The new releases in theatres for Friday July 21 include Dunkirk (action drama), Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (sci-fi adventure), and Girls Trip (comedy). Currently in theatres, the top 5 films based on box office grosses are War for the Planet of the Apes (sci-fi action), Spider-Man: Homecoming (comic book action), Despicable Me 3 (animated comedy), Baby Driver (crime action), and The Big Sick (romantic comedy).

Dunkirk is a World War II era action drama written and directed by Christopher Nolan who last had the same duties on Interstellar (2014 sci-fi adventure starring Matthew McConaughey) and is best known for Inception (2010 sci-fi action starring Leonardo DiCaprio) and the Dark Knight trilogy (2005-2012 starring Christian Bale). Partly filmed with IMAX cameras, this movie is based on some true events as allied soldiers are surrounded by the German army and an evacuation is attempted. It stars Fionn Whitehead, whose only other acting credit is a 3 episode mini series Him (2016 fantasy drama), Damien Bonnard who was last in the French language Based on a True Story (2017 comedy mystery directed by Roman Polanski), One Direction’s Harry Styles, and a few more seasoned actors such as Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy, and Kenneth Branagh.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a science fiction, action adventure, visual spectical written and directed by Luc Besson who most recently wrote Enter The Warriors Gate (2016 action fantasy), and wrote and directed Lucy (2014 sci-fi action starring Scarlett Johansson). The film is about two special operatives that must protect the universe from a dangerous menace and while Besson wrote the screenplay, he is basing the film on the original comic line first published in 1967. Dane DeHaan was most recently in A Cure for Wellness (2016 horror) and Cara Delevingne was last in Suicide Squad (2016 comic book action with Will Smith), both actors will again be seen later this year in the romantic drama Tulip Fever. Other actors appearing in the film are Clive Owen, Rihanna, and Ethan Hawke.

Girls Trip is a comedy made for adults that had a trailer with plenty of laughs and is directed by Malcolm D. Lee and written by Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver, all 3 of which had the same roles for Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016 comedy starring Ice Cube). It is about 4 long time girl friends who take a trip to New Orleans and party like there is no tomorrow. The 4 friends are Regina Hall (When the Bough Breaks, 2016 horror), Queen Latifah (Miracles from Heaven, 2016 drama with Jennifer Garner), Jada Pinkett Smith (Bad Moms, 2016 comedy with Mila Kunis), and Tiffany Haddish (Keanu, 2016 comedy with Key and Peele).

Links
Dunkirk – 8.9
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets – 7.0
Girls Trip – 5.9
War for the Planet of the Apes – 8.1
Spider-man: Homecoming – 8.0
Despicable Me 3 – 6.4
Baby Driver – 8.3
The Big Sick – 8.2
Box Office Mojo