Sit back with a cold drink and mark your calendars

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They say it's a strange summer for movies. Studios are betting that 2025 will be the year cinemas return, and are stacking the calendar accordingly. The major superhero movie houses are almost all on hiatus. Massive franchises are staying out of the summer window, with Dune: Part Two a spring fling and Joker: Folie à Deux awaiting the fall.

But that just means that there is actually room for the little ones to breathe. There are inventive geri-action comedies, summer horror flicks, literary romance adaptations, and even an Oscar-nominated animated film finally getting a wide release. Some of your favorite series are back with new installments, such as Inside Out, Alien, Bad Boys and The Crow. And, of course, there's still one remaining big-budget superhero crossover blowout. Here's what Polygon is most looking forward to.