The month of August is the final stretch of movies before the fall film festivals begin. As the Writers and Actors strike continues, they will be unable to promote these movies. One of the best things you can do is support their work! This is everything you should see this August!

August 2:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is the first major release in August, and it is distributed by Paramount Pictures. Just like Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1, it is releasing on a Wednesday. It is directed by Jeff Rowe, and written by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jeff Rowe, Dan Hernandez, and Benji Samit. The film stars Seth Rogen, Ayo Edebiri, Rose Byrne, Jackie Chan, Paul Rudd, John Cena, Natasia Demetrious, Maya Rudolph, Ice Cube, Hannibal Buress, Nicolas Cantu, Brady Noon, Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Post Malone, and Giancarlo Esposito.

August 4th:

The Meg 2: The Trench is the follow us to 2018’s The Meg. Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, and Dean Georgaris return as writers, but this time Ben Wheatley is the director. It stars Jason Statham, Cliff Curtis, Sienna Guillory, Skyler Samuels, Shuya Sophia Cai, Kiran Sonia Sawar, and Jing Wu. This is a Warner Bros. release.

Problemista is the newest film from A24. It stars Julio Torres, Tilda Swinton, RZA, Greta Lee, Catalina Saavedra, James Scully, and Isabella Rossellini. Julio Torres is also the director, writer, and producer. This is a comedy film that follows a toy designer from El Salvador whose work visa expires, and they need to find someone to sponsor them to stay in New York City.

Dreamin’ Wild is written and directed by Bill Pohlad, and stars Casey Affleck, Zooey Deschanel, Noah Jupe, Jack Dylan Grazer, Beau Bridges, Walton Goggins, and Chris Messina. It is distributed by Roadside Attractions. It follows the story of Donnie Emerson whose childhood dream was to become a professional musical artist, but success surprisingly happens 30 years later.

Passages stars Ben Wishaw, Franz Rogoski, and Adele Exarchopoulos. It is written by Mauricio Zacharias and written and directed by Ira Sachs. It follows the story of a gay couple that has their lives turned upside down when one of them has an affair with a younger woman. This is going to be released by MUBI.

Shortcomings is Randall Park’s directorial debut, and it was adapted from a graphic novel by Adrian Tomine. The cast includes Justin H. Min, Sherry Cola, Ally Maki, Tavi Gevinson, Debby Ryan, Sonoya Mizuno, Jacob Batalon, and Timothy Simons. It is a Sony Pictures Classics release.

August 11th:

The Last Voyage of Demeter is going to be released by Universal Pictures. The film is directed by Andre Ovredal and written by Zak Olkewicz and Bragi F. Schut. The cast includes Corey Hawkins, Aisling, Franciosi, Liam Cunningham, David Dastmalchian, Jon Jon Briones, Stefan Kapicic, Nikolai Nikolaeff, and Javier Botet.

The Pod Generation premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year. It is written and directed by Sophie Bathes, and it stars Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor. This science fiction film is being released by Vertical Entertainment.

August 18th:

Blue Beetle is a Warner Bros. release, and it is part of the DC Universe. It stars Xolo Maridueña, Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, and George Lopez. It is directed by Angel Manuel Soto and written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer. This is the first live-action superhero movie starring a Latino lead.

Strays stars Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Will Forte, Isla Fisher, Randall Park, Josh Gad, Harvey Guillen, Brett Gelman, Rob Riggle, Jamie Demetriou, and Sofia Vergara. It was written by Dan Perrault and directed by Josh Greenbaum. This film is produced by Universal.

White Bird is the surprising prequel to 2017’s Wonder. That movie follows a fifth grader with facial differences, but White Bird tells his grandmother’s story. The film stars Ariella Glaser, Orlando Schwerdt, Gillian Anderson, Bryce Gheisar, and Helen Mirren. It is directed by Marc Forster and Mark Bomback. This Lionsgate film is in limited release this weekend, but it goes wide August 25th.

August 25th:

Gran Turismo stars David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Archie Madekwe, Darren Barnett, Djimon Hounsou, Geri Halliwell-Horner, Mazx Mundt, and Mariano González. It is directed by Neill Blomkamp and written by Jason Hall and Zavh Baylin. Sony is distributing the film. This was previously planned to be released on August 11th, but due to the actors’ strike Sony pushed it back.

Bottoms is writer and director Emma Seligman’s anticipated follow-up to Shiva Baby. She reunites with Rachel Sennott and adds in Ayo Edebiri, Havana Rose Liu, Kaia Gerber, Dagmara Dominczyk, Marshawn Lynch, and Miles Fowler. Rachel Sennott is also a screenwriter on this film, and Elizabeth Banks is a producer. This is an Orion Pictures release, and it will be in limited release this weekend.

Retribution is the latest Liam Neeson action film that also stars Matthew Modine, Jack Champion, Noma Dumezweni, Lilly Aspell, and Embeth Davidtz. It is written by Christopher Salmanpour, and directed by Nimrod Antal. This is a Roadside Attractions production.

The Hill stars Dennis Quaid, Colin Ford, Joelle Carter, Randy Houser, Jesse Berry, Bonnie Bedelia, and Scott Glenn. It is directed by Jeff Celentano and written by Angelo Pizzo and Scott Marshall Smith. It is a Briarcliff Entertainment film.

Special Re-Release:

Oldboy will be released back in theaters by Neon on August 16th. It was written and directed by Park Chan-wook and also written by Hwan Jo-Yun, and Im Joon-Hyung. It stars Choi Min-Sik, Yoo Ji-Tae, Kang Hye-Jeong, and Kim Byeon-Ok. The film was originally released by Tartan Films on March 25, 2005, though it was released in South Korea in 2003. It is the second of Park Chan-wook’s well-known Vengeance Trilogy.

Streaming films:

Heart of Stone is an action film that will be released on Netflix on August 11th. It is directed by Tom Harper and written by Greg Rucka and Allison Schroeder. It stars Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan, Alia Bhatt, Matthias Schweighöfer, and Sophie Okenedo.

Red, White, and Royal Blue will be released on Amazon on August 11th as well. It was written and directed by Matthew Lopez and written by Ted Malawer. It stars Taylor Zakhar Perez, Thomas Nicholas Galitzine, Uma Thurman, Clifton Collins Jr., Sarah Shahi, and Stephen Fry.

Vacation Friends 2 releases on Hulu on August 25th. It stars John Cena, Lil Rel Howrey, Yvonne Orji, Meredith Hagner, Carlos Santos, Ronny Chieng, Jamie Hector, and Steve Buscemi. It is written and directed by Clay Tarver.