Family-Friendly Summer Movie Guide

While you can go to the movies any time of the year, there is just something special about walking into a cool and comfortable theater on a hot summer day and watching the summer’s biggest blockbusters and next to Christmas, you’ll find the most family-friendly fare. Here’s what’s playing this summer.

Cheap Movies All Summer

Numerous movie theater chains have gotten smart by offering deep discounts during the summer months to bring in the youngest fans and their parents running out of ideas on how to keep their kids occupied. This year’s offerings include a variety of family-friendly fun including Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, Paddington, Despicable Me, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, various Lego movies, How to Train Your Dragon, Smallfoot, The Secret Life of Pets, Captain Underpants, Sing, The Penguins of Madagascar, Boss Baby, Kung Fu Panda, Trolls, Minions, Sherlock Gnomes, The Sponge Bob Movie, Hotel Transylvania and more.

While you should your local theaters for this year’s offerings, here are three of the best theater chains offering a fantastic summer series:

Regal Summer Movie Express
Regal is offering two choices of movies each week during the summer with tickets just a $1 each. https://www.regmovies.com/static/en/us/promotions/summer-movie-express

Cinemark Summer Movie Clubhouse
Cinemark is offering ten weeks of summer fun with $1 dollar movies or you can see all ten for just $5. https://cinemark.com/summer-movie-clubhouse

AMC Summer Movie Camp
At first, AMC appears to be the most expensive of the bunch offering tickets for $4 each, but this sweet deal also includes a KidsPack with a kid-sized popcorn, kid-sized fountain drink and a pack of AMC Frooti Tootis. Yes please! https://amctheatres.com/summer-movie-camp

Bonus
Drive-In Movie Theaters – Did you know that there are still over 300 drive-in movie theaters in operation across the U.S.? Providing affordable tickets (you usually only pay per car not per person) and a variety of meals/snacks, drive-in movie will provide a uniquely fun and special experience for the entire family.

JUNE

The Secret Life of Pets 2

Date: In theaters right now!
About: The sequel to Illumination’s The Secret Life of Pets has gotten fairly good reviews and if you saw this first one. Pet owners will relate to some of the odd and/or disgusting things these animals do in the movie that would otherwise not be acceptable for a kids’ movie. The first movie dealt with the value of friendship while this one the pooches are challenged to face their fears while also exploring the emotional lives of the pets and the deep bonds they form with our families. This movie features the voice talents of Patton Oswalt, Eric Stonestreet, Ellie Kemper, Jenny Slate, Lake Bell, Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish.
Rating: PG (Some action and rude humor)
Learn More: https://www.universalpictures.com/movies/the-secret-life-of-pets-2

MIB: International

Date: In theaters right now!
About: A follow up to the Men In Black series that featured Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, MIB: International does not feature the duo (not even a cameo) but instead goes international with three new leads in the form of Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson and Liam Neeson. Here the trio will not only protect the earth but also tackle the mole operating within the Men in Black organization. While the film hasn’t gotten great reviews in general, I found it to be a fun romp and fairly family-friendly as swearing and violence is kept to a minimum. Nothing really scary here either.
Rating: PG-13 (for sci-fi action, some language and suggestive material)
Learn More: https://www.meninblack.com

Toy Story 4

Date: June 21, 2019
About: Can you believe it? A new honest-to-goodness G-rated movie? Yep! The fourth (and presumably final) chapter in the Toy Story universe explores another great adventure featuring all of the toys you know and love (including a triumphant return of Bo Peep) plus a LOT of new characters. In fact, the film is so overstuffed with new characters that many of the old favorites like Mr. Potatohead and Rex the dinosaur are reduced to just a few one-liners. The message of the film about how change can be good will actually speak more to parents than to kids.
Rating: G
Learn More: https://movies.disney.com/toy-story-4

JULY

Spider-Man: Far From Home

Date: July 2, 2019
About: This new movie takes place immediately following the events that happened in Avengers: Endgame, so if you haven’t seen that flick yet, you might want to before seeing this. Here, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is sort of burned out being a superhero and just wants to live life as a normal teenager but that won’t do as Nick Fury tracks him down and lets him know in no certain terms that he must step up to take on new threats to the world. Jake Gyllenhaal also stars as Mysterio. Is he a good guy? A bad guy? We don’t know.
Rating: PG-13 (for sci-fi action, violence, some language and brief suggestive comments)
Learn More: https://www.spidermanfarfromhome.movie

The Lion King

Date: July 19, 2019
About: Directed by Jon Favreau who did an amazing job of bringing The Jungle Book to life, Disney’s The Lion King is sort of a life action film where everything is computer-generated! The story tells the circle of life with the birth of Simba the lion cub and his journey to become the lion king and save his African savanna from the likes of his evil uncle, Scar. The film is expected to be faithful adaptation of the original animated film and features the voices of Donald Glover, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, James Earl Jones, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner. If your kids can handle the animated tale, they should be able to handle this one as well.
Rating: Rated PG (for sequences of violence and peril, and some thematic elements)
Learn More: https://movies.disney.com/the-lion-king

AUGUST

Dora and the Lost City of Gold

Date: August 2, 2019
About: Nickelodeon is trying out a unique experiment with this one. Based on the preschool TV series, Dora the Explorer, this Dora is now a teenager leading her friends on an adventure to save her parents and solve the mystery behind a lost city of gold in this live action film. It is hard to know if the film will make light jokes about the original show or if it is intended to be a full-on mockery and/or spoof.
Rating: Not yet rated
Learn More: https://www.paramount.com/movies/dora-and-lost-city-gold

Blinded by the Light

Date: August 14, 2019
About: I’m taking a risk on recommending this film from writer/director/producer Gurinder Chadha who is known for the international film Bend It Like Beckham, but the trailer looks promising for families with older kids to appreciate. Based on a true story, Warner Bros. describes the film as a “a joyful story of courage, love, hope, family and the unique ability of music to lift the human spirit” telling the story of a British teen of Pakistani descent growing up in the town of Luton, England, in 1987. Amidst the racial and economic turmoil of the times, he writes poetry as a means to escape the intolerance of his hometown and the inflexibility of his traditional father and begins to find the courage to express himself in his own unique voice.
Rating: PG-13 (for thematic material and language including some ethnic slurs)
Learn More: http://www.blindedbythelight-movie.net

Angry Birds 2

Date: August 14, 2019
About: Angry Birds 2 just might be the biggest sequel that nobody was asking for and given that it is being released during the dog days of summer doesn’t exactly instill confidence. The new movie is said to put the Bird and Pig Islands in danger and force the two to work together to save their homes from a new enemy. The flick features the voices of Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Peter Dinklage, Rachel Bloom, Bill Hader, Awkwafina and Sterling K. Brown so that’s a plus.
Rating: PG (for some rude humor)
Learn More: https://sites.sonypictures.com/angrybirds/site/en