Hollywood is currently enjoying its best box office year since 2019, and July looks poised to keep the party going with blockbuster franchises, like Spider-Man and The Minions, and blockbuster filmmakers, such as Christopher Nolan, heading to theaters in a variety of premium formats. Audiences young, old, and in between will have plenty to choose from, whether they’re more into the light-hearted voyage of the live-action Moana remake, the grueling trials of The Odyssey, or smaller comedies like Gail Daughtry And The Celebrity Sex Pass and I Want Your Sex. There’s even a new Evil Dead movie in our July film preview to sate the horror fanatics who keep the movie industry afloat.
Minions & Monsters (July 1)
Perhaps the strangest and most high-concept of all the franchise stars’ many screen appearances, Minions & Monsters sees the little banana-loving pills go Hollywood (and meet George Lucas). Set in 1920s Tinsel Town, the Minions (director and co-writer Pierre Coffin) use black magic to conjure a Lovecraftian blob named Goomi (Trey Parker), who takes them to Monster Island in search of the perfect star for their upcoming picture.
Evil Dead Burn (July 10)
Canted angles and gallons of red-dyed Karo syrup are back in style in the latest installment of the long-running Evil Dead series. Continuing the Ash-abandoning anthology structure set by 2023’s Evil Dead Rise, Evil Dead Burn puts the Necronomicon in the hands of a new group of unfortunate, soon-to-be-tortured souls. This time, it’s a grieving widow fighting for her life against her possessed in-laws.
Gail Daughtry And The Celebrity Sex Pass (July 10)
David Wain’s first movie in a decade—and first theatrical release since 2014—seems to pick up where They Came Together left off. Co-written by his longtime fellow Statesman Ken Marino, Gail Daughtry And The Celebrity Sex Pass stars Zoey Deutch, looking to use her marital hall pass on one night with Jon Hamm. Joining Gail’s sexcapades are John Slattery, Ben Wang, Fred Melamed, a host of State alumni, and an armed and dangerous “Weird Al” Yankovic.
Moana (July 10)
Less than a decade after the release of the animated original, and two years after its long-awaited sequel, Disney returns to ancient Polynesia with a live-action remake of Moana. Despite the flesh, blood, and CGI, the story remains the same: The chief’s daughter, Moana (Catherine Laga’aia), hits the high seas with a wise-cracking, musclebound demigod, Maui (a returning Dwayne Johnson), to recover an ancient artifact and save her island home.
