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 6 below!
Fantastic Four (August 7)
Despite some strange buzz being generated behind the scenes, Chronicle helmer Josh Trank’s take on the flagship Marvel superhero team looks promising from the footage seen in trailers. This shiny new – and considerably younger – take on the FF finds scientific wunderkind Reed Richards (Miles Teller) employed by Government-funded think tank The Baxter Building to open a door to another dimension. When he steps through that doorway, he and his friends will be transformed forever. With a lower pricetag than usual, expect a more character-oriented summer blockbuster co-starring Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, and Toby Kebbell.
Masterminds (Aug 7)
Napoleon Dynamite maestro Jared Hess lends his absurd sensibilities to the heist genre by casting Zach Galifianakis and Kristen Wiig as armored car drivers who get mixed up in a plan by a career criminal (Owen Wilson) to steal $17 million buckaroos. They actually make off with the cash, but that’s only the beginning of the lunacy, based on an actual 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery in North Carolina.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (August 14)
Only two-weeks after Mission: Impossible bows comes another ’60s-era spy show given the big screen treatment. It’s KGB and CIA teaming up for the common good as Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) use the daughter of a kidnapped German scientist (Alicia Vikander) to track down rogue nuclear weapons. It’s cheeky Cold War fun with director Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes) veering more towards the outrageous satire of Kingsman: The Secret Service than his more self-serious rivals.