In ten years, the summer 2024 blockbuster season will be remembered for some of the biggest movie moments of the decade. From reuniting Deadpool and Wolverine for the first time since 2009 to bringing Will Smith back to the box office to turning Glen Powell into a leading man with Twisters, moviegoers have and will continue to witness amazing big-screen moments – all accompanied by some of the best songs you’ll hear in a cinema this year. Whether the killer soundtrack of A24’s MaXXXine or the infectious title tune of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, there’s a little something for every music fan to appreciate in theaters this summer.
1. Back to Black
Marisa Abela
Jack O'Connell
Eddie Marsan
Lesley Manville
Juliet Cowan
Bronson Webb
Ansu Kabia
Harley Bird
Michael S. Siegel
Matilda Thorpe
Ryan O'Doherty
Jeff Tunke
While Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Back to Black might do little to demystify the life of Amy Winehouse, it does at least attempt to show audiences a less salacious version of what is ultimately a deeply human story. And if nothing else, it will certainly pique the musical interest of moviegoers who may not have heard much of her work – particularly her titular second album, which serves as a focal point for the story. There are also plenty of hits to be enjoyed in the film from her debut album Frank, including “What Is It About Men” and “Know You Now.”
Find the full Back to Black soundtrack here.
2. Bad Boys: Ride or Die
Will Smith
Martin Lawrence
Vanessa Hudgens
Alexander Ludwig
Paola Nuñez
Eric Dane
Ioan Gruffudd
Jacob Scipio
Melanie Liburd
Tasha Smith
Rhea Seehorn
Tiffany Haddish
The big stories surrounding summer hit Bad Boys: Ride or Die concern its remarkable box office run and the return of controversial star Will Smith to the blockbuster scene. More quietly, however, it boasts a soundtrack full of both original music and beloved classics. Music fans will be able to hear sonic cameos from Flo Milli, the Black Eyed Peas, and even Smith himself – though one of the best needle drops comes in the form of Barry White’s “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love Babe,” which plays during one of the film’s many shootouts.
Find the full Bad Boys: Ride or Die soundtrack here.
3. The Bikeriders
Jodie Comer
Austin Butler
Tom Hardy
Michael Shannon
Mike Faist
Boyd Holbrook
Norman Reedus
Damon Herriman
Beau Knapp
Emory Cohen
Karl Glusman
Toby Wallace
After facing strike and distribution-related struggles, Jeff Nichols’ crime drama The Bikeriders finally made it to cinemas this summer, bringing audiences into the exclusive, dangerous, and surprisingly heartbreaking world of the Vandals Motorcycle Club. The story spans from the late ‘60s to the early ‘70s, and features a period-appropriate soundtrack to guide viewers through the years. By the time you see Austin Butler’s Benny Cross racing away from the police to Dale Hawkins’ “My Babe,” you’ll feel like a member of the club yourself.
Find the full The Bikeriders soundtrack here.
4. Kinds of Kindness
Emma Stone
Jesse Plemons
Willem Dafoe
Margaret Qualley
Hong Chau
Mamoudou Athie
Joe Alwyn
Hunter Schafer
Yorgos Stefanakos
Fadeke Adeola
Tessa Bourgeois
Kencil Mejia
Following his acclaimed 2023 fantasy drama Poor Things, auteur director Yorgos Lanthimos returned to cinemas with shocking speed and force, reuniting once more with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe for the nearly three-hour, multi-narrative surrealist drama Kinds of Kindness. Lanthimos explores themes of connection, socialization, and death through three different stories. Much in the same way actors Stone, Dafoe, and Jesse Plemmons appear in each one like a reverberating echo, the song “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by British pop duo Eurythmics can be heard multiple times throughout the story.
Find the full Kinds of Kindness soundtrack here.
5. A Quiet Place: Day One
Lupita Nyong'o
Joseph Quinn
Alex Wolff
Djimon Hounsou
Eliane Umuhire
Takunda Khumalo
Alfie Todd
Avy-Berry Worrall
Benjamin Wong
Michael Roberts
Gavin Fleming
Following back-to-back successes with his first two A Quiet Place films, actor-turned-director and producer John Krasinski sought to expand the universe of his sci-fi horror series by venturing backward. With the help of Michael Sarnoski (Pig) and actors Lupita Nyong’o and Stranger Things breakout Joseph Quinn, he unearthed the beginning of the apocalypse with the prequel A Quiet Place: Day One. As tense and thrilling as the film is throughout its brisk runtime, no scene is quite as haunting as one set to Nina Simone’s cover of “Feelin’ Good,” so much so it might just change the way you hear the song forever.
Find the full A Quiet Place: Day One soundtrack here.
6. Despicable Me 4
Steve Carell
Kristen Wiig
Joey King
Will Ferrell
Sofía Vergara
Miranda Cosgrove
Dana Gaier
Madison Polan
Pierre Coffin
Steve Coogan
Stephen Colbert
Chloe Fineman
For better or worse, Illumination is widely known at this point for filling their films with all manner of licensed music – even when adapting The Super Mario Bros. But when it comes to the Despicable Me series, their slapdash soundtracking strangely works. Whether because it's their flagship franchise or because there’s something so inherently chaotic about the films already, it’s hard to bat an eye when this year's Despicable Me 4 jumps from Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher” to the BTS hit “Dynamite” in the span of a few scenes. And, as usual, musician Pharell Williams makes an appearance with “Double Life,” a dangerously catchy single that also might be yet another shot fired at Canadian artist Drake this year.
Find the full Despicable Me 4 soundtrack here.
7. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
Eddie Murphy
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Taylour Paige
Judge Reinhold
John Ashton
Paul Reiser
Bronson Pinchot
Kevin Bacon
Jameison Walker II
Tony Jones
Ed Cali
Brandon Edward Butler
The fact that we got a Beverly Hills Cop sequel in 2024 is admittedly kinda odd – but warranted if only for the resurgence of Harold Faltermeyer’s iconic theme “Axel F.” Eddie Murphy returns for the Netflix sequel as Axel Foley, an unconventionally effective police detective who keeps getting dragged back to Los Angeles for one crime or another. To promote the comeback of both Foley and his namesake song, Netflix went as far as reviving Crazy Frog for a Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F music video, spreading all the nostalgia needed for the series to find its audience once again.
Find the full Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F soundtrack here.
8. MaXXXine
Mia Goth
Elizabeth Debicki
Moses Sumney
Michelle Monaghan
Bobby Cannavale
Halsey
Lily Collins
Giancarlo Esposito
Kevin Bacon
Chloe Farnworth
Deborah Geffner
Sophie Thatcher
Rising horror director Ti West has been crafting disturbing films for almost two decades at this point, but he became one to watch after his audacious 2022 double feature of X and its prequel Pearl. The two films – both starring Mia Goth as different characters – are drenched in sex, blood, and a clear love for music. West makes this love even more apparent with the trilogy’s final MaXXXine, where he not only brings back Animotion’s “Obsession,” but weaves in songs like “St. Elmo’s Fire” by John Parr and “Welcome to the Pleasuredome” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Of course, the film’s ultimate needle drop of Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes” is sure to make the song a viral hit among film circles this summer.
Find the full MaXXXine soundtrack here.
9. Twisters
Daisy Edgar-Jones
Glen Powell
Anthony Ramos
Brandon Perea
Maura Tierney
Harry Hadden-Paton
Sasha Lane
Daryl McCormack
Kiernan Shipka
Nik Dodani
David Corenswet
Tunde Adebimpe
Three decades after Jan de Bont’s Twister became one of the most impactful disaster films of all time, Universal Pictures and director Lee Isaac Chung finally made the inevitable Aliens-esque sequel Twisters. Starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Top Gun: Maverick favorite Glen Powell as two death-defying storm chasers, the film is set to create a whole new generation of fans for the original film. To evoke both the tone and setting of Twisters, production brought in country music star Luke Combs to write and perform an original single titled “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma.”
Find the full Twisters soundtrack here.
10. Deadpool & Wolverine
Ryan Reynolds
Hugh Jackman
Emma Corrin
Morena Baccarin
Rob Delaney
Leslie Uggams
Karan Soni
Matthew Macfadyen
Brianna Hildebrand
Shioli Kutsuna
Stefan Kapicic
Lewis Tan
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re likely well aware that Marvel Studios’ Deadpool and Wolverine is revving up to be the biggest film of the summer – maybe even the entire year. With both Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman returning as their titular X-Men characters (now making their joint Marvel Cinematic Universe debut), it’s easy to see why this would be the cinematic event of 2024. And to communicate the magnitude of this moment, the trailers made excellent use of the epic Madonna rock-gospel anthem “Like a Prayer.”
Find the full Deadpool & Wolverine soundtrack here.