Sure, May has “Aladdin”, “Rocketman”, “Godzilla 2”, “John Wick: Chapter 3” and “Detective Pikachu”. June includes “Toy Story 4”, “The Secret Life of Pets 2”, “Late Night”, “Dark Phoenix” and “Yesterday”. And “Spider-Man: Homecoming 2”, “The Lion King” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” grace the silver screen in July.
But August may actually be the biggest movie month of Summer 2019. According to Box Office Mojo, as of now, there are 17 new wide releases opening in August.
Of course, dates may change (they already have for some of the films I’m about to list). But as of now, these 17 will open within just a few weeks of each other:
“Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” revs-up its engines on Aug. 2. Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham re-team on this “F&F” spinoff, facing off against villain Idris Elba. The weekend’s competition: the live-action “Dora the Explorer” from producer Michael Bay and the long-awaited “New Mutants”, coming out just two months after fellow “X-Men” installment, “Dark Phoenix”.
Right now, there are SIX major movies on Aug. 9. Disney’s “Artemis Fowl”, based on the popular book series, sees the re-teaming of “Murder on the Orient Express” co-stars Josh Gad and Judi Dench. Melissa McCarthy and Tiffany Haddish join forces on the crime film, “The Kitchen”. Greg Kinner and Aldis Hodge lead the sports drama, “Brian Banks”.
There’s also the horror flick “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”, produced by Guillermo del Toro. A24 is gearing up for “Hereditary” director Ari Aster’s follow-up, “Midsommar”. And Richard Linklater and Cate Blanchett collaborate on “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?”
On Wednesday Aug. 14, Warner Bros. is opening the drama “Blinded by the Light”, inspired by the music of Bruce Springsteen. Two days later, Aug. 16, sees TWO animated movies: “The Angry Birds Movie 2” and “PLAYMOBIL”. We’ll see how long this lasts. Joining them are “The Informer” with Rosamund Pike, shark sequel “47 Meters Down: Uncaged” and the R-rated comedy about kids, “Good Boys”, starring Jacob Tremblay.
“Angel Has Fallen”, the third installment in Gerard Butler’s “Olympus” series, and faith-based drama “Overcomer” round-out the month of August on the 23rd.
What are you most looking forward to seeing in August? Let me know on Twitter @LCJReviews.