It's already been a big year for movies released in 2019, but the movies coming out in July 2019 might be the most eclectic and exciting of the bunch. Audiences with a variety of tastes should find something satisfying to watch either in theaters or on Netflix, whether it's an upcoming MCU movie, a horror film, an action-comedy, a solid thriller, or even a live-action Disney remake. Every kind of moviegoer can find something fun to pass the time and beat the heat as they retreat to the movie theater in July.
It will be the height of the summer box office season and the line-up that's being promised to potential audiences will surely not disappoint. Arriving at the beginning of the month is another installment in the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man franchise, Spider-Man: Far From Home, which sees Peter going abroad on a school trip only to be called into action by Nick Fury. By mid-July, action and comedy joining forces for an entertaining ride will be the name of the game when Stuber, starring Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista, premieres. Rounding out the stellar July movie lineup is director Quentin Tarantino's star-studded '60s throwback Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
The July 2019 movie lineup is a promising one, to be sure. Here's a closer look at each of the nine major films coming out in July in theaters and on Netflix.
Spider-Man: Far From Home - July 2
Holland is having one heck of a summer as he follows up an appearance in Avengers: Endgame with a starring role in the final MCU Phase 3 film and his second solo Spider-Man outing, Spider-Man: Far From Home. Far From Home features returning Spider-Man: Homecoming cast members Holland, Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Jacob Batalon, Zendaya, Angourie Rice, Tony Revolori, and Martin Starr, as well as MCU newcomer Jake Gyllenhaal and fellow MCU stars Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders.
Far From Home is set shortly after the events of Endgame and five years after Thanos snapped half of the universe out of existence. With Peter Parker (Holland) safely back home in Queens, he's having a tough time recovering from the loss of his mentor, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) but knows he must continue to help those in need as Spider-Man. However, he's more than happy to put his hero duties on hold and just enjoy a nice, normal school summer trip to Europe with the rest of his classmates.
Things quickly stop going according to plan when creatures known as the Elementals begin wreaking havoc across Europe, leading Nick Fury (Jackson) and his right-hand woman Maria Hill (Smulders) to locate Peter and introduce him to Mysterio (Gyllenhaal), a hero from an alternate universe who has arrived on Peter's Earth to fight the Elementals, but he needs Spidey's help in defeating the Elementals for good.
Midsommar - July 3
Director Ari Aster returns with the sophomore effort Midsommar, which he himself has called "a Wizard of Oz for perverts" and a "break-up movie" (via Vulture), two descriptions that might not immediately jump to mind while watching the trailer for the film. Set for release on July 3, Midsommar harks back to pagan-infused horror of yesteryear, like The Wicker Man, and boasts a stellar cast, including Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Will Poulter, and William Jackson Harper.
Midsommar follows Dani (Pugh), a young woman reeling from the sudden deaths of her parents who is invited to go to rural Sweden - for a midsummer celebration that only happens once every 90 years - with her boyfriend, Christian (Reynor), and his friends, Mark (Poulter) and Josh (Harper). Mark and Josh are none too pleased with Christian for inviting Dani, who Christian had been keen to break up with before her parents died but now feels obligated to stay with her and make sure she's okay.
Dani threatens to rain on the boys' parade shortly after they arrive at the Swedish settlement buried deep in the countryside as it becomes evident to her very quickly that something is afoot with the residents leading the visitors in the midsummer festivities. Traditional midsummer activities like dancing around the maypole devolve into more terrifying rituals that soon expose Dani, Christian, Mark, and Josh to the true intentions of the community as they discover they are forbidden from leaving before the real fun begins.
Stuber - July 12
Arguably the most delightful team-up at the summer box office sees Nanjiani and Bautista joining forces for the action-comedy Stuber. Neither Nanjiani nor Bautista are strangers to dominating the summer box office, especially the summer 2019 box office (Nanjiani lent his voice to an alien character in Men in Black: International and Bautista appeared in Avengers: Endgame), so fans will no doubt love seeing them return in an original film with plenty of thrills to keep them on the edge of their seats.
Stuber, which lands in theaters July 12, follows Stu (Nanjiani), the definition of a mild-mannered man who drives for Uber, and he picks up Vic (Bautista), a gruff L.A. cop who needs Stu to take him to Compton - ASAP. Things take a turn when the criminals Vic is searching for requires him to recruit Stu and get his help driving him around. As Stu gets in deeper on Vic's case, Vic encourages Stu to man up and help him take down the bad guys. Naturally, Stu is innately risk averse, making his adventure with Vic across L.A. an interesting one, to say the least.
Crawl - July 12
Alexandre Aja, the director behind pulpy horror hits like High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes, and Horns returns to cinemas with Crawl on July 12. The buzz around Crawl has been overshadowed by other big July releases, including fellow horror film Midsommar, but it will no doubt be a crowd-pleaser for audiences looking for some old-fashioned thrills and jump scares stemming from horrifying real-world scenarios.
Crawl stars Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper, and it's set in a Florida town as a Category 5 hurricane approaches. While other residents are leaving their homes to seek shelter elsewhere, Haley Keller (Scodelario) is compelled to go to get her father, Dave (Pepper), and drive them both to safety. Haley arrives at Dave's house and has to go looking for him when he doesn't meet her at the door. She makes her way to the basement, where she discovers Dave is bleeding out after what looks like an attack. With the storm bearing down on them with every passing minute and conditions worsening, the danger for Haley and Dave isn't just outside the home - it's inside, too, as Haley discovers a deadly alligator makes its presence known in the basement and tries to hunt the Kellers.
The Farewell - July 12
Rapper Awkwafina has built up a solid résumé in recent years, consisting of supporting roles in films like Crazy Rich Asians, Ocean's 8, and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, all of which have shown off her comedic chops and star quality. In A24's family drama The Farewell, coming to theaters July 12, Awkwafina is given the chance to shine as the lead - and she nails in.
In The Farewell, a deeply personal film inspired by real-life events from writer/director Lulu Wang's life, Awkwafina plays Billi, a Chinese-American woman living with her immediate family in New York. When Billi and the rest of her relatives get the news that their family matriarch, Billi's grandmother, is living with terminal cancer and will soon die, the family comes together and decides to not tell their grandmother the truth. Instead, Billi accompanies her grandmother back to China to visit with relatives during what their grandmother believes is a wedding - an impromptu event the family is staging so they can spend some time with her before she passes.
Point Blank - July 12
The Netflix-Anthony Mackie partnership continues following Mackie's appearance in the Black Mirror season 5 episode "Striking Vipers" with Point Blank. Due to premiere July 12, Point Blank boasts a strong cast - the aforementioned Mackie and fellow MCU alum Frank Grillo, as well as Marcia Gay Harden, Teyonah Parris, and Christian Cooke - and it's being directed by Joe Lynch, whose past credits include Knights of Badassdom, Everly, and Mayhem.
Point Blank follows devoted husband and ER nurse Paul (Mackie), whose pregnant wife (Parris) is kidnapped and held hostage. Paul learns she won't be released back to him until he finds a way to get a career criminal, who's being treated for injuries at the hospital he works at, safely out and into the custody of his wife's kidnappers. As Paul and the criminal make their way across the city, the pair come up against rival gangs and a group of dirty cops (led by Harden's character), all of whom want to get their hands on Paul's charge. Together, the men must fight their way to safety and rescue Paul's wife and unborn child.
Secret Obsession - July 18
Netflix is also delivering a dramatic thriller of a different kind with Secret Obsession, starring Cloverfield's Mike Vogel and Disney Channel alum Brenda Song. Due to arrive on the streaming giant's platform July 18, Secret Obsession follows Jennifer (Song) and Russell (Vogel), a married couple who quickly find themselves in the middle of a very dark, dangerous situation after Jennifer survives a brutal attack at a rest stop.
Jennifer heals from the attack by blocking out any and all recollection of the attack as well as any memories of her past. Russell works with Jennifer to not only re-establish their relationship as a couple but to get Jennifer back to living her old life. Things don't go as smoothly as Russell would have hoped when Detective Page (Dennis Haysbert) arrives on the scene, believing the person who attacked Jennifer is the same person who is responsible for his daughter going missing, and he's hoping to get answers from the memories Jennifer has locked away in her mind.
The Lion King - July 19
Disney's live-action remake of 1994's The Lion King is one of four live-action remakes coming from Disney this year; the other three being Dumbo, Aladdin, and Lady & the Tramp (coming to Disney+ in November). Set to open on July 19, The Lion King boasts a stellar voice cast, including Donald Glover as Simba, Beyoncé as Nala, James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Billy Eichner as Timon, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa, John Oliver as Zazu, John Kani as Rafiki, and Alfre Woodard as Sarabi.
Director Jon Favreau has overseen what looks to be a breathtaking live-action remake of a beloved film from the Disney renaissance of the 1990s, bringing to life all of the animals of the African wilderness with keen attention to detail. Not only does the first Lion King trailer boast an acute realism in its rendering of the story of a young lion prince who must grow up and accept his destiny to be king and remove his tyrant uncle from the throne, but audiences were also treated to new renditions of hit songs that will appear in the film including "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" and "Hakuna Matata."
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood - July 26
Quentin Tarantino's first film in four years (since The Hateful Eight), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, will open on July 26. As is frequently the case with Tarantino's films, Once Upon a Time brings together a truly stellar cast. Included is Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Timothy Olyphant, Margaret Qualley, Dakota Fanning, Al Pacino, Tim Roth, Bruce Dern, Kurt Russell, and so many other famous faces.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood will serve as Tarantino's ode to the late '60s, a time when Hollywood was a microcosm of the sociopolitical changes happening across the world. Aging actor Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) and his longtime stuntman and close friend Cliff Booth (Pitt) don't know what to make of Hollywood in 1969. They're trying to regain the foothold they once had in the industry, and with it, the benefits of fame that foothold brings.
As Rick and Cliff look for work, they brush up against the new generation of actors rising up to claim their spots, most notably the beautiful young actress Sharon Tate (Robbie), Steve McQueen (Damian Lewis), and Bruce Lee (Mike Moh). Cliff manages to also get himself embroiled in the ominous activities of Charlie Manson (Damon Herriman) and his "family". The times are a-changin' but can Rick and Cliff find a way to change with them, too?
