This fall, Hollywood is trying to balance the box office with the ballot box

NEW YORK – Three weeks after the US presidential election in November, Ridley Scott presents his latest film. “Gladiator II” returns the exceptional director to ancient Rome and tells a story about a power, the survival of Rome and the fate of democracy.

“Hopefully,” says Scott, “it’s a good omen.”

This fall, Hollywood will try to capture the nation's attention with everything from grand historical epics like “Gladiator II” to the high-seas adventure “Moana 2” at a time when much of that attention will be focused on the election.

Hollywood has already played a supporting role in the election. The Democratic National Convention in August was packed with stars like Oprah Winfrey. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance was first introduced to many through the big screen adaptation of his “Hillbilly Elegy” in 2020. And it was George Clooney, who stars alongside Brad Pitt in this month's Apple Studios film “Wolfs,” who was one of the most prominent voices urging President Joe Biden to drop out of the race.

Hollywood, known for its progressive approach, has always had to find a balance between the liberal leanings of the majority of its creative minds and the demands of pop culture. In recent years, this has become increasingly difficult.

At the same time, the film industry, which has been slowed down by the pandemic and strikes for several years, is trying to regain its audience populism – and all the billions that can come with it. Disney CEO Robert A. Iger pointed out last year that “entertainment must come first,” adding: “It's not about messages.”

Last summer, Disney led Hollywood out of a box office slump with two billion-dollar films: “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool vs. Wolverine.” According to Comscore, ticket sales rose to $3.7 billion in the summer – less than the traditional $4 billion mark, but significantly better than initially feared after a painfully slow start.

One of the most likely candidates to continue this trend in the fall is Moana 2. Dwayne Johnson, who returns as the voice of Maui, said earlier this year he would not support any candidate in the election because he fears the division it would cause.

Like many other films coming to theaters this fall, “Moana 2” (opens November 27) could be received very differently depending on the outcome of the election as a tribute to the culture of the Pacific Islanders and as a story of a strong female protagonist.

“If people take it differently, I can't control that,” says Dana Ledoux Miller, who directed “Moana 2” with David Derrick Jr. and Jason Hand. “I'm so passionate about this story and what it means to be a person in a community who wants more for the world they live in and for the future. We'll see what happens, but the film is what it is.”

This year's films have mostly approached political issues from a distance. Alex Garland's “Civil War” imagined the USA in total war. Tony Gerber and Jesse Moss's “War Game” brought together real political figures for an insurgency simulation.

But “The Apprentice” offers the big screen version of an October surprise. In the film, whose release was only announced last week, Sebastian Stan plays the young Donald Trump under the tutelage of Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong). The Trump campaign team described the film as “election interference by Hollywood elites.” Director Ali Abbasi argues that filmmakers have a responsibility to confront current politics head-on.

“I often hear: let's make a film about the Second World War or the Civil War – just travel back in time,” says Abbasi. “They say a civil war film is a good metaphor for the state of our society today. I think to myself: our society is extremely exciting, complex, complicated, has huge problems and opportunities. Why not address them? We have a (swear word) responsibility.”

As usual, studios will be rolling out a new wave of awards contenders this fall. Unlike last year, when Christopher Nolan's “Oppenheimer” entered the season as the clear favorite, no such frontrunner has yet emerged. Notable premieres at the Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York film festivals include Todd Phillips' highly anticipated sequel “Joker: Folie à Deux,” Edward Berger's “Conclave,” Marielle Heller's “Nightbitch,” Malcolm Washington's “The Piano Lesson,” Steve McQueen's “Blitz” and LaMell Ross' “Nickel Boys.”

There will also be outstanding films from previous festivals, such as Sean Baker's Palme d'Or-winning “Anora” and Jacques Audiard's “Emilia Pérez.” But for now, at least, the Oscar race seems to be wide open.

“Emilia Pérez,” a musical about a Mexican drug lord who turns into a woman, is just one of many musicals coming to theaters. Some studios have recently abandoned the term “musical”; last December's “Wonka” was not advertised as such. But this fall, no matter what happens in the news, it won't be hard to find singing and dancing on the big screen.

These include “Joker: Folie à Deux,” “Moana 2” and the two-part adaptation of the Broadway show “Wicked!” – not to mention biopics about Robbie Williams (“Better Man”) and Bob Dylan (“A Complete Unknown,” with Timothée Chalamet).

“Wicked” director Jon M. Chu and producer Marc Platt were so confident in their film, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, that they decided to split it into two parts. (Part two will be released in November 2025.) “Wicked,” which opens Nov. 22, will face off against “Gladiator II” in the most “Barbeheimer”-like weekend matchup of the fall.

“I love this time, this moment when we can get excited about all the films anytime, anywhere,” says Chu. “It's about telling people: Come to the cinema. Come everyone.”

In “Wicked,” which tells the story behind the feuding witches from “The Wizard of Oz,” Platt sees a story with great relevance to the current political climate.

“It's a significant decision for both of us,” says Platt. “But our story should be about the distances people have to overcome to connect with each other, about seeing the other as something else, about living in a world where the truth is sometimes not real.”

Some films take novel approaches to storytelling. Morgan Neville's Piece by Piece tells Pharrell Williams' story using Lego bricks. Robert Zemeckis' Here, starring Tom Hanks, feels like a film shot in a single take. In Better Man, Williams is played by a computer-generated monkey.

At festival screenings of Francis Ford Coppola's “Megalopolis,” a man has come onstage midway through the film and asked a question of the screen. Coppola, who financed the film himself, spent years building “Megalopolis,” an epic set in the future about a visionary (Adam Driver). In cynical times, the film is unashamedly optimistic, even utopian.

“You never turn on CNN or open the newspaper and read, 'Man is an incredible genius.' But it's true. How can you deny that?” Coppola said after the film's premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. “Think of what we can do. A hundred years ago they said man would never fly. Now we're zooming around. So I ask myself: Why doesn't anyone dare to say how great we are? There is no problem we face that we are not inventive enough to solve.”

While Coppola was realizing his vision of a modern Roman epic, Scott was making the original. During the filming of Gladiator II, Scott – a self-professed news junkie – constantly felt that his film was far removed from ancient history. Russia's war in Ukraine was addressed during the filming of the movie, the director noted.

“We live in a time that I call democracy versus tyrants and tyranny,” Scott says. “In this film, we look at tyrannical leadership versus people who are trying to change that. When is history not about that?”