A number of new movies will be released this week, including the following films opening in theaters or debuting via video on demand on various streaming platforms:

‘Free Guy’

  • Genre: Science fiction, action and comedy
  • Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Joe Keery, and Taika Waititi
  • Director: Shawn Levy
  • Rated: PG-13

In “Free Guy,” a bank teller who discovers he is actually a background player in an open-world video game, decides to become the hero of his own story … one he rewrites himself.

Now in a world where there are no limits, he is determined to be the guy who saves his world his way —before it is too late.

The film is scheduled to be theatrically released Aug. 13 by 20th Century Studios.

‘Respect’

  • Genre: Biographical drama
  • Cast: Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, Saycon Sengbloh, Hailey Kilgore, Skye Dakota Turner, Tate Donovan, and Mary J. Blige
  • Director: Liesl Tommy
  • Rated: PG-13

Following the rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom, “Respect” is the remarkable true story of the music icon’s journey to find her voice.

The film is scheduled to be released theatrically Aug. 13 by United Artists Releasing/Universal.

‘Don’t Breathe 2’

  • Genre: Horror
  • Cast: Stephen Lang, Brendan Sexton III, Madelyn Grace, Adam Young, Bobby Schofield, Rocci Williams, and Steffan Rhodri
  • Director: Rodo Sayagues
  • Rated: R

The sequel is set in the years following the initial deadly home invasion, where Norman Nordstrom (Stephen Lang) lives in quiet solace until his past sins catch up to him.

The film is scheduled to be released Aug. 13 by Sony Pictures Releasing.

‘The Kissing Booth 3’

  • Genre: Teen romantic comedy
  • Cast: Joey King, Joel Courtney, Jacob Elordi, Taylor Zakhar Perez, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Meganne Young and Molly Ringwald
  • Director: Vince Marcello
  • Not rated

It’s the summer before Elle (Joey King) heads to college, and she’s facing the hardest decision of her life: whether to move across the country with her dreamy boyfriend Noah (Jacob Elordi) or fulfill her lifelong promise to go to college with her BFF Lee (Joel Courtney). Whose heart will Elle break?

The film is scheduled to be released on Netflix Aug. 11.

‘Beckett’

  • Genre: Thriller
  • Cast: John David Washington, Boyd Holbrook, Vicky Krieps, and Alicia Vikander
  • Director: Ferdinando Cito Filomarino
  • Not rated

While vacationing in Greece, American tourist Beckett (John David Washington) becomes the target of a manhunt after a devastating accident.

Forced to run for his life and desperate to get across the country to the American embassy to clear his name, tensions escalate as the authorities close in, political unrest mounts, and Beckett falls even deeper into a dangerous web of conspiracy.

The film is scheduled to be released Aug. 13 by Netflix.

‘Homeroom’

  • Genre: Documentary
  • Director: Peter Nicks
  • Not rated

In “Homeroom,” Oakland High School’s class of 2020 confronts an unprecedented year.

Anxiety over test scores and college applications gives way to uncertainty springing from a rapidly developing pandemic. Efforts to eliminate the school district’s police force unfold against the backdrop of growing nationwide demands for systemic change.

The film is scheduled to be released on Hulu Aug. 12.

‘CODA’

  • Genre: Drama
  • Cast: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, and Marlee Matlin
  • Director: Sian Heder
  • Rated: PG-13

Gifted with a voice that her parents can’t hear, 17-year-old Ruby (Emilia Jones), is the sole hearing member of a deaf family — a CODA, Child of Deaf Adults.

Her life revolves around acting as interpreter for her parents (Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur) and working on the family’s struggling fishing boat every day before school with her father and older brother (Daniel Durant). But when Ruby joins her high school’s choir club, she discovers a gift for singing and finds herself drawn to her duet partner Miles (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo).

Encouraged by her enthusiastic, tough-love choirmaster (Eugenio Derbez) to apply to a prestigious music school, Ruby finds herself torn between the obligations she feels to her family and the pursuit of her own dreams.

The film will be released in theaters and through the Apple TV+ streaming service Aug. 13.

‘The East’

  • Genre: War drama
  • Cast: Martijn Lakemeyer, Marwan Kenzari and Jonas Smulders
  • Director: Jim Taihuttu
  • Not rated

During the post-WW2 Indonesian War of Independence, a young Dutch soldier joins an elite unit led by a mysterious captain known only as “The Turk.” When the fighting intensifies, the young soldier finds himself questioning — and ultimately challenging — his commander’s brutal strategy to stop the resistance.

The film is scheduled to be released Aug. 13 through Magnet Releasing.

‘The Meaning of Hitler’

  • Genre: Documentary
  • Cast: Martin Amis, Yehuda Bauer, and Richard Evans
  • Directors: Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker

“The Meaning of Hitler” is a provocative interrogation of our culture’s fascination with Hitler and Nazism set against the backdrop of the current rise of white supremacy, the normalization of antisemitism and the weaponization of history itself.

Shot in nine countries, the film traces Hitler’s movements, his rise to power and the scenes of his crimes as historians and writers, including Deborah Lipstadt, Martin Amis, Sir Richard Evans, Saul Friedlander, Yehuda Bauer, and famed Nazi hunters Beate and Serge Klarsfeld, weigh in on the lasting impact of his virulent ideology. As fears of authoritarianism and fascism now abound, the film explores the myths and misconceptions of our understanding of the past, and the difficult process of coming to terms with it at a time in our history when it seems more urgent than ever.

The film will be released in select theaters and on demand Aug. 13 through IFC Films.