From ‘Fall Guy’ to ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’: A guide to this summer’s biggest movies
There will be no “Barbenheimer” this summer.
Last year’s phenomenon, which saw “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” open on the same day en route to earning a combined $2.4 billion at the worldwide box office, probably won’t be repeated. That’s mostly because, after the strikes by Hollywood writers and actors shuttered filmmaking for six months, there are fewer movies available to go head-to-head.
Barring any schedule changes, the closest thing to “Barbenheimer” this summer looks to be May 24, when “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” and “The Garfield Movie” open — but “Garfiosa” doesn’t have quite the same ring.
The next closest thing? “The Fall Guy,” which kicks off the summer movie season on Friday and brings together reigning Oscar nominees Ryan Gosling of “Barbie” and Emily Blunt from “Oppenheimer.”
Here’s a look at some of what to expect this summer:
Franchises
Coming full circle from 2009’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman reunite to bring their iconic characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in “Deadpool & Wolverine” (July 26), the only MCU movie being released this year.
A young Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) is snatched from her home and falls under the sway of the biker warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) in director George Miller’s “Fury Road” prequel, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (May 24).
A former storm chaser (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is convinced to return to the field, where she crosses paths with a reckless “tornado wrangler” (Glen Powell) during Oklahoma’s storm season, in “Twisters” (July 19).
Several generations after the reign of Caesar, a young ape stands up to a tyrannical leader and forms a bond with a primitive human in “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” (May 10).
The “Alien” franchise returns to its horror roots when a new group of colonizers encounters the xenomorph in “Alien: Romulus” (Aug. 16), from writer-director Fede Alvarez (“Don’t Breathe”).
When their late boss is accused of corruption, Marcus Burnett (Will Smith) and Mike Lowrey (Martin Lawrence) go on the run to clear his name and theirs in “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” (June 7).
Go back to the beginning and the day the world went silent in the prequel “A Quiet Place: Day One” (June 28), starring Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn and Djimon Hounsou. \
Adaptations
Stuntman Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) searches for a missing movie star (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) while trying to win the heart of the movie’s director (Emily Blunt) in “The Fall Guy” (Friday), based on the 1980s TV series.
Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis and Jack Black look for a missing girl on Pandora, the weirdest planet in the galaxy, in “Borderlands” (Aug. 9), based on the video game series and directed by Eli Roth.
When soulmates Eric Draven (Bill Skarsgård) and Shelly Webster (FKA twigs) are murdered, Draven sets out to exact revenge on their killers in “The Crow” (Aug. 23), a reimagining of the graphic novel that’s been in various stages of development since 2008.
A woman (Blake Lively) whose parents were in an abusive relationship begins to see similar signs in her life with her new boyfriend in “It Ends With Us” (Aug. 9), based on the Colleen Hoover novel that became a sensation on TikTok.
Inspired by the classic 1967 photography book of the same name, “The Bikeriders” (June 21) follows the violent ascension of a Chicago motorcycle gang and stars Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Jodie Comer, Norman Reedus and Michael Shannon.
Families
A young girl begins seeing imaginary friends who’ve been forgotten and, with the help of The Man Upstairs (Ryan Reynolds), tries to reunite them with their kids in “IF” (May 17), a live-action/animated hybrid from writer-director John Krasinski.
Gru (Steve Carrell) and Lucy (Kristen Wiig) welcome Gru Jr. to the family while facing off against new rivals (Will Ferrell, Sofia Vergara) in “Despicable Me 4” (July 3).
When Riley becomes a teenager, Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale) and Disgust (Liza Lapira) must learn to coexist with new emotions, led by Anxiety (Maya Hawke), in “Inside Out 2” (June 14).
In “The Garfield Movie” (May 24), the titular cat (voiced by Chris Pratt) reunites with his long-lost dad, Vic (Samuel L. Jackson), as Garfield and Odie join him on a heist.
Harold (Zachary Levi) grows up and enters the real world, where anything he draws comes to life, in this live-action update of the children’s book “Harold and the Purple Crayon” (Aug.2).
Horror
M. Night Shyamalan is back with “Trap” (Aug. 9), the tale of a girl dad (Josh Harnett) who takes his daughter to see her favorite pop star (Shyamalan’s daughter Saleka) without knowing police are using the concert to hunt a serial killer.
After becoming lost in an Irish forest, an artist (Dakota Fanning) learns she and three strangers are being observed each night by mysterious creatures in “The Watchers” (June 7), written and directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan and produced by her famous father.
A cursed deck of cards awakens an evil force that unleashes foretold futures upon a group of friends in “Tarot” (Friday).
Wild ambition
Informally known as the project that derailed “Yellowstone,” the Western “Horizon: An American Saga” sees Kevin Costner in the director’s chair for just the fourth time, and the first time since 2003’s “Open Range.” It lives up to the “Saga” in its name as the four-part epic hits theaters for “Chapter 1” on June 28 and “Chapter 2” on Aug. 16.
A young couple on a road trip is attacked by a vicious masked gang in “The Strangers: Chapter 1” (May 17), the first installment of a horror trilogy that was filmed simultaneously by director Renny Harlin.
True stories
The rise of Amy Winehouse (Marisa Abela) and the recording of her legendary second studio album are chronicled in “Back to Black” (May 17).
Trudy Ederle (Daisy Ridley) becomes the first woman to successfully swim across the 21-mile English Channel in “Young Woman and the Sea” (May 31).
Flint, Michigan, boxer Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (Ryan Destiny) trains for the 2012 Olympics in “The Fire Inside” (Aug. 9), written by Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”).
Others
Sparks fly between a marketing specialist (Scarlett Johansson) and NASA’s launch director (Channing Tatum) when she’s brought in to stage a fake moon landing in case the Apollo 11 mission doesn’t succeed in “Fly Me to the Moon” (July 12).
Things go haywire when a cocktail waitress (Naomi Ackie) and her friend join a tech billionaire (Channing Tatum) on his private island in “Blink Twice” (Aug. 23), which marks the directorial debut of Zoë Kravitz.
Reigning Oscar winner Emma Stone reunites with her “Poor Things” director Yorgos Lanthimos for “Kinds of Kindness” (June 21), which is being described as “a triptych fable.”
And, at age 94, Oscar nominee June Squibb (“Nebraska”) has landed her first leading role in “Thelma” (June 21), an action movie about a grandmother seeking revenge against a phone scammer.
Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567. Follow @life_onthecouch on X.
