What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 19th December 2024.

With the 2024 Film Festival Season now drawing to a close, and as we set our sights on the upcoming Awards Season kicking off with the Golden Globes in early January, below is a list of some of the forthcoming Film Festivals to look out for in 2025.

* Sundance Film Festival - January 23rd to February 2nd 2025. Held in Park City, Utah, USA.

* International Film Festival Rotterdam - 30th January to 9th February 2025. Held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

* Berlin International Film Festival - February 13th to 23rd 2025. Held in Berlin, Germany.

* Slamdance Film Festival - February 20th to 26th 2025. Held in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

* South by Southwest (SXSW) - March 7th to 15th 2025. Held in Austin, Texas, USA.

* Ann Arbor Film Festival - March 25th to 30th 2025. Held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

* Cannes Film Festival - May 13th to 24th 2025. Held in Cannes, France.

* Sydney Film Festival - June 4th to 15th 2025. Held in Sydney, Australia.

* New York City Tribeca Film Festival - June 4th to15th 2025. Held in New York City, USA.

* Munich International Film Festival - June 27th to July 6th 2025. Held in Munich, Germany.

* Karlovy Vary International Film Festival - July 4th to 12th 2025. Held in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic.

* Fantasia International Film Festival - July 17th to August 3rd 2025. Held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

* Locarno Film Festival - August 6th to 16th 2025. Held in Locarno, Switzerland.

* Melbourne International Film Festival - August 7th to 24th 2025. Held in Melbourne, Australia.

* Edinburgh International Film Festival - August 14th to 20th 2025. Held in Edinburgh, Scotland.

* Venice Film Festival - August 28th to September 7th 2025. Held in Venice, Italy.

* Telluride Film Festival - August 30th to September 2nd 2025. Held in Telluride, Colorado, USA.

* Toronto International Film Festival - September 5th to 15th 2025. Held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

* Filmfest Hamburg - September 25th to October 4th 2025. Held in Hamburg, Germany.

* BFI London Film Festival - October 8th to 19th 2025. Held in London, UK.

* Adelaide Film Festival - October 15th to 26th 2025. Held in Adelaide, Australia.

* Tokyo International Film Festival - October 23rd to November 1st 2025. Held in Tokyo, Japan.

* Austin Film Festival - October 24th to 31st 2025. Held in Austin, Texas, USA.

* Cork International Film Festival - 8th November to 18th 2025. Held in Cork, Ireland.

* Cairo Film Festival - November 13th to 22nd 2025. Held in Cairo, Egypt.

* Goa - The International Film Festival of India - November 20th to 28th 2025. Held in Goa, India.

Having summarised many of the aforementioned film festivals in my weekly Blog Posts over the last twelve months, I will continue to bring you the highlights of the same as they fall due throughout 2025. 

This week there are just two new release movies coming to your local Odeon, and the first of these is the story of a lost and alone orphaned lion cub who meets another sympathetic lion cub who is the heir to a royal bloodline, with their chance meeting setting in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destinies. And secondly, we have a British stop-motion animated comedy film that sees a highly intelligent pet beagle dog grow ever more concerned that its eccentric inventor master has become over-dependent on his inventions, which proves justified, when he invents a smart gnome that seems to develop a mind of its own.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it either of the two latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.

'MUFASA : THE LION KING' (Rated PG) - this American photorealistic animated musical drama film is directed by Barry Jenkins and serves as both a prequel and sequel to the 2019 remake of the 1994 Walt Disney film 'The Lion King'. Barry Jenkins prior feature film making credits are 'Medicine for Melancholy' - his 2008 debut feature, which he would follow up with the critically acclaimed and multiple award winning 'Moonlight' in 2016 and then 'If Beale Street Could Talk' in 2018. This film saw its Premiere screening in Los Angeles on 9th December and is scheduled to be released in the US this week too. The 1994 film and the 2019 remake grossed worldwide a combined US$2.64B off the back of a total production budget of US$295M, making this follow on movie a no-brainer for Disney Studios. 

In the Pride Lands of Tanzania after the events of 2019's 'The Lion King', Rafiki (voiced by John Kani) the mandrill tells the origin story of two lions, Mufasa (voiced by James Earl Jones in the 2019 film and the 1994 original and who died in September this year) and Taka (voiced by Chiwetel Ejiofor in the 2019 film), to Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter) — the granddaughter of Mufasa and daughter of Simba (Donald Glover) and Nala (Beyonce Knowles-Carter). The story follows the orphan Mufasa (Aaron Pierre), who is befriended by the young prince Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jnr.) and adopted by Taka's family; the pair become as close as brothers. Timon (Billy Eichner) the meerkat and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) the warthog add commentary. Also starring the voice talents of Mads Mikkelsen, Thandiwe Newton, Lennie James, Keith David and Tiffany Boone amongst others.

'WALLACE & GROMIT : VENGEANCE MOST FOWL' (Rated PG) - is a British stop motion animated comedy film Directed by Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham, featuring Park's characters from the 'Wallace & Gromit' series. It is the sixth Wallace & Gromit film overall, the first since 'A Matter of Loaf and Death' in 2008 and the second feature-length film following 2005's 'The Curse of the Were-Rabbit' and serves as a full-length sequel to 1993's 'The Wrong Trousers'. Here then, Gromit's concern that Wallace (voiced by Ben Whitehead, who replaced Peter Sallis who died in 2017) is becoming too dependent on his inventions proves justified when Wallace invents a 'smart' gnome that seems to develop a mind of its own. When it emerges that a vengeful figure from the past might be masterminding things, it falls to Gromit to battle sinister forces and save his master, or Wallace may never be able to invent again! The film gets a limited cinema release Stateside this week too, airs on BBC One in the UK on Christmas Day and is then released on Netflix on 3rd January. It has generated universal critical acclaim.

With just two new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-