With the month of June bringing new films starring Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks, and Michael Keaton, it’s like the 1980s never left.
The next four weeks also introduce to moviegoers a new Pixar film, new installments in the Spider-Man and Transformers franchises, and Jennifer Lawrence’s first true comedy. They’ll be fighting for audience attention against Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid, which came out in the final day in May and seems likely to rank among June’s top-grossing films.
Here are the biggest movies coming to cinemas this month, listed in chronological order of wide release.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Friday, June 2
Premise: Sony Pictures’ animated sequel follows Miles Morales, introduced as a new-to-movie-audiences Spider-Man in 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, through his further adventures in the multiverse. A third installment of the franchise, subtitled Beyond the Spider-Verse, is scheduled to hit screens less than 10 months later, on March 29, 2024.
Box office: Across the Spider-Verse is almost certain to exceed the $190.1M domestically earned by Into the Spider-Verse; Boxoffice Pro’s forecasting range for the superhero sequel is currently trending above $250M, potentially above $300M or $350M.
The Boogeyman
Friday, June 2
Premise: 20th Century Studios’ horror release, based on a 1970s Stephen King short story about the titular supernatural monster, was originally slated to go straight to streaming on Hulu. After positive test screenings, the distributor decided to release it with theatrical exclusively instead.
Box office: Paramount’s 2022 horror film Smile was similarly slated to go straight to streaming on Paramount+, but pivoted to theatrical exclusivity after positive test screenings. That film’s eventual domestic gross of $105.9M, however, may be too much to hope for.
More likely here is a total in the $30M to $60M range, in keeping with other Stephen King adaptations of recent years, including 2019’s Pet Sematary ($54.7M), 2019’s Doctor Sleep ($31.5M), 2017’s The Dark Tower ($50.7M), and 2013’s Carrie ($35.2M).
Transformers: Rise of The Beasts
Friday, June 9
Premise: Paramount’s sixth installment in the sci-fi action Transformers franchise—or seventh installment, if you count spinoff Bumblebee—stars Anthony Ramos, from In the Heights and Broadway’s Hamilton. Steven Caple, Jr. (Creed II) directs.
Box office: The two Transformers films immediately preceding Rise of the Beasts earned similar amounts: 2018’s Bumblebee with $127.1M and 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight with $130.1M. However, Boxoffice PRO‘s forecasting range currently projects Beasts to earn less than both.
The $300M+ earnings for the franchise’s first three installments—from 2007, 2009, and 2011–seem almost impossible to replicate here.
The Flash
Friday, June 16
Premise: Warner Bros.’ superhero blockbuster set in the DC Extended Universe unites Ezra Miller’s Flash with Ben Affleck’s Batman, relative newcomer Sasha Calle’s Supergirl, and even Michael Keaton’s 1980s-era Batman—thanks, multiverse hopping! Andy Muschietti (2017’s It and 2019’s It: Chapter Two) directs.
Box office: That The Flash will outperform the middling total of 2022’s Black Adam ($168.1M) seems almost certain—less so is whether it can surpass the $229.0M domestic cume of 2017’s Justice League. It’s likely, but by no means guaranteed. To earn the title of the highest-grossing film in the DCEU franchise, The Flash will have to out-earn 2018’s Aquaman, which topped out at $335.0M.
Elemental
Friday, June 16
Premise: The Disney/Pixar animated comedy takes place in a world populated by walking, talking, versions of the four ancient elements: earth, wind, fire, and water. When a male water creature named Wade and a female fire creature named Ember fall in love, they have to make the relationship work… even though they can never touch.
Box office: Pixar has some work to do. Their most recent film, 2022’s Lightyear, was the second worst-performing theatrical release in the company’s history with $118.3M. It out-performed only 2020’s Onward, which had its box office abbreviated by the pandemic after only one week in theaters.
Elemental director Pete Sohn has directed one prior feature film for Pixar: 2015’s The Good Dinosaur, one of the company’s lowest-earning films with $123.0M.
The Blackening
Friday, June 16
Premise: Lionsgate’s horror comedy parodies the “black character dies first” trope that often pops up in horror films. Seven black friends are staying in a cabin in the woods when a masked murderer forces the friends to rank their “blackness” to ascertain in what order they should be killed. Tim Story (Ride Along, Barbershop, 2019’s Shaft) directs.
Box office: This film has such a unique premise that true box office comparisons are few and far between. Of the two main horror comedies released this year so far, Lionsgate will want The Blackening to perform more along the line of February’s Cocaine Bear ($64.3M) than April’s Renfield ($17.1M).
No Hard Feelings
Friday, June 23
Premise: Sony Pictures’ R-rated comedy stars Jennifer Lawrence as Maddie, a broke woman who takes an unusual summer job showing a local nerdy loser teenager, who’s about to enter the Ivy League, how to live it up and have fun. Debauchery ensues. Gene Stupnitsky (Good Boys and Bad Teacher) directs.
Box office: R-rated comedies have had a rough track record post-pandemic, with February’s Magic Mike’s Last Dance ($26.0M), 2022’s Bros ($11.6M), 2021’s The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard ($38.0M), and January 2020’s Like a Boss ($22.1M) failing to gain traction with audiences. Instead, Feelings will aim for earnings more in line with recent PG-13 comedies like 2022’s Ticket to Paradise ($68.2M) and The Lost City ($105.3M).
Asteroid City
Friday, June 23
Opening in limited release on Friday, June 16
Premise: Focus Features’ comedy follows the residents of a town as they host a children’s astronomy convention. Set in 1955, the latest from Wes Anderson features an all-star cast that includes Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Carell, Margot Robbie, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, and Hong Chau (coming off her Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination for The Whale).
Box office: Anderson is arguably the main draw here, as something of a genre unto himself. His most recent film, 2021’s The French Dispatch, earned $16.1M, making it the lowest-grossing of his five most recent releases. His prior film, 2018’s Isle of Dogs, did a bit better with $32.0M. His top-earning title remains 2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel with $59.0M.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Friday, June 30
Premise: The Disney/Lucasfilm adventure sequel promises in its commercials to be the fifth and final installment in Harrison Ford’s iconic series. New cast members include Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Jones’s goddaughter and Mads Mikkelsen as the villain. After directing the first four installments, Steven Spielberg hands the reins over to James Mangold (Ford v. Ferrari, Logan, Walk the Line).
Box office: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, 2008’s much-maligned installment in the Indiana Jones franchise, earned $317.1M. Time will tell whether the franchise still, decades after its heyday, commands massive audiences—think Top Gun: Maverick or Star Wars: The Force Awakens—or whether it will prove a last gasp at the cinema, more akin to 2021’s The Matrix Resurrections or 2019’s Rambo: Last Blood.
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