Welcome to Heat Vision Download, a monthly column from The Hollywood Reporter looking at upcoming movies, TV shows, books and games in the genre space.
From Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff confronting her complicated history in Black Widow to the Fear Street trilogy arriving on Netflix, July is bringing plenty of action and thrills for the summer. For sci-fi fans, The Tomorrow War arrives on Amazon just in time for the holiday weekend. Chris Pratt stars in the sci-fi thriller where time travelers warn of an alien invasion three decades in the future.
Check out more of Heat Vision’s recommendations for what you can stream, play and read this July below.
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WHAT TO WATCH
Fear Street trilogy (July – Netflix)
The Fear Street trilogy arrives on Netflix this July, based on the book series of the same name by R. L. Stine. Fear Street: 1994 hits the streamer on July 2, and follows teens of Shadyside, Ohio who learn that terrifying events in their town may be connected to each other. Fear Street: 1978 arrives on July 9 and takes place at Camp Nightwing, where campers and counselors from Sunnyvale and Shadyside must solve a terrifying mystery before it’s too late. The trilogy comes to an end on July 16 with Fear Street: 1666, where a colony is gripped by a hysterical witch-hunt that has deadly consequences for centuries to come. As for teens in the 1994 and 1978 timeline, they must try to finally put an end to the town’s curse, before it is too late.
The Tomorrow War (July 2 – Amazon)
Time travelers arrive from 2051 to deliver an urgent message: 30 years in the future mankind is losing a war against an alien species. The only hope for survival is for soldiers and civilians to be transported to the future to join the fight. Chris Pratt stars in the sci-fi invasion thriller as Dan Forester, a military vet who teams up with a genius scientist (Yvonne Strahovski) and his estranged father (J.K. Simmons). Chris McKay directs.
Black Widow (July 9)
Natasha Romanoff is going back to “where it all started” in the Cate Shortland-directed superhero pic. The film is set after the events of Captain America: Civil War, where Romanoff must confront her history in order to face imminent threats. Scarlett Johansson returns as Romanoff, joined by Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross, and David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov and the Red Guardian.
Forever Purge (July 9)
Everardo Gout directs the fifth and (apparently) final film in the Purge franchise, which serves as a sequel to 2016’s The Purge: Election Year. Set a year after the abolition of the Purge, a Mexican couple escaping from a drug cartel are stranded on a Texas ranch where they find themselves at the mercy of a group of outsiders who plan to unlawfully continue their own Purge. The film stars Ana de la Reguera, Tenoch Huerta, Josh Lucas, Cassidy Freeman, Leven Rambin, Alejandro Edda and Will Patton.
Space Jam: A New Legacy (July 16)
Plenty of nostalgia and cartoon chaos arrives 25 years after the first film, with the Warner Bros. sequel featuring an NBA superstar (LeBron James) trying to help save the toon universe and rescue his son. The film will also feature Zendaya as the voice of Lola Bunny, along with Sonequa Martin-Green and Don Cheadle plus a slew of NBA and WNBA players.
The Green Knight (July 30)
Based on the Arthurian legend, the fantasy adventure tells the story of Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), King Arthur’s reckless nephew, as he embarks on a daring quest to confront a gigantic tree-like creature called the Green Knight. Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury, Sean Harris, Kate Dickie, Barry Keoghan and Ralph Ineson also star in the movie, written and directed by David Lowery.
Jungle Cruise (July 30)
Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt co-star in the fantasy adventure based on Walt Disney’s theme park attraction of the same name. Set during the early 20th century, a riverboat captain named Frank (Johnson) takes a British scientist (Blunt) and her brother (Jack Whitehall) on a mission into a jungle to find the Tree of Life, which is believed to possess healing powers that could be of great benefit to modern medicine.
WHAT TO PLAY
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings Of Ruin (July 9 – Nintendo Switch, PC)
In the spinoff title in the Monster Hunter series and sequel to Monster Hunter Stories, players go on an epic adventure as a Rider who can form bonds with friendly monsters known as Monsties that fight alongside them.
Last Stop (July 22 on – PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X, PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch)
Developer Variable State is known for its BAFTA-nominated silent story game Virginia, and now their new game Last Stop is heading to consoles. The game is a narrative-driven, third-person anthology-style game following three characters in London whose worlds collide with supernatural forces, prompting them to investigate a mystery.
WHAT TO READ
Batman Secret Files: The Signal (July 7 – DC)
The monthly series debuts in July, featuring one-shots starring Bat-Family heroes. Batman Secret Files: The Signal kicks off the series with a story written by Tony Patrick (Batman and The Signal) and art by Christian Duce (The Flash, Detective Comics, Justice League vs. Suicide Squad). Then, on July 27, Detective Comics and Eisner-Award winning writer Mariko Tamaki teams up with acclaimed Stray Bullets writer/artist David Lapham for Batman Secret Files: Huntress.
Skybound X (July 7 – Image)
The weekly series celebrates 10 years of Skybound, launching with a new chapter of a serialized The Walking Dead story titled Rick Grimes 2000. All-new series and characters will debut every issue, starting with the first appearance of the most requested Walking Dead character of all-time: Clementine, star of the bestselling Telltale’s The Walking Dead video game series.
Extreme Carnage! series (July – Marvel)
A new symbiotic showdown spinning out of King in Black is coming this July. Kicking off in July with Extreme Carnage Alpha No. 1, the event will take place over a series of one-shots, each one spotlighting a different symbiote offspring beginning with Scream. Extreme Carnage: Scream No. 1 will see the return of writer Clay McLeod Chapman and artist Chris Mooneyham, the hit creative team behind Scream: Curse of Carnage. Their reinvention of one of Marvel’s most iconic — and lethal — symbiotes continues as Scream must find a way to put an end to the twisted vision that Carnage has in store for their kind.
