New on Showtime: All the Movies and TV Coming in May

By this time tomorrow, it’s gonna be May, and we’re sneaking in at the eleventh hour with our breakdown of all the new programming headed to Showtime in the coming 31 days. From a handful of exciting feature films to the premiere of new TV series and seasons alike, the pay-cable channel’s streaming library is making the following noteworthy additions next month.

Leading the way are Showtime’s incoming movies, featuring a couple of sci-fi standouts. First and foremost, coming on May 1, is Alfonso Cuarón’s Oscar-nominated Children of Men (2006), adapted from P.D. James’ eerily prescient 1992 novel of the same name. The Clive Owen-starring dystopian thriller, set in a world in which humankind has become infertile, sees Theo Faron (Owen) become an unlikely champion of civilization when he’s recruited by his former lover (Julianne Moore) to escort a young, pregnant woman (Clare-Hope Ashitey) to safety, risking everything to protect the miracle that the entire world has been hoping for. Though it flopped at the box office, Children of Men has since been recognized as a masterful work of sci-fi filmmaking, and if you’re a Showtime subscriber who hasn’t seen it, boy, are you in luck. Another noteworthy sci-fi flick inbound on May 1 is Matt Reeves’ original Cloverfield, the out-of-nowhere, found-footage monster movie that launched one of Hollywood’s most enigmatic franchises. The first of the month brings several other notable additions, as well, including action-packed police siege film Assault on Precinct 13, mid-2000s horror videogame adaptation Silent Hill and Oscar-winning ‘80s dramedy Terms of Endearment. And following later in the month are few more eye-catching titles, including J.C. Chandor’s Oscar-nominated financial crisis drama Margin Call on May 4, Jackie Chan- and Owen Wilson-starring action-comedy Shanghai Noon on May 7 and Scarlett Johansson-starring manga adaptation Ghost in the Shell on May 12.

On the television side of things, Showtime’s heir-apparent flagship series Billions is currently in the midst of its third season, with new episodes airing on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET, and was recently picked up for a fourth. This week’s episode of the drama, which stars Damian Lewis and Paul Giamatti as warring power players in the world of New York high finance, will be followed by the season two premiere of I’m Dying Up Here, airing Sunday, May 6 at 10 p.m. ET. The ‘70s-set, stand-up comedy-centric series “delves into the inspired, damaged and complicated psyches of a fictional group of competitive but close-knit comedians mentored by Goldie (Melissa Leo), a brassy comedy club owner who rules over her business with an iron fist but nurtures her comedians with tough love,” per Showtime’s synopsis. Coming a bit later in the month is the series premiere of Patrick Melrose, starring Benedict Cumberbatch (who also executive produces) as the title character, “who struggles to overcome the damage inflicted by a horribly abusive father and the mother who tacitly condoned his behavior,” making for what Showtime calls a tour de force performance—you can catch the series’ debut episode on Saturday, May 12 at 9 p.m. ET. On Sunday, May 20 at 8 p.m. ET comes the mid-season finale of The Circus, which offers viewers a “fast-paced, real-time, backstage perspective” on the eponymous circus that is American politics—that’s followed on Sunday, May 27 at 7:30 p.m. ET by the television premiere of The Fourth Estate, a investigative journalism-focused docuseries from Oscar nominee Liz Garbus, who was “embedded for the past year with The New York Times and granted unprecedented access and interviews with editors and reporters on the front lines.”

That leaves us with Showtime’s documentary, comedy special and streaming collection slate, which is highlighted by the stand-up special that nearly became Kevin Smith’s swan song. Yes, Kevin Smith: Silent But Deadly, debuting on May 11, was taped mere hours before Smith suffered a near-fatal heart attack in February. Preceding Smith’s fateful stand-up special on Showtime on May 1 is Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, a documentary that follows the famed comedienne over the course of a year while also providing a retrospective on her long and boundary-breaking comedy career. Closing out the month on May 30 is Michael Moore’s Oscar-winning documentary Bowling For Columbine, which examines our country’s obsession with gun violence—safe to say, Moore’s film still resonates. And last but not least, Showtime’s streaming collections compile films for fans of Westerns, war stories, Lucy Liu, motherhood and badass women (Mother’s Day is May 13, after all). Happy streaming to all, and to all a good May.

See Showtime’s full slate for next month below.

ORIGINAL SERIES:

BILLIONS (New Episodes: Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT)
I’M DYING UP HERE (Season Premiere: Sunday, May 6, at 10 p.m. ET/PT)
PATRICK MELROSE (Series Premiere: Saturday, May 12, at 9 p.m. ET/PT)
THE CIRCUS (Mid-Season Finale: Sunday, May 20 at 8 p.m. ET/PT)
THE FOURTH ESTATE (Television Premiere: Sunday, May 27 at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT)

NEW MOVIES STREAMING ON SHOWTIME IN MAY:

Available 5/1:
50/50
ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13
BIGFOOT AND THE BURTONS
CHILDREN OF MEN
CLOVERFIELD
COLLEGE (2008)
FESTIVAL IN CANNES
THE FLYING SCOTSMAN
THE HAUNTING
I, DANIEL BLAKE
THE KILLER INSIDE ME
KING ARTHUR
LOOKING FOR ERIC
MAN ON A LEDGE
S.W.A.T.: FIREFIGHT
SILENT HILL
SKINWALKERS
STEALTH
TERMS OF ENDEARMENT
THIS ISN’T FUNNY
THE WHITE KING

Available 5/4:
MARGIN CALL
THE GUNMAN

Available 5/5:
THE PROMISE

Available 5/7:
SHANGHAI NOON

Available 5/8:
THE HOST

Available 5/12:
GHOST IN THE SHELL

Available 5/25:
REBEL IN THE RYE

DOCUMENTARIES & COMEDY SPECIALS:

Available 5/1:
JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK

Available 5/11:
KEVIN SMITH: SILENT BUT DEADLY

Available 5/30:
BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE

STREAMING COLLECTIONS

Western Collection: BRIMSTONE, FREE STATE OF JONES, HELL OR HIGH WATER and more (Available 5/1 – 5/28)
War Stories Collection: THE PROMISE, CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR, THE WHISTLEBLOWER and more (Available 5/5 – 6/1)
Lucy Liu Collection: KILL BILL: VOL. 1, KILL BILL: VOL. 2, SHANGHAI NOON and more (Available 5/7 – 6/3)
Many Sides of Motherhood Collection: BAD MOMS, BAD GRANDMAS, THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS and more (Available 5/7 – 6/3)
Bad Ass Women Collection: GHOST IN THE SHELL, THE STEPFORD WIVES, THE INTERPRETER and more (Available 5/12 – 6/8)