20 of the biggest movies that will try to convince you to return to theaters this summer

Thirteen movie studios gathered together Wednesday morning at AMC Century City 15 in Los Angeles, California, to celebrate the return of movies to the cinema at an event called "The Big Screen is Back."

Insider was among a small group of press invited to an over three-hour presentation, which highlighted a number of upcoming releases set to hit theaters between now and August.

Special guest Arnold Schwarzenegger opened the event by hyping up a return to theaters.

"You can call me anything you want. You can call me Schnitzel, Arnie, Schwarzy, whatever you want, but don't ever call me a self-made man," Schwarzenegger said in his opening remarks. "The reason why I'm saying that is because I wouldn't be here if it wouldn't be for the theaters."

"Yes, we have seen over this last year that people watched movies on their little iPhone and iPad, and they had to put their glasses on to see what's going on there. They're missing the special effects and the visual effects," he continued.

The event was largely a collaborative effort between rival studios supporting each other's work in an effort to woo back moviegoers. The coronavirus pandemic caused the domestic box office to hit a 40-year low in 2020.

Studio executives, directors, and stars explained why their movies were worth making the trip out to theaters. Ironically, much of the talent skipped the live event to present from the safety of their own homes. And strangely, some studios decided to skip out on previewing some of their most anticipated films ("The Suicide Squad," "Space Jam," "Candyman," "The Forever Purge," and "Luca" didn't show any footage).

"Now, it's time to get back to the big screen," Schwarzenegger said, citing the over 100,000 people movie theaters employ in the United States and businesses outside of theaters. "Those are the people that sacrificed so much this last year."

Schwarzenegger closed his opening statement with a nod to his most famous movie line, saying, "We are back," and encouraging the crowd to chant along with him.

"The conversation around movies in our culture just hasn't been the same the last 15 months," said Rolando Rodriguez, chairman of the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) and CEO of Marcus Theatres. "Theaters are important to our economy."

From exclusive "Fast 9" footage to an upcoming Nicolas Cage movie where someone steals Cage's pet pig, here are the most exciting movies that were teased to us on Wednesday.

Release date: May 28

John Krasinski's sequel to the 2018 hit is exactly the sort of film you would head to theaters to see. Starting off almost immediately where the first movie left off, the film follows Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and her three children as they try and avoid the blind, human-killing monsters who have invaded the Earth.

I had the opportunity to see this film early and it more than lives up to the hype. Sound is integral to the understanding of this world, and unless you have a Dolby setup in your home, this is an experience that cannot be replicated outside of theaters. I was tense watching it the entire time.

It's like "The Last of Us" meets "Jurassic Park"/"Jurassic World."

Release date: May 28

The origin story follows the rise of the puppy-snatching, fur-coat fashionista, Cruella de Vil. Despite early comparisons to "Joker" and "The Devil Wears Prada," the film has been receiving positive social-media reactions.

"Cruella" is set in 1970s London during a punk-rock revolution. You can watch a trailer here.

Release date: June 11 in theaters and on HBO Max

Warner Bros. kicked off the presentation with an eight-minute preview of its next release, "In the Heights," from director Jon M. Chu ("Crazy Rich Asians") and creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.

"When I was making 'In the Heights' with Lin-Manuel Miranda, I knew we wanted to use every fiber of the cinema experience to express and show part of New York City — Washington Heights — and introduce it to the world," Chu said in a pre-recorded message.

The film, starring Anthony Ramos, Leslie Grace, and Corey Hawkins, is an adaptation of the musical of the same name, following the dreams and hopes of a few residents of Washington Heights in New York City.

I previously screened the film, and it's definitely a must-watch if you're a fan of Miranda. This will be HBO Max's "Hamilton." Having only watched it on a small computer screen before, the film made a bigger impression on a large screen where there weren't constant distractions nearby.

Surprisingly, WB didn't show off any footage from the studio's other highly-anticipated summer releases, "The Suicide Squad" and "Space Jam: A New Legacy," the latter of which stars LeBron James, who you would think any studio would want to utilize in a conversation about returning to theaters.

Release date: June 16

A sequel to the 2017 movie, Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson are back. This time, they're joined by Salma Hayek, who plays Jackson's wife. Antonio Banderas joins the cast for the follow-up film as well.

The trailer looks like everyone's having a blast and sometimes all you need out of a movie is a good time. Let's just put Ryan Reynolds (and Samuel L. Jackson) in everything.

Release date: June 18

Edgar Wright ("Baby Driver") directs this documentary on brothers Ron and Russell Mael. The duo is touted as "your favorite band's favorite band" who there is virtually no information on.

Wright decided to dig deep into why that is and who the two legends are.

Release date: June 25 (US)

Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and the Fast fam go against Cipher (Charlize Theron) once again in "Fast 9." But this time, it's even more personal.

Dom is going up against his long-lost brother, Jakob Toretto (John Cena), who we've somehow never heard about until now.

Universal pulled out the big guns and was one of the few studios to show off brand-new footage to press by unveiling the movie's first big action scene. It features that wild car jump from the trailers with Dom and Letty where the Charger appears to swing from a vine.

I was really surprised to see this scene because the trailers made it seem like that action stunt takes place way later in the film. If that's the film's first big stunt, I can't imagine where it's going by the end.

Star Jordana Brewster previously told me she's seen the film and that it's "awesome."

Release date: June 30

The autobiographical dramedy adapts a 148-tweet Twitter thread which follows the dissolution of a friendship between Zola (Taylour Paige) and Stefani (Riley Keough).

"I read it the night it came out. I was immediately obsessed with it. I sent it to my agent and my manager," said director Janizca Bravo of how she came to work on the film.

"I hope that the loudest note that the film carries is one of agency," Bravo added.

Release date: July 2 in theaters and on Hulu

Questlove's directorial debut showcases the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which took place that summer for six weeks and was largely overshadowed by Woodstock. The event celebrated African American music and culture. Questlove's documentary debuts footage from the festival for the first time.

It won the Grand Jury prize and audience award at Sundance.

Release date: July 9

Marvel Studios' big return to theaters will be the long-delayed superhero movie starring Scarlett Johansson, reprising her role as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow one more time.

Disney didn't show off any new footage for the film. Instead, the studio showed the Marvel Studios' sizzle reel released at the top of the month.

If you're confused as to how we're getting a Black Widow solo movie after viewing "Avengers: Endgame," this film takes place between "Captain America: Civil War" and "Avengers: Infinity War" while Nat (Johansson) is on the run.

Release date: July 23

Sony Picture Animation's most popular animated franchise comes to an end with the fourth and final film in the series, which finds all of the monsters becoming human while one of the humans, Johnny, becomes a monster. It sounds like a twist on "Freaky Friday."

Release date: July 23

Shyamalan's next movie curiously wasn't mentioned during the presentation, but it was on press material handed out after the event. It's immensely intriguing.

According to the official synopsis, it follows a family as they discover they're rapidly aging on their vacation. Their entire lives are being reduced to one day. As with any Shyamalan film, you can likely bet there's some wild twist that can only be fully appreciated in a room full of strangers.

You can watch a trailer here.

Release date: July 23

I had little interest in a "G.I. Joe" prequel/origin story of Snake Eyes until I learned Henry Golding ("Crazy Rich Asians") and Andrew Koji ("Warrior") are in it.

If you haven't see "Warrior," Koji plays an excellent martial artist in the Bruce Lee-inspired Cinemax series. If the fight sequences in "Snake Eyes" are anything like those in "Warrior," then this will be worth a watch.

Release date: July 30

I'm still not sold on the tone of this movie, nor do I completely understand how Disney is turning its most tame attraction into a full-length movie, but it's usually a poor decision to bet against Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. All of his movies usually perform well at the box office.

If anyone is going to get people to return to theaters, it's probably The Rock.

Release date: August 13

The film follows Reynolds as a character in a video game who doesn't realize he's in a video game. You can read more about the film from when we previewed footage for it at NYCC in October 2019 here.

At Wednesday's event, Reynolds got one of the biggest laughs in the room as he previewed his long-awaited movie.

"Hey there! It's Ryan Reynolds. How great is it to be back in a movie theater? Well, you are! I'm not," Reynolds said in a pre-recorded message.

"I'm in Hugh Jackman's house. He has no idea," Reynolds added, referencing his longstanding fake feud with the actor. "I am so excited that actual audiences are going to come together in a real movie theater... This movie was made to be seen on the big screen and there are moments that are literally made bigger and better because you're experiencing them with other people."

Reynolds said he and director Shawn Levy worked hard to make "Free Guy" an event for everyone who was separated during the pandemic.

"If this film can bring even a few moments of feel-good and togetherness, well then it will all have been worth it," Reynolds said.

Release date: August 20

Anna (Maggie Q) stops at nothing to hunt down the killer of her close friend and mentor. This leads her to going up against a man named Rembrandt (Michael Keaton).

Not only does Maggie Q look like an absolute warrior in the trailer, but I had a bit more respect for this film since the star was one of the rare ones to be there in person to present. Samuel L. Jackson is also in this film.

Release date: August 20

Movies usually don't scare or creep me out too much. The first trailer for this film did nothing for me. But whatever footage 20th Century Studios conjured up to show off Wednesday had me wishing there was more for us to watch.

After the death of her husband, Beth (Rebecca Hall) is left alone in the home he built for them until she starts getting the impression he may not be completely gone.

"'The Night House' is my favorite kind of horror," director David Bruckner said at the event. "It utilizes the traditional tropes of the genre — in this case, gothic horror and the haunted house — to open a doorway into the inner psyche, to explore the struggle of one woman as she confronts the loss of a loved one, the possibility that she never really knew them, and the very questions of life after death or the absence thereof."

"It is a harrowing tale of unraveling, one that was designed for the big screen, intended to be seen with the energy of a room full of horror fans," he added.

Release date: August 23

Jennifer Hudson looks and sounds the part in MGM and United Artists' long-awaited Aretha Franklin biopic.

In behind-the-scenes footage shown for the movie, Hudson said she learned how to play the piano to more accurately portray the Queen of Soul. Hudson sang all of the music in the film live. This will likely be a big Oscar contender come awards season.

Release date: August 27

After giving us socially-relevant thrillers "Get Out" and "Us," Jordan Peele is producing another long-overdue film out late August.

"Candyman" was another film that was curiously absent from the presentation, but it was included on press materials after the event. Nia DaCosta directs this scary-looking update to the original film.

Release date: n/a

Nicolas Cage lives a solitary existence in the middle of the woods as a truffle farmer until one day his pet pig is stolen. Cage refuses to stop until he gets it back.

This movie basically looks like "John Wick," but with less murder. I didn't get the sense that Cage's character is the murdering type, but who knows?

The bottom line? No one wants to deal with an upset Nic Cage.

Release date: n/a

Antonson announced this film at Wednesday's event for the first time with a trailer.

"Inspired by this unprecedented moment in time, it chronicles seven stories by seven aueteurs from around the world," said Sumyi Antonson, senior vice president of marketing distribution at Neon.

Laura Poitras, Anthony Chen, Jafar Panahi, Malik Vitthal, David Lowery, Dominga Sotomayor, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul direct.