Summer Movie Preview: Deadpool, Axel Foley and the 'Inside Out' gang among Blockbuster season

The “Barbenheimer” phenomenon of 2023 has its own extensive entry on Wikipedia, with subheadings such as “Release Date Dispute,” “Public Reaction,” “Double Feature Viewing” and “Analysis,” the latter opening with, “The Economist observed that the ‘two films encapsulate some of the caprices of the modern movie industry,’ ” and wasn’t that a time!

The Summer 2024 Movie Calendar holds no such dual blockbuster promise, but we have a bounty of promising titles set for release in the coming months, from sequels and prequels to original films from Yorgos Lanthimos (“The Favourite,” “Poor Things”), Richard Linklater (“Dazed and Confused,” “Boyhood”), Doug Liman (“The Bourne Identity,” “Edge of Tomorrow”) and M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense,” “Knock at the Cabin”). Let’s do this.

‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ (May 23)

Not only is the “Mad Max” franchise one of the great action sagas in film history, it has also given us the best villain names this side of Oddjob, Goldfinger, Blofeld and Dr. No. Let’s see, there’s Rictus Erectus, Master Blaster, Aunty Entity, Toecutter, Lord Humungus, Immortan Joe — and for George Miller’s 148-minute saga “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” the younger Imperator Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) will be pitted against Chris Hemsworth’s Doctor Dementus, who is not to be confused with novelty-song DJ Doctor Demento. This prequel is set 15 to 20 years before the events of “Fury Road,” and quite likely will once again feature some of the best practical effects stunts ever put on film.

‘Hit Man’ (May 23)

From David Fincher’s meticulously crafted “The Killer” to the dreadful Mark Wahlberg vehicle “The Family Plan” to solid entries such as “Nobody,” “Memory,” “Fast Charlie” and “Knox Goes Away,” we’ve had a spate of assassin movies — and here’s one more, from Richard Linklater, who co-wrote the script for this romantic comedy (!) with leading man Glen Powell. “Hit Man” is based on a magazine article by the terrific journalist Skip Hollandsworth, who previously collaborated with Linklater on the 2011 gem “Bernie,” which was also based on a real-life tale.

‘Inside Out 2' (June 14)

We’ve had some changes to the roster of Mixed Emotions inside the mind of the now teenage Riley (now played by Kensington Tallman), with Tony Hale replacing Bill Hader as Fear and Liza Lapria taking over the role of Disgust from Mindy Kaling. Amy Poehler (Joy), Phyllis Smith (Sadness) and Lewis Black (Anger) return, with new emotions voiced by Ayo Edebiri (Envy), Paul Walter Hauser (Embarrassment) and Adèle Exanchopoulos (Ennui). Wait: Ennui? They’re giving this girl ennui? Then again, she IS a teenager, so it makes sense.

‘Kinds of Kindness’ (June 21)

The insanely creative and wonderfully skewed Yorgos Lanthimos reunites a number of “Poor Things” cast members, including Oscar winner Emma Stone as well as Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley, for what Searchlight Pictures is calling a “triptych fable.” Based on the trailer, we can expect weird dancing, both black-and-white and color cinematography, and a purple Dodge Challenger. In!

‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ (June 28)

It’s official: we now have A Quiet Place Universe (AQPU, bless you!), with the arrival of this horror-thriller origins story about, you guessed it, the first day of the invasion by those killer aliens with the ultrasonic sound hearing. John Krasinski worked on the story idea, but the director-screenwriter for “Day One” is Michael Samoski, the creative force behind the Nicolas Cage vehicle “Pig,” one of the best movies of 2021. Set in New York City, “A Quiet Place: Day One” stars Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn, with Djimon Hounsou reprising his “Man on the Island” character from 2020’s “A Quiet Place Part II.”

‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ (July 3)

When Eddie Murphy and friends returned in “Coming 2 America” some 33 years after the beloved comedy classic, the sequel was met with a mixed reception, though yours truly found it to be a lively and consistently funny update. Now, some 30 years after we saw Murphy’s Axel Foley in the entirely regrettable “Beverly Hills Cop III” and after years and years and YEARS of starts and stops, we’re finally getting a fourth film in the franchise, with Murphy’s Axel Foley again returning to Beverly Hills and teaming up with his old pals Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and Taggart (John Ashton) to help Axel’s estranged daughter (Taylour Paige). Here’s hoping “Axel F” rekindles some of the magic of the first “Beverly Hills Cop” film.

‘MaXXXine’ (July 5)

After the eviscerating and chilling one-two gut-punch of “X” in March of 2022 and the prequel “Pearl” just six months, director Ti West and star Mia Goth team up for the third film in the series, set after the horrific events of “X.” We’ll follow Goth’s Maxine as she lands in Los Angeles in 1985 and tries to make the transition from adult entertainment star to mainstream Hollywood actress. The trailer features Maxine walking past a theater marquee advertising “St. Elmo’s Fire” while “Obsession” by Animotion plays on the soundtrack, and the story seems to be set against the backdrop of the real-life case of the Night Stalker. Oh yes, we are definitely in the mid-1980s. Good luck to Maxine — and also to anyone who tries to get in the way of her dreams.

‘Fly Me to the Moon’ (July 12)

We’ve had a little bit of a rom-com renaissance with 2023's “Anyone But You” grossing more than $219 million worldwide and the (far superior) “The Idea of You” now playing on Prime Video. Here’s one more, with Greg Berlanti, who directed one of the best teen romantic comedies of the 2010s in “Love, Simon” (2018), helming a period piece set during the Space Race of the 1960s. “Moon” has some good old-fashioned movie star appeal, with Channing Tatum as Cole Davis, the NASA exec in charge of keeping the USA’s mission to the moon on track as public support wavers, and Scarlett Johansson as Kelly Jones, the marketing specialist brought in “to sell the moon,” as she puts it. Prediction: We will win the Space Race, and after much butting of heads, sparks will fly between Kelly and Cole.

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ (July 26)

Bill Clinton was still in office when Hugh Jackman first played Logan/Wolverine, and while I thought the character had the perfect swan song in 2017’s “Logan,” there’s something almost too easy about pairing him with Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool. I mean, it’s an R-rated buddy cop movie except the two cops have superpowers, right? If only they’d done a little advance marketing and publicity (cough-cough) to get us psyched for this very meta-sounding adventure that has the Time Variance Authority (TVA) pairing Deadpool and Wolverine on a mission that COULD. CHANGE. EVERYTHING.

‘The Instigators’ (Aug. 2)

This heist thriller from Doug Liman sounds like a cross between “Ocean’s 11” and “Analyze This” with a little bit of “Midnight Run” as a chaser. Matt Damon and Casey Affleck (who co-wrote the screenplay with Chuck Maclean) play Rory and Cobby, respectively, a couple of thieves who botch a robbery and go on the run, accompanied by Rory’s therapist (Hong Chau). That’s the kind of high-concept formula that has the potential to go sideways quickly — or result in funny, fast-paced, late summer entertainment. Given the track records of those involved, we’re betting on the latter.

‘Trap’ (Aug. 9)

After the disappointing stumbles of “Glass” (2019) and “Old” (2021), M. Night Shyamalan returned to psychological thriller form with the tightly spun and unnerving “Knock at the Cabin” last year. In Night’s latest twisty tale, Josh Hartnett plays Cooper, who takes his young daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to see a pop star named Lady Raven (played by M. Night’s daughter, Saleka Shyamalan) in concert — a concert that is actually an elaborate trap for the feds to nab a serial killer known as The Butcher. Seems like a risky plan. I mean, the cops couldn’t wait until they got a tip that The Butcher was binge-watching “Baby Reindeer” at home or something?

‘Blink Twice’ (Aug. 23)

Zoë Kravitz makes her directorial debut with this dark comedy thriller starring the aforementioned Mr. Tatum, who this time is playing a tech bro mogul named Slater King who takes a cocktail server named Frida (Naomi Ackie) to his private island, where things quickly go sideways, in a “Get Out” meets “Midsommar” kind of way. Supporting players include Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Geena Davis, Adria Arjona, Kyle MacLachlan and (speaking of M. Night Shyamalan films) Haley Joel Osment. I wouldn’t be surprised if We See Alive People Become Dead People in “Blink Twice.”