From ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ to the Lollapalooza Livestream, Here’s Everything to Watch This Month
In some ways, August is a month of endings, at least on television. Both Billions and Archer begin their final seasons as does a great, unusual comedy covered below. But as melancholy as that sounds, there’s plenty of new stuff on the horizon, too, including everything from a new take on (part of) Dracula and an ambitious miniseries about the opioid crisis. We’ll kick things off with a fresh take on an old favorite. Here’s everything you should watch in theaters, plus more on Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, and beyond.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Theaters, August 2)
Now in its umpteenth incarnation as the franchise approaches its 40th anniversary, this latest take on Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Leonardo’s adventures is an innovative-looking animated movie directed by Jeff Rowe (co-director of the terrific The Mitchells vs. the Machines) from a screenplay written in part by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Jackie Chan and Ayo Edibiri co-star as the voices of Splinter and April, respectively. Get tickets
Reservation Dogs: Season 3 Premiere (Hulu, August 2)
A bright spot since its premiere two years ago, this rich, unpredictable show about the lives of four indigenous Oklahoma teens ended its second season with its protagonists in California with no clear next move. The trailer for this upcoming season reveals they somehow return to Oklahoma, but what awaits them there, and their futures, remains under wraps. Stream it on Hulu
Lollapalooza: Livestream (Hulu, August 3 – 6)
Can’t make it to Chicago this year or just want to enjoy some music from the comfort of your own home? Hulu has you covered for some of the biggest performances from Grant Park. This year’s Lollapalooza lineup includes Billie Eilish, Lana Del Rey, Kendrick Lamar, and many others. Stream it on Hulu
Meg 2: The Trench (Theaters, August 4)
The sequel to the 2018 giant shark movie sends star Jason Stratham back out to confront another presumably even bigger aquatic threat. Ben Wheatley (A Field in England) takes over directing duties, which should make this more interesting than the average shark movie. Get tickets
Dreamin’ Wild (Theaters, August 4)
Bill Pohlad’s Love & Mercy explored the life of Brian Wilson at two different points in his life and this biopic of a pair of much lesser-known musicians looks like it will do the same. Joe and Donnie Emerson lingered in obscurity until their sole album, 1979’s Dreamin’ Wild resurfaced as a cult favorite in the early 2010s. Casey Affleck and Walton Goggins co-star as the Emersons in adulthood with Noah Jupe (A Quiet Place) and Jack Dylan Glazer (It) playing them as teens. Get tickets
Shortcomings (Theaters, August 4)
Randall Park makes his directorial debut with this adaptation of Adrian Tomine’s graphic novel about an aspiring filmmaker (Justin H. Min) living an aimless existence in Berkeley. Well-liked when it played Sundance, the film co-stars Joy Ride breakout Sherry Cola. Get tickets
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (Prime Video, August 4)
Based on a bestselling novel by Australian author Holly Ringland, this seven-part miniseries follows its eponymous heroine across two decades. After a childhood tragedy, the hero is taken in by her grandmother (Sigourney Weaver), the owner of a flower farm. As an adult, Alice (Alycia Debnam-Carey) seeks answers about her past and encounters troubles of her own. Stream it on Prime Video
Only Murders in the Building: Season 3 Premiere (Hulu, August 8, Hulu)
Picking up where season two left off, this season finds the crime-solving trio of Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) trying to figure out who killed Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd), the star of Oliver’s play. Meryl Streep joins the cast. Stream it on Hulu
Destination NBA: A G League Odyssey (Prime Video, August 8)
Both a proving ground and a world unto itself, the NBA’s G League is where stars bubble under, sometimes waiting to move up to the NBA, a move that might never happen. This new doc follows a handful of could-be stars through the 2022-2023 season. Stream it on Prime Video
Strange Planet (August 9, Apple TV+)
Adapted from a popular webcomic by Nathan Pyle, this animated series follows the adventures, if that’s the right word, of a bunch of blue aliens whose habits cast human behavior in a new light. Dan Harmon serves as co-creator. Stream it on Apple TV+
Painkiller (Netflix, August 10)
Peter Berg directs this six-part miniseries covering the opioid crisis and the pharmaceutical companies that helped create it. Adapted from a pair of non-fiction sources — Patrick Radden Keefe’s New Yorker article “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain” and the Barry Meier book Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic — its cast includes Uzo Adubo, Taylor Kitsch, and Matthew Broderick as Richard Sackler. Stream it on Netflix
Gran Turismo (Theaters, August 11)
Not the usual video game adaptation, the latest from Neil Blomkamp (Chappie) recounts the true story of Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), a British teen who gets a chance to translate his skill at the long-running racing game Gran Turismo into a real-life racing career. David Harbour co-stars as the trainer who tries to make his dream come true. Get tickets
The Last Voyage of the Demeter (Theaters, August 11)
André Øvreda (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark) directs a film set aboard the fateful voyage that brought Dracula from Transylvania to London. Corey Hawkins (In the Heights) stars as a doctor along for the ride on what looks likely to be an extremely rough trip. Get tickets
Blue Beetle (Theaters, August 18)
The latest DC Comics adaptation stars Xolo Ramirez as Jamie Reyes, a teen who picks up tremendous powers, and a cool battle suit, after acquiring an alien scarab. Though DC is about to get a reboot under James Gunn, Gunn has suggested this character could make the transition into the universe he’s building. Get tickets
Strays (Theaters, August 18)
After he’s cast off by his no-good owner Doug (Will Forte), a naive dog named Reggie (voiced by Will Ferrell) makes some new friends and embarks on a mission of revenge. Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, and Randall Park play some of the dogs he meets along the way in a film directed by Josh Greenbaum (Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar). Get tickets
Star Wars: Ahsoka (Disney+, August 23)
Both a spinoff of The Mandalorian and a continuation of the animated Star Wars series The Clone Wars and Rebels, this new series finds Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) continuing her pursuit of Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). Ahsoka and Thrawn are two of the most popular characters not to originate in the live-action Star Wars movies and the entire series is written by Dave Filoni, a veteran of both Star Wars’ animated world and its Disney+ series. (Two episodes premiere on this day with subsequent installments rolling out weekly after that.) Stream it on Disney+.
Bottoms (Theaters, August 25)
Director Emma Seligman follows up her winning debut Shiva Baby with a teen comedy about two unpopular girls (Shiva Baby star Rachel Sennott and The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri) who start a high school self-defense club with ulterior motives: to score with hot cheerleaders and others higher up on the social ladder. Get tickets
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (Netflix, August 25)
The grown-up cast of this comedy includes Adam Sandler, Idina Menzel, and Luis Guzman but the focus is on a pair of middle-school friends (Samantha Lorraine, and Sunny Sandler) whose falling out threatens their bat mitzvah plans. Stream it on Netflix
Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity (Prime Video, August 25)
Music lost a legend with the passing of composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter earlier this year. This new documentary examines his life by focusing on three key moments in his career. Stream it on Prime Video