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Shockingly to our jaded eyes, the summer already looks promising. We visited the doll shop of “M3GAN 2.0” (June 27), a viciously funny sequel that doubles down on killer attitude, plus we had a chat with Benicio del Toro, enjoying a career high in Wes Anderson’s playful yet political “The Phoenician Scheme” (May 30). But what about the rest of the season? Our staffers let their expectations fly, owning up to high hopes for impossible missions, a superhero or two and — yes — “The Naked Gun.” What follows is our undoubtedly essential and correct list of the 18 films you need to brace for this summer.
‘Lilo & Stitch’
(May 23)
When the first “Lilo & Stitch” came out back in 2002, former Times film critic Kenneth Turan hailed it as a welcome break from formula, having “an unleashed, subversive sense of humor that’s less corporate and more uninhibited than any non-Pixar Disney film has been in time out of mind.” Since then, the Disney movies that have similarly embraced these storytelling sensibilities have remained my favorites. More than 20 years later, the unhinged, Hawaii-set buddy comedy — about an Elvis-loving little girl and an eccentric blue alien — is now getting the live-action treatment, with Maia Kealoha as Lilo Pelekai and Chris Sanders, who co-wrote and co-directed the original film, reprising his voice role as Stitch. This time, original cast members Tia Carrere, Amy Hill and Jason Scott Lee are joined by Billy Magnussen, Zach Galifianakis, Hannah Waddingham and Courtney B. Vance. So yeah, consider me seated for this “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride.” — Ashley Lee
‘Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning’
(May 23)
Let’s get real. It is impossible to remember the plots in each of Ethan Hunt’s seven previous misadventures. But we cling to the images: Tom Cruise dangling from a ceiling, a cliff, a skyscraper, an airplane and, as we last saw him, a plummeting train. The series was designed to transcend coherence. Not only did its first installments change directors and tones, they even radically changed Hunt’s personality from a loudmouth to a playboy to a devoted husband. Christopher McQuarrie has helmed the last four sequels and gets Cruise’s actual mission: Come as close as possible to killing me onscreen. He’s one of the last samurais battling on behalf of the theatrical experience. It feels right that Cruise will be closing out his three-decade franchise at Cannes — only the third time he’s ever been — and I hope whatever he does next will remind audiences he’s a talented actor too. — Amy Nicholson
‘Bring Her Back’
(May 30)
Per the official synopsis, the follow-up to twin directors Danny and Michael Philippou’s terrific horror film “Talk to Me” revolves around a brother and sister who uncover a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new foster mother. Per the trailer, it stars Sally Hawkins as said foster mother, who’s clearly got more than a few things going on, including at least one very creepy kid in her care, some deeply disturbing beliefs about resurrection and a penchant for bloody corpses and videotape. (When the cat is scared, you know something bad is happening.) The title implies a contemplation of the horrors of grief, but if “Talk to Me” is any indication, there will be plenty of jump scares too. — Mary McNamara
‘Materialists’
(June 13)
Playwright turned writer-director Celine Song follows her Oscar-nominated debut “Past Lives” with a story that, from the outside, seems like another New York-set love triangle. Yet “Materialists” is very much its own thing, as Dakota Johnson plays a professional matchmaker — something Song herself did for a time — who attempts to navigate clients’ lofty expectations through the cold realities of the modern marketplace of big-city dating. She eventually finds her own cynicism put to the test as she is not so much torn between the ultra-rich, impossibly suave Pedro Pascal and her struggling cater-waiter ex Chris Evans as she is simply running the numbers while attempting to calculate for the intangibles of romance. The film continually pushes up against almost being a glimmering rom-com that celebrates wealth and privilege but instead becomes a series of tough conversations on the place of love, money and relationships in contemporary life. — Mark Olsen
‘28 Years Later’
(June 20)
Technically, it’s been only 23 years since the horror hit “28 Days Later” arrived and 18 since its sequel, “28 Weeks Later,” did — but when you’re running from fleet-footed zombies, who’s counting? Director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland reunite for the first of a planned new trilogy landing at a time when their original nightmare feels all too real. With the rage virus still raging, a group of survivors, including a husband and wife played by Jodie Comer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, lives in uneasy isolation on a fortified island — until one of them crosses the causeway into whatever’s left of the mainland. Garland’s dystopian vision and Boyle’s kinetic urgency remain perfectly in sync, and the fact that much of the film was reportedly shot using an iPhone 15 promises a frenzied doomscroll realism. Most summer movies promise escape. This one feels more like an extreme form of exposure therapy. — Josh Rottenberg
‘F1’
(June 27)
The synopsis for “F1” gives off serious “Top Gun: Maverick” energy. And why wouldn’t it? The sports drama comes from the same team — director Joseph Kosinski, writer Ehren Kruger and producer Jerry Bruckheimer — that made the 2022 Tom Cruise blockbuster. Only here they’re subbing in race cars for fighter jets. The plot, in case you’re interested: A handsome, has-been Formula One driver (Brad Pitt) is coaxed from retirement to mentor an up-and-comer (Damson Idris) who, it’s safe to say, probably thinks he doesn’t have to listen to anyone, especially someone old enough to be his grandpa. They butt heads, but, wild guess, they’ll come to form a grudging mutual respect. Not that anyone is going to the movie for that kind of thing. Just give us the vrrrrooooooooom and we’ll be happy, even if this bona fide dad movie arrives a week after Father’s Day. — Glenn Whipp
‘Sorry, Baby’
(June 27)
One of the reasons Sundance’s position on the calendar matters is that films from the festival in January can often become pacesetters for the rest of the year. For example, nothing much else has yet come close to feeling as fresh, inventive and invigorating as “Sorry, Baby,” which picked up the festival’s screenwriting prize. The feature debut for director-writer-star Eva Victor, the film follows a few years in the life of a young woman in a small college town as she progresses from grad student to junior professor, while also dealing with the intense personal fallout from a traumatic event. Equally at ease with bracing, dramatic emotions and an eccentrically off-kilter sense of humor, Victor explores the stutter steps of small victories and minor setbacks that eventually lead to growth, perhaps never quite leaving a painful moment fully behind but moving forward all the same. — Mark Olsen
‘Superman’
(July 11)
Since Christopher Reeve first soared across screens as the Man of Steel in 1978, Hollywood has struggled to keep the OG superhero airborne. Reboots, sequels and origin stories have come and gone, none quite capturing the character’s full mythic power or core humanity. Now James Gunn — the “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Suicide Squad” director recently tapped to reinvent the DC Universe — is taking his shot. “Superman” kicks off Warner Bros.’ ambitious reset (or re-reset), with relative newcomer David Corenswet donning the cape as a younger Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. Gunn has promised a return to sincerity, but this is still unmistakably his movie so expect dashes of bizarro humor amid the spectacle and a few lovable weirdos around the edges (including Supes’ flying dog Krypto). After years of brooding detours, Superman may finally get to be what he was always meant to be: a symbol of hope, taking flight just when we (and Hollywood) need him most. — Josh Rottenberg
‘Eddington’
(July 18)
Two years after sending Joaquin Phoenix through a three-hour Freudian freak-out in “Beau Is Afraid,” director Ari Aster reunites with the actor for what he has described, in typical genre-scrambling fashion, as a “film noir ensemble western dark comedy.” Set in a small New Mexico town during the COVID-19 pandemic, “Eddington” follows a sheriff (Phoenix) locked in an escalating feud with the mayor (Pedro Pascal) as the town starts to fracture along deeper ideological lines. With Emma Stone, Austin Butler and Luke Grimes joining the stacked cast, the film shifts Aster’s focus from demons and death cults to the no-less-surreal absurdity and menace of contemporary American life. Plot details have been kept under wraps ahead of the film’s Cannes premiere, so it’s anyone’s guess where it all leads. But with Aster, not knowing is part of the fun. — Josh Rottenberg
‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’
(July 18)
Horror franchises revolving around photogenic young people being stalked by a deadly murderer are hard to kill off. The latest scream fest to find new life is “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” a reboot of the 1997 thriller that starred Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. — an original that sparked two forgettable sequels and a TV series that was canceled after one season. The new film resurrects the plot of the first one: A group of teens who covered up a fatal car accident are being targeted by a vicious killer armed with a nasty hook. The film appears to follow the format of the most recent “Scream” movies — the new characters who are being terrorized need to enlist help from the survivors of the original films. Hewitt, who currently co-stars in “9-1-1,” and Prinze, who stepped away from the Hollywood spotlight in 2008, reunite, older and hopefully a lot wiser. — Greg Braxton
‘Together’
(July 30)
Alison Brie and Dave Franco’s body-horror romance has been making the festival rounds since Sundance without leaking much of its premise. The real-life couple play Millie and Tim, lovers who seem to be drifting apart until something strange and terrible joins them at the hip, physically and metaphorically. “Mildew?” Tom guesses. Um, probably not. Rumor is first-time filmmaker Michael Shanks doesn’t hold back on the gory practical special effects — and that Brie and Franco, who’ve been married since 2017, aren’t shy about lending the characters their own comfortable and credible intimacy, the kind of shorthand that speaks volumes with just a smile. I’ve heard the film manages to be weird, gross, funny and emotional, with a sex scene that has to be seen to be believed. That’s a lot of hype to live up to, but “Together” definitely has my attention. — Amy Nicholson
‘The Naked Gun’
(Aug. 1)
It’s the same old story: Boy finds girl, boy forgets girl, girl dies in a tragic blimp accident — and 37 years later, there’s a sequel that no one asked for but I’m dying to see. A spoof of a spoof is harder to execute than Leslie Nielsen’s Lt. Frank Drebin doing forward handsprings with a pistol. But director Akiva Schaffer (“Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping”) specializes in self-aware comedies that take a cutting of the original idea and plant it in Silly Putty. Even Schaffer’s Disney cartoon “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers” was good and here, he’s teamed up again with its writers, Dan Gregor and Doug Mand. This spinoff stars Liam Neeson as Leslie Nielsen’s son, also named Lt. Frank Drebin, if the actors’ soundalike initials weren’t confusing enough. Neeson’s own name has become a punchline due to his post-“Taken” preoccupation with grim and lazy action-thrillers. Hopefully this reboot will be his hard reset. — Amy Nicholson
‘Freakier Friday’
(Aug. 8)
The concept has always been a showcase for a ridiculously gifted rising star: Jodie Foster in the 1976 original, then — like a rocket taking off — Lindsay Lohan in 2003. So it’s smart that this long-overdue sequel brings on a fresh face, Julia Butters (the superconfident kid actor from “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” holding her own against Leo DiCaprio). But most people will be there for the belated reunion of Lohan with Jamie Lee Curtis, a pairing that still throws off sparks. Both of them feel like survivors, deserving of a victory lap in millennial nostalgia. The lion’s share of the praise 22 years ago went to Curtis, always fun when she’s being bad. But maybe it’s Lohan’s time. If she can cast off her guardedness of recent years and really make it count, there’s no Hollywood comeback I’d welcome more. — Joshua Rothkopf
‘Weapons’
(Aug. 8)
“Those kids walked out of those homes,” a voice tells us in the teaser to “Weapons,” Zach Cregger’s follow-up to 2022 cult horror hit “Barbarian.” “No one pulled them out. No one forced them.” Now, my kids did this all the time during the summer and, honestly, the peace and quiet came as a relief. But given the creepy whispering and ominous music Cregger is serving up, I’m guessing something more sinister is at work here. Cregger’s spec script prompted an intense bidding war two years ago, with Cregger winning a hefty payday and final cut, provided the test screenings weren’t a disaster. It also attracted a solid group of actors, Josh Brolin and Julia Garner among them. Why 17 kids left their homes at precisely the same time early one morning is the film’s tantalizing question. Pied Piper phenomenon? Viral TikTok party? New canvas tote at Trader Joe’s? We’ll know soon enough. — Glenn Whipp
‘Highest 2 Lowest’
(Aug. 22)
The last time Denzel Washington reunited with director Spike Lee for 2006’s “Inside Man,” the pair seemed to be getting off on the tightness of a no-nonsense crime script and a parade of electrifying co-stars that never let the film lag. That formula appears to be in play with this updated remake of Akira Kurosawa’s unbearably tense 1963 thriller “High and Low,” about a boisterous business mogul whose forward momentum is suddenly stalled by a kidnapping and a ransom negotiation. Sight unseen, this will be a feast of Washington’s verbosity, spinning a situation until it best suits him — and then maybe going a touch too far to where it doesn’t. There is considerable pleasure to be had from Lee shooting anywhere in the vicinity of Brooklyn, and the cast includes Jeffrey Wright, ASAP Rocky and Ice Spice, making her big-screen debut. — Joshua Rothkopf
‘Honey Don’t!’
(Aug. 22)
Here’s a first: I am looking forward to a movie set in Bakersfield. Not necessarily because of where the story takes place but because it is a lesbian B-movie starring Margaret Qualley as a private eye and Aubrey Plaza as a “mystery woman.” Will sparks fly? I hope so. “Honey Don’t!” has been described as a dark comedy following Qualley’s Honey O’Donahue, investigating the deaths around a mysterious church. A cult leader played by Chris Evans is also somehow involved. It’s the second installment of what co-writers Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke are calling a trilogy following their 2024 film “Drive Away Dolls,” a road-trip flick that also starred Qualley as well as Geraldine Viswanathan (who is now an MCU star). The filmmakers described their first film as “silly” and “trashy” and the world can do with more silly-and-trashy lesbian films. — Tracy Brown
‘Caught Stealing’
(Aug. 29)
Director Darren Aronofsky is known for intense, unsettling films such as “Requiem for a Dream” and “The Whale.” Yet there is also a streak of unpredictability in his work that perhaps leads to “Caught Stealing,” which promises to be a freewheeling, downright jaunty caper film. Set in late-’90s New York City, the movie stars Austin Butler as Hank Thompson, a onetime baseball player turned down-on-his luck bartender who finds himself chased by an assortment of underworld figures for reasons he can’t quite understand. Based on the 2004 novel by Charlie Huston (who also adapted the screenplay), the story is full of weird incidents and flaky characters portrayed by the likes of Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Regina King and Bad Bunny. In a nod to the presumedly similar “After Hours,” that film’s star Griffin Dunne appears as well, with all signs pointing toward much-needed late-summer fun. — Mark Olsen
‘The Roses’
(Aug. 29)
This remake of the 1989 classic “The War of the Roses” had me at Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch. They play a restaurateur and architect whose marriage swiftly goes south when her career takes off as his stalls. For all her dramatic chops (“The Crown,” “The Lost Daughter”) Colman is a wildly versatile comedic performer, able to infuse pathos with hilarity and vice versa (“Fleabag,” “The Favourite”). Cumberbatch trends drier, but even as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Strange, he glimmered with comedic depths. Add to that director Jay Roach (“Austin Powers”), a supporting cast that includes Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon, Allison Janney and Ncuti Gatwa, as well as a script by Tony McNamara, and “The Roses” promises to be the best evocation of those iconic laughing/crying masks going. — Mary McNamara
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