Summer’s here! For many, school is over or just about to end. Jobs go into their quieter time of year. And, as has been custom for so many years of American life since the ’70s, it’s also movie season. Sure, a lot’s changed: the theaters are cleaner and more homogenous, the audiences more obnoxious and distributed over more theaters, the Cokes freestyled. But there’s something nostalgic about the arrival of the big summer movies that we can’t shake, even in a summer where the sequel and franchise era has never been more blatantly apparent. (A fun game: Read through this feature and count how many of these movies aren’t either part of a franchise or hoping to be.)
The warm months of 2017 (at least for those of us in the Midwest who only get to count that time in months) have a lot to offer this year, from the biggest names to a handful of exciting indie releases from interesting, well-purchased distributors like A24 and Neon. There are Oscar-winning filmmakers returning to the forefront, sequels to properties both beloved and not, and at least one extremely stressful Stephen King adaptation. There’s an adorable dancing tree, some emojis, and the Minions. DC will try to reverse their cratering fortunes by relying on the one character it’s dragged its heels in bringing to theaters. Apes will engage in a great final war, and Edgar Wright might be about to finally release his breakout mainstream hit.
It’s like we said: There’s always something to get excited about during the summer season, no matter how cynical the trailer debates on Twitter get. And hey, no matter how it goes at large, a new Christopher Nolan movie is on the way. How bad can things really be? Without further ado, let’s get into it: our preview of the summer 2017 movie season. Choose wisely. Or just see ’em all.
–Dominick Suzanne-Mayer
Film Editor
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