Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Netflix’s Beverly Hills Cop 4, and all the new movies to stream this week

By James On Jul 3, 2024

Greetings, Polygon readers! Each week, we round up the most notable new releases for streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.

This week, Beverly Hills Cop 4: Axel Foleythe new buddy cop action film starring Eddie Murphy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, debuts on Netflix alongside The imaginarythe latest animated fantasy from former Studio Ghibli animator and now director Yoshiyuki Momose. There are many more exciting releases this week, including Godzilla x Kong: The New Kingdom on Max, Space Cadet on Prime Video, the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to black on Peacock, and much more.

Here’s everything new to check out this weekend!

New on Netflix

Beverly Hills Cop 4: Axel Foley

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

Photo: Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix

Genre: Action comedy
Playing time: 1h 55m
Director: Mark Molloy
Form: Eddie Murphy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Taylor Paige

Eddie Murphy reprises his role as Detective Alex “Axel” Foley in the first Beverly Hills Cop sequel in 30 years. This time, Axel teams up with Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), his new partner and his estranged daughter’s ex-boyfriend, to get to the heart of a conspiracy that threatens all of Los Angeles.

The imaginary

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix from July 5

Genre: Fantasy
Playing time: 1h 45m
Director: Yoshiyuki-momose
Form: Kokoro Terada, Rio Suzuki, Sakura Ando

From Studio Ponoc, the Japanese animation studio behind Mary and the Witch’s Flower, The imaginary follows a young girl and her imaginary friend as they delve deeper into the vivid world of the girl’s imagination. But each imaginary friend faces the same impending fate: disappearing when their creator forgets them.

From our review:

The imaginary is not as visually or narratively rich as Mary and the Witch’s Floweror just as transcendent as Miyazaki projects like The boy and the heron. But it does feel like a step in the right direction for Ponoc, an attempt to find his own voice and his own footing. It may not be remembered with the same fiery passion as Ghibli’s early projects decades from now, but if Ponoc keeps experimenting and branching out, it could well be remembered as the first step toward carving out his own distinctive creative legacy, and stepping out of Ghibli’s shadow. In the meantime, it’s a dizzyingly exciting experience for young anime fans, a film aimed at visualizing what it’s like to daydream as a child, to enter a world of absolute imagination where everything else falls away.

Goyo

Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix from July 5

Genre: Romantic drama
Playing time: 1h 46m
Director: Carnival of Marcos
Form: Nicolás Furtado, Nancy Dupláa, Soledad Villamil

This Argentinian romantic drama follows a young autistic museum guide who falls for his charming new colleague Eva. She has been burned by love before, but the two are caught in an unexpected whirlwind of emotions as they figure out how to make their relationship work.

New on Hulu

The Monk and the Gun

Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu July 5

A group of villagers and monks admire an ancient rifle.

Genre: Comedy drama
Playing time: 1h 47m
Director: Pawo Choyning Dorji
Form: Tandin Wangchuk, Deki Lhamo, Pema Zangmo Sherpa

Set in Bhutan in the mid-2000s, in the aftermath of the king’s abdication, this satirical comedy follows the story of a young monk and an American gun collector as they vie for possession of a rare antique rifle. Meanwhile, the people of Bhutan hold a mock election in their tentative transition from a monarchy to a democracy.

New on Max

Godzilla x Kong: The New Kingdom

Where to watch: Available to stream on Maximum July 4th

Now friends, Godzilla and Kong race against an unseen threat in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Genre: Monstrous action
Playing time: 1h 55m
Director: Adam Wingard
Form: Godzilla, Kong, Rebecca Hall

The boys are back in town. The boys are of course Godzilla and Kong. Godzilla vs. Kong Director Adam Wingard returns for this team-up film that sees the big boys team up to stop an invasion from Hollow Earth.

From our review:

Godzilla x Kong (yes, it’s styled that way, like a streetwear collab) goes beyond “good” or “bad” or “movies.” It’s an arena show, a pro wrestler screaming into a squared circle, pounding his chest and cranking up the jumbotron hype meter before executing his signature move. Through brutally efficient pacing that minimizes what the script doesn’t care about (people, mostly) and maximizes what it does (giant monsters executing wrestling moves), it continually eschews connection in favor of escalation. It’s a feat of absurd spectacle, a comically foolish way to spend $135 million. I hope Warner Bros. keeps burning money like this.

New on Prime Video

Space Cadet

Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime video July 4th

Genre: Romantic comedy
Playing time: 1h 50m
Director: Liz W. Garcia
Form: Emma Roberts, Tom Hopper, Poppy Liu

Director Liz W. Garcia absolutely had Legally Blonde in mind when she imagined Space Cadet. Florida party girl Rex (Emma Roberts) finally gets her chance to live out her dream of becoming an astronaut—except she doesn’t realize her best friend has doctored her resume. But she’s determined to see the stars, so she throws herself wholeheartedly into NASA’s rigorous Astronaut Candidate Program.

New on MGM Plus

Snack house

Where to watch: Available to stream on Paramount Plus

A man in a yellow Nike shirt and a man in a pink shirt hold a piece of chicken in Snack Shack.

Genre: Comedy
Playing time: 1h 52m
Director: Adam Rehmeier
Form: Conor Sherry, Gabriel LaBelle, Mika Abdalla

A loosely autobiographical coming-of-age comedy set in 1991, Snack house follows two teenage boys (The Fabelmans‘ Gabriel LaBelle and newcomer Conor Sherry) open a poolside snack shop one summer. They both fall for the same sexy lifeguard, putting their friendship — and their business — to the test.

New on Paramount Plus

Memory

Where to watch: Available to stream on Paramount Plus

A bearded man and a red-haired woman sit next to each other in a forest.

Genre: Drama
Playing time: 1h 43m
Director: Michel Franco
Form: Jessica Chastain, Peter Sarsgaard, Merritt Wever

Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) stars in this new film about a troubled social worker who meets Saul (Peter Sarsgaard), a former classmate suffering from early-onset dementia. When she is hired to care for Saul, they form an unlikely bond over their shared trauma.

New on Peacock

Back to black

Where to watch: Available to stream on Peacock July 5

A woman (Marisa Abela) with a beehive hairdo and black eyeliner stands bewildered on a stage, while the band members cheer in the background in Back to Black.

Genre: Biographical drama
Playing time: 2h 2m
Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson
Form: Marisa Abela, Eddie Marsan, Jack O’Connell

Back to black follows the life of Amy Winehouse, particularly centered around her second album (Back to blackhence the title) and her subsequent check-in to rehab. Marisa Abela stars as the iconic singer, rocking her signature beehive updo.

New for rent

Arsonist

Where to watch: Available to rent at Amazon, Appleand Vudu

A woman (Alicia Vikander) sits on a small throne, flanked by several other women in Firebrand.

Genre: Historical drama
Playing time: 2h 1m
Director: Karim Aïnouz
Form: Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, Eddie Marsan

King Henry VIII is remembered for many things, but the most popular fact known about him is this: he married six women during his life, two of whom he had executed. Alicia Vikander (Ex-machine) stars in this historical drama as Katherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII (Jude Law). She must fight for her survival as the king’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic and paranoid in the years leading up to the end of his reign.

Kidnapped: The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara

Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Appleand Vudu

A woman kneels before a young boy in a room surrounded by maids and clerics in Kidnapped; The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara.

Genre: Historical drama
Playing time: 2h 14m
Director: Marco Bellocchio
Form: Paolo Pierobon, Fausto Russo Alesi, Barbara Ronchi

Based on a true storyThis historical drama tells the story of a young Jewish child in 19th-century Italy who is secretly baptized and kidnapped by the Pope to be raised as a Catholic. As his parents try in vain to bring him home, the boy’s abduction sets off a larger political struggle between the papacy and proponents of unification.