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Here’s your ultimate summer 2016 movie guide — VIDEO

Over the years, the movie sequel has become as inescapable a part of summer as the heat, people complaining about the heat and people complaining about people complaining about the heat.

We get it. It’s a desert. Move along.

This summer is no exception as there are long-delayed sequels — “Independence Day: Resurgence,” “Finding Dory” and the made-in-Vegas “Jason Bourne” — and sequels to movies that seemingly just left theaters — “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising,” “The Purge: Election Year” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.”

Be on the lookout for new installments in fanboy franchises with “Captain America: Civil War,” “X-Men: Apocalypse” and “Star Trek Beyond.”

Families won’t be left out with “Alice Through the Looking Glass” and “Ice Age: Collision Course.”

And there will be further adventures involving movies both inexplicably popular — “Now You See Me 2” and “The Conjuring 2” — and, well, what’s the opposite of a sequel to a popular movie? Oh, right. “Mechanic: Resurrection.”

Honestly, Jason Statham was in “The Mechanic,” and I’d lay decent money he doesn’t remember what it was about.

Anyway, here’s a look at what to expect at the multiplexes this summer. And, as always, dates are subject to change.

FRIDAY

Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele portray straitlaced cousins who must infiltrate a street gang to retrieve a stolen cat in the comedy “Keanu.”

 

In the tradition of director Garry Marshall’s “Valentine’s Day” and “New Year’s Eve,” Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson and Julia Roberts star in “Mother’s Day.”

 

The fate of the Solana galaxy is at stake in the animated video game adaptation “Ratchet & Clank.”

 

After seeing something they weren’t supposed to in an isolated club, the members of a young punk band must fight the bar’s owner (Patrick Stewart) and his men to stay alive in “Green Room.”

 

MAY 6

International pressure for the Avengers to come under the control of the United Nations leads to a rift in the team, with factions led by Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) at odds, in “Captain America: Civil War.”

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In the 1980s, a 14-year-old Dubliner (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) forms a band to impress a girl (Lucy Boynton) in “Sing Street,” from “Once” writer-director John Carney.

 

MAY 13

The host (George Clooney) and producer (Julia Roberts) of a financial advice show are taken hostage on live TV by a desperate investor (“Unbroken’s” Jack O’Connell) in “Money Monster.”

MAY 20

A low-rent private investigator (Ryan Gosling) teams with an enforcer (Russell Crowe) to locate a missing girl in 1970s Los Angeles in the action comedy “The Nice Guys.”

 

It’s birds versus pigs in the animated “The Angry Birds Movie,” featuring the voices of Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad and Danny McBride.

 

When a sorority moves in next door to the Radners (Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne), they enlist the help of Teddy (Zac Efron), the president of the fraternity that had previously moved in next to them, to run them off in “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising.”

 

Speaking of people moving near Rose Byrne, she portrays a single woman whose recently widowed mother (Susan Sarandon) relocates across the country to be near her in the comedy “The Meddler.”

 

MAY 27

Professor X (James McAvoy) and Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) lead a team of young mutants against the powerful new adversary (Oscar Isaac) who’s recruited Magneto (Michael Fassbender) in “X-Men: Apocalypse.”

 

Alice (Mia Wasikowska), The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), The White Queen (Anne Hathaway) and The Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) return in “Alice Through the Looking Glass.”

 

After being dumped by his wife, a man (Colin Farrell) has 45 days to find true love or be turned into the animal of his choosing in the absurdist comedy “The Lobster.”

 

The arrival of an old friend (Ralph Fiennes) and his daughter (Dakota Johnson) disrupts the vacation of a rock star (Matthias Schoenaerts) and a filmmaker (Tilda Swinton) in the drama “A Bigger Splash.”

 

Widow Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale) arrives at her in-laws’ lavish estate to wait out rumors of her infidelity in “Love & Friendship,” an adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Lady Susan” from writer-director Whit Stillman.

 

JUNE 3

Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo and Raphael are joined by hockey-masked vigilante Casey Jones (“Arrow’s” Stephen Amell) to battle Shredder and his henchmen, Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (wrestler Stephen “Sheamus” Farrelly), in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.”

 

Singer/rapper Conner4Real (Andy Samberg) gets the mockumentary treatment in “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping,” from The Lonely Island.

 

Sparks fly when a quirky young British woman (“Game of Thrones’ ” Emilia Clarke) goes to work as the caregiver to a wealthy paraplegic (“The Hunger Games’ ” Sam Claflin) in the romantic drama “Me Before You.”

 

JUNE 10

Magic’s Four Horsemen (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Lizzy Caplan) take on a tech magnate (Daniel Radcliffe) in “Now You See Me 2.”

 

Orc warriors invade the peaceful Azeroth in the video game adaptation “Warcraft.”

 

Demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga) travel to north London to investigate the spirits plaguing a single mother and her four children in “The Conjuring 2.”

 

A young woman (Greta Gerwig) becomes entangled in a love triangle with a professor (Ethan Hawke) and his wife (Julianne Moore) in “Maggie’s Plan.”

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A Welsh barmaid forms a syndicate, at 10 pounds a share, to breed a champion racehorse in the documentary “Dark Horse.”

 

JUNE 17

That forgetful blue tang (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) searches for her parents in the “Finding Nemo” sequel, “Finding Dory.”

 

During his high school reunion, a former nerd (Dwayne Johnson) drags a popular classmate (Kevin Hart) into a dangerous CIA mission in the action comedy “Central Intelligence.”

 

After a father (Andy Powers) dresses up as a clown for his son’s birthday, the costume won’t come off, and he falls under its demonic spell in “Clown.”

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JUNE 24

Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox and Brent Spiner will try to save the planet without the help of Will Smith in the 20-years-later sequel “Independence Day: Resurgence.”

 

A farmer (Matthew McConaughey) bands together with his neighbors and a group of slaves in Jones County, Mississippi, to rebel against the Confederacy and secede in “Free State of Jones.”

 

A lone surfer (Blake Lively) is stranded 200 yards from shore in shark-infested waters in “The Shallows.”

 

JULY 1

A Big Friendly Giant (“Bridge of Spies” Oscar winner Mark Rylance) brings a 10-year-old Londoner (Ruby Barnhill) to Dream Country in director Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “The BFG.”

 

Lord Greystoke (Alexander Skarsgard) swings back into the Congo with his wife, Jane (Margot Robbie), in “The Legend of Tarzan,” co-starring Christoph Waltz and Samuel L. Jackson.

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“The Purge: Anarchy” survivor Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo), now the head of security for a presidential candidate (Elizabeth Mitchell), must protect her in the mean streets of Washington, D.C., in “The Purge: Election Year.”

 

A suicidal man (Paul Dano) stranded on a deserted island finds hope and companionship in the rotting, farting corpse (Daniel Radcliffe) that washes ashore in “Swiss Army Man.”

 

JULY 8

Louis C.K. and Kevin Hart lead the voice cast of the animated “The Secret Life of Pets,” from the makers of “Despicable Me.”

 

Brothers Mike (Adam Devine) and Dave (Zac Efron) get more than they bargained for out of the dates (Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza) they recruited for their sister’s Hawaiian wedding in the raunchy comedy “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates.”

 

JULY 15

Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones strap on the proton packs in “Ghostbusters,” from director Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids”).

 

In a futuristic society where all human emotions have been genetically eliminated, coworkers Nia (Kristen Stewart) and Silas (Nicholas Hoult) manage to fall in love anyway in “Equals.”

 

U.S. Customs agent Robert Mazur (Bryan Cranston) goes undercover to launder money for drug lords, including Pablo Escobar, in the fact-based drama “The Infiltrator.”

 

Former New Orleans Saints defensive back Steve Gleason’s battle with ALS is chronicled in the documentary “Gleason.”

JULY 22

Now that J.J. Abrams has moved on to the “Star Wars” universe, the “Fast and Furious” franchise’s Justin Lin takes over directing duties while Simon Pegg steps out of the engine room as Scotty to co-write “Star Trek Beyond.”

 

The nut-lovin’ Scrat ends up in outer space — as prehistoric squirrels are wont to do — where he sets off a chain of events that leaves his buddies Sid (John Leguizamo), Manny (Ray Romano) and Diego (Denis Leary) threatened by an asteroid in the animated sequel “Ice Age: Collision Course.”

 

Edina (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley) hit the big screen, where they’re pursued by paparazzi before fleeing to the French Riviera in “Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.”

 

Things go bump in the dark in the horror tale “Lights Out.”

 

Sisters (Ellen Page, Evan Rachel Wood) living in the Pacific Northwest fight to survive during a continent-wide blackout in “Into the Forest.”

 

JULY 29

Retired CIA operative Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is drawn out of the shadows and onto the Las Vegas Strip in the aptly titled “Jason Bourne.”

When she’s pushed too far by the other moms (Christina Applegate, Annie Mumolo, Jada Pinkett Smith) at her kids’ school, a mother (Mila Kunis) goes off the deep end in the comedy “Bad Moms.”

AUG. 5

Some of the world’s — or at least DC Comics’ — greatest villains are recruited to stop an even bigger threat in “Suicide Squad,” starring Will Smith, Margot Robbie and Jared Leto as The Joker.

 

Michael Keaton, who knows a thing or two about The Joker, portrays McDonald’s mastermind Ray Kroc in the biopic “The Founder.”

 

AUG. 12

A variety of grocery products discover the horrors that await them once they’re purchased in the R-rated animated comedy “Sausage Party,” featuring the voices of Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill and James Franco.

 

A park ranger (Bryce Dallas Howard) launches an investigation when she finds a 10-year-old (Oakes Fegley) living in the woods with what he says is a dragon in Disney’s remake of “Pete’s Dragon.”

 

In the 1940s, a New York socialite (Meryl Streep) obsessively pursues a singing career, much to the chagrin of her husband and manager (Hugh Grant) who realizes how truly awful her voice sounds, in the true story “Florence Foster Jenkins.”

 

AUG. 19

During the Iraq War, two buddies (Jonah Hill, Miles Teller) inexplicably score a $300 million contract to arm the Afghan military in the fact-based action comedy “War Dogs,” from “The Hangover’s” Todd Phillips.

 

Judah Ben-Hur’s (Jack Huston) chariot awaits as the prince-turned-slave returns in the remake of “Ben-Hur.”

 

Born during a mission to colonize Mars, a 16-year-old (Asa Butterfield) strikes up an online relationship with a Colorado teen (Britt Robertson), then experiences organ failure when he travels to Earth, in “The Space Between Us.”

 

A young storyteller accidentally summons an evil spirit and goes on the run in the animated fantasy “Kubo and the Two Strings,” featuring the voices of Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Fiennes and Rooney Mara.

 

AUG. 26

Edgar Ramirez (“Joy”) stars as Roberto Duran and singer Usher Raymond portrays Sugar Ray Leonard in the boxing drama “Hands of Stone.”

 

Three friends (Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto) try to rob a wealthy blind man (“Avatar’s” Stephen Lang) only to become trapped inside his house of horrors in “Don’t Breathe.”

And a beautiful woman (Jessica Alba) forces Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) to assassinate some of the world’s most dangerous men in “Mechanic: Resurrection.”

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com. On Twitter: @life_onthecouch

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