June entertainment planner: 'Jurassic World,' 'Sense8' and Kanye bring the summer heat

Blockbuster season usually means big-budget action and adventure flicks or side-splitting comedy, and this year doesn’t disappoint. June is also the month for award shows, several album releases from A-list artists past and present, and a handful of premieres and finales on both Netflix and Amazon Prime. In other words: June is bringing the heat.

Film

“Ocean’s 8” (June 8)

It seems like every woman in Hollywood is in “Ocean’s 8,” but really it’s just Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, Olivia Munn, Dakota Fanning and a bunch of cameos we won’t spoil. It’s hard to imagine a cast like that in a franchise like the “Ocean’s” films not working out, but then again, not all major heists go according to plan — and aiming to nab hundreds of millions of dollars from moviegoers around the world with a sequel 11 years after the release of the previous film is a tall order. But if anyone can do it, it’s producer Steven Soderbergh. 

“Hereditary” (June 8) 

We’re suckers for horror movies, especially ones that hold a 100 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Although, to be honest, we’ve been hooked on “Hereditary” ever since we were spooked by the oddly shot and disturbing trailer that showcases some creepy experiences of a pair of young siblings following the passing of their reclusive grandmother. Toni Collette and Gabriel Byrne helm the cast of the supernatural thriller, which debuted at Sundance and comes from the producer of “The Witch.” 

“The Incredibles 2” (June 15) 

With kids out of school across the country, studios will release several big animated films and other movies aimed at younger audiences over the next few months. It’s safe to say out of all of these, the largest will be “The Incredibles 2” on June 15. After all, not only do little ones almost always enjoy a solid Pixar flick, but the first “Incredibles” came out 14 years ago, which means many adults will also want to check in on the [super] heroic returns of Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), and Lucius Best (Samuel L. Jackson), as well as the arrival of franchise newcomers Jonathan Banks, Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener and Isabella Rossellini. 

“Tag” (June 15) 

Five friends. One epic game of tag. This summer comedy is based on a real-life ongoing event executed by a group of high school friends, which has lasted more than 25 years and was chronicled in the Wall Street Journal back in 2013. Of course, to pull off a far-out concept like this, producer Todd Garner needed an all-star cast, which he assembled in the form of Jon Hamm, Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Hannibal Buress and Jeremy Renner. News broke in 2017 that Renner broke his right elbow and left wrist filming — not for his next big-budget action flick, but for “Tag.” We don’t know about you, but that makes us want to see it even more. 

“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” (June 22) 

“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” the sequel to 2015’s “Jurassic World,” had its premiere in Spain last week, and thus far the reactions have been warm, with many fans praising the franchise debut of director J.A. Bayona. We’re obviously looking forward to seeing stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard reprise their roles but must confess that we’re even more excited for the return of Jeff Goldblum (the coolest man on Earth) in a cameo as chaos theory enthusiast Dr. Ian Malcolm. That, and the obligatory dinosaur destruction, of course.

TV

"Succession" (June 3, HBO) 

You didn't think HBO was going to be absent something else by the time "Westworld" ended its second season run at the end June, did you? Welcome to the Roy family, where family patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox) is approaching 80 and war is breaking out among his children and other various family members to take over the family's media empire. More of a dark comedy than a drama, we're more than up for any Adam McKay and Will Ferrell production, especially when one of the stars is the underappreciated Kieran Culkin.   

“Teachers” (June 5, TV Land) 

TV Land’s “Teachers” has been gaining traction and amassing fans ever since it made the jump from a web series to a TV sitcom back in 2016. Although it stars members of the six-woman improv group the Katydids — all of whom coincidentally have names with “Kate/Cate” as the root — each actress has carefully crafted her own unique character throughout the show’s first two seasons. The fact that “Teachers” has officially made it (as evidenced by its third season set to premiere on June 5) isn’t just a victory for Caitlin Barlow, Katy Colloton, Cate Freedman, Kate Lambert, Katie O’Brien and Kathryn Renée Thomas, but also for Alison Brie, who serves as the series’ executive producer.

"Cloak & Dagger" (June 7, Freeform)

“Cloak & Dagger” is one of two Marvel shows having a season premiere in June, but the only one having its series premiere. The Freeform superhero series (which is produced by ABC) stars Aubrey Joseph and Olivia Holt in the title roles, respectively, and brings some romance to the genre as two teenagers who gain supernatural abilities and decide to date. The Joe Pokaski-created production will air 10 episodes beginning on June 7.

"12 Monkeys" (June 15, Syfy)

The Syfy sci-fi mystery drama “12 Monkeys” will call it quits after its fourth season, which will premiere on June 15, 2018. The show began as a spin-off of the 1995 Terry Gilliam film of the same name (which starred Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe and Brad Pitt) but has now become a world of its own helmed by Aaron Stanford, Amanda Schull and Kirk Acevedo. Following a critically acclaimed 10-episode third season, “12 Monkeys” will do its fans one better in its final season with an 11-episode run set to conclude on July 6.

2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards (June 18, MTV)

2018 will mark the second year of MTV including television categories in the event formerly known as the MTV Movie Awards. This year’s MTV Movie & TV Awards will be held in Santa Monica and will be hosted by Tiffany Haddish, who is also up for Best Comedic Performance for her role in the comedy film “Girls Trip.” Other categories include Most Frightened Performance, Best Kiss, Scene Stealer and, of course, Best Movie, which in 2018 features “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Black Panther,” “Girls Trip,” “IT” and “Wonder Woman.”

Streaming

“Sense8” (June 8, Netflix)

Although the popularity of “Sense8” has been growing steadily, Netflix surprisingly announced the cancellation of the sci-fi drama series — which centers on a small group of humans called “sensates” who are mentally and emotionally linked — on June 1, 2017. However, in response to online petitions, calls and emails to Netflix and countless tweets, creators Lana and Lilly Wachowski created a two-hour series finale scheduled for a June 8 release. If “Sense8” continues to amass more fans, the Wachowskis have expressed that they would consider attempting a third season.

“Goliath” (June 15, Amazon)

Billy Bob Thornton stars alongside William Hurt and Maria Bello as a down-and-out attorney hoping to capitalize on one last shot to save his career — even though he’ll have to take down the same law firm he helped create. Thornton won a Best Actor Golden Globe for his role as Billy McBride, and the show was popular enough to get renewed for a second season, which will premiere on Amazon on June 15.

“Queer Eye” (June 15, Netflix)

Eleven years after Bravo’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” went off the air following its fifth season, the show was rebooted and rebranded as “Queer Eye,” which premiered on Netflix on Feb. 7, 2018. It was a hit, and a second season is slated to hit the streaming service on June 15 with Antoni, Tan, Karamo, Bobby and Jonathan all set to return. For this round, creator David Collins sent the group back to Georgia’s heartland, where they’ll continue to forge relationships with a diverse group of locals, “touching on everything from self-love and faith, to immigration and how to make the perfect homemade poke bowls,” according to a press release from Netflix.

“Luke Cage” (June 22, Netflix)

Marvel fans have been eagerly awaiting the second season of “Luke Cage,” which will air on June 22 on Netflix. Mike Colter stars in the title role as the comic-book-convict-turned-superhero, and Mahershala Ali returns as Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes. In the second season, Cage’s nemesis will be the Bushmaster, whom he will combat while dealing with concerns of treatment by police in his native Harlem. The hero will also have to win over the public, with the second season clip showing a little girl who tells Cage, “You ain't no better than the damn cops.”

“GLOW” (June 29, Netflix)

Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, Sydelle Noel and Britney Young will return to Netflix as the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling on June 29, dragging along their washed-up promotion director, played by Marc Maron. The comedy aired its acclaimed first season in June 2017 and was renewed for a second only two months later.

Music

Kanye West, “Love Everyone” (June 1)

Everyone might not love Kanye West right now for a multitude of different reasons (and more), but the rapper will nevertheless release his eighth studio album, “Love Everyone,” on June 8... and we’re guessing it will sell just fine. Although the exact contents are still being kept tightly under wraps, West has recently released two tracks: the random and seemingly nonsensical “Lift Yourself” and the debate-themed song “Ye vs. the People” featuring T.I., but they might not be on the album. Other rumored contributors on the seven-track album include Kid Cudi, Nas and Mike Dean, among others.

Sugarland, “Bigger” (June 8)

After releasing four platinum-certified studio albums in six years (not to mention a Christmas album), the country music duo Sugarland went on hiatus in 2012, in part as maternity leave for lead vocalist Jennifer Nettles. Last year, Nettles and Kristian Bush announced their return, and they will deliver on that promise on June 8 with the release of “Bigger.” The album was teased back in December 2017 when the single “Still the Same” dropped, along with a performance of the tune on Dick Clark’s "New Year's Rockin' Eve" with Ryan Seacrest, which was followed by “Babe” (featuring Taylor Swift) on April 20. Based on what we’ve heard already and the duo’s previous success, we have a feeling we’ll soon be seeing Sugarland on the award show circuit. They’ll be the ones with all the trophies.

Christina Aguilera, “Liberation” (June 15)

It’s hard to believe, but Christina Aguilera’s self-titled debut album was released nearly 19 years ago. If that makes you feel bad, we can at least comfort you with some good news: her new album, entitled “Liberation,” will be released on June 15. It has been a full six years since her last record, “Lotus,” so No. 8 has been a long time coming. In addition to releasing two singles (“Accelerate” and “Fall in Line”) in May of this year, Aguilera also announced dates for her first tour in a decade, which will kick off on Sept. 25 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.

Nicki Minaj, “Queen” (June 15)

Nicki Minaj clearly knows exactly how we feel about her, because the title of her upcoming album is “Queen.” (Sorry, Bey.) Minaj already dropped two singles, “Barbie Tingz” and “Chun-Li,” on April 12, and the latter (which she also performed on the season finale of “Saturday Night Live”) is quickly becoming one of her biggest solo tracks to date. After the success of 2014’s “The Pinkprint,” Minaj will look to expand her brand even more on this release, which will hopefully include contributions by her fellow Cash Money Records artists.

Drake, “Scorpion” (June, TBA)

Not only do we not have a song list or names of featured artists, but we don’t even know when Drake’s new album will actually be released, other than the fact that it is slated to occur some time in June. What we do know is that it will be called “Scorpion,” it was executive produced by longtime collaborators Noah "40" Shebib and Oliver El-Khatib, it may include the No. 1 single “Nice for What,” and it may also feature DJ Premier. Even with this much uncertainty, we’re still certain about one thing: “Scorpion,” like Drizzy’s other four albums, is destined to be a chart-topper.