Kids & Family Movies In Cinemas for October Half Term
Summer is over, the kids are back at school and it’s time to see what are the upcoming movie releases for all the family in UK cinemas this autumn.
We’re looking ahead to October Half Term 2025 and what’s going to be on at the cinema in September and October and what will be released for the October Half Term holiday.
This October Half Term, family movies in cinemas include opera-loving dogs, a Spiderman rerelease and a 4K remaster of the iconic 1960's puppets Thunderbirds!
The films chosen are all rated U, PG or 12A. You can find out more about what this means here where we explain the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) UK Film Ratings.
As the school holidays loom closer you will be looking for things to do, so a trip to the cinema is a great way to keep the little ones occupied.
Here are the family movies for everyone from toddlers to kids and teens showing nationwide at the moment.
Dogs at the Opera
One day, a street dog named Samson in his attempts to hide from stray dog catchers finds himself at the Metropolitan Opera. There, he meets charming Margot who is a pet of Anastasia, the theatre's prima ballerina.
In Dogs at the Opera (Cert U), which opens on 12th September, the plot of thickens as the unique tiara that belonged to the queen of Great Britain and that Anastasia has to wear in the fourth act of the ballet, is stolen from the dressing room.
Without the tiara, the show cannot go on and must be cancelled. Now Margot and Samson have to find the thief, retrieve the tiara, and save the day to the sounds of the music by the great Georges Bizet.
Thunderbirds: Trapped In The Sky/Terror In NYC
A thrilling big-screen experience for fans of classic British sci-fi, this Thunderbirds double bill brings together two of the most iconic episodes ever made: Trapped in the Sky and Terror in New York City (Cert U). Bursting with action, suspense, and Gerry Anderson’s groundbreaking Supermarionation, these fan favourites showcase International Rescue at its very best—combining daring rescues, stunning model work, and unforgettable characters.
Making their worldwide debut in stunning 4K UHD, both episodes have been meticulously restored from the best surviving film elements in collaboration with award-winning restoration experts. It is released on 20th September 2025.
Spider-Man
In anticipation of next year’s release of Spiderman 4, the three original Sam Raimi movies are being re-released in movie cinemas.
The original Tobey Maguire movie Spider-Man (Cert 12A) is in cinemas on 26th September 2025. When bitten by a genetically modified spider, a nerdy, shy, and awkward high school student gains spider-like abilities that he eventually must use to fight evil as a superhero after tragedy befalls his family.
Also starring James Franco, Rosemary Harris, Cliff Robertson, Willem Dafoe and Kirsten Dunst.
Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie
Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie (Cert TBC) is a musical fantasy comedy film based on the Netflix series Gabby's Dollhouse. In the movie, out on 16th October, Gabby heads out on a road trip with her Grandma Gigi to the urban wonderland of Cat Francisco.
But when Gabby’s dollhouse, her most prized possession, ends up in the hands of an eccentric cat lady named Vera, Gabby sets off on an adventure through the real world to get the Gabby Cats back together and save the dollhouse before it’s too late.
Starring Laila Lockhart Kraner, Kristen Wiig, Gloria Estefan, Thomas Lennon and Jason Mantzoukas.
Still Showing
Here are the films from Summer 2025 which are still showing in some UK cinemas.
The Bad Guys 2
In this follow up to 2022’s The Bad Guys, the imaginatively titled The Bad Guys 2 (Cert TBC) is out on 25th July.
The Bad Guys are struggling to find trust and acceptance in their newly minted lives as Good Guys, when they are pulled out of retirement and forced to do “one last job” by an all-female squad of criminals.
Voice cast includes Zazie Beetz, Marc Maron, Richard Ayoade, Lilly Singh, Alex Borstein, Awkwafina , Sam Rockwell, Craig Robinson and Anthony Ramos.
Freakier Friday
The original 1976 movie version of Freaky Friday was based on the much-loved novel by Mary Rodgers and starred the future Oscar winner Jodie Foster, then aged just 14. It was remade and updated in 2003 starring Jamie Lee Curtis and then ‘wild child’ Lindsay Lohan.
The premise was that a mother and daughter wake up one day to find themselves in each other’s body and have to live each other’s lives until they can swap back. In Freakier Friday (Cert TBC) Curtis and Lohan return as older and wiser versions of the mother Tess and daughter Anna, who now has a child of her own.
Anna Coleman and her mother Tess are in another predicament when they swap bodies with Anna's daughter. Now it's up to the three to reverse the body swap.
Out on 8th August the movie also stars Stephen Tobolowsky, Mark Harmon, Christina Vidal Mitchell, Haley Hudson, Lucille Soong, Rosalind Chao and Chad Michael Murray.
Love movies? Want to know what's coming up in the next 12 months at the cinema? Here are 2025's Most Exciting New Kids Movies including The Smurfs Movie, The Bad Guys 2, Zootropolis 2 and the latest Superman movie.