It’s a new month and that means new slate of films! September (particularly early September) is largely considered a dumbing ground for movies. With summer wrapping up and schools starting back in session, it’s the perfect place for studios to deep-six the films they have no confidence in.

As if that trend wasn’t bad enough, this September opened to a total of zero new wide releases. In fact, the biggest film that Hollywood is promoting this Labor Day weekend is Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which Steven Spielberg made 40 years ago. Consequently, the box office this weekend is on track to hit a 25-year low.

Thankfully, the rest of September should see an uptick. Each remaining weekend is getting at least one, largely marketed wide release that many (including me) can’t wait to see. Let’s take a look!

IT

Release date: September 8

New Line isn’t clowning around with this one. The marketing for IT has been scary effective, popping up everywhere from television ads to VR promotions to nightmarish, viral Cosplay. Everybody knows this movie is coming out this weekend and that can only say good things about its chances at the box office. So far IT is tracking to scare up over $60 million its opening weekend, which handily tops the previous September opening weekend of $48 million, held by Hotel Transylvania 2. Not only that, but IT is receiving high praise from critics lucky enough to catch an early screening. Like Pennywise’s victims, the hype keeps piling up for this Stephen King adaptation. Plus, judging by what we’ve seen of the film (via trailers or short clips), Director Andy Muschietti seems to have captured the eerie essence of King’s source material. Could we be on the verge of yet another great adaptation of his á la The Shining or The Shawshank Redemption? I for one can’t wait to find out.

mother!

Release date: September 15

Only one word perfectly encapsulates what we’ve seen so far of mother!: insanity. What starts off as something as simple and innocent as a loving couple moving into their dream house quickly devolves into a tangled, hellish nightmare after two strangers appear on their doorstep seeking shelter. Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem exchange screams as bloody murals, mysterious explosions, and blood-filled light bulbs flash across the screen, followed by the rapid decay of the couple’s home; all accompanied by the sinister plucking of a stringed scored. Of course, Director Darren Aronofsky isn’t one to shy away from the realm of the weird and psychotic. As the trailers reminds us, he is the mind behind Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan. In all, there’s simply too much talent and intrigue surrounding this film not to put it on this list.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Release date: September 22

Kingsman: The Secret Service was one of my favorite films of 2014 and, like a lot of people, it wasn’t even on my radar that year. Well, this time I won’t be blindsided. Not only is Kingsman: The Golden Circle one of my most anticipated films of September, it’s one of my most anticipated films this year. From the looks of it, the core cast will be returning (including Colin Firth’s Harry, who got shot point-blank in the face in the last one) to team up with an American branch of highly-trained agents, eloquently named Statesman. New additions include Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, and Halle Berry with Julianne Moore taking up Sam Jackson’s mantle as the villain. To top it off, Director Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class, Kickass) is back to helm the sequel, which means we’ll be getting more of the stylized, overblown action that, in part, made the first film so much fun.

American Made

Released date: September 29

Tom Cruise continues to defy his age. The man is 55 years young and still insists on doing his own death-defying stunts, like scaling the side of the world’s tallest tower and clinging to the side of an air-born plane. Now Cruise is taking on the role of Barry Seal, a TWA pilot who smuggled drugs for the cartel and eventually wound up working as an informant for the DEA. Of course, Seal was one of the youngest TWA pilots at the start and ultimately a decade younger than Cruise is now by the time he started going undercover for the feds. Regardless, it seems Cruise isn’t a believer in physical limitations and Seal’s story seems tailored for the movies. Who better to play him than the world’s biggest (and perhaps last) movie star? Plus, he’s worked well in the past with Director Doug Liman (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Edge of Tomorrow), who has a strong pedigree crafting intelligent action flicks. So far, there isn’t much reason to doubt that American Made will be anything shy of good fun.

Those are my most anticipated films of September. What movies are you looking forward to this month? And do you think IT will set a September opening record at the box office? Let me know in the comments below!