2015 Preview: July

We’re now halfway through both the Summer Movie Season and 2015 as a whole, which has already given us some incredibly entertaining films, including ‘Jurassic World’, which now holds the record for the biggest opening weekend of all-time both domestically and worldwide and is the third film of the year to join the billion dollar club. While we probably won’t get another film this summer that will match those numbers, there’s still quite a lot to look forward to, especially when it comes to this July. Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s year-long preview of the films that are set to come out in 2015. This is Part 7 of 12 and today we’ll be looking at the lineup of films that are hitting theaters in July. Quite a lot to talk about this month so let’s get started…

JULY 1- The month actually starts out early on Wednesday the 1^st with the return of a classic 80’s film franchise and the sequel to one of 2012’s big summer hits.

*Director Alan Taylor (‘Thor: The Dark World’) continues the ‘Terminator’ franchise with ‘Terminator: Genisys’ (And yes that spelling is intentional). Basically the film re-tells the original story of the first ‘Terminator’ film but from a new perspective. In a future where humanity is at war with machines, the human resistance, led by John Connor (Jason Clarke), uncover a plot by Skynet to send a Terminator back in time to kill John’s mother Sarah (Emilia Clarke). One of Connor’s soldiers, Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney), volunteers to go back in time to save her but when he travels back in time to the year 1984, he finds that things are now different and that Sarah is now trained in combat by another Terminator (played by series star Arnold Schwarzenegger), who has been protecting her since she was a child. The film also stars J.K. Simmons and Matt Smith.

*The sequel to Steven Soderbergh’s hit Summer 2012 film ‘Magic Mike’, which was based around the experiences of star Channing Tatum’s time as a stripper when he was younger, ‘Magic Mike XXL’, directed by the first film’s first assistant director Gregory Jacobs, once again sees Tatum in the role of veteran stripper “Magic” Mike Lane. In this film, Mike and his fellow strippers travel to Myrtle Beach for ‘one last show’. Also reprising their roles alongside Tatum are Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and Adam Rodriguez, among others. Newcomers to the cast include Elizabeth Banks, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Donald Glover.

JULY 10- While this week will no doubt be dominated by an animated spin-off, there will also be a horror film and a sci-fi film hitting theaters this weekend as well.

*A spin-off of the hit animated films ‘Despicable Me’ and ‘Despicable Me 2’, ‘Minions’ is a prequel centering on the group of yellow henchmen known as ‘Minions’ before they met their ‘leader’ Gru. Primarily focusing on a trio of Minions named Bob, Kevin, and Stuart, the film follows the three Minions as they try and find a new master. The film’s voice cast includes Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, and Michael Keaton.

*The latest Blumhouse production, ‘The Gallows’ follows a group of students who attempt to resurrect an old play that hadn’t been done in 20 years ever since the last run-through ended up in the death of a student. But this then results in some other students attempting to stop the production.

*Ben Kingsley and Ryan Reynolds star in director Tarsem Singh’s latest film, ‘Self/less’. Kingsley plays a wealthy aristocrat who, on the verge of dying, undergoes an operation that transfers his soul into the body of a younger man (Reynolds). But while promised that the body is an ‘empty’ vessel, he soon learns that his new body did have a life before, which leads him into uncovering a conspiracy.  

JULY 17- On one side we have the latest from Marvel Studios while on the other we have a Judd Apatow comedy.

*Despite some early production issues stemming from the departure of original director Edgar Wright, Marvel Studios brings us the next installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ‘Ant Man’, now under the direction of Peyton Reed. Paul Rudd stars as Scott Lang, a criminal who gets a ‘second chance’ when he is approached by his mentor Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) to help steal back valuable technology from his company with the help of special technology of his own that allows the user to shrink in size but also gain strength. The film’s cast also includes Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, and Michael Pena.

*Comedian Amy Schumer teams up with director Judd Apatow for ‘Trainwreck’. Schumer, who also wrote the film, stars as a career-driven woman who finds herself unable to commit to a relationship having been ‘taught’ that ‘monogamy isn’t realistic’ by her father. However, that all changes when she meets a doctor (Bill Hader) while on an assignment for her job. The film also stars, among others, Tilda Swinton, Brie Larson, Vanessa Bayer, and LeBron James.

JULY 24­­- Probably the biggest week of the month, this week will see the release of a film from the writer of ‘Fault in Our Stars’, a video-game inspired action comedy, and a Jake Gyllenhaal starring boxing drama.

*Based on the 2008 novel of the same name by John Green (‘The Fault in Our Stars’), ‘Paper Towns’ centers on a high-school student named Quentin (Nat Wolff) who heads out on a journey with his friends when his ‘girl next door’ Margo (Cara Delevingne) goes missing.

*Directed by Chris Columbus (first two ‘Home Alone’ and ‘Harry Potter’ films), ‘Pixels’, based off of a 2010 short film of the same name, revolves around an alien invasion of Earth in which the aliens use famous video-game characters (e.g. Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, etc.) to attack Earth. Adam Sandler, Josh Gad, and Peter Dinklage star as a group of former video game champions who are enlisted by the President (Kevin James) to defeat the aliens. The film also stars Michelle Monaghan, Jane Krakowski, and Brian Cox.

*Jake Gyllenhaal stars in director Antoine Fuqua’s latest film, ‘Southpaw’, written by ‘Sons of Anarchy’ creator Kurt Sutter. Gyllenhaal plays boxer Billy Hope, whose life goes downhill when his wife (Rachael McAdams) is accidentally killed during an altercation with another boxer. When his daughter ends up getting taken away from him, Billy starts a comeback with his new trainer (Forest Whitaker) in an attempt to reunite with his daughter. The film also stars Naomie Harris, 50 Cent, and Tyrese Gibson.

JULY 31- The follow-up to a comedy classic hits theaters early on Wednesday while the fifth film in a highly successful action franchise closes out the month.

*Opening early on Wednesday July 29^th is ‘Vacation’, the fifth installment of the ‘National Lampoon’s Vacation’ series. This time around, the film centers on the now grown-up son of Clark and Ellen Griswold (both Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo reprise their roles in cameo appearances), Rusty (Ed Helms), as he takes his family; his wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and their sons James and Kevin (Skyler Gisondo and Steele Stebbins, respectively), on a trip to Walley World, the same place he went to on vacation with his parents and sister 30 years earlier. The film also stars Leslie Mann as Rusty’s sister Audrey and Chris Hemsworth as her husband.

*Regular Tom Cruise collaborator Christopher McQuarrie (writer on films like ‘Valkyrie’ and ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ and director of ‘Jack Reacher’) takes on the fifth installment of the highly successful ‘Mission Impossible’ franchise with ‘Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation’. Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner, and Simon Pegg all reprise their roles from previous installments as Ethan Hunt, Luther Stickell, William Brandt, and Benji Dunn, respectively, as they take on one last mission; to take down the mysterious organization known as ‘the Syndicate’ while also dealing with the impending disbandment of the IMF. The film also stars Alec Baldwin, Rebecca Ferguson, and Sean Harris.

And those are the films that will be hitting theaters this July. Check back next month for Part 8 as we’ll be closing out summer with the films of August.