Spider-Man: No Way Home Review (SPOILERS)

The movie event of the year has arrived with “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and there’s only one way to talk about it.

SPOILERS!

No, this is not going to be a detailed plot summary. You can go to Wikipedia for that. And no, I’m not going to cover every last aspect of the movie. But when the main plot of the movie involves details that the filmmakers and the studio went to great lengths to try and hide from the audience, it’s hard to write a non-spoiler review. Even the critics I follow who have attempted that have awkwardly danced around every main plot point of the movie, resulting in a review that only makes sense for those who have seen the movie. And given that I’m not actually a professional critic writing for a site that demands a review ASAP, or a YouTube critic who needs to get a review out ASAP in order to compete for views, I can do what I want. Heck, I’ve spent most of this year writing short reviews on my Facebook page instead of writing them on this blog. And whether it be Facebook or this blog, I decided that I didn’t even want to attempt a non-spoiler review. I’m just going to wait for a few days and get my thoughts out properly via a spoiler review right. So that’s where we are.

If you haven’t seen the movie, you probably didn’t click on this link. But just in case you did, major spoilers coming in…

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CHARLIE COX HAS RETURNED AS MATT MURDOCK, AKA DAREDEVIL, MAKING HIS CINEMATIC MCU DEBUT!!!!

HOLY FREAKING COW!!!

That one I didn’t see coming. Apparently there were photo leaks that revealed this. I heard of said leaks, but managed to avoid them. I assumed they were of Andrew and Tobey, but didn’t care to check. I had no idea a Matt Murdock cameo was in the cards. Sure, it was only for a quick scene, but it was a scene that worked really well given that Peter and Happy Hogan both were in need of a really good lawyer to clear their names. And who better than to be that lawyer than the best lawyer in the MCU?

Sure, as inconsequential as it may have been, for me this was a huge moment because the MCU has completely ignored the existence of the Netflix Defenders shows up until now. There are even constant debates that happen on Twitter as to whether or not they are even part of the MCU. And the answer has always been that they are as MCU events are referenced in every show. But it was Kevin Feige or anyone in connection with Marvel Studios running those shows. It was ran by Marvel Television, which now ceases to exist as it folded into Marvel Studios in 2019. So it’s kinda like the Marvel property from Fox. Marvel Studios has ownership of all of the property and characters and can choose to do with it as they please, but up until now they have yet to do so. And I honestly didn’t think they ever would. But now that they have, there better be more. The best case scenario would be to do a revival of the shows on Hulu or Disney+. But at the very least, bring back the characters in some capacity. And I actually don’t care for “Iron Fist” or “Luke Cage,” but I really want more of “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones” and “The Punisher.” So please, Marvel and Disney, make it happen!

OK, fine. The real spoilers here are that Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire are indeed in this movie, reprising their roles as the previous movie iterations of Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Yes, we have a movie with three different cinematic versions of Spider-Man are fighting five different cinematic Spider-Man villains. And we even has Jamie Foxx as Electro make reference to Miles Morales, or rather him wishing there was a black Spider-Man. Which you know is going to happen eventually. Yes, that did happen in “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” but I’m talking a live action Miles Morales. So yes, lots and lots of Spider-Men, although not as many as “Spider-Verse,” but that’s besides the point.

And all of this makes “No Way Home” the “Avengers: Endgame” of the Spider-Man universe. Which is what all of the fans wanted. And is exactly what they got.

Now I made a Facebook post a few weeks ago expressing my concerns that I wasn’t sure that this movie was going to be able to live up to all the hype the internet was giving it. I was fearing that many people were going to walk out disappointed in this movie because it wasn’t the movie that they had predetermined that they wanted. And I was ready with a potential argument that said take wasn’t fair. People shouldn’t judge a movie by what they thought it was going to be. They should judge a movie by what it is. And they shouldn’t call the movie a massive disappointment based on it not including things that Sony never promised were going to be there. That’s exactly why many hated “The Last Jedi.” All their fan theories that they’d spent the previous two years coming up with were wrong. Rian Johnson took them all and threw them out the window, creating a Star Wars movie that was very different than everyone was expecting and many people hated it because of that. They should’ve seen that coming based on Rian Johnson’s previous discography, but they didn’t.

But the thing that shocked me the most about “No Way Home” was that everyone’s fan theories were right. People had massive expectations. Unrealistic expectations, I thought. Yet not only did “No Way Home” do the impossible and meet those, in many cases the expectations were exceeded. I was completely dumbfounded at what I was witnessing on the screen. There was so much to take in and I’m not even sure my one viewing of it thus far was enough to absorb it all. This is a movie that demands to be seen many times and is one that I’m excited to see many times, even though I don’t know when that’s going to happen with all the other end-of-year content that I’m rushing to keep up with. But whenever I see it again, I am positive that I will enjoy it more and more.

Yet sitting here in retrospect after one viewing, the most interesting discussion point swirling around in my head is that of fan service. Because that’s what this movie is. Nothing but 100 percent pure fan service. Similar to that of nostalgia vomit. Although related, I think the two things are slightly different. But in both cases, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. I think sometimes the term fan service or nostalgia vomit can be seen as a negative thing, but I don’t think it inherently is. You can serve someone up a giant slice of their favorite pie and they can absolutely love it because it’s exactly what they want. Serving the fans. Giving them what they want. That’s not a bad thing.

But it can be if there’s no emotion or care taken in the process. And for the handful of people who read my comments on “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” they might be mildly confused as to why I was so harsh on that movie and am praising “No Way Home” to the high heavens… for both doing, on paper, pretty much the exact same things.

Without retyping a review of “Afterlife,” the gist of my thoughts there are that it is that the movie lazily slapped together all the leftovers from Ghostbusters. They didn’t write any characters worth caring about. They didn’t come up with a plot to get invested in. They didn’t do anything unique with the property or have any sort of emotional core to the film. It was just an emotionless Ghostbusters highlight reel, even recycling pretty much the same exact ending as the original with the same exact villains. Doing all of this in a way that somehow completely missed the tone of Ghostbusters. The original movie is light, comedic, and self-aware. Almost borderline irreverent. “Afterlife” was dark, dramatic, overly serious, and treated the original content with a high amount of respect and reverence, almost as if it was a sacred movie not to be joked around with and taken lightly.

So yeah, the movie was a gross plate of nostalgia vomit that missed the point of the original movie. “No Way Home” might be recycling heroes and villains from previous Spider-Man movies without bringing in anything new, but every character had a specific purpose in being there. They weren’t brought in simply for the sake of you going on a two-hour long Easter egg hunt. They all played a role in helping shape Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, essentially completing his origin story in developing him into the Spider-Man that we all know and love.

I mean, who knew that the three movies were actually a three-part origin story for Peter Parker? We all assumed they skipped the origin story in “Homecoming,” just throwing us into the fire, assuming we all knew Spider-Man already. Sure, we jumped over the spider bite thing, but over the course of these three movies, we see him develop from an immature kid who wants to fight bad guys into a true hero that understand the traditional Spider-Man slogan of “with great power comes great responsibility.” And it took two previous Spider-Men coming in to help knock that into him, following his own “Uncle Ben” moment. Which, again, we assumed he already went through as there is no Uncle Ben in “Homecoming.” Turns out Aunt May is his Uncle Ben. She rather beautifully delivers the line and gets killed by Green Goblin, throwing him into an understandably state of dark turmoil, of which there are two people who know exactly what he is going through and are there to help him. Andrew and Tobey’s Spider-Men.

This movie could’ve brought in all the Spider-Men and simply had a lot of web-slinging fun with them fighting all the bad guys that the multiverse brought together. And that may have been a lot of fun if they took the proper approach. It would be like the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover in the Arrowverse, which was an absolute blast. But no, this movie decided to be something more. They brought in Andrew Garfield, straight from a very dark place following the death of Gwen Stacy, and allowed him to relate to Tom Holland, helping him not go down the path that he has just been on. And they brought in Tobey Maguire, not de-aged from “Spider-Man 3,” but a version of his character who has aged 15 or so years. And they used this original Spider-Man who we all know and love as a mentor. And man is Tobey Maguire good as a mentor. He knows when to give Tom Holland some space and not immediately interfere. And he knows when he needs to speak and encourage him. He can allow Tom to vent and express his anger, but then perfectly come in and encourage. And yet he can jump in and block him from killing Green Goblin at the end without much hesitation.

These are the moments that I loved. Andrew and Tobey aren’t used as mere fan service. They don’t show up just to battle in an epic CGI fight at the end. They’re supporting characters in the movie with a specific role to build Tom Holland’s character arc.

Like with our heroes, the villains also have a specific purpose. The movie could’ve just brought them in, made them the evil, soulless bad guys that needed to be fought. And that could’ve been fun. But instead it reminded us that these five villains are all well-written, well-acted villains who have a reason behind what they’re doing. And instead of bringing them in as things to fight, their stories are continued. And in the case of Jamie Foxx’s Electro, they give him the opportunity to redeem himself and be a menacing Spider-Man villain with a wonderful arc, which wasn’t exactly the case in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” a movie that I’ll defend, but not a movie wherein Electro was the standout performance. In this movie he is. And I’m guessing that even haters of that movie will be impressed.

The major conflict with these villains, which was presented in the trailers, comes with the conundrum of what to do with them. Doctor Strange tells Peter that they all died at the hands of other Spider-Men and that was their fate, so they need to immediately be sent back and not be tampered with. But Tom Holland decides that he needs to at least make an attempt to redeem them all. Give them a second chance before sending them home. So he uses Geometry to trap Doctor Strange in the Mirrorverse and sets out to fix all of these villains, which he quickly realizes is a task where he’s in over his head, especially when it comes to Norman Osborn.

And man. Willem Dafoe was fantastic in the original movie. But I think he’s even better in this movie. And part of that is he’s given more time as Norman Osborn, reminding us that he’s a good person at heart who is just lost and confused. And he’s even more lost and confused in this movie as in another dimension from what he’s used to. He’s a very likable and relatable character. Until the Green Goblin personality takes over and becomes something beyond terrifying. They even quickly discarded that Power Rangers mask at the beginning and let Willem Dafoe act using his facial expressions, which is a lot more intimidating that than mask of his. Yeah, there’s five villains in the movie. But Green Goblin is the real villain here. Admittedly Lizard and Sandman are sidelined a bit, even though they both do good in separate. And Doc Ock and Electro are more complex characters than crazy villains. But Green Goblin is terrifying and I think this is perhaps Willem Dafoe’s best performance. One that I think deserves to represent this movie and get an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. That’s never going to happen because the Oscars are allergic to big blockbusters, but it’s definitely deserving.

My only little qualm with this movie is that I’m a bit of a hopeless romantic. I wanted the movie to end with Tom Holland accepting the fact that everyone in the world knows him and being fine with that. I wanted it to end with him showing the world that he is a true hero and not a menace to be stopped like J. Jonah Jameson is claiming him to be. But instead we decided to write a whole plot point where the whole multiverse is about to explode with an endless number of villains and heroes coming to interact with this Peter and the only way to stop it is to cast a spell where everyone forgets who he is. For what they chose to set up, it’s a valiant act from Peter who willingly submits to this at the end of the movie, wherein he wasn’t even ready to accept that at the beginning of the movie. But come on, this is the multiverse. We can do what we want. And Doctor Strange is magic. We can choose to write spells for him that can solve this in better ways.

One, the hopeless romantic in me that I referenced doesn’t like the movie ending with him saying goodbye to Zendaya’s M.J., because the two of them are so adorably cute. And both have definitely grown as actors ever since “Homecoming” launched them into superstardom. But two, you KNOW this is an ending that’s like those season finales that get resolved within the first ten minutes of the next season premier. No way in Hades do they keep these two apart. Peter, M.J., and Ned are going to quickly go back to being best friends who know each other. The world loves them too much. So why end a nearly perfect movie by setting up a cliffhanger that we all know is going to get quickly resolved? A cliffhanger that is remarkably similar to Peter Quill and Gamora having to learn to re-fall in love, something I assume is going to happen in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” following where “Avengers: Endgame” left those two off. They weren’t going to keep Gamora dead and keep those two apart.

Anyways, that’s not really that big of a concern to me. Just something I wasn’t 100 percent pleased with. And when I was 100 percent pleased with the rest of the movie, that’s something worth bringing up. Ultimately, this movie handles itself much like “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” another multiverse adventure with multiple Spider-People that’s a lot more than just empty fan service. Both movies are fan service that have a purpose and work even better because of it. In fact, I may put this one slightly ahead of that movie due to its better use of the Spider-Man villains. It’s not better than “Spider-Man 2,” but is my favorite of the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies. Where is it in my MCU rankings? Well… to be determined. Not my top overall, but pretty high. The top movie of Phase 4 so far and one of my favorite overall movies of 2021. So yeah, pretty high praise from me. A potential all-time favorite that I’m going to enjoy coming back to many times in my future.

The number grade here is irrelevant, in my opinion. The thoughts are what matter most. But in regards to a grade, I think a strong 9/10 is what I’d give. I’m not quite ready to give it a perfect score. But if I did decimal grades, which I haven’t done in years, this is a 9.5 or a 9.8. But not quite a 10. “Spider-Man 2” would definitely be a 10/10, for context. So yeah, 9/10 is good.

Movie Preview: December 2021

The holiday season is well underway at the box office with November bringing several heavy hitters that are looking to continue to hold well throughout December, such as “Eternals,” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” and “Encanto,” especially those last two, which just began their runs right before Thanksgiving. “Eternals” rode into theaters with a wave of mixed reviews, the worst in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but still took the month with $151 million total domestically. In a unique turn of events, November didn’t quite hit the heights of October, but yet normal hasn’t been an often-used word in the last two years. December is definitely going to change that with a little movie called “Spider-Man: No Way Home” that you may have heard of. While we will explore the box office potential of “No Way Home,” there will also be other movies released that we’ll look into.

As always, box office data and release date information are courtesy of the-numbers.com and boxofficepro.com. The release dates listed are based on the domestic release dates, so United States and Canada, and are always subject to change. Normally this post is organized by weekend, but December doesn’t really follow typical conventions when it comes to release patterns, so instead we’ll go by the day of release as opposed to the weekend of release.

December 10

20th Century Studios' "West Side Story"

Point in case with December being unconventional in regards to the release schedule, there are no wide releases on December 3, the first weekend of December. So the box office will be dominated by Thanksgiving holdovers. In limited release, the animated documentary “Flee” from Denmark will likely play well in New York and Los Angeles following very strong praise out of Sundance. It has potential to be triple nominated in animated feature, documentary feature, and international feature at the Oscars, which would be a unique feat. Netflix also released their major awards player “The Power of the Dog” in select theaters for an Oscar-qualifying run in conjunction with its release on Netflix. And Focus Features has a movie called “Wolf” about a boy who thinks he’s a wolf. But again, no wide releases on December 3.

Moving forward to December 10, the first major release of the Christmas season is Steven Spielberg’s highly anticipated remake of West Side Story. 2021 was supposed to be the year of the movie musical. And while many have been released, we’ve yet to see one to truly pop. “In the Heights” experienced high praise, but was ignored by audiences with just $29.9 million domestically. “Dear Evan Hansen” was plagued with very divisive reviews and wound up worse, making just $15 million. And “Tick… Tick… BOOM!” has received strong praise, but has yet to crack Netflix’s top 10 and didn’t get a theatrical release. That seemingly leaves the door open for “West Side Story” to actually take the corner on the market and become the musical from 2021 that everyone sees and remembers. But will audiences show up?

The Spielberg name gives it automatic brand name recognition. While there might be a general sense of negativity towards the idea of so many things getting remade, Spielberg wanting to remake “West Side Story” has led it to have more positive buzz as many may give Spielberg the benefit of the doubt, which is a treatment that not every filmmaker gets. The original movie was the 1962 best picture winner. On top of that, it won 10 total Oscars and would quickly go on to being one of the most beloved and iconic movie musicals in existence. So even if this wasn’t a Spielberg movie, the IP of the original would be more than enough to give it recognition over the other movie musicals that may have been overlooked this year. The frosting on the cake may be the early Twitter buzz, which appears to be quite positive following its premier for critics just recently. If this ends up being a huge crowd pleaser, that could lead to a very long, healthy box office run, topped off by a shower of awards recognition.

The elephant in the room is that it’s being released in the shadow of “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Now December is a month that has proven to be a time where multiple big blockbusters can co-exist, so that may not be an issue. But it’s at least worth bringing up given the insane amount of hype that’s following “Spider-Man.” More on that in a second.

First, we need to quickly also bring the release of National Champions. I actually brought this up last month, but mentioned that it was theoretically being released because at that time it did not have a trailer or a poster, so I wasn’t sure it was a thing that was going to actually exist. Well, shortly after that post, it got a trailer and a poster. And a new release date for December 10 instead of Thanksgiving. A release date that I’m confident it will hit this time, given that the title of the official trailer from STX lists “In theaters December 10th.” This is a fictional movie about a college quarterback, winner of the Heisman and projected first round pick, who decides to boycott the national championship game in protest of college athletes not being recognized as paid employees. Again, fictional story here. But referencing real life issues. Even if it connects with viewers, I can’t imagine it will make more than last month’s “King Richard,” a fellow sports drama with lots of buzz and great reviews that opened to just $5.4 million.  

December 17

Sony Pictures' "Spider-Man: No Way Home"

On to the main event. The reason why many of you may have clicked this link. And who knows, maybe you scrolled right past everything else just to read this. In which case, fine. Spider-Man: No Way Home. A movie that seems guaranteed to be the highest grossing movie of the year, at least domestically. And will easily shatter and decimate any and all COVID records at the box office. In case you haven’t been connected to the internet in the last few months, the buzz and the hype surrounding this movie has been almost unparalleled. To the point where Sony can’t release trailers for any of their other films without fans swarming them with questions of when the next trailer will be released. Andrew Garfield hasn’t been able to promote his movie “Tick… Tick… BOOM!” without every reporter asking him if he’s going to be in this movie, which he currently denies and no one from Sony or Marvel has even promised fans. The trailer broke records for views in its first 24 hours, beating “Avengers: Endgame.” And advanced ticket sales have sold more than any other film released except for “Avengers: Endgame.”

So yes, unquestionably this has attained event-level status on the level of a “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” or the aforementioned “Avengers: Endgame.” How did it accomplish this? Well, by promising a crossover event that has hit all the right notes among Spider-Man fans. While Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire haven’t been promised, but are possibly being saved as a surprise, the multiverse has been opened in this movie, what has been promised are the villains from their movies, which include Doc Ock, Green Goblin, Sandman, Lizard, and Electro, as introduced in the most recent trailer. And if they’re all in the movie, then the potential possibilities are endless with a movie that combines all the current live action Spider-Verses. The only issue the movie might have is being able to live up to the insane amount of hype that fans have given it. Regardless of that, the movie is guaranteed to attract a lot of people to see it. How those people end up responding is to be determined.

So how much will this movie make? It’s worth noting that Spider-Man has had a very strong history at the box office. Raimi’s original 2002 film became the first movie to ever open above $100 million with $114.8 million. Seven years later, “Spider-Man 3” became the first to ever open above $150 million, with $151.1 million. A major Spider-Man crossover event has the potential to reach those heights. Adjusted for ticket price inflation, those two openings adjust to $181 million and $201 million, respectively. A range that I think “No Way Home” can reach. The elephant in the room is that COVID still exists. While this is sure to fly past the current COVID record of $90 million set by “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” how high can a movie really open in the world of COVID? Without COVID, I would comfortably predict $200 million. But that’s not the world we live in. The reality of things still makes predictions volatile. For the sake of comparison, “Homecoming” opened to $117 million, while “Far From Home” opened to $92 million. “No Way Home” should at least top both of those movies.

In news not related to Spider-Man, while no movie is directly competing in terms of a wide release opening on the same day, Guillermo del Torro’s Nightmare Alley will begin its limited release roll-out on the 17th, as will George Clooney’s The Tender Bar. Both movies are hoping for awards consideration, but are currently viewed as more outside contenders. Awards or not, a new movie from those two directors could be sleeper hits at the box office as they eventually expand, especially when it comes to a new del Torro movie.

December 22

Warner Bros.' "The Matrix Resurrections"

While no movie is opening directly on the same day in wide release as “Spider-Man,” three major movies will be entering the market five days later, on Wednesday the 22nd. Leading the charge will be The Matrix Resurrections. Speaking of influential films, “The Matrix” from 1999 is definitely one of them. And speaking of movies that aren’t so influential, the two sequels that came after aren’t exactly as highly regarded. And while they have their supporters, the Wachowski Sisters have experienced many bumps in the road in their efforts to re-capture lightning in a bottle again. Despite that, a return to The Matrix via “Resurrections” is generally something that Matrix fans are excited about, especially after the trailer dropped. Warner Bros. is also hoping to cash in the success of Keanu Reeves after the John Wick franchise launched him to an additional level of stardom. With the history of the franchise, though, positive reviews will be essential here. Even with those, the other obstacle is that this is an HBO Max hybrid release. The final HBO Max hybrid release as Warner Bros. is ditching that strategy in 2022. The highest HBO Max hybrid release is “Dune” with $41 million. With Christmas Eve on Friday, and that being a day that people don’t go to theaters as much, the comparison there is tricky. Like with many Christmas releases, the long run will be the metric to look out for.

Competing directly with “Spider-Man” for Christmas-time theatrical adventures is going to be tough for any of these movies. And while “The Matrix Resurrections” might have the fan base for that not to be a huge problem, our second wide release on this particular day, that of The King’s Man, may not be so lucky. This movie serves as a prequel to the previous two “Kingsman” movies, 2014’s “Kingsman: The Secret Service” and 2017’s “Kingsman: The Golden Circle.” This is essentially an origin story of the Kingsman organization, set in the early 1900s. The challenge that this movie had from day one is that it’s not returning any of the characters from the main franchise film, instead relying on the style of those two movies to sell it. While the Kingsman movies are popular, are the popular enough to support off-shoot films with different characters, relying on the IP alone? With that already as a challenge, this was supposed to come out November 2019, but got pushed back twice… before COVID hit. It has since bounced around like a ping pong ball perhaps more than any film affected by COVID. At this point, do people care? A third Kingsman movie with returning characters may have been a more effective direction than what they’ve chosen with this movie.

While “The Matrix Resurrections” and “The King’s Man” face the challenge of competing for similar audiences as “Spider-Man,” the third movie released on this day is the one in the best position to provide the best counterprogramming and that’s Sing 2. With a whole month between this and “Encanto,” this movie might have the market on the family audiences, thus being perfectly positioned to be the go to movie for parents with kids on Christmas as well as the days and weeks right after. Lest we forget, “Sing” was actually a huge sleeper hit for Illumination in 2016. It was released right before Christmas that year, a month after Disney’s “Moana” released at Thanksgiving. And while “Moana” was a big hit for Disney, “Sing” wound up making more money, at least domestically. And with “Encanto” hitting on the lower end of projections for Disney this year, history could very well repeat itself as all the animals are back and are looking to put on another performance for the kids to enjoy.  

December 25

Lionsgate's "American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story"

Yes, three days after our previous section, rather than the next weekend, we have two more releases. And yes, that means they’ll be opening on a Saturday, which is definitely not normal. Although in the current circumstances, Christmas Eve is typically not the movie-going day for people, while Christmas Day definitely is. So it makes sense. Neither of these two movies are going to break the bank, but they do provide additional options for adult audiences. The first is American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story. This tells the unique story of Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, who did not have success initially in the NFL. He went undrafted in the 1994 NFL Draft and wasn’t given a chance by a team, forcing him to go play in the Arena Football League for a few years before finally making it as a backup quarterback for the St. Louis Rams in 1998. He was forced into the starting lineup in 1999 following an injury to starter Trent Green and the rest is history. He was the MVP that season and led the Rams to a Super Bowl victory over the Titans. This movie is that story, with Zachary Levi playing Kurt Warner.

And the final wide release of the month will be A Journal for Jordan. This is another drama based on a true story, with Michael B. Jordan playing Sergeant Charles Monroe King, who was killed in action in Baghdad. Before that, though, he kept a journal for his infant son, Jordan, sharing his love and advice of how to grow up without a father. The movie is directed by Denzel Washington and if it plays well, it could a sleeper pick for awards potential. Although it didn’t play at any festivals and hasn’t screened yet for critics or voting members, so it might be a bit late in the game for a true awards push. Its bigger play might be as counterprogramming for the big blockbuster affair, an option for adult audiences who are less interested in Spider-Man or The Matrix. Both this and “American Underdog” probably aren’t looking at major opening weekends, but could be sleeper hits over the holiday.

According to my typical structure, New Year’s Eve falls on a Friday and thus I would normally put that weekend into this month. But there are no new wide releases currently scheduled for that weekend. “Licorice Pizza,” which opened in November, is currently scheduled for a wide expansion on Christmas Eve. “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” another potential Oscar hopeful, will start its limited run on Christmas. There are also probably a handful of other Oscar hopefuls that will likely plan on doing the same thing, like “Cyrano,” which was going to open wide on Christmas, but opted for a limited release before expanding in January. We’ll cover more of those when we cross into the new year next month.

Movie Preview: November 2021

It was a very successful October at the domestic box office, the biggest of the pandemic so far, with totals that are beginning to look like they did before the pandemic. Prior to people spending the Halloween weekend mostly away from theaters, we had four straight weekends with a new movie opening with at least $40 million, a feat hadn’t been accomplished since early summer of 2019. The biggest story of the month was “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” with a staggering $90 million opening, the best of the year so far. In fact, that opening was better than the first “Venom,” which didn’t have a pandemic to deal with. It was also the second highest October opening ever, behind only 2019’s “Joker” with $96.2 million.

While the pandemic itself is still very much around, meaning things are always on thin ice to a certain extent, October was another great sign for box office recovery, leaving studios more confident than they have been in letting their big blockbuster releases go through. That leads us into the holiday season, of which November has at least two big titles on the docket and a very crowded Thanksgiving weekend that will provide plenty of options, so let’s dive in and explore what this month has to offer.

Box office data and release date information, which is always subject to change, is courtesy of the-numbers.com and boxofficepro.com. The movies listed are the ones scheduled for a wide theatrical release in the United States and Canada.

November 5 – 7

Marvel Studios' "The Eternals"

Leading November off will be Marvel yet again, with Eternals. This is the third of four movies this year from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, all coming in the second half of the year. While their biggest release is waiting in the wings for December, that being “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” there is a lot of confidence in “Eternals,” especially after “Shang-Chi” in September proved yet again that the Marvel brand is strong enough to power just about any superhero to a huge box office run. Not many people knew about the character of Shang-Chi prior to September, but now his movie is the highest grossing movie of 2021 at the domestic box office. With “Eternals,” we have a full team of lesser known Marvel characters all making their theatrical debut, much like “Guardians of the Galaxy” in 2014.

The Eternals have been around in the comics since 1976 and are a group of extraterrestrial humanoids that were intended to be the defenders of Earth. They were created by another alien race known as the Celetials and have lived on Earth secretly for 7,000 years. Their reason for showing up now is to protect Earth from their evil counterparts, the Deviants. Portraying the Eternals in the movie are Gemma Chan (Sersi), Richard Madden (Ikaris), Kumail Nanjiani (Kingo), Lia McHugh (Sprite), Brian Tyree Henry (Phastos), Lauren Ridloff (Makkari), Barry Keoghan (Druig), Don Lee (Gilgamesh), Salma Hayek (Ajak), and Angelina Jolie (Thena). The movie is directed by Chloé Zhao, fresh off her best picture and best director wins for “Nomadland.”

“Eternals” is definitely the biggest release of the weekend, with projections currently being in the range of $80-100 million, which may be softened a bit with early mixed word of mouth, but it’s not the only release of the weekend. Challenging it will be the buzzy awards drama Spencer, which sees Kristen Stewart playing the beloved Princess Diana, a performance that has been almost unanimously praised coming out of the festival circuit, making her the very early favorite to win best actress at the Oscars. Obviously the awards season has just begun and a lot can happen. But Stewart seems to at least be a lock to get her first nomination, an honor that is a long time coming. While casual movie fans still know her best from “Twilight,” she’s built up quite the impressive résumé in the indie realm over the past decade, making her a favorite in the industry. While critical praise and awards buzz doesn’t necessarily lead to box office success, “Spencer” is nevertheless looking for a lengthy, more backloaded run, meaning a huge opening weekend isn’t prerequisite to this movie’s success.

While I normally don’t bring up Netflix releases in this post due to there being so many of them, as well as it being sometimes hard to predict what is coming out when, a couple of exceptions will be made in this post and the first one is with Red Notice. I was a bit surprised myself when, at the beginning of one of last month’s big movies, there was a trailer for “Red Notice.” My initial thought was, “I thought this was a Netflix movie, not a theatrical release.” The answer is that it’s both. It will be playing in select theaters starting on November 5, then will be released on Netflix on November 12. That means we can include it here. Don’t ask for a box office prediction. Netflix doesn’t even report those numbers. But the movie is a big, giant action film starring Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot doing things that Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot typically do in action films. Looking at local showtimes in my city, this is playing in most theaters around me, which means this is getting a wide theatrical release. So check it out in theaters if you want. Or wait a week for it to show up on Netflix

November 12 – 14

Universal's "Clifford the Big Red Dog"

The second weekend of November will also most likely be dominated by “Eternals” as November is not quite as crowded with major releases like October was. But entering the market this weekend will be the live action, theatrical debut of Clifford the Big Red Dog. This was actually scheduled for September of this year. And I brought it up in my September preview as a movie that got taken off the schedule due to worries about the Delta Variant of COVID. But with how much success there has been since, Universal was confident enough to put it back on the schedule. While it’s debatable as to whether there’s any demand for a live action “Clifford” movie, it’s nevertheless worthy of noting that this is a very popular IP. It started as a series of children’s books in 1963 and was adapted into a successful animated TV series that aired on PBS Kids starting in 2000.

Does that mean family audiences are going to swarm into theaters for “Clifford? That remains to be seen, but family movies have done fairly well during the pandemic. “Clifford” will also be getting a hybrid release as it will debut on Paramount+, meaning a potential box office comparison can be made to last month’s “The Addams Family 2,” which had a PVOD release along with its theatrical release, yet still opened to $17.3 million. I could see a world in which “Clifford” comes close to that number. Although the biggest draw for family audiences will be on Thanksgiving with Disney’s “Encanto,” so this could be unfortunate timing for “Clifford.”

The other wide release this weekend is another awards player, Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast. This is a movie that was the winner of the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival this year. While not a perfect Oscar predictor, this is a significant note because since “Slumdog Millionaire” in 2008, the winner of this award has at least gone on to be nominated for best picture at the Oscars in every year except 2011. Five times in that span, the winner has gone on to win best picture, including “Nomadland” from last year. So that’s a lot of positive mojo for “Belfast.” Branagh has described this as his most personal film, and semi-autobiographical, as it centers around a young boy growing up in the tumult of Belfast in Northern Ireland in the 1960s. Cirian Hinds, Jamie Dornan, Caitriona Balfe, and Judi Dench are among the names that could score an acting nomination from this film. As with “Spencer,” and other award hopefuls, a major opening weekend isn’t required for “Belfast.” These award hopefuls are looking to play the long game throughout the season.

November 19 – 21

Sony Pictures' "Ghostbusters: Afterlife"

After “Eternals” looks to rule at top of the box office for two weekends, the other major November release that will take its throne will be Ghostbusters: Afterlife. A history of the “Ghostbusters” franchise isn’t necessary here as most on planet Earth are well aware of this franchise’s existence, but nevertheless it’s a fun fact to point out that the original movie was in the top 5 for 19 straight weeks during its initial release in 1984, eight of those at No. 1. It’s been a major part of pop culture ever since. Unlike the 2016 reboot that put a bad taste in many fans’ mouths, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” has been treated as a direct continuation of the original two movies, essentially the “Ghostbusters 3” that never came about. It’s also had strong “Stranger Things” vibes as it stars Finn Wolfhard leading another cast of kids exploring otherworldly things, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the movie’s awareness. It premiered at New York Comic Con in October and had mostly positive vibes from that crowd as well as a strong early score from critics, both of which suggest that this could be a really strong audience pleaser that plays well throughout the holidays.

Rounding out this weekend will be another trio of awards hopefuls. I’ll get to the other two in a second, but King Richard is one that deserves its own paragraph. Not only is this an awards hopeful that, along with the others, is looking for a leggy box office release throughout the season, but it’s also a movie that could play very well with casual audiences as a heartwarming sports drama. The King Richard referenced in the title is that of Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena Williams. The popularity of the Williams sisters is what could lead this to be a major draw. And it’s been a minute or two since there’s been a sports drama in theaters for people to see. Richard Williams is played by Will Smith, a performance that has been buzzy enough that could lead to his third Oscar nomination and a chance at his first ever win after previously being nominated for “Ali” and “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Warner Bros. is the studio releasing “King Richard,” which means it will also be available on HBO Max.

The other two awards releases this weekend that I referenced are A24’s C’mon C’mon and Netflix’s The Power of the Dog. These two get combined together in a paragraph because they are actually limited releases this weekend as opposed to being a wide release. And with “The Power of the Dog” being a Netflix release, its theatrical run might simply be an Oscar-qualifying run. Nevertheless, “C’mon C’mon” is directed by Mike Mills, director of “20th Century Women” and stars Joaquin Phoenix as a radio journalist who forms a bond with his young nephew as they embark on a cross country road trip. “The Power of the Dog” has Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead, along with Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst, and is a western set in the early 1900s involving two brothers (Cumberbatch and Plemons) as ranchers and the drama between them when one of them brings home a new wife. Both movies have had very strong early reviews out of the festivals as they currently are both above a 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.  

November 24 – 28

Walt Disney's "Encanto"

As referenced in the intro of this post, Thanksgiving weekend is a crowded one with five wide releases and one major limited release. Although how big all of them will be is a different story. There’s two major ones and the one that will be leading the way is Disney’s Encanto, the second of two films this year from Walt Disney Animation Studios, following the release of “Raya and the Last Dragon” in March. “Encanto” is a big musical from Disney, with music from Lin-Manuel Miranda. The story follows a family who lives in an enchanted town in the mountains of Colombia. The lead of the story is a girl named Mirabel, the one person in the family who doesn’t have a magical gift.

In regards to the box office prognosis for “Encanto,” this will be a good test for Disney because it’s the first animated movie they’ve released exclusively in theaters during the pandemic. In a normal world, this Thanksgiving weekend is one that Disney has really liked and has found lots of success on, having released the likes of “Tangled,” “Frozen,” “Moana,” “Ralph Breaks the Internet” and “Frozen 2” all on this weekend in the past. Not only do they have the 5-day Thanksgiving weekend to play their movie, but also the entire Christmas season following that. “Moana” and “Ralph Breaks the Internet” both opened with $56 million for the 3-day and over $80 million for the full 5-day weekend. Pixar’s “Coco” also opened in that same ballpark in 2017, albeit a tad bit lower with a $50 million/$70 million total over the 3-day/5-day. Can “Encanto” hit those pre-pandemic heights? If not, it would be understandable, all things considered. But regardless, this should hold very well over the holidays.

The other big release of the weekend is the return of the Resident Evil franchise with Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. This here is another testament that you should never believe Hollywood when they claim something is the final chapter. It makes the title of the most recent movie, “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter” seem a bit silly. Although to their credit, this is a full reboot of the franchise as opposed to being a sequel to other Mila Jovovich-led movies. This does not star Mila Jovovich, who played Alice in all six movies, nor does it have Paul W.S. Anderson in any role, who directed four of them and was a writer and producer on all six. Kaya Scodelario is the lead female here with Johannes Roberts, director of “47 Meters Down” and a handful of other horror films, as director of this reboot. The goal here from the filmmakers is to make this version more of a horror film that is truer to the actual video games. Is that enough to get people excited to come back and see another Resident Evil movie? The second through fifth movies all opened in the $20 million range, but the most recent one opened significantly below that with just $13 million. So we’ll see where this one hits.

While “Encanto” and “Resident Evil” are the two headlining movies, the three others currently scheduled for wide release are movies that I’m not 100 percent sure how wide they actually will be or how much of an impact they will make on the box office. Of the three, I am most confident in Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci at least making an attempt to be a major player. As the title suggests, this is a movie that tells the story of the fashion house of Gucci, with Adam Driver as Maurizio Gucci, Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani, Jared Leto as Paolo Gucci, and Jeremy Irons as Rodolfo Gucci. Heading into the season, this was thought to be a potential major player in awards season, but the buzz has lessened quite a bit and it didn’t even bother to make a run at the festivals, which is a slight red flag. It doesn’t help that Ridley Scott’s other movie, “The Last Duel,” was a non-starter at the box office despite great reviews. “The Last Duel” opened to just $4.8 million from 3,065 screens and plummeted in both ensuing weekends. Ridley Scott will be hoping for a better outing this time around, although confidence in the industry isn’t necessary super high, meaning this could go even lower.

The other two scheduled for wide release I will both include in this paragraph, because, again, I’m not even sure how wide these will be. Freestyle Releasing will be releasing For the Love of Money¸ the trailer of which just was released a week ago and has just 17,000 YouTube views. It's directed by Leslie Small and is about a single mother who leaves the family’s billion dollar business to raise her child, only to get pulled back in when some shadowy gangsters threaten her daughter. STX Entertainment will also theoretically be releasing National Champions, a sports drama following a star quarterback who ignites a players strike hours before the biggest game of the year in order to fight for fair compensation and equality. I say this is theoretically getting released because I can’t even find a trailer for this movie, nor does the IMDb page have a poster. But the IMDb page does exist (that’s where I got that description) and also claims it’s getting released on November 24. So I don’t know what the deal is here. It has a big cast with Timothy Olyphant, J.K. Simmons, and Kristin Chenoweth. If it is coming out, maybe STX will start advertising it at some point during this month.

And finally, a movie that is definitely coming out, albeit on Friday the 26th and in limited release, is another buzzy awards drama, Licorice Pizza. If you’re confused at what that title is in reference to, Licorice Pizza was the name of a chain of record stores in Los Angeles in the 1970s, Licorice Pizza being a reference to the old vinyl records. “Licorice Pizza” the movie is the latest from Paul Thomas Anderson, director of “There Will Be Blood,” “The Master,” and “Punch-Drunk Love” among others. He’s an eight-time Oscar nominee, so whenever he releases a new movie, the industry pays attention. “Licorice Pizza” is a coming-of-age drama following a young teenage couple navigating life and love in the 1970s Los Angeles. Cooper Hoffman, son of the late actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman, is in the lead role along with Alana Haim, the youngest sister in the band Haim, who Anderson has directed several music videos for. Supporting Hoffman and Haim in the movie are the likes of Bradley Cooper, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, and Benny Safdie. Early buzz on this is that it’s very much a crowd pleaser, which is often not the case for Paul Thomas Anderson, so that could help this even more.

Movie Preview: October 2021

It was a very “Shang-Chi” heavy month at the box office in September as the breakout hit from Marvel easily took the weekend crown all four weeks, becoming the highest grossing movie of 2021 at the domestic box office and will soon be the first here to pass $200 million since the start of the pandemic. Again, that’s domestically. There’s been a few Chinese films that have made well over $500 million in China in the last year, but “Shang-Chi” doing so well in the United States and Canada has given studios confidence to stick with their release dates, which has resulted in quite the heavy October.

Nothing else that opened in September even opened above $10 million. In fact, of all movies playing, the second through fifth highest grossing movies in September were all holdovers from July and August. That means there’s still no guarantee of massive success. Not everything is going to be a “Shang-Chi.” But what “Shang-Chi” did prove is that if there’s a movie that people like and word of mouth spreads, people will be willing to show up. And that’s all the studios need to know because that makes the pandemic slightly less of an excuse and opens the door to the potential of money being made. And although the situation is still fluid, this gives me confidence that most of these movies that I’m bringing up in this preview will come out. And there are a lot of them, so it’s time to dive in.

Box office data and release date information is courtesy of the-numbers.com and boxofficepro.com. Unless specified otherwise, the movies included in this post are movies scheduled for a wide theatrical release in the United States and Canada.

October 1 – 3

Sony's "Venom: Let There Be Carnage"

Starting things off in October, we have our next big comic book film in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. This is the sequel to the 2018 film “Venom,” starring Tom Hardy as the anti-hero Eddie Brock. It was initially seen as a very risky venture for Sony to start a separate Spider-Man-less Spider-Man universe by making a Venom movie without Peter Parker in it, thus recreating the origin story of Eddie Brock, which is normally tied directly in with Spider-Man. But the risk paid off and “Venom” scored a then October opening weekend record of $80.3 million (broken by “Joker” a year later), proving to be very critic proof, becoming a fan favorite and having solid legs despite a 30 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics. Now the still Spider-Man-less sequel has Venom going up against his biggest nemesis in Carnage, another symbiote who attaches to serial killer Cletus Kasady. Unlike Eddie Brock, who seeks to keep Venom in check by not eating everyone and everything, Cletus Kasady as a host is more than willing to let Carnage run rampant. Cletus Kasady is played by Woody Harrelson, as was teased in the end credits of the original film, albeit without the wig that he wore in that scene.

How well “Let There Be Carnage” does this weekend will probably be at least somewhat of a reflection of how popular the first movie actually was and how excited the general public is for a sequel. Which, again, the first movie was a lot more popular with fans then with critics, but how beloved is it actually? And what sort of cultural impact has it left in the last three years? Box Office Pro projected an opening in the $45-65 million range, but is there another surprise in store? Can it hit the $80 million opening of the original? Early reaction seems to be on the positive side of things, even from a critics point of view as it’s currently hovering around a 70 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

As I mentioned last month, one movie that did not hit theaters was “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania,” the fourth movie in the franchise. After getting bounced around like a ping pong ball with most other films, Sony decided to cancel its theatrical release. Reports are that Amazon Prime is in discussions to buy and stream it on their service. This weekend was the date that it was supposed to come out. Instead, United Artists jumped on that opening and will be releasing The Addams Family 2, the sequel to the animated reboot of the franchise from 2019, which was a surprise hit, opening to $30.3 million on its way to $97.9 million domestically and $200 million worldwide. This sequel appears to be a nice sweet spot here. Those who enjoyed the first will probably be interested in this sequel. It’s the first weekend of October, meaning Halloween time is upon us. Plus, parents with young kids haven’t had a movie to take the family to in a while. There were a few options in July and only “PAW Patrol: The Movie” in August. Nothing new for them in September. And despite it being a busy October, this is really the only family release of the month, so that should help it considerably.

Finishing off the trio of new wide releases this weekend is a potential treat for fans of “The Sopranos” in The Many Saints of Newark. “The Sopranos” is highly regarded as one of the best TV shows ever made, currently sitting at No. 13 on IMDb’s list of top rated TV shows. It first aired in 1999 and ran for six seasons, totaling 86 episodes, on HBO. The TV show chronicled the journey of Tony Soprano, who attempted to balance being a family man with being a mob boss of the Soprano family. “The Many Saints of Newark” is a prequel movie to “The Sopranos,” following a young Tony Soprano, with the backdrop of the movie being the 1967 Newark riots in Newark, New Jersey. Michael Gandolfini, son of James Gandolfini, plays the role of young Tony Soprano, a role his father played in the TV series. “The Many Saints of Newark” will debut simultaneously on HBO Max along with its theatrical debut. This hybrid release strategy seems to be going away in favor of a 45-day theatrical exclusive window. After the success of “Shang-Chi,” a theatrical exclusive, Disney committed to this strategy for the rest of their movies in 2021. However, Warner Bros. had already committed to the hybrid strategy for the whole year, so they’re stuck with it until January, when they also plan to ditch it. But for now, “The Many Saints of Newark” will be free at home for HBO Max subscribers, which will eat into its box office potential.

It looks like that’s it for the wide releases this weekend, but there are two more significant smaller releases. The Jesus Music is actually listed as a wide release by the-numbers.com, but I’m expecting it to play more like last month’s “Show Me the Father,” which opened to $700,181 from 1,081 theaters. “The Jesus Music” is a documentary by Andrew and Jon Erwin, directors of “Woodlawn,” “I Can Only Imagine” and “I Still Believe” and chronicles the history of contemporary Christian music from its origins up to its popularity today, featuring many popular Christian artists. And on possibly the exact opposite side of the spectrum, also opening in at least a few hundred theaters is the buzzy French film Titane, which has sparked quite the discussion across the festival circuit the past few months. And that makes sense when you learn its premise is about a female serial killer who gets impregnated by a car. Yes, you read that right. From IndieWire’s David Ehrlich, “there’s no denying that ‘Titane’ is the work of a demented visionary in full command of her wild mind.” It’s described as the most shocking movie of the year, one worth seeing in a crowded theater in order to witness everyone’s reactions.

October 8 – 10

United Artists' "No Time to Die"

After a rather busy opening weekend of October, there’s only one wide release in the second weekend of October. But it’s certainly not going to be a quiet weekend as the 25th James Bond movie, No Time to Die, will finally be hitting theaters. This was initially scheduled for a November 2019 release date until it was postponed to April 2020 after initial director Danny Boyle left the project. That was, of course, unfortunate timing with COVID-19 shutting down the world a month before its planned release. And now after an 18-month game of chicken with COVID, the movie will finally see the light of day. United Artists will be handling its domestic release, with Universal taking care of the international release. And those two studios were definitely happy to see “Shang-Chi” do so well, otherwise it may have been bumped down the calendar even more. For many reasons, this has movie of the year potential in regards to the box office. Bond has been around since Ian Fleming’s original novels in 1953 and has been a movie franchise since “Dr. No” in 1962, with many actors taking over the mantle of Bond. That alone makes a new Bond film almost a guaranteed success.

Beyond that, “No Time to Die” will be Daniel Craig’s fifth and final time portraying Bond. The franchise is far from being done and may never go away as long as movies continue to be a thing, but the idea that this is an end of an era might make this more of an event film than even the likes of “Skyfall” and “Spectre.” The initial screenings have already taken place and reactions from the Twitterverse from those lucky enough to see it have been generally very positive, which also helps build anticipation. What does that translate to in terms of box office? Well, the first thing to look at is those two predecessors. “Skyfall” opened to $88.3 million in 2012, while “Spectre” opened to $70.4 million in 2015. Yes, we are still in a pandemic. As I said, not everything is going to be a “Shang-Chi.” And yes, there is strong competition from “Venom 2” and “Dune” over the context of the whole month, but I’m feeling generally optimistic with this one. I don’t know if it can be the first movie of the pandemic to open north of $100 million, but I’d say there’s an outside chance for it to come close. At the very least, somewhere in the “Skyfall” and “Spectre” range seems like a given.

No direct competition for Bond, but two smaller films worth mentioning. Lamb sees A24 getting in the Halloween spirit with their new supernatural indie horror film. Well, kinda. In true A24 fashion, this looks right up their alley as an unconventional horror film that might lean heavily on the drama side with a young couple in Ireland, played Noomi Rapace and Hilmir Snaer Gudnason, parenting a… strange humanoid/lamb hybrid thing. Fans of traditional horror might want to wait for the big horror film up in the next weekend, but fans of indie horror will have something to look forward to when it expands to their region. Alongside “Lamb” will be Mass, a popular film out of Sundance looking to make an Awards run. The plot has the parents of a victim of a school shooting meeting face-to-face with the parents of the perpetrator. At the very least, the actors in the film are looking at some nominations, led by Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, and Reed Birney. And if Bleeker Street can figure out a way to promote and campaign this, and it connects with general audiences, this might be a film to look out for.   

October 15 – 17

Universal's "Halloween Kills"

And for the major horror audiences, Michael Myers is back to haunt Halloween with Halloween Kills, the sequel to the 2018 reboot of the franchise, titled simply “Halloween,” which did very well for itself in positioning it as a direct sequel to the original John Carpenter movie, wiping the rest of the slate clean. After hunting down Michael and burning him to a crisp, Laurie Strode isn’t done dealing with Michael. Because, you know, he’s never dead. The 2018 “Halloween” did very well for itself, opening to $76.2 million and winding up with $255 million worldwide, $159 million of that coming domestically. Not bad for a movie budgeted at $10 million. And now you know why these movies never end. “Halloween Kills” debuted at the Venice Film Festival in early September, an interesting choice, and is said to be a movie focused heavily on Michael killing people. Whether that’s positive or negative is up for debate. Diminished returns are expected, as is almost always the case with a horror franchise. And Universal also made a strange choice to debut this day-and-date on Peacock along with its theatrical debut. So this won’t be hitting that $76 million of its predecessor. But again, with the budget of these films, that doesn’t really matter. A $30-50 million opening would already be far above the line of profitability.

Ridley Scott will be competing against himself at the awards circuit this year with two films he directed being released this awards season. The first of that comes this weekend with The Last Duel. In November he’ll also have “House of Gucci.” The reason for this double release is directly related to COVID as “The Last Duel” was initially supposed to come out last year. It’s now been a while since Ridley Scott had a major awards contender, since “The Martian” in 2015. Many have wondered if this year could be his year. “The Last Duel” definitely looks great on paper. It is co-written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The last time those two wrote a movie together was “Good Will Hunting.” Both Damon and Affleck star in the film along with Adam Driver and Jodie Comer in what some have called a Medieval #MeToo saga. Damon and Driver are the two male leads. Formerly friends, Damon’s character challenges Driver’s character to a duel after Damon’s character’s wife (Comer) accuses Driver’s character of raping her. Damon and Affleck brought on Nicole Holofcener to help them write the screenplay, in part to make sure the female’s perspective is properly represented.

October 22 – 24

Warner Bros.' "Dune"

As you’ve seen by this point, this month is full of big titles postponed by COVID-19 that will finally be getting their releases. Yet another one of these movies is the highly anticipated release of Dune. At the helm here is Denis Villeneuve, director of “Arrival,” “Sicario,” “Prisoners,” and – perhaps most notably – “Blade Runner 2049.” The man is very experienced in many genres and looks to bring the epic sci-fi adventure triumphantly to the big screen. “Dune” is based off of the novel “Dune,” which was written in 1965 by Frank Herbert and is often cited as the best-selling sci-fi novel in history. “Dune” was the first in a series of six novels written by Herbert before he died in 1986, which was followed by his son Brian and co-author Kevin J. Anderson continuing with two different prequel trilogies, while also writing two direct sequels to the original series after Brian found his father’s notes. So yeah, this new movie is one that Warner Bros. hopes is the beginning of a new film franchise if all goes well. It’s not the first time Dune has been adapted to film or TV, but the hope here is for this to become the definitive version.

Warner Bros. may be shooting themselves in the foot a tad bit with their hybrid release strategy, meaning “Dune” will be free on HBO Max to subscribers. And the budget is upwards of $165 million, which means this needs to be a major hit for them to justify continuing. Luckily for Warner Bros., the movie has already been released and has been playing well. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival and played again at Toronto International Film Festival to positive buzz from both. And it’s already been released in over 20 countries worldwide starting on September 15. In two weekends internationally, it’s already made $77 million and has several more countries yet to go. The October 22 release for the United States is actually among the last countries to get the movie. So early prognosis is quite good, even with the HBO Max angle and crowded release schedule.

In other non-“Dune” related news, Disney will be releasing the animated movie Ron’s Gone Wrong via their 20th Century Studios banner. This is a movie starring a kid named Barney and is set in a future where every kid gets their own robot friend called a B-bot. When Barney gets his new B-bot, he figures out that it doesn’t really work and has to figure out how to survive with his dysfunctional B-bot friend, which is named Ron. The history of this movie actually goes back to 2017 when new animation studio Locksmith Animation struck a deal with 20th Century Fox to release their movies. Fox was bought by Disney, thus meaning Disney inherited the project. While in production, Locksmith struck a new deal with Warner Animation Group, which will release their future films. That means this will be the first and only Locksmith movie handled by Disney. It’s also a movie that got postponed by COVID and thus in a weird chain of events, we have a movie released under the 20th Century Animation Studios after Blue Sky, the main Fox animation division, got shut down this April. So that’s a long a twisted history for a more low-key movie that might not break the bank. But it is getting a 45-day theatrical exclusive window along with the rest of Disney’s 2021 slate, so that helps it out.

Lastly for this weekend, in limited release we’ll see the debut of Wes Anderson’s movie The French Dispatch, which will be slowly expanded over the rest of 2021. Wes Anderson has a very unique style and thus has a strong, niche following. In 2018 he directed the animated movie “Isle of Dogs,” but his last live action movie was the 2014 hit “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” which scored 10 Oscar nominations, winning four of them. He’s also directed “The Royal Tanenbaums,” “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “Moonrise Kingdom” and more. “The French Dispatch” is a love letter to journalists and is set in a fictional 20th century French city that brings to life a series of stories published in a magazine called “The French Dispatch Magazine.” Like most Wes Anderson films, the movie stars a lot of people in various roles. It’s always an acting party. The trailer specifically highlights Benecio Del Toro, Frances McDormand, Jeffrey Wright, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Timothee Chalamet, Lea Seydoux, Owen Wilson, Mathieu Amalric, Lyna Khoudri, Stephen Park, and Bill Murray. But there’s a lot more.

October 29 – 31

Focus Features' "Last Night in Soho"

Nope. We’re not done yet. With October 1 landing on a Friday, we have five full weekends in October without even poaching into November. But given that Halloween is on Sunday and will most likely be celebrated on Friday and Saturday, opening a big release on this weekend is not the smartest of ideas. Perhaps “Dune” takes this weekend again. And I’m assuming “Halloween Kills” will perform nicely over Halloween weekend.

Leading the charge among four new films will be Edgar Wright debuting his latest film Last Night in Soho. Wright has become a beloved name among film fans. Like Wes Anderson, he has a very distinct style with his humor and his sharp, quick editing. He directed the Cornetto trilogy, consisting of “Shaun of the Dead,” “Hot Fuzz” and “At World’s End.” In between that he directed what has become a huge cult hit in “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.” He almost directed “Ant-Man” for Marvel before stepping away due to creative differences, but his style remains imprinted on that whole movie. And his biggest hit financially came with the 2017 movie “Baby Driver,” which finished its run with over $200 million worldwide. “The Last Night in Soho” sees him delve into the psychological horror/thriller realm, perfect for Halloween weekend.  The story is about an aspiring fashion designer, played by Thomasin McKenzie, being able to mysteriously enter 1960s London in the body of an iconic night club singer, played by Anya Taylor-Joy. Early buzz is a bit mixed, which means it might not open as strong as “Baby Driver,” which scored $20.6 million opening weekend. Rather, his other films all opened in the $5-10 million range, which could be closer to what “Last Night in Soho” is looking at.

While we’re in a Halloween mood here with this last weekend of October, let’s throw out the movie Antlers as being another option for the horror crowd. Having both “Last Night in Soho” and “Antlers” on the same weekend, both competing with “Halloween Kills” for the horror audiences on Halloween weekend, might not be the best of choices. One or both new horror films could be left in the dust because of it. But this is Disney here via Searchlight Pictures and they look like they’re simply taking a chance here after “Antlers” is another movie that bounced around the schedule due to COVID. So I’m guessing Disney isn’t too terribly worried about it not doing well. The movie stars Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons and is about a school teacher (Russell) and her brother, the local sheriff (Plemons), who become worried about one of her students who is hiding a supernatural creature in his house. This movie reminds me of last year on Halloween when Disney via Fox kinda just dumped “The Empty Man” on Halloween weekend without spending much time giving it any awareness. That movie made $1.3 million and had to rely on finding on audience afterwards. Granted, there were fewer theaters opened last Halloween, but there was also a lot less competition, too.  

Out of the horror field and into the anime realm, Funimation will be releasing My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission. “My Hero Academia” is a popular Japanese manga that started in 2014 and an anime series starting in 2015 that had five seasons. It’s also had two movies released during that, subtitled “Two Heroes” in 2018 and “Heroes Rising” in 2019. “World Heroes’ Mission” will be the third movie and it probably shouldn’t be overlooked in projecting the box office totals this weekend. While the big focus with these anime movies is the international release, Funimation has snuck up and done will in the United States, too. “Two Heroes” opened with $1.4 million from just 508 theaters, while “Heroes Rising” then opened with $5.9 million from 1,209 theaters. Even if this third film wound up like the second, that could be enough to be the top new release if the two horror movies disappoint. But it’s also worth noting that, while not in the same exact series, Funimation found huge success with “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” opening with $9.8 million from 1,247 theaters in 2019 and, most recently, “Demon Slayer: The Movie” opening to $22.8 million from 1,605 theaters earlier this year.

Last and, well, possibly least is a drama released by Sony called A Mouthful of Air. I’m a bit unsure about this one. It’s currently listed as a wide release. I’m not sure how wide that’ll end up being or if it will hit the date, but this is a movie that’s written and directed by Amy Koppelman, based on the book by Amy Koppelman. So she got the opportunity to adapt her own book into a movie, which is cool. The movie stars Amanda Seyfried as an author of bestselling children’s books that are about unlocking your fears, but she’s having her own fears and trauma that she’s struggling to deal with on her own. Exactly what that is beyond that basic description is a bit muddy and the trailer is also fairly vague. Ultimately there doesn’t seem to be a lot of buzz surrounding this and the trailer released a week ago only has 50,000 views on Sony’s official YouTube channel. So I’m not sure how much attention this will get when released, but we’ll see. It is Sony and Amanda Seyfried, so that’s at least something.