MAY 1st
As opposed to the usual superhero fare, this summer starts with the hotly anticipated “The Devil Wears Prada 2.“ The long-awaited sequel comes twenty years after the iconic original and has positioned itself as a “Barbie“- like event for people to come with their friends, families, dates, dress up, and hopefully kick off the summer movie season with a bang.
“Hokum,“ the new Irish horror film from Damian McCarthy and starring “Severance” leading man Adam Scott, premiered to positive reviews at this year’s South by Southwest, and it hopes to offer counter-programming and serves as the first taste of a horror-heavy summer.
MAY 8th
The following weekend, the infamously delayed “Mortal Kombat II“ finally hits theaters. While the first film’s success is a bit hard to gauge, given it was an early COVID-19 day-and-date streaming release, the potent online excitement for this second installment is hard to ignore. It seems, with each passing year, the strength of video game adaptations in cinema is growing, and with this splashy summer release, this could be another big step in that increasingly evident direction. Whether it breaks out past the gaming audience is yet to be seen, but with how strong some of these adaptations are performing, perhaps a satisfied gaming audience is big enough to carry a major summer hit.
On the more exciting and smaller side, Elliot Tuttle’s “Blue Film,“ starring Kieran Moore and Reed Birney, opens this weekend. The queer chamberpiece has had a quiet festival run and most likely won’t be in too many theaters. Still, it seems to be an interesting exploration of the passivity with which young people encounter the dangers of the internet. If it ends up in a theater near you, it seems like an interesting film to check out, especially if you like the work of Jane Schoenbrun or Pascal Plante’s “Red Rooms“ or just want something a little more unique in the summer movie landscape.
MAY 15th
A film with anything but a quiet festival run is Curry Baker’s “Obsession,“ the high-concept horror film that premiered at last year’s Toronto Film Festival and has been generating buzz ever since. This feels like a film that the less you know, the better, but it will definitely be a big deal in the film sphere when it opens on May 15th.
Another exciting vision releasing this weekend is award-winning playwright turned filmmaker Aleshea Harris’s directorial debut, “Is God Is,“ which not only has an incredible cast with Sterling K. Brown, Vivica A. Fox, Janelle Monáe, and Harris herself, but also an incredibly exciting trailer. The look and flourishes of the film are so singular that, no matter how this specific film turns out, they make one excited for Harris’s career as a whole.
MAY 20th
For fans of Tom Clancy, particularly the John Krasinski interpretation that ran on Prime Video for a few years, “The Office“ alum returns in a film version, with “Jack Ryan: Ghost War“ hitting Prime Video May 20th. While this summer is a little lighter on big streaming films than most years, this will surely take some older audiences away from the big screen to watch the action spectacle with a familiar face, both regarding the actor and the character.
MAY 22nd
On the topic of shows making the leap to the film medium, May 22nd sees the return of “Star Wars“ to cinemas for the first time since 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker” with “The Mandalorian and Grogu.“ The series this is jumping from is probably the most successful thing Disney+ has put out, and despite the medium shift not working for Marvel, perhaps the cuteness of Baby Yoda and the hunger for a new “Star Wars“ film will give this some juice over Memorial Day weekend.
On the smaller side, the hotly anticipated “I Love Boosters“ hits theaters after an explosive South By Southwest premiere and subsequent college tour throughout the U.S. Boots Riley had one of the most exciting debuts of the last decade with “Sorry to Bother You,“ and to finally get a follow-up with this cast and premise will surely be one of the season’s biggest and most wholly original treats.
Also, this weekend is Academy Award-winner Daniel Roher’s “Tuner,“ which was well received in its festival run last year, and at the very least, will be interesting to see Roher shift to narrative filmmaking after his very successful run of documentaries, including “Navalny” and “The AI Doc.”
Another horror film also drops this weekend with André Øvredal’s “Passenger,“ which seems to be a more cerebral “I Know What You Did Last Summer“ and will surely be good counter-programming in a mostly poppy weekend. The teaser trailer Paramount Pictures released surely freaked us out.
MAY 29th
Rounding out May is the very buzzy debut from twenty-year-old Kane Parsons, “Backrooms.“ The A24 adaptation of his very popular YouTube series of the same name has garnered lots of hype online, and with actors like Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve on board, it has unlocked a whole new interested audience who may help solidify it as the horror movie to see this summer.
JUNE 5th
The first weekend of June offers an odd pairing of films. The first is MGM’s “Masters of the Universe,“ which, despite the unenthusiastic reactions to the trailers, is still a big brand and perhaps widely appealing enough to be an unexpected hit. Of course, it could also surprise in quality, but even if it underwhelms there, perhaps the fandom for this property is enough to make a dent still in the box office.
Opening opposite the action comedy is John Carney’s latest, “Power Ballad.” While it’s been a decade since he made a film people paid attention to, casting Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas is certainly a good strategy to regain interest. Even his last film, “Flora and Son,“ despite its quiet response, was quite a delightful entry in a career that hasn’t really missed so far. With strong early reviews and solid star power, hopefully its voice can be heard a little louder in the crowded June.
JUNE 12th
It’s been a decade since the last Steven Spielberg summer release, and hopefully this year’s “Disclosure Day“ has more to offer than 2016’s “The BFG.“ While not everyone loves the film’s marketing, it’s been heavily implied that the trailers are hiding something deeper, and it’s hard to doubt Spielberg when he’s in sci-fi blockbuster mode. Even if the film is divisive, which seems possible, it’ll surely be a conversation starter that could last through the end of the year.
Also releasing this weekend is John Early’s directorial debut “Maddie’s Secret,“ which could serve as an additional option for audiences looking for something outside of the larger studio fare. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to positive reviews with its honest look at bulimia.
JUNE 19th
While most question the necessity of 2019’s “Toy Story 4,“ the success of that entry, both critically and commercially, made this year’s “Toy Story 5“ an inevitable fate. While many are rolling their eyes at it, many have their eyebrows raised at the very beloved Andrew Stanton directing and the better-than-expected-looking trailers. While people have their issues with the last film, for most, this is an incredibly consistent franchise, and that quality may remain consistent with this new film.
Also, this weekend comes “Pig“ director Michael Sarnoski’s “The Death of Robin Hood” starring Hugh Jackman, which will likely satisfy those who checked out Sarnoski’s previous films, want to see Jackman take on a darker role and are fans of the atmospheric, brooding A24 branding.
JUNE 26th
The month closes out with a nice variety of films, the biggest of which is DC’s “Supergirl.“ After how beloved last year’s “Superman“ was, and with how this has been positioned almost as a direct follow-up, it’s hard to imagine this isn’t at least a moderate hit, and with people’s almost blind faith in DC chairman James Gunn, this will likely satisfy most fans.
Then comes “Jackass: Best and Last,“ the seemingly final entry in the long-running and beloved Jackass series. After “Jackass Forever“ proved there’s still gas in the tank with this brand, this sendoff will surely be appropriately profane, unhinged, bittersweet, and most of all a blast to see in a packed theater.
Similarly, Olivia Wilde’s “The Invite“ seems like a great film to see with a crowd, if its Sundance premiere is anything to go by. The four-hander chamber piece is probably the biggest film of the early festival season, and hopefully, its buzz has only just begun, with this A24 film picking up a lot of steam throughout the summer.
JULY 1st
July opens with Illumination’s “Minions & Monsters,“ which, apart from its appeal to families, seems to attract cinephiles and film historians as well, and which covers the early days of Hollywood. Charlie Chaplin, among other figures from the time, will be depicted, which, while bizarre, makes what would be another throwaway Minions film something far more interesting.
JULY 10th
On the note of uninteresting family fare, the next weekend brings the live-action remake of Disney’s “Moana,“ a film deemed unnecessary by many but likely to be one of the biggest hits of the year. There’s not even much interesting to say here; everyone is tired of these movies, yet this will easily capitalize on the intense love for the Moana brand.
This weekend also sees the return of “Evil Dead,“ with “Evil Dead Burn,“ which, like 2023’s “Evil Dead Rise,“ will probably be a fun, gory ride at the cinema. We’ve only seen a brief teaser so far but considering the franchise hasn’t had a single bad entry yet, this is one of our more anticipated genre releases of not just the summer, but the whole year.
JULY 17th
Maybe the biggest talking point of the summer, Christopher Nolan’s epic fantasy drama “The Odyssey,“ hits theaters the following week and will likely dominate film discussion for years to come, as most Nolan films tend to do. This blank-check follow-up to the massive “Oppenheimer“ brings together a ridiculous cast of old and new favorites, and, adapting one of the oldest and most famous stories, it’s hard to imagine what demographic won’t be buying tickets to this.
JULY 31st
The month closes out with another Tom Holland and Zendaya starrer, with “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.“ Nearly five years after the insanely successful “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” it’ll be interesting to see how much momentum and goodwill remains for the MCU’s most popular character. The Spider-Man brand is likely strong enough for another major box office success that will hopefully please fans and casual audiences.
For a film that probably won’t be very appealing to casual audiences, Gregg Araki finally returns with his Sundance film “I Want Your Sex.“ While the reviews don’t indicate a career best for Araki, it’s fair to expect a fun, sexy ride in a way only the beloved queer filmmaker knows how to deliver. With daring lead performances from Cooper Hoffman and Olivia Wilde, it will be high on the priority list for many.
AUGUST 7th
Speaking of icons in queer cinema, “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,“ Jane Schoenbrun’s follow-up to their masterpiece “I Saw the TV Glow,“ opens the first weekend of August. Following a Cannes premiere, the MUBI-distributed Hannah Eidbinder starrer will hopefully use the goodwill from Schoenbrun’s sophomore film to make it one of the bigger horror releases of the year.
AUGUST 14th
The next weekend brings what feels like another Steven Spielberg film: David Robert Mitchell’s horror-adventure “The End of Oak Street.“ While we still know very little about the film, the teaser, the filmmaker, and the two leads, Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor, are enough to put this near the top of the list of anticipated summer titles.
This weekend also sees the long-awaited release of “The Rivals of Amziah King,“ starring Matthew McConaughey, which first premiered at South by Southwest last March. While many touted this as an early Oscar contender last year, the distributor (Black Bear Pictures) and release date seem to dull those suspicions, but at least those interested can finally check the film out.
AUGUST 21st
The final horror film on this list, “Insidious: Out of the Further,“ the sixth installment in the sixteen-year-old franchise, brings a whole new cast to the familiar series. While the last film, “Insidious: The Red Door,“ may not have left a lasting impression, it still made a ton of money. That, paired with the immense success of last year’s “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” proves these horror franchises past their prime, still have an audience somewhere.
AUGUST 28th
The final weekend of August rounds out the summer with a wild set of three titles. First is Ridley Scott’s latest, “The Dog Stars,“ while many have lost faith in his recent output, enough cinephiles maintain respect for the auteur to check out whatever he’s doing. The added star power of Jacob Elordi and Margaret Qualley doesn’t hurt in breaking this out of Scott’s usual fare.
Also, this weekend is the notoriously canceled-and-then-revived “Coyote vs. Acme.“ After three years of delays, Looney Tunes/Animation fans and those just curious about all of the drama will definitely have their eyes on this. It’ll be hard to discuss the film with any sort of critical eye, but no matter the quality, the people who worked hard on this film finally getting their work seen is enough of a reward in itself.
Finally, there is Macon Blair’s Sundance comedy “Idiots,“ which, if nothing else, will give us very fun performances from Dave Franco, O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Mason Thames as they get up to no-good and other R-rated hijinks to round out the summer slate.
Which films are you most looking forward to this summer? Please let us know in the comments section below and on our X account.
