Now that Paramount+’s massive UFC event, which was broadcast live from the White House lawn Sunday night, is done and dusted, it’s back to the streaming service’s regularly scheduled programming, which, for this post, means movies, movies, movies. Luckily, there’s still a lot to tap into for the rest of June, if you’re looking for something good to watch this week.
So consider this a shortcut through the scroll: For this week, I’m suggesting a few recently-added titles worth making time for: a horror sequel critics aren’t loving, but viewers turned into a Top 10 hit, a sharp and surprisingly tender ’90s indie that’s only gotten better with age, and a gargantuan concert documentary crafted with some cutting-edge restoration tech.
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Scream 7
A new Ghostface targets Sidney’s quiet new life
Ghostface just can’t leave Sidney Prescott alone, and audiences are better off for it. After sitting out of Scream VI, Neve Campbell is back as the stalwart victim of the iconic horror franchise with the melty white face. The seventh chapter in Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson’s slasher films that started back in 1996, Scream 7 takes us to the small town of Pine Grove, Indiana, where Sidney has finally managed to settle down with local police chief Mark (Joel McHale), runs a quiet coffee shop, and is raising her 17-year-old daughter, Tatum (Isabel May).
And wouldn’t you know it, a new Ghostface manages to find them in the sleepy town, starts a spree of murders, and then sets his sights on Tatum. But as we know from previous Scream movies, messing with Sidney doesn’t always go so well, and the same is true here, especially when the Pine Grove murders attract the journalistic eye of reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox).
QuizName that hit Paramount+ series
Trivia challenge
From the frontier to the final frontier — can you identify Paramount+’s biggest shows from just a clue?
DramaSci-FiComedyWesternStreaming
This Taylor Sheridan drama follows the Dutton family as they fight to protect their Montana ranch — the largest in the United States — from developers, politicians, and rival landowners. What is it called?
Correct! Yellowstone debuted in 2018 and became one of the most-watched cable dramas in American history before moving to Paramount+. Kevin Costner stars as patriarch John Dutton, and the show sparked an entire universe of Taylor Sheridan spin-offs.
Not quite — the answer is Yellowstone. While 1883 is also a Taylor Sheridan show set on a ranch, it’s a prequel following the Dutton ancestors heading west. Yellowstone is the flagship series centered on the modern-day Dutton family in Montana.
This Paramount+ Star Trek series stars Patrick Stewart reprising his iconic role as a retired admiral who is drawn back into action to protect a mysterious young woman. What is the show called?
Correct! Star Trek: Picard ran for three seasons from 2020 to 2023 and concluded with a beloved final season that reunited the full cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was widely praised as a fitting send-off for one of Trek’s most beloved characters.
Not quite — the answer is Star Trek: Picard. Strange New Worlds features Captain Pike and a young Spock, while Discovery follows the USS Discovery through different eras of Trek history. Lower Decks is an animated comedy set on a lesser starship.
This long-running animated comedy series, now exclusive to Paramount+, is set in the fictional Colorado mountain town of the same name and follows four foul-mouthed fourth-grade boys. Name it.
Correct! South Park has been on the air since 1997, making it one of the longest-running animated series in television history. Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone signed a massive deal with Paramount+ and Comedy Central through 2027, including exclusive streaming specials called ‘Paramount+ Events.’
Not quite — the answer is South Park. Beavis and Butt-Head does have a Paramount+ revival, but South Park is the flagship animated franchise for the streamer. The show’s exclusive streaming home is Paramount+, where all 26-plus seasons are available.
This Taylor Sheridan prequel series follows the Dutton family’s treacherous 1800s wagon train journey from Texas to Montana, and stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill as James and Margaret Dutton. What is the title?
Correct! 1883 premiered on Paramount+ in December 2021 and stars real-life country music couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill alongside Isabel May as their daughter Elsa, whose narration drives the story. The show was a massive hit and helped establish Paramount+’s reputation for prestige drama.
Not quite — the answer is 1883. While 1923 is also a Yellowstone prequel set in the early 20th century starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, 1883 specifically covers the original westward journey of the Dutton family in the late 1800s.
Originally airing on Syfy and later moving to streaming, this critically acclaimed sci-fi drama reimagined a 1970s series about humanity’s android-like enemies hunting down survivors of a nearly destroyed human fleet. What is it?
Correct! The reimagined Battlestar Galactica, developed by Ronald D. Moore, aired from 2004 to 2009 and is widely considered one of the greatest sci-fi dramas ever made. It’s available on Paramount+ and used its Cylon-versus-human premise to explore themes of politics, religion, and what it means to be human.
Not quite — the answer is Battlestar Galactica. Caprica is actually a prequel spin-off set before the Cylon war, while The Expanse is a celebrated sci-fi series that aired on Amazon Prime. Battlestar Galactica is the flagship reimagined series available on Paramount+.
This Taylor Sheridan crime drama stars Sylvester Stallone as a New York mob boss who is exiled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and forced to build a new criminal empire from scratch in unfamiliar territory. What is it called?
Correct! Tulsa King premiered in 2022 and marked Sylvester Stallone’s first lead role in a television series. The show blends crime drama with fish-out-of-water comedy as Stallone’s character Dwight Manfredi navigates an unfamiliar city with no existing criminal connections.
Not quite — the answer is Tulsa King. Mayor of Kingstown is another Taylor Sheridan show, but it stars Jeremy Renner as a power broker in a Michigan prison town. Tulsa King is the one that brought Sylvester Stallone to television for the first time in a lead role.
This Star Trek series on Paramount+ is set aboard the USS Enterprise before the events of the original series, featuring Captain Christopher Pike and a young Spock on episodic adventures. Name the show.
Correct! Star Trek: Strange New Worlds debuted in 2022 to widespread critical acclaim, praised for returning to the episodic storytelling format of classic Trek rather than the serialized approach of Discovery. Anson Mount plays Captain Pike with charm and gravitas, and the show quickly became a fan favorite.
Not quite — the answer is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Star Trek: Discovery is set in various time periods and follows a more serialized story arc. Prodigy is an animated Trek series aimed at younger audiences, and Enterprise is an older prequel series from the early 2000s.
This Paramount+ series stars Jeremy Renner as a powerful fixer and power broker in a Michigan city where the local economy revolves entirely around a massive prison complex. What is the show called?
Correct! Mayor of Kingstown premiered in 2021 and was created by Taylor Sheridan alongside Hugh Dillon. Jeremy Renner plays Mike McLusky, a man who brokers deals between criminals, prison officials, and law enforcement in a city defined by incarceration — a gritty and intense examination of the American prison system.
Not quite — the answer is Mayor of Kingstown. Tulsa King is the Taylor Sheridan show starring Sylvester Stallone, not Jeremy Renner. Mayor of Kingstown features Renner in one of his most dramatic and physically demanding roles, filmed largely before his serious snowplow accident in 2023.
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Campbell’s return to the role may have been the secret sauce to the film breaking franchise box office records, grossing $214 million worldwide. And even though the critics turned their noses up at it (with a franchise-low 31% RT score), audiences thought otherwise, with a 75% score. Scream fans will enjoy it for what it is—a fun slasher romp with some genuine scares and familiar faces.
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Chasing Amy
Kevin Smith’s sharpest and most grown-up romance
I recently wrote about Kevin Smith’s groundbreaking low-budget debut indie Clerks, which, little would we all know, would blossom into the interconnected world of his View Askewniverse, where several of Smith’s characters and narratives would appear across his films, including Mallrats, Dogma, the Clerks sequels, and various Jay and Silent Bob projects. However, one Askewniverse movie stands out as Smith’s most “normal” and most dramatic—1997’s Chasing Amy.
Comic-book artist Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) falls in love with Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), but there’s a problem—she’s a lesbian. But when Alyssa finds herself falling for Holden, too, she realizes her sexuality might be more fluid than she thought, so they begin a relationship. Holden starts to struggle as his traditional views of relationships are challenged, and his jealousy starts to fester. Meanwhile, Holden’s relationship with Alyssa is driving a wedge between Holden and his business partner and best friend, Banky (Jason Lee), threatening their partnership.
Chasing Amy was a hit for Smith, establishing him as more than just a niche, indie jokester, with the film grossing more than $12 million from just a $250,000 budget. Its frank, messy take on sexuality was rarely seen in cinema at the time, and while it divided some viewers, it largely won over critics, and it still carries an 86% RT score.
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EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert
Baz Luhrmann retores The King to his prime
I’ve watched my fair share of music documentaries, and many of them just offer a parade of talking-head interviews extolling the virtues of their subjects. EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, new to Paramount+ this month, does the opposite—no interviews, no historians or “experts,” just Elvis talking you through in his own words, pulled from unheard tapes in which the famously guarded star finally tells his side of his wild career.
While making his 2022 biopic Elvis—the awards magnet that turned Austin Butler into a star—director Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!) uncovered a film archive buried away in Kansas, and hauled out dozens of boxes of pristine but completely silent concert film, shot for 1970’s Elvis: That’s the Way It Is and 1972’s Elvis on Tour. To bring sound back to that footage, Luhrmann and editor Jonathan Redmond enlisted Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post Production and the same AI-driven restoration tools the team built for its Beatles work on Disney+: The Beatles: Get Back, the rescued 1970 Let It Be, and last year’s Anthology.
What they’ve assembled is jaw-dropping—vivid, crystal-clear images of The King at his absolute peak, paired with audio that’s been scrubbed clean and remixed to fill a big room (it ran in IMAX theaters, and it shows). Whether you’re a fan of Elvis or just know of him through your grandparents, EPiC is just that, epic, and critics have happily gone along with that—it holds a remarkable 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, with audiences scoring it even higher at 98%.
An easy night in
If you’re a “I’ll know what I want when I see it” kind of viewer, hopefully one of these Paramount+ movie selections scratches an itch you didn’t know you had. If not, strut on over to our streaming section for tons more recommendation guides.
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