Supergirl and Toy Story 5: the summer of big releases
From heroines to homesick toys, summer cinema arrives loaded. A look at the releases filling theatres.
Summer has for decades been the season when Hollywood saves its big plays, and 2026 is no exception. Theatres are filling with releases for every taste, from superhero capes to plastic figures that make us cry anyway.
The big superhero news is called Supergirl, with Australian Milly Alcock, familiar from House of the Dragon, donning the cape of Kara Zor-El. It is one of the central bets of the DC universe reinvented by James Gunn and Peter Safran, and audiences answered with curiosity at the arrival of a new heroine on the big screen.
And the toys are back
On the animation side, the most anticipated return is Toy Story 5, with Tim Allen once again voicing Buzz Lightyear. Twenty-odd years after we met Woody and company, the saga still brings generations into the same room: parents who grew up with the films and children discovering them now.
Judging by the early numbers, the formula works. There is a hunger for shared cinema, the kind you watch as a family and chat about in the car on the way home. And the calendar does not slow down: July brings even more returns of familiar brands, a sign of an industry betting hard on what is already known.
Popcorn at the ready. Summer at the movies looks promising.
See also: The new Spider-Man release. Box-office charts at Box Office Mojo.
By Lucy Bennett
Image: Yoann Lothaire of other viewnewsmedia / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
