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This summer: It’s the attack of the reboot blockbuster

I would like to report that the summer of 2016 will be chock-full of surprises, with daring breakouts, exciting new talent, the kinds of movies - big, small, mainstream, off-the-wall - that will turn your head, make you think about art and life and, well, everything, in entirely new ways.

I would like to report that the summer of 2016 will be chock-full of surprises, with daring breakouts, exciting new talent, the kinds of movies - big, small, mainstream, off-the-wall - that will turn your head, make you think about art and life and, well, everything, in entirely new ways.

I would like to report this, but... that would be foolish.

Instead, the summer of 2016 looks a whole lot like the summer of 2015, or 2014, or any other summer at the multiplexes where franchises and sequels, comic-book superheroes, stupid-with-a-capital-S comedies, and at least two movies with Kevin Hart in the cast dominate.

In fact, if there's anything significant about the 70-plus movies in this summer's lineup - starting Friday, when Captain America: Civil War opens, and continuing through Labor Day weekend, when Hollywood's most lucrative season comes to a close - it's that there are more sequels, franchises, reboots, and remakes than usual.

We'll get to all those big-star, big-budget recycling projects in a moment. But first a few words about some potentially more promising prospects.

In The Nice Guys (May 20) Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling team up to find a missing girl and maybe solve a murder, too. It's the 1970s, it's Los Angeles, and it's Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man 3) writing and directing.

In Maggie's Plan (June 3), Greta Gerwig brings her screwball skills to the story of a young woman who falls into an affair with a married man (Ethan Hawke) and then decides she's had enough, hatching a scheme to put her lover and his ex back together. Julianne Moore, affecting amusingly haughty Euro airs, is said ex. Rebecca Miller wrote and directs.

And definitely one of the weirder story lines out there: Swiss Army Man (June 17), with Paul Dano marooned on a desert isle and Daniel Radcliffe washing up on the beach, dead as Albus Dumbledore. Somehow, a beautiful friendship ensues, even if it's just in the Dano character's mind. A Sundance prize winner, and, word has it, a surreal story like no other.

Speaking of surreal stories, the playfully strange work of late, great children's book author Roald Dahl has had a good run on the big screen (and on stage, too), and Steven Spielberg's The BFG (July 1), about a big, friendly giant and the girl who becomes his pal, should be no exception. Mark Rylance, who won the supporting actor Oscar this year for his work in Spielberg's Bridge of Spies, is the towering title character. Diminutive newcomer Ruby Barnhill is the girl, Sophie.

Birdman and Spotlight star Michael Keaton plays Ray Kroc, the man behind McDonald's, in The Founder (Aug. 5), a meaty American success story.

And a comic book adaptation that looks a little grittier and less formulaic than most is Suicide Squad (Aug. 5), with Will Smith (as Deadshot) and Margot Robbie (as Harley Quinn) heading a team of supervillains. It's based on the DC Comics title, with a guest appearance by Ben Affleck as some guy who goes by the name Bruce Wayne.

And now, on to those remakes, reboots, sequels, and franchises:

Captain America: Civil War (Friday)

The latest in the never-ending line of Marvel Universe blockbusters finds ol' Cap, a.k.a. Steve Rogers, experiencing a philosophical parting of the ways with his Avengers buddy Iron Man, a.k.a. Tony Stark. From such misunderstandings epic battles come.

"Sometimes I want to punch you in your perfect teeth," Robert Downey Jr. tells Chris Evans. Anyone want to second that emotion?

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (May 20)

Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne are terrorized by Selena Gomez, Chloë Grace Moretz, and a gaggle of party-hearty coeds who have moved in next door.

"They're using their sexuality as a weapon!" Rogen yelps, emasculated and happy at the same time.

X-Men: Apocalypse (May 27)

Bryan Singer directs. Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Oscar Isaac, and, yes, Rose Byrne, star. The mutant students of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters must grow up fast in the face of a godlike nemesis.

Alice Through the Looking Glass (May 27)

Mia Wasikowska tumbles back down the rabbit hole in Lewis Carroll's Wonderland sequel, with James (Muppets Most Wanted) Bobin replacing Tim Burton in the director's chair. Johnny Depp returns as the Mad Hatter.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (June 3)

Couldn't they go back in?

The Conjuring 2 (June 10)

Paranormal-phenom experts Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga help out another hapless family trying to deal with spooky stuff.

Now You See Me 2 (June 10)

No disappearing act for Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, and company, as the magic troupe of 2013's surprise hit pulls another rabbit out of their hat(s).

Finding Dory (June 17)

Anyone remember a little 'toon called Finding Nemo? The sequel to Pixar's 2003 deep-sea saga, with Ellen DeGeneres as the voice of the titular regal blue tang.

Independence Day: Resurgence (June 24)

Anyone remember a little Will Smith alien-invasion pic called Independence Day? On its 20th anniversary, a sequel to the 1996 megabuster, with Liam Hemsworth filling in for Mr. Smith and Jeff Goldblum exclaiming, "Oh, my God," as malevolent ETs return to conquer Earth.

The Legend of Tarzan (July 1)

Alexander Skarsgård is the latest in a long line of feral ape dudes, Margot Robbie is Jane, Christoph Waltz is an evil Belgian fellow. Legendary?

The Purge: Election Year (July 1)

The third installment in the horror series gets relevant, tracking a U.S. senator (Elizabeth Mitchell) running for the presidency.

Ghostbusters (July 15)

An all-femme reboot of the 1984 supernatural screwball comedy, with Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Kristen Wiig as the new who-you-gonna-call team.

Ice Age: Collision Course (July 22)

The fifth installment in the computer-animated adventures of acorn-obsessed Scrat and his prehistoric pals. This one takes a cosmic turn, literally, as the saber-toothed squirrel is sent into outer space.

Star Trek Beyond (July 22)

And speaking of the final frontier, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and crew find themselves stranded on an inhospitable planet in the third J.J. Abrams-produced reboot and the 13th Trek movie overall.

Jason Bourne (July 29)

Matt Damon, claiming he "remembers everything," returns as the formerly amnesia-plagued secret agent, faced with new intrigues and a new, beautiful costar (Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander).

Paul Greengrass returns as director, following the non-Damon, non-Greengrass, not-so-successful The Bourne Legacy.

Pete's Dragon (Aug. 12)

A Disney remake of a classic 'toon about a boy who lives in the forest. No, not Mowgli in The Jungle Book, just a little kid who claims his best friend is a giant winged serpent. Robert Redford and Bryce Dallas Howard look on in awe.

Ben-Hur (Aug. 19)

"Racing is a blood sport," says a dreadlocked Morgan Freeman, adding that, "if you lose, you die." But Jack Huston, as Judah Ben-Hur, is planning to win, climbing into the chariot that Charlton Heston once rode to glory.

Mechanic: Resurrection (Aug. 26)

Jason Statham returns as ace contract killer Arthur Bishop, forced out of retirement when the love of his life, Jessica Alba, is abducted.

srea@phillynews.com
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