Sure summer means ice cream, swimming pools, and hot nights, but it also means superheroes, robots, apocalyptic wastelands, and big budget animated spectacles for the whole family. This year's summer movie season may have started early with Avengers: Age of Ultron, but we've gone through every release hitting theaters before September to bring you a comprehensive look at what this season has to offer.
It's not just action movies either! Raunchy comedies, indie dramas, and a couple of Oscar contenders dot the field along the way. Take a look below to get an idea of which movies you'll skip, and which you'll call in sick to wait in line to see.
And if you're looking to dig deeper, check out these links:
• This Summer's 11 Biggest Movies
• 5 Non-Blockbusters You Need to See
• Breaking Down 'Jurassic World' in One Graphic
• Zimbio's Mad Max Paper Dolls
• Zimbio's Magic Mike Stripper Doll GIFs
Mad Max: Fury Road
Tom Hardy plays the part made famous by Mel Gibson in the '70s and '80s in this long-awaited sequel. Original director returns with a new spin that co-stars Charlize Theron.
Pitch Perfect 2
With the Bellas' very existence at stake, Anna Kendrick and her á cappella compatriots travel to the world championship to prove their mettle. TRAILER
Good Kill
In his third movie with director Andrew Niccol ('Gattaca,' 'Lord of War') Ethan Hawke plays a drone pilot who begins to question his role as an instrument of war. TRAILER
Set Fire to the Stars
Based on John M. Brinnin's 'Dylan Thomas in America,' Elijah Wood plays Brinnin as he brings the volatile Scottish poet to the United States in 1950. TRAILER
Poltergeist
Sam Raimi produced this remake of Tobe Hooper's '80s horror classic with Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie Dewitt playing the ghost-terrorized parents. TRAILER
Tomorrowland
Pixar vet Brad Bird turned down Star Wars: Episode VII in favor of filming his script for Tomorrowland, which follows a teen girl's journey to a mysterious and futuristic place.
Chocolate City
Calling it the black version of 'Magic Mike,' director Jean-Claude La Marre's male stripper movie tells the story of a dance troupe with a little more color. TRAILER
When Marnie Was There
Already released in Japan, the illustrious Studio Ghibli's latest will be its last before a long hiatus. It's a tale of friendship that crosses from dream to reality in an unexpected way. TRAILER
San Andreas
Stuff explodes and buildings collapse as Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson flies a helicopter around California trying to save his estranged daughter from The Big One.
Aloha
Bradley Cooper plays a military contractor trying to reconnect with his ex when he's brought back to Hawaii, but he starts to fall for Emma Stone instead. TRAILER
Results
Guy Pearce and Cobie Smulders play Type A personal trainers whose worlds are thrown into chaos by Kevin Corrigan as an eccentric but wealthy client. Hilarity ensues. TRAILER
Gemma Bovery
Gemma Arterton stars as an English woman who moves into a French village and seems to be the living embodiment of famed author Gustave Flaubert's 'Madame Bovary.' TRAILER
Entourage
Picking up where the series left off, Ari is a fledgling movie producer bankrolling Vincent Chase's first time in the director's chair. And obviously the gang is back together. TRAILER
Spy
Melissa McCarthy stars as a newly minted spy who gets in over her head alongside Jason Statham, who spoofs his action star career in hilarious fashion.
Insidious: Chapter 3
A prequel to the first two films, this time we see how psychic Elise (Lin Shay) first came in contact with the dead as she tries to help a father save his teen daughter. TRAILER
Love & Mercy
Paul Dano and John Cusack play Beach Boys singer Brian Wilson at different points in his life in a biopic that explores both his genius and mental illness. TRAILER
Jurassic World
Twenty-two years after 'Jurassic Park,' we get to see the dino theme park up and running. But a new genetically engineered dinosaur threatens to bring it all to ruin.
Me & Earl & the Dying Girl
It's been called an indie 'Fault in Our Stars,' which isn't entirely inaccurate. But this cancer dramedy won over heaps of skeptics at Sundance and it's got charm to spare. TRAILER
The Wolfpack
The seven Angulo siblings were isolated in their NYC apartment for years, passing time and trying to understand the world by watching movies. This documentary explores their world. TEASER
Inside Out
Pixar's latest dives deep into the human experience to explore our emotions by personifying them in the mind of a pre-teen girl as she gets to know a new place.
Dope
A geeky kid from a tough part of LA finds himself under a drug dealer's thumb in a story that puts a new spin on a familiar end-of-high-school coming-of-age story. TRAILER
The Overnight
Jason Schwartzman invites Adam Scott and Taylor Schilling to a dinner that becomes much more in this Sundance-lauded sex comedy. TRAILER
Infinitely Polar Bear
Mark Ruffalo plays a father trying to keep his family together while managing his bipolar disorder in this family drama period piece. TRAILER
Ted 2
Everyone's favorite foul-mouthed teddy bear is back and this time he wants to be a dad. And with Mark Wahlberg's and Amanda Seyfried's help he might even make it happen.
Batkid Begins
Diagnosed with leukemia at 18 months, Miles Scott's Make-a-Wish was to be Batman. This documentary shows how San Francisco was transformed into Gotham to fulfill that wish. TRAILER
Big Game
Samuel L. Jackson embraces his larger-than-life onscreen persona as he plays the President, fighting a band of terrorists alongside a 13-year-old Finnish archer named Oskari. TRAILER
Max
After his Marine brother dies fighting in Afghanistan, a teen boy comes to terms with the loss by befriending his brother's combat working dog, Max. TRAILER
Terminator: Genisys
The Terminator franchise is rewritten as we follow Kyle Reese into 1984 where his mission to save Sarah Connor is complicated by two sides weaponizing time travel.
Magic Mike XXL
Channing Tatum returns as the titular male stripper as he and his fellow dancers travel to Myrtle Beach for one last hurrah before hanging up their g-strings. TRAILER
Minions
This 'Despicable Me' prequel follows the Minions as they search for an evil master worthy of their devotion and find more than they bargained for in Sandra Bullock's villain.
Self/Less
Ben Kingsley plays a wealthy dying man who undergoes a procedure to transfer his mind to a new younger body. But the new body's old mind has something to say about it. TRAILER
The Bronze
Big Bang Theory breakout Melissa Rauch plays a gymnast reaching the end of her prime alongside Sebastian Stan. Much has been made of the duo's very athletic sex scene.
Tangerine
A trans prostitute named Sin-Dee goes on a rampage through Hollywood's back alleys as she unleashes her rage at the pimp who broke her heart. TRAILER
Ant-Man
Paul Rudd joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a hero who can shrink to the size of an ant. He has to stop a villain played by Corey Stoll before shrink tech gets into the wrong hands.
Trainwreck
Riding a wave of critical acclaim from her growing TV show, Amy Schumer brings her R-rated humor to the big screen as she tackles sex like no one else. TRAILER
Irrational Man
Joaquin Phoenix stars in Woody Allen's latest, which follows a philosophy professor as he explores an experience that breaks through his existential malaise. TRAILER
Mr. Holmes
Ian McKellen plays a retired Sherlock Holmes living in the shadow of his own myth as he delves into his past with the help of a young boy who idolizes him. TRAILER
Pixels
Adam Sandler, Peter Dinklage, Kevin James, and Josh Gad team up to fight alien invaders who've taken the form of '80s video game characters in a big budget action comedy.
Paper Towns
'Fault in Our Stars' author John Green follows last year's success with a coming-of-age mystery that finds Nat Wolff searching for Cara Delevingne after she disappears.
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Southpaw
Jake Gyllenhaal plays a widowed boxer trying to prove he can raise his daughter or risk losing her in a movie that's a cross between 'I Am Sam' and 'Rocky.'
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Vatican Tapes
Michael Pena plays a Vatican priest tasked with an exorcism and finds he's not just fighting for a possessed young woman's soul, but the fate of the world. TRAILER
Mission: Impossible 5
Tom Cruise is back to saving the world as he returns to his career's most reliable franchise. Famous for doing his own stunts, Cruise takes his game to the next level for this one.
The Gift
When Jason Bateman returns to his hometown, an old acquaintance (Joel Edgerton) gets too close for comfort. When Bateman rebuffs him, it leads to a conflict with roots deep in the past. TRAILER
The End of the Tour
Jason Segel won early Oscar buzz at Sundance this year when critics got their first look at him playing late author David Foster Wallace in this warts-and-all biopic.
INTERVIEW
Vacation
Ed Helms fills in for Chevy Chase in a movie that's both a sequel to and a remake of the original 'Vacation.' Early footage promises lots of raunchy laughs.
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Fantastic Four
Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell play Marvel's oldest super team in an update of the classic franchise directed by up-and-comer Josh Trank.
Ricki and the Flash
Meryl Streep plays an aging cover band singer whose rock lifestyle has left her estranged from her family. But with her daughter spurned by her fiancé, it's time to reconnect. TRAILER
Masterminds
A killer ensemble led by Zach Galifianakis and Kristen Wiig plays a real-life $17 million heist for laughs. But the real 1997 crime might even be funnier than the movie. TRAILER
Shaun the Sheep
From the creators of 'Wallace & Gromit,' this hilarious kids' show is getting its own movie. The antics are mostly slapstick, but hold up surprisingly well with adult audiences.
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Straight Outta Compton
Seminal gangster rap group NWA gets its due in what promises to be the most exciting music biopic of the year. Ice Cube and Dr. Dre were instrumental in making the movie happen.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer team up as the superspy duo that entranced TV fans from 1964 to 1968. The movie doubles down on the '60s style, and on strong jawlines.
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Underdogs
Matthew Morrison voices a young adult who must beat his old bully at soccer to save his town. But he'll have help from a set of foosball figures come to life. TRAILER
Hitman: Agent 47
Up-and-comer Rupert Friend shaves his head to play the titular nameless video game character come to life in a movie that finds him facing off against his former handlers.
Sinister 2
This fledgling horror franchise returns to bring us new scares from Bughuul, a demon that feeds on innocent children, and keeps mementos of the families he's slaughtered.
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American Ultra
Jesse Eisenberg plays a stoner whose mysterious past comes back to haunt him as the government comes after him in this action comedy. Kristen Stewart dyed her hair orange to play his girlfriend.
Grandma
Lily Tomlin picked up Oscar buzz at Sundance earlier this year for her turn as a curmudgeonly lesbian, helping out her partially estranged granddaughter as she seeks out an abortion. TRAILER
Regression
Ethan Hawke plays a detective who finds evidence of a Satanic underground organization in the repressed memories of a crime victim played by Emma Watson. TRAILER
We Are Your Friends
Zac Efron plays a DJ and musician looking for greater meaning in his music as his success grows. The movie takes its name from the Justice song and tries to capture the same vibe.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2
This long-awaited sequel brings back Michelle Yeoh in a movie that will premiere on Netflix the same day it hits theaters, a move that's caused friction with theater owners.
