Every Movie Coming to Theaters This Week, Including ‘Honey Don’t!’
There is a little something for everyone hitting the big screen this week. Horror fans get slashers old and new, concert die hards can catch a one night music event, and animation lovers have a towering mythic sequel plus a Studio Ghibli classic. Releases roll out from Monday through Saturday, so you can plan your tickets around the exact dates each title arrives.
Below you will find all the movies opening between August 18 and August 23. Each entry includes plot and creative team details, plus the day it lands in theaters. Titles of other films and shows are always in single quotes so they are easy to spot while you skim.
‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ (1974)
Tobe Hooper directs and co writes this landmark slasher that follows Sally Hardesty and her friends as a road trip detours into a rural nightmare with Leatherface and his cannibal family. Starring Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain, Jim Siedow, and Gunnar Hansen, the restored 83 minute cut returns to theaters on August 18, 2025 as part of a special celebration of the film’s infamous timeline.
Hooper co writes with Kim Henkel and shoots with cinematographer Daniel Pearl, blending documentary style grit with carefully staged terror. The production from Vortex Inc. became a cult phenomenon after its 1974 debut and later launched a long running franchise that includes sequels, prequels, remakes, and games, all orbiting the original’s relentless tone and final girl template.
‘YUNGBLUD. Are You Ready, Boy?’ (2025)
The feature length music documentary opens in theaters on August 20, 2025 with additional playdates in select markets. Directed by concert film veteran Paul Dugdale, it follows Yungblud as he records and performs at Berlin’s Hansa Studios while reflecting on identity, creativity, and the making of his latest music. The film runs 1 hour and 59 minutes and is distributed in cinemas by Trafalgar Releasing.
The documentary captures new performances along with candid material from the studio and the road. Shot at the historic Hansa complex that hosted artists featured in other music history chapters, it aims to chronicle an artist defining his voice while spotlighting collaborators and production choices behind the setlist.
‘The Map That Leads to You’ (2025)
Arriving August 20, 2025, this romantic drama stars Madelyn Cline as Heather and KJ Apa as Jack, whose chance meeting during a European trip upends careful life plans. The story follows Heather’s summer with friends as it turns into a whirlwind connection that tests secrets and big decisions. The cast also includes Madison Thompson, Sofia Wylie, Orlando Norman, and Josh Lucas.
The movie is directed by Lasse Hallström and adapted from J. P. Monninger’s novel by Les Bohem and Vera Herbert. Produced by Amazon MGM Studios with Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, and John Fischer among the producers, it uses locations across Europe to chart a coming of age romance through Heather’s point of view.
‘Hell House LLC: Lineage’ (2025)
Opening August 20, 2025, this new entry in the found footage franchise is written and directed by Stephen Cognetti and is billed as the fifth and final chapter. Elizabeth Vermilyea returns as Vanessa Shepherd, whose visions draw her back into the mysteries connecting the Abaddon Hotel and the Carmichael estate as deaths mount in the region. The cast includes Searra Sawka, Mike Sutton, Joe Bandelli, and Cayla Berejikian.
Produced by Cognetti Films with Shudder involvement and theatrical bookings via Iconic Events, the film continues the franchise’s faux investigative format with Brian Keenan serving as cinematographer. The plot threads pull together locations and figures from ‘Hell House LLC’ through ‘Hell House LLC Origins’ to close the mythology around Abaddon.
‘Primitive War’ (2025)
Luke Sparke directs this adaptation of Ethan Pettus’s novel, opening August 21, 2025. Set in Vietnam in 1968, the story follows Vulture Squad on a rescue mission after a Green Beret platoon goes missing in a sealed jungle valley, where the soldiers encounter de extinct dinosaurs. The ensemble includes Ryan Kwanten, Tricia Helfer, Jeremy Piven, Nick Wechsler, and Anthony Ingruber.
Pettus co writes the screenplay with Sparke, keeping the novel’s mashup of war movie grit and creature survival. With a listed runtime of 2 hours and 15 minutes, the production stages period combat hardware against prehistoric threats and uses the unit’s recon tactics to drive escalating encounters.
‘Ne Zha 2’ (2025)
The fantasy epic opens wide on August 22, 2025, continuing the saga of the mythic hero Nezha and his bond with Ao Bing after a catastrophic event reshapes their fates. Directed and written by Yu Yang, also known as Jiaozi, the film features the original Mandarin voice cast with an English language dub led by Michelle Yeoh as Lady Yin for the international rollout.
Running 2 hours and 23 minutes, the sequel builds on the first film’s blend of folklore and modern animation techniques with thousands of shots and large scale effects. CMC Pictures handles the theatrical release in North America with a wide footprint, while the story emphasizes family, acceptance, and a hero’s struggle to choose his own path.
‘Diva’ (1981)
The celebrated French thriller returns in a 2025 re release on August 22, 2025. Directed by Jean Jacques Beineix and adapted from Daniel Odier’s novel, it stars Wilhelmenia Fernandez as opera singer Cynthia Hawkins and Frédéric Andréi as Jules, a postal worker whose bootleg recording and a separate incriminating tape place him in a chase through Paris. The cast includes Roland Bertin and Richard Bohringer.
The film helped define the cinéma du look movement with bold color design, pop art composition, and a synth driven score by Vladimir Cosma. Production credits include writers Beineix and Jean Van Hamme, with cinematography by Philippe Rousselot, and the new release offers audiences a chance to see the restored 1 hour and 57 minute cut in theaters.
‘Lurker’ (2025)
Opening August 22, 2025, this thriller follows Matthew, a retail worker who insinuates himself into the orbit of rising pop star Oliver, blurring the line between fandom and friendship. Théodore Pellerin plays Matthew and Archie Madekwe plays Oliver, with Sunny Suljic and Cam Hicks in key supporting roles.
The feature marks the directorial debut of Alex Russell, who also writes, and it examines access, image making, and the predatory side of proximity in modern celebrity culture. The listed runtime is 1 hour and 40 minutes, and the release arrives in theaters via MUBI’s distribution arm after a festival run that introduced the film’s tense character study.
‘Splitsville’ (2025)
The comedy opens August 22, 2025 in limited release before expanding, with Michael Angelo Covino directing from a script he co writes with Kyle Marvin. The story follows two couples whose comfortable arrangement implodes after a divorce request and a crossed line expose fragile boundaries. The ensemble includes Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Kyle Marvin, Michael Angelo Covino, Nicholas Braun, David Castañeda, and O T Fagbenle.
The 1 hour and 40 minute feature premiered at Cannes in the official selection and is produced by Neon, Topic Studios, Watch This Ready, and TeaTime Pictures with music by David Wingo and Dabney Morris and cinematography by Adam Newport Berra. Johnson also produces, while the film’s edit by Sara Shaw keeps the weekend getaway structure tight as the fallout spirals.
‘Hollywood Grit’ (2025)
Arriving August 22, 2025, this action thriller centers on a fallen detective searching for his missing daughter after she disappears from a Los Angeles jazz club. Max Martini leads the cast alongside Tyrese Gibson, Linda Purl, and Patrick Duffy, with Caylee Cowan also appearing. The runtime is 1 hour and 42 minutes.
Ryan Curtis directs and produces along with a team that includes Scott Adler and David B. Meadows. The plot threads the club scene with underworld figures and an investigation that pulls in corrupt power brokers, positioning a parent’s rescue mission against a neon soaked city backdrop.
‘Honey Don’t!’ (2025)
Focus Features releases this neo noir dark comedy on August 22, 2025. Ethan Coen directs and co writes with Tricia Cooke, following private investigator Honey O’Donahue as she probes suspicious deaths tied to a secretive church in Bakersfield. Margaret Qualley stars as Honey, with Aubrey Plaza as a cop who crosses her path and Chris Evans as a charismatic preacher.
The film runs 1 hour and 28 minutes and continues Coen and Cooke’s planned trilogy that began with ‘Drive Away Dolls’. Ari Wegner serves as cinematographer, Carter Burwell provides the score, and the ensemble includes Charlie Day, Billy Eichner, Talia Ryder, Gabby Beans, and Lera Abova among others after a world premiere in Cannes’ Midnight Screenings.
‘Eden’ (2024)
Vertical opens Ron Howard’s survival thriller in the United States on August 22, 2025, with a story based on true events on Floreana Island in the Galápagos. Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Daniel Brühl, Sydney Sweeney, Felix Kammerer, Toby Wallace, and Richard Roxburgh lead the ensemble as a group of settlers whose utopian dream collapses when isolation and human conflict overtake them.
Howard directs from a script by Noah Pink, with music by Hans Zimmer and cinematography by Mathias Herndl. The feature runs 2 hours and 9 minutes and previously premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, later rolling out internationally before the domestic theatrical release.
‘The Balconettes’ (2024)
Opening August 22, 2025, Noémie Merlant directs, co writes, and stars in this comedy horror set in Marseille during a relentless heat wave. The story follows three roommates who watch their neighbors from their balcony until a late night visit turns into a violent mess that forces them to stick together. The cast includes Souheila Yacoub, Sanda Codreanu, Merlant, and Lucas Bravo.
Merlant co writes with Céline Sciamma and works with producer Pierre Guyard and composer Uèle Lamore. The film runs 1 hour and 44 minutes and premiered in Cannes’ Midnight Screenings, where it was noted for its punk energy and genre blending approach to a story about friendship and fury.
‘Dongji Rescue’ (2025)
This war drama opens August 22, 2025 and dramatizes the 1942 sinking of the ‘Lisbon Maru’ and the rescue of British prisoners of war by Chinese fishers near Dongji Island. The cast features Zhu Yilong, Ni Ni, Wu Lei, and Haoyu Yang. The film uses large scale rescue set pieces to depict the operation and the peril on the occupied coast.
The production is directed by Fei Zhenxiang with Guan Hu also credited on the project and was mounted as a major historical spectacle with location work and extensive water photography. The story follows two brothers whose choices intertwine with a British prisoner, while the rescue effort becomes a symbol of solidarity during wartime.
‘Lilly Lives Alone’ (2025)
Dark Sky Films releases this psychological horror on August 22, 2025. The film follows a grieving mother whose drug fueled spiral is haunted by the ghost of her daughter across a long night. Jeffrey Combs appears in the supporting cast with Erin Way, Kent Shocknek, and Shannon Beeby. The listed runtime is 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Written and directed by Martin Melnick, the feature is produced under The Lilly Film banner with a focus on subjective point of view and fever dream imagery. The story’s structure uses the haunting to push the lead toward confronting guilt while secondary characters complicate her attempt to escape the apartment and her past.
‘Ponyo’ (2008)
Studio Ghibli Fest 2025 brings Hayao Miyazaki’s hand drawn fantasy back to theaters on August 23, 2025. The story follows Sosuke, a five year old boy, and Ponyo, a goldfish princess who wants to live as a human, as a storm tests their bond and their seaside town. The English language voice cast includes Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Liam Neeson, Noah Cyrus, and Frankie Jonas.
Miyazaki writes and directs with music by Joe Hisaishi and production by Studio Ghibli. The feature runs 1 hour and 41 minutes and remains a showcase for Ghibli’s watercolor inspired palette and tactile animation, with screenings often offered in subtitled Japanese and English dub formats during the festival’s nationwide engagements.
Share which films you are planning to see this week in the comments so everyone can trade picks and make a weekend plan.
