It’s no secret that the last couple of years have shown a huge resurgence of sequels and prequels.
2016 ushered in a remake of the ’80s cult classic Ghostbusters, live-action versions of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and The Jungle Book and the 10th Star Wars movie.
It seems like every day there is a new film from your childhood that has announced a sequel. Sometimes, though, it’s nice to experience something new at the movie theatre. Luckily for you, we’ve compiled this list of films to keep an eye out for this summer that aren’t based on a book, television show or previous movie.
While the summer equinox doesn’t technically occur until late June, for most college students it’s ‘summer’ the moment our last exam is finished. So, the following list of national movie releases are between the last day of final exams and the first day of the new school year.
May:
Snatched breaks down the door for original screenplay on May 12th, with co-stars Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn playing mother and daughter roles. The day before Schumer and her boyfriend are scheduled to go on an exotic vacation, Schumer’s character, ‘Emily Middleton’ is dumped. Impulsively, she decides to take her meek mother with her instead. This unique R-rated comedy will be Hawn’s first return to the silver screen in 15 years.
June:
It Comes At Night isn’t coming to theaters until June 8, but the hair-raising trailer has already spread expectant murmurs all across the board. However, It Comes At Night is not a standard summer slasher type film. The director of this project, Trey Edward Schultz, forges an entirely new direction with this work, which was largely influenced by his own childhood trauma. Joel Edgerton, the star of the upcoming picture, had a lot to say about the misconceptions of horror to Entertainment Weekly,
“Let’s be honest, horror movies have a bad rap,” said Edgerton. “It’s up to movies like Get Out and It Follows — and this movie, I hope — to [remove] the stigma of what I refer to as the ‘blood porn’ nature of horror. Horror films can be incredibly intelligent.”
Another unique horror film known as 47 Meters Down premieres eight days later. This film does not prey upon fearful memories, but rather on one of the world’s most common phobias: sharks. Mandy Moore and Claire Holt play two sisters who find themselves trapped in the depths of the ocean during a vacation gone wrong. The sisters have less than an hour of air left, and more than a couple of Great White sharks circling as they frantically try to escape with their lives.
June also brings a highly anticipated biopic, All Eyez On Me, which tells the story of the legendary Tupac Shakur. This will be Demetrius Shipp Jr.’s first movie role, as he takes the lead as Tupac. Shipp strikes a remarkable resemblance to the late Tupac, and even has a personal connection to the artist. In 2016, Shipp revealed to XXL Magazine that his father, Demetrius Shipp Sr., actually produced some of Tupac’s early work during his time at Death Row Records. This film, named after Shakur’s final studio album, will be released on Tupac’s birthday, June 16th. Tupac Shakur would have been 46 years old in 2017.
At first glance, Rough Night seems like a female version of The Hangover…until you realize that during the bachelorette party they accidentally kill the stripper. Surprisingly, Scarlett Johansson leads this raunchy comedy, a totally different role from the serious parts she’s played for the last couple of years. The other women featured in the bachelorette weekend are some big names in female comedy, including Kate McKinnon, Zoë Kravitz, Ilana Glazer and Jillian Bell.
If you were concerned about the lack of action movies on the list, Edgar Wright has you covered. Wright, the writer behind quirky action trailblazers like Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World and Hot Fuzz, is releasing his newest project, Baby Driver, on June 28. Ansel Elgort takes the wheel as ‘Baby’, a music-loving getaway driver who tries to leave a life of crime for the girl he loves. Baby finds himself trapped in a crime ring headed by Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx, and when sent on a mission bound to fail, he has to make difficult decisions.
On June 30, two Saturday Night Live giants star side by side in The House. The House focuses on a suburban couple whose teenage daughter has just been accepted to the college of her dreams. Unfortunately for Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler, it is way out of their budget. To support their child’s education, the Johansens decide to open an underground casino with a little help from their neighbors.
Another major standalone horror flick will be released on the same day as The House. The movie, Wish Upon, first begins when an unpopular high-school girl is given a fateful gift from her father. Upon receiving ‘the box’, ‘Clare’ discovers that her newest possession has the ability to make seven of her greatest wishes come true. However, unbeknownst to her, each time one of these wishes is granted, she pays a grave cost. From the same director as Annabelle, Wish Upon just might have the potential to achieve a similar level of blockbuster success.
July
The first major release of July comes in the form of an action film about the Dunkirk evacuation of France during WWII. Former ‘James Bond’ actor Tom Hardy is a soldier in the Allied Forces in this historical movie. According to the movie’s IMDb, this movie was actually filmed on the shores of Dunkirk, France.
Girl’s Trip is currently the top contender for feel-good girl movie of the summer, as four friends reconvene after five years apart to travel to New Orleans for the Essence Festival. During the trip, Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Regina Hall, Kate Walsch and Tiffany Haddish come together to renew their bonds of friendship in the ‘Big Easy’.
Ten years after his first film, Al Gore returns in An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power to discuss how global warming has changed in the last decade. For example, during the trailer, Gore discusses the backlash he received for a scene in his first film, An Inconvenient Truth, where he had proposed that the 9/11 memorial would be flooded due to global warming. Since that movie was released, Hurricane Sandy made that a reality. In this project, former presidential candidate Al Gore re-emphasizes the importance of reducing pollution and saving the planet around us.
August
Fifty years after the Detroit riot of 1957, John Boyega of Star Wars is featured in a historical drama about the event, simply titled Detroit. Kathryn Bigelow is the Academy Award-winning director selected for this project, which fits neatly into her specialized niche of tense, meaningful films.
“Kathryn’s talent is undeniable and I’m really looking forward to collaborating with her on such an important story,” Boyega said via Instagram.
On August 18, Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds team up for the ‘unlikely buddy cop’ type movie we didn’t know we needed, The Hitman’s Bodyguard. The petite Reynolds has been assigned to protect the strapping Jackson after he is called to testify in a major court case, and it does not go as Reynolds had hoped. The two Hollywood stars basically seem to play themselves in this upcoming comedy, much to the pleasure of their respective fans.
Polaroid and Villa Capri are both currently set to release on the 25th of August. More details for both are pending.
If you’re impatiently waiting for your favorite book to play out on the silver screen, or perhaps a live-action film of a childhood favorite, this might be your lucky year. Even if you’re not impatiently waiting for a remake, reboot or prequel/sequel, this summer still has several opportunities to catch a new movie in theaters.
*Film summaries synopsized from move descriptions on IMBd.com
