Summer’s here and the time is right, for dancing in the street. All we need is movies, movies, they’ll be movies everywhere. OK, something like that (literally, you try writing an original intro to a summer movie preview after doing it for 17-odd years).

But yes, summer is here, our summer movie preview is late, and let’s not blather on too much. Summer is what it is every season: a mix of blockbuster meets indie counter-programming for those that get sick of Marvel, explosions, and whatnot. So yes, for big summer movies, you’ll get two Marvel movies, a ‘Mission: Impossible’ film, a “Superman”/DC movie, a new “Jurassic Park” franchise installment, and more.

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2025

Indie-arthouse-wise audiences will receive new films by filmmaker Ari Aster, Wes Anderson, Alex Ross Perry, Trey Edward Shults, Ethan Coen, Darren Aronofsky, and more. Anyhow, let’s get right to it.

“Another Simple Favor”Filmmaker Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids”) returns to the scene of his biggest hit in recent years with the black comedy mystery film “Another Simple Favor,” and this time it’s a murder that occurs at Blake Lively’s character’s extravagant Italian wedding to a businessman on the island of Capri. Lively and Anna Kendrick return along with Elizabeth Perkins, Henry Golding, Allison Janney, and many more (read our review).Release Date: May 1 via Amazon MGM.

“Thunderbolts*”“Beef” filmmaker Jake Schreier takes a team of Marvel misfit outcast anti-heroes—played by Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman and Olga Kurylenko—and pits them against the conniving government agent Valentina Allega de Fontain (Julia-Louis Dreyfus) and her various cronies (read our review).Release Date: May 2 via Marvel Studios, and yeah, they’re calling it “New Avengers” now or whatever, sure. 

“Pavements”Indie auteur Alex Ross Perry pays ironic tribute to the indie-rock band Pavement by making an ambitious hybrid experiment that’s part documentary, part narrative, part spoof and purposefully unreliable storytelling. The film features the band in archival footage, but also includes actors like Zoe Lister-Jones, Michael Esper, Kathryn Gallagher, Joe Keery, Jason Schwartzman, Nat Wolff, Fred Hechinger, Logan Miller, Griffin Newman, Tim Heidecker and more playing members of either the rock group themselves or key figures in their origin story (read our review).Release Date: May 2 via Utopia.

“Friendship”Cut from the same absurdist cloth as “I Think You Should Leave,” Tim Robinson stars in this absurdist dark nightmare cringe comedy about a suburban dad obsessively pursuing camaraderie with his charming neighbor (Paul Rudd). Everything’s fine at first, as the bff-ness blossoms, but of course, it all eventually goes hilariously south. Kate Mara, Jack Dylan Grazer, Josh Segarra, and Billy Bryk co-star.Release Date: May 9 via A24.

“Hurry Up Tomorrow”A film companion piece to Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye’s sixth studio album of the same name, “Hurry Up Tomorrow” is a musical psychological thriller about an insomniac musician on the verge of a mental breakdown who is pulled into an existential odyssey by a mysterious stranger. “Waves” filmmaker Trey Edward Shults directs, The Weeknd stars, naturally, and Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan also star. Let’s hope this isn’t an expensive vanity project, given Tesfaye’s previous project, HBO’s “The Idol,” was met with major scorn.Release Date: May 16, 2025, via Lionsgate.

“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning”Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the final installment of a franchise that has spanned four decades, at least for now, “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” is rumored to be one of the most expensive films of all time, north of $300 million because Tom Cruise gets what Tom Cruise wants. This final installment and direct sequel to ‘Dead Reckoning’ stars Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, and Angela Bassett, all trying to stop Gabriel (Esai Morales) from obtaining the AI program known as “the Entity.” The film will also make its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, about two weeks before its regular release.Release Date: May 23 via Paramount.

“Fountain of Youth”Uber-prolific director Guy Ritchie delivered a movie and a series last year, and he is doing the same again in 2025, with the Paramount+ series “MobLand” and his Apple TV+ film “Fountain Of Youth.” Written by “Zodiac” scribe James Vanderbilt, and maybe taking a broad page out of “Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade,” the action-adventure stars John Krasinski and Natalie Portman as a pair of estranged siblings who team up and embark on a journey to find the famed Fountain of Youth. The ensemble cast also includes Eiza González, Domhnall Gleeson, Arian Moayed, Laz Alonso, Carmen Ejogo, and Stanley Tucci.Release Date: May 23 via Apple TV+.

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“Fear Street: Prom Queen”The “Fear Street” series, based on R. L. Stine’s horror book series of the same name, has already launched a film trilogy for Netflix, and the streamer returns with a new slasher installment, “Fear Street: Prom Queen.” Directed by Matt Palmer and co-written by Palmer and Donald McLeary, this fourth film installment follows the students of Shadyside High as they prepare for prom night, but the competitive mean girls get feisty and then start dropping like flies. The movie stars India Fowler, Suzanna Son, Fina Strazza, David Iacono, Ella Rubin, Chris Klein, Ariana Greenblatt, Lili Taylor, and Katherine Waterston.Release Date: May 23 via Netflix.

“The Phoenician Scheme”Wes Anderson’s thirteenth feature-length film, “The Phoenician Scheme,” is an ambitious-sounding espionage black comedy he conceived with longtime collaborator Roman Coppola. The plot follows a wealthy businessman who appoints his only daughter, a nun, as the sole heir to his estate. But soon, they become the target of scheming tycoons, foreign terrorists, and determined assassins. The film stars Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, and Michael Cera. Then the rest of the massive ensemble includes Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Friend, Hope Davis, Bill Murray, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Willem Dafoe. “The Phoenician Scheme” will premiere at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.Release Date: May 30 via Focus Features.

“Mountainhead”Having just finished “Succession,” writer/show’s creator Jesse Armstrong makes his feature-length directorial debut with the satirical comedy-drama, “Mountainhead.” Affluence and privilege are at the top of my mind again, and the movie follows four wealthy friends who reunite amidst a global financial crisis, navigating chaos and personal dilemmas. “Mountainhead” stars Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith, and Ramy Youssef.Release Date: May 31 via HBO.