What are the biggest movies releasing in June 2023? In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales is catapulted across the multiverse and ensnared in an interdimensional web of a legion of Spider-People, to solve a major conspiracy. The ambitious sequel ramps up on the original Oscar-winning film by featuring six major art styles, depending on what worlds our heroes hop into. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse releases a day early in India — June 1. Shortly after that, on June 9, a group of extraterrestrial alien robots, adept at morphing into beast-like beings invade Earth, causing the Autobots to form some unlikely alliances and fight back. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is out June 9 in theatres worldwide.
Coming to local fare, we’ve got Bloody Daddy, an Indian adaptation of the 2011 French film Nuit Blanche, putting Shahid Kapoor on a desperate quest against a heinous drug lord. Frequent Salman Khan collaborator Ali Abbas Zafar directs the film, so fans can expect some mesmerising action sequences. It will be available for streaming June 9 on JioCinema, for free. Follow that up with a mythological drama charting the epic tale of Ramayana on the big screen — marking one of the most expensive Indian films made, with a reported budget of Rs. 700 crore. Adipurush is simultaneously shot in Hindi and Telugu, and is slated to release June 16 in cinemas.
Other notable releases this month include the long-gestating Ezra Miller-led The Flash movie, which draws from the Flashpoint story arc to serve as a reset point for the perenially-struggling DC Universe. It would directly pave the way for DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn’s long-term plans for the franchise, which connects storylines across films, TV, gaming, and animation. For your convenience, we have curated the biggest June 2023 releases coming to theatres, JioCinema, and Netflix, which you can check out below. Also, feel free to browse our Entertainment hub to keep track of any other releases that might interest you.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
When: June 1
Where: Theatres
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) has one thing on his mind — to establish himself as Brooklyn’s friendly neighbourhood superhero whom everyone can rely on without hesitation, all the while juggling his school responsibilities and teenage life. A fresh new opportunity comes knocking from an other dimension when Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) invites him over for a multiversal mission that threatens its very existence, with the responsibility being placed on the shoulders of an elite crew of Spider-People. Miles is promised an induction into the group if he were to accept leader Miguel O’Hara/ Spider-Man 2099’s (Oscar Isaac) plan, which puts the end result — no matter how disastrous — above the means to get there.
When a choice is presented to prioritise the safety of every world over one person, Miles rejects it, spawning a war in which he leaps across dimensions, trying to escape from a multiversal band of Spider-Men, which also includes a Spider-Horse and a sharp-clawed Spider-Cat. The Spot (Jason Schwartzman) appears to be the enigmatic driving force behind the multiverse’s doom, thanks to his portal-opening abilities that let him travel freely between universes. It’s unclear as to exactly what threat he poses, but he does come across as clumsy — almost as if all his deeds are accidental.
Serving as the sequel to the Oscar-winning Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse, the film has large shoes to fill here — promising distinct art styles for each major universe, and an ensemble voice cast that would help propel it to greater heights. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse also stars the voices of Karan Soni as Pavitr Prabhakar/ Spider-Man India, Daniel Kaluuya as Spider-Punk, Issa Rae as Jessica Drew/ Spider-Woman, and Jake Johnson returning as the original Spider-Man/ Peter Parker.
Watch the Trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Out June 1
Jason Schwartzman voices The Spot, the new antagonist in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Photo Credit: Sony Pictures
Bloody Daddy
When: June 9
Where: JioCinema
Bloody Daddy was a surprise drop during Jio Studios’ content slate reveal in April, with its debut on a streaming platform. In it, an NCB officer (Shahid Kapoor) gets off on the wrong foot with a drug lord (Ronit Roy) during a narcotics bust, leading to the former’s child being held hostage. To save him, our protagonist must now retrieve and hand over a bag of cocaine, which he does so by infiltrating his workplace, the NCB headquarters, where he soon uncovers several moles within his department. Of course, some righteous colleagues grow suspicious of his actions, leading to an all-out war between cops and criminals, with Kapoor unleashing his inner John Wick.
Armed with guns and a blazing flamethrower, our nameless officer hunts down goons in large numbers, while the film tries to display a level of morality within him, despite the irony of it. This is signified by the part where he hands over a bag of wheat flour to the crooks, instead of the actual drug. Expect tons of action by way of Ali Abbas Zafar’s prior experience working on Salman Khan films, alongside some offbeat comedic segments. Bloody Daddy also stars Diana Penty (Cocktail) as an accomplice to our hero, and Sanjay Kapoor (The Zoya Factor) as the kingpin’s right-hand man.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
When: June 9
Where: Theatres
Transformers’ next globe-trotting adventure is set in the 1990s and finally introduces the metallic mayhem from the Beast Wars storyline — Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons — to the live-action universe. Unlike the familiar Autobots and Decepticons, these Cybertronians can transform into animal and bird-like forms, granting a range of new vicious moves foreign to our heroes in the franchise. It all starts with Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman), a mechanical gorilla, teaming up with his ancestor Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) to defend planet Earth against Unicron, a colossal machine that literally devours planets.
Some time travel shenanigans seem to form the crux of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, with the Predacons and Terrorcons working independently — causing havoc on the streets and hunting the Autobots. As usual, some human allies are involved, starting with Anthony Ramos as Noah, who partners with the hologram-creating Mirage, and Dominique Fishback as Elena, who teams up with the iconic female Autobot, Arcee. Mirage is voiced by Pete Davidson, while social media influencer Liza Koshy voices the pink-hued Arcee, who is adept at skating around town.
Meanwhile, Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh lends her voice to Airozor, the Maximal who can shapeshift into a soaring pelican, in what serves as a minor reboot of the Transformers film franchise. Steven Caple Jr. — best known for Creed II — directs Rise of the Beasts, which was originally slated to release in June 2022. Oddly enough, no reason was given for the pushback.
Watch the Trailer for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Out June 9
Mirage (L) partners with Noah (Anthony Ramos) in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures
The Flash
When: June 16
Where: Theatres
The Flash is another film on this list touting a multiversal war, leading to the collision of two largely distinct worlds in the DC Universe. After learning the art of Speed Force in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) decides to travel back in time to save his mother from death and be reunited with her. Unfortunately, this brings unintentional consequences to the timeline, with General Zod (Michael Shannon) entering the scene with plans to destroy the planet with no Superman present to save the world. Help arrives in the form of Michael Keaton’s Batman, who comes out of retirement to lead one final battle for mankind’s survival. It’s really bizarre to see him in this film, given how overtly goofy but grounded in reality the Tim Burton films were.
Allen accidentally stumbled into a world without metahumans, so resources for battle are scarce — or so we’re led to believe. Instead of Superman, we’ve got his cousin Kara Zor-El/ Supergirl (Sasha Calle), who’d be the prime counter-attack to Zod’s ambush. Of course, there’s the alternate timeline’s Barry Allen as well, who gains his speedster powers through human intervention and puts on a makeshift Batman suit, spray-painted red with The Flash’s lightning logo. I could see this film being polarising for those directly or indirectly affected by lead Miller’s run-ins with the law in the past year. It might be even worse if you consider that you have to see two of them in The Flash.
Thankfully, this movie is meant as a reset point for the upcoming chapter in James Gunn’s DC Universe, so this very well might be the last time you see Miller in this role. Ben Affleck also makes one of his final appearances as Bruce Wayne/ Batman, alongside Kiersey Clemons as Allen’s love interest Iris West.
Watch the Trailer for The Flash, Out June 16
Ezra Miller in and as The Flash
Photo Credit: Warner Bros.
Elemental
When: June 16
Where: Theatres
In the bustling Element City where fire, water, land, and earth residents live in harmony, Pixar’s latest laser focuses on the blossoming relationship between a fiery young woman Ember, and a cool liquid, go-with-the-flow guy, Wade. All elements are represented as uneasy neighbours who cannot mix — a kind of racial allegory that is expressed through anthropomorphic, quirky characters. That inability to make physical contact with each other forms the crux of Elemental, as we’re taken through a wondrous tour of how fire and water could come together — they cancel each other out.
Keeping in tune with pretty much every other Disney animated movie, there’s also the underlying theme of finding one’s purpose. In this case, Ember not wanting to run her family’s restaurant while trying to convince her — no pun intended — hot-headed father, who is willing to boil anyone alive, otherwise. The pair thrive through judgemental comments from onlookers and try living up to familial expectations, challenging the traditional beliefs about the world they live in.
Peter Sohn — best known for The Good Dinosaur — directs Elemental, which stars the voices of Mamoudou Athie as Wade, Leah Lewis as Ember, and Ronnie Del Carmen as her father Bernie.
When: June 16
Where: Netflix
Black ops mercenary Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) is back from the brink of death, having barely survived the grievous wounds during his mission in Bangladesh. His mission in Extraction 2 is to rescue the battered family of a ruthless Georgian gangster from the prison where they’re being held. Allied with returning characters Nik Khan (Golshifteh Farahani) and Yaz Khan (Adam Bessa), Rake now heads to the snowy tundras of Prague — eliminating militia, holding onto a running train, setting elaborate traps, and pummeling oncoming foes with a riot shield, in what appears as the film’s main one-take sequence.
While the original film presented Rake as a seasoned action hero of sorts, the sequel focuses on the journey towards that form — specifically, the toll it took on him and even more so, on those close to him. It’s essentially a backstory for our lead, bringing characters from his past into greater focus and revealing the family tragedy that started it all. Sam Hargrave returns to direct the follow-up from a script penned by Joe Russo, who is also funding Extraction 2 via his AGBO production banner.
The film also stars Olga Kurylenko (Black Widow), Tinatin Dalakishvili as Rake’s target, and Tornike Gogrichiani as a ruthless Georgian gangster.
Adipurush
When: June 16
Where: Theatres
Adipurush depicts an epic that has existed through the ages, one of the Ayodhyan prince Lord Rama — here, Raghava (Prabhas) — who travels to the island of Lanka to rescue his abducted wife Janaki (Kriti Sanon) from the clutches of the demon king Lankesh (Saif Ali Khan). Boasting a stacked cast, an even bigger budget, and some shoddy CGI work, Om Raut (Tanhaji) brings the mythological drama to the big screen, reflecting one of India’s most aged stories about the triumph of good over evil. Sunny Singh (Pati Patni Aur Woh) stars as Raghava’s brother Lakshmana, Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire) as Janak, Devdatta Nage as Hanuman, and Rekha as Kaikeyi.
It is reported that the film has been shot simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu languages, but I’d suggest you take that with a grain of salt. Since the actors are from different regions, you can expect Adipurush to have some dubbing work done on either version. This was a common issue in most of S.S. Rajamouli’s films as well, where no matter what language you watch his movies in — even the original Telugu — there would at least be one character whose lip movement does not sync with the dialogue audio.
No Hard Feelings
When: June 23
Where: Theatres
An Uber driver without a car, Jennifer Lawrence finds herself stuck in this modern-day raunchy comedy, when a wealthy couple promises her a Buick Regal in exchange for dating their introverted son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman). The goal is to bring him out of his shell — a task easier said than done, as Maddie soon finds herself slowly getting pulled into his nerdy world of arcade games, laser tag, and convenient drinking helmets. She’s got one summer to ‘make him a man’ or lose it all, and therefore frantically barges into bedrooms at parties, skates around the school lots and more, looking for any edge that she could gain.
Gene Stupnitsky (Good Boys) directs No Hard Feelings from a script he wrote with John Phillips which itself was reportedly inspired by a real-life Craigslist ad. Matthew Broderick (The Lion King) and Laura Benanti play Percy’s parents, while Natalie Morales (The Little Things) joins the cast as Maddie’s close friend. FX’s The Bear-fame Ebon Moss-Bachrach also stars as Gary, a vehicle tower and one of Maddie’s bitter past flings.
Maidaan
When: June 23
Where: Theatres
Set during the golden era of Indian football, Maidaan is a biographical drama inspired by the real-life coach and manager Syed Abdul Rahim, who is regarded as the architect of ‘modern Indian football.’ Ajay Devgn embodies this role, revisiting the 13 years — 1950 to 1963 — when he guided the team to win gold medals at the Asian Games, leading them onto the semi-finals of the Melbourne Summer Olympics, and more. The film was stuck in development for a while — starting production in 2019, only to be delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and some post-production work.
This marks Amit Sharma’s third directorial work on a feature, following Tevar and Badhaai Ho, which lists Priyamani (Salaam Venky), Gajraj Rao (Maja Ma), and Rudranil Ghosh among the lead cast members.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
When: June 30
Where: Theatres
Harrison Ford dons his iconic hat and whip for the final time, as our titular archaeologist is summoned back to prevent an all-too-powerful dial, the Antikythera, from falling into the wrong hands — specifically the former Nazi Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), who now works for NASA. This is compounded by Jones’ bitter divorce from wife Marion, his forced exit from his teaching position at the university, and a monotonous routine. Accompanied by his goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Indy heads out on a crazy adventure — riding horses across train tracks, brandishing his whip inside pubs, and speeding through narrow lanes on a tuk-tuk. Hot on their trails is Klaber (Boyd Holbrook), Voller’s vengeful right-hand man.
Director James Mangold (Ford v Ferrari) revealed that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny opens with a 25-minute flashback sequence set in 1944, that features a de-aged Ford fighting his way out of a Nazi-occupied castle. Lucasfilm’s use of an advanced AI program to create a younger version of Indiana Jones has been at the forefront of the film’s marketing campaign — even at the Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered. Rounding out the cast are Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory), John Rhys-Davies (The Lord of the Rings), and Shaunette Renée Wilson (Black Panther).
