Must-See Summer 2021 Movies You Can Watch in Theaters—Plus, a Full Release Schedule!

With theaters cautiously reopening after the crushing curse of COVID-19, some films are coming back to the big screen. Check out Parade’s must-see list for summer 2021.

The best movies coming out Summer 2021

Spiral

Release Date: May 14

Spiral, a new slice off the Saw film block, stars Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson as detectives tracking a mastermind killer whose sadistic methods are gruesomely familiar.

Cruella

Release Date: May 28, in theaters and on Disney+

Find out how a classic Disney character came to be in Cruella, with Emma Stone in the title role of fashion-forward young London design diva Cruella de Vil, who’ll become the iconic villain of 101 Dalmatians. Many miles away from the cartoon of 1961, this campy, vampy live-action backstory looks like a playfully punkish cousin to Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. Hold on to your puppies!

A Quiet Place Part II

Release Date: May 28

Shhh! Don’t make a sound—you might alert the monsters in A Quiet Place Part II, director John Krasinki’s follow-up to his nerve-rattling 2018 hit about survivors in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by monsters with frighteningly good hearing.

Spirit Untamed

Release Date: June 4

Spirit Untamed, with the voices of Mckenna Grace, Jake Gyllenhaal and Julianne Moore, is a tale of a young lass who befriends a wild mustang. (And Taylor Swift’s re-recorded version of her 2014 song “Wildest Dreams” is on the soundtrack.)

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

Release Date: June 4

Ready to get really spooked? The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, the eighth installment of the diabolically frightening Conjuring franchise, is based on a real 1981 incident of a woman tried for murder who claimed demonic possession as a defense.

F9

Release Date: June 25

Start your engines for the latest installment of the high-octane Fast & Furious franchise—which began 20 years ago! In F9, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Charlize Theron, Helen Mirren, John Cena and other familiar gearheads are back (no Dwayne Johnson, though) for another asphalt-ripping, eye-popping ride, some absolutely gonzo stunts and—of course—something about a deadly assassin and settling old scores. Vrooooom!

Space Jam: A New Legacy

Release Date: July 16

Sports icon LeBron James goes on an epic hoops adventure with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Speedy Gonzales and other Looney Tunes cartoon characters in Space Jam: A New Legacy. The live-action/animation mashup is a followup to the 1996 film, which starred Michael Jordan and became the highest-grossing basketball film of all time.

Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania

Release Date: July 23

Check in to Hotel Transylvania 4 for more vampire comedy hijinks from Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg and Selena Gomez.

Old

Release Date: July 23

Director M. Night Shyamalan’s Twilight Zone-like Old might be a lot of folks’ real nightmare: discovering their entire lives reduced to a single day as they helplessly watch themselves grow older by the hour. Yikes!

The Suicide Squad

Release Date: August 6

The latest spinout of the DC Comics “Extended Universe,”The Suicide Squad features a big ensemble cast (Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone and Pete Davidson) in a wild romp about a group of released cons and supervillains sent on a dangerous, super-secret mission. Expect director James Gunn to bring some of the same quippy, action-y fun he stirred up in his two Guardians of the Galaxy flicks.

Related: Every Upcoming Marvel Movie

Free Guy

Release Date: August 13

Nice guy Ryan Reynolds stars in the comedy Free Guy as a background character in a brutal videogame (think Grand Theft Auto) who decides he wants to be…something more. With Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer, cameos by several real-life YouTube personalities and the final appearance from late Jeopardy! hostAlex Trebek.

Don’t Breathe 2

Release Date: August 13

The Blind Man (Stephen Lang) from the original movie is back in Don’t Breathe 2 to exact more terrible revenge on a new group of trespassers who’ve made the fateful mistake of trying to take advantage of him.

Respect

Release Date: August 13

Sing it! Jennifer Hudson may bring home another Oscar—to add to her Best Supporting Actress trophy for Dreamgirls—as the star of Respect, the life story of the legendary R&B singer Aretha Franklin. She was hand-picked for the part by Franklin, who was involved in the project until her death in August 2018. R-E-S-P-E-C-T, indeed!

Reminiscence

Release Date: August 20, in theaters and on HBO Max

If you loved Westworld, check out the directorial film debut of Lisa Joy, a co-creator, writer, director and producer of that award-winning sci-fi series. The twisty Reminiscence stars Hugh Jackman as a “private investigator of the mind” who dives in way too deep while helping his clients re-live their memories. Westworld’s Thandiwe Newton co-stars.

TheBoss Baby: Family Business

Release Date: September 17

The kids are all right in TheBoss Baby: Family Business, a sequel to the hit 2017 comedy, about pint-sized entrepreneurs voiced by Eva Longoria, James Marsden, Alec Baldwin and Amy Sedaris.

The Many Saints of Newark

Release Date: September 24, in theaters and on HBO Max

Were you bummed when The Sopranos ended on HBO? Then you’ll be primed for The Many Saints of Newark, the movie prequel about how gangster Tony Soprano got his start on the mean streets of New Jersey. Michael Gandolfini, the son of the late James Gandolfini (who starred in the TV series) plays young Tony.

Dear Evan Hansen

Release Date: September 24

Actor Ben Platt reprises his Broadway role in the film version of Dear Evan Hansen, the Tony-winning musical drama about a high school student and his journey of self-discovery after the suicide of a fellow classmate. With Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever and Amy Adams.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Release Date: September 24

Investigative journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) returns into a monstrous creature with superhuman, out-of-this-world powers in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, a sequel to the 2018 film based on the Marvel Comics character.