fits the bill. This second trailer plays up the psychic angst of a young boy (Oakes Fegley) after he loses his mother in a terrorist attack at the Met, and the life-is-a-journey drama of his older self (Baby Driver‘s Anson Elgort). The trailer drops a National song — “Terrible Love,” for those playing along at home — just to emphasize that all the feels are going to be felt. Nicole Kidman and Jeffrey Wright costar. Sep. 13th.

Harriet
Frankly, Harriet Tubman has been long overdue for a prestige-filled, awards-season-style biopic, and who better to play her than Widows‘ Cynthia Orivo? Everything about this trailer for the life-and-times retelling of the anti-slavery activist and Underground Railroad guide screams that This. Is. A Very. Important. Movie. The fact that Kasi Lemmons (Eve’s Bayou) is in the director’s chair is a huge plus. Nov. 1st.

Jojo Rabbit
Most of us had imaginary friends at one time or another when we were kids. Most of them were probably not, y’know, Adolf Hitler. The latest from “visionistical director Taika Waititi” revolves a young kid named Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) in Germany who finds himself in a moral dilemma involving his mom (Scarlet Johnasson), a Jewish refugee and a little thing called WWII. So he, er, turns to his new buddy for advice. Waititi himself plays the dictator. This looks insane. Oct. 18th

Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
“She was the queen…she’s like what Beyoncé is now.” Bonnie Raitt isn’t wrong — nor are all of the other talking heads who wax rhapsodic about the Seventies songbird in the trailer for biodoc. You get everything here: early days, big breaks, from-Sunset-Strip-to-superstardom trajectory, stadium concerts, industry sexism, creative risks that pay off big, late-act health problems, etc. And that voice. Good lord, that incredible voice. Sep. 6th.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
He’s called the Jangly Man. He’s one of several terrifying creatures you’ll meet in this Guillermo Del Toro-produced take on the horror book series. He’s proof that you may want to wear an adult diaper when you go to see this thing. Aug. 9th.

Wu Assassins
A young man (The Raid star Iko Uwais) discovers that he’s the Chosen One, i.e. the guy gets the mystical power of a thousand sacrificed monks in order to defeat the descendants of Wu warlords. Who, by the way, happen to be in modern-day San Francisco, currently planning some power moves as Triad leaders. So the new Wu Assassin numero uno has to get a team of martial artists together to take these bad guys down, one of whom is — wait for it — his father. Yeah, there’s lots of ass-kicking. Aug. 8th.

Zombieland: Double Tap
Oh, a sequel to Zombieland. Ok then. Mahyem, wisecracks, the walking hungry dead, Woody Harrelson in Elvis cosplay, explosions, famous faces (hi Rosario Dawson), an AC/DC song…you know the drill. Oct. 18th.