Spider-Man just broke the all-time box office record, Ted Lasso is back, and all eight Harry Potter films return to cinemas.
August is usually the month studios treat as an afterthought, the stretch between the summer blockbusters and the awards build-up. Not this year. Spider-Man: Brand New Day landed on July 31 and rewrote the record books, and the rest of the month is stacked with finales, comebacks, and a re-release calendar worth clearing an evening for.
Here is what is worth your time, sorted by where you will be watching it.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Sony and Marvel’s fourth Tom Holland outing opened across 4,487 North American theaters and finished its first weekend at $360 million, officially passing Avengers: Endgame’s $357.1 million for the biggest domestic opening in history. Sunday estimates had it at $355 million. Monday actuals pushed it over.
The other records came with it. Biggest preview haul ever at $72 million, beating Endgame’s $60 million. Biggest opening day ever at $169.8 million. It is only the second film in history to cross $300 million in a single weekend, and it helped deliver roughly $430 million across all North American cinemas, the biggest weekend the box office has ever had. Globally it opened at $932 million, though Endgame still holds the worldwide opening record at $1.2 billion.
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and starring Holland alongside Zendaya, the film picks up four years after No Way Home. Peter Parker is an adult living alone, having erased himself from the memories of everyone he loves, fighting crime in a city that does not know his name. The pressure triggers a change in him he may not be able to control, arriving just as a powerful new threat surfaces. Reviews have been strong, with a 90 percent critics score and an A CinemaScore.
One note if you want the full-scale version. The film could not open in IMAX because Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey held the entire domestic IMAX network for three weekends. That run has ended, and Spider-Man expands into IMAX from August 6.
Also in Theaters
The Odyssey. Still going strong, with a domestic total around $396 million after its third weekend and more than $911 million worldwide. It retains all 41 of IMAX’s 70mm film locations globally.
Harry Potter, all eight films (August 27 to September 3). Warner Bros. is marking 25 years since Sorcerer’s Stone with a worldwide week-long run of the entire series. The first film screens with previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage, and Cosm venues in Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, and Detroit are running an immersive large-format version. Tickets went on sale July 31, which is Harry’s birthday.
The Dog Stars (August 28). Ridley Scott’s first science fiction film since Alien: Covenant in 2018, adapted from Peter Heller’s novel. Jacob Elordi plays a pilot living at an isolated Colorado airfield with his dog and a hardened ex-marine played by Josh Brolin, until a stray radio transmission suggests something better exists beyond their perimeter. Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, and Benedict Wong co-star. Opening in theaters, IMAX, and premium large formats.
Coyote vs. ACME (August 28). The famous one. Warner Bros. shelved it in 2023 as a tax write-off, it sat unreleased for years, and Ketchup Entertainment picked it up. Films almost never come back once they are buried.
Colony (August 28). From Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-ho. Jun Ji-hyun plays a biotechnology professor at a conference when a rapidly mutating virus is released.
Insidious: Out of the Further (August 19) and a Cliffhanger remake round out a crowded final weekend.
New on Netflix
Outer Banks, Season 5 (August 20). The final season. One last treasure hunt for the Pogues.
The Last House. Directed by Louis Leterrier, starring Wagner Moura and Greta Lee. Genre-blending sci-fi horror and Netflix’s biggest swing this month.
The Whisper Man (August 28). Adapted from Alex North’s bestselling novel, with Robert De Niro leading a crime thriller.
MOURINHO. An access-driven documentary on José Mourinho.
Tires, Season 3 (August 13) and Our Sticky Love (August 7), a K-drama about a prosecutor who loses her memory and wakes up beside a man insisting he is her husband.
A large licensed drop landed on August 1, including the Chucky films, the full Fast and Furious run, Clueless, and Nightcrawler, with Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 following on August 3.
Everywhere Else
Ted Lasso, Season 4 (Apple TV, August 5). Ten episodes, weekly on Wednesdays through October 7. Ted returns to Richmond to coach a second-division women’s football team, with Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, and Jeremy Swift all back.
Lioness, Season 3 (Paramount+), Dark Matter, Season 2, Sterling Point on Prime Video, and Women in Blue, Season 2.
Note: Release dates shift by region, so check local listings before planning around any single date.
