Summer is almost over, and as we enter the month of August, the big-name blockbusters are much fewer and farther between. The middle of the month boasts a whopping 10 new wide releases across just two weeks, but few of them would be considered must-see entertainment by most. That said, we’ve still got a smattering of noteworthy films on the way, including the Fast & Furious spinoff starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, a horror flick produced by Guillermo del Toro, and a raunchy coming-of-age comedy. Read on to find out the five most anticipated movies of August, as voted by Rotten Tomatoes users and our fans on social media.
3,845 Want-to-See Votes
#1 pick by our Instagram and Facebook fans, #2 pick by our Twitter fans
Opens August 2
It’ll likely surprise no one that this film is the most anticipated of the month. Not only is the Fast & Furious franchise one of the most popular and profitable around the world, but Hobbs & Shaw unites two of its most bankable stars, gives them plenty of scenery to chew and one-liners to spout at each other, and pits them against a superpowered Idris Elba, with copious mayhem and vehicular pyrotechnics to boot. It also helps that this August, like so many Augusts past, is chock-full of second-tier summer fare all jostling for a slice of the box office pie. Hobbs & Shaw knows what it is — a hypertuned injection of adrenaline for thrill-seeking audiences — and doesn’t pretend to be anything more, which is exactly how fans like it.
1,514 Want-to-See Votes
#1 pick by our Twitter fans, #2 pick by our Facebook and Instagram fans
Opens August 9
Fan favorite director Guillermo del Toro’s name is all over the marketing for Scary Stories, even though he’s not the one behind the lens for this one. While André Øvredal is the man at the helm, the film fits rather neatly into del Toro’s wheelhouse, so fans are excited to see what he is able to bring to the project as a producer. Of course, the main inspiration for the film is the series of children’s horror books written by Alvin Schwartz, most notable for illustrator Stephen Gammel’s terrifying artwork, and brought to life on screen as the manifestation of a young girl’s secret writings. Scary Stories ranked at the top of the list for our Twitter fans this month, while our Facebook and Instagram fans voted it the second most anticipated.
1,271 Want-to-See Votes
#3 pick by our Instagram and Twitter fans, #4 pick by our Facebook fans
Opens August 16
Coming-of-age films usually come in two varieties: the heartfelt drama and the raucous comedy. Good Boys fits squarely into the latter category, setting a trio of almost-teens (Jacob Tremblay, Brady Noon, and Keith L. Williams) loose on a caper to replace a damaged drone that takes them to places and through situations they’ve never experienced before. It also happens to be rated R, implying these kids will get up to some very adult shenanigans. The film premiered earlier this year at South by Southwest to fairly strong reviews, and its promise of outlandish comedy was enough to propel it to #3 in our Instagram and Twitter polls.
#4 pick by our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter fans
Opens August 21
This month, as is often the case, we have a tie in the rankings, so we get two fourth place finishers. First off, we have Ready or Not, and it’s probably best if you go into it knowing as little about it as possible. What we will tell you is that it centers on a young woman who marries into board game mogul’s family, only to discover that her new husband’s relatives have chosen her for a particularly gruesome family tradition. What follows is arguably the deadliest game of “Hide and Seek” ever put to film, and no, we don’t count those countless horror flicks that are, essentially, games of “Hide and Seek” in and of themselves. This looks like exactly the kind of macabre end-of-summer fun that’s likely to attract a specific segment of the moviegoing audience, and fans on our social media platforms responded by voting it into fourth place across the board.
960 Want-to-See Votes
#3 pick by our Facebook fans, #5 pick by our Instagram fans
Opens on August 9
The second film to tie for the fourth slot is this crime comedy based on the Vertigo Comics title of the same name. It stars Melissa McCarthy, Elisabeth Moss, and Tiffany Haddish as a trio of mob wives i the 1970s who take over their husbands’ businesses when they are arrested by the FBI. It’s an interesting premise with lots of potential, and it boasts a strong supporting cast that includes Domhnall Gleeson, James Badge Dale, Common, Bill Camp, and character actress Margo Martindale, among others, so it’s understandable that it bubbled up to be included on this list. Our Facebook fans in particular are looking forward to The Kitchen, voting it into third place in that poll, and our Instagram fans also locked it into their top five.
