If May was the appetizer of the 2023 summer movie season, the first course is here. June is packed with many of the year's most highly anticipated films. Spider-Man and Batman will duke it out at the box office, but there's also a potential horror hit, a new Pixar film and the swan song of one of cinema's most iconic characters. These are the new movies to watch in theaters and on streaming in June 2023.
"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" (June 2)
Alright, let's do this one more time. 2018's "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" gets a much-awaited follow-up with "Across the Spider-Verse," in which Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy come up against a new villain, the Spot. They also encounter a team of other Spider-People, the Spider Society. "But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must set out on his own to save those he loves most," according to the synopsis. "Across the Spider-Verse" was announced as part one of a two-parter, and the second part, "Beyond the Spider-Verse," is slated for March 2024. Fingers crossed that with great talent comes a great sequel.
"The Boogeyman" (June 2)
Will 2023's horror hot streak continue with a new Stephen King adaptation? Based on King's short story, "The Boogeyman" follows a high school student (Sophie Thatcher) and her sister (Vivien Lyra Blair) who have recently lost their mother. Their father is a therapist, and "when a desperate patient unexpectedly shows up at their home seeking help, he leaves behind a terrifying supernatural entity that preys on families and feeds on the suffering of its victims," per the synopsis. The film, which comes from "Host" director Rob Savage, has been getting solid reviews, with Slashfilm's Ben Pearson calling it a "highly effective" horror movie that "could be this year's 'Smile.'" Great, and just when our nightmares finally stopped.
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"Past Lives" (June 2)
"Everything Everywhere All at Once" proved Oscar front-runners don't have to be released in the fall. So could "Past Lives" be the year's first nominee for best picture? Greta Lee and Teo Yoo star in this romantic drama as childhood sweethearts who reunite after many years, à la "Before Sunset," and reflect on the relationship that might have been. Early reviews have been glowing, and some pundits have labeled "Past Lives" an early Oscar favorite. The film is also being released by A24, which distributed "Everything Everywhere." Movies that break our hearts by imagining how our lives could have gone are becoming the studio's bread and butter.
"Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" (June 9)
For years, the "Transformers" films were some of the worst-reviewed blockbusters in Hollywood, but then something funny happened: Michael Bay handed over the reins to another director with the 2018 spinoff "Bumblebee," and critics loved it. So can "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" maintain that quality? This latest installment is sort of a sequel to "Bumblebee," set in 1994 and centered on a former military electronics expert played by Anthony Ramos. Dominique Fishback also stars, while Michelle Yeoh and Pete Davidson voice Transformers. With "Creed II" director Steven Caple Jr. behind the camera, will the series slide back into mediocrity, or will there be more here than meets the eye?
"Asteroid City" (June 16)
Get ready for Wes Anderson's most Wes Anderson movie yet. Set in 1955, the acclaimed filmmaker's latest takes place at a Junior Stargazer convention, which is "organized to bring together students and parents from across the country for fellowship and scholarly competition" but is "spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events," according to the synopsis — specifically, an alien invasion. The cast is ridiculously stacked even for Anderson, as it includes Adrien Brody, Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Edward Norton, Margot Robbie and Jason Schwartzman. As AI-generated Wes Anderson parody videos flood Twitter, see this one for a reminder that there's nothing like the real thing.
"The Blackening" (June 16)
One of the most infamous, and unfortunate, horror tropes of all time is the idea that the Black character is often the first to die. But what happens in a slasher film where the entire cast is Black? "We can't all die first," reads the clever tagline for "The Blackening." From Tim Story ("Ride Along"), the horror comedy centers on a group of friends terrorized by a masked killer when they travel to a cabin in the woods for Juneteenth. The cast includes Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler and Jay Pharoah. According to Bloody Disgusting's Joe Lipsett, the film "fuses social commentary about the Black experience in contemporary America with slasher conventions in a highly entertaining fashion."
"The Flash" (June 16)
No summer film is relying more on audiences not Googling the name of its star than "The Flash." The DC superhero movie is arriving after much controversy due to star Ezra Miller's repeated arrests, which may be part of why the marketing has emphasized Michael Keaton's return as Batman. In the film, the Flash travels through time to save his mother, but it has unintended consequences, and he encounters an alternate-universe Batman. Ben Affleck also returns as Batman, while Sasha Calle debuts as Supergirl. Everyone from Tom Cruise to Stephen King has been praising the film, which DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn boldly claimed is "one of the best superhero movies I've ever seen." But given Miller's criminal allegations, the actor may soon be gone from DC in a flash.
"Elemental" (June 16)
Pixar needs a win. The animation studio had four consecutive films crippled by the pandemic, with "Soul," "Luca" and "Turning Red" going directly to Disney+ for free. Then the studio's first film back in theaters, "Lightyear," disappointed financially. So did Disney dilute the Pixar brand by dumping these movies on streaming, and if so, can the studio recover? We may find out with "Elemental," which takes place in a city where the elements of fire, water, land and air live together. When Ember, a fire element, develops a friendship with Wade, a water element, it "challenges her beliefs about the world they live in," per Disney. Will all the elements come together, or will Pixar once again flame out?
"Extraction 2" (June 16)
Chris Pratt has been dominating 2023 thanks to "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," but here comes Chris Hemsworth to pull ahead in the Chris wars. Nine months after the end of Netflix's hit action film "Extraction," Hemsworth's Tyler Rake returns "from the brink of death" for a new mission: "saving the imprisoned family of a ruthless gangster," per Netflix. Director Sam Hargrave returns, and he told Netflix's Tudum the sequel will "dive deeper into the backstory" of Hemsworth's character. Joe Russo also again wrote the script, though based on some of his recent comments, don't be shocked if the third film is credited to both him and ChatGPT.
"No Hard Feelings" (June 23)
J. Law is back to revive the sex comedy. Jennifer Lawrence stars in this raunchy comedy as a woman hired by a 19-year-old's parents to date him so he'll come out of his shell before college. Andrew Barth Feldman plays the teen Lawrence is trying to seduce, while Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti star as his parents. It looks like the kind of old-school comedy we don't see much of in theaters these days, and it continues Lawrence's step back into the spotlight. This is her first time leading a movie not distributed by a streaming service since 2019's "Dark Phoenix." May the odds be ever in her favor.
"Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken" (June 30)
Disney isn't the only studio taking audiences under the sea this summer. This DreamWorks animated film centers on a teenager, Ruby Gillman, who discovers she "is a direct descendant of the warrior Kraken queens and is destined to inherit the throne," per Universal. "Ruby will ultimately need to embrace who she is and go big to protect those she loves most." Lana Condor voices Ruby, Toni Collette voices her mother, and Jane Fonda plays her grandmother. DreamWorks is coming off the acclaimed "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish," so "Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken" could be a contender to become one of the best films ever whose title can be sung to the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" theme.
"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" (June 30)
Get ready for Indiana Jones' last crusade — for real this time. Harrison Ford is hanging up his whip with "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," which the 80-year-old actor has promised will be his last time playing the iconic archaeologist. Set in 1969 during the space race, the film sees Indy team up with his goddaughter, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge ("Fleabag"), to take on Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), a former Nazi now working for NASA. This is the first "Indiana Jones" movie not directed by Steven Spielberg, as James Mangold ("Logan") took over directing duties. Luckily, though, John Williams returned to compose the score. Let's hope Mangold was able to whip this finale into shape.
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