Hey there everybody and welcome here today to talk about what movies are going to be coming up this summer. It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these as due to the constantly shifting release schedule it’s been tough to know if any movie is releasing where it’s slated to. But barring any new schedule changes it’s looking like the current summer release slate looks to go as plan thanks to a number of reasons (day and date streaming, increasing number of vaccinations, studios wanting to test the waters, etc.). So I think now is as good a time as any to take a look at some of the releases I am most looking forward to this summer and we’ve got some promising stuff on the horizon with many different films from a variety of genres making their debuts in either theaters, on streaming, or both. Also as always since there are a lot of films coming out I do include some honorable mentions at the end as even though some didn’t make the cut that doesn’t mean I’m don’t have a some interest or excitement in them. Now without further ado let’s see what this summer has in store for us cinematically.
10. Black Widow
Originally the kick off to phase 4 of the MCU, this long delayed prequel concerning the fan favorite hero will finally be arriving in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access in July. While I still think we should have gotten this film much earlier in phase 3, especially given the character’s fate in Endgame, this still looks really solid. I really like Scarlett Johansson as this character and I’m interested to see if we’ll learn anything new about her and we get to meet her family for the first time which is really cool. Adding to that there is some great talent on display here as we’ve got such great actors like Rachel Weisz, David Harbour, Ray Winstone, and rising star Florence Pugh playing key roles. Plus I like the spy movie vibe that it has going for it as it remind me of the real world tone that we haven’t gotten in an MCU movie since Captain America Civil War (although the Falcon and the Winter Soldier seems to play in that same sandbox). Not much else to say except that it looks like a nice addition to the MCU and given that it’s a prequel it won’t have to worry on setting so much up for future movies and instead focus on providing a hopefully good stand alone story.
9. Reminiscence
While we may not have seen much from this one, just reading the about the basic concept already has me intrigued. The basic premise is that of a “scientist discovering a way in which people can relive their pasts and how he uses that very technology to find his long lost love, while a private investigator tries to uncover something else going on and help his clients recover memories they have lost”. I’m a big fan of anything science fiction and this just seems like a really fascinating concept to explore with so many possibilities that I’m curious to see what this movie does with it. Plus you’ve got some really great talent in the cast in particular Hugh Jackman, who I always love seeing in movies, and Rebecca Ferguson who has made big name for herself participating in so many high profile projects (she’ll actually be returning to the realm of sci fi with Dune a couple months after this one). So while we haven’t gotten an official trailer at the time of this writing, just by reading what it’s about and whose starring in it has me very intrigued to see how it turns out.
8. Army of the Dead
After finally getting to be able to release his version of Justice League, Zack Snyder is back but this time with an all new original project up his sleeve! Now I know Snyder tends to be a very polarizing director but even when I may not love a movie of his I do think there is plenty to admire and he’s made plenty of things I like and I think he’s very good at crafting exciting entertainment. Army of the Dead looks no different in that regard as Snyder returns to his zombie roots, so many years after he made his debut with the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake. I’ve really dug the trailers thus far as they do a good job selling the zombie mayhem that we can expect from the movie and he seems to be bringing some interesting ideas to the table like how the zombies are highly intelligent and form a society of some sort. The concept is also really neat combining the zombie apocalypse, action and the heist genres together to form one hopefully satisfying concoction with a team of mercenaries led by the always great Dave Bautista. Snyder seems to have a lot passion for this one and what’s even more interesting is that this is the start of a franchise for Netflix as there is already a prequel, and anime series that take place in this world announced. Hopefully this is able to live up to the hype that is surrounding it.
7. Jungle Cruise
This is one that actually made my top 20 most anticipated list last year and weirdly enough my excitement for it has actually grown since then. Based on the Disney ride of the same name, Jungle Cruise stars Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt going on an adventure together through the Amazon in search of an ancient Tree of life. I tend to really like this types of swash buckling adventure movies and this movie reminds me a lot of the Stephen Sommers Mummy movies meaning it could be the unofficial Mummy remake that will hopefully be a lot more satisfying than the actual Mummy remake. The trailers look like a lot of fun, I really like the two leads, the rest of the cast is solid, and there is a lot of potential with this one. Who knows if it hits it big Disney may have their successful live action franchise since National Treasure which is one of the reasons why I’m rooting for this movie when it cruises into theater in July.
6. A Quiet Place Part II
Here’s a funny one because I actually had not seen the original A Quiet Place until just this past weekend before doing this list. I had heard so many good things about the movie and I was finally able to check it out and I really loved it. Just a great horror movie that has a creative concept that it takes full advantage of, and also has a lot of heart and emotion to it (I do plan on reviewing it fairly soon). So now I am heavily anticipating this follow up as I’m very curious to see how the story continues, the trailers look great, I’m looking forward to seeing more of this world and the ideas that will be explored and it’s just nice to see the surviving characters return as well as some intriguing new ones. It also seems to be following the Aliens route in that it’s going bigger in terms of scope and it looks to have a bit more action to it as well. As someone who came late to the party on this one I’m even more excited about this one than before and if early word is to be believed we might have another winner on our hands.
5. In the Heights and Vivo
Decided to go for a tie here as both are Lin Manuel Miranda musicals that I am greatly looking forward to. When it comes to In the Heights this was a situation where the trailer is what got me sold on the whole thing as it looks like a big and splashy musical with some catchy music, and some nice emotion to it. Plus I really liked director, Jon M. Chu’s previous movie, Crazy Rich Asians, as I thought it was a really well done romantic comedy and so I’m looking forward in seeing what he does with a musical. As for Vivo well Sony Pictures Animation has been on a roll lately so of course I’m very excited for whatever project they have next and while we’ve only seen a teaser and a plot synopsis, I think it sounds and looks very promising with a fun sounding story about a monkey making his way from Havana to Miami to become a star and the last time Lin-Manuel Miranda got involved with feature animation was Moana so naturally I’d be interested in seeing what he does here. It may not have an official release date yet but I heard it was going to be in the summer showing Netflix is really going all in on animation this year and I’m very excited about that. So not much else to say here except let’s see if these two can live up to the huge potential they both have!
4. The Green Knight
This is an interesting one as it’s another cinematic take on the Arthurian legends stories but it looks to be doing something different from many others. It follows King Arthur’s nephew who must go on a quest to find the Green Knight whom he challenged but now must confront again after failing to have defeated him the first time. I’m a fan of the Arthurian legends so naturally I’d be curious about something like this and a director like David Lowery (who made the excellent Pete’s Dragon remake which is actually my personal favorite of these live action Disney re imaginings) at the helm has me even more intrigued. The trailers look excellent showing off the gothic tone, stunning visuals, fantastical nature and surprisingly large scale (I’m very curious as to how much this cost to make) and the cast is great with a talented actor like Dev Patel in the lead and so many more like Alicia Vilkander, Joel Edgerton, Sean Harris, and more. It hasn’t been getting as much buzz as I would hope (then again we still have until July) but I’m sure it’ll get more attention as we get closer to it’s date because this is definitely something that has me more than sold at the moment.
3. Space Jam: A New Legacy
Okay this may seem like an odd choice especially as I can’t really say I grew up watching Space Jam as a kid, even if now it’s a movie I really enjoy despite the fact it has a lot problems. Yet out of all of these long belated sequels that are coming out this is easily the one I’m the most excited about for a number of reasons. First Lebron James has proven that he can be a solid actor and he seems really passionate about this project. Second I love the Looney Toons so just seeing them in a feature length theatrical (the first one since Looney Toons Back in Action in 2003) again is really neat and I think the VFX artist did a nice job translating them into realistic looking 3D animation (the fact that there will be a lot of 2D animation is also a bonus). Third I think it looks a ton of fun and has the potential to improve upon the original in certain areas. Finally I just love it when we can have insane stuff like this exist where the filmmakers decided to go all out and add in all of these Warner Bros. characters in the background for fun and it makes this one stand out from it’s predecessor while also upping up the craziness to 11! I for one I’m very excited to see the mayhem unfold and I’m honestly really optimistic about this one being a legitimately good and fun sequel.
2. Luca
For those who’ve been following my blog for a while, a new Pixar film making my most anticipated list should not be a surprise. They are among my favorite animation studios and I highly enjoy each and every one of their films and I’m sure Luca is going to be no different. I love that the filmmakers there are branching out and attempting to tell different kinds of stories and even explore different places and cultures. With Luca they’ll be heading to Italy to follow two sea people who go on to have the greatest summer vacation of their lives while also making sure not to reveal their fishy secret. The director of this film, Enrico Casarosa, actually did a short for the studio called La Luna which I really liked and the more exaggerated designs of the characters here remind me of that short and I really dig it as it shows Pixar doing something a little bit different visually compared to their other movies. It also seems to capture the beauty of the Italian countryside nicely and it just seems like a nice character driven, slice of life story about these young kids that looks to have a lot of heart and humor to it just like their other works. While I am a little disappointed it’s only going to Disney+ (I currently do not have the service so I may have to wait till blu ray and I know there are plenty who would have to have seen this in theaters) I am still happy that we are getting a new Pixar feature this year. Here’s hoping to another beautiful and creative film from the studio!
And my most anticipated movie of the summer is…
The Suicide Squad
I’m honestly surprised at just so much I am excited for this one as I am not a fan of the original Suicide Squad as it is my least favorite of the DC Films series of movies. Yet the problem with that movie wasn’t the concept or the characters it was the messy execution that hindered it, so I will admit when the sequel was announced I did have some hope that it would at least improve upon the original. Then it was announced that James Gunn of Guardian of the Galaxy fame would be at the helm which got me even more curious as this type of property felt right up his wheel house and he seemed to have a lot passion for the project. Then the cast got announced and I really liked that they were going all out in terms of the obscure comic book characters and they got some recognizable faces in there to star like Idris Elba, John Cena, Michael Rooker, and more as well as returning player like Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Joel Kinnamen (Rick Flag), and Viola Davis (Amanda Waller). The R-rating also seemed to indicate that Gunn wasn’t going to play around and was going to truly adapt this property the way you would assume it would be adapted without watering anything down. And then the DC Fandome came around and we saw the behind the scenes reel… and that’s when I became sold on this movie and it immediately became my most anticipated comic book movie of 2021. Everything from the tone, to the costumes, to the action, to the characters, to the humor I loved and both trailers pretty much delivered what I wanted. I am so hyped for this movie as it looks different from other comic book movies and is continuing what DC has been doing in making each one of their films stand out from each other in terms of tone and genre. If things go as well as I hope then this could be yet another sequel in recent memory that I found to be an improvement over it’s predecessor, so that is why it comes in at number 1!
And those are my top 10 most anticipated movies of summer 2021 everybody! But that’s not all as I have plenty of honorable mentions that may not have made the cut, but are still movies that I do have some interest in nonetheless.
Wrath of Man – Guy Ritchie reunites with Jason Staham for their third collaboration after Snatch (which I love) and Revolver (which I have not seen). I tend to like Ritchie’s films as he has a distinct style that I like, and I am a big fan of Staham as an action star so this seems right up my alley and it also seems to be a more serious compared to some of Ritchie’s recent works which has me interested.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw – The latest installment in the long running horror franchise looks to spice things up with the heavy involvement from Chris Rock and a return to the more grounded mystery roots of the original. I actually saw the original Saw recently and really liked it (will probably check out the sequels at some point) so hopefully this one can be just as intense and intriguing as that one and breath new life to the series.
Those Who Wish Me Dead – Angelina Jolie returns to the action genre as a former firefighter who must protect a young boy from two hitmen in the wilderness. Looks pretty solid and something I’d enjoy watching with a great cast and director in Tyler Sheridan to boot. Plus it’s neat seeing Jolie in full on action hero mode once more.
The Woman in the Window – This long delayed and heavily re tooled Amy Adams thriller will finally be debuting on Netflix, but with some pretty negative buzz surrounding it given the rough production. The concept seems intriguing and it’s got a stacked cast but I’m worried of the reason why Disney and 20th Century Fox sold this off…
Cruella – Disney’s latest live action re imaging centers on the iconic baddie from 101 Dalmatians with Emma Stone taking the titular role. I’m actually somewhat intrigued by this as it seems to be doing something different from the other re imagings, I really like the actors on board, and it definitely has a nice style to it. While I may be confused as to whom Disney is trying to market this to and the basic idea of the movie may not land with everyone I still have my curiosities surrounding it.
The Conjuring the Devil Made Me Do It – I haven’t seen any of the other Conjuring Universe films, yet I do plan on changing that before this new one comes out. Looks appropriately creepy and intense and I find the concept of doing a supernatural court investigation really interesting.
Samaritan – I have no idea if this is even releasing on it’s current June date as there have been no trailers or marketing released as of now. Still though Sylvester Stallone doing a super hero movie sounds like a really cool concept so whenever it comes out I’ll be eager to check it out.
Spirit Untamed – Out of all of the Dreamworks movies out there I would never have thought that Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron (which I really need to check out one day), a movie that wasn’t financially successful would get some sort of follow up so many years since it came out. Yes I know this is based off of the Netflix series it spawned but still I just find it wild that it got some sort of successor. As for the movie itself it looks okay though I am curious if it will be accessible to those who have not seen the show (I’m sure it will but we’ll see).
Fatherhood – Originally a theatrical release, Sony sold this Kevin Hart starring vehicle off to Netflix which I guess made sense given the deal he struck with the streamer. Looks pretty good as it’s nice to see Hart trying something a little different than what he normally does and the story looks to tug on those heartstrings quite a bit.
Wish Dragon – Another Sony Pictures Animation production this time a modern take on the whole genie (or in this case dragon) casting three wishes for whomever rubs an ancient item. Like I said with Vivo I’m very excited for whatever SPA does and this looks like a fun take on this type of story.
Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard – I enjoyed the Hitman’s Bodyguard as it was a fun old school action movie throwback with two charismatic leads that played off each other well and some really well done action sequences. This time around Salma Hayek will be getting a bigger role as titular wife and Antonio Banderas and Morgan Freeman will be joining the action as well. Those are some nice added value elements and overall this looks like another fun ride.
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway – Finally after so many release date sequels this sequel to the 2018 hit will finally be arriving in theaters. I actually enjoyed the original a lot more than I thought I would so I’m weirdly enough looking forward to this sequel even more and I’m hoping it can capture the same charm the first had.
F9: The Fast Saga – The latest entry in the Fast and Furious series is finally arriving and they really seem to be upping up the ridiculousness with this one (they’re finally heading to space!). I’ve actually seen all of them now (I do plan on ranking them when I see F9) and it’s fascinating just how much this franchise changed with each passing movie and this one seems very self aware about that. I mean we’ve got two more of these after that so might as well what crazy twists and scenarios the filmmakers will come up with this time.
The Loud House Movie – The Loud House show is really entertaining and among my favorite Nickelodeon shows in the last couple of years. Neat that their getting a movie on Netflix and it sounds like it will be just as fun the series.
The Forever Purge – I’ve only seen parts of the Purge movies so I do not really have much to say about them except it’s an interesting concept for a horror series and it seems they have their share of social commentary. This one looks like it’ll be more of the same and it will actually be the final one in the successful series.
The Tomorrow War – Yet another former theatrical release that was sold to streaming and Amazon seems to be positioning this as a big one for them. The concept is really cool (soldiers being brought to the future to fight aliens) and Chris Pratt is a charismatic leading man yet I really hope this was not a case of Paramount selling a movie that they may not have confidence in…
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans – This one nearly made the list as I am huge fan of the Tales of Arcadia series as I think Trollhunters, 3Below, and Wizards are all great shows that tie together nicely and each stand on their own quite well. Simply cannot wait to see the grand finale where the character will all come together to face a huge threat to their world.
Old – M. Night Shyamalan returns for a brand new original horror film, one that has an appropriately creepy concept about people going to an island where they find that they are aging rapidly. Will he knock it out of the park, or will the skeptics be proven right once again? I’m most certainly rooting for the former outcome.
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania – I really enjoy the Hotel Transylvania movies as I think that are clever and brim with a lot of creativity and fun visuals. Heck the third one might even be my favorite so I’m looking forward to this fourth one which is allegedly the final entry. While I am a bit disappointed to see this franchise go I do admire Sony for ending things off with this one as it’s better to end a series nicely than have it drag out with no gas left in the tank.
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins – I can’t say I love either of the G.I. Joe movies but I still think there is cinematic potential in the brand. This seems promising as Snake Eyes is a really cool and popular character, and Henry Golding is a great actor whom I am glad is getting big roles like this. If this works out then it could end up spurring interest in the series the same way Bumblebee did for Transformers.
Free Guy – Looks like fun as I really like the concept of an A.I. in a video game becoming self aware and Ryan Reynolds seems perfect for this role. Plus we don’t tend to get big budget, fantastical comedies like this nowadays so that is another reason to be excited.
Respect – An Aretha Franklin biopic has a lot of potential and with a cast full of great talent and an awards friendly release date I think this shows promise and I’m hoping that it will be one of the good musical biopic that lives up to that promise.
The Protégé – Another one that almost made the list as it’s a spy action movie that stars Maggie Q., Samuel L. Jackson, and Michael Keaton and is directed by Martin Campbell who is one of my favorite directors as he has made some great movies that I absolutely love like Goldeneye, Casino Royale, and The Mask of Zorro. I really liked his last film, The Foreigner, so I am confident he will score again with this one.
The Beatles Get Back – I love the music of the Beatles and I love Peter Jackson’s movies so him doing a documentary comprised of unreleased footage of the Beatles recording “Let it Be” sounds like something exciting and interesting.
Candyman – I’ve never seen the other Candyman movies but I am excited about this new one as the trailers have been unsettling and it seems like they did a good job updating this story for the modern day. Definitely one to look out for this Summer full of horror.
And that just about wraps up the list! Did I forget to mention anything? There are a lot of releases coming out this summer so it’s natural I forgot to mention some. Which ones are you looking forward to the most? Do you think any of these have the potential to surprise? Let me know what you guy think about this summer as there is a lot to be excited about when it comes to movies. Here’s hoping that these movies will live up to their potential and that they’ll be able to succeed no matter how they are released!
Please leave your thoughts down below in the comments and see you guys later!
Review Time 