Summer Movies We Can’t Wait to See

Paper Towns, by John Green
This John Green adaptation offers up 100% fewer tears and 100% more road trips than 2014’s The Fault in Our Stars. In his second outing as a Green character, Nat Wolff (Fault’s Isaac) strikes out in search of his AWOL dream girl, Margo (Cara Delevingne).
Release date: Out now

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, by Jesse Andrews
Andrews’ darkly hilarious 2012 debut, about a high school hack filmmaker, his best friend, and the dying girl who torpedoes his life, hit the big screen with a script penned by the author. The movie stays true to the book’s geeky rebel spirit, and introduces Hollywood newcomers Thomas Mann, Olivia Cooke, and RJ Cyler in the titular roles.
Release date: Out now

Jurassic World (based on Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton)
True, the fourth installment of the dinosaurs-run-amok film series has moved rather far beyond what’s on the page in Crichton’s original hard-science-meets-popcorn-fun bestseller, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a great time to read (or reread) the book that started it all. Thundering dinos, thrilling escapes, terrifying chases, the hubris of man—what more can you ask for from a summer read?
Release date: Out now

Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn
In this adaptation of Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn’s second novel, Charlize Theron plays the adult survivor of a horrific childhood trauma: the murder of her family, apparently by a Satanic cult. Twenty-five years after the crime, she begins to reinvestigate what really happened, with the help of a group of amateurs. This movie is set to be just as twisted and even more violent than the last Gillian Flynn adaptation.
Release date: August 7

Z for Zachariah, by Robert C. O’Brien
This post-apocalyptic survival story, about a teenage girl who seems to be the only survivor of a nuclear holocaust, turns 40 this year, but is still as chilling as the day it was written. If you read it in middle school, you’re probably still haunted by scenes of the girl desperately scanning radio waves for signs of other survivors. The protagonist has been aged up for the film (and an additional character has been added, because why wouldn’t you want to cast Chris Pine in a starring role?), but we’re still confident that it will stay true to the thrilling spirit of the book.
Release date: August 21