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Bill Wine's Summer Movie Preview

By Bill Wine
KYW Newsradio

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Regardless of what our calendars and meteorologists say, Captain America: Civil War is beckoning moviegoers from multiplex marquees.

That means that the 2016 summer movie season is upon us.

CA:CW is just the first in a parade of high-energy, high-profile, wide releases competing for your entertainment dollar between now and September.

Each gets four stars based on the advertising and marketing. Then they actually open and we give them real ratings.

So here are the other couple-dozen-plus cinematic attractions headed our way over the next four months.

Some are sequels, some are remakes, and some are even – be still, our hearts -- original concepts.

But look for their release and our reviews of them in this approximate order, keeping in mind that the announced schedule is, as always, subject to change.

MAY

Money Monster -- George Clooney and Julia Roberts co-star as, respectively, a financial television host and his producer in a thriller directed by Jodie Foster about an angry investor who takes over the studio at gunpoint.

The Angry Birds Movie – Piggies take over an island of flightless birds in an animated comedy based on a video game series with a voice cast that includes Jason Sudeikis, Peter Dinklage, Sean Penn, Josh Gad, Kate McKinnon, and Bill Hader.

The Nice Guys – Russell Crowe stars opposite Ryan Gosling in an action comedy set in Los Angeles in the 1970s about a private eye and an enforcer who must team up to find a missing person and investigate a conspiracy.

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising – Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, and Zac Efron return in the sequel to Neighbors, welcoming Chloe Grace Moretz and Selena Gomez to the cast of a comedy about a troublesome group next door that this time is comprised of women rather than men.

X-Men: Apocalypse – In this sequel to 2014's Marvel Comics fantasy, X-Men: Days of Future Past, involving the very first mutant, the cast includes Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence.

Alice Through the Looking Glass – The sequel to 2010's Alice in Wonderland, the fantasy adventure based on Lewis Carroll's classic, stars Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, and the late Alan Rickman.

JUNE

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows – Yep, the boys are back on the big screen in a reboot of the sci-fi action comedy kidflick series, trying, with the help of Megan Fox as a TV reporter, to save the city from another dangerous threat.

Now You See Me 2 – Daniel Radcliffe joins Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine in a sequel to the high-tech caper thriller in which the magic troupe, the Four Horsemen, attempts another seemingly impossible heist.

Finding Dory – The sequel to the comedic animated adventure, Finding Nemo, focuses on the forgetful blue tang fish voiced by Ellen DeGeneres as she attempts to reunite with her family.

Central Intelligence – Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart are the headliners, the former as a CIA agent, the latter as a mild-mannered accountant, who get involved in international espionage in a comedy triggered by a fateful high school reunion.

Free State of Jones – Matthew McConaughey stars in this biographical drama as a poor Mississippi farmer who leads a group of rebels in an armed rebellion against the Confederate army during the Civil War.

Independence Day: Resurgence – Liam Hemsworth, in for Will Smith, joins returnees Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, and Judd Hirsch in director Roland Emmerich's sequel to his 1996 science fiction thriller about another alien threat, Independence Day.

JULY

The Legend of Tarzan – Alexander Skarsgard is the title character and Margot Robbie is Jane in this latest Tarzan flick, which finds him called back to the African jungle from his domestic life in London to serve as a trade emissary.

The BFG -- Steven Spielberg directs an adaptation of a Roald Dahl kids' novel about a girl named Sophie and a "Big Friendly Giant," played by Bridge of Spies' Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner Mark Rylance, as they embark on an adventure involving decidedly unfriendly giants.

The Secret Life of Pets – An animated comedy set in a Manhattan apartment building involving an army of abandoned pets seeking revenge, with a voice cast that includes Kevin Hart, Louis C.K., Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Albert Brooks, and Steve Coogan.

Ghostbusters – A gender-bent reboot of the hit 1984 supernatural comedy, starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, and Chris Hemsworth (as their receptionist) as the folks you're gonna call if there's something strange (pause, pause) in your neighborhood.

The Infiltrator – Oscar winner Bryan Cranston (as Best Actor for last year's Trumbo) stars as a U.S. Customs official in the 1980s who uncovers a money-laudering scheme involving Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar in a true-story crime drama.

Star Trek Beyond -- Idris Elba plays the villain in the 13th science-fiction entry in the Star Trek movie franchise, with Chris Pine as Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock, and the Enterprise crew stranded on a new planet.

Ice Age: Collision Course -- The fifth installment in the animated franchise finds prehistoric creatures Manny, Sid, and Diego trying to save themselves from peril, with their voices provided again by Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, and Denis Leary.

Café Society -- Writer-director Woody Allen's latest romantic comedy is set in Hollywood in the 1930s, when a young man seeks employment and love. Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carell, and Blake Lively star.

Bad Moms – Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Christina Applegate play overworked, stressed-out mothers, wanting and needing to blow off steam, who indulge their desire to be free of responsibility by radically changing their lives in this dark maternal comedy.

Jason Bourne – Matt Damon, returning to the action-thriller franchise as the titular secret agent for a fourth time in five outings, now remembers who he truly is as the ex-amnesiac tries to uncover hidden truths about his past.

AUGUST

The Founder – Oscar nominee Michael Keaton (as Best Actor for 2014's Birdman) portrays McDonald's maven Ray Kroc in a biodrama about the way the Illinois salesman maneuvered his way into taking over the growing fast-food empire.

Suicide Squad – Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, and Ben Affleck (as Bruce Wayne/Batman) lead the cast in an action-adventure fantasy based on a DC comic book about a secret government agency that recruits incarcerated super-villains to execute dangerous missions.

Pete's Dragon – A live-action, non-musical remake of the 1977 animated-and-live action musical fantasy about an orphan and his best friend, a dragon named Elliott, starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Robert Redford.

Sausage Party – An animated comedy for grownups about a sausage's attempt to discover the truth about existence features voiceover work by Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, James Franco, Kristen Wiig, Salma Hayek, Jonah Hill, Edward Norton, Bill Hader, Michael Cera, and Danny McBride.

Florence Foster Jenkins – Meryl Streep stars in the title role of this based-on-truth dramedy as a New York socialite who has no idea how dreadful an opera singer she is despite her burning desire to be one. Hugh Grant plays her enabling husband.

War Dogs – Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, and Bradley Cooper co-star in a real-life black comedy about two young men who win a $300-million contract with the Pentagon to arm America's allies in Afghanistan.

Ben-Hur – A remake of the epic 1959 historical drama, the winner of eleven Oscars including Best Picture and Best Actor Charlton Heston, tells the story of a Jewish prince who is betrayed and sold into slavery at the beginning of the first century.

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