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The 10 Movies I'm Most Excited About for Summer 2022


The summer movie season (which always officially begins at the first week of May) is just around the corner and with that comes a very exciting lineup of films. Given how the COVID pandemic has affected the release dates of many films, the last few summer seasons have left maybe a little to be desired (although last year was certainly a noticeable return to form given theaters opening back up), but this year's slate is bound to definitely be the biggest in quite a few years. For that reason alone, I've complied what are the 10 movies I'm personally looking forward to the most along with a few honorable mentions.


Honorable Mentions

  • Jurassic World: Dominion: I had to include the new Jurassic as at least an honorable mention. As much as these movies will never be able to capture the magic & awe of what Steven Spielberg did in 1993, I've had enough fun with both Jurassic World films, and this looks to certainly be more of the same. None of the trailers have necessarily been blowing me away, but I'm just excited to see the OG trio back along with Chris Pratt & Bryce Dallas Howard. I'll be there opening night shutting my brain off and shoving popcorn in me.

  • Lightyear: Is this Buzz Lightyear spinoff in any way necessary? No, it's not. It definitely seems like a total cash grab, yet I can't deny that I've been really charmed by these trailers and I'm also always down for a new Pixar film. Not to mention Chris Evans seems like an inspired choice to take over the voice of a younger Buzz.

  • Marcel the Shell with Shoes On: I knew next to nothing about this one until about a week ago when I finally saw the trailer. I was absolutely charmed by what I saw and it's an encouraging sign that this is already getting strong reviews. I just love this concept too and it's also A24 which says more than enough.

  • The Gray Man: The Russo Brothers first directed film in their post Marvel era might've been a bit underwhelming, but this new one from Netflix certainly sounds promising and is a project I've been following for a long while now. With a cast like Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, and Jessica Henwick amongst others there's a lot to look forward to in this one.

  • Hustle: Ever since Adam Sandler knocked it out of the park with Uncut Gems a few years back, I've been eager to see him continue to go more dramatic. And while not much is known so far about this new sports drama from Netflix, I'm always down for a new basketball film and this sounds like a promising role for the Sandman. Not to mention a great supporting cast.

  • Samaritan: Another film where there is currently no trailer and not a whole ton of info in general, but this one has certainly caught my eye ever since it was first announced. I've never read the original graphic novels its based from, but Sylvester Stallone in a superhero role should certainly be fun and the guy proved just a few years back with the latest Rambo that he can still do these action roles. Julius Avery also proved to be a director to look out for with 2018's Overlord.

Now for the Top 10....


#10: Where the Crawdads Sing



Ever since seeing Daisy Edgar-Jones's breakout turn in this year's Sundance hit Fresh, I've been more than eager to see what she does next. Based on the best-selling novel, the Crawdads trailer finally released a few weeks back and it looks quite great. I'm always a sucker for a great mystery with hopefully many great twist and turns up its sleeves. Not only is Daisy our lead here, but you've got quite an impressive supporting cast that includes David Strathairn and Garret Dillahunt. Olivia Newman seems to be a promising choice for the director's choice and interesting to note Reese Witherspoon is a producer. Hopefully this is one of the indie darlings of the summer.


#9: Bodies Bodies Bodies


I'm certainly a bit of a slasher movie fanatic and it's been great to see the genre make quite the resurgence in the last few years with not only the recent Scream or Halloween, but also this year's excellent X. Not a whole lot of information has come out about this new one from A24, but it premiered at South by Southwest last month and opened to great word of mouth. Not only that, but this also has an pretty exciting cast with Maria Bakalova, Amanda Stenberg, Pete Davidson, Rachel Sennott and Lee Pace. And this premise is just absolutely awesome and could be a great deal of fun so sign me up.


#8: Men


Here's yet another new horror film from A24, this one coming from that superbly talented visionary Alex Garland. I've been a big fan of Garland's work since the amazing Ex Machina so a new film of this is always very high on my radar. The trailers for Men have been quite secretive in terms of revealing much about what the premise of this film entails and that's exactly the way I like it. It looks very eerie and atmospheric. Not to mention the fact that Academy Award Nominee Jessie Buckley is playing the lead already gets me excited as she's one of the very best rising talents working today.


#7: The Black Phone


The trailer for The Black Phone first debuted so many months ago that I honestly almost keep forgetting the film has yet to release. Having said that, I've been excited for Scott Derrickson's new horror film from Blumhouse ever since it was first announced, and the trailers have looked absolutely great. Just the concept of this alone I love so much and could make for one of the more frightening horror films in a long while. Not to mention Ethan Hawke is one of my favorite actors working today and in this villain role he looks quite terrifying. And the great early buzz this is already receiving is of course a great sign too.


#6: Thor Love and Thunder


It is so odd how we now barely two months away from a new MCU film and there is still no footage that has been released yet. Is this film even still coming out this summer? I have no idea at this point, but assuming that it still is I am obviously very excited for this new Thor film. Mainly because I mean it's Taika Waititi back in the director's chair yet again. The first two Thor films are not at all amongst my favorite Marvel films, but I loved what Waititi did with Thor: Ragnarök. Waititi then followed that up with Jojo Rabbit which just solidified him as one of my favorite filmmakers working today. It'll be exciting to not only see Chris Hemsworth & Tessa Thompson back, but also Natalie Portman returning to be Lady Jane. Not to mention Christian Bale as our new villain? Sign me up.


#5: Elvis


Now I can't say I am at all like a Elvis Presley fanatic, but there's absolutely no denying the man remains one of the most iconic and greatest singers to ever been. And while musical biopics are generally really hit or miss and it feels like we've had way too many, I've always been fascinated to learn more about Presley's story. I've been intrigued about this biopic ever since it was announced that visionary Baz Luhrmann will be helming, and Austin Butler will be stepping into the role of Elvis. Butler's relatively small resume might not give us a great indication of how he'll do in this role, but from the looks of the trailer he looks fantastic, and I think the movie itself honestly looks pretty great too. It's encouraging to know that Butler is also doing all of his own singing and this for sure looks to be a huge breakout role for him. And the great Tom Hanks playing Colonel Tom Parker is certainly going to be something else too. This looks to be one of the better biopics in recent memory and I'm getting quite excited whenever I see that trailer play at the theater. Hopefully this year's Rocketman?


#4: Top Gun: Maverick


Now is probably a great time to admit that I'm not at all the biggest Top Gun fan. I find the original film to be a perfectly enjoyable, fun movie that makes for great 80s camp, but not much more. It wouldn't even come close to cracking my Top 10 Tom Cruise films. Having said that, I've been excited about this Top Gun sequel ever since it was originally supposed to first release back in like 2019. The extensive release delays for a sequel that is probably already about 15 years too late have been brutal, but I think this release date is finally sticking. Regardless of how you feel about him, Cruise remains one of our greatest action stars and I'm very excited to experience the crazy set pieces he has pulled off with his crew for Maverick on a glorious IMAX screen. The latest trailer also looks really great and even hearing that score again gives me some goosebumps. Speaking of Goose, Miles Teller looks like inspired casting for the role of Goose's son.


#3: Bullet Train


How can an action junkie like me not be so excited for Bullet Train? I've been practically counting down the days to this film's release ever since it was first announced with all these insane cast members just a few years back. The ensemble cast in this is just ridiculous from Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Michael Shannon, Brian Tyree Henry and so many other big names. I loved the very first trailer that was released as the action looks so vibrant and creative. David Leitch is also of course no stranger to the action genre. I'm not expecting this to win any awards or be a game changer for the genre, but with this level of talent it is for sure set to be the coolest and most bad-ass action film of the entire summer.


#2: Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness



Was there really any doubt this would crack my list? Of course, I'm excited for Sam Raimi's return to the comic book movie genre. Not only has Raimi not made a superhero film since Spider-Man 3 in 2007, but this will be his first directed film since 2013 and it certainly looks to be one glorious return. I was a fan of the first Doctor Strange, but with Raimi helming this time around this looks to be a better and crazier sequel in every way possible. Not much more needs to be said about this one as obviously just about everyone is excited for Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen and Benedict Wong's returns for multiverse madness with what is certain to have some very exciting surprise appearances from other fan favorite Marvel characters. I'll be there on opening night with many other excited Marvel fans and let's hope it lives up to the insane hype.


#1: Nope


As excited as I am for Doctor Strange and all these other films, by far the film I'm most intrigued and genuinely excited for is the new horror film from Jordan Peele. Peele has made quite the name for himself already as an exciting voice in the horror genre with his staggering debut with Get Out and then his terrific follow up with Us. His new film Nope has largely been keeping the plot under wraps to this point, but that trailer released during Super Bowl Sunday was one of the best teasers I've seen in a while and was more than enough to leave me so hungry for whatever excitement Peele has in store with his latest feature. And to just add to that excitement you've got a hell of a cast here with Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun.


Please feel free to share what films you're looking forward to the most this summer. Let's hope all these films can live up the hype surrounding them.




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