Summer is finally here! Or the summer movie season is, anyway. Though Avengers: Infinity War kicked things off a little early — and set a box office record in the process — by opening last week, there are still plenty of big titles coming out this summer. With that in mind, we decided to ask our fans on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter which movies they were looking forward to the most, and the results were… not entirely surprising. Read on for the 5 most anticipated summer movies of 2018, plus a couple of honorable mentions.
(Photo by 20th Century Fox Film Corporation)
#1 Pick by our Twitter and Instagram fans
#3 Pick by our Facebook fans
Opens Friday, May 18
The Merc with a Magnificent Marketing Team (seriously, check out this just-released Céline Dion video) is easily the most anticipated movie of the summer, which shouldn’t be much of a shock to anyone. Ryan Reynolds returns to play Wade Wilson, who takes it upon himself to protect a gifted young mutant from Josh Brolin‘s second Marvel character of the year. We know that Deadpool and Cable eventually team up, and that we’ll see the first appearance of X-Force, but considering the official synopsis for the film is a mish-mash of nonsense, how the story actually gets there is anybody’s guess. All the better, since surprises are so rare in mainstream movies these days.
(Photo by )
#2 Pick by our Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook fans
Opens Friday, June 15
Pixar has a rock-solid track record to begin with, but The Incredibles is one of the most beloved films the studio has ever produced, so it’s a little surprising it took them 14 years to do a sequel. Incredibles 2 picks up literally where the first movie left off, with the Parr family facing off against the Underminer. From there, though, the film focuses on Elastigirl’s (Holly Hunter) crimefighting career and Mr. Incredible’s (Craig T. Nelson) domestic struggles before the family must unite to take on a new villain. Writer-director Brad Bird has an impeccable Pixar track record, and there’s no reason to think he won’t score big with this one too.
(Photo by Marvel Studios)
#1 Pick by our Facebook fans
#3 Pick by our Twitter fans
#4 Pick by our Instagram fans
Opens Friday, July 6
Marvel‘s first post-Infinity War entry actually takes place right after the events of 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, as Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) teams up with Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) to face off against a mysterious new enemy called Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). Director Peyton Reed helped put Ant-Man on the map with the first film, one of several risky moves Marvel made that paid off spectacularly, and he’s back to helm the sequel. Ant-Man and the Wasp looks to be a lighthearted breath of fresh air after the somber Infinity War, and several of our social media fans said they were looking forward to the film even more after seeing the Avengers showdown with Thanos. Bring on the giant Pez dispensers!
(Photo by Skydance Films)
#4 Pick by our Twitter and Facebook fans
Released Friday, July 27
After the top three, voting results on the remaining slots were fairly close, and the latest Mission: Impossible eked its way into spot number four as the fourth most anticipated film for our Twitter and Facebook fans. Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, and Ving Rhames return to their roles from previous installments, while Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation writer-director Christopher McQuarrie jumps into the director’s chair for his second straight IMF mission. Be on the lookout for Cruise performing stunts no sane actor would and co-star Henry Cavill‘s conspicuous mustache.
(Photo by )
#5 Pick by our Facebook and Instagram fans
Opens Friday, June 22
Coming in at the fifth spot on both Facebook and Instagram is the follow-up to the monster 2015 hit Jurassic World, which opened to the fourth biggest weekend ever and went on to become the fourth highest-grossing film of all time. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom isn’t likely to do quite as well, but there’s still a significant contingent of moviegoers who delight in dino-themed chaos. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard reprise their roles from the previous film, as animal expert Owen and former park head honcho Claire return to Isla Nublar to rescue its wild inhabitants from an imminent volcano eruption, only to discover the business partner Claire trusted may have ulterior motives. Like The Lost World, Fallen Kingdom shifts from a jungle setting to an urban one, so let’s hope we don’t see any rolling gas station signs.
(Photo by Walt Disney Studios)
#3 Pick by our Instagram fans
Opens Friday, May 25
The response to Disney’s second standalone Star Wars movie has been quite the roller coaster ride. From the moment Phil Lord and Chris Miller were announced as directors to the moment Ron Howard took over, from the moment Alden Ehrenreich was announced as Han Solo to the moment Donald Glover was announced as Lando Calrissian, from the first teaser trailer to the significantly more interesting full trailer, fans have been excited, bewildered, disappointed, and excited all over again. But Solo certainly deserves an honorable mention, considering it bested Ant-Man and the Wasp, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and Mission: Impossible – Fallout in our Instagram poll. At the end of the day, the recent Star Wars entries have fared rather well on the Tomatometer, so it’s probably safe to assume they know what they’re doing, and this should turn out just fine.
(Photo by Richard Foreman, Jr./Sony Pictures)
#5 Pick by our Twitter fans
Opens Friday, June 29
It isn’t a giant, effects-driven spectacle like nearly every other entry on this list, but thanks to a riveting first installment anchored by director extraordinaire Denis Villeneuve and a powerful performance from lead Emily Blunt, Sicario: Day of the Soldado managed to sneak into the top five in our Twitter poll. Though neither Villeneuve nor Blunt return for the sequel, co-stars Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro do, as well as writer Taylor Sheridan, who has a serious knack for crime thrillers. If you’re looking for explosions grounded more in reality, relatively speaking, then you’re probably one of the people looking forward to seeing this gritty action flick.
