Dragons and dinosaurs and zombies, oh my!
While Dorothy and her Oz comrades won’t be following the Yellow Brick Road until later this fall, when Wicked: For Good opens to shrieking, sing-along audiences worldwide, this summer movie season offers plenty of multiplex wizardry of its own. Will all the collective summer titles be magical enough to pull in US$4-billion at the worldwide box office, a high-water-mark figure industry observers are pinning their hopes on after a dreadful first quarter? When monkeys fly, maybe. Here are 10 of the season’s biggest big-screen bets – no streaming titles allowed.
28 Years Later
Twenty-eight years after the initial undead outbreak tore the world apart, the original creative trio of director Danny Boyle, writer Alex Garland and star Cillian Murphy reunite for a look at how the world has transformed.Miya Mizuno/The Associated Press
While it’s in fact only been 23 years since director Danny Boyle, writer Alex Garland and star Cillian Murphy reinvigorated the zombie genre with their spine-splitting thriller 28 Days Later, the filmmaking team knows a good title and conceit when they see one. Hence, it’s now 28 years after the initial undead outbreak tore the world apart, and the original creative trio reunite for a look at how the world has transformed. Although expect a little less Murphy in this movie – word on the street is they’re saving the Oppenheimer star for another sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which was shot back-to-back with this one. Truly ghoulish. (June 20)
Elio
Elio is Pixar’s wholly original tale about a young boy who has a close encounter of the third kind.Pixar/The Associated Press
After Disney demolished expectations with its “live-action” reimagining of Lilo & Stitch the other week, all eyes are on whether the studio’s Pixar outfit can deliver with this wholly original tale about a young boy who has a close encounter of the third kind. The future of Pixar might well depend on how enthusiastically audiences hop along for this extraterrestrial ride, co-directed by Canadian Domee Shi (Turning Red). If Elio underperforms, then it could just be more Toy Story and Incredibles movies forever and ever. (June 20)
F1
Brad Pitt headlines an intriguing cast and several hundred millions dollars worth of automobiles in F1.Warner Bros.
Brad Pitt aims to do for Formula 1 racing what Tom Cruise did for jet-fighting as he teams up with Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski for this high-octane, bigger-than-big spectacle that should juice IMAX box-office receipts throughout June. Playing a slightly washed up driver (I say “slightly” as the guy still has the physique and charm of Brad Pitt), the star headlines an intriguing cast (Javier Bardem, Kerry Condon, Shea Whigham) and several hundred millions dollars worth of automobiles. (June 27)
Jurassic World Rebirth
Director Gareth Edwards places a bunch of new scientists/fresh meat onto yet another secluded dinosaur lab in Jurassic World Rebirth.Jasin Boland/Universal Pictures
Just like a stubbornly profitable franchise, you cannot keep a good dinosaur down. In a seemingly speedy sequel to the last Jurassic trilogy (which only wrapped its run in 2022), director Gareth Edwards’s Rebirth plops a bunch of new scientists/fresh meat onto yet another secluded dinosaur lab (how many of these things did original park creator John Hammond finance, anyway?). The results may not surprise you – chomp, chomp – but maybe new stars Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey will let off a few good quips before being devoured. (July 2)
Superman
Director James Gunn aims to rewire Warner’s DC cinematic universe with a new Superman tale.Jessica Miglio/Warner Bros. Pictures
As the Marvel Cinematic Universe keeps chugging along – slightly reinvigorated by this spring’s Thunderbolts*, and hopefully given a further push by a new fantastic foursome, detailed below – former MCU architect James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) is aiming to rewire Warner’s DC cinematic universe with a new Superman tale. Starring David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, Gunn’s film seems to be less an origin story and more a throw-you-in-the-thick-of-it spectacle, featuring new spins on such familiar superfriends and enemies as Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) and of course Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan). Oh, and Krypto the Superdog is here, too. (July 11)
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Marvel Studios is hoping to finally get The Fantastic Four right this time after three previous efforts.Marvel Studios/The Associated Press
After three previous go-rounds with America’s first family of superheroes – the buried Roger Corman-produced version from the early 1990s, the Chris Evans/Jessica Alba mini-franchise in the early aughts, and the much-derided Miles Teller/Michael B. Jordan iteration from 2015 – Marvel Studios is hoping to get things right this time. Promise. The absolutely-everywhere Pedro Pascal stars as the stretchy Reed Richards alongside Vanessa Kirby’s invisible Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as her hot-headed brother Johnny and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the rock-solid Ben Grimm. While the ending of Thunderbolts* earlier this spring seems to have spoiled the eventual finale of this movie, surely there is more to director Matt Shakman’s reimagining than a shiny new cast, a whiz-bam pow alterna-1960s setting and a rather horrible title, right? (July 25)
Together
Potentially the sleeper hit of the summer, director Michael Shanks’s body-horror comedy had audiences covering their eyes when they weren’t laughing uproariously during its world premiere at the SXSW Festival this past spring. And for good reason, as this tale of two co-dependent lovers (real-life couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco) who discover something sinister in the woods outside their new rural home is a shocking, uproarious, disgusting delight from start to finish. All that, and it closes out with one of the greatest needle drops in recent memory. See it with someone you love. (Aug. 1)
The Naked Gun
Liam Neeson takes on the role of Frank Drebin in Akiva Schaffer’s remake of The Naked Gun.Paramount Pictures/The Associated Press
Liam Neeson takes over for Leslie Nielsen (and not just because their names sound vaguely similar) in this reboot of the classic spoof. Going the ultradeadpan route, Neeson leads a killer supporting cast (Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser and professional bad guys Kevin Durand and Danny Huston) for director Akiva Schaffer, who has already proven he has the joke-a-second goods thanks to his work with the Lonely Island, particularly Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. Surely I can’t be that serious about how excited I am for this film? Well, I am. And don’t call me Shirley. (Aug. 1)
Weapons
Director Zach Cregger follows up his 2022 feature debut Barbarian with Weapons, starring Julia Garner and Josh Brolin.Warner Bros. Pictures
Director Zach Cregger follows up the come-from-nowhere success of his 2022 thriller Barbarian with this shrouded-in-mystery thriller that is reported to contain as many nasty twists as his feature directorial debut. Starring Julia Garner (also seen in this summer’s Fantastic Four) and Josh Brolin, the film follows the goings-on in a small town after the middle-of-the-night disappearance of an entire grade-school class. (Aug. 8)
Nobody 2
In Nobody 2, Bob Odenkirk plays a family man whose seemingly mild-mannered demeanour hides a violent history.Allen Fraser/Universal Pictures/Universal Pictures
Bob Odenkirk continues his improbable ascent into action-movie hero with this sequel to the surprise 2021 hit. Playing a seemingly mild-mannered family man whose suburban-dad demeanour hides a history of John Wick-ian proportions, Odenkirk’s Hutch Mansell returns this time for a road-trip vacation that quickly goes awry. Indonesian action-movie maestro Timo Tjahjanto (The Shadow Strays) takes over directing duties this time, promising all kinds of judicial charges that not even Odenkirk’s better-known creation Saul Goodman could get thrown out of court. (Aug. 15)
