Everyone loves a good summer blockbuster. In June of 1975, Jaws swept the box office, drawing audiences back to theaters again and again. Movies today often seem to get lost in the fray, but there are always a couple standouts. Last year, we had fan favorites X-Men: Days of Future Past and Guardians of the Galaxy. The 2015 summer line-up looks to offer more of the same, with reboots, sequels, and newcomers. Which one of these films will be the one everyone and their dog goes to see?
Marvel starts off the cinematic summer season on May 1st with Avengers: Age of Ultron. Director Joss Whedon brings his all-star Avengers cast together again in this sequel to the 2012 film. Audiences expect big things from this movie, and Marvel has generated a lot of buzz by revealing big characters and announcing the dates of future superhero installments like Spider-Man and Captain Marvel. AMC theaters are prepared for the hype and are offering Marvel marathons, where fans can watch all the movies in the 24 hours leading up the Avengers: Age of Ultron premiere.
Following on the heels of this action-packed film is the musical comedy sequel everyone has been waiting for. Elizabeth Banks returns to her directorial role in Pitch Perfect 2, bringing the Barden Bellas back to the big screen on May 15th. Picking up the storyline three years from where the 2012 film left off, the Bellas have risen to stardom and perform on stages far larger than the auditoriums in the last go-around. The girls are back with new stunts, new members, and new songs, including another riff-off! The best news of all is that a third installment may be in the works if the sequel does well. Fingers crossed that it can live up to the comedic and musical performances of the original.
Finishing off the May releases is Tomorrowland, directed by Brad Bird and starring George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, and Britt Robertson. So far, the plot for this May 22nd film has been kept secret, but the trailers reveal just enough to make audiences wonder what Disney is up to this time. These snippets offer glimpses of what appears to be a parallel universe closely resembling a Disney theme park.
Taking up the headliner position for June is Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic World, starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. Audiences return to Isla Nublar 22 years after all that transpired in the original Jurassic Park (1993). The dinosaur theme park as John Hammond envisioned it has been in operation for ten years, but an effort to combat declining visitor rates has led to the hazardous creation of a new dinosaur. In typical Jurassic fashion, the Indominus Rex will ultimately wreak havoc on the park and its visitors. Fans eagerly await the technological advances to the park, like the invisible fence, as well as a possible rex versus rex match-up. This installment hits theaters June 12th.
Avengers: Age of Ultron is not the only movie Marvel is rolling out this summer. Comic book fans are astir for the highly anticipated Ant-Man, directed by Peyton Reed and in theaters July 17th. Portraying former criminal Scott Lang, Paul Rudd dawns the infamous super-suit that enables the wearer to shrink in size but increase in strength. Rudd is accompanied by Michael Douglas as the suit’s creator, Dr. Hank Pym. Marvel fans wonder whether there’s a greater plan in the works for the franchise. Could Ant-Man be the beginning of a new league of Avengers?
In Pixels, a 3D action comedy produced by both Sony and Happy Madison Productions, Director Chris Columbus assembles the comedic talents of Kevin James, Adam Sandler, Josh Gad, and Peter Dinklage. Finally, a movie where gamers are the heroes. Trailers reveal an alien invasion of giant 1980s arcade characters like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. The government calls on old-school gamers to stop the extraterrestrial attack. While Sony is taking a risk with a film that’s neither a reboot nor a sequel, the trailer had the most successful debut in the studio’s history. Maybe the future is looking bright for this short film turned major motion picture, which invades theaters July 24th.
To round out this superhero-heavy list of summer flicks, Marvel will release The Fantastic Four reboot directed by Josh Trank. Expect to see a lot of changes from the 2005 film, like a new cast: Miles Teller as Mr. Fantastic, Kate Mara as the Invisible Woman, Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch, and Jamie Bell as the Thing. Other additions include the origin of the scientists’ powers via a teleportation experiment and the Storm siblings’ modern mixed-race family dynamic. With only 10 years separating this reboot from the original, audiences may wonder why Twentieth Century Fox is reopening this comic book world so soon. There are plans for a sequel in 2017 and a possible Fantastic Four and X-Men collaboration. We’ll have to wait till August 7th to make our final judgment.
From the looks of it, Marvel is making the most of this summer, out-playing other studios by putting out three films in one season. But the other newcomers on the list also provide some much-needed excitement and suspense. Could this be the right combo for one of the most successful summer movie calendars since Jaws?
Featured image via Marvel. Avengers: Age of Ultron image via Marvel. Pitch Perfect 2 image via Universal Studios. Jurassic World image via Universal Studios. Pixels image via Columbia Pictures. The Fantastic Four image via Marvel.
