August isn’t the end of summer. If anything, movies are finally heating up, and filmmakers are releasing their edgiest stories yet. Though Marvel movies are box office gold, the campy alien world of “Borderlands” is just as deserving, considering its A-list cast, helmed by Cate Blanchett. Colleen Hoover’s hotly-anticipated film adaptation of “This Ends With Us” is finally hitting theaters later this month with Blake Lively, who will likely repopularize steamy romance with this New York Times bestseller. While M. Night Shyamalan’s “Trap” forms a psychological horror around the superstardom of Taylor Swift, Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut on a private island is a living nightmare in the best way possible.
Then, “Euphoria” star Hunter Schafer tries “final girl” fashion with her intense performance in Tilman Singer’s “Cuckoo,” and Bill Skarsgård and FKA Twigs are star-crossed lovers on Rupert Sanders’s dark fantasy “The Crow.” Meanwhile, classic franchises like “Alien” are being revived with new twists, as seen in the latest entry, “Alien: Romelous.” Ahead, don’t miss out on these films (and more) hitting theaters this August!
It Ends With Us
Releases on August 9
Blake Lively (“Gossip Girl,” “The Age of Adaline”) returns to the big screen for what’s to be the summer’s hottest romance yet. Based on the novel by Colleen Hoover, Lily Bloom (Lively) overcomes a traumatic childhood to chase her wildest dreams in Boston. However, the spark between her and neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni) quickly pales her past hurt, including her first love, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar), reenters her life. Will Lily succumb to her old wounds or pursue a love that blinds her future?
Borderlands
Releases on August 9
When Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett (“Tár,” “Carol”) takes a step outside drama films, we must step inside theaters. Based on the popular looter-shooter video game of the same name, director Eli Roth assembles an all-star cast — including Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana Greenblatt, and Jack Black — to breathe life into a ragtag team of misfits on a mission to save a missing girl who holds the key to unimaginable power.
Cuckoo
Releases on August 9
While Hunter Schafer slays the fashion game, “Cuckoo” sees the actress whisked away to the German Alps in what’s supposed to be a peaceful restart. Instead, the “Euphoria” stars as a death-defying final girl– who only gets bloodier the longer the movie progresses– fighting against a bizarre figure with only a Swiss-blade knife. Who is the perpetrator, exactly? Even she isn’t sure.
Close to You
Releases on August 16
Academy Award nominee Elliot Page (“Juno,” “The Umbrella Academy”) stars as a trans man who returns to his hometown for the first time in years. On his journey, he confronts his relationship with his family, reunites with his first love, and discovers a newfound confidence in himself.
Alien: Romulus
Releases on August 16
In the newest “Alien” installment, horror director Fede Alvarez revives Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett’s original characters in this space nightmare. Starring Hollywood’s buzziest actress Cailee Spaeny (“Priscilla”), a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the franchise’s iconic terror.
Blink Twice
Releases on August 23
In this island horror, Zoë Kravitz marks her directorial debut by enlisting Channing Tatum (“Magic Mike”) as a tech billionaire with a freak camera. When the wealthy and smitten Slater King (Tatum) invites cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) to his private island on a dream vacation with friends, something is clearly wrong with the getaway. Slowly, the paradise’s wild nights start blending into sun-soaked days, and partying vacationers start disappearing as Frida’s suspicions bubble. Frida will have to uncover the truth if she wants to make it out of this party alive.
The Crow
Releases on August 23
Filmmaker Rupert Sanders (“Snow White and the Huntsman”) returns to big-budget productions for the first time in seven years, following 2017’s “Ghost In The Shell,” for this Bill Skarsgård-led fantasy. Instead of “It” clown prosthetics, the Swedish actor portrays a tatted demon-slaying assailant on a mission to save his true love, played by FKA Twigs in her first leading role.
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