Hollywood is currently enjoying its best box office year since 2019, and July looks poised to keep the party going with blockbuster franchises, like Spider-Man and The Minions, and blockbuster filmmakers, such as Christopher Nolan, heading to theaters in a variety of premium formats. Audiences young, old, and in between will have plenty to choose from, whether they’re more into the light-hearted voyage of the live-action Moana remake, the grueling trials of The Odyssey, or smaller comedies like Gail Daughtry And The Celebrity Sex Pass and I Want Your Sex. There’s even a new Evil Dead movie in our July film preview to sate the horror fanatics who keep the movie industry afloat.
Minions & Monsters (July 1)
Perhaps the strangest and most high-concept of all the franchise stars’ many screen appearances, Minions & Monsters sees the little banana-loving pills go Hollywood (and meet George Lucas). Set in 1920s Tinsel Town, the Minions (director and co-writer Pierre Coffin) use black magic to conjure a Lovecraftian blob named Goomi (Trey Parker), who takes them to Monster Island in search of the perfect star for their upcoming picture.
Evil Dead Burn (July 10)
Canted angles and gallons of red-dyed Karo syrup are back in style in the latest installment of the long-running Evil Dead series. Continuing the Ash-abandoning anthology structure set by 2023’s Evil Dead Rise, Evil Dead Burn puts the Necronomicon in the hands of a new group of unfortunate, soon-to-be-tortured souls. This time, it’s a grieving widow fighting for her life against her possessed in-laws.
Gail Daughtry And The Celebrity Sex Pass (July 10)
David Wain’s first movie in a decade—and first theatrical release since 2014—seems to pick up where They Came Together left off. Co-written by his longtime fellow Statesman Ken Marino, Gail Daughtry And The Celebrity Sex Pass stars Zoey Deutch, looking to use her marital hall pass on one night with Jon Hamm. Joining Gail’s sexcapades are John Slattery, Ben Wang, Fred Melamed, a host of State alumni, and an armed and dangerous “Weird Al” Yankovic.
Moana (July 10)
Less than a decade after the release of the animated original, and two years after its long-awaited sequel, Disney returns to ancient Polynesia with a live-action remake of Moana. Despite the flesh, blood, and CGI, the story remains the same: The chief’s daughter, Moana (Catherine Laga’aia), hits the high seas with a wise-cracking, musclebound demigod, Maui (a returning Dwayne Johnson), to recover an ancient artifact and save her island home.
The Odyssey (July 17)
Christopher Nolan’s latest is also his most classically epic. Based on the classic epic, Homer’s Odyssey, Nolan brings his scale, ambition, and practicality to an IMAX-sized adaptation of Odysseus’ (Matt Damon) decade-long journey home. Along the way, he comes across Sirens and Cyclops, all standing between him and his wife (Anne Hathaway) and son (Tom Holland). The film also stars Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Elliot Page, Jon Bernthal, Mia Goth, Ben Safdie, John Leguizamo, and many more.
The first movie from Danish filmmaker Nicholas Winding Refn since 2016 sees the director still trapped inside a glossy, stylish prison. Her Private Hell stars Sophie Thatcher, who squares off against the neon demons of a futuristic city as she searches for her missing father. Refn’s return also stars Charles Melton, Kristine Froseth, Havana Rose Liu, and Diego Calva.
72 Hours (July 24)
Kevin Hart reteams with his Ride Along director, Tim Story, for the bachelor party comedy 72 Hours. Hart plays a 40-year-old accidentally added to a random group chat of hard-partying 20-somethings (Marcello Hernández, Mason Gooding, Ben Marshall, and Kam Paterson). To prove his youth, he joins them in Miami for a raucous three-day bachelor party. Hilarity, presumably, ensues.
Motor City (July 24)
Reacher‘s Alan Ritchson is John Miller, a working-class bloke living the dream with his girlfriend Sophia (Shailene Woodley), in this near-wordless pulp actioner. But his life comes crashing down after Miller is framed by his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend (Ben Foster), who aims to woo her again with Miller in the clink. After years in prison, Miller hits the streets of ’70s Detroit with one thing on his mind: revenge.
The Dink (July 24)
Happy Gilmore for the tennis world, The Dink stars Jake Johnson as a bitter, washed-up tennis pro, who takes up pickleball after an injury. After he gets too aggro with his elderly playmates, Mary Steenburgen helps him find his serve again. Written by Sean Clements and directed by Josh Greenbaum, the movie brings a host of ringers to the court, including Ed Harris, Ben Stiller, Patton Oswalt, Chloe Fineman, and Chris Parnell.
Sheep In The Box (July 24)
The first of two films from director Hirokazu Kore-eda this year, Sheep In The Box is a sci-fi swerve from the Japanese auteur. The film concerns a married couple who adopt an android son in the likeness of their own dead child. The challenges that come with a robotic offspring pile up as the couple’s engagement with the bot stops them from ever moving on from tragedy.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31)
Five years after cracking the multiverse wide open, Spider-Man: Brand New Day spins a whole new web for our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. After reversing the events of his whole life to save his friends, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) joins the Punisher (Jon Bernthal) to take on the Scorpion (Michael Mando) and win back his friends, MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon). To do so, he’ll get a little help from Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo). Oh, also, there are ninjas.
I Want Your Sex (July 31)
The latest from Gregg Araki turns Cooper Hoffman into Olivia Wilde’s boy toy. Hoffman plays the sexually unfulfilled Elliot, who lands a job with a provocative artist (Olivia Wilde), who hires him to be her sexual plaything. Turns out, that might be illegal. Joining the orgy are Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Johnny Knoxville, Margaret Cho, Roxane Mesquida, Charli xcx, and Daveed Diggs.
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