By John Serba | jserba@mlive.com | Posted April 22, 2018 at 08:10 AM
“Avengers: Infinity War” (Photo provided to MLive.com by Disney/Marvel)
Infinity, as usual, adheres to no worldly calendar. The summer movie season officially begins in April this year, an absurdist stretching of the already ridiculous tradition dictating the usual May kickoff. Blame should be laid squarely on Disney/Marvel, which moved its impending box office juggernaut “Avengers: Infinity War” from its original May 4 release date to April 27, beginning a trend that may ultimately inspire a perpetual summer movie season with no beginning or end – just like infinity itself.
So we’re getting an earlier-than-usual jump on previewing the movies slated to debut during the heavy air-conditioning months. Here are 35 of the most notable upcoming releases debuting between now and the end of August, ranked from least to most anticipated. And, as always, release dates are subject to change.
35. ‘Bad Samaritan’
The director of “Geostorm” made another movie, and you no doubt noticed it’s not “Geostorm II.” (Opens May 4)
34. ‘The First Purge’
This is the fourth “Purge” movie, but it’s a prequel, so that’s why the title declares it to be the first. Seriously – movie continuity is like herding mosquitoes with a cattle prod. So when we binge the “Purge” movies (sorry), should we watch “The First Purge” first, or fourth? Regardless, the newest in the low-investment, high-return franchise is led by Marisa Tomei, and is an origin story explaining how American society eventually adopted the annual tradition of a 12-hour period of utter lawlessness. For some reason, the premise seems less far-fetched than when the first “Purge” movie (which might be the second one now?) debuted in 2013. (July 4)
33. ‘Skyscraper’
From the director of “Dodgeball: An Underdog Story” comes the new popcorn extravaganza, “Generic The Rock Action Movie No. 622”! Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays a former (insert name of government agency here) operative who now works as a (goofy high-risk job) when he’s not lifting weights and (pick two: spending time with his daughter/driving large vehicles/wrestling komodo dragons). When (pick one: terrorists/evil capitalists/dinosaurs) cause a giant building in (city chosen by marketing team for maximum international box office appeal) to (explode and/or catch fire and/or fall down and/or all of the above), The Rock must (pick three: jump across an impossible distance/pilot a helicopter/rescue a small dog/squat-press an I-beam/run through flames/wear aviator sunglasses) in order to survive to walk away calmly and coolly as things blow up in the background. Anticipated worldwide box office gross: $462 million. (July 13)
32. ‘The Meg’
Jason Statham fights a 70-foot shark. I wonder who wins? (Aug. 10)
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