May is upon us and the summer movies are starting to fly fast and furious. In fact, Fast & Furious 7 has already flown by, having dominated the box office for much of April. But as geeks everywhere know, Avengers: Age of Ultron opened last Friday here in the States and quickly became the second-largest film opening of all time, scoring $191.3 million dollars at the box office. But now that Avengers: Age of Ultron is open, what else is coming up for the film-loving nerd?
How about:
Mad Max: Fury Road (May 15) Thirty years after the last installment, this fourth film in the franchise brings more gritty action in the post-apocalyptic world with Tom Hardy taking the Mel Gibson role of Mad Max Rockatansky and Charlize Theron playing Imperator Furiosa.
Tomorrowland (May 22) George Clooney and young Britt Robertson travel to a place called Tomorrowland, a mysterious place in space and time that’s probably right near Disneyworld.
Jurassic World (June 12) Another fourth-installment arrives, this time in the dinosaur-park saga. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are in with the dinos.
Inside Out (June 19) This Pixar film is set in the mind of a young girl named Riley Anderson and features the voices of Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black and Mindy Kaling as five different emotions helping her through a move from the Midwest to San Francisco.
Terminator: Genesys (July 1) Not counting TV’s The Sarah Conner Chronicles, this is fifth theatrical film in the franchise that started back in 1984. In this edition, Arnold Swarzenengger reprises his original role as the eponymous deathbot while new cast members play alternate timeline versions of Kyle Reese, Sarah Conner, John Conner and Miles Dyson.
Minions (July 10) Those little yellow things from the Despicable Me films have their own picture this summer. Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm and Allison Janney also do voicework.
Mr. Holmes (July 17) Sir Ian McKellen plays an aging and retired Sherlock Holmes recounts his final case. Laura Linney co-stars as his housekeeper.
Ant-Man (July 17) Another Marvel entry, this time with Paul Rudd as the snarky crook given super-strength and shrinking powers.
Pan (July 17) This origin tale of Peter Pan and Captain Hook got some press earlier for the casting of Hugh Jackman as the pirate Blackbeard and not-remotely-Native-American Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily. (Some people have pointed out that the depiction of Native Americans in the original Peter Pan was pretty darn disrespectful to the First Nations to begin with, sort of like that Adam Sandler movie that’s currently shooting and offending everyone around with its sophomoric script and overt racism.)
Pixels (July 24) So, about Adam Sandler… His new summer film is about aliens misinterpreting 1980s arcade games as declarations of war and attack the Earth likewise with holographic pixels in the shape of Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and other retro classics.
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (July 31) Tom Cruise is back doing manly action in this fifth chapter in the franchise, which started its modern incarnation in 1996.
A LEGO Brickumentary (July 31) This documentary, about the wonderful world of Lego bricks, is narrated by Jason Bateman and arrives in simultaneously in theaters and on iTunes.
Fantastic 4 (August 7) Yet another Marvel movie! The studio is really running the summer table with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby creations, and this one is a reboot of the squabbling superhero quartet that had their first modern-era outing in 2005.
The Man From UNCLE (August 14) Henry Cavill, the actor currently playing Superman for Warner Brothers in 2013’s Man of Steel and next year’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, takes a break from the cape. He stars as government agent Napoleon Solo in this big-screen version of the popular 1960s TV spy show.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend (August 28) Last but not least, the sequel to the 15-year-old Chinese martial arts love story lands in IMAX theatres and streams the same day on Netflix, just in time for the end of the summer.