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Summer Culture Preview • Theatre • Television • Albums • Visual Arts • Live Music
Cue Taylor Swift and slap on the sunscreen: This is going to be a cruel summer for movie theatres.
Thanks to the after-effects of last year’s dual industry strikes, the busiest movie-going season of the year is facing a dearth of new releases, including the big-budget blockbusters whose revenues tend to keep the studio lights on. With no Barbenheimer-type phenomenon in sight, and only one sure-thing superhero movie on the horizon, analysts are expecting the May-to-September corridor to deliver just US$3-billion in box office revenue, a 25-per-cent dip from a typical prepandemic summer tally.
But don’t start drowning yourself in pity popcorn quite yet, as there are at least a handful of intriguing releases that might not only overperform financially, but actually deliver the perfect hot-weather entertainment this melting planet so desperately needs. Below are the 10 most promising summer movie bets – including two films that should by all accounts be big-screen smashes, but may not get the chance to save our cinemas.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Chris Hemsworth in a scene from Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.Jasin Boland/The Associated Press
After delivering the best action movie ever made with Mad Max: Fury Road – this fact is indisputable, at least in these pages – director George Miller rewinds the postapocalyptic clock with this prequel. Following the younger days of Charlize Theron’s Fury Road heroine (played here by Anya Taylor-Joy), Furiosa promises all manner of flame-throwing, gear-gnashing, bone-crunching chaos. And it looks like Chris Hemsworth is back to having fun as the villain, after having to grin and bear it through the last Thor film. (May 24)
Hit Man
This image released by Netflix shows Adria Arjona, left, and Glen Powell in a scene from Hit Man.The Associated Press
Richard Linklater’s latest was one of the biggest hits to come out of last fall’s film festival circuit, a wonderful distillation of the director’s twin sensibilities: slacker-accented hangout comedy (Dazed and Confused, Everybody Wants Some!!) and searing romance (the Before … trilogy). Headlined by Glen Powell in what feels like the actor’s third or fourth star-making role over the past 12 months, Hit Man follows the sly, sexy antics of an undercover police officer whose allegiances begin to blur after falling for the revenge-hungry woman (Adria Arjona) he’s supposed to be entrapping. Despite featuring at least two stand-up-and-cheer moments that play wonderfully with sold-out crowds, Hit Man will be seen by most audiences at home on Netflix … except in Canada, where the film’s theatrical rights are held by local distributor VVS. Someone at Tourism Canada should mount a campaign luring American moviegoers now. (May 24)
Bad Boys: Ride or Die
This image released by Sony Pictures shows Will Smith, left, and Martin Lawrence in a scene from Bad Boys: Ride or Die.Frank Masi/The Associated Press
If nothing else, the existence of a fourth Bad Boys film – depressingly not titled Bad Boys 4 Life, as producers foolishly wasted the “for life” subtitle on the third movie – confirms the reality of the American Dream. Where else but the U.S.A. can you be awarded a megablockbuster payday after physically assaulting a fellow member of your industry in front of millions of people? Yes, Will Smith is back doing his admittedly entertaining cocky-cop thing here, alongside the more neurotic stylings of Martin Lawrence and tons and tons of firearms. Alas, director Michael Bay is sitting this one out again (his second Bad Boys film is a genuine masterpiece of cinematic mayhem), but co-directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are back after having helmed the third outing. Whatcha gonna do? (June 7)
Inside Out 2
This image released by Disney/Pixar shows, from left, Sadness, voiced by Phyllis Smith, Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler, Disgust, voiced by Liza Lapira, Fear, voiced by Tony Hale and Anger, voiced by Lewis Black in a scene from Inside Out 2.Pixar/The Associated Press
The Pixar machine has been a fidgety one lately, from the sorta-successful but hardly beloved Elemental to a rash of mostly worthy releases that had the misfortune of opening during the pandemic, their legacies forever entwined with the branding of “direct to Disney+.” But hopes are almost astronomically high for this decade-later sequel to one of Pixar’s greatest achievements. Not everyone from the original 2015 film is back – and it is hard to imagine the world of Inside Out minus the comedic stylings of Mindy Kaling and Bill Hader – but early buzz suggests there’s still more than enough grey matter powering the Pixar brain trust behind this one. (June 14)
A Quiet Place: Day One
This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Joseph Quinn, left, and Lupita Nyong'o in a scene from A Quiet Place: Day One.Gareth Gatrell/The Associated Press
The jury is still out – or, I guess, shushed – as to whether audiences truly need to know every single detail of the alien invasion at the centre of John Krasinski’s smash-hit franchise. Perhaps I’ll bite my tongue after seeing how director Michael Sarnoski (last seen leading Nicolas Cage to late-stage career redemption in Pig) handles the shhhhhenanigans as he traces the start of the high-concept apocalypse. Spread the word, but not too loudly. (June 28)
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
This image released by Netflix shows Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.Netflix/The Associated Press
It is unclear who, aside from Eddie Murphy’s estate planners, has been begging for a fourth entry in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise. Yet anything that nudges the actor closer to his raw comedic roots has to be welcome news. After all, long-time (and long-disappointed) Murphy fans can only take so many lame-duck Prime Video efforts such as Candy Cane Lane and Coming 2 America. Judging by the money that Netflix is pouring into this decades-later sequel – practically every member of the original film is back, with new additions including Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Kevin Bacon – there has to be something promising here. Maybe even enough that the theatre-allergic streaming giant will kick the potential crowd-pleaser onto the big screen for a week or two before releasing it to its subscribers. (July 3)
Twisters
Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones), Javi (Anthony Ramos), and Tyler (Glen Powell), in Twisters directed by Lee Isaac Chung.Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures & Amblin Entertainment/Universal Pictures
With bonus points for the clever-enough title – and curiosity piqued thanks to the involvement of Minari director Lee Isaac Chung of all filmmakers – Twisters might just touch down and become the surprise of the summer. Supposedly Helen Hunt-free, this stand-alone sequel follows a new group of supersmart, supersexy tornado-chasers as they attempt to avoid getting sucked up into the sky, cow-style. The cast is certainly first rate, including Glen Powell (again!), Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos and Maura Tierney. (July 19)
Deadpool & Wolverine
This image released by 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios shows Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/Logan, left, and Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson in a scene from Deadpool & Wolverine.20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios/The Associated Press
Likely the biggest hit of the summer – even if it is rated R, in the traditional Deadpool style – this superhero team-up will likely either revive the creatively and financially stalled Marvel Cinematic Universe, or put one more adamantium claw in the coffin of the genre. Oh, who am I kidding: This Ryan Reynolds-Hugh Jackman adventure feels like the surest of sure things, a zeitgeist-dominating juggernaut that is destined to rule the summer, if not the entire year. And, if we want to be generous, it’s quasi-Canadian, given that it stars Vancouver’s proudest son Reynolds, is directed by Montreal’s Shawn Levy and features the most famous Canuck superhero of all time, Wolverine. (July 26)
Trap
Destined to be one of the great Toronto-but-not-Toronto movies, M. Night Shyamalan’s new thriller – seemingly set in the filmmaker’s hometown of Philly but shot in TO and arriving with a trailer littered with local landmarks – Trap could turn out to be preposterous or preposterously entertaining. The film lays one of its twists on the table early: A father (Josh Hartnett) attends a pop-star concert along with his young daughter only to realize that the entire event is a sting operation led by police looking for a serial killer … who happens to be our leading man! Surely some other turn is lurking underneath the set-up. (Aug. 9)
Alien: Romulus
David Jonsson as Andy in 20th Century Studios' Alien: Romulus.20th Century Studios/Disney
Jettisoning the mythos-heavy prequels by Ridley Scott, this new lean and mean Alien instalment seems to go back to the franchise’s horror roots. Directed by Fede Álvarez, who grossed audiences out with his Evil Dead remake, Alien: Romulus follows another band of foolish space colonists (led by Priscilla star Cailee Spaeny) who come face to face-hugger with those pesky xenomorphs. Much chest-bursting presumably ensues. Maybe Disney, which inherited the Alien franchise after absorbing 20th Century Fox a few years ago, should’ve subtitled this one Alien: Inside Out instead, just to maximize the crossover appeal from its Pixar division. The summer is saved! (Aug. 16)