18 Movies We're Absolutely Seeing This Summer

new movies summer 2017
Evan Lockhart/Thrillist
Evan Lockhart/Thrillist

Summer: a season for walks in the park, day trips to the beach, afternoon day drinking, and as much outdoor time as you can possibly imagine. Or maybe you're human and you need a day inside a dark, air-conditioned movie theater. If so, here are the movies to keep on your radar, June through August:

Want to catch up on the best movies of the year? Check out our favorites from 2017 so far
wonder woman 2017
Warner Bros. Pictures

Wonder Woman

Release date: June 2
Why we're excited: Look, we weren't crazy about Batman v Superman, DC Comics' bloated, benign superhero universe kickstart (and we won't start with Suicide Squad). But allow us to submit to the lasso of truth: a period setting, rad action sequences, and some serious chemistry between Gal Gadot and Chris Pine have us giddy for Wonder Woman's very first movie. Early reviews for the blockbuster, courtesy of Monster and The Killing series director Patty Jenkins, suggest that the standout BvS character could be a rebirth for the mega-franchise.
Watch the trailer

the mummy dark universe 2017
Universal Pictures

The Mummy

Release date: June 9
Why we're excited: A recent announcement declared that this high-octane reboot of the 85-year-old horror classic would begin the "Dark Universe," a series of films where Universal's popular monster characters (played by Russell Crowe, Johnny Depp, and Javier Bardem) would team up to fight crime like The Avengers. Sure! That's fine. But we'll take what we can get from The Mummy, which combines gravity-defying fantasy with Tom Cruise's stunt addiction for a ride that looks even nuttier than the time they turned The Rock into a half-man, half-scorpion beast.
Watch the trailer

it comes at night 2017
A24

It Comes at Night

Release date: June 9
Why we're excited: Director Trey Edward Shults's debut, Krisha, about the psychological horrors of Thanksgiving dinner with the fam, was one of our favorite movies of 2016. His follow-up looks to grind that same internal strife to razor sharpness, with a premise that sounds like a mix of The Thing and The Road. We are The Pumped.
Watch the trailer

the big sick 2017
Amazon Studios/Lionsgate

The Big Sick

Release date: June 23
Why we're excited: Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily Gordon adapted their own meet-cute -- involving stand-up comedy clubs, enraged Pakistani relatives, and a medically induced coma that forced Kumail to clock serious time with Emily's family -- into one of the best romantic comedies in recent years. Directed by Michael Showalter (Wet Hot American Summer), produced by Judd Apatow, and sporting a stacked supporting cast, including Adeel Akhtar, Holly Hunter, and a hysterical Ray Romano, The Big Sick makes a harrowing event endlessly watchable.
Watch the trailer

baby driver 2017
Universal Pictures

Baby Driver

Release date: June 28
Why we're excited: Kinetic energy beams from director Edgar Wright's movies, which include Shaun of the Dead, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Baby Driver pumps that fuel into a hot-rod red Impreza WRX for a heist movie that treats car choreography like a Tchaikovsky ballet. There's room for one more "one last job" crime movie if the right people are behind the wheel.
Watch the trailer

okja 2017
Netflix

Okja

Release date: June 28 (on Netflix)
Why we're excited: From the mind of The Host and Snowpiercer director Bong Joon-ho comes this environmental tale about a little girl from the mountains who adventures into the big city to rescue her pal, a genetically mutated superpig named Okja. The movie debuted at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, where our man on the ground says it whips between "lovable, scary, silly, morbidly depressing, back to silly" and might just be this generation's E.T.
Watch the trailer

spider-man: homecoming 2017
Sony Pictures

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Release date: July 7
Why we're excited: The fact that Homecoming is the second Spider-Man reboot in under 10 years is enough to give anyone pause. Can Marvel Studios, which struck an unprecedented deal with Sony Pictures to fold the friendly neighborhood hero into the larger "Marvel Cinematic Universe," save this franchise? With a high-school-aged cast, led by actual young person Tom Holland, light-on-its-toes action, and an alley-oop from Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man, it seems possible.
Watch the trailer

a ghost story 2017
A24

A Ghost Story

Release date: July 7
Why we're excited: No one wants to give up their memories, even the dead. In this humorous, melancholy, and moving portrait of life after death, director David Lowery (Pete's Dragon) explores the meaning of "home" by narrowing in on an intimate relationship between a deceased man and his coping wife, then blowing it up to blockbuster-sized proportions. Radical, refreshing, and spellbinding.
Watch the trailer

war for the planet of the apes
20th Century Fox

War for the Planet of the Apes

Release date: July 14
Why we're excited: The rebooted Apes franchise is two for two, with Rise of the Planet Apes introducing us to the humanlike ape Caesar and a deadly virus, and 2014's Dawn of the Planet Apes recasting him as compassionate leader to a misunderstood race. War ups the ante by lacing military combat with Day the Earth Stood Still-style philosophy that may push Caesar into martyrdom.
Watch the trailer

lady macbeth 2017
BBC Films

Lady Macbeth

Release date: July 14
Why we're excited: The year's biggest Russian epic adaptation about a sexually frustrated young woman is Lady Macbeth, which wowed crowds at film festivals and squeezes its way into our field of vision with bold style. Florence Pugh stars as Katherine, arranged to be married for child-bearing purposes. She rebels by lusting after another man, then turning to... violence. We're dying to discover how it all plays out.
Watch the trailer

atomic blonde 2017
Universal Pictures

Atomic Blonde

Release date: July 28
Why we're excited: From the people who brought us John Wick, aka Keanu Reeves Kicks Major Ass for Two Hours comes Atomic Blonde, aka Charlize Theron Kicks Major Ass for Two Hours. Theron stars as Lorraine Broughton, an MI6 spy assigned to infiltrate a seedy German crime organization shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. And by infiltrate, we mean "break the bones of."
Watch the trailer

the dark tower 2017
Sony Pictures

The Dark Tower

Release date: August 4
Why we're excited: Stephen King's Lord of the Rings-sized epic finally arrives to the big screen -- but not as a literal adaptation. Elba plays Roland, a "gunslinger" from an order of knights serving "Mid-World." Like in the books, he crosses paths with Jake, a human kid from our world, and an adventure towards the "Dark Tower," a keystone of the multiverse, begins. As fans of the series know, time and space play key roles in the narrative, and all signs point to director Nikolaj Arcel remixing the events for a brand-new take on the material.
Watch the trailer

detroit 2017 john boyega
Annapurna Pictures

Detroit

Release date: August 4
Why we're excited: Oscar-nominated director Kathryn Bigelow reunites with her Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker collaborator Mark Boal for another journalistic thriller, focused on the police raid of the Algiers Motel during Detroit's 12th Street Riot in 1967 -- an explosive moment in American racial tension. With a young, all-star cast including John Boyega, Jason Mitchell, Jack Reynor, and Will Poulter, Detroit is expected to be one of the year's earliest Oscar contenders. 
Watch the trailer

good time 2017 robert pattinson
A24

Good Time

Release date: Aug 11
Why we're excited: Ben and Josh Safdie's extraordinary 2015 indie drama Heaven Knows What took an unflinching look at drugs and New York youth, but their follow-up ratchets up the energy, casting Robert Pattinson as a small-time crook racing around the city to scrounge up enough cash to pay off his brother's bail. Considering his character is also on the run from the cops after a bank robbery gone wrong, it won't be easy, to say the least, and Pattinson's Nicolas Cage-like acting make it worth a watch. 
Watch the trailer

the trip to spain 2017
IFC Films

The Trip to Spain

Release date: August 11
Why we're excited: By now, you know whether you're in or out for Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon's fictionalized jaunt through Europe's premiere culinary destinations (where they routinely confront their own social shortcomings). The third film whisks the duo off to Spain, where their Michael Caine impressions definitely won't play.
Watch the trailer

logan lucky 2017
Bleeker Street

Logan Lucky

Release date: August 18
Why we're excited: Steven Soderbergh (Ocean's Eleven, Haywire) came out of retirement to shoot this heist comedy, about two brothers (Channing Tatum and Adam Driver) who try to reverse a "family curse" (Soderbergh's description) by executing a robbery during a NASCAR race. The director hauled Tatum, Driver, Daniel Craig, Katie Holmes, Hilary Swank, Seth MacFarlane, and more out to Coca-Cola 600 and the Bank of America 500 to shoot the movie, adding a level of zaniness to an already wild premise.

death note netflix 2017
Netflix

Death Note

Release date: August 25 (on Netflix)
Why we're excited: The popular manga series earns an American adaptation from the guys who brought you The Guest and last year's Blair Witch. The movie stars Nat Wolff as a teenager who discovers the Death Note, a magical book that kills anyone whose name is written in the pages. You could see how that might go horribly awry.
Watch the trailer

terminator 2 judgment day 3d 2017
Paramount Pictures

Terminator 2: Judgment Day in 3-Effin'-D

Release date: August 25
Why we're excited: Hollywood converted James Cameron's action masterpiece for the eye-popping third-dimension so that Arnold Schwarzenegger's shotgun would scrape across your nose and you'd geek out like you did when you were 12. Be there.

Sign up here for our daily Thrillist email, and get your fix of the best in food/drink/fun.

Matt Patches is Thrillist's Executive Entertainment Editor. His previous work appeared on Grantland, Esquire.com, and Vulture. Find him on Twitter @misterpatches.