Glen Powell, Matthew McConaughey, Owen Wilson and the other Texas actors headlining some of fall’s biggest movies

SAN ANTONIO — Nothing says the start of fall like cooler mornings, pumpkin spice lattes, the emergence of oversized Halloween decorations on front lawns and – if you enjoy the movies – anticipating the arrival of some of the best Hollywood has to offer. 

And some of the best the Lone Star State has to offer, too. Texas actors will be highly visible on the big screen this holiday season, starring in everything from Academy Awards hopefuls to more commercial genre picture, including one renowned director with not one but two projects releasing in the coming months.

Consider what follows below your guide to supporting fellow Texans in the movies, whether it’s at the cinema or from the comfort of your own couch.  

College Station native Garrett Wareing has appeared in a handful of Netflix movies and genre projects so far in his young career, but he’s got his biggest spotlight yet as Billy Stebbins, one of the fateful souls subjected to a death march in the morbid yet moving Stephen King adaptation “The Long Walk,” out now in theaters. 

A different kind of disaster drama, this latest effort from the director of “United 93” and “Captain Phillips” puts Uvalde native Matthew McConaughey in the hero role. He plays Kevin McKay, the California school bus driver who helped a group of schoolchildren evacuate from the devastating 2018 Camp Fire—the deadliest blaze in the state’s history. 

“The Lost Bus” has been in limited release but hit Apple TV+ on Oct. 3. Should it tug on enough heartstrings, it could be an awards contender. 

The more compelling McConaughey title that may or may not see the light of day of 2025, although technically it premiered months ago at South By Southwest. “The Rivals of Amziah King” – a crime drama with McConaughey in the lead – received rapturous reviews out of the spring film festival in Austin, but went much of the summer before being picked up for distribution. 

It was finally acquired by Black Bear, according to Deadline, though a firm release date has not yet been set. Time will tell if we’ll get a double-dose of the beloved Texas actor the final months of 2025. 

McConaughey’s former “True Detective” costar, Midland native Woody Harrelson, is in line for a double-billing this holiday season, and it’s for two very different movies. 

The “Now You See Me” threequel, which hits theaters Nov. 14, sees Harrelson returning as Merritt McKinney, one of the magicians-turned-crime fighters. Harrelson is rejoined by Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco and Isla Fisher as the crew works to bring down a global threat. 

There’s also “Ella McCay,” the latest movie from Academy Award winner James L. Brooks (“Broadcast News,” “Terms of Endearment”). Releasing on Dec. 12 – the thick of awards season – it stars Emma Mackey as a young governor contending with family drama while trying to lead a state. 

Austin-born Ethan Hawke might have one-upped Harrelson in the double-bill-dichotomy department: Two movies releasing in the span of one October week will see him playing Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart (“Blue Moon”) and a demonic stalker (“The Black Phone 2”). 

You can’t say Hawke doesn’t have range. 

“The Black Phone 2” releases Oct. 17 and is a sequel to the hit 2021 horror movie in which Hawke played The Grabber, a masked serial killer. The follow-up sees him continuing to torment his victims (including young Dallas-born actor Mason Thames, coming off the live-action “How To Train Your Dragon”) from beyond the grave. Anyone else just get goosebumps?

For the more fright-averse, Oct. 24 will see the release of “Blue Moon.” The latest collaboration between Hawke and fellow Austinite Richard Linklater is a bar-set drama that follows Hart’s “struggles with alcoholism and mental health as he tries to save face during the opening of ‘Oklahoma!’,” according to the iMDB logline. 

Speaking of Linklater: The man behind “Boyhood,” “Apollo 10 1/2” and the “Before Trilogy” doesn’t rest. He also has “Nouvelle Vague” releasing Oct. 31 after hitting the festival circuit. It tracks the behind-the-scene making of “Breathless,” the groundbreaking 1960 Jean-Luc Godard movie that launched the French New Wave. Keep your eye on this one: It could get Linklater back in the Oscars conversation. 

The double-features just keep on coming! 

Owen Wilson, last seen in 2023’s “Haunted Mansion” and “Ant-Man” threequel, returns to the big screen Thanksgiving week for “Focker-In-Law,” the latest in the family dramedy franchise also starring Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller and – joining the ensemble – Ariana Grande.  

A couple months later, the Dallas native will help kick off 2026 with a lead voice role in the family-friend adventure “Charlie the Wonderdog.” 

Yorgos Lanthimos (“Poor Things,” “The Favourite”) is back with another oddball and unpredictable look at the human condition with “Bugonia,” which not only reunites the filmmaker with Emma Stone, but with Dallas native Jesse Plemons as well. 

The bonafide Hollywood star popped up in some TV projects earlier this year but is looking to potentially return to the Academy Awards conversation with “Bugonia,” the warmly reviewed satire in which his character kidnaps a high-profile CEO, believing she’s an alien bent on destroying Earth. Sounds right in line for Lanthimos, and also for Plemons, who continues keeping us on our toes with the projects he picks. 

The star of the newly released Hulu show “Chad Powers,” Austin’s Glen Powell is also collaborating with Edgar Wright of “Scott Pilgrim” and “Baby Driver” fame for what’s sure to be a high-octane, high-powered reboot of the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger-starring dystopian actioneer.  

The trailer teases a fairly generic action bonanza, but “The Running Man” represents a union between one of Hollywood’s hottest young leading men and a filmmaker renowned for his kinetic, mile-a-minute filmmaking. Either way, it’ll see Powell adding “sci-fi action spectacle” to the list of genres he’s ticking off as he continues to conquer the industry. 

“The Running Man” opens in theaters Nov. 7.