The 2018 summer movie season is packed with films that include everything from quirky indie titles to cinematic universe events, big-budget franchise sequels, and most importantly a movie about a gigantic prehistoric shark. Since the original Iron Man came out ten years ago, the "summer movie season" has come to encompass the months of May through to August. It's fitting, then, that as the Marvel Cinematic Universe celebrates its tenth anniversary, another MCU movie will shake things up by kicking off Hollywood's summer in the last week of April. Whether that means that Marvel has killed the summer movie season or is simply pushing the envelope further, we leave to your discretionSpeaking of Marvel breaking the mold, the studio did just that in February with Black Panther, giving rise to the first proper cultural phenomenon of 2018 in the process. Avengers: Infinity War will undoubtedly start the "summer" off with a bang too, but it's merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what the film industry will have to offer over the next four months. Yes, superheroes will be big yet again, but there's a whole lot more on the horizon than comic book adaptations and franchise relaunches - assuming that you know where to look.

Per tradition, these films are listed in the order of their theatrical release. That means we leave it to you, the readers, to decide which ones are your most anticipated releases of the Summer 2018 Movie Season. So, with that mind, here is Screen Rant's 2018 Summer Movie Preview - The 20 Films to See.

Avengers: Infinity War (April 27)

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Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk and the rest of the Avengers unite to battle their most powerful enemy yet -- the evil Thanos. On a mission to collect all six Infinity Stones, Thanos plans to use the artifacts to inflict his twisted will on reality. The fate of the planet and existence itself has never been more uncertain as everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment.

If it feels like there was a Marvel Cinematic Universe event only yesterday, that's because Black Panther is still hanging around the top ten at the box office more than two months after its debut. The time has nevertheless come for Infinity War to pit Thanos against the many, many superheroes currently hanging their hat at Marvel Studios. Audiences has spent upwards of a decade becoming emotionally invested in many of these same characters, and the MCU itself has permanently changed the blockbuster landscape over that same time.

Nothing lasts forever though, and those same fans are now bracing themselves for Avengers: Infinity War, knowing that this may be the end of the road for their favorite(s). Of course, the great cinematic universe "experiment" that is the MCU as moviegoers know it isn't over yet, what with Avengers 4 still more than a year out. In the meantime, the day has come to strap in and get ready for a wild ride; the purple man in the floating chair is finally standing up, so you know he means business.

Tully (May 4)

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Marlo, a mother of three, is gifted a night nanny by her brother. Hesitant to the extravagance at first, Marlo comes to form a unique bond with the thoughtful, surprising, and sometimes challenging young nanny named Tully.

It's a far cry from Thanos taking on the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, but the reunion of the team responsible for Young Adult and Juno on Tully is an exciting development in its own right. Director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody have been keeping pretty busy in the seven years since their second collaboration, as of course has Young Adult and Tully star Charlize Theron herself. At the same time, only the latter has really been making big waves with their projects of late.

Reitman's last two films as director (Labor Day and Men, Women & Children) were largely dismissed by critics and general audiences, so Tully stands to serve as a welcome comeback effort for him in particular. The movie has been generating good buzz since it screened at Sundance earlier this year and should offer a nice change of pace from Infinity War, when it arrives a week after. Toss in Mackenzie Davis and this comedic meditation on motherhood might prove to be a winner in more than one way.

Deadpool 2 (May 18)

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Wisecracking mercenary Deadpool battles the evil and powerful Cable and other bad guys to save a boy's life.

Ryan Reynolds' second go-round as The Merc With a Mouth (X-Men Origins: Wolverine who?) was always going to be one of this year's most anticipated comic book film adaptations. However, it's also now the only X-Men movie that audiences will be getting in 2018, what with X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants having both been shuffled back to 2019 for reshoots (heavy ones, in the latter's case). Also, there's that whole Disney buying Fox thing going on right now, too.

Whatever the future holds for Wade Wilson on the big screen, Deadpool 2 is happening now and is bringing Cable, Domino, and even the X-Force into the fold. With all the hullabaloo over Fox's other X-Men properties (see also Gambit), it's easy to forget that the Deadpool sequel also went through some reshoots recently, after having changed directors during pre-production. However the final movie product turns out here, it certainly won't be a simple rehash of the first Deadpool.

Solo: A Star Wars Story (May 25)

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Through a series of daring escapades, young Han Solo meets his future co-pilot Chewbacca and encounters the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian.

Lucasfilm's young Han Solo movie has had one of the stranger journeys from conception to realization of a major tentpole in recent memory. For a long time everything seemed right as rain, with Jump Street and LEGO Movie directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller calling the shots on the film. Then, with literally just a few weeks left in production, the duo stepped down (or were fired, the jury's still out on that one) and Ron Howard took over and seemingly re-filmed a hefty chunk of the movie.

Mysterious creative differences aside, Solo is all finished now and will even debut at the Cannes Film Festival before it begins playing in theaters. Even with all the behind the scenes turmoil, more and more fans are becoming optimistic about this one, what with the trailers showing Alden Ehrenreich settling comfortably into Harrison Ford's iconic boots as the eponymous nerfherder. The trailers further suggest Solo is really embracing its western-in-space premise, which is similarly encouraging.

Hereditary (June 8)

Toni Collette in Hereditary

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When the matriarch of the Graham family passes away, her daughter's family begins to unravel cryptic and terrifying secrets about their ancestry. The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun their sinister fate.

The trailer for Hereditary is one of those great horror movie previews that piles on the freaky imagery, leaving you wanting to know what is even happening and why. Toni Collette stars in the film as a woman who, as the title implies, discovers something messed up about her family's genetic line, following the death of her mother. Whatever the big family secret is, it got audiences at the Sundance and SXSW Film Festivals to heap praise upon Ari Aster's feature-length debut.

A24 is hoping to translate that buzz into commercial success at the box office by positioning Hereditary as counter-programming to the big summer blockbusters. If there's reason for concern though, it's that mainstream audiences and festival attendees tend to want different things from their horror movies. Hereditary might be destined to become a cult film in the vein of The Babadook, It Follows, The Witch, and most recently It Comes at Night, for that reason.

Ocean's 8 (June 8)

Ocean's Eight first look

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Criminal mastermind Debbie Ocean and seven other female thieves try to pull off the heist of the century at New York's annual Met Gala. Their target -- a necklace that's worth more than $150 million.

Gender-swapping franchise reboots/revivals have a muddled track record of box office success, but Ocean's 8 has the potential to be one of the more lucrative additions to the pack. It probably helps that the film isn't a straightforward remake of a popular title that features a female main cast (a la 2016's Ghostbusters), but a spinoff and semi-continuation of the Ocean's movie trilogy from the 2000s. George Clooney's Danny Ocean is even an important plot point in the film, as the trailers have revealed.

Filmmakers Gary Ross and Steven Soderbergh are longtime collaborators and thus far Ross' spinoff appears to be successfully channeling the same tone and style that his friend embraced on the 2000s' Ocean's trilogy. If that and Ocean's 8's A-list cast of women wasn't enough, the film could provide a nice palate cleanser in the midst of the summer blockbuster season. Effects-driven tentpoles are good fun, but sometimes you just want to watch a bunch of Hollywood stars trade quips and steal things.

Bob Parr reading a book to Jack Jack on The Incredibles

Incredibles 2 (June 15)

After years and years of asking, Pixar fans are finally getting the sequel they've been begging for since the mid-2000s. Interestingly enough though, Incredibles 2 won't pick up real time like the Toy Story sequels, nor will it even jump ahead a year like Finding Dory. The sequel gets going mere moments after the ending to the original Incredibles, meaning that audiences will get to explore the immediate fallout of the first movie alongside the members of the Parr family (and, of course, SLJ's Frozone).

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Elastigirl springs into action to save the day, while Mr. Incredible faces his greatest challenge yet -- taking care of the problems of his three children.

Brad Bird has enjoyed success in both live-action and animation since he made The Incredibles in 2004, and even the infamous Tomorrowland was an interesting misfire for the filmmaker. He and the world of superhero cinema have gone through a whole lot over the years, in other words, and it will be fascinating to see how Bird channels that into his Incredibles sequel without a time jump. It's safe to assume that a whole lot of moviegoers will be tuning in to find out the answer to that very question.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (June 22)

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Four years after the destruction of the Jurassic World theme park, Owen Grady and Claire Dearing return to the island of Isla Nublar to save the remaining dinosaurs from a volcano that's about to erupt. They soon encounter terrifying new breeds of gigantic dinos while uncovering a conspiracy that treatens the entire planet.

The force was strong with Jurassic Park nostalgia when Jurassic World hit theaters three years ago, begging the question of how its sequel will fare by comparison. Jurassic World was easily the biggest movie of 2015 until Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out, and buzz around the franchise has significantly cooled since then. It doesn't help that the film was taken to task for it additions to the Jurassic Park mythology, along with its more regressive elements (see Bryce Dallas Howard's infamous high-heels).

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom's trailers haven't inspired a whole lot of positive buzz either, but the film does have a number of factors working in its favor. It not only features an appearance by Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm, but swaps out Colin Trevorrow for acclaimed A Monster Calls helmsman J.A. Bayona as its director. Trevorrow is now confirmed to direct Jurassic World 3 in 2021, but Bayona's scarier-looking installment could help the lucrative franchise to recover some of its goodwill ahead of then.

Under the Silver Lake (June 22)

Under the Silver Lake with Andrew Garfield

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Young and disenchanted Sam meets a mysterious and beautiful woman who's swimming in his building's pool one night. When she suddenly vanishes the next morning, Sam embarks on a surreal quest across Los Angeles to decode the secret behind her disappearance, leading him into the murkiest depths of mystery, scandal and conspiracy.

Making a trippy Noir flick in the vein of The Big Lebowski and Inherent Vice might not be the obvious way to follow up a horror throwback like It Follows, but that's exactly what David Robert Mitchell did. He even roped in Andrew Garfield to play a scraggly young man who becomes an amateur sleuth when his beautiful neighbor mysteriously vanishes. Take a closer look, though, and Under the Silver Lake has more in common with It Follows than might seem obvious.

Both of these movies reflect Mitchell's love for pop culture; It Follows with its classic horror film homages, Under the Silver Lake with its LA setting and shaggy dog detective story (which involves a pop cultural conspiracy). Under the Silver Lake, like Hereditary, is also an attempt at summer movie counter-programming success from A24. However, counter-programming works for a reason, and the film should further allow Mitchell to establish himself as a storyteller with a voice and style all his own.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado (June 29)

Alejandro walking across the desert in Sicario Day of the Soldado

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FBI agent Matt Graver calls on mysterious operative Alejandro Gillick when Mexican drug cartels start to smuggle terrorists across the U.S. border. The war escalates even further when Alejandro kidnaps a top kingpin's daughter to deliberately increase the tensions. When the young girl is seen as collateral damage, the two men will determine her fate as they question everything that they are fighting for.

Denis Villeneuve's grisly border drug crime/thriller Sicario wasn't necessarily begging for a franchise, but that's exactly what it has become. There's even talk of Villeneuve reuniting with series writer Taylor Sheridan for a third film after Soldado (or Sicario 2: Soldado or Sicario: Day of the Soldado or whatever it's being called now) hits theaters this summer. That will largely depend on Sicario 2 matching or exceeding the box office turnout for its predecessor, which itself was more of a cult success.

Villeneuve isn't the only major piece of the Sicario puzzle that isn't coming back for round two. Emily Blunt won't be reprising her role in the sequel, nor will (finally, Oscar-winning) cinematographer Roger Deakins or the late composer Jóhann Jóhannsson be returning behind the camera. At the same time, the sequel recognizes that Benicio del Toro's hitman Alejandro is the true star of the franchise, and it's already managed to channel its predecessor's spirit with its moody and violent trailers.

Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 6)

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Ant-Man joins forces with the Wasp on an urgent new mission to uncover secrets from the past.

After the game-changing success of Black Panther and the MCU-shattering events of Infinity War, an Ant-Man sequel set before Thanos comes to earth seems a little inconsequential. That's also what makes Ant-Man and the Wasp an oddly perfect choice to close out the MCU's run on the big screen this year. A weird adventure featuring oddball supervillains and a return to the acid trip that is the Quantum Realm should offer a welcome change of pace after the heartbreak and heroic sacrifices in Infinity War especially.

That isn't to suggest that Ant-Man and the Wasp is inconsequential in the grand scheme of the MCU. Not only is the film's story described as being directly connected to Infinity War, the Ant-Man sequel is also the first MCU movie co-headlined by a female superhero. It's a nice barrier to shatter through in the same year as the ground-breaking Black Panther, and ahead of the franchise's first solo female superhero vehicle, Captain Marvel, being released in the early goings of 2019.

Sorry to Bother You (July 6)

Tessa Thompson and Lakeith Stanfield in Sorry to Bother You

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In a dystopian not-too-distant future, black telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success and is propelled into a macabre universe.

Unless you've been keeping up on your Sundance Film Festival news, you probably haven't heard of this one yet. You have, however, almost certainly caught its stars Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson somewhere recently, either on television (see Atlanta and Westworld), on the big screen (see Get Out and Thor: Ragnarok), or in a Janelle Monáe music video, in Thompson's case. Both actors are known for their eclectic body of work, and Sorry to Bother You is very much in keeping with that theme.

The feature directorial debut for rapper/filmmaker Boots Riley, Sorry to Bother You is a social satire that has already been applauded for its surreal sensibilities and was nominated for the top dramatic prize at Sundance earlier this year. As with Hereditary, it remains to be seen if Sorry to Bother You can achieve crossover success beyond the indie film scene this summer. Either way, it already looks to join recent films like Dope, Swiss Army Man, and Ingrid Goes West on the list of enjoyably idiosyncratic Sundance breakouts.

Skyscraper (July 13)

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Framed and on the run, a former FBI agent must save his family from a blazing fire in the world's tallest building.

Rampage has only just opened in theaters at the time of writing, yet Dwayne Johnson already has another vehicle on the horizon. Dodgeball and We're the Millers director Rawson Marshall Thurber tries his hand at a different genre with the film, which stars The Rock as a veteran who assesses the security of the newly-finished tallest building in the world. Johnson and Thurber must be pleased with how the movie turned out since they're planning a reunion in 2020 on the thriller Red Notice.

Skyscraper has generated more buzz for Johnson's physics-defying leap on the film's poster than anything else, but it's easy to envision audiences turning out for The Rock's latest slice of summer ham. Not counting Disney's Moana, this is the first time that Johnson has starred in a film that wasn't part of an established IP since Thurber's own Central Intelligence, as it were. This "Die Hard meets The Towering Inferno" thriller will be a good test of the actor's box office mettle, for that very reason.

The Equalizer 2 (July 20)

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A sequel to 2014 film The Equalizer, based on the TV series of the same name.

Denzel Washington has never starred in a sequel before, making his return to The Equalizer franchise an unprecedented move for the Oscar-winner. The film also reunites Washington with director Antoine Fuqua, who has become something of the go-to filmmaker for Washington in recent years. With Training Day, The Equalizer, and The Magnificent Seven remake under their belts now, the Washington/Fuqua team has already proven to be a reliable one when it comes to quality genre movies.

Sony further seems to be hot on The Equalizer 2, having moved its release date up to a prime July spot earlier this year. The sequel shouldn't have much trouble standing out from the competition either; like Soldado, it will be the rare R-rated franchise movie amidst a sea of PG-13 or kid-friendly fare this summer. Add in Pedro Pascal as the mysterious villain (?) who faces off with Washington's justice-seeking vigilante in the film, and Washington/Fuqua appear ready to go four-for-four at the box office with this one.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (July 27)

The Mission: Impossible movies have arguably been better than ever in recent years, yet much of the discussion around Mission: Impossible - Fallout so far has focused less on the film and more on its production. To be fair, that's partly because the movie's plot is still largely under lock and key at the moment. It's also because star Tom Cruise broke his foot during filming, causing production to be extended and inadvertently playing a role in the infamous Justice League "Mustache-gate" of 2017.

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Ethan Hunt and his IMF team find themselves in a race against time after a mission goes wrong.

With those production hurdles behind them, it's now on Cruise and Fallout director Christopher McQuarrie to make it across the finish line in top form. The sixth Mission: Impossible movie is also the first to feature the same director who oversaw a previous installment, meaning it will have to work all the harder to put a fresh and creative spin on the franchise's tried and true tropes. Fallout seems up to the challenge so far and should allow Cruise to gracefully rebound after The Mummy crashed and burned last year.

The Darkest Minds (August 3)

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When teens mysteriously develop powerful new abilities, they are seen as a threat by the government and sent to detainment camps. Sixteen-year-old Ruby soon escapes from her captors and joins other runaways who are seeking a safe haven. Banded together and on the run, they soon combine their collective powers to fight the adults who tried to take away their future.

It may not be an actual X-Men movie, but Fox does have a film about a diverse group of genetically super-powered outsiders battling a corrupt government hitting theaters this summer. With New Mutants and Dark Phoenix no longer arriving this year, The Darkest Minds could scratch that itch that audiences still have for watching "gifted" teenagers battle oppressive authority figures. Having Gwendoline Christie playing its big baddie - a relentless bounty hunter - won't hurt its cause, either.

Now that The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Maze Runner have all finished their runs, the market for YA science-fiction is much less saturated. Darkest Minds doesn't have the hype that those series did at the peak of their popularity, but it does stand out as a more unique and quality addition to the subgenre than other attempted YA franchise starters in recent years. Coupled with its summer launch date, that could be enough to give Darkest Minds a real shot at both critical and financial success.

Disney's Christopher Robin (August 3)

Pooh looking at Christopher Robin in Christopher Robin

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Winnie-the-Pooh and friends reunite with old pal Christopher Robin -- now an adult.

No it's not Ted 3, though the Internet certainly had fun pretending that it was when the first trailer for Christopher Robin dropped. To be fair, the comparison isn't completely out of left field; both this film and Ted are about grown men and their magical talking childhood toy bears. Suffice it to say, Disney's live-action movie is aiming for something more family-friendly and gently whimsical than Seth MacFarlane's raunchy hit comedy about the challenges of growing up in the modern world.

Christopher Robin has also been heavily compared to Hook and with good reason. Disney's Winnie the Pooh sequel similarly revolves around the idea of a famous literature character growing up and having to reconnect with his spirit as a child, in the hopes of becoming a better father and husband. The film is tapping into a different sort of nostalgia than other Disney live-action re-imaginings for that reason, but could make for all the more poignant a piece of storytelling as a result.

Searching (August 3)

John Cho on a FaceTime screen in Searching (2018)

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A desperate father tries to find his missing daughter by hunting for clues on her laptop.

Another Sundance hit hoping to hit it big with a wide audience, Searching is also easily the most structurally experimental of this summer's indie film offerings. Similar to movies like Unfriended before it, Searching has the makings of a familiar genre movie (here, a dramatic/triller), with the twist being that its story is told entirely through modern communication technology. Unlike Unfriended, however, Aneesh Chaganty's directorial debut also features some big name draw power thanks to stars John Cho and Debra Messing.

Whereas most of this summer's Sundance veterans are only getting a limited theatrical release, Searching is expected to screen nationwide and could wind up having a bigger impact at the box office for it. The film has already won a couple of big film festival prizes, and its combination of critical buzz and unique visual style certainly won't hurt its chances of counter-programming success. The August frame has served serious summer movies well in the past (see last year's Wind River, for example) and may yet do the same for Searching.

The Meg (August 10)

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A deep-sea submersible is attacked by a massive creature, previously thought to be extinct, and now lies disabled at the bottom of the deepest trench in the Pacific with its crew trapped inside. With time running out, expert deep-sea rescue diver Jonas Taylor is recruited by a visionary Chinese oceanographer to save the crew from this prehistoric threat.

2016 has The Shallows, last year had 47 Meters Down, and now this summer is getting a "sharkploitation" thriller of its own. Hollywood has been wanting to adapt Steve Alten's Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror since it was published in the late 1990s, and it nearly happened with people like Jan de Bont (Twister) and Eli Roth (Hostel) at different points in the film's development. Somewhat surprisingly, The Meg was ultimately green-lit with National Treasure director Jon Turteltaub at the helm instead.

Jason Statham is headlining The Meg, but there's no question that the eponymous giant prehistoric shark in the movie's real star. As prolific and reliable a draw as The Stath is when it comes to relatively inexpensive B-movies, sticking him in a $150 million summer tentpole like The Meg is something of a gamble by comparison. The film has a strong international ensemble to boost its global appeal for that reason, further improving the odds that it will make for a tasty slice of late summer blockbuster cheese.

Crazy Rich Asians (August 17)

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Rachel Chu is happy to accompany her longtime boyfriend, Nick, to his best friend's wedding in Singapore. She's also surprised to learn that Nick's family is extremely wealthy and he's considered one of the country's most eligible bachelors. Thrust into the spotlight, Rachel must now contend with jealous socialites, quirky relatives and something far, far worse -- Nick's disapproving mother.

A movie with a title like Crazy Rich Asians sells itself and is yet another reason to take notice of Jon M. Chu's adaptation of Kevin Kwan's best-selling satirical novel. With the ongoing discussion and push for greater inclusiveness on both sides of the camera, the time is ripe for this Jane Austen-inspired skewering of the upper class that boasts a predominantly Asian-American and Asian cast, and an Asian-American director. Any film that stars Constance Wu, Michelle Yeoh, and Jimmy O. Yang is doing something right.

If there's reason for concern here, it's that Chu has had limited success outside the realm of Step Up movies and Justin Bieber documentaries as a director. With G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Jem and the Holograms, and Now You See Me 2 under his belt, Chu has proven to be a reliable commercial director but not one who really elevates the films they work on. However, with a great cast and enjoyable source material at his disposal here, Crazy Rich Asians could be the project that bumps Chu up to the next level.

Honorable Mentions

Annabelle Wallis, Jon Hamm, Jake Johnson, Ed Helms, Isla Fisher, and Hannibal Buress in Tag

Tag (June 15) - "So that's what Hawkeye has been up to" jokes aside, this based-on-a-true story action/comedy boasts a talented comedic ensemble to go with its unique premise. Here's to hoping for a Game Night-level surprise success here.

The First Purge (July 4) - The Purge franchise has become increasingly thoughtful with each passing installment, without losing its horror/thriller entertainment value. That trend looks to continue with this quasi-prequel to the original movie.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (July 20) - Ten years after Meryl Streep rocked the box office to the tune of ABBA, a Godfather: Part II-style Mamma Mia prequel/sequel is hitting the scene. That approach is either inspired or too little, too late.

Teen Titans Go! To The Movies (July 27) - Teen Titans Go! the TV series is aimed pretty strictly at kids, but the film version is adding a clever meta element where the Titans head to Hollywood. And did we mention Nicolas Cage is Superman?

BlacKkKlansman (August 10) - Spike Lee is releasing this fascinating docudrama/thriller in time to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Charlottesville. Will it make a big splash or quickly fizzle out the way Detroit did a year before it?

The Happytime Murders (August 17) - If you ever wondered what Who Framed Roger Rabbit would be like with puppets and Melissa McCarthy, well, now it exists. Truth be told, this Henson Company crime/comedy sounds like good fun.

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