Find out which upcoming releases we’re most excited to watch this summer, and why we want to see them.
1. American Animals (July 5)
Director: Bart Layton
Cast: Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner, Jared Abrahamson
Millions of dollars are at stake as four disgruntled young men go undercover to rob the Transylvania University’s special collections library. As droopy-eyed protagonist Warren Lipka (Evan Peters) puts it: “Twelve million dollars in rare books, and only one old lady guarding it.”
Why we want to see it: The combination of an oddball cast and an even odder heist location (a library!) could be weird enough to work.
2. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (June 7)
Director: J.A. Bayona
Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeff Goldblum
The second film in a planned trilogy, Fallen Kingdom kicks off after the Jurassic World theme park closes down. Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and boyfriend Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) must defeat a creature called the Indoraptor, during a mission to rescue other dinosaurs.
Why we want to see it: 2015’s Jurassic World broke opening weekend records and became one of the highest-grossing films of all time. Rising director J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage, A Monster Calls) is taking the reins on this one, and he’s always been exciting to watch.
3. Hereditary (June 14)
Director: Ari Aster
Cast: Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff
In what’s being touted as the scariest movie of 2018, reclusive grandmother Ellen dies, leaving her daughter’s family to decode chilling secrets about their ancestry. Director Ari Aster makes his feature film debut.
Why we want to see it: Early critics have already given the supernatural flick a 100 per cent fresh rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, so it looks like good things are in store.
4. Tag (June 14)
Director: Jeff Tomsic
Cast: Jeremy Renner, Ed Helms, Hannibal Buress, Jake Johnson and Jon Hamm
This stranger-than-fiction comedy is based on the real-life story of a group of friends who played a decades-long game of tag. The movie version will see a mishmash of ex-classmates meeting up to defeat one man (Jeremy Renner), who is on a 30-year winning streak.
Why we want to see it: The trailer alone is comedy gold. The cast oozes chemistry, making us believe that they’ve been friends for decades. And it’s always good to see Hamm, with his gravely chiselled face made for drama, in more light-hearted roles.
5. The Incredibles 2 (June 14)
Director: Brad Bird
Cast: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Samuel L. Jackson
Kicking off where 2004’s The Incredibles left off, the Spandex-loving Parr family struggles to maintain normalcy. They discover that they must team up with Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) against a new villain named Screenslaver.
Why we want to see it: It’s been a whopping 16 years since the release of the first Incredibles. To put it into perspective: the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is closing in on 20 film releases in 2018, didn’t even exist when The Incredibles came out. It’s about time fans get a sequel.
6. Ocean’s 8 (June 21)
Director: Gary Ross
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling, Sara Paulson, Helena Bonham Carter, Rihanna
Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) is out on probation, but that doesn’t stop her from rounding up seven women to rob the Met Gala. They’re eying a hefty piece of bling hanging around Daphne Kluger’s (Anne Hathaway) neck, valued at over $100 million (Dh367 million).
Why we want to see it: The cast is everything. Plus, the original Ocean’s 11 is a masterclass in heist films: witty, fast-paced and endlessly re-watchable.
7. Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 5)
Director: Peyton Reed
Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Douglas
Tiny but mighty Avenger Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) returns against superheroine the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly). This sequel to 2015’s Ant-Man takes place after the events of Civil War; Scott Lang is under house arrest, and must find a balance between life as a father and his superhero duties.
Why we want to see it: Rudd is irresistibly funny as Ant-Man. This sequel also marks the 20th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so there’s loads of potential for running jokes and Easter eggs.
8. Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again (July 19)
Director: Ol Parker
Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Cher
In this sequel to 2008’s Mamma Mia!, we skip 10 years into the future. A pregnant Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) discovers more about Donna’s (Meryl Streep) past — including how she met each of Sophie’s dads — when her grandmother, Ruby (Cher), shows up to the villa unexpectedly.
Why we want to see it: One word: Cher. We don’t even care that she’s only four years older than her onscreen daughter Meryl Streep. And similarly to the Incredibles 2, fans have waited a long time — 10 years — for this follow-up.
9. Mission: Impossible — Fallout (July 26)
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill
In the sixth instalment of the action spy franchise, the world is in danger after a mission ends badly, and agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) finds himself up against the CIA as they question his loyalty.
Why we want to see it: We’ll be interested to spot Abu Dhabi on screen, as the film partially shot in the capital. Plus, it’s the first film in the franchise to get a RealD 3D and IMAX 3D release.
10. BlacKkKlansman (August 16)
Director: Spike Lee
Cast: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Topher Grace
Director Spike Lee returns with crime dramedy BlacKkKlansman, the true story of black American detective Ron Stallworth, who in the ‘70s infiltrated a Colorado subdivision of the Ku Klux Klan and became the head of the local chapter.
Why we want to see it: It’s a politically timely film, with its US release date chosen to coincide with the one year anniversary of the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. Get Out filmmaker Jordan Peel is on board as a producer, too.
11. Crazy Rich Asians (August 16)
Director: Jon M. Chu
Cast: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina
Based on the Kevin Kwan’s 2013 novel, Crazy Rich Asians follows Chinese-American economics professor Rachel Chu, who jets off to Singapore with her boyfriend for his best friend’s wedding. There, she finds out her boyfriend has a murky past — and his family is filthy rich.
Why we want to see it: The cast is top notch. We’re seeing a gradual wave of change when it comes the scripts that get greenlit in Hollywood, and the more representation we see on screen, the happier we are.
12. Juliet, Naked (TBD)
Director: Jesse Peretz
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Rose Byrne
Annie (Rose Byrne) is heading nowhere with her boyfriend (Chris O’Dowd), but somehow strikes up a romance with singer-songwriter Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke), who her boyfriend has been an obsessive fan of for years. Based on Nick Hornby’s 2009 eponymous novel.
Why we want to see it: Juliet, Naked was one of our top reads when it came out; the book was laugh-out-loud funny and starkly realistic. It looks like the movie is getting a limited release, so we can only hope it sees the light of day here.
13. Destination Wedding (August 30)
Director: Victor Levin
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder
Two strangers, Frank and Lindsay, bump into each other on their way to their mutual friends’ wedding in California. The two bitter strangers hit it off... eventually.
Why we want to see it: A) It’s a romantic comedy, and B) it stars eternal sweethearts Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder. The nostalgia factor alone has us strapped in.
*Release dates are tentative and subject to change.
