This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows a scene from "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga." (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP) This image released by 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios shows Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/Logan in a scene from "Deadpool & Wolverine." (20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios via AP) This image released by Disney/Pixar shows Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler, left, and Anxiety, voiced by Maya Hawke, in a scene from "Inside Out 2." (Disney/Pixar via AP) This image released by Focus Features shows Austin Butler in a scene from "The Bikeriders." (Focus Features via AP) This image released by Sony Pictures shows Will Smith, left, and Martin Lawrence in a scene from Bad Boys: Ride or Die." (Frank Masi/Columbia-Sony Pictures via AP) This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows a scene from "Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1." (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP) This image released by Illumination Entertainment and Universal Studios shows Gru, voiced by Steve Carell, in a scene from "Despicable Me 4." (Illumination Entertainment and Universal Studios via AP) This image released by 20th Century Studios shows a scene from "Alien: Romulus." (20th Century Studios via AP) This image released by Netflix shows Glen Powell in a scene from "Hit Man." (Netflix via AP) This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Freya Allan in a scene from "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes." (20th Century Studios via AP) This image released by Sony Pictures shows Larsen Thompson in a scene from "Tarot" (Slobodan Pikula/Columbia-Sony Pictures via AP) This image released by MUBI shows a scene from "Gasoline Rainbow." (MUBI via AP) This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Cailey Fleming, left, with Blue, voiced by Steve Carell, in a scene from "IF." (Paramount Pictures via AP) This image released by Disney shows Daisy Ridley as Trudy Ederle in a scene from "Young Woman and the Sea." (Vladisav Lepoev/Disney via AP) This image released by Angel Studios shows Terry Chen, left, and Greg Kinnear in a scene from "Sight." (Angel Studios via AP) This image released by Bleecker Street shows Robert De Niro, from left, Bobby Cannavale and William A. Fitzgerald in a scene from "Ezra." (John Baer/Bleecker Street via AP) This image released by Lionsgate shows Bill Skarsgard, left, and FKA twigs in a scene from "The Crow." (Larry Horricks/Lionsgate via AP) This image released by Angel Studios shows Demetrius Grosse in a scene from "Possum Trot." (Angel Studios via AP) This image released by Bleecker Street shows Casey Affleck, left, and Laurence Fishburne in a scene from "Slingshot." (Bleecker Street via AP) This image released by Lionsgate shows, clockwise from bottom left, Kevin Hart, Cate Blanchett, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu and Jamie Lee Curtis in a scene from "Borderlands." (Lionsgate via AP) This image released by Angel Studios shows Nika King in a scene from "Possum Trot." (Angel Studios via AP) This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Joseph Quinn, left, and Lupita Nyong'o in a scene from "A Quiet Place: Day One." (Paramount Pictures via AP) This image released by Illumination Entertainment and Universal Studios shows The Minions in a scene from "Despicable Me 4." (Illumination Entertainment and Universal Studios via AP) This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Kevin Costner in a scene from "Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1." (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP) This image released by Netflix shows Eddie Murphy in "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F." (Netflix via AP) This image released by Disney/Pixar shows, from left, Sadness, voiced by Phyllis Smith, from left, Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler, Disgust, voiced by Liza Lapira, Fear, voiced by Tony Hale and Anger, voiced by Lewis Black in a scene from "Inside Out 2." (Disney/Pixar via AP) This image released by Universal Pictures shows a scene from "Twisters." (Universal Pictures via AP) This image released by Universal Pictures shows Sasha Lane, left, and Glen Powell in a scene from "Twisters." (Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures via AP) This image released by 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios shows Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson in a scene from "Deadpool & Wolverine." (20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios via AP) This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Anya Taylor-Joy in a scene from "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga." (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP) This image released by Focus Features shows Austin Butler in a scene from "The Bikeriders." (Focus Features via AP) This image released by A24 shows Justice Smith, left, and Brigette Lundy-Paine in a scene from "I Saw the TV Glow." (A24 via AP) This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Noa, played by Owen Teague, from left, Freya Allan as Nova, and Raka, played by Peter Macon, in a scene from "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes." (20th Century Studios via AP) This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Isabela Merced in a scene from "Alien: Romulus." (20th Century Studios via AP)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — “ Barbenheimer ” is a hard act to follow.
The summer of 2023 brought a new enthusiasm for moviegoing, with the fortuitous counterprogramming of “Barbie” and “ Oppenheimer,” and surprise hits like “ Sound of Freedom,” helping the season’s box office crack $4 billion for the first time since 2019. But before the industry could take a victory lap, there was another crisis looming with the dual Hollywood strikes, which shuttered most productions for months.
In the fallout, theaters lost big titles like “Mission: Impossible 8” and “Captain America: Brave New World” to 2025. But they gained a gem in Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders” (June 21), about a 1960s Midwestern motorcycle club, as studios moved films around on the summer chessboard. “Deadpool & Wolverine,” once set to kick off the summer season on May 3 like many Marvel movies before it, is now opening July 26, patiently waiting to dominate the summer charts.
The kickoff weekend instead belongs to an original film about a different kind of superhero: The stunt performer. “ The Fall Guy,” starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, is an earnest crowd-pleaser that could jumpstart a season that feels like a throwback, with full-throttle spectacle (“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” “Twisters”), comedies (“Babes”), IMAX wonder (“The Blue Angels”) and even a Kevin Costner Western.
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has seen the highs and lows of summer movies over the decades. This season, he has three very different offerings on the calendar, two are fourth installments in popular franchises — “Beverly Hills Cop” (July 3, Netflix) and “Bad Boys” (June 7, theaters) — and one was planned for streaming but tested so well that it’s getting a theatrical rollout (“Young Woman and the Sea,” May 31).
“People just want to be entertained,” Bruckheimer said. “It really comes down to us to make the right movies that they want to go see.”
“The Bikeriders” could be one of those. It already has stellar reviews from last fall's Telluride Film Festival hailing star turns for Austin Butler and Jodie Comer and was originally planned for December but pushed when it became clear that the strikes weren’t going to resolve in time for a press tour.
“It was kind of like walking on frozen glass for three months,” Nichols said. “I was touring around doing press and trying to build this energy on my own. Let me tell you, it’s not the same as Austin Butler.”
Later in June, after a splashy Cannes debut, Kevin Costner will begin rolling out his two-part Western epic “Horizon: An American Saga,” set during the Civil War. And as always there are a slew of Sundance breakouts peppered throughout the summer, from “I Saw the TV Glow” and “Didi” to “ Thelma ” and “Good One.”
Family films also go into hyperdrive in the summer, capitalizing on long days out of school. This year has plenty, like “The Garfield Movie” and “Despicable Me 4.” But perhaps none has more anticipation behind it than “Inside Out 2” (June 14, theaters), which meets up with Riley as she enters her teenage years as a new group of emotions crash Joy’s party, including Anxiety, Envy, Ennui and Embarrassment.
“That age gives us everything we need and love for a Pixar film,” director Kelsey Mann said.
John Krasinski is also delving into the inner world of children with his ambitious live-action hybrid “IF” (May 17, theaters) about the imaginary friends that get left behind and two humans (Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming) who can still see them.
Audiences seeking the adrenaline rush of horrors and thrillers have an array of options, including “MaXXXine,” the conclusion to Ti West’s accidental Mia Goth trilogy (“X” and “ Pearl ”) that debuts around the fourth of July.
Goth’s aspiring actress has made her way to Hollywood where a killer is stalking Hollywood starlets around the time of the home video boom of the 1980s. “We recreated the sleazy side of Hollywood in a hopefully charming way,” West said. “It’s definitely a pretty wild night at the movies.”
On June 28, audiences can also delve into the beginnings of “A Quiet Place” with a prequel set on “Day One” starring Luptia Nyong’o and “Stranger Things’” Joseph Quinn. Later, Fede Álvarez brings his horror acumen to “Alien: Romulus” (Aug. 16), set between the first two.
M. Night Shyamalan is back as well with a thriller set at a pop concert (“Trap,” Aug. 9) and his daughter, Ishana Night Shyamalan, makes her directorial debut with the spooky, Ireland-set “The Watchers” (June 7) with Dakota Fanning.
“It’s very suspenseful and unexpected,” Ishana said. “And it’s very much built for the experience of being in a theater.”
The streamers have movie stars and spectacle, too, with the festival favorite “Hit Man,” the Anne Hathaway romance “The Idea of You,” Jerry Seinfeld’s starry pop-tart movie “Unfrosted” and a Mark Wahlberg/Halle Berry action comedy “The Union.”
There are even franchises, like “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” in which Eddie Murphy’s Axel Foley reunites with his estranged daughter (Taylour Paige). It also sees the return of Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser and Bronson Pinchot and adds Kevin Bacon and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
“We raised our hand to make sure we got the franchise right and kept the integrity and fun of the original,” Bruckheimer said.
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