May 2024 box office preview: Summer movie season launches with sequels and remakes alike

May usually represents the start of the lucrative summer movie season, and in the past, it would normally kick off with a Marvel superhero movie, so this year is already a bit of an anomaly. Even so, there are at least four strong weekends, each with at least one big franchise movie, but also, there are also two family-friendly films in back-to-back weekends after a month almost entirely devoid of them. Remember that every Wednesday, Gold Derby’s weekend preview will take a closer look at all the below fare. Read on for our May 2024 box office preview.

“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (Warner Bros. – May 24)

This prequel to George Miller‘s Oscar-winning 2015 action movie, “Mad Max: Fury Road,” stars Emmy winner Anya Taylor-Joy in the role made famous by Charlize Theron in the previous installment of Miller’s long-running sci-fi franchise. She’s joined by Chris Hemsworth as the villain called “Dr. Dementus,” while Aussie actor Angus Sampson (“Insidious”) and Nathan Jones are two of the returning actors from “Fury Road.” Like that previous movie, this one is premiering at Cannes a week before its global release, but the excitement for Miller’s return to this world, combined with its plum Memorial Day weekend release, should allow this to open quite a bit bigger than “Fury Road’s” $45.4 million opening weekend in 2015.

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” (20th Century – May 10)

The franchise that dates all the way back to 1968 returns with a new reboot, directed by Wes Ball (“The Maze Runner”), with an installment that takes place well into the future from the movies directed by Matt Reeves, where humans play a smaller role compared to the titular apes. Opening next week, this should benefit from there not being a Marvel movie in early May, so this could open upwards of $50 million, as the franchise gets a much-needed boost.

“The Fall Guy” (Universal – May 3)

Two of the Oscar-nominated stars of the 2023 mega-blockbuster meme-launching “Barbenheimer,” Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, star in this new action movie from David Leitch (“Bullet Train”), which takes the title of the popular ‘80s Lee Majors television show, but little else. Since this will be the main film discussed in the weekend preview this Wednesday, we’ll have more to say about this then.

“IF” (Paramount – May 17)

John Krasinski follows up his two “A Quiet Place” movies by directing his first family-friendly film, starring Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming as Bea, a young girl who begins to see all the imaginary friends that others have left behind as they grew up. Krasinski plays Bea’s father, and he’s gathered an impressive voice cast for the imaginary friends (or IFs), including Steve Carell, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt (of course), Sam Rockwell, Akwafina (of course), Sebastian Maniscalco, Maya Rudolph and many more. Being the first new family film in a while and coming out a week before The Garfield Movie should help Krasinski’s high-concept family comedy open with around $40 million or so.

“The Garfield Movie” (Sony – May 24)

Just over a year after voicing Mario in “The Super Mario Bros,” Chris Pratt voices the beloved cartoon and comic strip feline, who hasn’t appeared on the big screen since the Bill Murray-voiced 2006 sequel, “Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties,” which was a massive bomb. Sony is hoping that giving a bit of time before this reboot (which involves a younger Garfield) will help the movie bring in family audiences who have been sorely deprived in the first quarter of the year. Opening on Memorial Day weekend opposite “Furiosa,” the movie could do particularly well due to that lack of family movies, possibly even making $40 million or more over the four-day holiday weekend.

“The Strangers: Chapter 1” (Lionsgate – May 17)

There isn’t a ton of horror to be had in May, but one movie that should appeal to horror fans is this revival of Bryan Bertino‘s home invasion thriller from 2008, this one directed by ‘90s action legend Renny Harlin, involving a couple who are terrorized by three masked strangers at a remote cabin after their car breaks down. As the title denotes, this is actually the first of THREE films that will be released over the course of the next eight months, and this should act as strong counter-programming to “IF” to maybe open with $10 to $15 million.

“Tarot” (Sony – May 3)

More horror as counter-programming to what is looking very likely to be a big summer opener in “The Fall Guy” is this high-concept horror movie that involves a group of friends, including Avantika from “Mean Girls” and “Spider-Man” pal Jacob Batalon, who unleash an evil being after breaking the rules of Tarot readings. Although 2014’s “Ouija” and its 2016 prequel, “Ouija: Origin of Evil” – the latter directed by Mike Flanagan (“The Haunting of Hill House”) – may be good comparisons for this one, it definitely feels like it’s being dumped by Sony, hoping for the best. Again, we’ll have more about this in Wednesday’s weekend preview.

“Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle” (Crunchyroll – May 31)

The month concludes with a number of smaller movies, including the latest Anime from Crunchyroll, based on the manga by Haruichi Furudate and the resulting anime series, which ran for four seasons, running from 2014 to 2020. This is the first of two feature films that will conclude the series, and this will be released in North America just a few months after its Japan release. Anime is hard to predict, so I won’t even try.

“Back to Black” (Focus Features – May 17)

The late Grammy-winning singer Amy Winehouse gets the biopic treatment, played by Marisa Abela (“Industry”) with Sam Taylor-Johnson (“50 Shades of Gray,” “Nowhere Boy”) directing. Reviews have been rolling out for weeks since the film’s UK and Australia debut, and so far, those reviews are not great, which makes one wonder whether this could do much better in North America.

“Sight” (Angel Studios – May 24)

Delayed from last year is Andrew Hyatt‘s biopic about Dr. Ming Wang, one of the world’s top laser eye surgeons, played by Terry Chen. The movie also stars Greg Kinnear, who famously starred in 2008’s “Flash of Genius,” about the guy who invented the windshield wiper.

“Robot Dreams” (NEON  – May 31)

Pablo Berger‘s animated film about a dog and a robot in ‘80s New York City received an Oscar nomination in the Animated Feature category earlier this year, and Neon is finally giving it a wide release, although it’s hard to imagine it will do that well even if the week after Memorial Day could have room for a breakout or two.

“Ezra” (Bleecker Street – May 31)

Bobby Cannavale and Robert De Niro star in Tony Goldwyn‘s dramedy about a comedian who makes a cross-country road trip with his autistic son (William A. Fitzgerald) to appear on a late night show.  Also starring Rose Byrne, Rainn Wilson, Whoopi Goldberg and more, it’s a little odd this movie that premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival is getting a wide release.

“In a Violent Nature” (IFC Films – May 31)

Another horror movie, this one to wrap-up the month, is this slasher movie written and directed by Chris Nash that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, which follows the murders of a murderous undead monster, but from its perspective rather than his victims.

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There are a few limited releases below that might eventually expand wider or even nationwide, but for now, they’re listed as limited releases.

“I Saw the TV Glow” (A24 – May 3)

Filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun (“We’re All Going to the World’s Fair”) returns with another bizarre thriller, this one starring Justice Smith (“Detective Pikachu”) as Owen, a teenager who is obsessed with a supernatural show called “The Pink Opaque,” over which he bonds with Brigette Lundy-Paine‘s Maddy. Going by A24’s track record, this could end up going wider later in the month.

“Wildcat” (Oscilloscope – May 3)

Ethan Hawke directs his daughter, Maya Hawke, playing Irish writer Flannery O’Connor with a cast that includes Laura Linney, Vincent D’Onofrio, Liam Neeson, Cooper Hoffman and Alessandro Nivola.

“Aggro Dr1ft” (May 6)

“Spring Breakers” director Harmony Korine takes a different approach with his experimental film about rapper Travis Scott, which is filmed entirely in infrared. It will be self-distributed through a number of theaters across the country.

“Poolman” (Vertical Entertainment – May 10)

Chris Pine makes his own directorial debut, playing the title “Poolman” Darren Barrenman, assembling a cast that includes Jennifer Jason Leigh, Annette Bening, Danny De Vito, John Ortiz, DeWanda Wise and more.

“The Last Stop in Yuma County” (Well Go USA – May 10)

Francis Gallupi‘s crime-thriller stars filmmaker Jim Cummings (“The Beta Test”) as a traveling knife salesman who ends up in a hostage situation when he encounters two bank robbers at a rest stop.

“Aisha” (Samuel Goldwyn Films – May 10)

“Black Panther” star Letitia Wright stars in this drama about an African woman dealing with the Irish immigration system, which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival all the way back in 2022.

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“Babes” (NEON – May 17)

Pamela Adlon makes her directorial debut with this comedy starring Ilana Glazer (“Broad City”) as Eden, a woman who becomes pregnant after a one-night stand and relies on her married mother friend for help. It premiered at the SXSW Film & TV Festival back in March.

“Hit Man” (Netflix – May 24)

Fresh off its festival premieres at Toronto and Sundance, Richard Linklater’s comedy, starring Glen Powell (“Top Gun: Maverick”), will get a limited theatrical release before hitting the streamer in June. In the movie, Powell plays Gary Johnson, a college professor who pretends to be a hit man as part of a police sting operation.

“The Dead Don’t Hurt” (Shout! Studios – May 31)

Viggo Mortensen wrote, directed and stars in this Western, co-starring Vicky Krieps (“Phantom Thread”), as two pioneers fighting to survive on the American frontier during the Civil War.

“Young Woman and the Sea” (Disney – May 31)

Daisy Ridley from the most recent “Star Wars” trilogy stars in this biopic about competitive swimmer Trudy Ederle, who became the first woman to cross the English Channel back in 1926. It’s directed by Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Rønning, who is quite familiar with water from directing the Oscar-nominated “Kon-Tiki” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.”

That’s it for May, but we’ll be back in a month with our June preview, and as mentioned, the weekend box office preview runs every Wednesday.

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