2016 summer movie preview
"Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising"
After successfully defeating the fraternity next door in the first "Neighbors" film, Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne's young family thought they could rest easy. But that was until a sorority moved in next door for the express purpose of throwing parties. Things get out of hand quickly.
Release date: May 20
"The Nice Guys"
Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling team up for a 1970s caper from director Shane Black ("Iron Man 3") that harkens back to his earlier cult hit noir comedy, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang."
Release date: May 20
"X-Men: Apocalypse"
Director Bryan Singer sets out to top his hit "X-Men: Days of Future Past" with the latest installment in the comics-spawned mutant franchise, which pits the students of Professor X (James McAvoy) against an ancient enemy, Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac), who seeks to rid the world of pesky non-powered humans.
Release date: May 27
"Alice Through the Looking Glass"
Tim Burton's "Alice Through the Looking Glass" finds Alice (Mia Wasikowska) returning to the weird and wonderful Underland for another perilous adventure, this time to save her beloved Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp).
Release date: May 27
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows"
The pizza-loving, martial arts-happy turtles are back with "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turltes: Out of the Shadows," which sees even more of the characters from the comics and cartoons making their way into the latest film iteration -- like Bebop, Rocksteady and Casey Jones. Just don't try to take any of it too seriously.
Release date: June 3
"Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"
The Lonely Island boys -- who shot to fame on "Saturday Night Live" with "Lazy Sunday" and "D**k in a Box" -- hit the big screen with this parody of the pop world that totally isn't meant to be poking fun at Justin Bieber. Not at all. Andy Samberg stars as the world's biggest singer, Connor4Real, whose second album doesn't live up to expectations.
Release date: June 3
"Me Before You"
It's not all superheroes, explosions and raucous comedies this summer, as some of the bigger releases are looking to jerk some tears as well -- like "Me Before You," the highly anticipated adaptation of Jojo Moyes' bestselling novel about a clumsy British woman ("Game of Thrones" star Emilia Clarke) who goes to work as a caregiver for a wheelchair-bound aristocrat (Sam Claflin), leading to an appropriately moving love story.
Release date: June 3
"Warcraft"
Director Duncan Jones ("Moon," "Source Code") brings the biggest online video game in the world to the big screen with "Warcraft," and the story sounds appropriately epic: The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. Let's get ready to rumble.
Release date: June 10
"Now You See Me: The Second Act"
The mischievous magical Four Horseman of "Now You See Me" are back -- well, most of them, anyway -- for this sequel that finds the infamous team of illusionists (played by Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Lizzy Caplan) putting their skills to nefarious use once more, this time at the behest of a threatening Daniel Radcliffe.
Release date: June 10
"The Conjuring 2"
After the critical and box office success of "The Conjuring" in 2013, the franchise sends its married paranormal investigators (Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson) across the pond to help another family in deep, supernatural trouble.
Release date: June 10
"Central Intelligence"
After finding laughs with the likes of Ice Cube, Will Ferrell and Josh Gad, Kevin Hart has a new comedy partner: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The two team up for "Central Intelligence" as a CIA operative (Johnson) and the computer tech high school buddy (Hart) he ropes into stopping an international terrorist plot.
Release date: June 17
"Finding Dory"
It's been 13 years since "Finding Nemo," but Pixar has finally gotten around to revisiting the undersea world and its lovable characters -- this time focusing on the memory-impaired blue tang fish, Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) as she tries to rediscover her roots.
Release date: June 17
"Independence Day: Resurgence"
Director Roland Emmerich revisits the blockbuster that put him on the map with "Independence Day: Resurgence," which picks up 20 years after the devastating alien invasion of the first film. Mankind has made huge strides utilizing the alien technology left behind, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're prepared for another visit.
Release date: June 24
"Swiss Army Man"
The film that divided Sundance audiences, the imaginative "Swiss Army Man" stars Paul Dano as a desperate castaway whose fortunes change when he finds a drowned corpse (Daniel Radcliffe) washed up on the beach. The body proves to be useful for a number of activities, leading up to Dano's escaping the island by riding Radcliffe like a flatulence-powered jet ski.
Release date: June 24
"The Shallows"
Blake Lively stars as a wistful surfer girl in "The Shallows" who bites off more than she could chew when looking for paradise. Lively plays a young woman on a quest to find one very specific perfect beach -- only to find herself stranded on a small rock surrounded by hundreds of yards of open water after a shark cuts her surfing short.
Release date: June 29
"The BFG"
Steven Spielberg brings Roald Dahl's classic tale of a young girl (Ruby Barnhill) and the lonely, big-eared giant she befriends (Mark Rylance) in this blend of live action, CGI and motion capture that mixes fantasy and reality.
Release date: July 1
"The Legend of Tarzan"
In a new twist on Edgar Rice Burroughs' classic tale, "The Legend of Tarzan" finds the ape-man himself (Alexander Skarsgard) -- years after leaving the jungle for civilized society -- invited back to the Congo to serve as a trade emissary of Parliament, unaware that he is a pawn in a deadly convergence of greed and revenge, masterminded by the Belgian, Captain Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz). Too bad for the bad guys he's, you know, Tarzan.
Release date: July 1
"Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates"
Zac Efron and Adam DeVine star as party-happy brothers known for ruining family events with their antics who are tasked with finding nice, wholesome dates to bring to their sister's wedding. Except the girls that respond (Aubrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick) turn out to be even wilder than the boys themselves. Should make for an interesting wedding.
Release date: July 8
"Captain Fantastic"
In this breakout hit from the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, Viggo Mortensen stars as an idealistic father raising his six children in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest who must confront the real world when his wife passes away and his in-laws threaten to break up his family.
Release date: July 8
"Ghostbusters"
Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones strap on the proton packs as a new generation of paranormal exterminators in "Bridesmaids" director Paul Fieg's update on "Ghostbusters."
Release date: July 15
"Cafe Society"
Woody Allen goes back to the golden age of Hollywood with an all-star cast as a young neurotic (Jesse Eisenberg) goes to visit his movie mogul uncle (Steve Carell) and gets mixed up with the likes of Kristen Stewart, Blake Lively, Corey Stoll and others. The film will hit U.S. theaters in July after debuting at Cannes.
Release date: July 15
"Star Trek Beyond"
The revamped "Star Trek" film series sees its first entry without J.J. Abrams in the directors chair as Justin Lin steps in to put the crew of the Enterprise (Chris Pine, Simon Pegg, Zach Quinto, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Anton Yelchin and Karl Urban) into mortal peril once again, this time against a menacing alien foe played by Idris Elba.
Release date: July 22
"Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie"
"Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie" brings the hit '90s BBC sitcom to the big screen as its two booze-addled, fashion-obsessed socialites (Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley) find themselves blamed for a major incident at an uber-fashionable event -- namely, accidentally killing supermodel Kate Moss. Whoops.
Release date: July 22
"Bad Moms"
The writers behind "The Hangover" explore how the ladies let loose in this comedy that features working mom Mila Kunis revolting against the world of perfect parents, with Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn by her side. Let's just say things get messy.
Release date: August 29
"Jason Bourne"
After sitting things out for one film, star Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass return to the memory-challenged super-spy franchise with "Jason Bourne," which finds the titular tough guy once again on the run from the government that created him.
Release date: July 29
"Suicide Squad"
DC Comics' next cinematic outing lets some of the bad guys come out to play, as a shadowy government official (Viola Davis) assembles a team of villains to take on missions no one expects them to come back from. The massive cast includes Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Jai Courtney, Cara Delevingne, Joel Kinnaman and quite possible Ben Affleck's Batman.
Release date: August 5
"Pete's Dragon"
In this modern update on Disney's family classic, a young boy (Oakes Fegley) survives in the forest for six years with the help of a golly green dragon. Things get a bit hairy when he returns to society, as Robert Redford and Bryce Dallas Howard discover.
Release date: August 12
"Ben-Hur"
The cinematic classic gets an update replete with modern visual effects. "Boardwalk Empire" star Jack Huston stars as the title Ben-Hur, a falsely accused nobleman who survives years of slavery to take vengeance on his best friend who betrayed him.
Release date: August 19
"War Dogs"
"The Hangover" director Todd Phillips sends Jonah Hill and Miles Teller overseas to tell the true story of upstart arms dealers David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, who win a $300 million contract from the Pentagon to arm America's allies in Afghanistan -- even if they don't really know what they're getting themselves into.
Release date: August 19