Fall movie preview: Let’s get serious (VIDEO)

The first day of Autumn was last week, even if it doesn’t exactly feel like it with warmer-than-normal temperatures.

But things are definitely cooling down in theaters, as Hollywood follows up its fiery summer fare with more serious movies (there are hardly any all-out comedies in the next month), some looking for Oscar buzz. And there are the requisite chillers in time for Halloween.

Here’s what’s in store for the rest of fall leading up to the big holiday movie season. (Release dates are subject to change.)

“Gone Girl” – David Fincher (“The Social Network”) returns with this tale of a man (Ben Affleck) who sees the spotlight turned on him after his wife’s disappearance when it’s suspected that he might have had something to do with it. Early word is that this is Fincher’s best film to date – and that’s quite a statement. (Opening Friday)

“The Judge” – Robert Downey Jr. stars as a big-city lawyer who returns to his childhood home where his father (Robert Duvall), the town’s judge, is suspected of murder. (Oct. 10)

“Fury” – Brad Pitt stars as a battle-hardened U.S. Army sergeant during World War II who commands a tank called Fury and its five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. (Oct. 17)

“Kingsman: The Secret Service” – Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Firth star in this adaptation of the comic book by Mark Millar about a veteran secret agent who leads a young protege into the world of espionage. (Oct. 24)

“Nightcrawler” – Jake Gyllenhaal dropped about 20 pounds to play a man who stumbles into the underground world of freelance crime journalism in Los Angeles. (Oct. 31)

“Left Behind” – Nicolas Cage stars in this apocalyptic tale about the biblical rapture. Great, now the Blondie song is stuck in my head. (Friday)

“Dracula Untold” – Luke Evans (“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”) stars as the titular chomper in this re-envisioning of the Dracula tale, which apparently tells us some things we haven’t picked up on in the bazillion Dracula films so far. (Oct. 10)

“Interstellar” – Director Christopher Nolan (“Inception”) returns with another trippy-looking excursion about a group of explorers who discover a wormhole in space. So naturally they go inside it. Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain star. (Nov. 7)

“Annabelle” – This prequel to “The Conjuring” follows a couple who experience supernatural occurrences involving a vintage doll after their home is invaded by satanic cultists. (Friday)

“The Devil’s Hand” – When young girls start to go missing within a religious cult, older followers fear a long-told prophecy will come true while younger members think their elders are killing them off. (Oct. 10)

“The Town that Dreaded Sundown” – From the people who brought us “Paranormal Activity,” “Insidious” and “American Horror Story” comes this tale of a small Texas town experiencing the same murderous spree that happened 65 years earlier. That’s a long time to dread sundown. (Oct. 16)

“Ouija” – Inspired by the popular board game, this has a group of friends who must confront their most terrifying fears when they awaken an ancient spirit. What board game movie is next? Yahtzee? (Oct. 24)

“Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” – Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner star in this adaptation of the popular kid’s book about one boy’s misadventures on a no good, very bad day. (Oct. 10)

“The Book of Life” – Guillermo del Toro produces this animated comedy about a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an adventure that spans three fantastical worlds. (Oct. 17)

“Big Hero 6” – This Disney animation is based on the Marvel comic about a brilliant robotics prodigy named Hiro Hamada, who joins forces with his closest companion – a robot named Baymax – to stop a criminal plot to destroy the fast-paced, high-tech city of San Fransokyo. (Nov. 7)

“Love is Strange” – Alfred Molina and John Lithgow star as a gay couple who, after 39 years together, finally tie the knot in an idyllic wedding ceremony in lower Manhattan. But then one of them gets fired because of it and they can no longer afford to live in New York City. (Friday)

“The Good Lie” – Sudanese refugees given the chance to resettle in America arrive in Kansas, where their encounter with AN employment agency counselor (Reese Witherspoon) changes their lives forever. (Friday)

“Kill the Messenger” – Jeremy Renner stars as real-life Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb, who uncovered the shady origins of the nation’s crack epidemic and exposed that the CIA was aware of major dealers smuggling cocaine into the U.S. (Oct. 10)

“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” – Michael Keaton is said to be revelatory in this Venice and New York film festival hit as a washed-up actor who mounts a Broadway play to reclaim his past glory. (Wichita date unknown)

“Men, Women and Children” – Jason Reitman (“Juno,” “Young Adult”) directs this look at a group of high school teenagers and their parents as they attempt to navigate the many ways the Internet has changed their relationships and love lives. (Oct. 17)

“St. Vincent” – A young boy whose parents have just divorced finds an unlikely friend and mentor in the bawdy, grouchy war veteran (Bill Murray) who lives next door. (Oct. 24)

This story was originally published September 27, 2014 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Fall movie preview: Let’s get serious (VIDEO)."