Summer movies are meant to be seen in theatres.
The massive screen, booming sound and energy of a packed audience remain part of what makes a great summer release feel like an event. Fortunately, the July and August 2026 calendar has no shortage of reasons to buy a ticket, grab the good seats and put the phone away for a few hours.
Christopher Nolan is bringing Homer’s The Odyssey to IMAX screens, Disney is returning to Motunui with its live-action Moana and Camp Firewood is reopening for the 25th anniversary of Wet Hot American Summer. At the top of our watchlist, however, is Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man, a blood-soaked Summerween release that looks made for collective gasps, screams and horrified laughter.
Listed in release-date order, here are eight movies we cannot wait to experience in theatres this summer.
Evil Dead Burn — July 10, 2026
The summer gets considerably bloodier with Evil Dead Burn, the latest standalone chapter in the long-running horror franchise.
Directed by French filmmaker Sébastien Vaniček, the man behind 2023’s spider-infested horror movie Infested, the film follows a grieving widow who seeks comfort with her late husband’s family. Their gathering at a secluded home soon descends into a Deadite nightmare.
Souheila Yacoub leads a cast that also includes Hunter Doohan, Luciane Buchanan, Tandi Wright and George Pullar.
The Evil Dead series has never been particularly concerned with restraint, and Vaniček appears ready to push its gore and physical intensity even further. Produced by franchise veterans Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, this is exactly the kind of horror movie that becomes more fun with a room full of people reacting alongside you.
Evil Dead Burn is now playing in theatres.
Moana — July 10, 2026
Disney is heading back to Motunui with its live-action reimagining of Moana.
Newcomer Catherine Lagaʻaia steps into the title role, playing the adventurous daughter of an island chief who journeys beyond the reef to restore prosperity to her people. Dwayne Johnson reprises his role as the demigod Maui, this time appearing in the flesh rather than behind an animated character.
Directed by Thomas Kail, whose credits include the stage production and filmed version of Hamilton, the movie also stars John Tui, Frankie Adams and Rena Owen.
The sweeping landscapes, ocean sequences and familiar songs give this adaptation a natural sense of scale. Whether audiences are discovering the story for the first time or returning to it with the entire family, Moana is built to be experienced on a theatre screen with the music turned all the way up.
Moana is now playing in theatres.
The Odyssey — July 17, 2026
Christopher Nolan is following Oppenheimer with one of his most ambitious productions yet: a large-scale adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey.
Matt Damon stars as Odysseus, the king of Ithaca attempting to make his way home after the Trojan War. His journey takes him across treacherous seas and places him against mythical forces determined to keep him away from his wife, Penelope, and their son, Telemachus.
The enormous ensemble includes Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron and Samantha Morton.
Nolan shot the epic entirely using IMAX film cameras. Few filmmakers remain as committed to the theatrical experience, and few summer movies make the choice of venue matter quite this much. Find the biggest screen available, preferably one capable of presenting it in IMAX film, and settle in.
The Odyssey arrives in theatres on July 17.
I Want Your Sex — July 31, 2026
Anyone looking for something stranger and more provocative than the average summer blockbuster should keep I Want Your Sex on their radar.
Directed by Gregg Araki, the erotic comedy-thriller stars Cooper Hoffman as Elliot, a young man who lands a job working for celebrated artist and provocateur Erika Tracy, played by Olivia Wilde.
His new position quickly becomes more personal when Erika selects him as her sexual muse, pulling him into a world shaped by desire, obsession, power, betrayal and murder.
The supporting cast includes Charli xcx, Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Daveed Diggs, Johnny Knoxville and Margaret Cho. After premiering at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, Araki’s latest is receiving a wide theatrical release—and bold, unpredictable independent movies deserve that kind of big-screen support.
I Want Your Sex arrives in theatres on July 31.
Ice Cream Man — August 7, 2026
At the top of our summer watchlist is Ice Cream Man, Eli Roth’s blood-soaked take on the nostalgic neighbourhood ice cream truck.
Co-written by Roth and Noah Belson and directed by Roth, the movie takes place in the seemingly idyllic town of Bayleen Bay. The community descends into madness after a mysterious ice cream vendor begins serving frozen treats that turn local children into homicidal killers.
Ari Millen stars as the title character, alongside Benjamin Byron Davis, Karen Cliche, Dylan Hawco and Sarah Abbott.
The aggressively summery setting allows Roth to turn childhood nostalgia into something colourful, violent and completely unhinged. The filmmaker has described it as one of his most terrifying and extreme projects yet, which is saying something from the director behind Cabin Fever, Hostel, The Green Inferno and Thanksgiving.
This is not a movie to half-watch at home while scrolling through your phone. The outrageous gore, twisted humour and sheer chaos of its premise call for a dark theatre, a giant screen and an audience ready to lose its mind together.
Produced by The Horror Section and released theatrically by Iconic Events Releasing, Ice Cream Man hits theatres on August 7.
Super Troopers 3 — August 7, 2026
The Vermont Highway Patrol is back on duty, although “duty” may be a generous description of whatever the Super Troopers are doing.
The third movie from the Broken Lizard comedy group revolves around Farva’s wildly elaborate engagement to Thorny’s sister. As Thorny attempts to derail the relationship, the troopers find themselves investigating a new drug operation while trying to keep the wedding from falling apart.
Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske return, bringing the group’s familiar mix of absurd arguments, elaborate pranks and spectacularly questionable police work with them.
Comedies benefit from an audience more than nearly any other genre. A joke that is funny alone can become unforgettable when an entire theatre erupts around it, making the return of Broken Lizard an easy excuse for a night at the movies.
Super Troopers 3 opens in theatres on August 7.
Tony — August 14, 2026 in Canada
Rather than attempting to summarize Anthony Bourdain’s entire career, Tony focuses on the summer that helped set it in motion.
Dominic Sessa stars as a 19-year-old Bourdain, who travels to Provincetown and unexpectedly enters the chaotic world of a restaurant kitchen. What begins as a summer job becomes his introduction to the culture, personalities and pressure that would eventually shape his life as a chef, writer and television figure.
Directed by Matt Johnson, the filmmaker behind BlackBerry, the A24 release also stars Emilia Jones, Leo Woodall, Antonio Banderas and Stavros Halkias.
The smaller scope gives Tony room to explore Bourdain before the fame, when his future was still uncertain and the kitchen was only beginning to pull him in. Johnson’s energetic filmmaking style should make the heat, noise and controlled panic of restaurant life feel especially immediate inside a theatre.
A24 lists an August 7 U.S. release, with Tony arriving in Canadian theatres on August 14.
Wet Hot American Summer 25th Anniversary — August 14, 2026
Camp Firewood is reopening for one final stretch of summer.
Twenty-five years after its original release, Wet Hot American Summer is returning to theatres across the United States and Canada for a limited anniversary engagement.
Directed by David Wain and co-written by Wain and Michael Showalter, the comedy follows the counsellors and campers of Camp Firewood on the final, increasingly ridiculous day of summer in 1981.
Its now-famous ensemble includes Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, Christopher Meloni, Janeane Garofalo, Molly Shannon, Ken Marino and Joe Lo Truglio.
The movie initially struggled at the box office before developing a devoted cult following. Its return gives longtime fans a rare opportunity to watch it with a crowd—and gives newer fans the chance to experience its wonderfully specific brand of chaos in a theatre for the first time.
The 25th-anniversary engagement begins August 14 and runs through August 21 at participating North American theatres.
Streaming has made movies easier to access than ever, but convenience is not the same thing as experience. Horror is scarier with a crowd, comedy is funnier when the laughter is contagious and a movie shot for IMAX deserves more than a laptop screen.
This summer, turn off the television, leave the couch behind and go to the theatre. These movies were made to be seen there.
