With finals right around the corner, summer and its many blockbusters are soon to follow. I’m here to inform you of some of the most anticipated 2019 summer movies. Of course, this list is slightly subjective, but I’ve done my research on all the films coming out this summer and these are what might be the most successful both financially and by the court of public opinion.
Side note: These movies are in order based on their release date.
- “Avengers: Endgame”
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Release Date: April 26th
Kicking off the list is the coveted “Avengers: Endgame”. Of course, anyone who’s seen “Infinity War” will have been looking forward to this movie for 364 days. Luckily, this is a pretty short time to wait, especially for a heavily anticipated Marvel film. After the crazy ending from the previous film, all fans are excited to see how the slue of superheroes will get revenge for their lost friends and family. With this film having a whopping 3 hour and 2-minute runtime, the audience can expect some emotional moments, bad-ass fight scenes, and some major character deaths, and I can’t wait for all of it!
- “Pokemon: Detective Pikachu”
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Release Date: May 10th
This one is definitely more on the interesting side, but mark my words this movie will make upwards of a billion dollars worldwide. Since the success of Pokemon Go several years ago, the Pokemon franchise is doing their best to maintain their status in the entertainment business. The multiple production companies hit a jackpot and proved their relevance with casting Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu. There is no doubt that this will be a fun (and electric) film, perfect for starting the summer. Just using the classic eighties jam “Holding Out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler in the trailer is enough to pull me into the theater.
- “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum”
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Release Date: May 17th
If you have not invested the time into watching this franchise, I implore you to do so. Keanu Reeves is at his best while playing John Wick, a not-so-retired hitman with a grudge. The action throughout the previous two movies has included some of the best directed and choreographed scenes in recent film history and I cannot wait to get into the theater to watch John Wick kick all kinds of ass. Also, in case you were wondering, the meaning of parabellum is derived from Latin and is defined as a type of semiautomatic weapon. So yeah, count me in for the clever title alone.
- “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”
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Release Date: May 31st
This sequel from the less than perfect film “Godzilla” from 2014 hopes to combat the issue that many viewers had with the film; there wasn’t enough of the monster. If you watch any of the new trailers for the film, I think you will see that there is no shortage of monsters or action. For a summer blockbuster, this movie has an impressive list of movie stars including Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, Kyle Chandler, O’Shea Jackson Jr., and Ken Watanabe. The film also hosts a broad array of Japanese kaiju (aka strange creatures). This film looks to be a darker interpretation of the sometimes cheesy franchise and I am totally here for it.
- “Dark Phoenix”
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Release Date: June 7th
This next installment in the list might be pretty polarizing for fans due to the mediocrity of the previous film, “X-Men: Apocalypse”. However, I do have hope for this film for many reasons. First being that Sophie Turner of Game of Thrones fame will play Jean Grey also known as the Dark Phoenix. She is a wonderful actress with a lot of talent and has no trouble carrying her weight in a role. Second, I have always appreciated the Jean Grey and Scott Summers (Cyclops) relationship in the comic books. I believe that Turner and Tye Sheridan who portrays Summers in the film, have shared charming on-screen chemistry in the last film and they will no doubt build upon their epic love story. While I do have hope for the film, there is a possibility of the film not being good due to previous installments of the X-Men franchise not living up to the hype they create. Even if the film isn’t the best, there will be new installments now that Disney owns the rights to the X-Men, so don’t lose hope.
- “Men in Black: International”
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Release Date: June 14th
After the success of “Thor: Ragnarok”, Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth join forces yet again to play some of the best alien-fighting agents in the world. Thompson and Hemsworth have already proven their chemistry in the last “Thor” film, and I’m sure they will build on their friendship as partners in the latest installment of “Men in Black”. This might turn out to be a run of the mill, buddy-cop flick with some fun action setpieces, but seeing these two actors play off each other in past work makes me believe that a funny, alien-regulation cop movie isn’t such a bad thing.
- “Spider-Man: Far From Home”
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Release Date: July 5th
Tom Holland is back giving his interpretation of the adorable dorkiness of Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-Man. I am excited to see how Holland will expand the character arc of Peter Parker and start fighting foes on the opposite end of the world. It’s also not hard to get excited when Zendaya, who plays Michelle Jones (or MJ as her friends call her) posts new set pictures on social media whenever she gets the chance. Hopefully, the audience will get to see a cute, new relationship budding between MJ and Parker like the majority of the comics utilize. Now, this film will have a very unique challenge in its wake considering there has already been another, extremely successful, Sony produced, “Spider-Man” film that has come out in the same year. This film needs to be good enough to stack up with Oscar Award-winning “Into the Spider-Verse” and I think that if any studio can create a quality film that lives up to expectations, it would be Marvel and Sony.
- “The Lion King”
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Release Date: July 19th
After the success of the live action version of “The Jungle Book” in 2016, Jon Favreau returns to recreate another beloved Disney classic in “The Lion King”. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that this is one of the most anticipated live-action films in the past twenty years. The ensemble voice cast is absolutely incredible including superstars such as Donald Glover, Beyoncé, Seth Rogen, Keegan-Michael Key, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and the incredible James Earl Jones. So many fans are already excited even though Disney hasn’t even released a full-length trailer, and the teaser that was released was an exact shot-for-shot replica of the opening scene from the original “Lion King” animated film from 1994. The teaser trailer was so realistic and beautiful that it could draw in crowds for the film without any other trailers. It’s safe to say that this film will make an insane amount of money and if Disney is lucky, they could make over a billion dollars worldwide on the film.
- “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
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Release Date: July 26th
Quentin Tarantino returns for his ninth film as a director with his take on the Hollywood scene in 1969 with the horrific backdrop of the Manson murders that shook the United States. With a full trailer yet to come, not much is known about the plot. Of course, Tarantino’s loyal fans (myself included) will go to the theater and watch anything that he puts on screen. I’m not sure how well the film will do at the box office, but I can almost guarantee that there will be a few more Oscar nominations for Tarantino in the 2020 Academy Awards.
- “It: Chapter Two”
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Release Date: September 6th
Rounding out our list is one of my most anticipated films of the year. I was incredibly surprised by how many genuine scares and comedy 2017’s “It” possessed, and I cannot wait to see what unfinished business Pennywise will have with the fully-grown members of the Losers Club. This film has yet to release a teaser or full-length trailer, but fans should expect to see one very soon as the movie is now in post-production. Until then, we are just going to have to admire how good the first film was and rewatch it until September 6th.