“Mockingjay Part II”

A highly anticipated movie this fall is “Mockingjay Part II,” coming out on Nov. 20. It adapts the second half of “Mockingjay,” the third book in the “Hunger Games” trilogy by Suzanne Collins. In “Mockingjay Part I,” the tension built between the districts, the Capitol, Katniss and President Snow, which is all leading up to a final battle in Part II. If anyone was hoping to finally see the districts and the Capitol go head to head, here is where it’s going to happen. In this installment, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), District 13 and the other rebels will finally attack the Capitol, which is booby-trapped. Katniss in particular has her own mission: to kill President Snow.

The director of the film, Francis Lawrence, said a San Diego Comic Con this past summer, “This is where we see Katniss get back into action. She was a bit side-lined in the last movie, and going through some of her issues, but she’s finally going after Snow and going into the Capital.” Audiences can also look forward to a final resolution to the Katniss Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) Gale (Liam Hemsworth) love triangle.

“Everest”

“Everest,” to be released Sept. 18, is adapted from the book “Into Thin Air” by John Krakauer. It is a memoir about the 1996 Mt. Everest disaster in which eight climbers were killed during a horrible storm. In the film, Krakauer (Michael Kelly) is part of an expedition led by Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) up Everest. Climbing alongside them is Scott Fischer’s (Jake Gyllenhaal) expedition. On the day that both groups reach the top, a massive unforeseen storm hits, and every climber has to fight to survive.

Going by the trailer, this film is going to really build upon the interpersonal relationships, personalities and backgrounds of the characters so that when the storm hits, you really worry for them and feel the loss of those who died. Rob Hall’s relationship with his wife, Jan Hall (Keira Knightley), is going to be one of the main focuses of the film. This is different from the book, where Jan plays no part at all. The book attempts to tell the story exactly how it happened from Krakauer’s point of view; the movie attempts to just tell a good story, so there might be blatant differences between the movie and what actually happened.

“Goosebumps”

“Goosebumps,” coming out on Oct. 18, is not adapted from the Goosebumps series, but it explores what would happen if all the monsters from R.L. Stine’s comedic horror books came to life. In the film, a teenaged boy named Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) moves to a small town and befriends Stine’s daughter Hannah (Odeya Rush). Stine (Jack Black) keeps a copy of each book under lock and key, and when Zach accidentally unlocks the books, all the monsters in them spring to life and begin to terrorize the town. Zach, Hannah and Stine must then team up to defeat the monsters and get them back in their books. While there will be some scary parts, they will most likely be undercut by a lot of humor, since the film is intended for children. Rob Letterman, the director of the film, said at this summer’s Comic Con, “Tone is tricky, but you know the books themselves are legitimately scary, and then they’re also legitimately funny, so we tried to capture that.” If you don’t mind a little magic, adventure, classic Jack Black humor and a campy feel, this movie is sure to be a lot of fun.

“The Scorch Trials”

Adding to the dystopian films coming out this fall is “The Scorch Trials,” coming out Sept. 18. The film is the sequel to the popular film “The Maze Runner,” adapted from the books written by James Dashner. At the end of “The Maze Runner,” Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and the other survivors from the maze were taken away to safety by a rebel group working against WCKD (pronounced wicked), the institution that trapped them in the maze. However, in reality, WCKD just wanted them to think that they had escaped. Their escape is the next phase in WCKD’s test for these kids to eventually help them defeat the Scorch — a virus that has ravaged most of the world but to which the main characters are immune.

From the trailer, we see Thomas and his friends figuring out that they never truly escaped, fighting to escape for real and then trying to survive in the post-apocalyptic outside world. At Comic Con, director Wes Ball said this movie would pick up right where the last one left off. He also commented on how this movie is different from the last one: “We get to explore a much larger world, many more threats, but it’s just as intense and emotional as the other one.”