Summer blockbuster season is heating up
Summer offers up an assortment of movie fare
Beyond a rebooted (again) webslinger, this summer is lighter than usual on superhero fare. But as usual there are lively animated movies, some crime stories and a few R-rated ladies-night-out parties. Also in the mix are some sequels, remakes, comedies and an epic escape yarn. Release dates are subject to change:
CARS 3 (JUNE 16)
The pitch: Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) gears up for a new challenge with encouragement from slickster sponsor Mr. Sterling (Canadian Nathan Fillion).
Hit or miss: More animated fun for fans of the anthropomorphic speedy riders.
MY COUSIN RACHEL ( JUNE 16)
The pitch: A naive young Englishman (Sam Claflin) becomes infatuated with his manipulative cousin (Rachel Weisz), which may lead to the loss of his inherited estate.
Hit or miss: Who doesn’t love a good Daphne du Maurier cautionary tale?
BEATRIZ AT DINNER ( JUNE 16)
The pitch: A U.S. billionaire cad (John Lithgow) faces off with a left-wing Mexican immigrant masseuse (Salma Hayek) at a fancy get-together.
Hit or miss: Long live Lithgow doing his impersonation of a disingenuous Donald Trump type.
ROUGH NIGHT (JUNE 16)
The pitch: Five friends, led by Scarlett Johansson, panic in this comedy when a male stripper ends up dead at their bachelorette party
Hit or miss: Hoping for a Hangover minus Mike Tyson vision.
TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT (JUNE 23)
The pitch: More of the same — meaning another special effects clatter and clash of the robot titans once best known as toys.
Hit or miss: The fifth in the Michael Bay series confirms that nothing succeeds like another international success.
THE HERO (JUNE 23)
The pitch: Sam Elliott plays a version of himself in the study of an actor diagnosed with cancer trying to make amends before he goes.
Hit or miss: For loyal Elliott fans.
BABY DRIVER (JUNE 28)
The pitch: Ansel Elgort plays a getaway driver coerced into a job destined to fail. With Jon Hamm, Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx.
Hit or miss: Shifty rock ’n’ roll crime entertainment that might be difficult to resist.
THE BEGUILED (JUNE 30)
The pitch: Based the old Clint Eastwood Civil War thriller, the redo has Colin Farrell playing Eastwood’s wounded Union soldier holed up at a Virginia girls’ school. That’s when things take a turn for the unexpected helped along by Elle Fanning, Nicole Kidman and Kirsten Dunst.
Hit or miss: For her Beguiled efforts, Sofia Coppola picked up a best director award (the second female) at the recent Cannes Film Festival — so there.
THE HOUSE (JUNE 30)
The pitch: Desperate for money, a middle-class couple (Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler) throw together an illegal casino in the basement of their suburban home.
Hit or miss: Consider it a Saturday Night Live skit on steroids.
THE BIG SICK (JUNE 30)
The pitch: Silicon Valley co-star and comic Kumail Nanjiani plays himself in the romantic comedy. The plot is based on his wife’s real-life health scare and the cultural clashes that occur between their families.
Hit or miss: Diversity should rule the funny bone.
DESPICABLE ME 3 (JUNE 30)
The pitch: Gru (Steve Carell) discovers long-lost brother Dru (also voiced by Carell) as new villain Balthazar Bratt (South Park’s Trey Parker) tries to overshadow Minions everywhere.
Hit or miss: Surrender to the cute.
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING ( JULY 7)
The pitch: Tom Holland impressed with his Spider-Man introduction in Captain America: Civil War. Now he’s a standalone with able assistance from Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.)
Hit or miss: Spidey’s slinging for the fences.
A GHOST STORY (JULY 7)
The pitch: Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara play a couple getting by in a secluded home when spooky things start going bump in the night.
Hit or miss: Most enjoy a good “Boo!”
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (JULY 14)
The pitch: As special effects get better, the story veers as Caesar (Andy Serkis) is on a path of revenge. Hit or miss: The appeal continues.
VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS ( JULY 21)
The pitch: Based on the French sci-fi comic series Valérian and Laureline, the film version stars Dane DeHaan as Valerian and Cara Delevingne as Laureline. They are operatives trying save the City of a Thousand Planets, and the universe, from a dark force.
Hit or miss: Director Luc Besson happily returns to sci-fi fantasy after the success of 1997’s The Fifth Element.
DUNKIRK (JULY 21)
The pitch: Christopher Nolan goes from the Dark Knight superhero genre to war reenacting. He frames the massive Second World War beach evacuation of Allied forces (including Canadians, but minus Americans, whose country hadn’t yet entered the war) from France to England.
Hit or miss: Harrowing yet likely triumphant in the retelling.
GIRLS TRIP (JULY 21)
The pitch: Four longtime friends reunite in New Orleans for party 2.0. With Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith.
Hit or miss: This is the essence of good times.
ATOMIC BLONDE (JULY 28)
The pitch: Charlize Theron gets her punk spy on in the action flick based on a graphic novel.
Hit or miss: Going undercover with Theron — it sounds intriguing.
AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH IS POWER ( JULY 28)
The pitch: Al Gore’s back after a decade of climate change denial. Hit or miss: The truth is out there.
THE DARK TOWER (AUG. 4)
The pitch: Stephen King’s horror fantasy makes it to the big screen with Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey surrounded by fancy scare tactics.
Hit or miss: How can it miss?
DETROIT (AUG. 4)
The pitch: Oscar-honoured Hurt Locker filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow reimagines the 1967 black day in July when the city exploded into a devastating and destructive riot.
Hit or miss: Either way, the past is worth remembering, not repeating.
THE GLASS CASTLE ( AUG. 11)
The pitch: Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson and Naomi Watts star in the study of a dysfunctional family.
Hit or miss: A daring profile is worth the effort.
THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD ( AUG. 18)
The pitch: Bodyguard Ryan Reynolds tries to protect hitman Samuel L. Jackson from villain Gary Oldman. And it’s a comedy.
Hit or miss: The scenery chewing should be irresistibly delicious.
LOGAN LUCKY (AUG. 18)
The pitch: Channing Tatum and Adam Driver plan a robbery during a NASCAR race in Steven Soderbergh’s back-from-retirement heist flick.
Hit or miss: A flick with a wide demographic should take the checkered flag.