2026 SUMMER MOVIE PREVIEW

This year in cinema has gotten off to a rousing start this spring which has been driven by several blockbuster hits that include "Project Hail Mary", "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie", "Michael" and "The Devil Wears Prada 2".  All of this appears to be a healthy sign that the upcoming summer movie season should continue the momentum of eager attendance, leading to big numbers at the box-office.

There are many films that look intriguing that will be released over the next three months but these movies I've listed below have really captured my attention.

All release dates are subject to change:

"BACKROOMS"

Release date: May 29, 2026

The twenty year old, Kane Parsons makes his feature film directorial debut with "Backrooms", a sci-fi horror thriller which expands upon the 2022 web series he created with a screenplay by Will Soodik. Oscar-nominee Renate Reinsve plays a therapist to Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who owns a furniture store, as he tries to explain to her some strange happenings at his location. But he soon disappears into this dimension beyond reality and she must venture into the unknown to try and save him.



"DISCLOSURE DAY"

Release date: June 12, 2026

Steven Spielberg's upcoming film, "Disclosure Day" takes us back into the world of dark sci-fi where aliens seem poised to invade our planet. Not many clear details have been revealed but we have Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Eve Hewson, Colin Firth and Colman Domingo all on board in a story that involves solving a mysterious conspiracy about revealing evidence of extra-terrestrial life that has been long hidden by the government. This thriller is based on a story by Spielberg with the screenplay by his long-time collaborator, David Koepp.



"STOP! THAT! TRAIN!"

Release date: June 12, 2026

"Stop! That! Train!" is set in the wacky world created by the RuPaul's Drag Race franchise with many of the stars of that television competition program appearing in this wild ride of riotous comedy. Train stewardesses, Tess (Ginger Minj) and DeeDee (Jujubee), best friends who work together on the Stank Rail for the Glamazonian Express. A horrific storm threatens to derail the high-speed train and crash it into Los Angeles unless the girls along with the passengers come together to save the day. Drag queens, Latrice Royale, Monét X Change, Brooke Lynn Hytes and Symone plus non-drag queens, Lisa Rinna, Jerry O'Connell, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicole Richie and Charo also star. And of course, RuPaul makes an appearance as President Judy Gagwell. Adam Shankman directs.



"LEVITICUS"

Release date: June 19, 2026

Creating a buzz at this year's Sundance Film Festival, "Leviticus" is a queer horror-drama about two Aussie teenage boys (Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen) that are falling in love but live in a religious environment. They are soon being tormented by an evil and violent entity who is able to create havoc by taking the form of each other. The Australian filmmaker, Adrian Chiarella makes his directorial debut with this film.



"THE INVITE"

Release date: June 26, 2026

Olivia Wilde’s third directorial effort, "The Invite" follows Joe and Angela (played by Wilde and Seth Rogen), a long married couple going through some challenging times in their relationship, who are hosting a dinner for their upstairs neighbors, Pina (Penélope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton). But the evening does not go smoothly with the neighbors making an unexpected offer to the couple. This comedic-drama (written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack) is based on the 2020 Spanish film, "The People Upstairs" and made an impressive splash during its premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival, leading to a bidding war for distribution rights with A24 becoming the victor.



"SUPERGIRL"

Release date: June 26, 2026

She briefly made an appearance near the end of the "Superman" reboot last year and now "Supergirl" is the focus of her own movie, directed by Craig Gillespie. This is the latest iteration of this DC comic-book character following the campy 1984 movie and the 2015 television series that lasted six seasons. Based on the 2021–22 comic book miniseries, "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow", Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock), the cousin of Superman who was raised on a chunk of the destroyed planet Krypton before that soon perished, travels across the galaxy to celebrate her twenty-third birthday with her dog, Krypto. But her celebration is interrupted when she is asked by a young girl (Eve Ridley) to help avenge her father's death. Matthias Schoenaerts and Jason Momoa (who appears here as the alien bounty hunter, Lobo even though he played Aquaman in several movies) also star.



"THE ODYSSEY"

Release date: July 17, 2026

For his next feature film, Christopher Nolan is taking on an adaptation of Homer's ancient Greek epic, "The Odyssey". On his very long journey home to reunite with his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway) following the Trojan War, Odysseus (Matt Damon), the king of Ithaca, encounters many treacherous obstacles that will delay him which includes sirens, the witch-goddess, Circe (Charlize Theron) and the Cyclops. A very impressive cast has been assembled with Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Mia Goth, Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo and Lupita Nyong'o to name just a few on board.



"THE END OF OAK STREET"

Release date: August 14, 2026

"The End of Oak Street" is a sci-fi thriller involving a family that begin to notice very strange events happening on their street. Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor play the parents of two teenage children (Maisy Stella and Christian Convery) who live a comfortable life in a suburban neighborhood. After a mysterious cosmic event, their entire street is transported to some perilous other world and they must work together in order to survive. This is the latest feature film from writer/director, David Robert Mitchell ("It Follows", "Under The Silver Lake").



"TONY"

Release date: August 2026

Anthony Bourdain was a celebrity chef, author and host of the popular television cuisine travelogue program, "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations" before shockingly ending his own life in 2018. Now there is a biopic about how Bourdain became the famous culinary bad boy with "Tony", co-written and directed by Matt Johnson. Dominic Sessa stars as Bourdain, a nineteen year old who wants to be a writer but fails to get accepted for a fellowship. Discouraged, he winds up working at a seafood restaurant in Cape Cod, run by the no-nonsense owner, Ciro (Antonio Banderas), where his eyes are reluctantly opened to possibilities. Emilia Jones and Leo Woodall also star.

MICHAEL (2026)

Written by John Logan



Directed by Antoine Fuqua



Where & When: TCL Chinese Theatres, Hollywood, CA. April 28, 2026 3:55 PM



Despite his tragic death at the age of fifty in 2009 from a drug overdose and some disturbing allegations that have continued to muddy his legacy, Michael Jackson has managed to maintain his position as one of the biggest global pop music stars on the planet. The biographical musical drama, "Michael", capably directed by Antoine Fuqua, focuses on the singer's life from childhood as the highlight of the popular singing group with his brothers, the Jackson 5 to him going on to become even more famous as a solo artist after anxiously breaking free from the tight grip of his manager who also happened to be his father. With Graham King, who was the producer behind the rock band, Queen's bombastic yet neutered bio-pic, "Bohemian Rhapsody", John Branca, Jackson's former attorney and co-executor of the estate and the participation by most of the Jackson family all on board, "Michael" is slickly packaged, visually stunning propaganda, presenting a Jackson that fans would want to believe existed: gifted, enigmatic, quirky, a little sad but relatively harmless.

The film wastes no time jumping us straight into Gary, Indiana in 1966 where we witness the conflict between Joseph Jackson (Colman Domingo) and his five sons, Jackie (Nathaniel Logan McIntyre), Tito (Judah Edwards), Jermaine (Jayden Harville), Marlon (Jaylen Lyndon Hunter) and the youngest, Michael (Juliano Krue Valdi). He has assembled his children as a musical act and believes that in order to achieve success, they must constantly rehearse. But since they are kids, this isn't how they really want to spend all their time doing. However, Joseph, frustrated at his job at a steel mill, wants a better life for his family and isn't asking them, expecting his boys to obey otherwise face being beaten into submission.

Their first break comes two years later while opening for Gladys Knight (Liv Symone) and the Pips when the Jackson boys catch the attention of Suzanne de Passe (Laura Harrier), an executive at Motown Records. They are signed to the label, named "The Jackson 5", record their debut album and become an instant sensation. While they are a group, it is Michael, who is the lead singer, that receives the most recognition. Shy and timid off stage, Michael's confidence as a person (and later as an artist) is helped by Motown founder, Berry Gordy (Larenz Tate) who takes the young boy under his wing, guiding him on how the recording process works.

Years later, the Jacksons have left Motown and signed with Epic Records. Now a young man, Michael (played by Jaafar Jackson) is ready to make another solo album and teams with Quincy Jones (Kendrick Sampson) to produce. "Off The Wall" becomes a best-selling smash hit but Michael isn't able to fully enjoy his success because Joseph, who still manages his son's career, expects him to hit the road with his brothers to promote their album. Michael begins to take steps to try and control his own life: first by having surgery to make his nose smaller and then hiring John Branca (Miles Teller) as his attorney and has him fire his father as his manager. Then Michael begins recording his follow-up album with Jones which will be called "Thriller".

Since the estate of the pop singer was behind the production of this film, it was clear that "Michael" was never going to be an in-depth and revealing examination into who Jackson actually was and his turbulent personal history. The film, with a serviceable screenplay by John Logan, simply rehashes the familiar details of his career that many people are probably already fully aware. The only revelation I learned from this film was how severely Michael had been injured during the filming of the Pepsi commercial when a spark from the pyrotechnics sets his hair on fire, actually leaving him with third-degree burns on his scalp and nerve damage. Fuqua, who has made his career as a proficient filmmaker who was behind "Training Day" and "The Equalizer", doesn't try to elevate this movie with any artistic flourishes instead just sticks to the basics in his storytelling, briskly taking us from point A to point B, leaving no room for introspection.

Jaafar Jackson (the nephew of Michael and son of Jermaine) does make a dynamic impression with his acting debut playing his uncle. With an obvious advantage of having a family resemblance, his performance also captures the soft spoken, sweet-natured side of Jackson while expertly recreating some of the dazzling dance moves and musical highlights of the chart-topping artist with the singing in the film is largely from Michael's recordings. Domingo, buried under heavy prosthetics, does what he can with the one-note villain role of Joseph. But since there's nothing revealed about what made this ruthless man tick, we simply witness him terrorizing and manipulating everyone in his orbit with his horrid behavior. Nia Long appears as the matriarch of the family, Katherine Jackson who isn't given much to do or say beyond looking grave and concerned as she silently watches her husband abuse their children.

It is quite jarring that several key members of the Jackson family are treated like they just don't exist (most notably the second most famous Jackson, Janet) in this movie. But the rest of the Jacksons who did agree to appear in "Michael" are largely just shadows, with nothing made known about them and are simply filling up space around the actual star of this story when needed. And an unrecognizable Mike Myers makes a very brief appearance as Walter Yetnikoff, the president of Jackson's label, CBS Records who plays a vital part in helping take the performer to the next level by getting his videos played on MTV, which had largely refused to run Black artists, by threatening to pull all of the label's acts from the music channel.

"Michael" ends after his final tour with his brothers, completely severing professional ties with his family and begins his first solo tour in 1988. This means that this film doesn't deal with any of the child sexual abuse accusations against Jackson which began about five years later. There had been plans originally to include the allegations and scenes were apparently shot. But after "Michael" had been nearly completed, the producers were informed that they could not mention the accuser due to a clause in the settlement. You would have thought that since this was such an extremely sensitive subject matter that the production's legal team would have made some effort to look into this long before the cameras rolled.

Due to the overwhelming and expected success of "Michael" (with a half billion dollars earned at the global box-office to date and still growing), there is a follow-up planned of Jackson's story which will continue with his career and apparently deal with some of the more unsavory aspects that occurred later in the pop superstar's life. But much like this well made yet toothless bio-pic, there isn't any expectation that the sequel will dig too deep nor make Jackson appear in any way that would actually make him seem deceitful or threatening. "Michael" was never intended to disrupt the connection between the last King of Pop and his devoted and loyal fanbase. This film was supposed to serve as a solid and entertaining reminder of the extraordinary talent and enduring influence of Michael Jackson, never to tarnish his image or question his morals. And with that, "Michael" largely succeeds.

2026 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

The 79th annual Cannes Film Festival is set to begin with the glamourous star-studded event will run from May 12-23 on the French riviera. This international celebration of cinema will be the first opportunity to see some of the exciting new works that will reach screens throughout the rest of the year and beyond. The poster for this year's fest features the image of Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon as "Thelma & Louise" in Ridley Scott's 1991 road-trip drama that made it's world premiere at Cannes going on to become a critical and commercial success.

The festival opens with the world premiere of "La Vénus électrique (the Electric Kiss)" from Pierre Salvadori which will be screened Out of Competition. The film stars Pio Marmaï as Antoine Balestro, a painter in 1920's Paris who has been unable to work since the death of his wife, Irène (Vimala Pons), much to the frustration of his gallery owner, Armand (Gilles Lellouche) who goes through some drastic measures to try and get him in front of an easel.



Korean writer/director Park Chan-Wook will serve as this year's jury president. He will be joined by American actress, Demi Moore; Swedish actor, Stellan Skarsgård; Irish actress, Ruth Negga; Ivorian-French actor, Isaach De Bankolé; Chinese writer/director Chloé Zhao; Chilean writer/director Diego Céspedes; Belgian writer/director, Laura Wandel and Britsh screenwriter Paul Laverty to select the winners of the top prizes.

There have been twenty-two films selected for Competition that will feature an impressive collection of films by a wide range of international filmmakers. Some of the movies will include new works by acclaimed directors, Andrey Zvyagintsev ("Минотавр (Minotaur)"), Pawel Pawlikowski ("Fatherland"), Lazlo Nemes ("Moulin"), Cristian Mungiu ("Fjiord"), Hirokazu Kore-eda ("箱の中の羊 (Sheep in the Box)"), Lukas Dhont ("Coward"), Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi ("La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)"), Marie Kreutzer ("Gentle Monster"), Asghar Farhadi ("Histoires Parallèles (Parallel Stories)") and Pedro Almodóvar ("Amarga Navidad (Bitter Christmas)"). This year will be very slight in regards to an American film presence at Cannes with only Ira Sachs' "The Man I Love", a musical fantasia set during the AIDS crisis and the recent addition of James Gray's "Paper Tiger", a crime-drama featuring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, as the only movies from the US selected for competition.





In the Un Certain Regard section, which presents a lineup which recognizes emerging talent and innovative cinema, will feature the latest film from Jane Schoenbrun with "Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma" which will be the opening film; American actor/comedian, Jordan Firstman's directorial debut, "Club Kid"; "A Girl’s Story" the debut feature directed by French actress, Judith Godrèche and Greek director Konstantina Kotzamani’s "Titanic Ocean" about a special school in Japan that trains teenage girls into being professional mermaids.



Some intriguing films that will be shown out of competition includes the return of the Danish filmmaker, Nicolas Winding Refn with his horror-thriller, "Her Private Hell", his first feature film in ten years. The actor, Andy Garcia will premiere his second film as a director with "Diamond", a crime-drama that stars Garcia, Vicky Krieps, Brendan Fraser, Bill Murray and Dustin Hoffman. Steven Soderbergh will screen his documentary, "John Lennon: The Last Interview", the controversial film that will combine AI visual elements with the audio of the former Beatle's final interview with Rolling Stone magazine and Ron Howard will debut his documentary "Avedon" about the life and career of the famed photographer, Richard Avedon.

And Peter Jackson, the New Zealand filmmaker best known for his work on the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, will be presented this year with an honorary Palme d’Or. The Academy Award winning director will also participate in the fest's Talks program along with fellow Oscar-winners, Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton for separate onstage conversations.

COMING SOON

The writer, Colleen Hoover has enjoyed some great success with having her best-selling novels transformed into motion pictures. The first, "It Ends with Us", which starred Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, became a huge commercial success in 2023, grossing over three hundred and fifty million dollars worldwide. Her other books, "Regretting You" and "Reminders of Him" were also made into films and while neither managed to reach the same massive box-office heights, both were still able to attract a sizable audience.

Now Hoover's latest book-to-screen adaptation is "Verity" with this drama driven with some major star power. Bestselling author, Verity Crawford (played by Oscar-winner, Anne Hathaway) has become incapacitated and her husband (Josh Hartnett) has hired Lowen, (Dakota Johnson), a struggling writer, to help complete his wife's popular book series. While living in the Crawford's home to work, Lowen discovers a hidden manuscript that contains some disturbing information about the author.

Based on the teaser trailer, "Verity", directed by Michael Showalter, appears to be filled with suspense and psychological tension, diving into shifting boundaries between truth and fiction. And this will be the fifth movie featuring the very busy Hathaway released this year following the indie drama, "Mother Mary", the long-awaited sequel, "The Devil Wears Prada 2", Christopher Nolan's historical epic, "The Odyssey" and the sci-fi thriller, "The End of Oak Street".

"Verity" is due in US theaters on October 2, 2026