Our Most Anticipated Summer Flicks | Group Chat

Will the 2025 Summer Movie Season Keep Up Spring's Momentum?

From time to time, Cinemantic’s four main contributors — Tyler MacQueen, Graham Piro, Caleb Boyer, and Daniel Mitchell — will jump on a call to chat about anything and everything movies. As we officially enter the Summer Movie Season, we hopped on a call to talk about our most anticipated flicks of the next three months.

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TYLER: “You’ll believe a man can fly.” That is now the iconic tagline for the Richard Donner-directed 1978 classic Superman: The Movie. In the half century between audiences first staring at the silver screen, mouth agape, at the sight of Christopher Reeve’s graceful aerial acrobatics, movie audiences have grown even more cynical than at the peak of the seventies. Not only that, but superhero fare — the genre that Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman willed into existence with the help of John Williams’ orchestral flair — has become the industry's crown jewel.

That is what writer-director James Gunn is up against with my most anticipated film of the summer, Superman. Kryptonite isn’t the Man of Steel’s greatest weakness this summer; it’s spandex fatigue at the multiplex. And while the quality of the movie will be the final arbiter as to whether or not this Supes soars, most signs point to Gunn and company breaking through the public’s weariness. The key? Gunn’s understanding of what makes the nearly indestructible character so universally beloved: His humanity, deeply felt and wholly optimistic. In a world mired by turmoil and confusion, Superman has always been best as the ray of hope — the embodiment of truth and justice — whose greatest drama comes from that optimism cracking under the weight of the world. The tone of the promotional materials seems to hint that, at least partially, the filmmakers understand that. The militaristic trumpets synonymous with Williams’ original score accompany the trailer, signaling that this Superman will build on the best of the Donner-directed picture. It looks big, fun, and could be the tonic we need. Hopefully, we’ll be able to believe a man can fly again.

CALEB: When Jordan Peele fires his management team because they lost a bidding war for a horror script, you pay attention. That’s exactly what happened when his production company Monkeypaw missed out on Weapons, the new horror film from Barbarian (2022) director Zach Cregger. Peele wanted this one badly—and honestly, after watching the trailer, I get it. Wednesday began like any other day for the town of Maybrook, but it was also different. Every other class at the local high school had all their kids, but Mrs. Gandy's room was totally empty. Why? The night before, at 2:17 in the morning, every kid woke up, got out of bed, walked downstairs, and into the dark. They never came back.

The best horror films take something usual and make it unusual. I never knew that children running could be so unsettling. Watch the teaser, and go check out the trailer! Great teasers and trailers do not make great films, but it is hard not to be hopeful after feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

In a year stacked with sequels, franchises, and safe bets, Weapons feels like it could be something unique and terrifying. If anyone wonders where I am on August 7th when I take off running down our street in the middle of the night, you’ll find me at the theater.

DANIEL: Since we are posting this after the release of Mission Impossible - The Final Reckoning (my most anticipated movie of 2025), I’ll choose some other movies. To claim 2026, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is the most anticipated movie of my lifetime, and that’s not hyperbole. You’ll be seeing plenty of content from us on The Odyssey, don’t you worry!

Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest intrigues me. Denzel Washington/Spike Lee make magic together. This remake of a Kurosawa adaptation is updated to take place in the music industry. I cannot wait to see what Denzel brings to this role . I just wish it’d have a longer time in theaters before it’s at home on Apple TV+.

For Summer 2025, my other two lower tier picks are brought to you by the letter F: F1 and Freakier Friday. Yes, you read that right. This is purely a nostalgia pick, and to be clear — I don’t have high expectations for Freakier Friday. I’m just rooting for Lindsay Lohan’s comeback. As for F1 - I love a grizzled veteran mentors/competes with an up and coming talent flick (see: The Color of Money. Zoom zoom.)

GRAHAM: Tyler and Caleb already hit on my three most anticipated summer movies, and my most anticipated movie already came out (read my Final Reckoning review here!). I’ll take two August releases: The Naked Gun and Americana. I adore the original Naked Gun trilogy. The films’ deadpan, dry-as-a-bone sense of humor was only made possible by the comedic chops of Leslie Nielsen. It feels like a series that could never be replicated with another actor. So I was highly skeptical of a modern day remake.

And then the teaser trailer’s final gag made me involuntarily guffaw.

It may not be able to capture the spirit of the original, but the talent behind and in front of the camera, plus the fact that Liam Neeson does feel like the best spiritual successor to Leslie Nielsen, makes me very excited for this one.

In contrast, I know next to nothing about Americana, outside of its very intriguing premise and trailer. A Neo-Western with a sneakily good cast, what few reviews we do have of it rave about its direction by Tony Tost, who makes his feature film debut. Much like Caleb’s pick Weapons, an original crime thriller set in the American West has a ton of promise, and will likely get at least some public attention thanks to Sydney Sweeney playing its lead role. It doesn’t come out until the end of August, so we’ll know what movies are dominating the summer by then, but I’m optimistic that Americana can be the indie critical darling that picks up some steam around Labor Day.

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Reader, what’s your most anticipated movie thus summer? Let us know in the comments below!

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