Summer 2015 Film Guide

Summer Film Guide 2015

\ May 21, 2015

10 min read

Summer Film Guide 2015 — (Robert Maestas)

Summer is here, and that means it’s prime movie-watching season. Hollywood is eager to feed our need for cinema with three whole months’ worth of computer-animated cartoons, ghost stories, dinosaur movies, disaster flicks, romantic comedies and sooo many sequels, remakes and reboots. So what do we have to look forward to this summer? Let’s dive in!

(Note: All opening dates are subject to change.)

May 22

Poltergeist

Producer Steven Spielberg’s popular suburban ghost story from 1982 gets remade for a new generation. Of course it does. Instead of Tobe Hooper ( The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ) in the director’s chair, we’ve got Gil Kenan (who made the cartoon Monster House ).

Tomorrowland

Disney’s popular Tomorrowland exhibit gets turned into a sci-fi adventure about a teen girl who discovers a secret land of unlimited possibility hidden somewhere in time and space. Brad Bird of The Incredibles fame directs while Damon Lindelof of “Lost” fame writes.

May 29

Aloha

Writer-director Cameron Crowe ( Fast Times at Ridgemont High , Jerry Maguire , Almost Famous ) recruits Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, John Krasinski, Bill Murray, Alec Baldwin and Danny McBride for this all-star comedy-drama-romance about a military contractor who returns to Hawaii, only to find himself caught between a long-ago lover and the hard-charging Air Force watchdog assigned to him.

San Andreas

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stars in this ’70s disaster movie throwback in which California is destroyed by a massive earthquake, and it’s up to rescue chopper pilot The Rock to travel across the state to rescue his daughter (Alexandra Daddario from “True Detective”).

June 3

Entourage

The once-popular HBO series about a hot, young actor (Adrian Grenier) and his dudebro pals returns as a feature film. Seems our boy Vince just wants to direct, and it’s up to new studio head Ari (Jeremy Piven) to make it happen. Mark Wahlberg drops by to star as himself.

June 5

Insidious: Chapter 3

This prequel to the popular haunted house series takes us back in time to figure out how gifted psychic Elise (Lin Shaye) got her start in the ghostbusting business.

Love & Mercy

John Cusack and Paul Dano split the role of Brian Wilson in this biopic about the founding of the Beach Boys and their leader’s eventual battle with mental illness.

Spy

Melissa McCarthy is a desk-bound CIA agent who volunteers to become a spy when a deadly arms dealer exposes all the secret agents in the field. Paul Feig ( Bridesmaids, The Heat ) is responsible for all the wacky slapstick that follows.

June 12

Jurassic World

Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park , some idiots are still trying to open that tourist-eating theme park. Chris Pratt ( Guardians of the Galaxy ) is among the people shaking his head and preparing to fight rampaging dinosaurs.

Madame Bovary

Mia Wasikowska ( Alice in Wonderland ) stars in this latest version of Gustave Flaubert’s 1856 novel about a small-town doctor’s wife who engages in extramarital love affairs to advance her social standing.

June 19

Dope

Zoë Kravitz and Forest Whitaker star in this coming-of-age comedy/drama for the “post hip-hop generation.”

Infinitely Polar Bear

A manic-depressive mess of a father (Mark Ruffalo) tries to win back his wife (Zoe Saldana) by taking full responsibility for their two spirited daughters.

Inside Out

Pixar’s newest is a brainy comedy about a girl whose emotions are churned up after she moves to a new home with her parents. The action takes place largely inside her head, where her emotions (Joy, Disgust, Sadness) are personified by the likes of Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling, Bill Hader and Lewis Black (he’s Anger, of course).

June 26

Big Game

A young teenager camping in the woods helps rescue the President of the United States (Samuel L. Jackson) after Air Force One is shot down by terrorists. Hey, it could happen.

Max

In this family adventure, a dog that helped US Marines in Afghanistan returns home to America and is adopted by his handler’s family after suffering a traumatic experience. So … American Sniper , but with a German Shepherd instead of Bradley Cooper.

Ted 2

Mark Wahlberg and his talking teddy bear (writer-director Seth MacFarlane) return for more raunchy hijinks. This time around, Ted and his wife want to have kids, but Ted must first prove his personhood in court. Also, Liam Neeson is here for some reason.

July 1

Magic Mike XXL

Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello and the rest of the gang return to shake their fun-makers in a sequel to the 2012 hit about hot male strippers.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

A teenage filmmaker befriends a classmate with cancer. Based on the young adult novel by Jesse Andrews. Nick Offerman and Connie Britton are on mom and dad duty.

Terminator Genisys

Well, he did say he’d be back. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in the sixth entry (if you count the TV series) in the sci-fi action franchise. This one takes place in a “new timeline” in which Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney from the Divergent series) re-teams with Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke from “Game of Thrones”) and an aging terminator (guess who) to stop Judgment Day from happening.

July 10

Minions

The hilarious yellow blobs from Despicable Me get their own spin-off film. This time they’re following a retro-’60s villainess voiced by Sandra Bullock.

Self/Less

In this sci-fi drama from visionary director Tarsem Singh ( The Cell, Immortals ), a dying billionaire undergoes a radical medical procedure that transfers his consciousness into the body of a healthy, young man. Ryan Reynolds and Ben Kingsley star.

July 17

Ant-Man

The latest Marvel comic to hit movie screens is this high-tech action flick about a low-rent thief (Paul Rudd) recruited to become a diminutive superhero by a mad scientist (Michael Douglas).

Irrational Man

Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix and Parker Posey are among the stars of Woody Allen’s latest effort about a tormented philosophy professor who “finds a will to live when he commits an existential act.”

Mr. Holmes

Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf himself) stars as an aged, retired Sherlock Holmes looking back on his life of crime solving.

Trainwreck

Comedians Amy Schumer and Bill Hader star in the latest comedy from Judd Apatow ( The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up ). Schumer is a commitment-phobic career woman who must face her fears when confronted with the perfect guy.

July 24

Paper Towns

John Green (who wrote the young adult novel/movie hit The Fault in Our Stars ) has another of his books snapped up by Hollywood. In this one, a young man (Nat Wolff, who starred in The Fault in Our Stars ) and his friends embark on a road trip to find the missing girl next door.

Pixels

A group of middle-aged former arcade champions (Adam Sandler, Kevin James and Peter Dinklage) are called upon to save the Earth after invading aliens send old video game characters like Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Centipede to destroy the planet.

Southpaw

A buffed-out Jake Gyllenhaal stars as a washed-up boxer fighting (see what I did there?) to regain custody of his daughter. This hard-hitting drama (see what I did there?) is directed by Antoine Fuqua (who gave us Training Day and The Equalizer ).

July 29

Vacation

Ed Helms ( “The Daily Show”) stars as all-growed-up Rusty Griswold, determeind to redeem his disastrous childhood road trip to Walley World with his Parents (Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo).

July 31

The End of the Tour

Magazine reporter David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) recounts his conversations with author David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) in this drama based on the nonfiction book written by—yes—David Lipsky.

Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation

Tom Cruise offers his fifth outing as one-time TV spy Ethan Hunt. This time around it’s written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie ( The Usual Suspects ).

Aug. 7

Dark Places

Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz and Christina Hendricks star in this mystery thriller about a woman who survived the brutal killing of her family as a child and is now forced to relive the events by a “secret society” obsessed with solving notorious crimes.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

A teen artist living in 1970s San Francisco has an affair with her mother’s boyfriend. Did I mention the boyfriend is Alexander Skarsgård? Based on the novel by Phoebe Gloeckner.

Fantastic Four

Twentieth Century Fox tries to reboot its comic book-based superhero series by casting a bunch of young people and hiring the director who made the “found footage” hit Chronicle .

The Gift

Aussie Joel Edgerton ( Warrior, The Great Gatsby ) writes, directs and stars in this mystery thriller about a young, married couple whose lives are torn apart when an acquaintance from the husband’s past brings “mysterious gifts and a horrifying secret to light.”

Ricki and the Flash

Meryl Streep and her daughter Mamie Gummer star in this comedy-drama about a musician who returns home to make things right with her family after giving up everything for rock-and-roll stardom. It’s written by Diablo Cody ( Juno , Young Adult ) and directed by Jonathan Demme ( Something Wild , The Silence of the Lambs ).

Aug. 14

The Man from U.N.C.L.E .

Henry Cavill ( Man of Steel ) and Armie Hammer ( The Lone Ranger ) star as suave spy duo Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin in this retro-’60s reboot of the classic TV series.

Straight Outta Compton

Ice Cube, Eazy-E and the rest of seminal LA rap band N.W.A get profiled in this musical biopic. Ice Cube’s son stars as Ice Cube.

Ten Thousand Saints

Ethan Hawke, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld and Emily Mortimer star in this dramedy about a teenager from Vermont sent to live with his father in New York’s East Village during the 1980s. Based on the novel by Eleanor Henderson.

Underdogs

This computer-animated cartoon out of Argentina about the players on a foosball table coming to life gets an English dub courtesy of Nicholas Hoult ( Mad Max: Fury Road ), Matthew Morrison (“Glee”) and others.

Aug. 19

Masterminds

From the director of Napoleon Dynamite comes this comic tale of a hapless security guard who organizes a $17 million bank heist. Jason Sudeikis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig and Zach Galifianakis are among the funny cast.

Aug. 21

Hitman: Agent 47

Given that it didn’t exactly kill it at the box office, it seems odd someone would want to reboot 2007’s based-on-a-videogame actioner Hitman . But any other flick would have required Hollywood to think of an original idea … and we all know that ain’t gonna happen.

Sinister 2

Not to be confused with the Insidious series, this horror sequel features a suburban family haunted by ghosts that … huh, I’ve already got it confused with Insidious .

Sleeping with Other People

Jason Sudeikis (“Saturday Night Live”) and Alison Brie (“Community”) star in this romantic comedy about a good-natured womanizer and a serial cheater whose platonic relationship helps reform their wayward ways.