Most Anticipated Movies of The Summer
Summer is always an interesting time for movies. Studios usually put their most important and highly anticipated movies into the summer slate in the hopes of maximizing the box office output. Most times, one movie cements itself as the hit of the summer, and another the flop of the summer. With that being said, what movies are anticipated to release this summer, and how are they expected to perform?
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Releasing: June 2
In the sequel to the surprise hit Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse, Sony Pictures Animation will attempt to recapture the magic of one of the most acclaimed animated movies of the past several years. Originally slated to be released in October of 2022, the film was delayed to summer of this year due to production problems. This alone doesn’t mean a movie will turn out poorly, but it can be a sign of a tumultuous production cycle. This compounded with the fact that the directors of the first movie, Rodney Rothman and Peter Ramsey, were replaced by three relatively inexperienced directors has led to some fans of the first movie to be concerned with the direction that the two sequels are headed in. However, it is likely that the movie performs well regardless of its quality, due to the goodwill that the first movie earned among audiences.
Asteroid City
Releasing: June 16
Wes Anderson’s new movie Asteroid City, comes off the heels of his 2021 film, The French Dispatch. Anderson has a cult following of fans, but his films have never been known to be box office smashes, but that may not be the case this time around. The main thing that Asteroid City has going for it in the box office regard is its stellar cast. The movie stars Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston, Willem Dafoe, Tilda Swinton, Hong Chau, and Jeff Goldblum. Calling this an all star cast would be an understatement. The sheer volume of stars in the movie will certainly help Asteroid City in the box office department, and will likely allow Wes Anderson to connect with more general audiences than his previous films have allowed for. It is possible that this becomes his highest grossing movie, surpassing The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Elemental
Releasing: June 16
Disney Pixar’s newest film, Elemental, is slated to hit theaters this summer, following two commercial failures in Lightyear, and Turning Red. Historically, Pixar is a powerhouse at the box office, dominating the family films market; however, in recent years that hasn’t been the case. Elemental marks an impasse for the studio. Elemental could either be a return to form for the studio, or it could continue the troubling trend of the past few years. As for the quality of the movie itself, it definitely has potential. Not much is known about the plot yet other than it will feature characters made of the natural elements of earth. The director, Peter Sohn, has a good track record with Pixar, working on movies like Ratatouille, Monsters University, Wall-E, and The Incredibles.
Barbie
Releasing: July 21
Barbie has a lot going for it. Surging director of Little Women and Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig, is helming the project with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling starring. The rest of the cast is composed of Kate McKinnon, Will Ferrell, Simu Liu, America Ferrera, and Michael Cera. The brand recognition of Barbie compounded with the all star cast are both factors in what tracks to be a smash success for the movie. The one question that has been levied against Barbie is who exactly it is made for. Being traditionally a children’s franchise, some people were surprised when the movie was revealed to have a PG-13 rating. Some people suspect that adults won’t go out in droves for what they perceive to be a kids movie, and kids won’t be allowed to see the movie due to its rating, but this fear is largely overblown. There is a long history of PG-13 movies being smash hits among all ages, and Barbie will likely be a hit with teens. The movie has already become a force on TikTok, receiving several hundreds of thousands of impressions on the app.
Oppenheimer
Releasing: July 21
Releasing the same day as Barbie is its near polar opposite, Christopher Nolan’s newest movie Oppenheimer. The movie follows the man who provided the research and design of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer, portrayed by Cillian Murphy. Starring alongside Murphy is Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Rami Malek, and Jack Quaid. Sporting a mammoth 2 hour 30 minute runtime, some have raised concerns about the movie’s length. Long movies have a rough go of it at theaters, because many audiences are just not willing to spend that much time at the theater. In addition, the longer the movie, the fewer showings are possible in a day, resulting in less sales for theaters. It will likely not be a box office smash, since the genre and length don’t traditionally resonate with general audiences, but will receive heavy praise among film critics, due to Nolan’s resume as well as the actors featured. Overall, Nolan’s Oppenheimer will be a success, just not a mega commercial hit.
