On your marks… It’s about to get VERY busy at South African cinemas, with pretty much a mammoth movie debut every single week. This Friday is one of those cases, but before we get into that, know that your more specialist entertainment options on the big screen are Bollywood romance Chand Mera Dil; a Sunday-only live concert screening of 2026 TXT (Tomorrow X Together) Moa Con in Japan; and the brief Throwback return of trilogy-capping BDSM romance Fifty Shades Freed.
Arguably the best, and most successful, addition to the Star Wars galaxy of the past decade, Disney+ series The Mandalorian makes the leap to the big screen in space western The Mandalorian & Grogu, which has been shot specially for IMAX. Following the events of Season 3, Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his young apprentice Grogu are hired by New Republic representative Ward (Sigourney Weaver) to rescue Rotta the Hutt (voiced by Jeremy Allen White) in exchange for information from the crime family. The Mandalorian creator and showrunner Jon (The Jungle Book) Favreau directs.
Look out for our The Mandalorian & Grogu review soon.
New horror movie Passenger taps into the nightmare of a pursuer that can never be outrun. With The Autopsy of Jane Doe and The Last Voyage of the Demeter’s André Øvredal at the helm, Passenger centres on a road-tripping young couple who witness an accident that leaves the driver dead. Soon, they’re being chased relentlessly by a demonic stalker known as the Passenger. Starring Jacob Scipio, Lou Llobell and Melissa Leo.
It may sound like a hundred other B-grade heist movies on paper, but crime thriller Tuner has wowed critics since making its film festival debut. The White Lotus’s Leo Woodall plays Niki, a once promising musician whose career was derailed by sound sensitivity. While apprenticed to New York piano tuner Harry Horowitz (Dustin Hoffman), Niki discovers an unexpected aptitude for cracking safes, turning his life upside down as thieves demand he use his talents for them, or else.