Summer means many things to many people — school out, trips to the beach or pool, blockbuster concert tours, and some of the year’s biggest movies to enjoy on the big screen in air-conditioning.
“Star Wars,” “Toy Story” and “Spider-Man” are just some of the series with new entries out in movie theaters this summer. For those of us who generally prefer non-franchise films, there will also be original titles by directors such as Steven Spielberg and David Robert Mitchell, and literary adaptations by Christopher Nolan and Ridley Scott (in Nolan’s case, one of the oldest surviving works of literature there is.)
And while there aren’t any Florida-filmed blockbusters this summer, such as last year’s “F1” or 2024’s “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” there will be multiple former Floridians onscreen, including a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College graduate. Here are the biggest movies coming to theaters in Florida and beyond this summer, listed in chronological order. Release dates and other details are subject to change.
‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ (Friday)
The first “Star Wars” film in seven years is banking on the popularity of its title characters — bounty hunter The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu, aka Baby Yoda, from the Disney+ series “The Mandalorian” — bringing fans to movie theaters. The cast also includes “The Bear” star Jeremy Allen White as Jabba the Hutt’s son Rotta, and sci-fi cinema icon Sigourney Weaver as New Republic figure Ward.
‘Backrooms’ (May 29)
Indie studio A24 has begun to embrace franchises — see their upcoming video game adaption “Elden Ring,” “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” movie or “Friday the 13th” prequel series “Crystal Lake” — further evidenced by this movie based on Kane Parsons’ web series about a seemingly unending expanse of rooms. (The first installment in said series has about 77 million YouTube views currently.) Parsons also directs this movie, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve, with Shawn Levy of “Stranger Things” and horror filmmakers James Wan and Osgood Perkins producing.
‘The Breadwinner’ (May 29)
Stand-up comedian Nate Bargatze makes his film acting debut in this family comedy about a man who must become a stay-at-home dad when his wife (Mandy Moore) lands a deal on “Shark Tank.” While movie star vehicles for stand-up comedians have not had a good track record as of late — see Jo Koy’s “Easter Sunday,” Sebastian Maniscalco’s “About My Father” or Tampa Bay native Bert Kreischer’s “The Machine” — Bargatze is a great comic, so perhaps he’ll be the one to finally crack the code.
‘Masters of the Universe’ (June 5)
The fantasy franchise gets its first live-action film adaptation since the 1987 Dolph Lundgren vehicle, now starring Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man, as he and his allies including Teela (the Florida-raised Camila Mendes) and Man-At-Arms (Idris Elba) face Skeletor (Jared Leto.) While a “Masters of the Universe” movie normally wouldn’t have much chance of being any good, its director Travis Knight — who also directed the Laika films “Kubo and the Two Strings” and the upcoming “Wildwood,” plus the pretty decent “Transformers” spinoff “Bumblebee” — raises those chances.
‘Scary Movie’ (June 5)
With “Scream” recently being revived, with three new films in the past five years, it was perhaps inevitable that the comedy series spoofing that franchise would come back as well. Marlon and Shawn Wayans, Anna Faris and Regina Hall are among the stars from the 2000 original returning for this sequel, which will parody several modern horror movies including “Sinners,” “Weapons,” “Smile,” “Longlegs,” “The Substance” and, of course, the new “Scream” films.
‘Disclosure Day’ (June 12)
In the age of the Pentagon releasing UFO files, it only makes sense that Steven Spielberg would return to aliens for his latest film. While plot details have largely been kept under wraps, any new Spielberg movie should be appointment viewing — especially one with the same subject as such other films of his as “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” and “War of the Worlds,” and with a talented cast including Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colman Domingo and Colin Firth.
‘Toy Story 5’ (June 19)
Pixar’s flagship franchise returns as Woody (voice of Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (voice of Tim Allen) and the other toys face perhaps their greatest challenge yet: getting their child’s attention away from the tablet Lilypad (voice of Greta Lee.) While “Toy Story 3” was such a perfect full-circle conclusion to the series that it was somewhat unfortunate when Pixar continued making sequels, “Toy Story 4” ended up being pretty good, so hopefully this can maintain that quality.
‘Jackass: Best and Last’ (June 26)
The MTV show turned movie franchise returns for its supposedly final film as Johnny Knoxville, graduate of Sarasota’s former Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College Steve-O, and the rest of the gang appear “in all-new stunts and stupidity along with the greatest hits and biggest laughs from the past.” The film follows 2022’s “Jackass Forever,” which earned the best reviews of the series’ career for being surprisingly sweet (as well as unsurprisingly wince-inducing), as the original cast grows older and welcomes a diverse new roster of members.
‘Supergirl’ (June 26)
Briefly introduced in last year’s “Superman,” the Man of Steel’s cousin (Milly Alcock) gets her own movie this summer, with Krypto (Supergirl’s dog who Superman was pet-sitting in the previous movie) returning as well. Also making a return to the DC universe, albeit as a different character, is Jason Momoa, who formerly portrayed Aquaman and in this movie will be playing the alien mercenary Lobo.
‘Minions & Monsters’ (July 1)
Minions, beloved by children and grandparents posting Facebook memes alike, return in this film set in 1920s Hollywood where they have become celebrities and look to cast a monster movie, only to have to face the monsters they conjure. Whether the Minions, during their time in 1920s Hollywood, must also face the transition from silent film to talkies, the rise of the studio system, and censorship culminating in the Hays Code remains to be seen.
‘Evil Dead Burn’ (July 10)
The latest film in the horror franchise centered around the Book of the Dead returns with this entry about “a family reunion from hell.” Since the original trilogy of films by Sam Raimi (who directed his first R-rated horror movie in decades, “Send Help,” earlier this year), “Evil Dead” has become a proving ground for young directors such as Fede Álvarez and Lee Cronin, which continues as “Infested” director Sébastien Vaniček makes his sophomore feature here.
‘Moana’ (July 10)
Disney’s latest live-action remake, “Moana” follows its title character (played by newcomer Catherine Laga’aia) as she enlists the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson, reprising his role from the animated movies) in helping her island community. Even by Disney’s standards, this seems like a particularly premature remake — the original “Moana” is only a decade old, and the sequel came out just two years ago — but it was also perhaps inevitable after the enormous box-office success of last year’s “Lilo & Stitch” live-action remake.
‘The Odyssey’ (July 17)
Christopher Nolan follows his 2023 Best Picture Oscar-winning biopic “Oppenheimer” with this adaptation of Homer’s epic following Odysseus (Matt Damon) on his dramatic journey home after the Trojan War to his wife (Anne Hathaway.) Whether “The Odyssey” is another movie awards season juggernaut like “Oppenheimer” or pure summer blockbuster spectacle remains to be seen, but one thing is almost certain: that it will look, and sound, impressive on the big screen.
‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ (July 31)
Tom Holland’s first starring role as the titular superhero since 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” picks up where that film left off, in an universe where the people closest to Peter Parker such as MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalan) no longer remember him or that he’s Spider-Man. Other Marvel characters such as The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) also appear, and while director Jon Watts won’t return, his replacement Destin Daniel Cretton is no stranger to Marvel, previously helming “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and “Wonder Man.”
‘The End of Oak Street’ (Aug. 14)
“It Follows” and “Under the Silver Lake” director David Robert Mitchell’s first film to be released in seven years, produced by J.J. Abrams, follows a family (including Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor) whose house is transported elsewhere under mysterious circumstances. At least based on its trailer, “The End of Oak Street” looks to be a homage to Spielberg blockbusters, both in that it involves a suburban family dealing with unexpected occurrences, and that said occurrences seem to involve dinosaurs.
‘Insidious: Out of the Further’ (Aug. 21)
The bad news for fans of the horror film franchise, centered on a realm known as The Further: the stars of the 2011 original who returned for 2023’s “Insidious: The Red Door,” Rose Byrne and the St. Petersburg-raised Patrick Wilson (who also directed “The Red Door”), aren’t returning for this sequel. The good news: Lin Shaye, who has played Elise in all five of the previous “Insidious” films, is set to reprise her role.
‘Coyote vs. Acme’ (Aug. 28)
A live-action/animation hybrid in the vein of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” or “Looney Tunes: Back in Action,” this film centers on Wile E. Coyote suing the Acme corporation that has so often failed him in his pursuit of Road Runner. Warner Bros. almost shelved “Coyote vs. Acme” for a tax write-off before allowing another studio to buy it; whether or not WB ends up right about its commercial prospects, it sounds like a film with a fun concept that was worth saving.
‘The Dog Stars’ (Aug. 28)
Ridley Scott’s adaptation of the 2012 Peter Heller novel follows a pilot (Jacob Elordi) living in a post-apocalyptic world after a devastating pandemic, with his dog and a gunman (Josh Brolin) among his only companions. While Scott’s later films have varied in quality, it’s always worth watching them to see where they land, especially with this one bringing the director back to the sci-fi genre of his classics “Alien” and “Blade Runner.”
Email entertainment reporter Jimmy Geurts at jimmy.geurts@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Biggest summer movies hitting Florida theaters from May to August 2026
Reporting by Jimmy Geurts, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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