9 New Movies Coming Out This Week: ‘Haunted Mansion,’ ‘Talk To Me,’ and More!

The new movies coming out this week have a little something for movie fans of all genres!

First up, we have a remake of a movie based on a Disneyland ride. Next is a horror film out of Australia. And then a rom-com about a woman going on a weeklong survival hike on the Appalachian Trail!

If that isn’t enough, we have an animated film that broke records in Japan, a documentary on two sisters trying to save as many dogs as they can from a life on the streets of Houston, and a comedy where a teen slumber party goes haywire.

New Movies Coming Out This Week: July 24, 2023 – July 30, 2023

Haunted Mansion  (2023)

Release Date: In theatres nationwide on Friday, July 28, 2023.

Rating: PG-13

Summary: In Haunted Mansion, a single mom, Gabbie (Rosario Dawson), has just bought a mansion, and it’s haunted. What’s mom to do but hire a tour guide, a psychic, a priest, and a historian to help exorcise the ghosts?

What to Watch For: The all-star cast includes Winona Ryder, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jared Leto, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, LaKeith Stanfield, and Tiffany Haddish.

Word on the Street: At one time, Guillermo del Toro was to helm the picture, and after being seen riding the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland with del Toro, Ryan Gosling was attached to the film as well.

My Take: This is a total reboot of the 2003 film that starred Eddie Murphy. We can only hope.

Talk To Me  (2023)

Release Date: In Select theatres on Friday, July 28, 2023.

Rating: R

Summary: Talk to Me is about a group of friends who have come across an embalmed hand with mysterious tattoos. They soon discover that they can use it to conjure spirits, which becomes their favorite game to play. Until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.

What to Watch For: The film is from Australia and received major production backing from film studios there.

Word on the Street: This is the first feature film from Australian YouTube Channel RackaRacka creators Danny and Michael Philippou.

My Take: RackaRacka, known for its intense live-action horror comedy videos, has gained 2 billion views and 7 million subscribers across Facebook and YouTube..

Happiness for Beginners  (2023)

Release Date: Premiering on Netflix on Thursday, July 27, 2023.

Rating: N/A

Summary: Happiness for Beginners is about Helen (Ellie Kemper), who year after getting divorced and stuck in a rut, signs up for a week-long wilderness survival course on the Appalachian Trail. Her fellow hikers are a mess, but it does include her brother’s best friend, Jake (Luke Grimes). Can Helen survive long enough on the trail to fall in love?

What to Watch For: The film is based on the best-selling book of the same name by Katherine Center.

Word on the Street: Director and co-writer Vicky Wight also adapted Katherine Center’s The Lost Husband for the 2020 film, which stars Leslie Bibb and Josh Duhamel.

My Take: I love that Ellie Kemper said she picked this project because her character Helen is a grump and not like the optimistic characters she has played in the past.

The First Slam Dunk  (2022)

Release Date: In theatres on Friday, July 28, 2023.

Rating: PG-13

Summary: In the animated film The First Slam Dunk, seventeen-year-old Ryota is trying to follow his late brother’s dream of being a basketball star. It’s hard to follow in the footsteps of someone who cast such a large shadow.

What to Watch For: The film is based on filmmaker Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk manga series.

Word on the Street: The film has been a huge worldwide hit, with a box office so big in Japan that it has become their fifth highest-grossing anime film of all time.

My Take: The film has won major awards, including the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year.

For the Animals  (2023)

Release Date: In select theatres and On-Demand on Friday, July 28, 2023.

Rating: N/A

Summary: For the Animals is a documentary highlighting the activism of sisters Tena and Tama Lundquist Faust, as they work to place stray dogs in Houston in loving homes.

What to Watch For: Shot during the COVID outbreak in 2020, the film shows the sisters working against shelters that use euthanasia to battle overcrowding.

Word on the Street: The film is co-directed by Sadhvi Anubhuti and Sadhvi Siddhali Shree, who worked together on the award-winning 2017 documentary Stopping Traffic: The Movement to End Sex-Trafficking.

My Take: I love dogs and applaud anyone who works for more dogs to be rescued to loving homes.

The Slumber Party  (2023)

Release Date: Premieres on The Disney Channel on Thursday, July 27, 2023, and on Disney+ on Friday, July 28, 2023.

Rating: N/A

Summary: The Slumber Party is about a sleepover that goes wrong when a group of teens invite a hypnotist (Tituss Burgess) to the party, and the gang wakes up the next day with no memories of the night before. It’s time to find out what the heck happened, including why there is a flock of baby ducks in the bathtub!

What to Watch For: The cast includes Emmy Liu-Wang, Alex Cooper Cohen, Darby Camp, and Valentina Herrera as the sleepover party goers.

Word on the Street: The film is directed by Veronica Rodriquez, who has won awards for her 2021 TV movie Let’s Get Married, and her 2016 short Hummingbird & Crane.

My Take: I think Tituss Burgess can improve any project by just being in it.

Kokomo City  (2023) 

Release Date: In theatres on Friday, July 28, 2023.

Rating: R

Summary: Kokomo City is a documentary that shows the lives of four black transgender sex workers living in New York and Georgia as they confront the dichotomy between the black community and themselves.

What to Watch For: The film has been a hit on the film festival circuit, including winning two awards at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

What to Watch For: One of the trans workers, Koko da Doll, was found dead in April 2023 from a gunshot wound in Southwest Atlanta.

My Take: I missed the screening at this year’s Atlanta Film Festival, so I will catch this documentary at the theatre this time.

The Unknown Country  (2022)

Release Date: In select theatres on Friday, July 28, 2023.

Rating: N/A

Summary: In The Unknown Country, Tana (Lily Gladstone) has just lost her grandmother, who she was caring for. She gets an unexpected call to come to her cousin’s wedding and sets out on a road trip across the Midwest in her trusty car. It’s a trip that Tana will learn about herself and the people she meets along the way.

What to Watch For: The film was co-written by Lily Gladstone.

Word on the Street: Filmmaker Morrisa Maltz, who co-wrote the script with Gladstone and Lainey Bearkiller Shangreaux, was nominated for the Adam Yauch Hornblower Award at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival for the film.

My Take: I think Lily Gladstone (First Cow (2020), Certain Women (2017)) is an actor to watch as she gets better and better with each role.

Tom Cruise: The Last Movie Star  (2023)

Release Date: Premieres On Demand on Friday, July 28, 2023.

Rating: N/A

Summary: The documentary Tom Cruise: The Last Movie Star is about one of the world’s biggest movie stars, but it hasn’t always been a smooth ride. The documentary tells the story of Cruise’s troubles starting in 2005 and his way back to making him the star he is today.

What to Watch For: The film features interviews with leading film critics, including Richard Roeper (Chicago Sun-Times), A.A. Dowd (AV Club), Dan Jolin (Empire Magazine), and Bilge Ebiri (The New Yorker).

Word on the Street: The film is produced by the team of Tom O’Dell and Elio Espana (How the Beatles Changed the World and Rise of the Superheroes).

My Take: Tom Cruise is a fascinating subject and a person who clearly loves movies.

Which New Movies Coming Out This Week Are You Excited to Watch?

Let us know below what new movies you plan to see this week!