Summer cinema preview: The fun and the “Furiosa”

The big name in horror Hollywood today isn't Freddy or Jason or even M3GAN. It's “contraction.” That word terrifies Hollywood creatives now that streaming has turned the film industry on its head, the boom-year bubble has burst, and production deals are harder to come by. Not that you'll notice it at the multiplex this summer, because the industry has continued to spend huge amounts on colorful gimmicks to lure you and your family into theaters.

The summer movie season starts early these days, and we've already seen potential summer blockbusters like The Fall Guy, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and If. But the season traditionally kicks off on Memorial Day weekend, which sees George Miller's highly anticipated Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and probably some kid catnip in Garfield the Movie, with Chris Pratt voicing a younger, more energetic version of the Monday-hating, lasagna-loving tabby Persian cat.

On June 7, Will Smith hopes you'll forget “the slap” and join his witty partner Martin Lawrence in another action sequel to his “sunshine, gun license” about cops versus drug dealers, “Bad Boys: Ride or Die.” That's the day Ishana Shyamalan ventures into the monster movie ring with “The Watchers,” while Richard Linklater (“Boyhood”) releases a new realistic crime dramedy on Netflix with the “Bernie”-esque “Hit Man,” starring Linklater's co-screenwriter Glen Powell (“Anyone But You”). Powell's big summer continues on July 19 with the release of the action reboot “Twisters,” which is surprisingly directed by acclaimed indie filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”).

Summer always promises plenty of material for franchises. This season, we get two CGI-animated sequels: Pixar's Inside Out 2 (June 14), which takes us inside the emotionally chaotic mind of the now-teenage Riley, and Despicable Me 4 (July 3), which pits Steve Carell's Gru against an antagonist voiced by Will Ferrell. Netflix brings back Eddie Murphy's Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (July 3), and technically another major sequel to a comedy legend is coming out this summer, albeit in the dog days: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (September 6) reunites director Tim Burton with Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O'Hara.

Fans of the genre will be counting down the days until the alien invasion prequel “A Quiet Place: Day One” (June 28) with Lupita Nyong'o (“12 Years a Slave,” “Us”) and Joseph Quinn (“Stranger Things”); Ti West’s horror sequel “MaXXXine” (July 5), which concludes a trilogy with Mia Goth (“X,” “Pearl”); and “Alien: Romulus” (August 16), which Fede Álvarez (“Don't Breathe”) has taken over the direction from producer Ridley Scott.

The last few years have been all about superheroes, but this summer the industry is acknowledging “superhero fatigue.” Marvel has a smash hit with “Deadpool & Wolverine” (July 26), a thrilling multiverse game-changer that brings Hugh Jackman's Wolverine out of retirement to join Ryan Reynolds' loudmouth, gun-toting mercenary Deadpool. There's another comic book movie this summer – a reboot of the ultra-violent gothic thriller “The Crow,” with Bill Skarsgård stepping into Brandon Lee's shoes – but that's about it: capes will be in short supply.

That's good news for cinephiles who want more original content at the movies. Admittedly, one such new release is a video game adaptation that looks suspiciously like a Guardians of the Galaxy knockoff: Borderlands (August 9), starring Cate Blanchett. But the (significantly cheaper) original dramas, comedies and horror films “counter-programmed” to lure adult viewers away from blockbusters each week paint a picture of a surprisingly diverse summer. Think Sundance favorite Dìdi (July 26), the coming-of-age story of a 13-year-old Taiwanese-American outsider (Izaac Wang) and his confused mother (Joan Chen), and mother-daughter drama Janet Planet, which marks the directorial debut of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker in late June.

Of course, not every original summer film is modest in scope or national in theme. Kevin Costner, most recently of “Yellowstone,” is releasing the first two installments of his epic Western project “Horizon: An American Saga”: “Chapter 1” on June 28 and “Chapter 2” on August 16, with the star director promising two more installments. Several other established directors have projects lined up for you: Yorgos Lanthimos is reteaming with Emma Stone to make the follow-up to “Poor Things,” the “triptych fable” “Kinds of Kindness” (June 21); Jeff Nichols has “The Bikeriders” (June 21) with Austin Butler and Tom Hardy; and the serial killer thriller “Trap” (August 9) comes from M. Night Shyamalan.

Readers' Club members should mark their calendars for Blake Lively's romantic drama “It Ends with Us” (August 9), based on the novel by Colleen Hoover, and the small-town friendship drama “The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat” (August 23 on Hulu), based on the novel by Edward Kelsey Moore. Or maybe it's your favorite stars that draw you to the multiplex. You might want to see what Zoe Kravitz is up to in her directorial debut, the ensemble thriller “Blink Twice” (August 23), starring Channing Tatum. Tatum also stars opposite Scarlett Johansson in the space race romantic comedy “Fly Me to the Moon” (July 12). Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry team up in the action adventure “The Union” (Netflix, August 16), while Matt Damon lends his star status to the crime drama “The Instigators” (AppleTV+, August 9).

And it wouldn't be movie season without at least one Nicolas Cage film — in this case, the horror thriller “Longlegs” (July 12), in which Maika Monroe pursues Cage's serial killer into uncharted territory. Or maybe your favorite movie star is 93-year-old June Squibb (an Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actress for “Nebraska”), who finally gets her first leading role in the revenge comedy “Thelma” (June 21). Even with Hollywood's looming downsizing, a summer movie season featuring everything from Minions to a nonagenarian action star really does offer something for everyone.

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