Terminators, IMF agents and superheroes by the barrel full will blitz the box office this summer in what is sure to be one of the most competitive and entertaining movie bonanzas in recent memory. A lot of other big films were originally tipped for this sunny release window (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) but vacated for various reasons, with even films like Warner Bros. Pictures blockbuster Pan exiting the competitive summer fray right before this preview went live.
That’s not to say this slate isn’t still packed to the gills with huge tentpoles the likes of Avengers: Age of Ultron or Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation, long-awaited sequels including Mad Max: Fury Road and Jurassic World, and new, original potential franchises like Pixels or Tomorrowland. With our finger firmly on the pulse of what’s generating serious buzz, we will point out the must-sees as well as the potential sleepers, and give fair warning on a few that might not deliver. Start marking your calendar now because you will need to plan accordingly to get the most from your moviegoing dollar, so squirt on some SPF 100 and let us ease you into the hottest cinema season of 2015!
Check out our 2015 Summer Movie Previews Part 4 below!
Magic Mike XXL (July 1)
A lot of summer movies have scope and scale, but if size truly matters then Channing Tatum is back to make your dreams come true. The title stripper and his hunky pals decide to take a road trip from Tampa to Myrtle Beach for a stripping competition, with Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello and more returning to the grind along with always-sexy new addition Amber Heard.
The Gallows (July 10)
Those terror mongers at Blumhouse strike again with yet another found footage scream-a-thon, this one centering on a school play that hasn’t been performed since 1993 when a student died during the show. Now it’s present day, and faster than you can say “Macbeth!” a group of theater geeks resurrect the play and the bad supernatural juju that accompanies it.
Self/less (July 10)
How’s this for high-concept: A wealthy dying man (Ben Kingsley) has his consciousness transferred to the body of a younger man (Ryan Reynolds), but after enjoying this newfound youth he begins to uncover the previous tenant’s memories. Visual master Tarsem Singh previously dealt with a similarly cerebral subject with sci-fi thriller The Cell, and if he can deliver the goods this could be a sleeper hit.
Ant-Man (July 17)
After Edgar Wright famously vacated the director’s chair weeks before filming was due to start, longtime comic book fan Peyton Reed took over and seems to be giving the pint-sized Marvel character his own spin. In the version that makes it to the screen, Hank Pym develops a shrinking suit and hands it over to master thief Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) in order to retrieve the technology from Corey Stoll’s Darren Cross, a.k.a. Yellowjacket. Expect many MCU references both past (Howard Stark and Peggy Carter) and future (Cassandra Lang).
Trainwreck (July 17)
Amy Schumer plays a thoroughly modern girl who likes living the carefree life of one-night stands and partying until she meets an upstanding doctor (Bill Hader) that just might lure her into a real, honest to goodness relationship. This sex role reversal of the typical “bad boy reformed by a decent woman” formula is written by hot comic du jour Schumer, who no doubt hopes director Judd Apatow can launch her into the mainstream stratosphere the same way he did for Seth Rogen and Lena Dunham.
Check out our 2015 Summer Movie Previews Part 5