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Summer Movies Preview

By Globe Staff, April 27, 2018

Click on a date or movie to learn more

May 4

Disobedience

Let the Sunshine In

Tully

RBG

May 11

Life of the Party

May 18

Book Club

Deadpool 2

Pope Francis: A Man of His Word

Show Dogs

May 25

First Reformed

On Chesil Beach

Solo: A Star Wars Story

June 1

The Gospel According to André

How to Talk to Girls at Parties

Mountain

The Seagull

June 8

Hotel Artemis

Ocean’s 8

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

June 15

Hearts Beat Loud

Incredibles 2

A Kid Like Jake

Superfly

Tag

June 22

Boundaries

The Catcher Was a Spy

Damsel

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Eating Animals

June 29

Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Uncle Drew

Under the Silver Lake

July 4

The First Purge

July 6

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Leave No Trace

Whitney

July 13

Skyscraper

Sorry to Bother You

July 20

Alita: Battle Angel

Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot

Eighth Grade

The Equalizer 2

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

McQueen

July 27

Blindspotting

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Hot Summer Nights

August 3

Christopher Robin

Far From the Tree

Mile 22

The Spy Who Dumped Me

The Wife

August 10

Nico, 1988

August 17

Crazy Rich Asians

The Happytime Murders

Juliet, Naked

Skate Kitchen

August 24

Papillon

August 31

Kin

Support the Girls

They say there are no good parts for women on the big screen.

They say that movie stars are a thing of the past.

They may be right — generally speaking. But, somewhat unexpectedly, the summer of 2018 looks to be a celebration of great actresses, great acting, and straight-up star power.

Yes, there are the usual sequels, remakes, and reboots, and many of them feature male characters or male stars with major box office clout. Han Solo of “Star Wars” is back in an origin story called “Solo,” with Alden Ehrenreich playing the young Han. (That said, people seem more excited about seeing Donald Glover as young Lando Calrissian.) Tom Cruise will play Ethan Hunt in the 532nd “Mission: Impossible” movie. There will a second “Deadpool” (Ryan Reynolds), another “Equalizer” (Denzel Washington), a new “Superfly” (Trevor Jackson of TV’s “Grown-ish”), and a fifth in the “Jurassic Park” series (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”). Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stars in something called “Skyscraper.” It wouldn’t be summer at the box office without an overdose of testosterone.

This year, though, there’s an incoming tide of counteractive estrogen. Consider “Ocean’s 8,” a spinoff of a sequel of a remake that nevertheless trades in the guys of the earlier heist films for Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, and more. Or “Book Club,” a comedy in which Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen set their literary group on its ear by reading “Fifty Shades of Grey”?

In the upcoming “Tully,” Charlize Theron gives herself yet another makeover to play an exhausted new mother on the brink of collapse. Melissa McCarthy goes back to college in “Life of the Party.” Elle Fanning plays an alien crashing a party in “How to Talk to Girls at Parties,” based on a Neil Gaiman short story and directed by John Cameron Mitchell (“Hedwig and the Angry Inch”). That one also features Nicole Kidman as the rebel Celtic ruler Queen Boadicea.

We’re getting double the Saoirse Ronan, first in “On Chesil Beach,” based on an Ian McEwan novella, and then in an adaptation of Chekhov’s “The Seagull,” costarring Annette Bening, that just conquered the Tribeca Film Festival.

There are movie queens returning to the screen: Jodie Foster as the mysterious proprietor of the “Hotel Artemis,” set in post-apocalypse Los Angeles; Glenn Close gunning for an Oscar in an adaptation of the Meg Wolitzer novel “The Wife,” and Our Royal Majesty herself — Meryl Streep — letting her hair down and raising her voice in “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.” (It’s her very first sequel, for those keeping score.)

In case you’re worrying that summer has become one long class act, know that actresses are anchoring genre projects like the psychological horror film (and SXSW hit) “Hereditary,” starring Toni Collette, or the action-suspense prequel “The First Purge,” toplining Marisa Tomei. Mila Kunis and “Saturday Night Live” cast member Kate McKinnon go undercover in the espionage buddy-comedy “The Spy Who Dumped Me.” Toward the end of the summer, “Crazy Rich Asians” gives Michelle Yeoh (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”), Constance Wu (TV’s “Fresh Off the Boat”), and Gemma Chan (TV’s “Humans”) a chance to play broad mainstream farce.

Nor can you discount the new faces arriving this summer: Elsie Fisher in the coming-of-age indie “Eighth Grade,” Thomasin McKenzie in “Leave No Trace,” and the entire freshly found cast of teenage skater girlz in “Skate Kitchen,” from “The Wolfpack” director Crystal Moselle.

Even the summer’s documentaries are dedicated to women who have stirred things up, past and present: Ruth Bader Ginsburg in “RBG,” Whitney Houston in “Whitney,” and the late proto-punk chanteuse Christa Paffgen in “Nico, 1988.” By contrast, male subjects getting the doc treatment in the coming months include the pope (“Pope Francis: A Man of His Word,” from Wim Wenders) and Mr. Rogers (“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”). Icons of kindness and decency, both of them — but this summer it’s the women who have all the fun.

May 4

Bleecker Street Media

Disobedience

Drama, Romance R 1h 54m

Sebastián Lelio, who won this year’s best foreign language film Oscar, for “A Fantastic Woman,” directed this drama about an unusual love triangle. Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, and Alessandro Nivola star.

Sundance Selects

Let the Sunshine In

Comedy, Drama, Romance 1h 34m

Juliette Binoche plays a Parisian painter who may or may not find romance after her divorce. Claire Denis directed.

Focus Features

Tully

Comedy, Drama R 1h 36m

Director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody, who collaborated on “Juno,” reunite for this comedy-drama about the friendship that forms between a mother of three (Charlize Theron) and her children’s nanny (Mackenzie Davis).

Sundance Institute

RBG

Documentary PG 1h 37m

Betsy West and Julie Cohen directed this documentary about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — whose initials are, that’s right, R.B.G.

Also opening on May 4: Overboard (Review), Little Pink House (Review)

May 11

New Line Cinema

Life of the Party

Comedy PG-13 1h 45m

A middle-aged mother (Melissa McCarthy) returns to college. It’s the same college that her, um, daughter (Molly Gordon) goes to. McCarthy and Ben Falcone wrote the script. Falcone directed.

Also opening on May 11: Breaking In, Lu Over the Wall, Racer and the Jailbird

May 18

Paramount Pictures

Book Club

Comedy

When four friends (Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen) read “Fifty Shades of Grey,” they find it hard to turn the page.

Twentieth Century Fox

Deadpool 2

Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi

Everyone’s favorite foul-mouthed superhero is back. This time Ryan Reynolds’s Wade Wilson/Deadpool is up against Josh Brolin’s Nathan Summers/Cable.

Focus Features

Pope Francis: A Man of His Word

Documentary 1h 36m

Wim Wenders (“Buena Vista Social Club”) directed this documentary about the pontiff.

Global Road Entertainment

Show Dogs

Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Family PG 1h 32m

A Rottweiler (voice of Ludacris) goes undercover at a fancy dog show. Will Arnett and Natasha Lyonne play the two primary humans.

Also opening on May 18: Beast, Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Bye Bye Germany, In the Intense Now (opens May 16)

May 25

A24

First Reformed

Drama, Thriller R 1h 48m

Politics and religion, violence and guilt collide in upstate New York. Ethan Hawke, as a rural pastor, is at their center. Yes, it’s a Paul Schrader movie. He wrote and directed. Amanda Seyfried costars.

Bleecker Street Media

On Chesil Beach

Drama, Romance R 1h 50m

This adaptation of Ian McEwan’s 2007 novella, about a pair of ill-fated newlyweds, stars Saoirse Ronan, Billy Howle, and Emily Watson. Stage and TV veteran Dominic Cooke makes his film-directing debut.

Walt Disney Pictures

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi PG-13 2h 15m

Meet Han Solo’s backstory. Alden Ehrenreich plays him. Donald Glover is the young Lando Calrissian. Also on hand are Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton, and, of course, Chewbacca. Ron Howard directed.

Also opening on May 25: Filmworker

June 1

Magnolia Pictures

The Gospel According to André

Documentary PG-13 1h 34m

That’s André as in André Leon Talley, the one-of-a-kind fashion eminence. Can a documentary win the Oscar for costume design?

A24

How to Talk to Girls at Parties

Comedy, Music, Romance, Sci-Fi R 1h 42m

Extraterrestrial teens in a London suburb in 1977? Spot on, mate. John Cameron Mitchell directed and helped adapt Neil Gaiman’s short story. Elle Fanning and Nicole Kidman star.

Greenwich Entertainment

Mountain

Documentary 1h 14m

Willem Dafoe narrates this visually spectacular look at some of the planet’s tallest peaks.

Sony Pictures Classics

The Seagull

Drama PG-13 1h 38m

Michael Mayer directed this adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s classic play. Annette Bening stars, with Saoirse Ronan, Corey Stoll, and Elisabeth Moss.

Also opening on June 1: Action Point, Adrift

June 8

Global Road Entertainment

Hotel Artemis

Action, Crime, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Jodie Foster runs an exclusive “hospital” in a dystopian LA future. Where’s Rick Deckard when you need him? The intriguingly varied cast also features Sterling K. Brown, Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella, Jeff Goldblum, Zachary Quinto, and Jenny Slate.

Warner Bros.

Ocean’s 8

Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller PG-13

An all-female version joins the caper franchise, with the site of the heist switched from a Vegas casino to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, and Rihanna star.

Focus Features

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Documentary, Biography 2h 10m

Oscar winner Morgan Neville (“20 Feet From Stardom”) directed this documentary about Fred Rogers, the famously cardigan-wearing host of “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

Also opening on June 8: Hereditary, Summer 1993

June 15

Gunpowder & Sky

Hearts Beat Loud

Drama, Music PG-13 1h 37m

Brett Haley (“See You in My Dreams”) directed and co-wrote this drama about a father (Nick Offerman) and daughter (Kiersey Clemons) who become a songwriting team. Also on hand are Ted Danson, Blythe Danner, and Toni Collette.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Incredibles 2

Animation, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi

After a 14-year hiatus, the first family of superhero society is back. Brad Bird again writes, directs, and (yes!) voices Edna Mode. Also returning are Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, and Samuel L. Jackson.

IFC Films

A Kid Like Jake

Drama, Family 1h 32m

Claire Danes (“Homeland”) and Jim Parsons (“The Big Bang Project”) play the parents of a 4-year-old boy who’s begun ignoring gender stereotypes. Octavia Spencer, Priyanka Chopra, and Ann Dowd costar.

Sony Pictures Entertainment

Superfly

Action, Crime, Thriller

Director X of music-video fame, remakes the 1972 blaxploitation classic, “Super Fly” (yup, the original one had a two-word title). Trevor Jackson plays the drug-dealing title character.

Warner Bros.

Tag

Comedy

Not only is this comedy about a nationwide game of Tag. It’s based on a true story. Heading the cast are Ed Helms, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Isla Fisher, and Rashida Jones.

Also opening on June 15: Nancy, The Quest of Alain Ducasse

June 22

Sony Pictures Classics

Boundaries

Comedy, Drama R 1h 44m

Christopher Plummer plays a marijuana dealer (!) who gets thrown out of his Oregon nursing home. His daughter (Vera Farmiga) has to drive him down to Los Angeles, where he’s going to live with her sister.

IFC Films

The Catcher Was a Spy

Biography, Drama, War R 1h 38m

The based-on-fact story of Moe Berg, major league ballplayer (including several seasons catching and coaching for the Red Sox) and World War II espionage agent. Paul Rudd plays Berg. Guy Pearce, Jeff Daniels, Paul Giamatti, Siena Miller, and Connie Nielsen costar.

Sundance Film Festival

Damsel

Comedy, Drama, Western 1h 53m

Robert Pattinson and Mia Wasikowska play an engaged couple. The problem is she’s out West, he’s back East, and it’s the 19th century. What ensues is a very 21st-century updating of the western. David and Nathan Zellner (“Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter”) directed.

Universal Pictures

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi PG-13

A volcano threatens the dinosaurs on Isla Nubar. Returning from “Jurassic World” (2015) are Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, and B.D. Wong. J.A. Bayona (“A Monster Calls”) steps in for Colin Trevorrow as director.

Sundance Selects

Eating Animals

Documentary 1h 34m

Natalie Portman narrates this documentary based on Jonathan Safran Foer’s book about livestock farming and food ethics.

June 29

Columbia Pictures

Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller R

The drug war along the US-Mexican border heats up even more. Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro return from “Sicario” (2015), as does screenwriter Taylor Sheridan. Stefano Sollima replaces Denis Villeneuve as director.

Summit Entertainment

Uncle Drew

Comedy

Those Pepsi Max commercials, with the Celtics’ Kyrie Irving playing an old-guy hoopster? Now they’re a movie, with Irving making his big-screen debut as the title character.

A24

Under the Silver Lake

Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller R 2h 19m

David Robert Mitchell (“It Follows”) wrote and directed this atmospheric neo-noir set in LA. Andrew Garfield, Riley Keough, and Topher Grace head the cast.

July 4

Universal Pictures

The First Purge

Action, Crime, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Fourth of July fireworks come to the multiplex: The three films in the “Purge” series get a prequel. Marisa Tomei stars.

July 6

Marvel Studios

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Even among superheroes, size matters. Paul Rudd returns as the title hero, as does Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man. Evangeline Lilly plays his daughter, Hope. She’s the Wasp.

Bleecker Street Media

Leave No Trace

Drama PG 1h 48m

It’s been eight years since Debra Granik directed “Winter’s Bone.” She returns with this story about a father (Ben Foster) and daughter (Thomasine McKenzie) whose happy existence living off the grid in Oregon runs afoul of the authorities.

Miramax

Whitney

Documentary, Biography, Music

Oscar winner Kevin MacDonald (“One Day in September”) directed this documentary about Whitney Houston.

July 13

Universal Pictures

Skyscraper

Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller

The bad news: Disaster strikes Hong Kong’s tallest building. The good news: Dwayne Johnson is the building’s head of security. Neve Campbell plays his wife.

Annapurna Pictures

Sorry to Bother You

Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi 1h 45m

Boots Riley, in his writing-directing debut, got a lot of attention at Sundance with this look at a comically alternative Oakland, Calif., in which an African-American telemarketer (Lakeith Stanfield) finds that adopting a white voice is the key to success.

Also opening on July 13: Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, Puzzle

July 20

20th Century Fox

Alita: Battle Angel

Action, Adventure, Romance, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Based on a Japanese manga, it’s the story of a lethal cyborg (Rosa Salazar). Expect a wild ride, with a supporting case that includes Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, and Jackie Earle Haley. Robert Rodriguez directed.

Amazon Studios

Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot

Biography, Comedy, Drama R 1h 53m

Gus Van Sant wrote and directed this adaptation of cartoonist John Callahan’s memoir. Joaquin Phoenix plays Callahan. Also on hand are Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, Jack Black, and Carrie Brownstein.

A24

Eighth Grade

Comedy 1h 34m

Hamilton native Bo Burnham wrote and directed this story about a 13-year-old (Elsie Fisher) who faces more than her share of middle-school turmoil. It made a major splash at Sundance.

Columbia Pictures

The Equalizer 2

Action, Crime, Thriller

Denzel Washington returns as justice-dealing Robert McCall. This time the need for justice hits close to home.

Universal Pictures

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

Musical PG-13

Ten years after “Mamma Mia,” a now-pregnant Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) learns about her mother’s past. Playing Mom are Meryl Streep (as she did in the original) and, as her younger self, Lily James.

Bleecker Street Media

McQueen

Documentary 1h 51m

Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui directed this documentary about Alexander McQueen (1969-2010), whose innovative, transgressive designs made him a giant of 21st-century fashion.

July 27

Summit Entertainment

Blindspotting

Comedy, Drama 1h 35m

Two friends, Collin (Daveed Diggs) and Miles (Rafael Casal), work as movers in Oakland, Calif. In three days, Miles’s probation ends. Complications ensue. Diggs and Casal wrote the script, Carlos López Estrada directed. Much attention was paid at Sundance.

Paramount Pictures

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Action, Adventure, Thriller

Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt in the sixth go-round for the franchise. Don’t expect the secretary to disavow any knowledge of this Impossible Missions Force’s activities.

A24

Hot Summer Nights

Drama R 2h

Those nights take place on Cape Cod, as does sex and drug dealing. Starring is Timothée Chalamet (“Call Me by Your Name”).

Also opening on July 27: Generation Wealth, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies

August 3

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Christopher Robin

Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Musical

The title character, whom we know from A.A. Milne’s “Pooh” stories, has grown up and is in a bad way. His animal friends from the books enter the real world to help him out. With Ewan McGregor as Christopher Robin, and Hayley Atwell as his wife.

Sundance Selects

Far From the Tree

Documentary 1h 33m

A documentary adapted from Andrew Solomon’s best-selling study of how much children can differ from their parents.

STX Entertainment

Mile 22

Action, Thriller

Can a veteran US operative (Mark Wahlberg) extract a human asset (John Malkovich) from a dangerous foreign country? Before answering, keep in mind that this is the first movie in a planned trilogy. Peter Berg (“Deepwater Horizon,” “Patriots Day”) directed.

Lionsgate

The Spy Who Dumped Me

Action, Comedy

Audrey gets the heave-ho. What makes this breakup special is that the boyfriend is an espionage operative, Mila Kunis plays Audrey, and Kate McKinnon plays her best friend. Round up the unusual suspects. Directed by Susanna Fogel (“Chasing Life”).

Sony Pictures Classics

The Wife

Drama R 1h 40m

Joe Castleman (Jonathan Pryce) has won the Nobel Prize for Literature. This inspires his spouse (Glenn Close) to have second thoughts about her life.

Also opening on August 3: The Darkest Minds, Searching

August 10

Magnolia Pictures

Nico, 1988

Biography, Drama, Music 1h 33m

Twenty years after becoming famous as the glamorous one in the Velvet Underground, the singer known as Nico (Trine Dyrholm) is down and out in the north of England.

Also opening on August 10: Dog Days, The Meg, AXL

August 17

Warner Bros.

Crazy Rich Asians

Comedy PG-13

Think of it as “Their Big Fat Chinese Wedding.” Three fabulously wealthy families collide in Singapore at a fabulously over-the-top wedding. Constance Wu, Michelle Yeoh, and Ken Jeong head the cast. Based on Kevin Kwan’s best-selling novel.

STX Entertainment

The Happytime Murders

Comedy, Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery

A neo-noir comedy thriller populated by people and puppets? Absolutely. Brian Henson, son of Jim Henson, directed. Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, and Elizabeth Banks star.

Roadside Attractions

Juliet, Naked

Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance 1h 45m

A very big fan (Chris O’Dowd) of a cult rock star (Ethan Hawke) gets to meet him, with serious consequences for them and the fan’s wife (Rose Byrne). Adapted from Nick Hornby’s novel.

Magnolia Pictures

Skate Kitchen

Drama 1h 40m

Crystal Moselle (“The Wolfpack”) makes her fiction film debut, directing this story of New York skater girls.

Also opening on August 17: Alpha

August 24

Bleecker Street Media

Papillon

Biography, Crime, Drama R 2h 13m

Charlie Hunnam stars as Henri “Papillon” Charrière, a French criminal trying to escape from Devil’s Island. Based on Charrière’s memoir, it’s a remake of the 1973 film starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.

Also opening on August 24: Slender Man

August 31

Lionsgate

Kin

Action, Adventure, Crime, Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thriller PG-13

Crime meets sci-fi, as gangster James Franco chases ex-con Jack Reynor, who’s in possession of a piece of high-tech weaponry. Lending support are Dennis Quaid, Carrie Coon, and Zoë Kravitz.

Magnolia Pictures

Support the Girls

Comedy 1h 34m

A comedy about a day in the life of a Hooters-style sports bar. Regina Hall plays the manager. Also on board are James LeGros, Brooklyn Decker, and Lea DeLaria. Mumblecore master Andrew Bujalski directed.