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Movie studios, like Christmas shoppers, are hoping for a shiny gift at the end of the year — either money at the box office, or a gold statuette or two.

And, like the stores catering to those shoppers, Hollywood gets a lot of product out in November and December.

This year's Holiday Movie Preview serves up a list of what's screening in the next two months, from Oscar-seeking prestige films to the new "Star Wars" movie. There's also a rundown of the Oscar races, and a closer look at one of the major awards contenders: "Room."

Nov. 20

"Asthma" • A young rocker (Benedict Samuel) gives a ride to a tattoo artist (Krysten Ritter) in this indie romance.

"By the Sea" • Angelina Jolie Pitt wrote and directed this romantic drama, with herself and her husband, Brad Pitt, as a couple whose marriage is dissipating when they arrive in a seaside town and connect with some of its residents.

"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2" • In the final installment of the dystopian saga, based on Suzanne Collins' books, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) leads the rebels in a final battle against the forces of President Snow (Donald Sutherland).

"The Night Before" • Three buddies (Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anthony Mackie) go on their traditional pre-Christmas bender for what may be the last time.

"Room" • Brie Larson stars as a young woman who must explain to her 5-year-old son (Jacob Tremblay) that the shed in which they are locked isn't the whole world in this intense drama.

"Secret in Their Eyes" • Julia Roberts stars in this remake of an Oscar-winning Argentine crime drama, as a police investigator determined to find justice for the killer of her daughter.

"Spotlight" • An ensemble cast — including Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Liev Schreiber — depict the landmark journalism that in 2002 broke open the story of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests and the cover-up by the Archdiocese of Boston.

Nov. 25 (Wednesday)

"Brooklyn" • Saoirse Ronan stars as a young Irish woman who leaves home in the 1950s for a better life in America and finds she must choose between men on either side of the ocean.

"Creed" • The saga of Rocky Balboa continues, this time centering on Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), the son of Rocky's rival and friend Apollo Creed — who brings Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) out of retirement to be his trainer.

"The Good Dinosaur" • Disney/Pixar's latest animated tale imagines a world where dinosaurs and humans co-exist and an Apatosaurus named Arlo befriends a wild boy.

"Legend" • Tom Hardy takes a double role as the infamous Kray brothers, the notorious British gangsters who built a crime empire in the 1960s.

"Trumbo" • Bryan Cranston plays the legendary screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, one of the "Hollywood Ten" who fought to keep writing after being blacklisted by anti-Communist crusaders.

"Victor Frankenstein" • A new take on Mary Shelley's famous monster tale, with James McAvoy as Dr. Frankenstein and Daniel Radcliffe as his assistant Igor.

Dec. 4

"Christmas Eve" • A power outage traps six groups of people in elevators in New York on Christmas Eve in this comedy that stars Patrick Stewart and Jon Heder ("Napoleon Dynamite").

"Don Verdean" • A biblical archaeologist (Sam Rockwell) fakes a holy relic to please his evangelical benefactor (Danny McBride) in this comedy directed by Utah's own Jared Hess ("Napoleon Dynamite").

"Krampus" • In this horror comedy, a boy having a bad holiday accidentally summons an anti-Christmas demon. Stars Toni Collette and Adam Scott.

"The Letters" • A biography of Mother Teresa (Juliet Stevenson), told through letters she wrote over 50 years to her longtime friend and spiritual adviser (Max Von Sydow).

Dec. 11

"In the Heart of the Sea" • In 1820, a whaling ship encountered a sperm whale, leaving the crew stranded at sea for 90 days — an event that inspired Herman Melville to write "Moby-Dick." Ron Howard directs this historical drama, starring Chris Hemsworth and Cillian Murphy.

"Macbeth" • Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard play the Thane of Glamis and his ambitious wife in this retelling of Shakespeare's "Scottish play."

Dec. 18

"Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Road Chip" • The li'l squeakers are back, on the road to Miami to stop their human Dave (Jason Lee) from proposing to his girlfriend (Kimberly Williams-Paisley).

"Sisters" • A raunchy comedy that teams up Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as sisters — one wild, the other mild — who throw one last party in their parents' home before selling it.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" • J.J. Abrams returns us to a galaxy far, far away, where new characters meet familiar faces — like Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Leia (Carrie Fisher) — in a continuation of George Lucas' space adventure. If you didn't know this already, what's the décor like in your cave?

Dec. 23 (Wednesday)

"The Big Short" • Director Adam McKay ("Anchorman") mines drama in Michael Lewis' book about how four outsiders made money as the credit and housing bubbles collapsed in the mid-2000s. The cast includes Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Finn Wittrock, Marisa Tomei, Melissa Leo and Steve Carell.

Dec. 25

"Carol" • Director Todd Haynes adapts Patricia Highsmith's novel of a department-store clerk (Rooney Mara) falling for an older, married woman (Cate Blanchett) in 1950s New York.

"Concussion" • Will Smith stars as Dr. Bennet Omalu, the neuropathologist who recognized the link between brain trauma and football — and fought against the NFL's efforts to squelch his research.

"Daddy's Home" • A dull stepdad (Will Ferrell) must compete with his stepkids' supercool dad (Mark Wahlberg) in this wild comedy.

"The Danish Girl" • Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne ("The Theory of Everything") plays the title role, artist Lili Elbe, a transgender woman whose marriage to artist Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander) had to evolve as Lili's transition took place.

"Joy" • Jennifer Lawrence reteams with director David O. Russell ("Silver Linings Playbook," "American Hustle") to portray Joy Mangano, who built a major business off her invention of the Miracle Mop.

"Point Break" • FBI agent Johnny Utah (Luke Bracey) goes undercover to infiltrate a crime syndicate made up of extreme-sports enthusiasts — led by the charismatic Bodhi (Edgar Ramirez) — in this remake of the 1991 Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze action flick.

"The Revenant" • Director Alejandro G. Iñárrítu's first movie since the Oscar-winning "Birdman" is a survival tale of a frontiersman (Leonardo DiCaprio) seeking revenge on his companions, who left him for dead after a bear mauling.

"Youth" • Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel star in Paolo Sorrentino's drama as best friends — a retired conductor sought for a royal performance, and a film director working on what might be his last important work.

Jan. 15

"The 5th Wave" • After a fourth alien attack has ravaged most of Earth, a young woman (Chloe Grace Moretz) scrambles to save her little brother before the next invasion.

"Norm of the North" • A polar bear is forced to leave the Arctic and ends up in New York in this animated adventure.

Jan. 22

"Anomalisa" • Writer Charlie Kaufman, co-directing with Duke Johnson, creates a surreal stop-motion-animated drama for grown-ups about a writer of customer-service books (voiced by David Thewlis) meeting an enchanting stranger (voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh).

"Dirty Grandpa" • In this comedy, an uptight guy (Zac Efron) ends up taking his wild-at-heart granddad (Robert De Niro) to Florida during spring break.

TBD

"About Ray" • Elle Fanning stars as a teen girl who decides to transition to male — which requires her mother (Naomi Watts) to track down her child's biological father.

"Demonic" • A psychologist (Maria Bello) and a cop (Frank Grillo) investigate the deaths of five people who tried to summon ghosts in a horror-thriller produced by "Insidious" director James Wan.

"45 Years" • In this drama, a couple (Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay) are about to celebrate their 45th anniversary when a letter arrives with possibly life-altering news.

"The Hateful Eight" • Quentin Tarantino's new Western stars Kurt Russell as a bounty hunter bringing back a killer (Jennifer Jason Leigh), seeking shelter from a blizzard in a cabin with six other people who might want the reward, too.

"Son of Saul" • In this drama set in Auschwitz in 1944, a Hungarian Jew (Géza Röhrig), assigned to burn corpses, finds a child's body and — taking it as his own son — scrambles to find a rabbi to arrange a proper burial.