Lingering effects from the Writer’s Guild and Screen Actors Guild strikes still stalk movie theaters, as well as television and streaming production.
However, there are a few bright spots on the summer entertainment horizon.
With the official start of summer traditionally celebrated over the Memorial Day weekend, just weeks away, get ready to enjoy a new crop of film, television and streaming options.
Summer Blockbusters
While summer 2024 doesn’t seem to have any surprising box office behemoths lurking backstage this year, unlike the “Barbenheimer” craze of 2023, there are some films that have promise.
The annual summer movie season has already kicked off with Universal’s Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt action romantic comedy “The Fall Guy” which opened on May 3 and a new installment in the “Apes” series, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” on May 10.
Upcoming releases include:
May 17
“I Saw the TV Glow” offers reality blurred in this thriller when two teenagers (Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine) watch a mysterious late-night television show.
“IF” is a family film about a girl (Cailey Fleming) and her upstairs neighbor (Ryan Reynolds) who can see all the imaginary friends (aka IFs) who have been left behind. “IF” voices include Steve Carell, Emily Blunt, Maya Rudolph, Matt Damon and the late Louis Gossett Jr.
May 24
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is another high-octane Mad Max tale focusing this time on a young Furiosa, played by Anya Taylor-Joy and a warlord named Dementus (Chris Hemsworth).
May 31
“Summer Camp” offers up Diane Keaton, Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard as childhood friends who meet again at a camp reunion.
June 7
“Bad Boys: Ride or Die” stars Will Smith, in his first major movie since slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars. Smith reunites with Martin Lawrence for the fourth installment in the “Bad Boys” franchise, which started in 1995.
“The Watchers” stars Dakota Fanning who plays an artist who gets stranded in a forest in western Ireland where mysterious creatures lurk in the night.
June 14
“Inside Out 2” is a sequel to the Disney film “Inside Out.” Riley is a teenager now and some new emotions are coming onto the scene to join Joy (Amy Poehler) and the gang, including Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser).
June 21
“The Bikeriders” captures the spirit of a Midwestern motorcycle club in the 1960s in this drama inspired by Danny Lyon’s 1967 photo-book about the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.
“Thelma” sees June Squibb on a “Mission: Impossible” style adventure across Los Angeles with Richard Roundtree to try to reclaim her money from a phone scammer in this delightful comedy.
June 28
“Horizon: An American Saga– Chapter I” is Kevin Costner’s two-part Western epic that focuses on the westward expansion during the American Civil War. Chapter II will be released in theaters Aug. 16.
July 19
“Twisters” finds a new band of storm chasers risking life and limb in this standalone sequel to the 1996 blockbuster.
July 26
“Deadpool & Wolverine” may be the one of this summer’s biggest hits. The Merc with a Mouth (Ryan Reynolds) and the previously dead X-Man (Hugh Jackman) find their way to one another at last and into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“Alien: Romulus” is a terrifying new installment in the “Alien” series.
Streaming
May 16
“Bridgerton” Season 3 Part 1 on Netflix. Part 2 will debut June 13. Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin (Luke Newton) take center stage as the duo to watch.
May 23
“The Blue Angels” on Amazon Prime Video. If you’re looking for some “Top Gun” spectacle at the movies there is a new documentary shot with IMAX cameras about the Navy’s Flight Demonstration Squadron that was filmed over a year.
June 7
“Hit Man” on Netflix. Armed with glowing reviews from the fall festivals, Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” stars Glen Powell.
June 28
“A Family Affair” on Netflix. Nicole Kidman, Joey King and Zac Efron star in this film about a mother and daughter, a movie star boss and an unexpected romance with comic consequences.
July 3
“Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” on Netflix. Forty years after Axel Foley crossed jurisdictions to investigate a crime, Eddie Murphy is back for a fourth film, alongside Judge Reinhold and Paul Reiser.
Aug. 9
“The Instigators” on Apple TV+. A comedic heist movie starring Matt Damon, Casey Affleck and Hong Chau.
Aug. 16
“The Union” on Netflix. Halle Berry and Mark Wahlberg are former high school sweethearts turned spies in this action-comedy-romance.
Television
Perhaps the biggest draw in television this summer will be the Paris Olympics with the Olympics Opening Ceremony airing on July 26 on NBC and Peacock.
The games of the 33rd Olympiad will run through Aug. 11. NBC Sports will broadcast the highest number of hours ever for a Summer Olympics, an estimated 243.5 hours of programming.
Paris 2024 will mark the centenary of Paris 1924 and these Olympic Games will be the sixth hosted by France, three in summer and three in winter,
Other summer television highlights include:
June 3
“American Ninja Warrior” on NBC.
June 7
“Daytime Emmy Awards” on CBS.
June 16
“The Tony Awards” on CBS.
July 8
“The Bachelorette” on ABC.
