Summer Movie Calendar 2016

There are so many superheroes in this movie, it’s almost The Avengers 3. This time, though, Captain America (Steve Rogers, played by Chris Evans) faces off against a friend: Iron Man (Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey, Jr.). After several massive battles in the previous Marvel movies, the government wants to regulate superheroes. Stark surprisingly agrees, but Rogers does not, and all the other heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are forced to pick sides.<!--There are so many superheroes in this movie, it’s almost The Avengers 3. But there are two rival leaders: Captain America (Steve Rogers, played by Chris Evans) faces off against Iron Man (Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey, Jr.). After several massive battles in the previous Marvel movies, the government wants to regulate superheroes. Stark surprisingly agrees, but Rogers does not, and all the other heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have to pick sides.-->

In the latest Blumhouse horror film, a family returns from a trip to the Grand Canyon to find an unwanted souvenir has followed them home. Blumhouse movies like Insidious and Sinister are great at squeezing maximum scares out of minimal settings, so what remains unseen in The Darkness may be more frightening than anything else you see all summer.

Halle Berry shifts into Taken mode as a desperate mother who sets out to rescue her kidnapped son. There’s no trailer out yet, and the film was held up during Relativity’s recent financial troubles, so here’s hoping it was worth keeping on the schedule.

A disgruntled 99 percenter takes a TV financial host (George Clooney) hostage on the air as revenge for losing everything in the economic crisis. Instead, the host actually helps him uncover the corruption in finance, with his director (Julia Roberts) filming the whole thing live.

Finally, an explanation as to why those birds are so angry! Red (Jason Sudeikis) actually comes from an island of happy birds. He’s the only angry one at first, but when pigs come to steal their eggs, the rest of the birds form a furious flock. The slingshot destruction game comes to life in full 3D animation.

This time out, Mac and Kelly (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne) must contend with a sorority who’s moved into the house next to theirs. Now the only way they can battle their new neighbors is to enlist their former next-door nemesis, frat boy Teddy (Zac Efron), in hopes they can scare the sisters off.

After spending some time in Marvel’s cinematic universe, Lethal Weapon and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang writer Shane Black returns to action comedies with Nice Guys, starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling play goofy detectives in the 1970s. This is the sort of hard boiled genre Black loves, and who wouldn’t want to see Gosling and Crowe in corduroys?

Lewis Carroll wrote a sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, so why not make a sequel to the movie? This time, Alice (Mia Wasikowska) returns to Wonderland for all new whimsical adventures with the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), Red Queen (Helena Bonham-Carter), White Queen (Anne Hathaway) and all the creatures of the realm.

The First Class of X-Men are back to face the world’s first mutant, Apocalypse. Based on a classic story from the comics, this sequel will also introduce young versions of Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Psylocke (Olivia Munn) Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and Storm (Alexandra Shipp).

Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin star in this romantic weepie about a young care worker who falls in love with a disabled patient who’s lost his will to live. Come prepared with a box of tissues for this one.

The creators of “D*** In a Box” and “I’m On a Boat” couldn’t just do a talkie, so of course the Lonely Island movie is about music. Andy Samberg stars as Connor4real, a rap star whose album bombs, forcing him to bring his old boy band back together. Expect a lot of laughs and some sly satire on the lavish lifestyle of music celebrities.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles weren’t warmly received by critics when they were rebooted in 2014, but they’re back again anyway. This time they’re joined by Casey Jones (Stephen Amell) to fight Kraang, Bebop, and Rocksteady. We can’t promise these are the same turtles you grew up with, but fans of the first installment will likely return for this one.

The creator of Saw and Insidious is back with another terrifying tale based on a true story. Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) travel to England to look into reports of a poltergeist. We hear British ghosts are even meaner than American ghosts, so let’s hope that means double the scares.

After the surprise hit of 2013’s Now You See Me, the Four Horsemen team of magicians are back. This time they’re enlisted to perform a heist by the same man they put away in the first movie. Let’s see if they can pull off another unexpected twist.

There’s a whole world of Warcraft, so how can they narrow it down to one movie? Based on the massively popular video game franchise, the film focuses on a looming battle between orcs and humans. Even if you don’t play the games, this looks to be the most epic fantasy tale since The Lord of the Rings.

Kevin Hart tackles another action comedy, this time with The Rock. Dwayne Johnson plays a badass CIA agent who recruits his old high school buddy (Hart) to help him with a case. Hart and Johnson are both entertaining performers with a knack for playing off their co-stars, so this could be a perfect pairing.

In the long awaited sequel to Finding Nemo, it’s Dory (Ellen Degeneres) who goes missing. She leaves to look for her family, and Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Nemo (Hayden Rolence) go searching for her. Pixar films are almost always worth the price of admission, and who doesn’t want to meet more of Pixar’s under-the-sea creations?

Five years after the “McConaissance” began in earnest with The Lincoln Lawyer, it looks like he’s still on a roll. Here, Matthew McConnaughey plays a deserting Confederate soldier during the Civil War who leads a rebellion that declares Jones County, Mississippi a free state. Opening just a week before Independence Day, it’s a seldom told but perfectly relevant Civil War story worth knowing.

20 years ago, Independence Day was the must-see movie of the summer thanks to a teaser trailer at Christmas showing aliens destroying the White House. This summer, they’re back, and only former President Whitmore (Bill Pullman) and scientist David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) can defeat them without the help of Will Smith.

Blue Crush, this is not. Blake Lively plays a surfer who is attacked by a great white shark and attempts to make it back to shore, despite her injuries. Cue 90 minutes of tension, thanks to a circling shark.

A new Steven Spielberg movie? Enough said. But knowing that it’s about a “Big Friendly Giant” is even better, especially since friendly giants are rare. This one refuses to eat children so the other giants are mean to him, but he finds a friend in a little girl. This is also based on a Roald Dahl story and a screenplay by the late Melissa Mathison, writer of E.T., who passed away last year.<!--A new Steven Spielberg movie? Enough said. But knowing that it’s about a “Big Friendly Giant” is even better, especially since friendly giants are rare. This one refuses to eat children so the other giants are mean to him, but he finds a friend in a little girl. This is also based on a Roald Dahl story and a screenplay by the late Melissa Mathison, writer of E.T., who passed away last year.-->

Back in the 1930s, Tarzan was not only king of the jungle but king of his own franchise. This summer, he comes swinging onto the big screen again, this time with Alexander Skarsgard as the Lord of the Apes. Skarsgard in a loincloth, Margot Robbie as his Jane, and apes like The Jungle Book? This is a Tarzan for modern times.

One night a year, all crime is legal, and every year they make a movie about it. In this third installment of the Purge series, the hero (Frank Grillo) is working security for a candidate who wants to end The Purge. If you want more Purge movies, you’d better vote against her.

This summer, we get a double dose of Zac Efron. He and Adam DeVine play brothers who’ve ruined so many family gatherings, their parents force them to find proper dates to their sister’s wedding. They post a video online to attract the perfect dates, but end up with girls who may be even wilder than they are.

Remember how Toy Story showed us what our toys get up to when we’re not around? Well, what about our pets? Illumination Entertainment, the animators who brought us Despicable Me and Minions, has the answer. In a big city high rise where pets lead a different life when their owners are at work, one dog must adjust when his owner gets a second pup.

You probably haven’t heard enough about his one, right? The all new, all female Ghostbusters reboot comes from the director of Spy and Bridesmaids. Four women open a business investigating paranormal activity in New York City, and supernatural hilarity ensues with a feminine twist.

In stark contrast to Breaking Bad’s Walter White, Bryan Crantson stars in this drama as an undercover DEA agent in the 1980s trying to bust Pablo Escobar. Less Medellin on Entourage and more Narcos on Netflix, this crime thriller based on true events should serve as counterprogramming to all the fantastical blockbusters of the summer.

Rumors of the Ice Age melting have been greatly exaggerated, considering this is the fifth movie in the franchise. This time, everybody’s favorite Scrat accidentally causes a meteor shower, forcing Manny, Sid, Diego and Ellie to leave their home and meet all new prehistoric characters in their journey.

James Wan wants to scare us twice this summer. The Conjuring 2 director produced this horror movie, based on a short film by Swedish director David F. Sandberg, who makes his feature debut here. As with the viral short, the monster here only appears when the lights are out, so keep that popcorn close and your significant other closer.

The third voyage of the rebooted Enterprise crew finds them fleeing their destroyed starship and finding an all new adventure on the planet where they land. Justin Lin brings his Fast and the Furious energy to the action, which means the Enterprise doesn’t have a crew. They have a family.

We’ve had bad Santas, bad teachers, and bad lieutenants, so why not Bad Moms? Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, and Kathryn Hahn take a weekend off from being perfect moms and get into some R-rated fun, much to the chagrin of PTA supermom Christina Applegate. Think Bridesmaids-meets-Mean Girls.

Jason Bourne wants to be sure everyone knows this is strictly a Matt Damon joint (the less said about The Bourne Legacy’s Aaron Cross, the better). Aside from that, though, the studio’s kept details about this sequel pretty secret. We do see a bare knuckle fist fight and car chase in the trailers, so here’s hoping it’s a return to form.

They’ve served billions and billions, but even McDonald’s was an underdog in the beginning. The Founder tells the story of Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton), a traveling salesman who discovered one burger joint with golden arches and battled the original owners to take it national.

Did they really remake Oh Heavenly Dog with Kevin Spacey and a feline twist? Spacey plays a workaholic dad who’s taught a lesson when a pet shop owner (Christopher Walken) puts him in the body of a cat he bought for his daughter’s birthday. This means we’ll see more CGI cat than Kevin, but it worked for Bill Murray in Garfield, right?

Dr. Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) recruits a team of comic book supervillains to be her dirty dozen. Jared Leto has reportedly taken his role of The Joker a little too seriously by sending his cast mates dead animals, but Margot Robbie looks like a hoot as Harley Quinn. This will be the next step in the DC Extended Universe after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

There’s a chariot race in this reimagining of the epic tale made famous by Charlton Heston, but there’s also some naval combat and battles in severe climates. The story revolves around Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston), escapes slavery and enters a chariot race to avenge his family. Except this time, it’s so much more extreme.

The original Pete’s Dragon was a musical with a Disney animated dragon. The teaser trailers have kept the new dragon well hidden, but in this remake, young Pete (Oakes Fegley) returns to society after surviving six years in the forest. Maybe he can adapt to the modern world, but what happens when his dragon comes looking for him?

Imagine an R-rated comedy featuring Seth Rogen, James Franco, Paul Rudd, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Salma Hayek, Edward Norton and more. Now imagine that it’s an animated film about pieces of talking meat. Yes, you read that right. This cartoon for grown-ups was a huge hit at South by Southwest, but it might just be too weird for the average moviegoer.

Legendary Entertainment, the producers of the Godzilla and 300 films, are working on a new legend this summer. We haven’t gotten a peek at Spectral yet, but it’s about a special ops team fighting supernatural beings in Europe. Could be the ones that fled the Ghostbusters in New York.

Based on a true story, this war comedy stars Jonah Hill and Miles Teller as David and Efraim, a pair of young war profiteers who get their hands dirty running guns through Iraq. The subject matter is potentially sensitive, but don’t expect many deep social critiques with the Hangover franchise’s Todd Phillips at the helm.

Laika can add another magical adventure to their roster, which already includes ParaNorman and The Boxtrolls. Kubo is a boy on a quest to find his father’s armor after he wakes up in the ashes of his village. The animation looks impressive, and the exotic realms and dazzling creatures he encounters are rendered in superb detail.

Asa Butterfield and Britt Robertson star in this sci-fi romance about a boy from Mars who falls in love with an Earth girl he’s been communicating with and sets off to meet her. Talk about a long distance relationship…

In this horror movie, a group of young thieves break into a blind man’s house, only for him to quickly turn the tables on them. He’s a military veteran, and the burglars find he’s much more when they make some discoveries in his basement.

Edgar Ramirez stars in this biopic of Roberto Duran, a young boxer from Panama who started his career at 16 and went on to become a champion, partially thanks to the help of his trainer, Ray Arcel (Robert DeNiro). This isn’t quite Raging Bull passing the torch, but it’ll be interesting to see DeNiro on the other side of the ropes.

This sequel makes The Mechanic Jason Statham’s fifth franchise. Just when he thought he was out, someone kidnaps his girl and blackmails the Mechanic to perform more assassinations. Michelle Yeoh is in this movie, so let’s hope she and Statham get to share a fight or two.

This spare drama about Jesus Christ (Ewan McGregor) praying and fasting for 40 days and 40 nights before his crucifixion made quite an impression at Sundance last year. More intimate than your typical Bible film, Last Days focuses on Jesus’s personal connection with a family he meets.

From the author of Crash and Empire of the Sun and the director of Kill List and Sightseers comes this drama in which an all-star cast play residents of a luxury high-rise who go primal and savage when the power goes out. It’s all fun and games until the rape and cannibalism start.

In a future where it’s illegal to be single, those who are divorced or widowed are obligated to stay at a hotel for singles and pair off. Failure to do so is punishable by death, but you get to choose which animal you’d like to be reincarnated as. David (Colin Farrell) chooses to become a lobster, but he makes a break for it before he has to live under the sea.

In this Jane Austen comedy, Lady Susan Vernon (Beckinsale) visits her in-laws and uses manipulation and deception to defy the social order. The Austen story was called Lady Susan but this title makes it a trilogy with Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility.

Greta Gerwig stars in this understated comedy as a woman named Maggie whose plan to get pregnant by artificial insemination is complicated when she falls in love with a married professor (Ethan Hawke). Perennial indie darling Gerwig is always charming in these roles, so it’s a good bet she’ll shine here, too.

You might want to sit down for this one. Daniel Radcliffe (aka Harry Potter) plays a dead body whose gas is so strong that a man (Paul Dano) stranded on a deserted island uses it to propel himself to safety. It only gets weirder from there. It’s probably safe to say there’s nothing else like this Sundance selection coming out this summer.

The Night Manager will be over by July so John Le Carre fans should be ready for another dose of espionage intrigue. Ewan McGregor plays a vacationing Brit who is given a flash drive by a Russian mafia money launderer (Stellan Skarsgard). After doing his civic duty and turning it in, a British Secret Service agent (Damian Lewis) insists he help them further.<!--The Night Manager will be over by July so John Le Carré fans should be ready for another dose of espionage intrigue. Ewan McGregor plays a vacationing Brit who is given a flash drive by a Russian mafia money launderer (Stellan Skarsgard). After doing his civic duty and turning it in, a British Secret Service agent (Damian Lewis) insists he help them further.-->

Ab Fab officially ended in 2005 but aired a few additional episodes in 2011 and 2012. Now Patsy (Joanna Lumley) and Edina (Jennifer Saunders) finally have their own movie, and they’re still living the high life. This time, they find themselves in hot water when they accidentally kill Kate Moss at a fashion show. We think Kate probably turns up okay, but Edina and Patsy will bumble things hilariously until then.

In the second movie directed by John Krasinski, he also stars as John Hollar, who reconnects with his family when his mother (Margot Martindale) is diagnosed with a brain tumor. This bittersweet family dramedy, which premiered at Sundance, features an impressive supporting cast that includes Anna Kendrick, Richard Jenkins, and more.

This romantic comedy recounts an afternoon in the lives of arguably the most famous couple in the world: Barack and Michelle Obama. During a summer off from Harvard in 1989, young law associate Barack took Michelle on their first date, walking around Chicago and catching Do the Right Thing at the movies. It’s an understated story, but so far, it’s gotten great reviews.