Though Summer doesn’t officially begin until June 1st, in Hollywood and the present movie industry the official start feels more tied to a Marvel film than an actual seasonal shift. Therefore it felt appropriate with the release of Guardians of the Galaxy 3 to breakdown some of the films that will soon be hitting our theatres during the Summer season.
April 22
Guardians of the Galaxy 3
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is set (at least as of now) to be the final of three Guardians of the Galaxy films all helmed by James Gunn. Gunn’s involvement in the third film wasn’t always a forgone conclusion, after Disney fired him in 2018 for old tweets, only to reinstate him a year later in time for Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Despite that time apart from Disney Gunn did indeed see through the entire trilogy, and as such we have probably the most cohesive directorial style of all the Marvel films. Now fans can hit theatres and decide what they think of this final film, the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy as a whole, and how it ranks amongst all the many many other Marvel films.
May 19
White Men Can’t Jump
Summer has often been the time that remakes flourish, and White Men Can’t Jump is one that 20th Century Studios and Hulu hopes can recapture the original fun of the original film released three decades ago. This version of White Men Can’t Jump features this time Sinqua Walls and Jack Harlow as the two leads. Once again the premise of this sports comedy centers on the conceit that white men can’t play as well as black men as it follows these young basketball hustlers competing with one another.
Fast X
When the Fast and the Furious franchise began who would have expected that 10 films on the bonds holding this franchise together, fast cars, increasingly crazy stunts, and of course family, would continue and grow with each film. Yet that’s where we are at as the Fast family has only increased with more and more actors joining the ranks, which is as true with Fast X as Jason Mamoa, Brie Larson, Rita Moreno, and Helen Mirren have joined the cast. Will this film be one insane car jump too many for the devoted fans who continue to show up film after film? Or will it even matter? As the film promises the beginning of the end, we’ll just have to see come time whether it truly puts the rubber to the road and earns a first place finish.
May 19
Shin Kamen Rider
To celebrate 50 years of Kamen Rider, Hideaki Anno, best known as the creator of the anime series Evangelion, directed and produced the newest installment in the franchise Shin Kamen Rider, which follows his previous franchise reboots for Shin Godzilla and Shin Ultraman. in Shine Kamen Rider, “a man and his female cohort attempt to annihilate the illegal organization responsible for his conversion into a mutant cyborg and stop their plans to conquer society.” What could be more perfect for a Summer evening at the movies than this?
May 26
The Little Mermaid
Undoubtedly The Little Mermaid will continue to dominate much of the early Summer movie season conversation, due to its casting, a realistic Flounder, and the continual question asked with each Disney live-action adaptation “do we really need another one?” What has yet to be really seen though is simply if the movie will be good? Hopefully that conversation can cut through once its actually seen and not just speculated about.
June 16
The Blackening
Timothy Story, the director of Barbershop and the Ride Along franchise, has worked alongside screenwriters Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins to bring a Black-led horror comedy perfectly fit for Summer. In fact, the premise of The Blackening is incredibly June specific, as it follows a group of Black friends who stay at a cabin in the woods on Juneteenth only to encounter a sadistic killer. With the promise of upended tropes, and uproarious laughter, The Blackening seems perfectly fitting to deliver on a fun evening of film with friends.
Asteroid City
Wes Anderson’s set to return with his idiosyncratic vision of what film can be once again in the star-studded feature Asteroid City. Though his works have rarely been the kind of crowd pleasers that encourage droves to come to theater, for a very specific audience of Anderson fans this may be the highlight of their year (though Anderson will have two films coming out this year including Netflix’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, so perhaps it’ll be one of two highlights.) For those who are simply curious, the Tom Hanks of it all may draw viewers in, as this will be his debut in an Anderson film amongst many other long-standing Anderson collaborators. We’ll simply have to see though whether Asteroid City sticks the landing as we near its Summer release, or if it’ll leave no significant impact.
June 30
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Fast X isn’t the only franchise that’s still looking to prove it has juice in the tank, as Harrison Ford is once again donning his hat for another adventure as Indy. Spielberg however will not be joining him, and actually this sets the film apart as the only one without Spielberg directing or Lucas writing. Still there’s a lot of anticipation especially with Phoebe Waller-Bridge co-starring alongside Harrison Ford, along with John Rhys-Davies reprising his role, and the addition of Antonio Banderas, Mads Mikkelsen, and Toby Jones. Now the question is whether this film will live up to the legend of Indian Jones, or if it’s destined to be a shadow of past successes.
July 14
How Do You Live?
Miyazaki’s come out of retirement (again) to creatively adapt the 1937 titular How Do You Live? written by Genzaburo Yoshino. We do not know much at the point of this writing; however, it’s a Miyazaki film, and perhaps one if its last, and if that’s not enough reason to go see this film then we simply don’t know what is.
July 21
Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan’s revisiting World War II yet again for another race against time, but instead of getting men to safety as he did in Dunkirk, Oppenheimer follows the titular man’s task as he leads the Los Alamos Laboratory as they attempt to create advanced weaponry including nuclear bombs. Though nearly everyone hopefully knows at least who fired the first, and only, nuclear weapons in war time, many likely don’t know the story, and Nolan’s dramatization may be as enlightening as it hopes to be entertaining and engaging. Now we will just have to see if Oppenheimer has created a boom or a bust with his latest.
Barbie
Perhaps the most anticipated film of the summer is Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, which stars Margot Robbie as the titular character, alongside Ryan Gosling as Ken, Simu Liu as Ken, and a wide range of other actors that includes Issa Rae, Michael Cera, Kate McKinnon, and many many more. Though this film appears to be setup as love triangle, I think we have a lot of mystery left even with the trailers released thus far, and surely that will only encourage more curious moviegoers to see this on the big screen.
August 4
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Though the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise has never stopped, and in fact has transformed significantly since its origins at least on film, it’s been a long time since there was this much hype over a TMNT property. Perhaps it’s because Seth Rogen, a Gen-X fan from the olden days, seems to have his pulse on what fans love of this series, or perhaps it’s because he’s willing to take it places others haven’t. To be fair its hard to know based on the trailer alone, but there’s been a lot of anticipation and this has certainly become a film to watch this Summer.
August 11
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
There have been many adaptations of Bram Stoker’s Dracula; however, few focus so squarely on just one chapter of the tale. This potential Summer blockbuster does just that as it follows the voyage of the Demeter, the ship that carries Dracula to England, and its unfortunate and unexpecting crew who are immediately endangered by his presence. This film appears to be equal parts slasher and ‘creature feature’, and thus could be perfect for the few drive-ins across America.
