Pop Goes The News — Among the most highly anticipated movies coming to theatres before the end of the year are Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Martian, Spectre, Pan, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 and Creed.

Also opening in the next four months are several movies that were made in Canada.

Montreal posed as New York in the 1950s (Brooklyn), ’60s (Stonewall) and ’70s (The Walk); Southern Ontario provided the backdrop for a gothic ghost story (Crimson Peak); and the mountains of Alberta and B.C. stood in for the Dakota Territory in 1823 (The Revenant).

Here’s a look at seven movies coming soon to a theatre near you from Hollywood North:

September 18

Pawn Sacrifice

Tobey Maguire portrays chess genius Bobby Fischer in this biographical drama, which also stars Liev Schreiber and Lily Rabe. Directed by Edward Zwick (The Last Samurai), it tells the story of Fischer’s adventures leading up to his match against Russian chess champion Boris Spassky (Schreiber). Although parts of the film were shot in Los Angeles and Reykjavik, most of it was filmed in Montreal in October and November of 2013. Pawn Sacrifice is being released a full year after it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

 

September 25

Stonewall

Roland Emmerich, who made The Day After Tomorrow and White House Down in Montreal, returned to the city last summer to shoot this drama inspired by the real-life events around the titular clashes between New York City police and the LGBT community in 1969. The film, which stars Jeremy Irvine, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Ron Perlman, will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival before opening in cinemas.

 

October 9

The Walk

Montreal (and the green-screen soundstages of its Cité du Cinéma) stood in for early ‘70s New York City in this biographical film about French high-wire artist Philippe Petit’s walk between the towers of the World Trade Center. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Petit in the film, which also stars Ben Kingsley and hometown actress Charlotte Le Bon. Director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future) shot The Walk from late May until early August 2014.

 

October 16

Crimson Peak

This supernatural horror film was directed by Guillermo del Toro, who made 2013’s Pacific Rim (and executive produced 2013’s Mama and TV series The Strain) in Toronto. It was shot in the city as well as in Hamilton and Kingston from February to May 2014. The movie stars Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain and Charlie Hunnam.

 

November 6

Brooklyn

Montreal stands in for Brooklyn in the 1950s in this drama starring Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, Jim Broadbent and Julie Walters. Based upon the novel of the same name by Colm Tóibín, Brooklyn was written by Nick Hornby (About a Boy) and directed by John Crowley (True Detective). Additional scenes were shot in Ireland.

Spotlight

Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Billy Crudup and Toronto resident Rachel McAdams star in this drama about the real-life team of Boston Globe reporters who exposed the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal in Massachusetts. Directed by actor Thomas McCarthy, the film was shot in Toronto and Hamilton as well as in Boston.

 

December 25

The Revenant

This epic thriller from Oscar-winning director Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman) was shot last fall and early this winter in British Columbia and Alberta (with additional filming taking place in Argentina). Based partly on Michael Punke’s 2003 novel of the same name, it tells the story of an American frontiersman (Leonardo DiCaprio) who seeks revenge on the men who left him for dead after a bear attack. The Revenant also stars Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson and Will Poulter.  It has a limited release on Christmas Day before expanding wide early in the new year.