The latest in the nerve-jangling franchise – featuring Glenn Close, Elle Fanning, Jesse Plemons, Ralph Fiennes, Kieran Culkin, Billy Porter and Maya Hawke – is this Francis Lawrence-helmed prequel to the original, centred on the 50th Hunger Games, for which each district must send twice the number of tributes to the Capitol as usual. Let the battle commence.

Greta Gerwig’s enchanting prequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will tell the origin story of this magical world, with Emma Mackey as the White Witch, Daniel Craig as the titular magician, Carey Mulligan as his sister, and Meryl Streep voicing Aslan. After the blockbuster success of Barbie, expectations are sky high.

Dune: Part Three (18 December)

The blistering, billion-dollar trilogy concludes with Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson et al, with the addition of Anya Taylor-Joy as our lead’s sister, and Robert Pattinson, reportedly as a devious new villain. If anyone can land this plane – explosive set pieces, sand worms and all – it’s Denis Villeneuve.

Werwulf (25 December)

He gave us nightmares with Nosferatu, and now Robert Eggers – along with a quartet of actors from that spine-chiller, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe and Ralph Ineson – return to torment us once again. Our setting is 13th-century England and our subject a mysterious creature who stalks the foggy countryside, ready to pounce on errant villagers. What could be more Christmassy?