A long time ago, like in the 1990s, the summer was traditionally Blockbuster Movie season. In part, that success was because air-conditioned movie theaters offered relief from the summer heat and in part because kids were off from school and could spend lots of money and time at the local theater. Now, however, big-budget movies can find box office purchase pretty much any time of year with the right marketing campaign and 24/7 streaming services like Netflix grant us access to nearly unlimited content any time we want it.
A few of these titles are ones we’ve covered before.Cargo, starringMartin Freeman, leads off the season this May. After premiering at SXSW,The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter, a comedy starringJosh Brolin,Carrie Coon, andDanny McBridearrives to start the Fourth of July weekend. AndSusan Johnson’s romantic dramaTo All the Boys I’ve Loved Beforecloses out the season.
Here’s a quick guide to the upcoming Netflix Original Movies this Summer:
Director:Ben Howling, Yolanda Ramke
Writer:Yolanda Ramke
Producers:Samantha Jennings, Kristina Ceyton, Russell Ackerman, John Schoenfelder, Mark Patterson
Cast:Martin Freeman, Anthony Hayes, Susie Porter
Stranded in rural Australia in the aftermath of a violent pandemic, an infected father desperately seeks a new home for his infant child, and a means to protect her from his own changing nature.
Director:Alex Richanbach
Writer:Lauryn Kahn
Producers:Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Erin Westerman, Joe Drake, Kevin Messick, Nathan Kahane
Cast:Gillian Jacobs, Phoebe Robinson, Vanessa Bayer
(Synopsis subject to change):
Story is about a woman (Jacobs) whose two best friends (Bayer, Robinson) tag along on her work trip to Barcelona and Ibiza that quickly turns into a crazy hunt for a popular DJ
Director:Claire Scanlon
Writer:Katie Silberman
Producers:Justin Nappi, Juliet Berman
Cast:Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs, Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell
Harper and Charlie are overworked, underpaid assistants wasting their 20s slaving away for bosses who treat them like dirt and work them ‘round the clock. When they realize that they would have much more free time if the people they worked for weren’t single, they concoct a plan to lure their bosses into a faux-romance.
Director:Tyler Spindel
Writers:Tyler Spindel, Brandon Cournoyer
Producer:Allen Covert
Cast:David Spade, Nat Faxon, Joey Bragg, Matt Shively and Bridget Mendler
When a drunken debate between two recent college graduates about whose father would win in a fight is taken seriously by their idiot dads, jobs are lost, relationships ruined, futures destroyed, and best friends come of age as they come to grips with who their fathers really are. Starring David Spade, Nat Faxon, Joey Bragg, Matt Shively, and Bridget Mendler.
The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter
Director: Jody Hill
Writers:John Carcieri, Jody Hill, Danny McBride
Producers:Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Jody Hill
Cast:Josh Brolin, Danny McBride, Montana Jordan
Buck Ferguson (Josh Brolin), famous for hunting whitetail deer, plans a special episode of his hunting show around a bonding weekend with his estranged son, Jaden (Montana Jordan). With trusted - but hapless - cameraman and friend Don (Danny McBride) in tow, Buck sets out for what soon becomes an unexpectedly epic adventure of father-son reconnection in the great outdoors.
Also starring Scoot McNairy and Carrie Coon, THE LEGACY OF A WHITETAIL DEER HUNTER is directed by Jody Hill (Observe & Report, “Vice Principals,” “Eastbound Down”); written by Jody Hill, Danny McBride & John Carcieri (“Vice Principals,” “Eastbound Down”); and produced by Scott Rudin, Eli Bush and Jody Hill. Executive Producers are Danny McBride, David Gordon Green and Lila Yacoub.
Alex Strangelove
Director:Craig Johnson
Writer:Craig Johnson
Producers:Ben Stiller, Nicky Weinstock, Jared Ian Goldman
Cast:Daniel Doheny, William Ragsdale, Joanna Adler, Isabella Amara
Alex Strangelove tells the story of Alex Truelove, a well-rounded high school senior with a wonderful girlfriend Claire and a bright future ahead of him – and with plans to achieve his last teenage milestone by losing his virginity. But things get complicated when he meets Elliot, a handsome and charming gay kid from the other side of town, who unwittingly sends Alex on a rollercoaster journey of sexual identity, kicking off a hilarious and moving exploration of love, sex and friendship in our liberated and confusing modern times.
Written and Directed by Craig Johnson (The Skeleton Twins, Wilson), Alex Strangelove stars Daniel Doheny, Madeline Weinstein and Antonio Marziale. The film was produced by Ben Stiller, Nicky Weinstock, and Jared Ian Goldman.
Like Father
Director:Lauren Miller Rogen
Writer:Lauren Miller Rogen
Producers:Amanda Bowers, Anders Bard, Molly Conners
Cast:Kristen Bell, Kelsey Grammer, Seth Rogen
When a workaholic young executive (Kristen Bell), is left at the altar, she ends up on her Caribbean honeymoon cruise with the last person she ever expected: her estranged and equally workaholic father (Kelsey Grammer). The two depart as strangers, but over the course of a few hilarious adventures, a couple of umbrella-clad cocktails and a whole lot of soul-searching, they return with a renewed appreciation for family and life.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Director:Mike Newell
Writer:Thomas Bezucha, Don Roos
Producers:Graham Broadbent,Peter Czernin, Paula Mazur, Mitchell Kaplan
Cast:Lily James, Michiel Huisman, Jessica Brown-Findlay, Glen Powell, Matthew Goode
Directed by Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) and based on the best-selling and much loved novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY sees Lily James (Downtown Abbey, Cinderella) play free-spirited writer Juliet Ashton, who forms a life-changing bond with the delightful and eccentric Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, when she decides to write about the book club they formed during the occupation of Guernsey in WWII. The film also stars Michiel Huisman (The Age of Adaline), Glen Powell (Everybody Wants Some, Hidden Figures), Matthew Goode (The Imitation Game, Downton Abbey), Jessica Brown Findlay (Victor Frankenstein, Downton Abbey) and Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd, The Boat That Rocked) with Tom Courtenay (45 Years, Doctor Zhivago) and Penelope Wilton (The BFG, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel).
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
Director:Susan Johnson
Written:Sofia AlvarezNovel:Jenny Han
Producers:Matt Kaplan, Dougie Cash, Jordan Levin
Cast:Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish, Israel Broussard, Andrew Bachelor, John Corbett, Anna Cathcart
What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them…all at once? Lara Jean Song Covey’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control when the love letters for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all– are mysteriously mailed out. From New York Times Bestselling Author, Jenny Han, the film adaption of the popular YA novel stars actress Lana Condor (Alita: Battle Angel, X-Men: Apocalypse) and Noah Centineo (Sierra Burgess Is A Loser, The Fosters).
