23 Hollywood insiders reveal the movies they can’t wait to see this summer

(Actor: Served; P-Valley)“I’ve been stuck with my streaming for so long during this pandemic…so a good action-thriller movie is necessary for my return to the theater this summer. It’s a toss up for me…between the re-re-release of Korean film Hard Sit, Jordan Peele’s thriller Nope, or rooting for my friend Brian Tyree Henry all while witnessing the wild mission on board Bullet Train. Either way, summer 2022 has some heat in store and I’m here for it.”

(Actor-writer: Fire Island; Unplugging; The Other Two; Big Mouth)“My most anticipated movie of this summer is Nope. Kind of funny, because I don’t know much about what it actually is. But what I do know is more than enough. Jordan Peele, Keke Palmer, and what appears to be a giant hole in the sky—that’s all I really want or need in a movie.”

(Actor-writer-producer: Hacks; Fire Island; The Flight Attendant)“I am excited to see Everything Everywhere All At Once—I haven’t seen it yet! So I’m really excited to see that, I know I’m going to love it, I love everybody in it. Like, I’m going to go crazy. That, yeah, and I wonder what else is coming out. I mean, there are so many things to watch.”

(Director-producer: ; In The Heights; Crazy Rich Asians)“I’m always down for dinosaurs, especially when they come from the mind of Colin Trevorrow! He reinvigorated my excitement to see dinos on the big screen since that first Jurassic Park experience in the ’90s. Now, having kids, I can’t wait to see their face when they get to encounter one (or many) on the big screen. And Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers looks like a blast! What a smart take on the material. And, I’m not gonna lie, I know all the words to the theme song already. [Also,] Baz [Luhrmann] always blows up my brain. As an artist, as an entertainer, as a magician. I can’t wait for his take on the King in Elvis. I have watched and studied that trailer so much that my senses are starving for more.”

(Writer-director: Lockwood & Co; The Kid Who Would Be King)“I was lucky enough to see an early cut of Top Gun: Maverick last year and even in its unfinished form it was sensational. Tom Cruise is the world champion of top-tier, big-budget physical filmmaking that has to be seen in a theater and I can’t wait to see it again. On a smaller scale, there’s a Norwegian thriller about kids with supernatural powers called The Innocents which got rave reviews at Cannes and sounds terrific. But like every true movie nerd I’ll be buying a ticket for all the big summer movies on opening weekend, for better or for worse!”

(Actor: Where The Crawdads Sing; Ambulance; Army Of The Dead; Fear The Walking Dead)“You know, I see everything, so I’m not worried I’ll miss them. Eventually, I kind of see everything. I love a good popcorn movie as much as the next guy. And I also like the headier experiences as well. And then I’ve got like 37 boxes of comics still in my house. So yeah, I’ll be seeing the Marvel movies. But I try to sort of see everything. I just like the whole experience of going to a theater. Maybe that’s what I want more than anything, to sit in an actual theater with a tub of popcorn and just forget if it’s light or dark outside for a while. But I’m excited for Where The Crawdads Sing. I know I’m in that one, but I’m excited to see how that’s received. It was such a popular book and sort of more in line with most of the other things I’ve done in my career.”

(Writer-director-producer: the upcoming No One Will Save You; Spontaneous)“Will any movie this summer, or year, really come close to Everything Everywhere All At Once? Well, no. But there will be great movies that make a valiant attempt, and my most anticipated likely runner-up to is Alex Garland’s Men. Garland has certainly established himself as our great science-fiction writer and director, and while I have no idea if Men is even science-fiction, that trailer has me fascinated. Jessie Buckley! Rory Kinnear (x100)! What does it all mean? And how much does A24 spend a year on their cute little trailer logo cards? Only time will tell.”

(Writer-director-producer: ; The Lighthouse)“I don’t know when it comes out, but I want to see Ari [Aster’s] movie, Disappointment Blvd. I’m friends with Ari…and he is good at making movies!”

(Actor-writer: Trick; Jason X; a forthcoming remake “that is about to piss everyone off”)“I’m a huge Marvel fan, so any Marvel movie coming out, I’m going to go see. But when I saw that poster for Nope and then the trailer of that, him on horseback and that shadow coming up on him, which just reminded me of what Cowboys & Aliens should have been. Nope was the one that jumped out at me when I first saw the poster, I was like, Oh yeah, that is definitely something I want to see.”

(Writer-director-producer: Are You Afraid of the Dark?; Happily; showrunner of a show we “can’t talk about yet”)“I have to pick two. I’m all about Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness and Nope. You obviously can’t go wrong with Sam Raimi and Michael Waldron. But Nope has my favorite trailer in years. I’m seeing anything Jordan Peele makes, and on opening night.”

(Writer-producer: Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom; Orphan: First Kill; The Walking Dead)“I’m incredibly excited about Men—I really loved Ex Machina and Annihilation and I can’t wait to see what Alex Garland has for us this time. The trailer and poster have my anticipation at 11.”

(Writer: Dolemite Is My Name; American Crime Story)“Bullet Train looks out of its fucking mind and I could use an out of its fucking mind movie right now. The action is insane and the trailer made me laugh. Plus: Brad Pitt at his movie star finest. It just looks cool and worth seeing on the biggest screen I can find.”

(Actor: Next Goal Wins; Dual; The Panthers)“It’s Taika Waititi’s film Next Goal Wins. I did that soccer film with Taika, and I think the world will be very surprised by what happens in that film. Because you’ve got Michael Fassbender acting in a Taika Waititi film, and Michael Fassbender, people usually look at him as a dramatic guy. But I’m sure I got, like, a six-pack on that set because I was just laughing so hard. He’s so funny and he’s so quick and witty.”

(Writer-producer: Super Pumped; Billions; The Girlfriend Experience)“I remember absolutely everything about seeing Top Gun when it first came out. I remember the theater. I still remember the young woman I saw it with. And most of all, I remember how much I loved it. I had just turned 20 years old. And Tom Cruise was my generation’s movie star doing the full movie star thing. The dialogue killed me. The supporting actors were brilliant. And the movie was as (intentionally/not intentionally) funny as it was over the top. Years later, we name checked it on Billions. And the sequel, 35 years in the making, is the tentpole movie I most can’t wait to see this summer.”

(Writer: Minions: The Rise Of Gru; The Secret Life Of Pets)“Of course I’m going to see the Marvel movies. I love going to see them with my wife, leaning over and whispering stuff like, ‘That’s a Celestial, they can build entire galaxies from NOTHING,’ at which point, my wife gives me a look that can only be described as ‘regret.’ I really want you to see the new Minions movie because it’s funny and also I get a box office bonus if it does well, and in the end, that’s what the summer is all about. I can’t wait to see Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum run from dinosaurs again, or Tom Cruise fly a plane set to that incredible [Top Gun] score. The trailer to Marcel The Shell made me well up, I can only imagine what the movie will do. But the trailer that has me MOST pumped is Nope. I don’t know anything about it other than what’s in the trailer and that’s always a plus. I love Jordan Peele’s movies. It looks like a scary Amblin summer movie and those are my favorite kinds of movies. That’s why I’m saying YEP to Nope. Also, the Minions movie will have better jokes than that, I swear.”

(Actor: Candy; Yellowjackets; Don’t Look Up)“The movie I most want to see on the big screen this summer is Nope. Jordan Peele makes such edge-of-your-seat amazing movies that are so fun to watch with a big audience. I love Keke Palmer and I cannot wait. I also want to see Where The Crawdads Sing; my friend Polly Morgan was the cinematographer and I’m so in love with her work, so I definitely want to get to see it in a theater.”

(Writer: Netflix’s Trigger Warning; podcast producer: The Movies That Made Me; Bronzeville)“Andrew Dominik’s always interesting, and I’m really looking forward to his Marilyn Monroe movie, Blonde. Robert Machoian’s a terrific up-and-coming filmmaker whose The Killing Of Two Lovers was one of my favorites from 2020. He’s got The Integrity Of Joseph Chambers coming out this year, with Clayne Crawford again. I get the sense that their collaboration is only just beginning to cook, and expect many great things from them. My introduction to British comic David Earl was in Ricky Gervais’ wonderful Afterlife; he’s got a dark robot comedy coming out this year, Brian And Charles, and it looks unique and twisted, and I can’t wait to check it out. Also Riley Stearns, who did the amazing The Art Of Self-Defense in 2019, is back with a dystopian cloning movie, Dual.On the doc front, there’s a lot headed our way, but the one I’m looking forward to most is Kathryn Ferguson’s Nothing Compares, about one of the greatest, most compelling and bravest singers alive, Sinead O’Connor. And from the big guns, the two I’m most excited about are Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon—a thriller about the dark and murderous underbelly of capitalism; and maybe more than any of them, the incredible Baz Luhrman’s Elvis. My expectations for that are insanely high, and he’s never let me down.”

(Actor-producer: Dual; Westworld; Breaking Bad)“That trailer that just dropped, the new Kristen Stewart film with Viggo Mortensen? I’m not sure when that’s coming out, but oh my God, Cronenberg’s film [Crimes Of The Future]. That film is getting me very excited to go back to the movies. I just saw The Batman in IMAX, which was just such a wild ride. I love going to the movies, but I gotta get excited about a film. I won’t just go see any and everything. I need to be excited and this film definitely is exciting to me. God, it looks so good.”

(Writer-director: The Last Movie Star; Faster Pussycat: Russ Meyer)“I love movies. All kinds of movies. As a result, I generally try and see everything. Big, small, funny, scary, mainstream and indie alike. As a result, yes, I’ll be checking out all of this summer’s tentpoles, sequels, and reboots, along with everybody else. But there are two films in particular that have truly piqued my curiosity and they’re about as different from one another as can possibly be. A testament to my eclectic taste, perhaps. The first is Ninja Thyberg’s Pleasure. It’s about a young Swedish woman who comes to Los Angeles to make it big in the adult film industry at any cost. Based on all of the attention it received at both the Cannes Film Festival and Sundance, color me très intrigued. That said, I’m just as excited to see the Lonely Island guys’ meta take on Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers. Combining live action and both 2-D and 3-D animation to bring new life to the 30-year-old Disney TV series, I have no doubt it’ll be something kids will like for one reason and adults can appreciate on a whole other level. Everything I’ve heard about it sounds hilarious.”

(Actor-writer-director: Borderlands; Death Rider In The House of Vampires)“I can’t wait for Elvis. Austin Butler has been one of my favorite young actors for a long time and I cannot wait to see his take on the role. He’s a brilliant actor and has been so careful with the roles he has chosen waiting for an opportunity like this. It looks amazing. And of course I can’t wait to see the Baz Luhrman treatment for this story.”

(Writer-director: The Boogeyman; Dashcam; The Host)“I know nothing about it, and haven’t watched a single trailer, but I’m a huge Alex Garland fan, so I’m really excited for his A24 movie Men. I’ve just done a movie with Blumhouse (Plug! It’s called Dashcam and it’s out next month) and Jason [Blum] was raving about The Black Phone, which looks gorgeous, classy and wonderfully fucked up—can’t wait for that. Most of all, I’m looking forward to Jordan Peele’s Nope, which comes out on my birthday. Get Out is obviously brilliant, but I thought Us was a miracle horror movie, and this one looks like he’s taking an even bigger swing.”

(Actor-producer: Chuck Hank And The San Diego Twins; Knives Out; California No)“Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers. Rediscovering the cartoon of our youth has been a blast with our four year old. When we watched the trailer for the movie, she was shocked and shouted, ‘The chipmunks are REAL LIFE!’ We could not be more stoked to have a meta kid.”

“Top Gun: Maverick is definitely my most anticipated movie of the summer. Tom Cruise flying real fighter jets on the big screen is the very definition of a mega-budget, Hollywood blockbuster experience.”