Summer Movie Calendar 2019

How will Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and the rest of the remaining Avengers actually, you know, avenge their comrades who fell victim to “The Snap” in Infinity War? It’s all led up to this grand finale, an appropriate kickoff to the summer movie season.

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth

Directed By: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Zac Efron and Lily Collins star in this profile of serial killer Ted Bundy that takes the perspective of Bundy’s girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer, who begins to reexamine her relationship with him as his crimes begin racking up and making headlines.

Starring: Zac Efron, Lily Collins, Haley Joel Osment, Kaya Scodelario

Directed By: Joe Berlinger

Dennis Quaid goes into full-on stalker mode in this home invasion thriller — sort of — about a young couple who move into a beautiful new home, only to discover that its previous owner isn’t so thrilled about letting it go.

Starring: Michael Ealy, Meagan Good, Joseph Sikora, Dennis Quaid

Directed By: Deon Taylor

Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen headline this romantic comedy about an aspiring presidential candidate who reconnects with a man she used to babysit as a teen and, charmed by his personality, hires him as her speechwriter.

Starring: Seth Rogen, Charlize Theron, June Diane Raphael, O'Shea Jackson Jr.

Directed By: Jonathan Levine

Based on the popular toys of the same name, this animated musical comedy makes use of the talents of Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, Janelle Monáe, and more as the UglyDolls encounter a bizarre new town where everyone is perfect.

Starring: Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, Janelle Monáe, Blake Shelton

Directed By: Kelly Asbury

In this hybrid live-action/animation adventure, Ryan Reynolds lends his voice to the titular Pokémon, who discovers that a young Pokémon trainer can hear his true voice and decides to help him unravel the mystery behind his father’s disappearance.

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton, Bill Nighy

Directed By: Rob Letterman

Kenneth Branagh directs and stars in this dramatization of William Shakespeare’s life in 1613, after a fire has devastated the Globe Theater and the famous playwright returns to Stratford to reconnect with his family.

Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Lydia Wilson, Hadley Fraser

Directed By: Kenneth Branagh

Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson star in this remake of the 1988 comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, about a high-class conwoman who sees potential in a petty scam artist and decides to take her under her wings.

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Rebel Wilson, Alex Sharp, Ingrid Oliver

Directed By: Chris Addison

Diane Keaton leads an ensemble cast in this feel-good comedy about a woman who reluctantly moves into a retirement community and starts up a cheerleading squad with the other women around her.

Starring: Diane Keaton, Jacki Weaver, Celia Weston, Alisha Boe

Directed By: Zara Hayes

Nicolas Hoult stars as the renowned author of The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings novels in this drama about the writer’s early years, which would go on to form the basis of his famous books.

Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, Colm Meaney, Derek Jacobi

Directed By: Dome Karukoski

Keanu Reeves returns as John Wick in the third — and presumably final — installment in the franchise (TV spinoff notwithstanding), which sees the unkillable assassin extraordinaire on the run from pretty much everyone with a gun. Or a sword.

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne

Directed By: Chad Stahelski

Need more wholesome puppy tales in your life? Then clear your schedule for this sequel to 2017’s A Dog’s Purpose, which reintroduces audiences to the Josh Gad-voiced retriever named Bailey and whisks everyone away on a new adventure.

Starring: Josh Gad, Kathryn Prescott, Betty Gilpin, Dennis Quaid

Directed By: Gail Mancuso

Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton star in this young adult novel-based teen romance about a young couple who fall in star-crossed love just as one of them is struggling to fight against the deportation of her family.

Starring: Yara Shahidi, Charles Melton, Anais Lee, John Leguizamo

Directed By: Ry Russo-Young

Brad Pitt stars in this sci-fi mystery from James Gray (The Immigrant, The Lost City of Z) about an engineer who journeys into deep space to learn what happened to his father, who made a similar journey decades ago and never returned.

Starring: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Donald Sutherland

Directed By: James Gray

The second of three live-action Disney remakes hitting theaters this year, Aladdin stars Mena Massoud as the titular street urchin, Will Smith as the genie he meets, and Naomi Scott as the princess he hopes to woo with the genie’s help.

Starring: Will Smith, Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, Marwan Kenzari

Directed By: Guy Ritchie

Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein star in this coming-of-age comedy about a pair of overachieving BFFs who decide to spend their last night as high school students trying to make up for lost playtime. Olivia Wilde’s feature debut impressed at SXSW.

Starring: Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Jessica Williams, Jason Sudeikis

Directed By: Olivia Wilde

What if Superman was evil? That’s the question this supernatural thriller asks, as a gifted child from another planet crash-lands on Earth and, despite the love of a young couple who raise him as their own, unleashes terror on his community.

Starring: Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackson A. Dunn, Matt L. Jones

Directed By: David Yarovesky

The title says it all. Japan’s biggest export returns to do battle with classic nemeses like Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah. Caught up in it all is a cast of concerned humans who can do nothing but “let them fight.”

Starring: Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Ken Watanabe

Directed By: Michael Dougherty

Octavia Spencer stars in this thriller about a lonely woman who scores younger friends when she invites some teens to party at her place. There are some odd house rules, though, and we’re willing to bet we find out what happens when they’re broken.

Starring: Octavia Spencer, Diana Silvers, Juliette Lewis, McKaley Miller

Directed By: Tate Taylor

Taron Egerton drapes himself in sequins for this biopic about Elton John’s rise to fame, from his days as a promising prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music to his rewarding partnership with longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin.

Starring: Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, Gemma Jones

Directed By: Dexter Fletcher

In this chapter of the X-Men saga, the team faces a new threat as Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) is injured during a rescue mission by a mysterious force that changes her into something more sinister. Can she overcome the darkness within?

Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult

Directed By: Simon Kinberg

Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling star in this comedy about a struggling talk show host who forms an unlikely friendship with a newly hired female writer who was brought on staff to help save the show. Kaling wrote the script.

Starring: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, John Lithgow, Hugh Dancy

Directed By: Nisha Ganatra

Max (Patton Oswalt), Snowball (Kevin Hart), Gidget (Jenny Slate), and the rest of the gang are all back in this sequel to the 2016 animated hit that gave us a comedic look at what our pets are up to when we’re not around.

Starring: Patton Oswalt, Kevin Hart, Harrison Ford, Eric Stonestreet

Directed By: Chris Renaud

Adam Driver and Bill Murray headline a killer cast in Jim Jarmusch’s comedy about a couple of small-town cops who find themselves in over their heads when the dead begin coming back to life and shambling about town.

Starring: Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny

Directed By: Jim Jarmusch

The Men in Black are back, and this time, one of them is a woman. Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson suit up as memebers of MiB’s London bureau, who are dispatched to investigate a series of otherworldly crimes happening on Earth.

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Kumail Nanjiani, Rebecca Ferguson

Directed By: F. Gary Gray

Three generations of Shaft come together as Richard Roundtree, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jessie T. Usher unite to help the youngest member of the family, JJ, discover the truth behind his best friend’s death.

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Jessie T. Usher, Richard Roundtree, Regina Hall

Directed By: Tim Story

Aubrey Plaza and Brian Tyree Henry reimagine the ’80s horror classic with Mark Hamill voicing the killer doll, who, in this updated version, is a high-tech toy that rejects its programming and embarks on a joyous killing spree.

Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Mark Hamill, Gabriel Bateman, Brian Tyree Henry

Directed By: Lars Klevberg

Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and the Toy Story cast are back in an all-new adventure that finds them trying to rescue a homemade toy named Forky (voiced by Tony Hale) when he and Woody get separated from the group during a road trip.

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Tony Hale

Directed By: Josh Cooley

The latest entry in the Annabelle franchise ties in more directly to the Warrens (Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson), who bring the evil doll home and place her in their artifact room, only for her to bring the other spirits in the room to life.

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman

Directed By: Gary Dauberman

In a change of pace for director Danny Boyle, Himesh Patel and Lily James star in this rom-com about a struggling musician who wakes from an accident to discover the Beatles never existed… but he still knows all of their music.

Starring: Himesh Patel, Lily James, Kate McKinnon, Ed Sheeran

Directed By: Danny Boyle

In this follow-up to the 2017 character reboot, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) takes a trip to Europe with his classmates and meets Nick Fury, who wants him to team up with a new guy named Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) to battle some unusual creatures.

Starring: Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Marisa Tomei

Directed By: Jon Watts

Jesse Eisenberg stars in this dark comedy about a timid man who, after being mugged, decides to enroll in karate class to learn how to protect himself. When he graduates to his dojo’s night classes, he discovers things aren’t quite what they seem.

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Alessandro Nivola, Imogen Poots, Steve Terada

Directed By: Riley Stearns

Chadwick Boseman and Sienna Miller star in this crime thriller about an NYPD detective who uncovers a conspiracy while hunting down a pair of cop killers and sees the city go into lockdown in order to prevent them from escaping Manhattan.

Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Sienna Miller, J.K. Simmons, Stephan James

Directed By: Brian Kirk

This survival horror film from Alexandre Aja (High Tension, Piranha 3D) follows a Florida woman who becomes trapped in a flooding house during a hurricane and must fight off the alligators who come looking for an easy meal.

Starring: Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, Morfydd Clark, Ross Anderson

Directed By: Alexandre Aja

In sort of a comedic take on Michael Mann’s Collateral, Kumail Nanjiani plays an Uber driver who unknowingly picks up a cop (Dave Bautista) on the trail of a killer and becomes wrapped up in the mess.

Starring: Dave Bautista, Kumail Nanjiani, Mira Sorvino, Natalie Morales

Directed By: Michael Dowse

Awkwafina stars in this Sundance Festival hit about a woman’s struggle to understand why her family in China chooses not to tell their grandmother she is dying, and decide instead to throw a sham wedding to bring everyone together.

Starring: Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Gil Perez-Abraham

Directed By: Lulu Wang

Jon Favreau takes the helm for Disney’s “live-action” retelling of the beloved 1994 animated film, hoping to do for it what he did with 2016’s The Jungle Book. The all-star cast includes Donald Glover, Beyoncé, Seth Rogen, and James Earl Jones.

Starring: Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard

Directed By: Jon Favreau

Set in 1969, Quentin Tarantino’s much-anticipated ninth film centers on an actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), his stunt man (Brad Pitt), and, in some tangential way, Charles Manson. That and the movie’s stunning cast is about all we know so far.

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Kurt Russell

Directed By: Quentin Tarantino

The popular Nickelodeon TV series character takes to the jungles of South America to locate a lost Incan city and rescue her parents in this adventure starring Isabella Moner, Michael Peña, and Eva Longoria.

Starring: Isabela Merced, Eugenio Derbez, Michael Peña, Eva Longoria

Directed By: James Bobin

Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, and Idris Elba star in this spinoff of the Fast and Furious franchise, as federal agent Luke Hobbs teams up with former bad guy Deckard Shaw to take down an even badder guy with, apparently, superpowers.

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby

Directed By: David Leitch

Five mutants with budding powers try to break out of the mental asylum-like facility where they’ve been quarantined in this horror-tinged, X-Men-adjacent superhero flick based on the comics of the same name.

Starring: Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Alice Braga

Directed By: Josh Boone

Kenneth Branagh directs this adaptation of the popular fantasy book series about a teen criminal genius who enlists the help of his bodyguard to hunt down a fairy and use its powers to rescue his father.

Starring: Ferdia Shaw, Lara McDonnell, Tamara Smart, Nonso Anozie

Directed By: Kenneth Branagh

Aldis Hodge and Greg Kinnear star in this based-on-true-events story about the former NFL player, who was falsely accused of rape during his junior year of high school and spent almost six years in prison.

Starring: Aldis Hodge, Greg Kinnear, Sherri Shepherd, Melanie Liburd

Directed By: Tom Shadyac

Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, and Elisabeth Moss star in this adaptation of the comic miniseries about a trio of mobster wives during the 1970s who decide to take over their husbands’ businesses after they are arrested by the FBI.

Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, Elisabeth Moss, Domhnall Gleeson

Directed By: Andrea Berloff

Director Ari Aster returns with a follow-up to his hit horror film Hereditary, this time setting the action in the broad daylight of a Swedish village, where a young couple on vacation clash with a local cult.

Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter

Directed By: Ari Aster

Based on the popular children’s novels, this Guillermo del Toro-produced horror film centers on a group of teens in 1968 who discover a mysterious book written long ago by a troubled young girl and slowly come face to face with its dark secrets.

Starring: Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Abrams

Directed By: André Øvredal

Richard Linklater directs this adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name about a hateful woman (Cate Blanchett) who suddenly disappears and her daughter’s efforts to figure out, well, where she went.

Starring: Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Kristen Wiig, Emma Nelson

Directed By: Richard Linklater

This 1987-set musical comedy follows a teenager who discovers and becomes obsessed with the music of Bruce Springsteen, much to the chagrin of his conservative Pakistani family, and struggles to decide which path to follow.

Starring: Viveik Kalra, Hayley Atwell, Rob Brydon, Kulvinder Ghir

Directed By: Gurinder Chadha

In this sequel to the 2017 thriller, four teen girls exploring an underwater cave system come face to face with a horde of hungry sharks and must decide whether to fight for their lives or flee. Good luck!

Starring: Sophie Nélisse, Corinne Foxx, Brianne Tju, Sistine Stallone

Directed By: Johannes Roberts

Rachel Bloom, Sterling K. Brown, Awkwafina, and Nicki Minaj join Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Peter Dinklage, and the rest of the returning cast as the angry birds reluctantly unite with their green pig rivals to take on a new threat to their existence.

Starring: Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Leslie Jones, Bill Hader

Directed By: Thurop Van Orman

A trio of 12-year-olds set off on a wild adventure to replace a broken drone and help one of them learn how to kiss a girl in this R-rated coming-of-age comedy starring Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams, and Brady Noon.

Starring: Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams, Brady Noon, Molly Gordon

Directed By: Gene Stupnitsky

Joel Kinnaman, Rosamund Pike, and Clive Owen star in this thriller about an ex-con who agrees to help take down a mob boss for the FBI, only for things to go sideways and for him to end up in prison again — this time, undercover.

Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Rosamund Pike, Clive Owen, Common

Directed By: Andrea Di Stefano

In the grand tradition of movies based on non-narrative children’s toys, we have this animated adventure about a girl (Anya Taylor-Joy) who is transported to a magical world where she must rescue her brother.

Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Gabriel Bateman, Jim Gaffigan, Daniel Radcliffe

Directed By: Lino DiSalvo

First it was Olympus, and then it was London, and now it’s Angel. Gerard Butler returns as Secret Service agent Mike Banning, who is accused of a presidential assassination attempt and must clear his name.

Starring: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Frederick Schmidt, Danny Huston

Directed By: Ric Roman Waugh

This faith-based inspirational sports drama follows a high school basketball coach-turned-cross-country coach who makes it his mission to help a young athlete achieve her dreams.

Starring: Alex Kendrick, Priscilla C. Shirer, Cameron Arnett, Shari Rigby

Directed By: Alex Kendrick