AUGUST
THE FOUNDER
WHO: Michael Keaton, Laura Dern, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch, Patrick Wilson
WHAT: Keaton follows up Best Picture winners Birdman and Spotlight with his portrayal of Ray Kroc and his ruthless takeover of a small burger joint named McDonald’s in the 1950s, to build it into the largest fast food chain in the world.
WHEN: August 5
NINE LIVES
WHO: Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Garner, Christopher Walken, Robbie Amell, Malina Weissman
WHAT: An emotionally removed tycoon (Spacey) who’s drifted away from his family gets magically transformed into a cat by a mysterious pet shop owner (Walken). He has one week to reconcile with his wife (Garner) and daughter (Weissman) or else remain a cat forever.
WHEN: August 5
SUICIDE SQUAD
WHO: Margot Robbie, Will Smith, Jared Leto, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis
WHAT: Gotham’s ugly underside takes the spotlight in Suicide Squad, with the Joker (now played by Leto) leading a team of maniacal villains, including fan-favourites Harley Quinn (Robbie) and Deadshot (Smith).
WHEN: August 5
BEN-HUR
WHO: Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell, Morgan Freeman, Nazanin Boniadi, Rodrigo Santoro
WHAT: The epic classic from 1959 that set the record for most Oscars wins gets a modern retelling for the Game of Thrones generation — now with CGI and 3D!
WHEN: August 12
PETE’S DRAGON
WHO: Oakes Fegley, Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, Oona Lawrence, Wes Bentley
WHAT: Disney revisits the 1977 family film that set the benchmark for live-action/animation blending for the decade the followed. The songs have been left behind, as has the hand-drawn animation, but the core tale of a boy and his dragon is primed to win over a whole new generation.
WHEN: August 12
SAUSAGE PARTY
WHO: Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Bill Hader
WHAT: An R-rated animated comedy eight years in the making, Sausage Party employs a cast of comedy all-stars to voice a groups of terrified, self-aware food attempting the escape the horrors that await them in the kitchen.
WHEN: August 12
SPECTRAL
Photo: Universal Pictures
WHO: James Badge Dale, Max Martini, Emily Mortimer, Bruce Greenwood
WHAT: Described by its director as “a supernatural Black Hawk Down,” Spectral follows a Special Ops team sent into Budapest after it’s besieged by a supernatural threat.
WHEN: August 12
WAR DOGS
WHO: Miles Teller, Jonah Hill
WHAT: Two twenty-something arms dealers (Teller and Hill) find themselves in over their head and fighting for their lives after landing a $300-million contract to supply weapons in Afghanistan.
WHEN: August 19
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
WHO: Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes
WHAT: The stop-motion studio behind Coraline, ParaNorman, and The Boxtrolls is back in what looks to be their most visually inventive film yet, a fable about a Japanese boy on a quest to avenge his parents.
WHEN: August 19
THE SPACE BETWEEN US
Photo: VVS Films
WHO: Asa Butterfield, Britt Robertson, Gary Oldman, Carla Gugino, B.D. Wong
WHAT: In the future on Mars, a young boy develops an online relationship with a girl on Earth and embarks on an interplanetary journey to get to her.
WHEN: August 19
DON’T BREATHE
Photo: TriStar Pictures
WHO: Dylan Minnette, Jane Levy, Daniel Zovatto, Stephen Lang
WHAT: The director of 2014’s Evil Dead remake returns to the horror genre with this home invasion thriller. Three teenagers break into a blind man’s house thinking it’ll be the perfect crime, only to discover they tragically underestimated the situation.
WHEN: August 26
MAX STEEL
Photo: Open Road Films
WHO: Ben Winchell, Ana Villfañe, Andy Garcia, Maria Bello, Josh Brener
WHAT: The Mattel action figure gets its own feature film in this origin story about the teenage Max McGrath (Winchell) and his alien companion, Steel (Brener).
WHEN: August 26
MECHANIC: RESURRECTION
Photo: Summit Entertainment
WHO: Jason Statham, Tommy Lee Jones, Jessica Alba, Michelle Yeoh
WHAT: Statham returns to his action roots with a late-summer sequel to his 2011 remake The Mechanic. Arthur Bishop (Statham) has retired from the game, but the kidnapping of the love of his life extorts him into getting back into action.
WHEN: August 26
The Apple Box 