Eddie Murphy’s ‘Dolemite Is My Name,’ Meryl Streep’s ‘The Laundromat’ and More Netflix Films Get Theatrical Release Dates

10 films in all receive theatrical window ahead of debut on the streaming service

DOLEMITE IS MY NAME! Eddie Murphy
Francois Duhamel/Netflix

Your next four months of movie watching on Netflix has been mapped out. The biopic “Dolemite Is My Name” starring Eddie Murphy, Steven Soderbergh’s “The Laundromat” starring Meryl Streep and Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” with Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver have all scored fall 2019 release dates from Netflix, the company announced Tuesday.

Netflix laid out their schedule for 10 feature films in all, including Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” which announced its November debut earlier Tuesday. Others that squeaked into the tail end of 2019 included Netflix’s Cannes acquisitions “I Lost My Body” and “Atlantics,” as well as Fernando Meirelles’ “The Two Popes” and the Timothée Chalamet film “The King.” Both of those films will play at Toronto in September.

All 10 of the films are receiving brief, limited theatrical releases ahead of their debut on Netflix, some with a window of just one week, while others will remain in theaters for a full month ahead of their launch on the streaming service.

Netflix’s fall kicks off with Soderbergh’s “The Laundromat,” a drama about the Panama Papers investigation that uncovered a massive scheme of tax evasion, bribery and illicit payoffs designed to protect the wealthiest of the wealthy. Streep stars alongside a massive cast, including Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas and Jeffrey Wright, among many others. The film will open Sept. 27 in theaters before launching on Netflix on Oct. 18.

“Dolemite Is My Name” stars Eddie Murphy as a blaxploitation legend, telling the story of how comedian Rudy Ray Moore developed the satirical pimp character Dolemite and fought adversity to become a cult movie star. It launches on Netflix on Oct. 25.

“The King,” starring Timothée Chalamet as Henry V alongside Joel Edgerton, Robert Pattinson, Sean Harris, Lily-Rose Depp and Ben Mendelsohn, just dropped its trailer Tuesday as well. The historical period drama is directed by “War Machine” director David Michôd and launches Nov. 1.

Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” reunites the legendary director with Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in the mob saga about the man who claims he killed Jimmy Hoffa, played by Al Pacino working with Scorsese for the first time. It also features impressive de-aging technology designed to make De Niro and company look decades younger. It opens Nov. 1 followed by a Nov. 27 streaming release.

“Earthquake Bird,” opening Nov. 15, stars Alicia Vikander in a psychological thriller set in 1989 Tokyo as she engages in an intense relationship with a local photographer. Wash Westmoreland (“Colette,” “Still Alice”) wrote and directed the film.

Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” depicts dual perspectives of a crumbling marriage and ensuing divorce, starring Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver as the once loving couple. That will open Nov. 6 in theaters after a festival run, then launch on Netflix Dec. 6.

The animated, holiday themed film “Klaus” is directed by Sergio Pablos and is about a postman who delivers a letter to a mysterious house in the cold north, only to discover Santa hiding out there. It launches Nov. 15 on Netflix.

Both “I Lost My Body” and “Atlantics” made their debut at Cannes and were acquired out of the festival. The first is written and directed by Jérémy Clapin and is an animated film about a severed hand being dissected in a lab that awakes and begins wandering town in search of its previous body. “Atlantics” is directed and co-written by Mati Diop and is a drama set in a suburb of Dakar about a teen girl who falls in love with a man but is promised to marry another, only to have her wedding ruined by a mysterious fire and spreading fever that coincides with her former lover’s return. Both films open on the same day theatrically and on Netflix beginning Nov. 15 in theaters and Nov. 29 on Netflix.

And finally is the latest from “City of God” director Fernando Meirelles, “The Two Popes.” Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce star in a film inspired by true events about the transfer of power of Pope Benedict (Hopkins) in 2012 as he faces scandal and reveals a shocking secret to the church. It opens Nov. 27 in theaters and Dec. 20 on Netflix.

Check out the full fall schedule below:

“The Laundromat” – Sept. 27 (US Theatrical); Oct. 18 (Netflix)
“Dolemite Is My Name” – Oct. 4 (US Theatrical); Oct. 25 (Netflix)
“The King” – Oct. 11 (US Theatrical); Nov. 1 (Netflix)
“The Irishman” – Nov. 1 (US Theatrical); Nov. 27 (Netflix)
“Earthquake Bird” – Nov. 1 (US Theatrical); Nov. 15 (Netflix)
“Marriage Story” – Nov. 6 (US Theatrical); Dec. 6 (Netflix)
“Klaus” – Nov. 8 (US Theatrical); Nov. 15 (Netflix)
“I Lost My Body” (J ‘ai Perdu Mon Corps ) – Nov. 15 (US Theatrical); Nov. 29 (Netflix)
(excluding Benelux, Turkey, France )
“Atlantics” – Nov. 15 (US Theatrical); Nov. 29 (Netflix) ( excluding Benelux,
Switzerland, Russia, France)
“The Two Popes” – Nov. 27 (US Theatrical); Dec. 20 (Netflix)

Comments