1 of 5 | Cast members, left to right, Cailee Spaeny, Mila Kunis and Kerry Washington attend the premiere of Netflix’s “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, on November 17. The film steams on Netflix on Dec. 12. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
December film releases span everything from holiday specials to horror films.
Highlights include Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, adapted from Scott Cawthon’s video games and a theatrical return of the 1995 classic Sense and Sensibility.
Festive offerings this month include Christina Aguilera: Christmas in Paris and Christmas in Nashville, hosted by Trisha Yearwood.
Read on for releases coming to theaters and streaming December.
In Theaters
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2
The sequel to the 2023 film is, like its predecessor, inspired by Scott Cawthon’s video games.
Emma Tammi directs from a script by Cawthon.
In Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, Mike (Josh Hutcherson) searches for his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) after she visited an abandoned pizzeria.
He must contend with the restaurant’s possessed animatronic characters.
“Everything’s just like cranked up to level 11,” said Hutcherson in a featurette promoting the film.
Cast members also include Elizabeth Lail, Freddy Carter, Theodus Crane, Wayne Knight, Mckenna Grace, Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lillard.
The feature arrives in theaters Dec. 5.
Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair
Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2004 Vol. 2 are combined for The Whole Bloody Affair, arriving in theaters Dec. 5.
The four-hour cut, which initially screened in 2006 and 2011, stars Uma Thurman as Beatrix Kiddo aka the Bride, who is seeking revenge on David Carradine’s Bill following his betrayal.
A preview released earlier this month states that the film, which includes a “never-before-seen anime sequence,” is “the fourth film by Quentin Tarantino as it was meant to be seen.”
Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Gordon Liu and Michael Parks also star.
Christina Aguilera: Christmas in Paris
Christina Aguilera performs a mix of “holiday classics and career-defining hits” in Paris for a holiday special playing in theaters Dec. 14 and Dec. 21.
“Between songs, the film drifts into dreamlike Parisian interludes — where Christina contemplates love, motherhood, reinvention and the artistry that has defined her journey,” an official synopsis reads.
She teased the release with her rendition of “My Favorite Things” performed with the Eiffel Tower in the background.
Sense and Sensibility
The movie, starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet and originally released in 1995, will play again in theaters Dec. 14, 16 and 17.
Sense and Sensibility was inspired by Jane Austen’s book.
Thompsons Elinor and Winslet’s Marianne are sisters trying to find financial footing following their father’s death.
Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant and James Fleet also star.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
The third sci-film film set in the Pandora universe arrives in theaters Dec. 19.
A trailer for the feature shows the Sully family fighting against rivals.
Sam Worthington portrays Jake Sully, who fell in love with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) in the 2009 film after visiting Pandora.
The sequel, The Way of Water, arrived in 2022.
Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, David Thewlis, Jemaine Clement, Giovanni Ribisi, Britain Dalton, Jamie Flatters, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Jack Champion, Brendan Cowell, Bailey Bass, Filip Geljo, Duane Evans, Jr. and Kate Winslet also star.
James Cameron directs.
The Housemaid
Paul Feig’s film starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried hits theaters Dec. 19.
Seyfried portrays Nina, a rich woman who hires Sweeney’s Millie to be a housemaid for her family.
“But what begins as a dream job quickly unravels into something far more dangerous — a sexy, seductive game of secrets, scandal and power,” an official synopsis says.
Brandon Sklenar and Nichel Morrone also star.
Marty Supreme
Timothee Chalamet portrays a headstrong ping-pong player in Marty Supreme, which arrives in theaters Dec. 25.
Gwyneth Paltrow, meanwhile, plays a woman he was involved with who is unimpressed by “this little table tennis thing.”
Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara and Fran Drescher also star.
Streaming or digital
Tron: Ares
The third film in the Tron franchise arrives on video-on-demand Dec. 2.
The first film, Tron, arrived in 1982, while the second, Tron: Legacy, dropped in 2010.
“I mean, all in all, it was important for me to take the Tron universe visually to the next level,” said director Joachim Ronning of the latest installment.
The titular character, portrayed by Jared Leto, is a 3D printed program that wants to exist in the real world longer than the 29 minutes he is allotted.
Evan Peters, Greta Lee, Jeff Bridges, Gillian Anderson and Jodie Turner-Smith also star in the feature.
With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration
The duchess of Sussex discusses her “seasonal tips and tricks” in a special edition of her show With Love, Meghan.
Fans can watch Meghan Markle’s Holiday Celebration special on Netflix beginning Dec. 3.
“Together, friends and family deck the halls, create holiday feasts, craft heartfelt gifts and share lots of laughs — and give you simple how-tos to follow at home,” an official description reads.
Christmas in Nashville
The country music special, hosted by Trisha Yearwood, will arrive on Peacock Dec. 4, following a Dec. 3 premiere on NBC.
Entertainers include Bill Murray & His Blood Brothers, Lauren Alaina, Ne-Yo, The War and Treaty, and Trace Adkins.
Performances take place at Nashville’s Category 10.
Yearwood’s hosting gig follows the release of her 16th studio album in July and her Hollywood Walk of Fame star in March.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
The eighth chapter in the Mission: Impossible film series arrives on Paramount+ Dec. 4, following its theater run, which began in May.
The movie follows Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt as he tries to stop an AI program from instigating a world war, and is a sequel for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning.
Esai Morales, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Angela Bassett, Hannah Waddingham, Katy O’Brian, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Tramell Tillman, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, Mark Gatiss, Lucy Tulugarjuk Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny and Rolf Saxon also star.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Rian Johnson’s whodunit follows Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc as he sets out to solve “a perfectly impossible” case.
Benoit previously solved mysteries in the 2019 feature Knives Out and the 2022 follow-up Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
This time, he is attempting to solve the murder of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin).
Glenn Close, Thomas Haden Church, Kerry Washington, Daryl McCormack, Jeremy Renner, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Mila Kunis and Josh O’Connor also star.
Wake Up Dead Man will be available on Netflix Dec. 12.
Ricky Gervais: Mortality
The comedy special arrives on Netflix Dec. 30 as Gervais’ tour, which kicked off in 2024, winds down.
“I think Mortality is my most honest and confessional show so far. I still can’t believe what a privilege it is to fly around the world making people laugh,” he previously said.
The Netflix show was filmed in the London Palladium, and features the comedian discussing life and death.
Mila Kunis, Josh Brolin attend ‘Wake Up Dead Man’ premiere
Cast member Mila Kunis attends the premiere of Netflix’s “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles on November 17, 2025. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
