The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
12 movies everyone will be talking about this summer
Blockbuster season kicks off Friday with ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story.’
What’s that buzz?
Is it the hum of the Millennium Falcon, warming up in “Solo: A Star Wars Story”? Or could it be the insistent, thrumming soundtrack of “Sicario: Day of the Soldado”? Or maybe the beating wings of Evangeline Lilly as the Wasp in “Ant-Man and the Wasp”?
No. It’s the sound of movie fans in passionate conversation about this summer’s lineup of big-screen entertainment. Here’s our guide to the films that are already burning up your Twitter feed — and the ones that will be, in a couple months’ time. (Opening dates and ratings are subject to change.)
‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’
Opens Friday
Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton, Joonas Suotamo.
Set 10 years before the action of the original “Star Wars,” during the ascendancy of the evil Empire and the rebellion against it, this rollicking heist story introduces us to a young Han Solo (Ehrenreich) and his backstory, including relationships with the smooth-talking Lando Calrissian (Glover) and the hirsute Wookiee, Chewbacca (Suotamo). Action and humor is plentiful. But the film, written by father-and son Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan, and directed by Ron Howard, is just as much about relationships as revolution. Rated PG-13
‘Hotel Artemis’
June 8
Starring: Jodie Foster, Sterling K. Brown, Charlie Day, Sofia Boutella, Jeff Goldblum, Jenny Slate, Dave Bautista, Brian Tyree Henry, Zachary Quinto.
Set 10 years from now in a dystopian Los Angeles, the tale of a secret, members-only emergency room that caters to criminals may have the single best cast of the summer. Foster plays the Nurse to Brown’s Waikiki, a bank robber who’s fighting to save the life of his wounded brother (Henry). Not yet rated
‘Ocean’s 8’
June 8
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Helena Bonham Carter, Rihanna, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina.
Bullock heads up the powerhouse cast of this all-female spinoff of the “Ocean’s 11” trilogy, playing Debbie Ocean, the estranged sister of George Clooney’s master con artist, Danny Ocean (who appears to be dead, judging by
the tombstone with his name on it in the trailer). But the durable heist franchise, which targets the Metropolitan Museum of Art this go-round, has always proven itself to be full of surprises, so who knows? Expect cameos by “Ocean’s” veteran Matt Damon, along with a host of real-life models, designers and fashionistas in this crime caper set during the Met’s glitzy annual fundraising gala. Rated PG-13
‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’
June 8
Starring: Fred Rogers. This documentary portrait of the late “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” host by Morgan Neville — director of the Oscar-winning “20 Feet From Stardom” — is racking up accolades. And it comes at a time when many Americans are desperately in need of a reminder of the brand of civility and kindness practiced by the icon of children’s entertainment. Not yet rated
‘Incredibles 2’
June 15
Starring: Voices of Holly Hunter, Craig T. Nelson, Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener, Samuel L. Jackson.
Though 14 years in the making, Brad Bird’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning animated superhero comedy picks up where the 2004 story — which explored what it means to be ordinary and extraordinary — left off. “Supers,” as those with special abilities are known, are still banned, and Elastigirl (Hunter) becomes the public face of a PR campaign to rehabilitate their image. That leaves Mr. Incredible as a reluctant stay-athome dad, tending to his brood of three evermore X-Men-like kids. Rated PG
‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’
June 22
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Justice Smith, Toby Jones.
When the titular dino-centric theme park is threatened by an active volcano, Pratt’s dinosaur researcher/trainer returns to the island to attempt a rescue operation for the prehistoric critters that live there. But when a potential home for the dangerous beasts back on the U.S. mainland isn’t the sanctuary it seemed, the actionadventure movie morphs into something a little more subtle. Rated PG-13
‘Sicario: Day of the Soldado’
June 29
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Isabela Moner.
Was a sequel to “Sicario,” the 2015 drug thriller that ended on a note of delicious open-endedness, really necessary? Probably not, but fans of the darkly cynical Oscar nominee, set on the front lines of a shadow drug war, have been eagerly looking forward to the return of Del Toro’s mysterious Alejandro, the attorney-turnedhitman at the center of the new film. “Day of the Soldado” reunites Alejandro with Brolin’s paramilitary fixer, Matt Graver, until their joint effort to foment a war between rival Mexican cartels falls apart, resulting in a bloody game of cat-andmouse. Rated R
‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’
July 6
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hannah John-Kamen.
Marvel just keeps ‘em coming: In this sequel to the 2015 film about a teenytiny superhero — hugely entertaining, in proportion to its protagonist’s size — Hope Van Dyne, a.k.a. the Wasp (Lilly), joins forces with Rudd’s picnic-pestsize protagonist to rescue her mother (Pfeiffer) from an alternate dimension. Expect a refreshing tonic to the downbeat tone of “Avengers: Infinity War.”
‘Sorry to Bother You’
July 6
Starring: Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, David Cross.
Rapper/producer Boots Riley wrote and directed this comedy in which an African-American telemarketer (Stanfield) rises through the ranks after he discovers that the secret to success is using his “white voice” (provided by Cross). What starts off as an absurdist workplace satire about race gradually becomes, well, a lot more absurd as elements of science
fiction threaten to overwhelm the story. Yet, even at its silliest, the story displays flashes of demented, disturbing brilliance. Not yet rated
‘Eighth Grade’
July 20
Starring: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton.
Actor and stand-up comic Bo Burnham (“The Big Sick”) makes his feature filmmaking debut with this festival charmer about the experiences of an unpopular 15-year-old. As the film’s protagonist, Kayla, Fisher (a newcomer who is mostly known as the voice of Agnes in the “Despicable Me” films) seems poised to break out of cinematic oblivion with her sweetly angsty performance. Not yet rated
‘Mission: Impossible — Fallout’
July 27
Starring: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg.
Christopher McQuarrie seems to have something of a
Tom Cruise fetish going, having written and/or directed multiple star vehicles for the ageless, gravity-defying megastar. And for a director of action movies, what’s not to love? Cruise, who famously injured himself while jumping from one building to another, hauled himself up to complete the shot — on a broken ankle. That footage is in the finished film. Not yet rated
‘BlacKkKlansman’
Aug. 10
Starring: John David Washington, Adam Driver.
Washington (the son of Denzel) plays Ron Stallworth, the real-life African American cop who, in 1979, infiltrated the Colorado Springs Ku Klux Klan simply by picking up the phone and spouting racist garbage. Eventually, Stallworth rose to a leadership position. (When he needed to appear in person, he’d send his partner, Flip Zimmerman, played by Driver.) The latest from Spike Lee is sure to be outrageous. Not yet rated