June is a mix of balancing summer excitement with other responsibilities. Whether it’s figuring out what the kids will do while you’re working or trying to plan a family trip, there’s always something. Almost every Tuesday, we make a point of heading to the theater with local friends. It’s not opening weekend so the crowds have usually died down. We get our choice of seats and the tickets are typically discounted. It’s win/win. Quality time with friends while taking in a good movie.
One unexpected bonus is the movie-related banter that has ensued as a result. Not only do we talk about the movie we most recently watched, but also upcoming releases. We even discuss some of those we missed that are launching on streaming services. June is filled with an assortment of “quels” – prequels and sequels – of all genres. There’s even a western starring Kevin Costner. Check out all the options:
Bad Boys: Ride or Die
Release Date: June 7, 2024 Genre: Action, Adventure, Sequel Cast: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Nuñez, Eric Dane, Ioan Gruffudd, Jacob Scipio, Melanie Liburd, Tasha Smith, with Tiffany Haddish and Joe Pantoliano
This Summer, the world’s favorite Bad Boys are back with their iconic mix of edge-of-your seat action and outrageous comedy but this time with a twist: Miami’s finest are now on the run.
The Exorcism
Release Date: June 7, 2024 Genre: Horror, Thriller Cast: Russell Crowe, Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg, and David Hyde Pierce
When troubled actor Anthony Miller (Academy Award-winner Russell Crowe), begins unraveling while on the set of his latest horror film, his daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), questions if his past addictions or something darker is at play.
School of Magical Animals 2
Release Date: June 7, 2024 Genre: Family, Adventure, Comedy, Sequel Cast: Emilia Maier, Loris Sichrovsky, Lilith Johna, Leonard Conrads, Emilia Pieske, Nadja Uhl, Justus von Dohnányi, Heiko Pinkowski and Milan Peschel
The students of the school of magical animals want to perform a musical for the school’s anniversary. Will the rehearsals end in chaos or will the class pull together? And what’s up with the strange holes on the school grounds? With the help of their magical animals, the children learn what really matters: teamwork.
Inside Out 2
Release Date: June 14, 2024 Genre: Adventure, Animation, Family, Sequel Cast: Maya Hawke, Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Tony Hale, Liza Lapira, Ayo Edebiri, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Paul Walter Hauser, Kensington Tallman, Lilimar, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green, Grace Lu, Yvette Nicole Brown, Sarayu Blue, Flea, Ron Funches, Dave Goelz, James Austin Johnson, Bobby Moynihan, Frank Oz, Paula Pell, Paula Poundstone, John Ratzenberger, Kendall Coyne Schofield, June Squibb, Kirk Thatcher, Yong Yea
Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” returns to the mind of newly minted teenager Riley just as headquarters is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new Emotions! Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, who’ve long been running a successful operation by all accounts, aren’t sure how to feel when Anxiety shows up. And it looks like she’s not alone.
Treasure
Release Date: June 14, 2024 Genre: Drama, Comedy Cast: Lena Dunham, Stephen Fry
A father-daughter road trip set in 1990s Poland, Treasure follows Ruth (Dunham), an American music journalist, and her father, Edek (Fry), a charmingly stubborn Holocaust survivor, on a journey to his homeland. While Ruth is eager to make sense of her family’s past, Edek embarks on the trip with his own agenda. This emotional, funny culture clash of two New Yorkers exploring post-socialist Poland is a powerful example of how reconnecting with family and the past can be an unexpected treasure.
The Watchers
Release Date: June 14, 2024 Genre: Horror, Mystery Cast: Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Oliver Finnegan and Olwen Fouere
The Watchers follows Mina, a 28-year old artist who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. When Mina finds shelter, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers that are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night. You can’t see them, but they see everything.
Firebrand
Release Date: June 14, 2024 Genre: Drama, History Cast: Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, Eddie Marsan, Simon Russell Beale, Sam Riley, Erin Doherty
In blood-soaked Tudor England, twice married, accomplished, and educated Katherine Parr (Vikander), reluctantly agrees to become the sixth wife of the tyrannical King Henry VIII (Law). Her consent to marry him carries great personal risk, given that her predecessors are either vanquished, beheaded, or dead. When Henry appoints her as Regent, the nation’s ruler during his absence when he departs to fight overseas, he lays a dangerous path for her. Henry’s courtiers, suspecting she’s sympathetic to radical Protestant beliefs that have taken root in the kingdom and are a threat to their power, scheme against her and cast doubts upon her fidelity to the increasingly ailing and paranoid King. Once Henry returns to England, his courtiers convince him to turn his fury on the nation’s radicals, including Katherine’s childhood friend Anne Askew, who becomes one of the scores of people convicted of treason and burned at the stake. Horrified and privately grieving, Katherine finds herself under ever-increasing scrutiny and suspicion. Knowing that even a whisper of scandal might lead to her downfall, Katherine must unleash her own scheme to fight for survival.
The Bikeriders
Release Date: June 21, 2024 Genre: Crime, Drama Cast: Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, Norman Reedus
The Bikeriders captures a rebellious time in America when the culture and people were changing. After a chance encounter at a local bar, strong-willed Kathy (Jodie Comer) is inextricably drawn to Benny (Austin Butler), the newest member of Midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals led by the enigmatic Johnny (Tom Hardy). Much like the country around it, the club begins to evolve, transforming from a gathering place for local outsiders into a dangerous underworld of violence, forcing Benny to choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club.
Kinds of Kindness
Release Date: June 21, 2024 Genre: Drama, Comedy Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, Hunter Schafer
KINDS OF KINDNESS is a triptych fable, following a man without choice who tries to take control of his own life; a policeman who is alarmed that his wife who was missing-at-sea has returned and seems a different person; and a woman determined to find a specific someone with a special ability, who is destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader.
Janet Planet
Release Date: June 21, 2024 Genre: Drama Cast: Julianne Nicholson, Zoe Ziegler, Elias Koteas, Will Patton, and Sophie Okonedo
In rural Western Massachusetts, 11-year-old Lacy spends the summer of 1991 at home, enthralled by her own imagination and the attention of her mother, Janet. As the months pass, three visitors enter their orbit, all captivated by Janet and her spellbinding nature. In her solitary moments, Lacy inhabits an inner world so extraordinarily detailed that it begins to seep into the outside world. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker captures a child’s experience of time passing, and the ineffability of a daughter falling out of love with her mother, in this singularly sublime film debut.
A Quiet Place: Day One
Release Date: June 28, 2024 Genre: Thriller, Horror, Prequel Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, and Djimon Hounsou
Experience the day the world went quiet.
Daddio
Release Date: June 28, 2024 Genre: Drama Cast: Dakota Johnson, Sean Penn
New York City. JFK airport. A young woman jumps into the backseat of a yellow taxi, the cabbie throws the vehicle into drive as the two head out into the night toward Manhattan, striking up the most unexpected conversation resulting in a single, epic remarkable journey.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1
Release Date: June 21 28, 2024 Genre: Western, Drama Cast: Kevin Costner, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Owen Crow Shoe, Tatanka Means, Ella Hunt, Tim Guinee, Danny Huston, Colin Cunningham, Scott Haze, Tom Payne, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Will Patton, Georgia MacPhail, Douglas Smith, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jamie Campbell Bower, Alejandro Edda, Wasé Winyan Chief, Michael Anganaro, Angus Macfadyen, Jon Beavers, Alex Nibley, Kathleen Quinlan, Etienne Kellici, Amos Jason Charging Cloud, Bodhi Okuma Linton, Gregory Cruz, James Russo, Jeff Fahey, David O’Hara, Chris Conner, Leroy M. Silva, Bernardo Velasco, Tom Everett, Glynn Turman, Giovanni Ribisi and more
In the great tradition of Warner Bros. Pictures’ iconic Westerns, “Horizon: An American Saga” explores the lure of the Old West and how it was won—and lost—through the blood, sweat and tears of many. Spanning the four years of the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, Costner’s ambitious cinematic adventure will take audiences on an emotional journey across a country at war with itself, experienced through the lens of families, friends and foes all attempting to discover what it truly means to be the United States of America. Warner Bros. Pictures will distribute, announcing today that not one, but two films will be released in theaters next summer—the first on June 28, 2024, followed quickly by the second on August 16, 2024.
Build a little movie time into your schedule this month (and every month). There are always a lot of options and June is no different.
What June titles will you work into your summer schedule?
