Unsurprisingly, a lighthearted adventure in the MCU is far and away the most anticipated movie coming in July, particularly on the heels of Avengers: Infinity War, arguably the darkest Marvel movie yet. But it’s not the only movie RT fans across our social platforms and on the site itself are looking forward to. Somewhere between the Tom Cruise blockbuster and the Dwayne Johnson blockbuster, there was room for a revenge thriller starring Denzel Washington and a fresh new filmmaker hot off the festival circuit who wowed audiences with his debut. Read on to see the most anticipated films of July on RT, plus a couple of honorable mentions.
(Photo by Marvel Studios)
11,525 Want-to-See Votes
#1 pick by our Instagram fans, Facebook, and Twitter fans
Opens Friday, July 6
Avengers: Infinity War was a box office behemoth (#4 all time) with a gigantic cast of larger-than-life heroes fighting for the fate of the universe. By contrast, the next Marvel offering is a more playful, small-scale story featuring its (usually) tiniest heroes, and it’s already Certified Fresh. Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, and Michael Douglas return as Scott and Hope set out to track down Hope’s mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) in the Quantum Realm. Critics are saying it’s a fun, funny antidote to the grim events of Infinity War, and while it may not quite match the first Ant-Man, it’s still a worthy addition to the MCU and a nice introduction to Lilly’s badass Wasp.
(Photo by Paramount Pictures)
2,428 Want-to-See Votes
#2 pick by our Instagram and Twitter fans, #3 pick by our Facebook fans
Opens Friday, July 27
Prepare for more death-defying stunts by Tom Cruise as he takes on the role of super-spy Ethan Hunt once again, along with franchise regulars Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames, and Michelle Monaghan making another return as Ethan’s wife Julia. This time around, an IMF mission goes sideways and Ethan is forced to flee the authorities as he attempts to set things right and prevent a large-scale catastrophe. In other words, standard stuff for the gang. Christopher McQuarrie, who’s worked with Cruise on Jack Reacher and the previous Mission: Impossible film, is back in the director’s chair.
(Photo by Sony Pictures)
1,074 Want-to-See Votes
#3 pick by our Twitter fans, #4 pick by our Instagram fans, #5 pick by our Facebook fans
Opens Friday, July 20
2014’s The Equalizer reunited Training Day director Antoine Fuqua with star Denzel Washington and turned out to be a hit, so here we are four years later, with Washington starring in the very first sequel of his four decade-long career. Building on the story of the first film, Equalizer 2 sets Robert McCall (Washington) on another path of revenge when a close friend is murdered. This movie made it into the top 5 on all of our social platforms and earned the third highest number of Want-to-See votes for July movies.
(Photo by Peter Prato/Annapurna Pictures)
480 Want-to-See Votes
#2 pick by our Facebook fans, #3 pick by our Instagram fans, #4 pick by our Twitter fans
Opens Friday, July 6 (Limited)
Hip-hop artist-turned-director Boots Riley wowed audiences at Sundance and South by Southwest with this surreal satire that centers on a black telemarketer who learns that the secret to success in his profession is to adopt a “white voice” on the phone. Atlanta‘s LaKeith Stanfield stars as the telemarketer in question, and the incredible supporting cast includes Tessa Thompson, Armie Hammer, Steven Yeun, and Terry Crews. Already Certified Fresh at 96%, this one came in at #2, #3, and #4 on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, respectively; it’ll be out in limited release this week, but might be worth checking out if you can find it at a theater near you.
(Photo by Universal Pictures)
883 Want-to-See Votes
#4 pick by our Facebook fans
Opens Friday, July 13
Die Hard jokes aside, the one-man action show that is Dwayne Johnson promises to deliver again in this thriller about a former FBI agent and security expert who must save his family from a high-tech building in Hong Kong when they’re caught in the middle of a terrorist plot. If you’ve seen the trailers — hell, even if you haven’t seen them — you pretty much know what you’re getting into here, and sometimes this is exactly the type of thing you want to see when you’re just looking to get out of the summer heat for a couple of hours.
(Photo by Universal Pictures)
384 Want-to-See Votes
#5 pick by our Instagram fans
Opens Friday, July 20
This musical sequel snuck into the top five in our Instagram survey, which isn’t all that surprising when you consider the first Mamma Mia! made over $600 million at the box office (no, seriously, it did). Here We Go Again takes place 10 years after the first, with a pregnant Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) running her mother Donna’s (Meryl Streep) Greek villa. Through flashbacks, we learn all about Donna’s past as Sophie prepares to give birth. The supporting cast includes all the stars from the first film, but also includes Lily James in the central role of young Donna in the past.
(Photo by Universal Pictures)
301 Want-to-See Votes
#5 pick by our Twitter fans
Opens Wednesday, July 4
2013’s The Purge blended dystopian — though not necessarily post-apocalyptic — themes with the horror genre to bring us a high-concept thriller about an alternate United States where all crime is made legal for 12 hours once a year. It spawned a couple of sequels before someone said, “Wait, how did this all start anyway?” We’ll get our answer on July 4th, appropriately enough, when The First Purge comes to theaters everywhere and explains how everything began. This one was particularly popular with our Twitter followers, who voted it fifth most anticipated on the list.
