Ring in summer with this year’s blockbusters
As finals approach, here are the best movies to celebrate once they’re all over.
By SAMMY BOVITZ
As the school year draws to a close and the first rays of summer sun appear over McCarthy Quad, eyes can’t help but drift toward movie theaters back home. While the academic calendar may be ending, the season of blockbusters hasn’t even started yet. Below are a few of the most anticipated films that will hit theaters this summer.
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”
George Miller’s brilliant “Mad Max” films have thoroughly earned their status as “blockbusters,” and the latest film in the franchise is imminent. It’s been nearly 10 years since “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015), the series’s award-winning opus, and this new entry serves as a prequel to that story. Anya Taylor-Joy will star as a younger version of the titular character, played by Charlize Theron in “Fury Road,” and is joined by “Thor” star Chris Hemsworth on this new adventure.
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Don’t mistake this for just another blockbuster: “Furiosa” is scheduled to premiere at the iconic Cannes Film Festival before releasing in theaters. An extended action sequence in this ambitious new project took 78 days and nearly 200 stunt workers to shoot.
For her part, Taylor-Joy called the film a “story of relentless hope” before screening some early footage at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, which Variety described as a “sonic and visual onslaught of fire, metal, chainmail, war paint, crushed bones and bloodsoaked revenge.”
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” arrives in theaters May 24.
“A Quiet Place: Day One”
If there was ever a fan of prequels to critically-acclaimed blockbuster franchises, this is the summer for them. Six years after the debut of John Krasinki’s “A Quiet Place” (2018), writer-director Michael Sarnoski is tackling a feature-length answer to an unanswered question about the series: What happened, exactly, when the entire world was forced to go silent?
Lupita Nyong’o and “Stranger Things” breakout star Joseph Quinn will lead the ensemble in this new film, which Krasinski returned to co-write. Set in New York City, the film will follow the first day of this sound-sensitive alien invasion as Nyong’o and her allies struggle to survive. This prequel seems to be a bit louder than usual, however, to fit the scale of this spinoff. Nyong’o teased that the prequel’s story will be “bigger and more terrifying than ever before.”
“A Quiet Place: Day One” creeps into theaters June 28.
“Twisters”
Moving on from prequels to sequels, the follow-up to “Twister” (1996) has enough star power and intrigue to propel it to the top of moviegoers’ watchlists. Helming the new disaster film is “Minari” (2020) director Lee Isaac Chung, who brings his Oscar-nominated chops from immigrant drama into the world of blockbusters.
While this doesn’t always work out well — just ask Chloé Zhao about “Eternals” (2021) — Chung has the assistance of a top-notch creative team, from “The Revenant” (2015) screenwriter Mark Smith to the legendary Steven Spielberg as an executive producer.
The cast of the upcoming thriller is nothing to sneeze at, either. Glen Powell of “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022) and “Anyone But You” (2023) will team up with “Normal People” star Daisy Edgar-Jones — not to mention David Corenswet, who is set to join this ensemble before starring in next year’s “Superman” reboot. Powell promoted the film in April with an ominous yet promising pun: “Get ready to be blown away.”
“Twisters” swirls its way to theaters July 19.
“Deadpool & Wolverine”
The only Marvel movie of the year is a doozy. After a duo of films with 20th Century Studios and a minefield of Wolverine-related jokes, the “merc with a mouth” is finally teaming up with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in Marvel Studios’ first R-rated feature.
But the titular characters aren’t the only stars in this action comedy. Matthew Macfadyen (“Succession”) and Emma Corrin (“The Crown”) are bringing their Emmy-nominated acting chops to the chaos, and in a move that startled Marvel fans, Jennifer Garner is returning as antiheroine Elektra for the first time since 2005.
Despite numerous reports of “superhero fatigue,” this fan-favorite duo (and their very famous friends) might be the one to break the genre’s slump. Views for the Super Bowl teaser broke a 24-hour viewership record previously held by “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021), whose ensuing box-office returns were historic.
“Deadpool & Wolverine” will release July 26.
“Borderlands”
The upcoming adaptation of the massively popular video game series from Gearbox Software is the latest to get the big-budget treatment from Hollywood, and it’s got everything it needs to make a splash at the box office.
The cast is shockingly star-studded, including Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Jamie Lee Curtis, “Barbie” (2023) breakout Ariana Greenblatt, and comedic titans Kevin Hart and Jack Black. Eli Roth, creator of subversive films like surprise hit “Thanksgiving” (2023), is directing and co-writing this ambitious entry in this new wave of video game adaptations.
Still, there may be trouble afoot. Craig Mazin, who was reported to be co-writing the script fresh off of his sparkling adaptation of “The Last of Us” (2023), pulled his credit from the film. He was replaced by “Joe Crombie,” who some speculated was a pseudonym for Mazin, which he subsequently denied. The project also underwent reshoots in early 2023 after wrapping principal photography in 2021. Regardless, it remains to be seen how this particular blockbuster will pan out.
“Borderlands” makes its way to the big screen Aug. 9.
