This July 4th week, as you settle in for a long holiday weekend, you can beat the heat with some great new shows and movies to watch. Whether you want to binge a new series or tune in to one of the week’s big movie premieres, there are action movies, animated kids’ shows, and big finales to tune into.
On Netflix, Eddie Murphy is back as everyone’s favorite Detroit cop Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. On Disney Plus, a new batch of Bluey “minisodes” arrive to satisfy your kids and, let’s be honest, you too.
Max will kick off the week with the release of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Shark Week, premiering on Discovery and Max and hosted this year by John Cena, kicks off on July 7. On Prime Video, Emma Roberts stars in Space Cadet as a hard-partying Florida woman who turns out to be NASA’s next great astronaut. Space Cadet premieres July 4. Over on Hulu, you can catch the new manga series Land of Tanabata.
There are also some great library titles coming to Netflix, including the arrival of all three Back to the Future films and the complete series of Lost. Meanwhile, on Paramount Plus, all 10 Star Trek films (that is, everything prior to the pre-J.J. Abrams reboot) arrive July 1. Find out more about the biggest titles below.
Read more: 50 TV Shows We’re Looking Forward to Watching in 2024
Best new shows and films on streaming services (July 1 to July 7)
Netflix
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (July 3)
It’s been 30 years since the last Beverly Hills Cop movie came out; think about it, in that time, we’ve invented cars that don’t even have tailpipes to stick bananas into. Eddie Murphy is back as Detroit detective Axel Foley in this reboot that also stars newcomers to the franchise Taylour Paige, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Kevin Bacon, and welcomes back returning cast members Judge Reinhold, Bronson Pinchot, John Ashton and Paul Reiser.
The Imaginary is the new film directed by Yoshiyuki Momose, who spent much of his career as an animator working for Studio Ghibli on films like Porco Rosso and Spirited Away. The film features hand-drawn animation and first-of-their-kind techniques of light and shadow, bringing to life the 2014 children’s novel about a girl and her imaginary friend, written by A.F. Harrold.
Disney Plus
Bluey ‘Minisodes’ (July 3)
If you were worried that The Sign marked the end of new Bluey episodes, you can relax, there’s still plenty more to come. Seven brand new mini-episodes of Bluey premiere on Disney Plus on July 3 as part of the service’s Red, White and Bluey marathon which runs through July 4th weekend. The new ‘minisodes’ run one to three minutes each and are the first of three batches of minisodes from the Bluey creators (there will be a total of 20 released over the next year). Hooray!
Max
Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire stars Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns and Fala Chen in the latest film in the Monsterverse franchise. The action-packed adventure follows Kong’s journey to find his family through an undiscovered layer of Hollow Earth, with Kong enlisting Godzilla’s help in the process.
Hard Knocks: Offseason With the New York Giants (July 2)
Hard Knocks: Offseason With the New York Giants brings viewers inside the New York Giants organization as the NFL team prepares for its 100th season. Watch as GM Joe Schoen and other members of the team’s front office and staff navigate the critical offseason period from January to July 2024 in this Liev Schreiber-narrated five-part series, which premieres July 2.
Starz
Power Book II: Ghost, Season 4 Part 1 Finale (July 5)
The final season of Power Book II: Ghost has been split into two parts, and this Friday marks the season 4, part I finale. The show will return Friday, September 6 with a new batch of episodes. Power Book II: Ghost is on Starz and the Starz app.
Prime Video
Emma Roberts stars as Rex, a Florida woman who accidentally finds herself in the NASA space program despite her lack of training. Think Legally Blonde goes to space: What, like it’s hard? Space Cadet co-stars Poppy Liu, Gabrielle Union and Tom Hopper and arrives on Prime July 4.
No matter what character Jason Statham plays, he’s usually a man who’s just trying to move on from his dangerous, usually murder-filled past. In The Beekeeper, which arrives on Prime Video this week, he plays Adam, who’s a former assassin-turned-beekeeper who just wants to live a quiet life until his thirst for vengeance gets the better of him.
