Holy smokes, folks. Summer is here, and June’s slate of movies isn’t messing around. Kicking off the month is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the long-awaited sequel to Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s animated epic about your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Stuff gets spooky with The Boogeyman, a horror movie from Rob Savage based on Stephen King’s short story. Looking for bots? Transformers: Rise of the Beasts stomps into theaters and expands the toy-based universe. And after what feels like an eternity, The Flash is finally getting its release, equipped with multiple Batmans.
The elements get animated in the Disney Pixar colorful family film Elemental. Marvel mastermind Stan Lee gets the documentary treatment over on Disney+. Wes Anderson recruits his usual slew of actors to star in his carefully-colored film Asteroid City. Jennifer Lawrence lets completely loose in the raunchy comedy delight No Hard Feelings. Oh, is that not enough for you? Well, we got Indiana Jones, too. Harrison Ford is back as Indy in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Man, don’t you just wish you could live inside the popcorn popper at your movie theater? Or is that just me?
Grab your popcorn and put fresh batteries in your remote! Let’s take a closer look at what movies will be hitting the big and small screens in June.
Past Lives
Release Date: June 2 in Theaters
Sometimes, it feels like we’ve lived many lives. Celine Song explores this very idea in her drama Past Lives. Written and directed by Song, the delicate drama follows Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), inseparable childhood best friends who were forced apart when Nora’s family emigrated from South Korea. Now adults 20 years later, sparks fly when they meet again and spend time together over a week, as they decide whether this intimate reunion is actually their destiny.
The Boogeyman
Release Date: June 2 in Theater
It can’t be all in her head…can it? Yellowjackets star Sophie Thatcher leads the way in The Boogeyman, a movie that will make you want to turn on every light. Thatcher plays Sadie, the loving and protective older sister of Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair), a young girl who’s haunted by what she sees when the lights go out. The sisters are dealing with the recent loss of their mother, which has led their therapist father Will (Chris Messina) to be emotionally unavailable. Will’s patient Lester Billings (David Dastmalchian) tries to warn Will about the evil presence that has entered his life and is preying on his children, but, is it too late?
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
Release Date: June 9 in Theaters
The bots are back. It’s the year 1994 in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and the new threat looming quite literally large is Unicron (Colman Domingo), Transformer and leader of the Terrorcons who is so big that he eats entire worlds for breakfast. Noah (Anthony Ramos), an ex-military electronics guru, and Elena (Dominique Fishback), an artifacts researcher, are the humans among the madness who are trying to help Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and protect Earth from Unicron. The film’s voice cast includes Michelle Yeoh, Peter Dinklage, and Pete Davidson.
Flamin’ Hot
Release Date: June 9 on Hulu
An origin story for Cheetos? Sure, why not! Directed by Eva Longoria, and based on the memoir A Boy, a Burrito and a Cookie: From Janitor to Executive by Richard Montañez, Flamin’ Hot tells the inspiring true story of Montañez (Jesse Garcia), a Frito-Lay janitor and son of a Mexican immigrant who invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos by using the spices and flavors that his family and the Mexican community can’t live without.
Mending the Line
Release Date: June 9 in Theaters
The war might be over, but he’ll always be a Marine. From director Joshua Caldwell and writer Stephen Camelio, the feel-good film Mending the Line follows Colter (Sinqua Walls), a Marine wounded in Afghanistan who’s suffering from PTSD and trying to reintegrate into society. He’s sent to a facility in Montana where he meets Ike Fletcher (Succession's Brian Cox), a Vietnam veteran who shares his passion for fly-fishing with him to help with their shared trauma.
The Flash
Release Date: June 16 in Theaters
Yep, you’re seeing double. After what feels like an eternity of delays, setbacks, and controversies, the scarlet speedster is finally getting a solo movie. Directed by Andy Muschietti and co-written by Christina Hodson and Joby Harold, The Flash follows Barry Allen (Ezra Miller), the titular hero who attempts to race back in time to change his past to save his family, disrupting the order of things in the present and everywhere in between in the process. Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck both play Batman, Michael Shannon plays General Zod, and there may or may not be a Superman cameo from Nicolas Cage.
Elemental
Release Date: June 16 in Theaters
The element of surprise. The latest film in the world of Disney Pixar gets a little scientific on us with Elemental. Set in Element City, the animated adventure follows literal fiery hot-head Ember (Leah Lewis) and the wet and wonderful Wade (Mamoudou Athie), as they, to their surprise, become friends despite their obvious, on-the-surface differences. Can fire, water, land, and air really coexist?
Stan Lee
Release Date: June 16 on Disney+
Excelsior! The mastermind behind most things Marvel is finally getting a documentary with the simple, appropriately-titled Stan Lee. Odds are, Lee is responsible for creating or inspiring the idea for your favorite comic book characters. During his roughly 100 years on Earth, Lee collaborated with artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko to create the Fantastic Four, Black Widow, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and many, many more.
Extraction 2
Release Date: June 16 on Netflix
Ah, people thought Tyler was dead, didn’t they? Chris Hemsworth is back and gritty in Sam Hargraves’ Extraction 2, the sequel to the 2020 film based on the graphic novel Ciudad by Ande Parks, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, and Fernando León González. The action thriller follows Tyler (Hemsworth), who, despite barely surviving his battle scars from Bangladesh, is ready for the next mission.
The Blackening
Release Date: June 16 in Theaters
Nothing good ever happens in a remote cabin in the woods. Directed by Tim Story, The Blackening is a horror comedy that follows seven Black friends whose vacation takes a deadly turn once they discover a killer lurks and is ready to strike. Left with no other options, they decide to play The Blackening, a racist board game that forces them to confront unfortunate horror movie tropes in order to survive. The movie stars Antoinette Robertson, Dewayne Perkins, Grace Byers, Sinqua Walls, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, Jay Pharaoh, and Yvonne Orji.
Asteroid City
Release Date: June 23 in Theaters
Wes Anderson is back doing Wes Anderson things. The year is 1955 in Asteroid City, and Junior Stargazer winner Woodrow (Jake Ryan) has quite a few things on his to-do list for this stargazing convention. People from all over the country travel for this quirky event in an even quirkier town in the middle of nowhere. What could possibly go wrong? Like most Wes Anderson films, this one is buoyed by an eclectic ensemble that includes Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Steve Carell, Maya Hawke, and Margot Robbie.
No Hard Feelings
Release Date: June 23 in Theaters
How far would you go? At long last, Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence is starring in a raunchy comedy. Directed and co-written by Gene Stupinsky, No Hard Feelings follows the oh-so-desperate Maddie (Lawrence) a frustrated bartender and Uber driver who…doesn’t have a car. When she sees an unconventional job listing from two over-protective parents looking for someone to spend time with Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman), their very awkward and introverted son, in exchange for a car, Maddie jumps at the chance. Even though the entire situation is pretty damn humiliating for all involved.
God Is a Bullet
Release Date: June 23 in Theaters
How far will he go to get his daughter back? Directed and co-written by Nick Cassavetes and based on the novel by Boston Teran, this sick and twisted action-horror film God Is a Bullet, which is inspired by true events, follows vice detective Bob Hightower (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) whose wife is murdered and daughter kidnapped by a Satanic cult. In a desperate attempt to get his daughter back, he gets tattoos and joins the cult with the help of Case (Maika Monroe), the cult’s only female victim who has since escaped. The film also stars January Jones, Jamie Foxx, and Jonathan Tucker.
Maggie Moore(s)
Release Date: June 29 in Theaters
Ah, the Moore(s), the merrier! It’s a Mad Men reunion of sorts, as John Slattery directs his former co-star Jon Hamm in the comedic crime thriller Maggie Moore(s). Nothing ever happens in this dusty little Arizona town, until two Maggies with the same name happen to be murdered. (Chin scratch.) Written by Paul Bernbaum and based on real events, the film, which also stars Tina Fey and Nick Mohammed, follows Hamm’s Chief Sanders as he tries to get to the bottom of this murderous mix-up.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Release Date: June 30 in Theaters
Indy is back and as Indy as ever. In James Mangold’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the titular archaeologist we know and love that has been made famous on the big screen by Harrison Ford wants to finally retire. But, of course, something is pulling him back in for another adventure. That something is actually a someone: his goddaughter. Played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Helena Shaw is the daughter of Indiana’s friend Basil (Toby Jones) from World War II. Together, Indiana and Helena set off to track down the elusive Dial of Destiny artifact.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kracken
Release Date: June 30 in Theaters
Unleash her! Dreamworks gets wet and wild with Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kracken. This animated aquatic adventure follows the young Ruby Gillman (Lana Condor) who discovers she comes from a royal line of sea krakens. Shy, awkward, and uncertain, she’s guided by the all-mighty Warrior Queen of the Seven Seas (Jane Fonda) as she does her best to fit in and get used to her new abilities. The voice cast also includes Toni Collette, Sam Richardson, Annie Murphy, Will Forte, Colman Domingo, Nicole Byer, and Jaboukie Young-White.