The Color Purple, No Hard Feelings, and other trailers you may have missed this week

In Barbie world, yesterday, today, tomorrow, “and every day from now until forever” is the best day ever. The faux sun rises and falls over a pink plastic dreamland, and Barbie (Margot Robbie) and her friends enjoy dance parties and floating gracefully off roofs. But there comes a time when one must know the truth about the universe. No, really, Barbie has to know the truth about the universe; Kate McKinnon’s messed-up Barbie doesn’t give her much of a choice. The new film debuts July 21.

Alice Walker’s seminal novel is getting yet another adaptation. After Steven Spielgberg’s 1985 film and the 2015 Broadway musical revival starring Cynthia Erivo, 2023’s The Color Purple will be Fantasia Barrino’s time to shine on screen. She plays the lead role of Celia Harris Johnson, a Black woman living in the 1900s. Barrino previously performed the role in the original Broadway production in 2007. Danielle Brooks, who won a Tony for her performance in the revival, will also reprise her role as Sofia. The ensemble includes Taraji P. Henson, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, Halle Bailey, and David Alan Grier. Based on the trailer alone, they’re all ready to give the performance of a lifetime.

Post-pandemic, mid-writer’s strike, and pre-whatever the hell comes next, stupid fun at the movies has never felt more essential. Luckily, Jennifer Lawrence has that covered in No Hard Feelings, where she plays a silly, horny, girl failure—a welcome addition to Lawrence’s prestigious canon. No Hard Feelings follows Maddie (Lawrence), a down-on-her-luck bartender/Uber driver without a car who agrees to romance a geeky 19-year-old, Percy (Andrew Feldman), after his parents promise her a Buick Regal in exchange. The myriad of gray areas inherent in the situation aside, a Buick is a Buick; Maddie’s not sweating the details. The film premieres in theaters on June 21

It’s Idris Elba to the rescue in Hijack, Apple TV+’s upcoming limited series. The thriller follows Sam Nelson, who is on a flight to London that gets hijacked. He’s a business negotiator who takes his corporate skills to try and strike a deal with the terrorists. The thriller makes it clear that everyone around Sam thinks he’s the hero, so the show got lucky by casting Elba in this suitable role. Archie Panjabi, Christine Adams, and Max Beesley co-star.

Netflix continues to flesh out its animated original slate with Skull Island. This adventure series centers on Annie (Mae Whitman), who is rescued from the ocean by a kind-hearted group, and they unknowingly set off to Skull Island, home to terrifying, bizarre monsters. The voice cast includes Benjamin Bratt, Betty Gilpin, and Darren Barnett.

We lost Los Espookys too soon, but thankfully, Julio Torres has returned with another surrealist comedy. In A24’s Problemista, Torres plays toy designer Alejandro, who struggles to bring his unusual ideas to life. The satire also stars Tilda Swinton, Greta Lee, RZA, Isabella Rossellini, and Meg Stalter. Based on the trailer, expect Los Espookys’ style of magical realism blended with a story about Alejandro struggling to achieve the American dream.

Strange New Worlds—one of the recent Star Trek shows to get overwhelmingly positive reviews—is returning for season two. Anson Mount is back as Captain Pike, who commands the U.S.S. Enterprise and navigates his crew through uncharted space territory. The trailer hints at a crossover with Star Trek: Lower Decks, with Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid arriving for this hybrid animated and live-action episode.