“Union County”
Will Poulter and Noah Centineo play Cody and Jack Parsons, two brothers navigating a court-mandated drug-rehabilitation program in a rural Ohio community devastated by the opioid epidemic. Writer-director Adam Meeks filmed in the region and cast real drug-court participants and staff alongside the professional actors, giving the drama a hybrid quality that aims for something more grounded than the usual prestige addiction narrative. The project also gives Centineo a chance to continue moving beyond his earlier romantic-lead persona, while Poulter has quietly become one of the most dependable and emotionally precise actors of his generation.
Release Date: In theaters August 14 via Oscilloscope Laboratories.
“Coyote Vs. ACME”
After decades of malfunctioning rockets, defective explosives, collapsing contraptions, and catastrophic mail-order purchases, Wile E. Coyote finally retains a lawyer and sues the ACME Corporation. Will Forte plays his down-on-his-luck attorney, while John Cena portrays the formidable corporate lawyer attempting to keep ACME from being held accountable. Directed by Dave Green, the live-action and animation hybrid nearly disappeared after Warner Bros. Discovery designated it a tax write-off. Its eventual rescue transformed the movie into an accidental symbol of the disposable-content era, but the premise remains appealing on its own: Looney Tunes physics entering a courtroom where somebody must finally explain how this company continues selling dynamite to coyotes.
Release Date: In theaters August 28 via Ketchup Entertainment.
“The Dog Stars”
Ridley Scott returns to science fiction with an adaptation of Peter Heller’s post-apocalyptic novel. Jacob Elordi plays Hig, a survivor of a pandemic that has destroyed most of civilization. Living in an abandoned airport hangar with a heavily armed companion played by Josh Brolin, Hig patrols the surrounding territory in a Cessna and mourns the wife and world he lost. When a faint radio transmission suggests that another community may exist beyond their isolated perimeter, Hig risks leaving their fragile refuge behind. Margaret Qualley and Guy Pearce co-star in a story that appears to offer Scott a quieter, more melancholy variation on his enduring fascination with survival, ruined civilizations, and men struggling against hostile environments.
Release Date: In theaters August 28 via 20th Century Studios.
“Idiots”
Dave Franco and O’Shea Jackson Jr. play two spectacularly unqualified screwups hired to transport a wealthy, troubled teenager to a rehabilitation center. Predictably, the supposedly straightforward assignment turns into a disastrous road trip involving crime, violence, and a collection of people making consistently terrible decisions. Written and directed by Macon Blair, “Idiots” premiered at Sundance under the considerably less marketable title “The Shitheads.” Mason Thames, Kiernan Shipka, Nicholas Braun, Peter Dinklage, and Killer Mike co-star in a dark comedy that seems well suited to Blair’s fondness for characters who stumble into dangerous situations without the intelligence, experience, or emotional stability required to escape them.
Release Date: In theaters August 28 via Independent Film Company.
Honorable Mentions: August also brings the return of Elise Rainier in “Insidious: Out Of The Further” and another reliably bruising Jason Statham vehicle with “Mutiny,” both on August 21. Smaller theatrical options include Eli Roth’s “Ice Cream Man” and the Broken Lizard sequel “Super Troopers 3” on August 7, the ensemble comedy “Spa Weekend” on August 21, and the Sundance titles “Filipiñana” and “Colony” on August 28.
