With more and more Americans returning to movie theaters after a rough two years, the summer movie lineup for 2022 is more densely packed than ever before. Superhero fans, action fans, and thriller fans have lots of exciting titles to look forward to, but there is truly a movie for everyone. This article outlines six highly anticipated movies coming out this summer, as well as some of their preliminary Rotten Tomatoes’ critic scores.
One of the most highly anticipated movies of both the summer and the entire year is Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This movie released on May 6, and the audience is loving it so far. The Rotten Tomatoes audience score is 86%, and the critic score is 74%. The move description reads, “Dr. Stephen Strange casts a forbidden spell that opens a portal to the multiverse. However, a threat emerges that may be too big for his team to handle.” With how big Marvel Studios has been over the past few years, this movie has been incredibly popular on social media for months. Spider-Man: No Way Home is the most recent Marvel movie release, and after all of the love that movie received, Marvel had some big shoes to fill, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness seems to have done just that.
Top Gun: Maverick is yet another action-packed film coming out this summer. It is scheduled to release on May 24, and it currently has a 97% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. This movie follows a Navy aviator named Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise). The official description reads, “Training a detachment of graduates for a special assignment, Maverick must confront the ghosts of his past and his deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who choose to fly it.” The original Top Gun film came out in 1986, so this sequel is very highly anticipated.
Speaking of anticipated sequels, Jurassic World: Dominion releases on June 10. The previous Jurassic World film, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, ended with dinosaurs overrunning the planet and the island keeping the dinosaurs secured (Isla Nublar) completely destroyed, so this third installment is destined to have a crazy plot. The official movie description reads, “The future of mankind hangs in the balance as humans and dinosaurs coexist following the destruction of Isla Nublar.” Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard star as the main protagonists of this film, but classic Jurassic Park characters are making a return as well. Sam Neill is returning as Alan Grant, Laura Dern is returning as Dr. Ellie Sattler, and Jeff Goldblum is returning as Dr. Ian Malcolm. Because of all of these cameos and the intense plot, Jurassic World: Dominion is destined to be a hit.
As if Disney did not already have enough planned this summer, their action-packed animated movie titled Lightyear follows beloved Disney character Buzz Lightyear before he was in Toy Story. The official description for the movie reads, “Buzz Lightyear embarks on an intergalactic adventure with a group of ambitious recruits and his robot companion.” The star-studded cast—including Chris Evans, Taika Waititi, and Keke Palmer—and Pixar are both very excited to show how Buzz Lightyear became the character that he is today, and audiences old and young can enjoy this origin story. The movie releases on June 17.
For the first time in two years, Marvel has two movies releasing in the span of one summer. While Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness released on May 6, the fourth Thor movie titled Thor: Love and Thunder releases July 8. This is the first time that Marvel has released four solo movies for the same character, and after the success of Thor: Ragnarok released in 2017, audiences are already excited to see what director Taika Waititi has up his sleeve. The official description for the movie reads, “Following the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), Thor attempts to find inner peace, but must return to action and recruit Valkyrie, Korg, and Jane Foster—who has become the Mighty Thor—to stop Gorr the God Butcher from eliminating all gods.” Marvel movies are already crazy in terms of plot, but this one may be the craziest yet.
Finally, releasing on July 15 is a thrilling book adaptation entitled Where the Crawdads Sing. The book itself is an international phenomenon, selling over 4.5 million copies around the globe and winning multiple awards in a multitude of nations, and the premise of it pulls readers in instantly. The official description for both the film and the movie reads, “A woman who raised herself in the marshes of the deep South becomes a suspect in the murder of a man she was once involved with.” The story itself is riddled with loss, love, and acceptance, and the ending turns the book completely on its head. Because of how popular the book is, the movie is highly anticipated, and critics are ready to judge just how well the novel is translated on screen. The film officially releases on July 15.
There are so many exciting movie releases coming this summer, so get to your local theater and make some amazing summer memories.
