New Movie Releases: August 2015

Summer may be coming to an end, but we still have plenty to look forward to in August, our last big blockbuster month of the year. In addition to major new releases like Fantastic Four and Guy Ritchie’s The Man From U.N.C.L.E., we also have thrillers like Regression and The Gift, along with a handful of indie gems and a movie in which Meryl Streep plays a rock goddess. Read on for our guide to the new movies hitting theaters in August.

August 7

Fantastic Four: Directed by Josh Trank. Starring Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan and Kate Mara. Four young outsiders teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe which alters their physical form in shocking ways. The four must learn to harness their new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy.

The Gift: Directed by Joel Edgerton. Starring Joel Edgerton, Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall. A young married couple’s lives are thrown into a harrowing tailspin when an acquaintance from the husband’s past brings mysterious gifts and a horrifying secret to light after more than 20 years.

Ricki and the Flash: Directed by Jonathan Demme. Starring Meryl Streep, Mamie Gummer and Sebastian Stan. A musician who gave up everything for her dream of rock-and-roll stardom returns home, looking to make things right with her family.

Shaun the Sheep Movie: Directed by Mark Burton and Richard Starzak. Starring Justin Fletcher, John Sparks and Omid Djalili. When Shaun decides to take the day off and have some fun, he gets a little more action than he bargained for. A mix up with the Farmer, a caravan and a very steep hill lead them all to the Big City and it’s up to Shaun and the flock to return everyone safely to the green grass of home.

Cop Car (Limited): Directed by Jon Watts. Starring Kevin Bacon, Shea Whigham and Camryn Manheim. A small town sheriff sets out to find the two kids who have taken his car on a joy ride.

Dark Places (Limited): Directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner. Starring Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult and Corey Stoll. Libby Day was only seven years old when her family was brutally murdered in their rural Kansas farmhouse. Twenty-five years later, she agrees to revisit the crime and uncovers the wrenching truths that led up to that tragic night.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Limited): Directed by Marielle Heller. Starring Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgard and Kristen Wiig. A teen artist living in 1970s San Francisco enters into an affair with her mother’s boyfriend.

The Runner (Limited): Directed by Austin Stark. Starring Nicholas Cage, Connie Nielsen and Sarah Paulson. In the aftermath of the 2010 BP oil spill, an idealistic but flawed politician is forced to confront his dysfunctional life after his career is destroyed in a sex scandal.

August 14

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: Directed by Guy Ritchie. Starring Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer and Alicia Vikander. In the early 1960s, CIA agent Napoleon Solo and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin participate in a joint mission against a mysterious criminal organization, which is working to proliferate nuclear weapons.

Return to Sender: Directed by Fouad Mikati. Starring Rosamund Pike, Shiloh Fernandez and Nick Nolte. A nurse living in small town goes on a blind date with a man who is not the person he says he is.

Straight Outta Compton: Directed by F. Gary Gray. Starring O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchell. The group NWA emerges from the streets of Compton, California in the mid-1980s and revolutionizes pop culture with their music and tales about life in the hood.

Underdog Kids: Directed by Phillip Rhee. Starring Phillip Rhee, Beau Bridges and Mirelly Taylor. Inner city kids from a poor neighborhood go up against the undefeated Beverly Hills Junior National Karate Team.

Exeter (Limited): Directed by Marcus Nispel. Starring Stephen Lang, Brittany Curran and Gage Golightly. A group of teenagers accidentally release an evil spirit that starts to possess them one by one.

Mistress America (Limited): Directed by Noah Baumbach. Starring Greta Gerwig, Charlie Gillette and Lola Kirke. A lonely college freshman’s life is turned upside down by her impetuous, adventurous soon-to-be stepsister.

People Places Things (Limited): Directed by James C. Strouse. Starring Jemaine Clement, Regina King and Jessica Williams. Will Henry is a newly single graphic novelist balancing parenting his young twin daughters and a classroom full of students while exploring and navigating the rich complexities of new love and letting go of the woman who left him.

Ten Thousand Saints (Limited): Directed by Shari Spring Bergman and Robert Pulcini. Starring Ethan Hawke, Hailee Steinfeld and Asa Butterfield. Set in the 1980s, a teenager from Vermont moves to New York City to live with his father in East Village.

Tom at the Farm (Limited): Directed by Xavier Dolan. Starring Xavier Dolan, Pierre-Yves Cardinal and Lise Roy. A grieving man meets his lover’s family, who were not aware of their son’s sexual orientation.

August 21

American Ultra: Directed by Nima Nourizadeh. Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart and Bill Pullman. A stoner — who is in fact a government agent — is marked as a liability and targeted for extermination. But he’s too well-trained and too high for them to handle.

Hitman: Agent 47: Directed by Aleksander Bach. Starring Rupert Friend, Zachary Quinto and Ciaran Hinds. An assassin teams up with a woman to help her find her father and uncover the mysteries of her ancestry.

Sinister 2: Directed by Ciaran Foy. Starring Shannyn Sossamon, James Ransone and Nicholas King. A young mother and her twin sons move into a rural house that’s marked for death.

Before We Go (Limited): Directed by Chris Evans. Starring Chris Evans, Alice Eve and Maria Breyman. A young woman in New York City races to catch the 1:30 Train to Boston. On the way she is robbed.

Grandma (Limited): Directed by Paul Weitz. Starring Lily Tomlin, Julia Garner and Marcia Gay Harden. Self-described misanthrope Elle Reid has her protective bubble burst when her 18-year-old granddaughter, Sage, shows up needing help. The two of them go on a day-long journey that causes Elle to come to terms with her past and Sage to confront her future.

Learning to Drive (Limited): Directed by Isabel Coixet. Starring Grace Gummer, Ben Kingsley and Jake Weber. As her marriage dissolves, a Manhattan writer takes driving lessons from a Sikh instructor with marriage troubles of his own. In each other’s company they find the courage to get back on the road and the strength to take the wheel.

She’s Funny That Way (Limited): Directed by Peter Bogdanovich. Starring Owen Wilson, Imogen Poots and Jennifer Aniston. A screwball comedy featuring the interconnected personal lives of the cast and crew of a Broadway production.

August 28

Max Steel: Directed by Stewart Hendler. Starring Ben Winchell, Maria Bello and Josh Brener. The adventures of teenager Max McGrath and alien companion Steel, who must harness and combine their tremendous new powers to evolve into the turbo-charged superhero Max Steel.

Regression: Directed by Alejandro Amenabar. Starring Ethan Hawke, Emma Watson and Aaron Ashmore. A father is accused of a crime he has no memory of committing.

We Are Your Friends: Directed by Max Joseph. Starring Zac Efron, Emily Ratajkowski and Jon Bernthal. An aspiring DJ looks to make it in the electronic music scene.

Z for Zachariah (Limited): Directed by Craig Zobel. Starring Margot Robbie, Chris Pine and Chiwetel Ejiofor. In the wake of a disaster that wipes out most of civilization, two men and a young woman find themselves in an emotionally charged love triangle as the last known survivors.