The Month in Movies: What’s in Theaters This June
As we venture forth into the heart of the summer movie season, the month of June brings us more superheroes, more action, some highly anticipated animated features and a plethora of sequels, spin-offs and reboots (some of them a combination of those things). Interestingly, we’re also getting a number of releases involving evil dolls, as well as a couple of musical hits from across the pond.
Below is our guide to all the major titles coming to theaters in June and how to get your tickets now.
June 7:
Dark Phoenix
Starring: Sophie Turner, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy
The latest installment of the X-Men movie franchise (and final sequel in Fox’s main series before the characters enter Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe). Dark Phoenix reprises the comic book storyline in which Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) becomes too powerful for her own good, and so she turns bad. Jessica Chastain joins the cast for this follow-up to X-Men: Apocalypse in a mysterious role, while that movie’s X-Men team returns for this 1990s-set blockbuster.
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Late Night
Starring: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, John Lithgow
One of the biggest hits of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Late Night is about a legendary talk show host (Thompson) whose long-running show is about to replace her. Kaling (The Office), who plays a last-minute hire for the program’s otherwise all-male writing team, also penned the screenplay for the comedy, which Fandango’s Erik Davis called “very timely” and “whip-smart.” Lithgow is the late night show host’s husband, and Ike Barinholtz plays her potential successor.
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The Secret Life of Pets 2
Starring (voices): Patton Oswalt, Kevin Hart, Harrison Ford
Welcome back to New York, this animated sequel is waiting for you. And so are the many lovable domestic animals from the original The Secret Life of Pets, which was a huge hit in the summer of 2016. Oswalt takes over the role of Max the dog, whose home life has experienced another major change, while Hart returns as the voice of the cute but tough bunny Snowball and Ford makes his animated feature debut as a farm-dwelling sheepdog named Rooster.
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June 14:
Men in Black International
Starring: Tessa Thompson, Chris Hemsworth, Liam Neeson
Emma Thompson also appears in this Men in Black spin-off reboot, reprising her character from the 2012 sequel Men in Black 3. The new movie takes the franchise across the pond to the UK HQ of the MIB as Tessa Thompson plays a new recruit to the alien-monitoring, Earth-protecting organization. She teams up with a hot shot agent (Hemsworth), and their mission is to save the planet from one of their own. Kumail Nanjiani co-stars as the voice of an extra-terrestrial sidekick.
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Shaft
Starring: Jessie T. Usher, Samuel L. Jackson, Richard Roundtreee
What’s the movie franchise where two of the sequels have the same title as the original? (Shaft) Right on. Roundtree is back as the iconic private detective John Shaft from the 1971 Shaft, while Jackson reprises his role as his nephew, John Shaft II, from the 2000 movie also called Shaft. This time the focus is on that man’s son, John Shaft Jr. (Usher), an FBI agent who must team up with his two elder heroes for a murder investigation that takes them into the Harlem underworld.
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June 21:
Anna
Starring: Sasha Luss, Helen Mirren, Cillian Murphy
From Luc Besson, writer and director of The Fifth Element, La Femme Nikita and Lucy, comes another action movie involving a kick-ass heroine. Newcomer Luss, a Russian supermodel turned actress, is the titular Anna, a Russian supermodel turned secret government assassin, one of the world’s deadliest. Mirren plays her handler, while Murphy and Luke Evans also co-star in what’s being sold as “an electrifying thrill ride” with “startling twists.”
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Child’s Play
Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman, Mark Hamill (voice)
Chucky gets a fresh start with this reboot featuring Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, as the voice of the deadly doll. Plaza stars in the new version, which takes the franchise back to its horror roots, as a single mother who mistakenly buys her son (Bateman) an evil toy with artificial intelligence. The cast of the remake also includes Brian Tyree Henry (If Beale Street Could Talk), who plays the detective investigating Chucky’s murders, and Tim Matheson as a toy company CEO.
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Toy Story 4
Starring (voices): Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Tony Hale
While the grown-ups are watching the Child’s Play redo, the kids get their own movie about sentient toys. The fourth installment of Pixar’s flagship franchise follows Woody (Hanks), Buzz (Allen) and the rest of the gang of playthings on an existential adventure, during which they meet a new character called Forky (Hale) made out of a spork and googly eyes. Other additions include Keanu Reeves as a daredevil action figure and Christina Hendricks as a villainous doll.
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Wild Rose
Starring: Jessie Buckley, Matt Costello, Jane Patterson
Irish singer Jessie Buckley, who broke out on the BBC talent show I’d Do Anything, leads this award-winning drama about a Scottish mother of two who, after being released from prison, travels to America to find fame as a country music star. Harry Potter actress Julie Walters and Game of Thrones actor Jamie Sives also feature in the movie, which has been receiving rave reviews on the film festival circuit since its Toronto premiere last fall.
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June 26:
Annabelle Comes Home
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mckenna Grace
For those who haven’t had their fill of evil dolls with Child’s Play and Toy Story 4, this Annabelle sequel rounds out the trio just days later. Farmiga and Wilson reprise their roles as real-life paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren from other installments of the Conjuring Universe horror franchise, while Captain Marvel‘s Mckenna Grace co-stars as their young daughter, who becomes the target of the Annabelle doll’s terror.
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June 28:
Yesterday
Starring: Himesh Patel, Lily James, Kate McKinnon
Slumdog Millionare and Trainspotting director Danny Boyle teamed up with Love Actually and Notting Hill writer Richard Curtis for this fantasy comedy about a musician (Patel) who wakes up in an alternate timeline in which The Beatles never existed. But he still remembers their songs and so becomes famous performing such hits as the eponymous “Yesterday.” James co-stars as his best friend, McKinnon plays his agent, and singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran appears as himself.
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