Every month, streaming services add movies and TV shows to their libraries. Here are our picks for some of July’s most promising new titles. (Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)
New to Amazon Prime Video
‘Elle’ Season 1
Starts streaming: July 1
The 2001 movie “Legally Blonde” gets a TV prequel, looking back at the 1990s high school years of the infectiously upbeat fashionista Elle Woods — played so memorably by Reese Witherspoon in the film, and now played by Lexi Minetree. “Elle” begins with the future law-school phenom living in sunny Los Angeles, where her all-pink wardrobe fits right in. Then her family moves to rainy Seattle, where even the popular kids wear drab flannel. The show’s nods to the grunge era add an additional layer of nostalgia to the story of how Elle — suddenly a misfit at a new school — tries to charm her sour, cynical classmates with her can-do spirit and comical naiveté.
Also arriving:
July 3
“The Loyalty Game”
July 7
“The Ghost in the Shell” Season 1
July 15
“Ride or Die”
July 31
“Batman: Caped Crusader” Season 2
New to Apple TV
‘Silo’ Season 3
Starts streaming: July 3
Based on a Hugh Howey book series, “Silo” is set in a massive underground cylinder, on a future Earth where the outside air is believed to be toxic. Last season, one of the facility’s brightest citizens, Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson), ventured beyond the silo in a protective suit and discovered that there are other silos near the one where she was born and raised. Who put them there? And when? And why? In Season 3, while Juliette — who is suffering from memory loss — fitfully continues her investigation, the show offers frequent flashbacks to the era, centuries earlier, when the underground bunker project began.
‘Lucky’ Season 1
Starts streaming: July 15
In this chase thriller, Anya Taylor-Joy plays Lucky Armstrong, a lifelong grifter. She was raised by one con man, her father, John (Timothy Olyphant), and is romantically involved with another, Cary (Drew Starkey). On the morning after Lucky and Cary pull off a million-dollar heist, she wakes up to find him gone. Soon, both the mob and the F.B.I. are after her. Based on a Marissa Stapley novel, “Lucky” has a twisty plot that unfolds gradually, introducing new characters (played by Annette Bening, William Fichtner and Clifton Collins Jr., among others) and bits of back story piece by piece. As the show’s creator Jonathan Tropper parcels out the story’s biggest surprises, he keeps Lucky on the run, surviving one narrow escape after another.
Also arriving:
July 3
“This Is America, Charlie Brown”
July 8
“Trying” Season 5
July 10
“The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show” Seasons 1-2
July 24
“The Dink”
July 31
“Snoopy Presents: There’s No Place Like Home, Snoopy”
New to Disney+
‘Descendants: Wicked Wonderland’
Starts streaming: July 17
Disney’s “Descendants” franchise combines the studio’s animated classics into one shared universe, using that world as the backdrop for live-action movie musicals about the children of Disney heroes and villains. The latest installment, “Wicked Wonderland,” picks up where “The Rise of Red” (2024) left off, after the Queen of Heart’s daughter Red (Kylie Cantrall) and Cinderella’s daughter Chloe (Malia Baker) changed the past and transformed Wonderland — and not necessarily for the better. The teenagers’ meddling has turned former enemies into friends and vice versa, and to manage the resulting chaos Red, Chloe and other HKs (hero kids) will have to take a stand against the families of the Mad Hatter and Captain Hook.
‘Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston’
Starts streaming: July 23
The Marvel Universe actor and amateur classicist Tom Hiddleston looks back at the last days of Pompeii, with the help of a team of academics. In “Pompeii: Out of Time” (available on both Disney+ and Hulu), Hiddleston walks viewers through the everyday lives and tragic ends of some of the real people affected by the A.D. 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The three-part docuseries employs the standard historical documentary format of interviews and dramatic re-creations. But Hiddleston is an unusually active host. He describes his fascination with Pompeii, and has genial conversations with scientists and historians. He also stops the story regularly — with a snap of his fingers and a glance toward the camera — to put what happened in a modern human context.
Also arriving:
July 1
“X-Men ’97” Season 2
July 3
“The Simpsons: Simpsley”
July 8
“Bluey Compilations”
July 24
“Soy Luna: Let’s Roll Again”
New to HBO Max
‘Marc by Sofia’
Starts streaming: July 16
Marc Jacobs is an American fashion designer whose work threads the needle between the commercial and the avant-garde. Sofia Coppola is an acclaimed director, known for popular art films like “Lost in Translation” and “Marie Antoinette.” The documentary “Marc by Sofia” is Coppola’s cinematic portrait of Jacobs, mostly shot during the preparations for a big fashion show. The movie features a lot of scenes of its subject at work, interspersed with casual conversations in which he discusses his life and his influences. The film considers the mysteries of creativity, showing what it takes to turn a moment of inspiration into something tangible.
‘Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’ Season 1
Starts streaming: July 23
The latest spinoff from the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” combines comedy and science-fiction in a way that is wildly different from either “Young Sheldon” or “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.” Kevin Sussman reprises his role as Stuart Bloom, the sad-sack proprietor of a Pasadena comic book store. When the series begins, Pasadena has become a postapocalyptic hellscape, and only Stuart knows how to fix it. Working with — and sometimes against — his old friends Bert (Brian Posehn) and Barry (John Ross Bowie), Stuart tries repeatedly to reset reality, while in the process hoping to reconnect with his ex-girlfriend, Denise (Lauren Lapkus). “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” offers genre parodies rooted in the world of “Big Bang,” and featuring guest appearances from many of that show’s characters.
Also arriving:
July 9
“The Man Will Burn”
July 10
“The Long Walk”
July 31
“The Drama”
New to Hulu
‘Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie’
Starts streaming: July 24
As its title suggests, “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie” is a feature-length extension of the cult favorite web and TV series created by the Toronto actors and filmmakers Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol. Just like in the show, Johnson and McCarrol play best friends named Matt and Jay, who keep coming up with crazy schemes to promote a band that can never seem to book a gig. In the movie, the duo accidentally create a time machine that transports them to 2008, where they try to help their younger selves finally get their big break. Crazy complications ensue, although the plot here — while inventive — matters less than the film’s overall vibe. It celebrates the camaraderie of two people who have worked with each other and remained close for decades.
Also arriving:
July 1
“Abandoned”
July 10
“Project Runway” Season 22
July 11
“Theme Song Takeover” Season 6
July 14
“Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro”
July 17
“They Fight”
July 20
“King of the Hill” Season 15
July 27
“Furious” Season 1
New to Paramount+
‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 4
Starts streaming: July 23
Although Paramount has begun winding down its various modern “Star Trek” television series, the franchise’s fans can take some comfort in knowing that there are still two seasons of “Strange New Worlds” in the pipeline. (This one and Season 5.) This prequel to the original 1960s “Star Trek” — set in the years just before Captain Kirk took over the Enterprise — returns to Gene Roddenberry’s original concept of telling thoughtful interstellar adventure stories that change in location and tone from week to week. The show is anchored by Anson Mount’s performance as Captain Christopher Pike, a man who has been given a look at his own future and knows that one day he will suffer a terrible accident. Rather than moping, Captain Pike has become a kinder, wiser leader, urging his underlings to dare great things and to enjoy life.
Also arriving:
July 14
“The Real Wolf of Wall Street”
July 29
“Diarra From Detroit” Season 2
New to Peacock
‘The Five-Star Weekend’ Season 1
Starts streaming: July 9
Jennifer Garner plays a recently widowed celebrity food blogger in need of a girls’ retreat in this mini-series, based on an Elin Hilderbrand novel. Garner’s Hollis Shaw invites four women to spend the weekend at her Nantucket beach house. Chloë Sevigny plays Tatum, a childhood friend. Regina Hall is Hollis’s college roommate Dru-Ann. D’Arcy Carden is Brooke, a “mom friend” whose grown child is the same age as Hollis’s. And Gemma Chan is Gigi, a fan of Hollis’s work who has bonded with her online. Each of these guests is going through her own crisis, and while they are all close with their host, they don’t really know — or trust — each other. In “The Five-Star Weekend,” these ladies dance around their secrets and try to get along, in support of a friend who is barely holding herself together.
Also arriving:
July 10
“Reminders of Him”
July 12
“Married at First Sight” Season 20
