Ant-Man and the Wasp

Director: Peyton Reed
Running Time: 118 minutes
Release Date: July 5

Although not a huge fan of superhero movies, I do recall seeing the original Ant-Man film in 2015 and being rather taken by the story and the simple idea that one of the biggest superheroes in the world is actually the smallest in size.
With the same director on board, all signs point towards another fun, exciting action film with just the right balance of humour, and hits. Size doesn’t matter.

Mary Shelley

Director: Haifaa al-Mansour
Running Time: 121 minutes
Release Date: July 5

The author of Frankenstein finally gets her own movie about her romantic relationship with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. The film stars the always reliable Elle Fanning in the title role and the swoon-worthy Douglas Booth as the poet. The director is widely recognised as the first Saudi Arabian female filmmaker, and she completed a Masters of Film in Sydney. This is Aussie screenwriter Emma Jensen’s first feature film.

Show Dogs

Director: Raja Gosnell
Running Time: 90mins
Release Date: July 5

Bring the kids along, leave your brain at the door, and don’t expect too much with this buddy movie about a cop and his talking dog trying to break an animal smuggling racket.
The rapper Ludacris voices the Rottweiler, and, I never thought I’d type this sentence – the film also stars the voices of RuPaul and Shaq O’Neill.
Director Raya Gosnell has been down the pet road before – Scooby-Doo, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and The Smurfs. An animal-auteur maybe.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

Director: Ol Parker
Release Date: July 19

Yes, here they go again- with the sequel to the Streep/Brosnan musical from 2008.
This one focusses on Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) and her pregnancy and includes many flashbacks as we tease out more of her mother’s (Meryl Streep) backstory.
Throw in a heap of ABBA songs, perhaps some off-key singing, and voila!
The question is will this film make anywhere near the $615 million of its original? Money, Money, Money indeed.

RBG

Director: Julie Cohen and Betsy West
Running Time: 98 mins
Release Date: July 26

RGB are the initials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a US Supreme Court Justice, now aged 84.
It takes 2 directors to document her passionate trailblazing life.
She is arguably the most famous of the Justices and this documentary has a long line of talking heads happy to lend their reflections – Bill Clinton, Orrin Hatch, and Gloria Steinem. This could be the pick of the month.

Whitney

Director: Kevin Macdonald
Running Time: 120 minutes
Release Date: July 26

We were bound to get documentaries one day about Whitney Houston – and here it is, six years after her sudden death. Now, don’t confuse this with one released last year called Whitney: Can I Be Me.
This new one is directed by Kevin Macdonald who has a great track record with documentaries – the Oscar winning One Day in September, Touching the Void, and Marley.
He has the backing of Pat Houston and the Whitney Houston Estate so expect a large amount of unreleased footage and audio. Singing along is mandatory.