Cast: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Jason Momoa, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, John Cena, Jason Statham, Sung Kang, Scott Eastwood, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, Brie Larson, Rita Moreno

Director: Louis Leterrier

“Ride or die” is the tagline for 10th film in the flagship Fast & Furious franchise. In Fast X, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) must protect his family and crew from Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa), the son of drug lord Hernan Reyes, who is seeking vengeance for his father’s death in 2011's Fast Five and who has teamed up with Cipher (Charlize Theron).

Since this is the first of a planned two-part finale to the main Fast & Furious franchise, expect the stakes to be high, sacrifices to be made, and lots of over-the-top car-racing sequences. We love that Rita Moreno is on board as Dom’s grandmother, a much-needed grounding presence in this chaotic franchise. [Robert B. DeSalvo]

Cast: Halle Bailey, Melissa McCarthy, Jonah Hauer-King, Javier Bardem, Daveed Diggs (as the voice of Sebastian), Awkwafina (as the voice of Scuttle). And Jacob Tremblay (as the voice of Flounder)

Director: Rob Marshall

Disney is once again cashing in on the popularity of its beloved animated catalog and serving up a live-action remake no one asked for. This new version of The Little Mermaid will flesh out the story (literally and figuratively) of the original 1989 film, which was itself a loose adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale about a mermaid who falls in love with a man and makes a deal with a sea witch to become human in exchange for her voice.

Disney remakes like this always present a tough balancing act between recreating the iconic moments fans remember and delivering something new and innovative. Each has approached that challenge in a different way, with varying degrees of success. In this case, the unconventional casting of Halle Bailey as the titular sea princess is the most obvious departure, but the film will also have a more feminist perspective on the character’s motivations and a few lyrical tweaks to smooth out some of the consent issues. Whether those changes will improve on the original remains to be seen. [Cindy White]

Cast: Bert Kreischer, Mark Hamill, Jimmy Tatro, Jessica Gabor

Director: Peter Atencio

The Machine operates on a frequency that you’re either attuned to, or you’re really, really not, which will make for an interesting box office experiment: it could take off and pull in massive numbers like the first Hangover movie, or it could sputter out in its first weekend.

Your enjoyment of the film is going to depend solely on your tolerance for star Bert Kreischer’s particular brand of humor. This is the man whom Rolling Stone named the hardest-partying college student at the hardest-partying school in the country in 1997; this is the man who always performs shirtless, just because he can; and this is the man recounting for you, the audience, the true story of how he and his father got kidnapped by some people he’d pissed off as a seventh-year senior in college while studying abroad in Russia.

It’s a story Kreischer has told before, in his viral 2016 stand-up special of the same name. But now, in the movie version, Kreischer is joined by Mark Hamill as his father and Jimmy Tatro as a younger version of himself. Hamill is always a delight, and Tatro proved himself a surprisingly versatile actor in Netflix’s American Vandal, so even if the story isn’t quite your speed, you might still find something of worth in the performances. [Jen Lennon]

Cast: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Jake Johnson, Issa Rae, Daniel Kaluuya, Oscar Isaac

Directors: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson

In Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is once again trying to stop a potentially world-ending threat. It’s a situation he’s found himself in before, in 2018’s Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. This time, he’s facing off against the Spot (Jason Schwartzman), a supervillain that can travel to different universes via the interdimensional portals that appear as “spots” on his body. And while Morales has backup from some familiar faces, including Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) and Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), there are plenty of new Spider-beings from alternate universes, too. New faces include Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099, Daniel Kaluuya as Hobie Brown/Spider-Punk, and Issa Rae as Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman.

Across The Spider-Verse is one of surprisingly few films aimed at younger audiences to get a theatrical release this summer, so it’s sure to be a hit with families. But Into The Spider-Verse built up some serious goodwill with general audiences, too, so this could be one of the biggest hits of the summer. [Jen Lennon]

Cast: Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, Vivien Lyra Blair, Marin Ireland

Director: Rob Savage

Based on a 1973 short story by Stephen King, The Boogeyman is about a high school student named Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) and her younger sister, Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair), who are trying to adjust after the death of their mother. When the girls’ father, a therapist (Chris Messina), gets an unexpected house visit from a troubled patient, a terrifying entity that preys on others’ suffering hitches along for the ride.

The Boogeyman was originally planned to debut on Hulu sometime in 2023, but after a favorable test screening in December 2022, the decision was made to release the horror movie in theaters to scare up some summer box office dollars. Summer is not the best season for scary movies, but maybe The Boogeyman can offer counterprogramming for those feeling superhero fatigue and acute sequelitis. [Robert B. DeSalvo]

Cast: Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Luna Lauren Vélez, Tobe Nwigwe

Director: Steven Caple Jr.

Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts is the seventh installment in the Transformers franchise and a stand-alone sequel to 2018’s Bumblebee. Set in 1994, Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts is about a pair of Brooklyn-based archaeologists who get tangled up in an ancient Autobots conflict involving Transformers such as Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons.

Audiences enjoyed the flashback to the 1980s that Bumblebee provided, so we’re hoping that Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts will do the same for those feeling nostalgic about the 1990s. Transformers director Michael Bay is back as one of the producers, with Creed II director Steven Caple Jr. at the helm. The biggest stars of this sequel are not the human actors but the voices behind the Transformers: Ron Perlman is Optimus Primal, Peter Dinklage is Scourge, Pete Davidson is Mirage, and recent Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh is Airazor. [Robert B. DeSalvo]

Cast: Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Will Forte, Isla Fisher, Randall Park, Josh Gad

Director: Josh Greenbaum

Fans of R-rated free-for-alls like Ted and Sausage Party look to be the target audience for Strays, a combo live-action CGI comedy that, if the trailer is any indication, is going to be hilarious nightmare fuel for dog owners everywhere.

Strays features a top-notch voice cast that includes Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, and Will Forte, which suggests some serious ad-libbing in the VO booth that could up the laugh quotient even more. Ferrell stars as a hopelessly optimistic Border terrier whose dirtbag owner, Doug (Forte), abandons him. When he meets a human-hating Boston terrier (Foxx), they embark on a journey to find Doug and extract the specific kind of revenge that could turn a man into a soprano.

Isla Fisher and Randall Park play two other anthropomorphized, wise-cracking dogs under the direction of Josh Greenbaum, whose last film was the delightful Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar. Hopefully the film won’t generate 100 percent of its laughs via dogs dropping F-bombs and there will also be some clever comedy and even some heart. Then again, if not, then dogs dropping F-bombs might be enough. [Mark Keizer]

Cast: Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Ronnie del Carmen

Director: Peter Sohn

The days when every Pixar film is a home run are definitely over but the studio’s batting average is still extremely impressive. So we’re burning up to see their new animated achievement, Elemental. The bad news is the film is directed by Peter Sohn, who gave us the not-good Good Dinosaur. The great news is that it sounds like Sohn and company are pushing visual and storytelling boundaries with the film and we’re here for it. The movie is set in Element City, which is populated by anthropomorphized elements of earth, air, water, and fire and who reside in neighborhoods like Fire Town. In Elemental City lives a fire element named Ember and a water element named Wade who must learn to connect despite their differences.

Look for Pixar to fully explore the visual possibilities of living in a city comprised of elements which, it’s fair to say, will probably be dazzling. That should be plenty exciting to distract us as Pixar carts out its go-to themes of finding yourself, embracing your uniqueness, and the power of love. Sohn, whose parents emigrated from Korea in the ’70s, says that landing in the perpetually spinning whirlpool of New York, where many cultures and languages exist in a relatively small area, inspired the film. Sounds like a great jumping-off point for a story, and with the animation guaranteed to be Pixar-fabulous, it’s elementary that Elemental could be a winner. [Mark Keizer]

Cast: Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Ben Affleck, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston, Kiersey Clemons

Director: Andy Muschietti

You won’t find a more troubled film hitting theaters this summer than The Flash. The DC superhero flick had been in development since at least 2014, with four directors departing the project over creative differences before Andy Muschietti (It) took over in 2020. But even finishing the film didn’t put an end to its problems: throughout 2022, star Ezra Miller had several public mental health crises, which led to some disturbing allegations regarding their personal life.

For now, WB seems to be leaning hard into a “pay no attention to the person behind the curtain” strategy regarding Miller, and the truly shocking thing is that it seems to be working. Early buzz for the multiverse-spanning film has been overwhelmingly (almost suspiciously) effusive, and both fans and the press are leaning hard into the excitement about Michael Keaton’s return as Batman over 30 years after he last donned the cape and cowl in Batman Returns. Less exciting is Ben Affleck’s return as a Batman from a different universe, but living in Keaton’s shadow is really the least of the indignities Affleck has suffered while wearing the Batsuit. [Jen Lennon]

Cast: Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody

Director: Wes Anderson

Like many auteur directors, Wes Anderson’s films don’t always make a big impact at the box office, despite their critical acclaim. And even Asteroid City, with its massive ensemble cast full of bankable stars, isn’t going to win the weekend box office when it premieres. That’s because it’s going up against The Flash, which is a much more standard summer blockbuster.

But, even if it doesn’t make a splash at the box office, Asteroid City is giving kinda perfect summer movie vibes. It centers on a junior Stargazer convention taking place in a small desert town in 1955, following the exploits of the kids and their parents as they try to relax and enjoy the environment for a few days. It’s dreamy, a little surreal, and gorgeous: if you’re looking for a movie that actually evokes the feeling of a warm summer night, this is it. [Jen Lennon]

Cast: Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, X Mayo, Dewayne Perkins, Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls, Jay Pharoah, Yvonne Orji

Director: Tim Story

The jumping-off point for this horror-comedy is the trope that the African-American character used to be the first one to die in horror movies of the ’80s and ’90s. In The Blackening, an all-Black group of friends staying at a cabin in the woods is terrorized by a masked killer who demands that they each rank their level of blackness so he knows the correct order in which to kill them.

Directed by Tim Story, the man behind Barbershop and the Ride Along franchise, The Blackening seems to satirize the same horror-movie stereotypes that the first four Scary Movie flicks did ... times 10! The movie’s poster reads—in all caps—“WE CAN’T ALL DIE FIRST.” [Robert B. DeSalvo]

No Hard Feelings

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Matthew Broderick, Laura Benanti, Natalie Morales, Scott MacArthur, Ebon Moss-Bachrach.

Director: Gene Stupnitsky

Step aside, PC police, because the ’90s-era raunchy comedy is back in No Hard Feelings. Jennifer Lawrence stars as a cash-strapped Uber driver about to lose her childhood home when she happens upon an easy-money gig; she’s hired by wealthy parents to seduce their dateless wonder of an introverted, nerdy 19-year-old son before he leaves for college. Turns out her bold promise to “date his brains out” is much harder to fulfill than she thought.

The never-bad Matthew Broderick and the criminally underused Laura Benanti are the parents of the young teen, played by Andrew Barth Feldman. The key ingredient here is Lawrence, who’s never starred in a comedy quite like this, let alone a studio comedy and, we bet, is going to let loose. No Hard Feelings is directed by Gene Stupnitsky who gave us 2019’s pre-teen F-bomb fest Good Boys and started as a writer on NBC’s The Office. We’re getting There’s Something About Mary vibes here or possibly The Hangover, where the shenanigans get increasingly R-rated, frantic, and over-the-top. [Mark Keizer]

Cast: Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Ethann Isidore, Mads Mikkelsen

Director: James Mangold

The fifth and final film in the franchise, Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny is set in 1969 during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Harrison Ford returns as Dr. Indiana Jones, a college professor and archeologist who is none too pleased to find out that the U.S. government has recruited former Nazis to help NASA beat the Russians to the Moon.

Fans who have been following Indiana Jones’ adventures since Raiders Of The Lost Ark are excited to see Ford’s final turn as the character as well as the de-aging effects on the actor seen in the trailer for flashback sequences. When we last saw Indy at the end of Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, he had just gotten married to long-time love Marian Ravenwood (Karen Allen), the mother of his son, Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). Since neither Allen nor LaBeouf are listed in the credits for The Dial Of Destiny—the first Indiana Jones movie not directed by Steven Spielberg—we’re curious what kind of ending is in store for several generations’ favorite whip-cracking adventurer. [Robert B. DeSalvo]

Cast: Patrick Wilson, Ty Simpkins, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, Andrew Astor

Director: Patrick Wilson

Patrick Wilson, who plays Josh Lambert in Insidious, reprises his role and takes the director’s chair for Insidious: The Red Door, the fifth film in the horror franchise. Set 10 years after the events in 2013’s Insidious: Chapter 2, the movie begins with Josh dropping off Dalton (Ty Simpkins) at an idyllic college university. Dalton’s college dreams soon turn nightmarish when evil entities from his past return to terrorize him and his family.

Wilson’s grounded performances in the first two Insidious movies were key to the supernatural franchise’s ongoing success, so we’re curious what he’ll bring to the table as the director of this installment. We’re also happy to see Lin Shaye return as psychic and series regular Elise Rainier, but it’s unclear if she somehow survived her apparent on-screen death many movies ago or if she now only exists as a spiritual presence. Hopefully whatever the explanation is makes sense, as well as the movie’s title, which has had several changes. Most recently it was updated from Insidious: Fear The Dark to Insidious: The Red Door. Aside from the recent naming confusion, this series about another realm known as the Further has remained pretty consistent in terms of scares and quality, so we hope Wilson keeps the spooky franchise on course. [Robert B. DeSalvo]

Cast: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Hayley Atwell, Shea Whigham, Pom Klementieff, Esai Morales, Rob Delaney, Henry Czerny, Cary Elwes

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is the seventh installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise starring Tom Cruise as IMF agent Ethan Hunt and the third entry to be directed by Christopher McQuarrie. The movie was shot back-to-back with Dead Reckoning Part Two in locations such as Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates.

Not much is known about the plot of Dead Reckoning Part One but your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to have as great of a time as you did in the previous Mission: Impossible movies, especially when it comes to the stunts. Brad Bird filmed Cruise hanging off the side of the Burj Khalifa in Ghost Protocol, then McQuarrie had him dangling from a plane taking off in Rogue Nation, so we can’t wait to see what McQuarrie talked one of the biggest stars on the planet into doing this time. From the trailer, it looks as if Cruise does some fighting on top of a moving train, so be sure to appreciate any real stunts during an era when most movie magic is generated via CGI. [Robert B. DeSalvo]

Cast: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, Helen Mirren, Will Ferrell, Michael Cera

Director: Greta Gerwig

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is the first live-action Barbie movie. Not much is known about the plot, but it appears that there is a “Barbie world” in which Margot Robbie plays Barbie and Ryan Gosling plays her boyfriend, Ken. There are also different iterations of both characters, such as Simu Liu playing another Ken and Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie (i.e., the doll that gets her hair chopped off and face scribbled on by kids).

We expect lots of dancing, music, and PINK (in all caps) as those in the Barbie world try to come to terms with the idea of the “real world” beyond them. The most exciting aspect about Barbie is that it’s probably not going to be anything like people expect ... personally, we’re hoping for “playfully demented.” The movie received a PG-13 rating, which means it’s aiming for a broader audience than the usual age range of children who play with the actual Mattel dolls. [Robert B. DeSalvo]

Director: Christopher Nolan

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Matthew Modine, Alden Ehrenreich, and Gary Oldman.

Yes, yes, we know that Christopher Nolan’s latest film, Oppenheimer, about the creation and detonation of the world’s first atomic bomb, is going up against Greta Gerwig’s plastic fantastic toy story, Barbie, on July 21. Hilarious. But please remember to get excited about Nolan’s newest, which is based on the work of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Director of the Los Alamos Laboratory during the Manhattan Project who was later christened “the father of the atomic bomb.” Cillian Murphy plays the title theoretical physicist and he’s backed by a cast as stacked as Wes Anderson’s summer entry, Asteroid City.

Ever the craftsman, Nolan shot part of the film in black-and-white using IMAX cameras, a first for the large format. Even more impressive, he recreated the very first nuclear detonation—conducted in July, 1945—using all practical effects and no CGI. According to the Dark Knight director, the film isn’t a straight biopic and is filtered through the lens of “time and trying to get the experience of how one person moves through time, and how they process it.” OK, we’re not sure what that means but the film, also written by Nolan, reportedly (and hopefully) tackles Oppenheimer’s crisis of conscious as he creates a weapon so powerful that many thought its detonation would literally destroy the world. Oppenheimer is, by far, one of the event films of the summer. Nolan’s 12th feature is bound to be one of big ideas and big visuals and if the emotional stakes feel equally big, we’ll be talking about the film again this awards season. [Mark Keizer]

Cast: Rosario Dawson, Chase Dillon, Owen Wilson, LaKeith Sanfield, Jared Leto, Danny DeVito, Tiffany Haddish, and Jamie Lee Curtis

Director: Justin Simien

Two decades after the mediocre and mostly forgotten adaptation starring Eddie Murphy, Disney is taking another stab at a Haunted Mansion film, based on the iconic theme-park attraction. Director Justin Simien (Dear White People) seems to be taking a much more faithful approach this time around, incorporating thematic and design elements directly from the ride. Fans have already spotted several Easter eggs in the trailer, and that’s just a small taste of what’s in store.

The reboot stars Rosario Dawson as a single mom who moves into the mansion with her son (Chase Dillon) only to find out it’s full of “grim, grinning ghosts.” To get rid of them she enlists a team of specialists, including a priest (Owen Wilson), a historian (Danny DeVito), a psychic (Tiffany Haddish), and a local tour guide with experience in the paranormal (LaKeith Stanfield). Also be on the lookout for some familiar faces in the roles of beloved characters from the attraction, like Jared Leto as The Hatbox Ghost, Winona Ryder as The Black Widow Bride, and newly minted Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis—boy is that fun to say—as Madame Leota. [Cindy White]

Cast: Jason Statham, Wu Jing, Sienna Guillory, Cliff Curtis, Skyler Samuels, Page Kennedy

Director: Ben Wheatley

Jason Statham returns as rescue diver Jonas Taylor in Meg 2: The Trench, the first sequel to the 2018 box office hit The Meg. Not much is known about the plot of Meg 2, but it’s safe to say that another presumed-extinct ancient shark known as a megalodon will surface to terrorize swimmers and those in need of a bigger boat.

British director Ben Wheatley previously directed the dystopian thriller High-Rise and the sci-fi/horror film In The Earth. We’re hoping he can make the megalodon look and move a little less like a video game than it did in the previous movie. Summer isn’t complete without a killer-fish movie, so fingers crossed that Meg 2 has some bite. [Robert B. DeSalvo]

Cast: Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, Brady Noon, Ayo Edibiri

Director: Jeff Rowe

If its title is to be believed, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem has a leg up over nearly every other attempt to bring the superhero team to the big screen. Over and over again, TMNT films have failed to capture the absolute chaos that the Turtles wreak at every turn. But Mutant Mayhem, produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, is proudly leaning into the comics’ anarchic aesthetic.

It also helps that these Turtles are voiced by actual teenagers, which, when coupled with the film’s scribbly, lo-fi art style, lends an air of authenticity to their antics. Plus, a vibes-first hangout movie featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles just sounds cool. [Jen Lennon]

Cast: David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Archie Madekwe, Geri Halliwell Horner, and Djimon Hounsou

Director: Neill Blomkamp

As you can probably guess, Gran Turismo is based on the Sony PlayStation game of the same name, but that’s only part of it. The plot is actually inspired by the true story of Jann Mardenborough, the youngest winner of the GT Academy tournament, which rewards talented players with a chance to drive actual race cars on the professional circuit. Archie Madekwe stars as the young gamer-turned-racer, alongside David Harbour as his trainer and Orlando Bloom as the marketing executive behind it all.

Director Neill Blomkamp (District 9) has been in the video-game-adjacent space before, having helmed a trilogy of short films set in the Halo universe. He was also at one time attached to a Halo feature film, though the project fell apart before getting very far. This will be his biggest undertaking yet, with massive set pieces and “body-vibrating” sound that puts you right in the middle of the track. For fans of motorsports—either virtual or in the real world—this promises to be a pretty thrilling moviegoing experience. [Cindy White]

Cast: Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham, David Dastmalchian, Javier Botet

Director: André Øvredal

The Last Voyage Of The Demeter is a horror film based on “The Captain’s Log” chapter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Those familiar with Dracula know that strange events happen on the Demeter as the merchant ship makes its way from Transylvania to England with the vampire Dracula (Javier Botet) on board. Liam Cunningham plays the ship’s captain, David Dastmalchian plays the Demeter’s first mate, Aisling Franciosi plays a stowaway, and Corey Hawkins plays the doctor Clemens.

Bragi F. Schut wrote the initial screenplay for The Last Voyage Of The Demeter way back in 2002, so the story has had a long journey to the screen. The movie languished in development hell for years with several directors attached before settling on Norwegian helmer André Øvredal, the man behind the cult favorite Trollhunter as well as The Autopsy Of Jane Doe. Here’s hoping he creates the kind of eerie mood on the doomed Demeter that he did with those two films. [Robert B. DeSalvo]

Cast: Xolo Maridueña, Susan Sarandon, Harvey Guillén, George Lopez, Bruna Marquezine, and Raoul Max Trujillo

Director: Angel Manuel Soto

Although the comic-book character known as Blue Beetle goes all the way back to 1939, the version we’ll meet in this film made his first appearance in the pages of the DC universe in 2006. Like in the comics, Jaime Reyes (Cobra Kai’s Xolo Maridueña) is an ordinary young man who stumbles upon an alien artifact called the Scarab and inadvertently bonds with it. The symbiote allows him to summon an armored suit that gives him superpowers. Yes, like that other guy in that other franchise, and also sometimes his arachnid-inspired protege. What’s different, and fun, about Jaime’s situation is that his whole familia gets in on the act.

In the confused mess of which upcoming DC films will belong to which universe, it appears that Blue Beetle may be one of the few DCEU films (which includes most of the Justice League installments up to this point, ending with the upcoming sequel Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom) that could live on in some form in the new DC Universe, as envisioned by current studio heads James Gunn and Peter Safran. It will depend on the appetite for comic-book superheroes on the big screen by late summer, and whether Blue Beetle’s status as a prominent Latino role model outweighs any potential fatigue. [Cindy White]

Cast: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Sonia Ammar and Remo Girone

Director: Antoine Fuqua

If your first reaction upon hearing about The Equalizer 3 was, “wait, there was an Equalizer 2?” you’re not alone. You’re also not alone in loving the 2014 original which allowed Denzel Washington to channel his epically PO’d Man On Fire vibe under the muscular direction of Antoine Fuqua. In fact, E3 (as no one is calling it) is a reteaming of Washington and his Man On Fire costar Dakota Fanning, which already has us excited.

The gist of this threequel has Washington’s Robert McCall retired as a government assassin and coming to terms with the horrible things he’s done during his career while living the good life in Southern Italy. Soon McCall is going up against the Mafia, the low-hanging fruit of Italian villainy, which is only acceptable because it’ll surely lead to numerous scenes of Washington taking out the trash in the most awesome way possible. It’s the best reason to check out The Equalizer 3. According to Fuqua, the film will “reveal a little more about Robert” a character who is probably more interesting the less we know about him. But whatever gets a gun in Robert McCall’s hand works for us. [Mark Keizer]