Summer 2023 Movie Preview
Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of the summer, and if the huge box-office numbers for The Little Mermaid are any indication, it’s going to be a great one for Hollywood.
There are sooooo many movies coming out over the next 3 months that I couldn’t list them all. Instead, below are some of the most anticipated films premiering in June, July and August.
June
June 2: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) reunites with Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) and teams up with other Spideys in the follow-up to the Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. There is, of course, a new villain they must all work together to defeat.
June 16: Elemental – Pixar brings us to a world where the people represent one of the four elements—air, fire, water or earth. When a young woman made of fire becomes friends with a man made of water, everyone starts to rethink the way they look at things.
June 23: Asteroid City – Wes Anderson’s latest film boasts a jaw-dropping, A-list cast once again: Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Ed Norton, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber and Jason Schwartzman, to name a few. Their characters will be involved in connected stories set during a “Junior Stargazer” convention.
June 23: No Hard Feelings – I’m so curious about this one because the trailers are hilarious. Jennifer Lawrence stars as a struggling Uber driver who answers a Craigslist ad posted by a wealthy couple desperate for someone to date their socially awkward teen and loosen him up.
June 30: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – Have you seen the clip of the standing ovation at Cannes that brought Harrison Ford to tears after the screening of this fifth (and supposedly final) Indy installment? It made me even more excited for this trip back to the late 1960s, when Jones and his goddaughter (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) try to prevent former Nazis from interfering in the Space Race. Catch up on all four Indiana Jones movies in the meantime.
July
July 12: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One – The first of a two-parter (it’s right there in the title for us), Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt is back with his IMF besties (Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg) once again, fighting atop moving trains, chasing villains in fast cars through cobblestoned European cities, and running—so much running—all while saving the world. Hunt even rides his motorcycle off a cliff. Because that’s what spies DO. Catch up on the six previous Mission: Impossible movies in the meantime.
July 21: Barbie – If you’re not excited for this one, are you even alive? Have you not seen the trailers? What is wrong with you??? I mean, it’s about Barbie (Margot Robbie) entering the real world with Ken (Ryan Gosling) in order to find true happiness. You’ll also see Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Dua Lipa, Simu Liu, John Cena, Michael Cera, America Ferrera and Will Ferrell in supporting roles.
July 21: Oppenheimer – This biopic from Christopher Nolan might be the exact opposite of Barbie. It’s about the life of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) and his contributions to the creation of the first atomic bomb. Not to be outdone by Barbie’s supporting cast, Oppenheimer also stars Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Kenneth Branagh, Florence Pugh, Benny Safdie, Gary Oldman, Rami Malek and Josh Hartnett.
July 28: Haunted Mansion – If you’ve been reading this site for a while then you know that I’m a crazy Disney parks fan. So I’m hopeful that this latest movie based on one of my favorite Disney rides will live up to its potential. Rosario Dawson stars as a single mom who realizes she’s sharing her new home with some not-so-happy haunts. Others (played by LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson and Danny DeVito) try to help her rid the house of ghosts once and for all. For my fellow Disney diehards: Jamie Lee Curtis plays Madame Leota and Jared Leto appears at the Hatbox Ghost! (I have a freakin’ WALLET with the Hatbox Ghost on it, people. That’s the level I’m at.) If you’re curious, check out the previous adaptation starring Eddie Murphy.
August
August 4: The Meg 2: The Trench – When 2018’s The Meg became a surprise hit along the lines of Sharknado, you knew we’d be seeing Jason Statham back again for another scientific-research deep dive that ends with his team battling a gigantic, menacing, depths-of-the-ocean-dwelling predator. Have you seen the poster with the new beast about to eat the little dog? So wrong. (But also, I laughed.)
August 4: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – It’s time for a new animated reboot of our favorite sewer-living reptiles—this one from the minds of Seth Rogen and Ethan Goldberg, so you know it’ll be weird … but funny. Watch one or more of the previous TMNT movies in the meantime.
August 11: Gran Turismo: The Movie – What’s intriguing to me about this one is that it’s actually not an adaptation of the racing video game. Rather, it’s the true story of a young gamer who was so good at the video game that it won him the opportunity to drive racecars in real life. Archie Madekwe plays the skilled teen, David Harbour portrays his trainer and Orlando Bloom is a Gran Turismo marketing executive.
August 18: Strays – Finally we have naughty talking dogs from a voice cast led by Will Ferrell in this NOT-for-kids live-action adventure. It follows Reggie, a naive border terrier who’s abandoned by his horrible owner (Will Forte) and decides to journey back home to take revenge. Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher and Randall Park voice the other strays who join Reggie on his quest.
What movie are you looking forward to the most this summer?