Summer is here and the IMDb staff have selected the movies and series that will keep you entertained all season long.

2025 Summer Watch Guide

Summer Marvel movies have been a mainstay for eons, but in recent years it’s been “we have comic book content at home,” with streaming options dropping on Disney+ almost quarterly. But 2025 looks to be a return to the super screen, with early trailers revealing [i]The Fantastic Four: First Steps[/i] will bring those streaming series stylings – think mid-century modern sets of "Loki" – into the theaters. Fan favorites Joseph Quinn ("Stranger Things"), Ebon Moss-Bachrach ("The Bear"), and seasoned on-screen parents Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby will all take center stage in this mid-summer blockbuster, which is considered to be a critical MCU reset.

The  Fantastic Four: First Steps

Does the world need a long-gestating sequel to Adam Sandler’s pro-golf goof-around? No. The world deserves one. The Cult of the SandMan activated around the one-two punch of 1995’s [i]Billy Madison[/i] and 1996’s original "Gilmore" guy, which evolved into its own cinematic industrial complex (or, Happy Madison Productions) in 1998 with the dueling releases of [i]The Wedding Singer[/i] and [i]The Waterboy[/i]. This sequel takes us back to the phonomenon's humble beginnings as Happy tries to regain his mojo on the green, while also reassembling original costars Christopher McDonald as sinister golf champ Shooter McGavin, Julie Bowen as Happy’s sweetheart Virginia Venit, and Ben Stiller as unhinged nursing home attendant Hal, and filling out its back nine with newcomers, like Bad Bunny, Margaret Qualley, Eminem, and Benny Safdie. Expect a cart-load of silliness, cameos from pro-golfers (like Lee Trevino and Jon Daly), and plenty of surprises from the expanded SandlerVerse, including Blake Clark as the mush-mouthed Farmer Fran.

Happy Gilmore 2

Even seasoned horror fans are sure to get a rush from Michael Shanks’ body horror bonanza. Starring real-life couple Dave Franco and Allison Brie, [i]Together[/i] follows Tim and Millie as they leave city life behind for Millie’s new job out in the suburbs. Unfortunately, the duo don’t seem destined for domestic bliss. Tim, a musician without a driver’s license, feels trapped in the country, while Millie fears they may have fallen out of love. What they don’t know is that these worries will pale in comparison to what’s waiting for them out in the woods. Under no circumstances should you watch a single trailer or read a review for [i]Together[/i]. Yes, there are some classic horror tropes at play here, but it’s the execution of those elements that makes this film so fresh. Instead, hold out for the release to see this squishy, squelchy, stretchy, slam dunk horror comedy.

Together

Spoof movies are back, baby! This legacy sequel to the trilogy of near-perfect parodies may have been met with a few raised eyebrows upon its initial announcement, but a comedy dream team has been assembled behind and in front of the camera to ensure that this new Police Squad honors the original. Let’s begin with Liam Neeson, who plays the son of another L.N. (Leslie Nielsen), a.k.a. Lt. Frank Drebin. If you don’t think the Oscar-nominated thespian has comedy chops, you haven’t seen Neeson try to perform improv in “[link=/title/tt1641247/]Life’s Too Short[/link].” “Family Guy” funny man Seth MacFarlane produces the new [i]Naked Gun[/i] with The Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer directing and co-writing with his [i]Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers[/i] scripters Doug Mand and Dan Gregor. And if you still aren’t sold, just watch how the teaser addresses the O.J. elephant in the room — it’s as brilliant as it is stupid, and that’s exactly the point!

The Naked Gun

When [i]Freaky Friday[/i] premiered in 2003, Millennials everywhere took notice. Whether they were finishing college or still in grade school, the entire generation felt seen as Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis struggled to understand each other under the strangest of circumstances. In the sequel, the mother-daughter duo won’t just swap bodies but also family roles, as Lindsay’s Anna steps into her middle-aged mom era alongside her Millennial fans. [i]Freakier Friday[/i] also ups the ante by tossing Anna's teenage daughter and step-daughter – played by Sophia Hammons and Julia Butters – into the mix for a truly mind boggling four-way swap. As the magical comedic curse expands its reach, Anna and her mother must work together to guide the newest generation through this zany, mind-bending dilemma.

Freakier Friday

No Ripley. No Earth as we've come to know it. No "beautiful Apple store technology" powering the special effects. This much we know about "Fargo" creator Noah Hawley's Alien series – oh, erm, aside from its storyline possibly retconning the entire franchise. Trailers have revealed the series will be set in 2120, two years prior to Alien – not, as originally announced by Hawley, three decades before the first movie. Sydney Chandler, most recently seen in the Colin Farrell series "Sugar," plays a "meta-human" and property of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, which is racing against other companies to create synthetic beings. While the main story will focus on the group of soldiers who discover the first Xenomorph to reach Earth, expect to learn a lot more about Weyland-Yutani over 8+ hours of television as Hawley takes a risk with franchise canon after Alien: Romulus righted the ship with fans.

Alien: Earth

[i]Superman: Legacy[/i] is the first film in James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Universe reboot and latest incarnation of the iconic hero. Departing from Zack Snyder's darker interpretation, Gunn promises "a Superman who is about kindness, love, and compassion ... the best of humanity, even though he is an alien from outer space." We can definitely get behind that. [i]Legacy[/i] explores one of our favorite eras in Superman's history: Clark Kent's early years as he tries to make sense of being a superhero on Earth – though the planet already seems to have its fill of heroes, as we've spotted Hawkgirl, Mister Terrific, and Green Lantern in the trailers. With Frank Grillo set to reprise his role as Rick Flag Sr. from "Creature Commandos," we're hoping that more characters from the animated series might also be making the leap to live action.

Superman

Dark passengers assemble in the latest Dexter sequel series. The last time we saw Michael C. Hall’s kindly serial killer, he had been shot by his son in the shocking conclusion to “Dexter: New Blood.” But beloved characters never die, and this summer Dexter is getting resurrected for 10 more episodes of TV mayhem, this time in New York City. There he’ll meet a series of psychos played by Peter Dinklage, Uma Thurman, Krysten Ritter, Neil Patrick Harris, Eric Stonestreet, and David Dastmalchian who appear to be forming the serial killer version of the Avengers for reasons we expect will be out of control in all the best ways.

Dexter: Resurrection

Pedro Pascal is one of the brightest stars in our galaxy, but is the summer movie season ready for Ari Aster’s take on how COVID shaped the current American sociopolitical climate? Mayor Pascal faces off against Sheriff Joaquin Phoenix in small town New Mexico over their local pandemic mandates, with Emma Stone playing Phoenix’s QAnon-programmed wife and Austin Butler popping up as a far-right YouTuber. And there’s some AI nefariousness underneath the surface tensions. It’s a bold bet for A24 to drop a high-tension satire smack in the middle of July, and a huge creative risk for Aster after his last release, [i]Beau Is Afraid[/i], didn’t scare up much of an audience.

Eddington

As a young movie studio, Apple has won critical praise for films like Martin Scorsese’s [I]Killers of the Flower Moon[/I], but so far box office success has been elusive (see [I]Argylle[/I], [I]Wolfs[/I], or [I]Fly Me to the Moon[/I]). So the important question is, can [I]F1[/I] change that narrative this summer? Well, besides the star power of Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem, [I]F1[/I] is helmed by Joseph Kosinski, the director behind 2022’s [I]Top Gun: Maverick[/I], which finished its box office run with a cushy $1.5 billion. The story follows Pitt as a former Formula One driver who’s convinced to come out of retirement by Bardem in order to mentor a promising young talent, played by Damson Idris. But the big draw may be the spectacle of fast cars on a large format screens ([I]F1[/I] was filmed specifically for IMAX). The studio’s confidence in the film was apparent, debuting the first 10 minutes at CinemaCon to the delight of a room full of theater owners ready to make a killing on concessions this summer.

F1: The Movie

Look, we [i]all[/i] already know what the youth of Southport, North Carolina did last summer, but that won’t stop us from heading to the theater to see the fourth film in this slasher franchise. Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and writer Leah McKendrick have promised fans a flick that is “more brutal” while retaining the fun popcorn-tossing scares of the original. “It is not a serious movie,” Robinson told People magazine, and we celebrate that fact. This time, Jonah Hauer-King, Sarah Pidgeon, Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline, and Tyriq Withers will take on the terrifying Fisherman as he hacks, harpoons, and hooks his way to retribution. Fortunately, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddy Prinze Jr. will reprise their roles to help these doomed Zoomers through the worst summer of their lives.

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Technically, [i]Jurassic World: Rebirth[/i] is a continuation of 2022’s [i]Jurassic World: Dominion[/i], but you needn’t have seen (or even remember) that movie in order to pick up what director Gareth Edwards is laying down in this standalone story that’s desperate to kick off a brand new movie trilogy. So it’s bye-bye to Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard and hello again to screenwriter David Koepp, who wrote the first two Jurassic Park movies. Koepp has assured us there will be no franchise retconning; instead, we’ll be dropped into the middle of a remote island – the original JP research facility – where Scarlett Johannson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey have to successfully complete some intense “Survivor”-style challenges in order to procure dino DNA for a new Big Pharma wonderdrug. Common side effects include …

Jurassic World: Rebirth

“Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” If that quote gave you instant nostalgia, this one’s for you. Disney’s latest adventure brings back the beloved Lilo and Stitch in a live-action remake, and from the looks of the trailer, director Dean Fleischer Camp ([i]Marcel the Shell with Shoes On[/i]) has lovingly preserved the heart of this story. Our favorite blue alien fugitive crash-lands, once again, in a fictional Hawaiian town and is adopted by Lilo and her sister, Nani, which leads them on a series of unplanned events. And yes, those cherished moments from the animated classic are all there, even the ice cream scene (if you know, you know). Newcomer Maia Kealoha takes on the spirited role of Lilo, who's already winning hearts online with her charm and quick wit. She’s joined by Sydney Agudong as her fiercely loyal sister Nani and Kaipo Dudoit stepping into the Ohana too. The cast also includes Billy Magnussen and Zach Galifianakis as the alien-hunting duo, Courtney B. Vance playing the no-nonsense Cobra Bubbles, and Hannah Waddingham lending her voice to the Grand Councilwoman. And in a move sure to delight longtime fans, Chris Sanders — who co-wrote, co-directed, and voiced Stitch in the original — returns to bring the blue troublemaker back to life.

Lilo & Stitch

Remember those heady days in 2023 when AI wasn’t so much a reality as a fun excuse for a horror movie? Well, those times are past, but at least everyone’s favorite cybernetic playmate is back with a serious upgrade. In [i]M3GAN 2.0[/i], robotics engineer Gemma and her niece Cady must partner with their homicidal android to take down Amelia, a military-grade version of M3GAN that has slipped the leash. Sure we’ve seen it before, but have we seen it promoted with the melodic millennial anthems of Britney Spears? Have we seen it with karate, wingsuits, and fierce futuristic costumes? Director Gerard Johnston, writer Akela Cooper, and producer James Wan – the same trio of maniacs responsible for the first film – are all back for v2, as are core cast members Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Amie Donald, and Jenna Davis. With all this hype, we suspect theaters are going to get pretty raucous when Blumhouse releases this [i]Terminator 2[/i] for teens.

M3GAN 2.0

It's hard to believe nearly 25 years have passed since [i]28 Days Later[/i] terrified us with its sprinting, rage-filled zombies. This summer, the team that brought that nightmare to life – Danny Boyle, Alex Garland, and cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle – are back to terrorize us again with the first movie in a new trilogy, which is set 28 years after the apocalypse, where zombies still remain a significant threat to humanity. Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson join the franchise as some of the unfortunate survivors on an island in the north of England who have inherited this terrifying world. We know Cillian Murphy is lurking behind the scenes as an executive producer, and there are unconfirmed reports he’ll reprise his role from the original film. (And no, he's not the emaciated zombie who pops up at the end of the trailer.) The next entry, [i][link=/title/tt32141377/]28 Years Later: The Bone Temple[/link][/i] from director Nia DaCosta, is set for release next January.

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