While we all may want to squeeze the last few days of summer that we can, at movie theaters the summer blockbuster movie season is all but over. We've seen a number of movies that have made big bucks and that have been incredibly entertaining, including Inside Out 2, Twisters and Deadpool & Wolverine. Most of the biggest movies came out in the heart of the blockbuster season — May, June, July — and while we've August movies like It Ends With Us and Alien: Romulus get strong box office showings, the summer movie season is winding down.
But movies aren't stopping, and these final two weeks of August are going to feature a range of 2024 new movies that are going to offer some different types of movies to audiences.
Starting off with the biggest of the bunch, Channing Tatum is leading the new psychological thriller Blink Twice, which premieres August 23 worldwide and marks the directorial debut of Zoë Kravitz. The movie centers on a young woman (Naomi Ackie) who grabs the attention of a tech billionaire (Tatum) and is invited to his private island with his group of friends. However, despite the seemingly idyllic time, she eventually feels that there is something very weird going on. While I didn't love the movie (read my Blink Twice review to find out why), it seems I'm more in the minority (the movie is "Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes) and I get why it can be a love it or hate it title. But either way, kudos to Kravitz for taking on a challenging movie for her debut and one that even though is star-studded and many find very entertaining, is a darker, different kind of movie than you typically get with mainstream blockbusters.
Another movie coming out on August 23 (US only) is Greedy People, which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Himesh Patel, Lily James and Uzo Aduba. Set in a small South Carolina town, the story revolves around two cops who accidentally kill someone, only to discover $1 million hidden in her house. They decide to cover up the death with plans to split the money when things blow over. However, it's not the secret they think it is, as various people are involved and interested in getting their hands on the money. At first glance, Greedy People looks like a bit of an odd-ball comedy, but in reality, it uses its characters (most notable being Gordon-Levitt and James) for a morality tale that leans much more into the dark comedy; definitely owing something to movies from the Coen Brothers.
That's not all we've got though. On August 23 alone we're also getting Between the Temples, a comedy starring Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane that screened as part of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival that I caught. If offbeat, somewhat awkward comedy is your jam, then this is one that is worth checking out.
Then there's the remake of The Crow, starring Bill Skarsgård, as the cult comic book character returns to the big screen for the first time in 30 years.
Finally, there's Strange Darling, a thriller about a one-night stand that goes haywire when one of the participants is revealed to be a serial killer that is an impressive 97% "Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes.
August closes out with a slew of other movies, including the new Blumhouse horror movie AfrAId, about an AI home device that terrorizes a family (very much going for M3GAN vibes). Then there's Slingshot, a sci-fi movie about an astronaut losing his grip on reality starring Casey Affleck and Laurence Fishburne, and The Wasp, a thriller that sees two estranged friends, played by Naomie Harris and Natalie Dormer, plan to kill one of their husbands.
If all of those feel a little too out there for you, there are a few more standard movies, including an adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel Across the River and Into the Trees starring Liev Schreiber and Josh Hutcherson; an inspiring sports drama You Gotta Believe with Luke Wilson and Greg Kinnear; and Ray Liotta's final movie, 1992, an action movie that takes place during the 1992 Los Angeles riots; all of these also open on August 30.
To find where or if any/all of those movies are playing near you, be sure to check out Fandango to see available showtimes in your areas and purchase tickets directly online.
