Pass the popcorn, the summer movie season is here and all the spectacle and air-conditioned respite it offers audiences. Summer at the movies has long been synonymous with blockbusters and franchises that are easy to spend a few hours with. For the most part, 2019 is no different.

You want superheroes? YouB次元官网网址檝e got B次元官网网址淪pider-Man: Far From HomeB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淒ark PhoenixB次元官网网址� on the horizon. Or sequels? ThereB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淭oy Story 4,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淛ohn Wick: Chapter 3 B次元官网网址� Parabellum,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址滸odzilla: King of the Monsters,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址漈he Secret Life of Pets 2,B次元官网网址� and even a B次元官网网址淔ast & FuriousB次元官网网址� spin-off, B次元官网网址淗obbs & Shaw.B次元官网网址� How about a reboot with a casting twist? Look no further than the B次元官网网址淒irty Rotten ScoundrelsB次元官网网址� update B次元官网网址淭he Hustle,B次元官网网址� with Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson, or B次元官网网址淢en In Black: International,B次元官网网址� with Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth. Biopics? B次元官网网址淩ocketmanB次元官网网址� is coming and B次元官网网址淏rian BanksB次元官网网址� too. A literary adaptation? ThereB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淭he Sun Is Also a StarB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淲hereB次元官网网址檇 You Go Bernadette?B次元官网网址� Or a remake of an animated classic? Disney has you covered with two: B次元官网网址淎laddinB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淭he Lion King.B次元官网网址�

But there is also a world of original films that will add fresh stories, unique perspectives, depth and diversity to the mix. And theyB次元官网网址檙e not all indies either. Some studios are making big gestures, with original horrors, comedies and major releases from auteurs: Quentin Tarantino has his 1969 Manson-era Los Angeles film B次元官网网址淥nce Upon a Time in Hollywood,B次元官网网址� which Sony will release; and Danny Boyle has B次元官网网址淵esterday,B次元官网网址� coming from Universal.

B次元官网网址淵esterday,B次元官网网址� while a fresh conceit, does have a big recognizable selling point: ItB次元官网网址檚 about the music of The Beatles and what happens when everyone in the world forgets that they ever existed B次元官网网址� except one struggling musician.

Boyle laughed that the songs are B次元官网网址渂oth the enabler and the destroyer. Because if you get them wrong, itB次元官网网址檚 terrible, thereB次元官网网址檚 nothing worse. If you get them right, it gives you an advantage.B次元官网网址�

He even made the bold choice to cast a relatively unknown actor in the lead role.

B次元官网网址淎ny studio is going to prefer one of the leading men if you can get it,B次元官网网址� Boyle said. B次元官网网址淏ut thereB次元官网网址檚 a natural inhibitor here: TheyB次元官网网址檝e got to be able to play Beatles songs.B次元官网网址�

The one who stood out in a sea of B次元官网网址淵esterdayB次元官网网址� auditions was Himesh Patel, who Boyle said made them sound new.

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B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not cheap making a Beatles movie. The Beatles songs cost money. But (the studio) saw the audition and they bought into him,B次元官网网址� Boyle said. B次元官网网址淗eB次元官网网址檚 a lovely discovery. He has a modern sense of humour.B次元官网网址�

ItB次元官网网址檚 not the only big original movie coming out this summer featuring a South Asian lead, either. ThereB次元官网网址檚 the Bruce Springsteen-soundtracked film B次元官网网址淏linded by the Light,B次元官网网址� from B次元官网网址淏end It Like BeckhamB次元官网网址� director Gurinder Chadha , the Uber driver who gets in over his head comedy B次元官网网址淪tuber,B次元官网网址� with Kumail Nanjiani, and Mindy KalingB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淟ate Night,B次元官网网址� in which she plays a diversity hire on a late night talk show writing staff.

ThereB次元官网网址檚 also diversity in the independent realm with two notable and highly personal visions manifested in Lulu WangB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淭he Farewell,B次元官网网址� with Awkwafina, and B次元官网网址淭he Last Black Man in San Francisco,B次元官网网址� both A24 releases.

WangB次元官网网址檚 semi-autobiographical film about a Chinese-American family who decides to keep their Chinese grandmotherB次元官网网址檚 terminal illness from her, was a breakout at the Sundance Film Festival.

B次元官网网址淭o have an entire film of Asian faces and then have it predominantly be not English language, but to still have it be American financed and distributed and marketed as a US production is not the usual,B次元官网网址� Wang said.

B次元官网网址淭he Last Black Man in San FranciscoB次元官网网址� is another exciting discovery from newcomer Jimmie Fails who wrote and stars in this story about gentrification and loving a home thatB次元官网网址檚 no longer yours.

B次元官网网址淚 love that company,B次元官网网址� Fails said of A24. B次元官网网址淭hey give young, new voices a platform.B次元官网网址�

Another outfit taking gambles on new stories is Annapurna, which backed Olivia WildeB次元官网网址檚 directorial debut B次元官网网址淏ooksmart,B次元官网网址� a sure-to-be breakout about two high school overachievers and devoted good girls who decide to go to a party one night.

Focus Features is releasing Jim JarmuschB次元官网网址檚 star-studded zombie-comedy, B次元官网网址淭he Dead DonB次元官网网址檛 Die,B次元官网网址� with Bill Murray and Adam Driver, and Neon has B次元官网网址淲ild Rose,B次元官网网址� about an Irish mother of two youngsters, recently released from prison, who dreams of being a country music star.

Some found luck with Netflix, like Amy Poehler with B次元官网网址淲ine Country,B次元官网网址� which is based on a real trip she took with Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch and others. In the film, the group of friends gets together in Napa to celebrate a 50th birthday.

B次元官网网址淭here are just not enough representations of long female relationships,B次元官网网址� Poehler said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e obsessed with the beginnings and endings of things and thereB次元官网网址檚 so much to tell in the middle.B次元官网网址�

The film will be getting a limited theatrical run, too, but she likes that audiences will have the option to watch it with wine and then just roll into bed if they want.

B次元官网网址淭he summer can be a land of opportunity for films that offer an antidote to the overwhelming onslaught of blockbusters that are the stock in trade of the industryB次元官网网址檚 biggest season,B次元官网网址� said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore.

Of course itB次元官网网址檚 usually the franchises that earn the most. Last summer the top five films were all sequels and accounted for over 40 per cent of the overall summer box office. The last time a non-animated original topped the summer box office was in 1998 with B次元官网网址淪aving Private Ryan.B次元官网网址� And this year needs all the help it can get, even with the B次元官网网址淎vengers: EndgameB次元官网网址� boost, the year is still down 13.3% .

But the originals have a chance to provide upside. ThereB次元官网网址檚 rarely the kind of grassroots-level buzz as when something truly fresh comes along.

B次元官网网址淟ast summer was a great example of how original and fresh concepts were big drivers during the summer months with B次元官网网址楾he Meg,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址楥razy Rich Asians,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址楤ook Club,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址楾agB次元官网网址� as well as the documentary B次元官网网址榃onB次元官网网址檛 You Be My Neighbour?B次元官网网址� all performing better than expected at the box office,B次元官网网址� noted Dergarabedian.

And itB次元官网网址檚 something that creators and studios are fighting to preserve.

B次元官网网址淧eople like original content and are excited when there are good original movies. I think they also like big franchises but I think thereB次元官网网址檚 room for both,B次元官网网址� said Seth Rogen, who produced two original films this summer with B次元官网网址淟ong ShotB次元官网网址� and the sixth graders go wild film B次元官网网址淕ood Boys.B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址漇tudios have an appetite for both.B次元官网网址�

Plus, Boyle hopes that even with all the possibilities on television and streaming that thereB次元官网网址檚 still specialness to going to the theatres to see something new.

B次元官网网址淭elevision is endless time, in a way,B次元官网网址� Boyle said. B次元官网网址淏ut movies, you go and you give two hours of your time to one thing, and youB次元官网网址檙e not going to be distracted. You sit there and you go, take me somewhere and transform me. ItB次元官网网址檚 wonderful to be able to do that. The spotlight is so much more precious.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址� AP Entertainment Reporter Ryan Pearson contributed from Las Vegas.

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press