tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733393590993881722024-03-21T07:18:05.475-06:00DrogeMiester's LairAdam Droge's movie blogAdam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.comBlogger903125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-86533018608770740282024-03-09T18:54:00.000-07:002024-03-09T18:54:04.319-07:00The 96th Academy Awards: Predictions<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcSyIC7XMf8QkaZYiQmO7EvwgiljknXcLlHWNOKTX5cjNZ0X88MmoVmlYiLeUPpYIr-u8LunOufKSN2TxRkKWD-O4D53W3cvOOEdoAIUvwUgeekSkPJbDeO3-2lYNfJ5WZknVXRqKEMGLjmuZD7jKh6my9uMwP7u_jv7eDVYBpwoX2ZMgbcsb5ZkRQk2nC/s1564/IMG_20240309_185224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1019" data-original-width="1564" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcSyIC7XMf8QkaZYiQmO7EvwgiljknXcLlHWNOKTX5cjNZ0X88MmoVmlYiLeUPpYIr-u8LunOufKSN2TxRkKWD-O4D53W3cvOOEdoAIUvwUgeekSkPJbDeO3-2lYNfJ5WZknVXRqKEMGLjmuZD7jKh6my9uMwP7u_jv7eDVYBpwoX2ZMgbcsb5ZkRQk2nC/w400-h260/IMG_20240309_185224.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">The 96th Academy Awards will take place tomorrow, March 10, in the year of our Lord 2024, honoring the films from 2023. Or at least the movies that hit the minimum qualifications to count towards this year’s ceremony but are really 2024 movies in my book. We’ll get to those when we see them.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyways, this is one of my favorite posts of the each year where I go through every single category at the Oscars and list two things: who I think is going to win in each category (“will win”) and who I would personally vote for if I had an Oscar ballot (“should win”). This is mostly just for fun. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. And most likely no one will remember or keep tally outside myself. In a way you can see this as what I was personally expecting going into the night. If I’m mostly right, then cool. That makes me look good. If I get a lot wrong, then that means there was a lot of chaos and unpredictability, which often makes the night more interesting. I think the highest I’ve gotten is 20 or 21 correct. The worst is around 14 or 15. I think this night will land a bit more on the predictable side of the fence, but we’ll see what happens.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As far as my process, you should know that I watch a lot of movies. And I have seen most of these. You might know that I’m also super nerdy when it comes to the awards season. Even if I wind up unhappy with what actually wins the awards, the movies that are in contention are often really good. And this season’s lineup was rather great. Five of the best picture nominees were in my personal top 10 of the year and a few others were pretty close. But yes, I follow the awards season pretty close all year through various podcasts and YouTube channels, my favorite being Awards Radar. In making a prediction, part of it is keeping my finger close to the pulse of what others are thinking, another part of it is looking at the precursors to see who and what have been winning, and then finally sometimes you just gotta go with your gut if you’re not sure, trying to attempt to balance brain and heart.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Enough of all that, though. Here’s my picks and predictions! This is always a long post, but hopefully it’s organized in a way that you can spend as long or short as you want with it. If you have any thoughts about anything I bring up, let me know and we can discuss! <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Documentary Short Film</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The ABCs of Book Banning” - Sheila Nevins and Trish Adlesic<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Barber of Little Rock” - John Hoffman and Christine Turner<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Island in Between” - S. Leo Chiang and Jean Tsien<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Last Repair Shop” - Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó” - Sean Wang and Sam Davis</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Last Repair Shop” - Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Last Repair Shop” - Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Starting with the shorts, these are always the most unpredictable. If you do an Oscar pool with any friends, getting lucky enough to get these right are usually how you’ll win because even the “experts” have no idea how these will go. Pick a name from a hat and see what happens. Any buzz you here seems to indicate that it’s between “The ABCs of Book Banning” and “The Last Repair Shop.” It could go to “The ABCs of Book Banning” due to the social commentary behind that. But I actually watched all of these, most are on YouTube, the others either on Disney+ or Paramount+. And in doing so, “The Last Repair Shop” is just so much better than the other four for me and it’s not remotely close. Maybe this is the wrong way to pick for this one, but I have a hard time seeing people watching all of these and not going with “The Last Repair Shop,” so that’s what I’ll predict.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Animated Short Film</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Letter to a Pig” - Tai Kantor and Amit R. Gicelter<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Ninety-Five Senses” - Jerusha and Jared Hess<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Our Uniform” - Yegane Moghaddam<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Pachyderme” - Stéphanie Clément and Marc Rius<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko” - Dave Mullins and Brad Booker</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Ninety-Five Senses” - Jerusha and Jared Hess</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- N/A<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This one feels like a trap. Unlike the previous category of shorts, I have not seen any of these because, annoyingly, they aren’t available to be watched unless you go find the theatrical release of shorts, which for me is 45 minutes away. But anyways, just glancing through the titles, it seems like many will see John and Yoko and give that the way off of name recognition. That’s the trap I’m seeing, though. I think it might go to either “Letter to a Pig” or “Ninety-Five Senses.” I decided to go with the latter with my unscientific approach of me wanting to see Jerusha and Jared Hess, writers and directors of “Napoleon Dynamite” and “Nacho Libre,” win an Oscar. It also has the highest IMDb score of the five, which I’ve sometimes gone with and nailed all three.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Live Action Short Film</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The After” - Misan Harriman and Nicky Bentham<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Invincible” - Vincent René-Lortie and Samuel Caron<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Knight of Fortune” - Lasse Lyskjær Noer and Christian Norlyk<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Red, White and Blue” - Nazrin Choudhury and Sara McFarlane<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” - Wes Anderson and Steven Rales</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” - Wes Anderson and Steven Rales</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- N/A<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This one also feels like a trap. Is it too easy to just go with Wes Anderson here? There might be some who don’t want to see Wes Anderson’s first ever Oscar win come via a short. There also might be some who think he’s too mainstream and thus might not like such a big name winning in such a small category. But I don’t know, there’s close to 10,000 Academy members and I just have a feeling that most will like the opportunity to give Wes an Oscar. It’s also the highest viewed short by a long shot. I have also not seen any of these, but in this case it’s my own fault. I simply ran out of time. But Wes Anderson did release a series of shorts on Netflix this past year and I’ve been meaning to get around to them. “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” is a movie that I’ve had on my radar. It was on my 2023 yearly movie preview, back when I thought it was a feature-length film and not just a short. So I’ll definitely get around to it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>International Feature Film</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Io Capitano” - Italy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Perfect Days” - Japan<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Society of the Snow” - Spain<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Teachers’ Lounge” - Germany<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Zone of Interest”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Zone of Interest”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- N/A<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These movies I would like to give a watch to. But they’re rarely available to be watched, so it’s tough. I have seen two of them, that being “Society of the Snow” and “The Zone of Interest.” The former is on Netflix and the latter had a wide enough theatrical release to hit my local cinema. Of those two, I prefer “Society of the Snow,” but it didn’t feel right making an official pick without having seen the other three. As far as what’s going to win, if France had submitted “Anatomy of a Fall” or if Japan had submitted “Godzilla Minus One,” maybe this is more of a discussion. Beause that’s how this works. They don’t just pick the best international movies. The country has to officially submit their entry and that’s the pool they have to go from. France and Japan submitted different movies. That leaves us with an easy win for “The Zone of Interest,” which got five total nominations, including best picture and best director. When “Society of the Snow” is the only one to even get a second nomination, and that was for makeup and hairstyling, this race was over on nomination morning.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Documentary Feature Film</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Bobi Wine: The People’s President” - Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp and John Battsek<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Eternal Memory” - Maite Alberdi<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Four Daughters” - Kaouther Ben Hania and Nadim Cheikhrouha<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “To Kill a Tiger” - Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe and David Oppenheim<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “20 Days in Mariupol” - Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “20 Days in Mariupol” - Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “20 Days in Mariupol” - Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I did spend this past week watching all of these movies. They’re all available to stream. Except for “To Kill a Tiger,” which doesn’t get released on Netflix until Sunday. I’ll watch it, but I didn’t want to wait to post this. The biggest conversation with this category is the documentaries that DIDN’T get nominated, namely “Still: A Michael J. Fox Story” and “American Symphony,” the two movies that people thought were the two front runners. That leaves us with a rather easy choice because “20 Days in Mariupol” is about the start of the Russian/Ukraine war, as a journalist was in the city for 20 days, showing the terror that average, innocent citizens were experiencing as the Russians were attacking and killing everyone, while trying to cover it up. It’s a hard watch, but one that I think is one that everyone should check out.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Music (Original Song)</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Fire Inside” - Becky G (From “Flaming Hot”; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “I’m Just Ken” - Ryan Gosling (from “Barbie”; Music and Lyric by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “It Never Went Away” - Jon Batiste (from “American Symphony”; Music and Lyric by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” - Osage Tribe Singers (from “Killers of the Flower Moon”; Music and Lyric by Scott George)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “What Was I Made For?” - Billie Eilish (from “Barbie”; Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “What Was I Made For?” - Billie Eilish (from “Barbie”; Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “What Was I Made For?” - Billie Eilish (from “Barbie”; Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Billie Eilish will become one of the youngest women to win two Oscars, which I think is really cool. I’ve been a big fan of hers since the start. I remember telling people when I first discovered here that they should check her out because she deserves to become a big name in the music world. And that definitely came to pass, much more than I expected. And as excited as I am to see Ryan Gosling perform “I’m Just Ken,” and as fun as it would be for it to win, Billie’s song was my favorite of last year, movie or not. So I gotta go with it. And I’ll be happy to see her win.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Music (Original Score)</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “American Fiction” - Laura Karpman<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” - John Williams<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Killers of the Flower Moon” - Robbie Robertson<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Ludwig Göransson<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Poor Things” - Jerskin Fendrix</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Ludwig Göransson</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Ludwig Göransson<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is an easy category to predict. It’s going to be “Oppenheimer.” A trend that you’ll see throughout this post. It’s a harder one to decide which one is my favorite. I went on a road trip in January and played all of these scores on the drive and they’re all really good. It’s very close for me between “Oppenheimer” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.” I almost went for the latter because it feels a tad bit more unique. But listening to the score of “Oppenheimer” felt like I was re-watching the movie and I could see in my head what was happening in the scenes when I was listening. To me that speaks volumes about how impactful the score was in helping get across the message and emotions of the movie.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Visual Effects</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Creator” - Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts and Neil Corbould<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Godzilla Minus One” - Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Chibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” - Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams and Theo Bialek<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning” - Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Napoelon” - Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet, Simone Coco and Neil Corbould</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Godzilla Minus One” - Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Chibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Godzilla Minus One” - Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Chibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m going with my heart on this one. Logic says “The Creator” will win. If you look at precursors, it has most of the statistics to back it up. But “Godzilla Minus One” was very late to the party and I do feel that there’s a lot of passion behind it. When it’s name came up on nomination morning, there was a very loud, positive response to that announcement. And with “Dune: Part Two” leaving 2023, that left this race wide open. I feel that’s the perfect opportunity to give a fun movie a great win. No one will remember “The Creator” in a year from now. It was visually stunning, but a terrible movie. So can’t we just give Godzilla an Oscar instead?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Sound</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Creator” - Ian Voigt, Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Maestro” - Steven A. Morrow, Richard King, Jason Ruder, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning” - Chris Munro, James H. Mather, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Willie Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo and Kevin O'Connell<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Zone of Interest” - Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Willie Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo and Kevin O'Connell</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Willie Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo and Kevin O'Connell<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another easy category. “Oppenheimer” is winning. Although for my personal pick, I thought long and hard about “The Zone of Interest.” I didn’t love the movie as a whole, mostly because I don’t know why we needed another Nazi movie. But in regards to the sound design, that kinda made the whole movie. You’re watching a couple and their family live what seems like a normal, average life. Except their Nazi leaders living by the Concentration Camp and the sounds you hear in the background is what makes it horryifing. So in that regard, it’s a solid choice. But at the same time, I decided not to overthink things. “Oppenheimer” is a movie about dropping the bomb on Japan during the war. Sound design is also kinda a big part of that movie, too.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Makeup and Hairstyling</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Golda” - Karen Hartley Thomas, Suzi Battersby and Ashra Kelly-Blue<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Maesto” - Kazu Hiro, Kay Georgiou and Lori McCoy-Bell<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Luisa Abel<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Poor Things” - Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Society of the Snow” - Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí and Montse Ribé</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Poor Things” - Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Maesto” - Kazu Hiro, Kay Georgiou and Lori McCoy-Bell<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is one of those categories where I have to go with my gut feeling. And my gut feeling tells me that “Poor Things” might have a decent day. It got 11 nominations, which told me that the Academy likes it more than I was expecting. And I don’t think it gets 11 nominations without sneaking away a few wins in the process. It has a giant “Oppenheimer” in the way that will hold it back a tad bit. But this particular category goes down to “Poor Things” and “Maestro.” And it might be the one chance to give “Maestro” a win. And even though I didn’t care for “Maestro,” Bradley Cooper’s transformation over the course of the movie is enough for it to get my vote, but I think the love for “Poor Things” will put it over the edge. You can use Willem Dafoe as an argument in and of itself. His look was wacky and it’s the makeup that did that job and made the movie even more quirky.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Film Editing</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Anatomy of a Fall” - Laurent Sénéchal<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Holdovers” - Kevin Tent<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Killers of the Flower Moon” - Thelma Schoonmaker<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Jennifer Lame<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Poor Things” - Yorgos Mavropsaridis</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Jennifer Lame</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Jennifer Lame<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll be short and sweet here. Another technical category that “Oppenheimer” runs away with. And it’s well deserved. Film editing is sometimes hard for me to judge because if an editor does their job, you won’t notice the editing at all. But in this case, a three hour movie flew by in part because of phenomenal editing work, in my opinion. So Jennifer Lame, come on down!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Costume Design</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Barbie” - Jacqueline Durran<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Killers of the Flower Moon” - Jacqueline West<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Napoleon” - Janty Yates and Dave Crossman<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Ellen Mirojnick<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Poor Things” - Holly Waddington</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Poor Things” - Holly Waddington</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Barbie” - Jacqueline Durran<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Costume design and production design are two of the trickier categories this year. I suppose I won’t be too surprised to hear “Oppenheimer” get called if it sweeps absolutely everything it’s nominated in, but these two categories have the exact same five nominees and it both cases it’s “Barbie” vs. “Poor Things.” I went back and forth on this. For costume design, it’s hard to argue against the Barbie and Ken outfits. They were brilliant and that’s easily my pick. But is that enough to win? I hope so. But I noted that “Poor Things” surprised me on nomination morning by how much it seemed people liked it. “Barbie,” on the other hand, seemed like it disappointed a bit. Maybe there’s a tad bit less enthusiasm. No hard feelings for me. It made $1.435 billion at the worldwide box office alone. It doesn’t need any gold statues to justify it. It would be nice to see it win, but my brain is overruling my heart on this one and saying that “Poor Things” wins out.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Cinematography</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “El Conde” - Edward Lachman<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Killers of the Flower Moon” - Rodrigo Prieto<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Maestro” - Matthew Libatique<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Hotye van Hoytema<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Poor Things” - Robbie Ryan</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Hotye van Hoytema</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Hotye van Hoytema<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I technically haven’t seen “El Conde.” That’s a bit of a random nomination there. But does there need to be much discussion here? It’s an “Oppenheimer” win. And Hotye van Hoytema might want to consider thanking Warner Bros. in his speech for moving “Dune: Part Two” out of 2023. Having seen that movie this month, that would’ve definitely won and will win next year. But with that not an option, it’s an easy “Oppenheimer” win and a deserving one, too.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Production Design</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Barbie” - Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Killers of the Flower Moon” - Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Napoleon” - Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Elli Griff<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Production Design: Ruth De Jong; Set Decoration: Claire Kaufman<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Poor Things” - Production Design: James Price and Shona Heath; Set Decoration: Zsuzsa Mihalek</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Poor Things” - Production Design: James Price and Shona Heath; Set Decoration: Zsuzsa Mihalek</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Barbie” - Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">See my conversation above in the costume design section. It’s a “Poor Things” vs. “Barbie” competition here. I want “Barbie” to win. They built the entire Barbie Land and I was very impressed with that. But I can’t really argue too much with “Poor Things.” It’s not as obvious as “Barbie,” but there is a lot of great work there. And if certain voters can’t get past the idea of giving a win to a “Barbie” movie, “Poor Things” is a solid choice here.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Animated Feature Film</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Boy and the Heron” - Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki (Studio Ghibli)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Elemental” - Peter Sohn and Denise Ream (Pixar)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Nimona” - Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary (Annapurna Pictures)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Robot Dreams” - Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz (Multiple Production Companies)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” - Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal (Sony Pictures Animation)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” - Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal (Sony Pictures Animation)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” - Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal (Sony Pictures Animation)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This was a bit of a race for a while. One that seemed to be swinging the way of “The Boy and the Heron” after it came out. But recent trends see “Spider-Man” taking the moment back. And from what I hear, that might be a case of the team behind “The Boy and the Heron” not caring too much to campaign their movie. I’m not the insider on that, but that’s one podcast episode I listened to mentioned. I’m not basing my prediction on that statement. I’m mostly looking at what wins each movie has had recently and “Spider-Man” has had most of them. Thus that insight kinda makes sense. This is a fantastic category, though. “Robot Dreams” is one of those movies that met the minimum qualifications to be eligible, but isn’t being released theatrically until May, which is weird. I’ve heard great things, but we’ll see. The others, though, were all pretty high on my end of year list. Which would normally make this is a hard personal choice because I love all of them. But “Across the Spider-Verse” was my No. 1 of the year, so there’s not exactly much of a debate in that realm. Animated sequels don’t often do well in this category, but this seems like it’s going to be an exception to that.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Writing (Adapted Screenplay)</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “American Fiction” - Cord Jefferson<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Barbie” - Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Christopher Nolan<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Poor Things” - Tony McNamara<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Zone of Interest” - Jonathan Glazer</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “American Fiction” - Cord Jefferson</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Barbie” - Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And now for the big ones. The screenplay awards have seemed to recently become a place to give wins to slightly smaller movies that aren’t winning the big awards. That’s not always the case. But “American Fiction” seems like a movie that was made to win said screenplay award. I wasn’t as high on it personally, but I know a lot of people who love it and it’s literally a movie about a writer, so it kinda makes sense. Honestly, though, I wouldn’t be totally surprised to see any of these movies get their name read, so I’m not very confident in this pick. I also had a tough time sitting down and analyzing in my brain which of these had the better writing. There’s solid cases both ways. But you’ll probably not be surprised to see me lean “Barbie” here.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Writing (Original Screenplay)</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Anatomy of a Fall” - Justine Triet and Arthur Harari<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Holdovers” - David Hemingson<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Maestro” - Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “May December” - Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Past Lives” - Celine Song</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Anatomy of a Fall” - Justine Triet and Arthur Harari</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Anatomy of a Fall” - Justine Triet and Arthur Harari<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Anatomy of a Fall” is a movie that, despite not having been submitted by France as their international pick, is one that has a lot of support from a lot of people. It did get five nominations. It’s tough competition here from “Oppenheimer” and “The Holdovers,” with “Past Lives” being a dark horse. But it does seem like the place where “Anatomy of a Fall” gets it’s win, especially since Justine Triet has given wonderful speeches in previous awards shows this season. I think that helps. For me personally, I thought really hard between “Anatomy of a Fall” and “Past Lives.” I love them both and I would be happy to see either get a win. But if I’m looking at it really closely, I think “Anatomy of a Fall” is helped mostly by the writing, while “Past Lives” is very much an acting vehicle that makes it connect. So that’s how I made my decision. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Actress in a Supporting Role</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Emily Blunt - “Oppenheimer”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Danielle Brooks - “The Color Purple”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- America Ferrera - “Barbie”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Jodie Foster - “Nyad”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Da’Vine Joy Randolph - “The Holdovers”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Da’Vine Joy Randolph - “The Holdovers”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Jodie Foster - “Nyad”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It seems like there’s at least one acting category each year where someone pretty much gets anointed beforehand as the person who is going to win literally every single award. And that person this year has been Da’Vine Joy Randolph. She’s won everything. She will win the Oscar. There’s no debate. It would be one of the biggest shockers in Oscar history if they read someone else. And I think the moment this was decided was the moment Lily Gladstone got campaigned and nominated for lead actress. And Da’Vine gives a great performance. I have no issue with her winning and being the representative for her movie, which is a very lovely, heartwarming movie. But when I consider all these performances, I think Jodie Foster gives the best performance. And I’m not one to care for how many times someone has or hasn’t won. I would vote for the best performance, even if they have won twice.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Actor in a Supporting Role</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Sterling K. Brown - “American Fiction”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Robert de Niro - “Killers of the Flower Moon”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Robert Downey Jr. - “Oppenheimer”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Ryan Gosling - “Barbie”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Mark Ruffalo - “Poor Things”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Robert Downey Jr. - “Oppenheimer”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Ryan Gosling - “Barbie”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is another category that is also actually kinda over. The difference between this category and the supporting actress category is that people thought this would be an intense race. Ryan Gosling was expecting to rack up a few wins and make this a suspenseful Oscar moment. But then Robert Downey Jr. simply just won everything. So he’s going to win the Oscar. I wouldn’t be too surprised if Ryan Gosling got his name called, but neither actor has an Oscar win yet and this year just seems like it’s RDJ’s year. He’s been waiting longer for this and sometimes that’s just how it goes. Again, for me I don’t personally take that into consideration. I just go my favorite performance. And I thought about this one for a long time, but I do think I liked Ryan Gosling a bit more and I do think it would bring me more joy to see him win, given how great he was as Ken. But I have no problem with an RDJ win. Everyone loves him, me included.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Actress in a Leading Role</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Annette Bening - “Nyad”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Lily Gladstone - “Killers of the Flower Moon”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Sandra Hüller - “Anatomy of a Fall”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Carey Mulligan - “Maestro”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Emma Stone - “Poor Things”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Lily Gladstone - “Killers of the Flower Moon”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Lily Gladstone - “Killers of the Flower Moon”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In regards to the acting categories, this one is the most intense of the night. Emma Stone and Lily Gladstone have been battling all season for this award and I don’t really know whose name will be read. I wouldn’t be surprised at either. I’m going with the SAG winner, though. And that was Lily. And based on me watching these other award shows, it appears that no one would be happier with a Lily win than Emma. Just watch her reactions to Lily winning. And it’s a win that I decided that I do want to happen. I don’t know all the statistics with Native American actors and awards, but if it’s happened, it hasn’t happened very much. And I don’t know if it’s happened in this particular category. So it’s good history to happen. I also simply just loved her subtle performance. There was no big moment in the movie where you’d say “That’s her Oscar clip.” But she outshined everyone in that movie, Leo and de Niro included, mostly with her expressions and non-verbal acting. My personal second choice that I was debating between was her and Annette Bening. Emma was great, too. But if you couldn’t tell, I really enjoyed “Nyad.” Annette Bening and Jodie Foster were both excellent. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Actor in a Leading Role</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Bradley Cooper - “Maestro”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Colman Domingo - “Rustin”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Paul Giamatti - “The Holdovers”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Cillian Murphy - “Oppenheimer”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Jeffrey Wright - “American Fiction”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Cillian Murphy - “Oppenheimer”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Cillian Murphy - “Oppenheimer”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lead actor has been on quite the roller coaster this season. I got out of “Oppenheimer” thinking that Cillian Murphy NEEDS to win the Oscar. It was the performance of the year for me from an actor that I’ve loved for a long time now that I’ve been waiting for him to get his due. When the season began, people thought that Bradley Cooper was going to have his year to finally win. Then Paul Giamatti started to win awards, leading people to think it was his year. And although I imagine vote tallies will be close in this, Cillian ended up getting the wins that he needed, specifically at SAG, that makes it feel like this race is now done. I wouldn’t be totally surprised to hear Paul Giamatti be called. It would be a great win and he’ll give a wonderful speech. But I do like how things have seemingly settled on the right course of action. In the year of “Oppenheimer,” you can’t let it sweep the Oscars and NOT give the man who played Oppenheimer the award. He literally made the movie work.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Directing</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Justine Triet - “Anatomy of a Fall”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Martin Scorsese - “Killers of the Flower Moon”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Christopher Nolan - “Oppenheimer”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Yorgos Lanthimos - “Poor Things”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Jonathan Glazer - “The Zone of Interest”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Christopher Nolan - “Oppenheimer”</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Christopher Nolan - “Oppenheimer”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Speaking of people being annointed beforehand to win everything. Christopher Nolan is winning. And it’s about time, too. I’d argue he should’ve already won at least one for “Inception,” if not for something like “Memento” or “The Dark Knight” as well. The fact that he doesn’t have a win yet is crazy. And “Oppenheimer” is not just a career win. It’s a deserving win for one of his best movies. It’s going to happen. And we will all cheer. If Greta Gerwig had actually gotten in, maybe it would’ve been a harder personal choice for me. But yeah, give Nolan his Oscar.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Best Picture</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Nominations</u><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “American Fiction” - Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson and Jermaine Johnson, Producers (Amazon MGM Studios)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Anatomy of a Fall” - Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion, Producers (Le Pacte)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Barbie” - David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, Producers (Warner Bros.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Holdovers” - Mark Johnson, Producer (Focus Features)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Killers of the Flower Moon” - Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Martin Scorsese and Daniel Lupi, Producers (Paramount Pictures & Apple Original Films)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Maestro” - Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning and Krisstie Macosko Krieger, Producers (Netflix)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan, Producers (Universal Pictures)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Past Lives” - David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon and Palema Koffler, Producers (A24)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Poor Things” - Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, Producers (Searchlight Pictures)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “The Zone of Interest” - James Wilson, Producer (A24)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Will Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Oppenheimer” - Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan, Producers (Universal Pictures)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Should Win</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- “Barbie” - David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, Producers (Warner Bros.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Most years there is a certain level of suspense going into the final award of the night. Even last year with “Everything Everywhere” looking like it would take the win, there was still a certain level of uncertainty. But not here. The biggest award of the night might be the easiest one to predict. I don’t even know what the upset would be. Maybe “Poor Things”? But this is ranked choice and oftentimes it means I overthink this, but in this case I think that doesn’t even matter because I don’t know how many people dislike “Oppenheimer.” I’m sure it’s top three on most ballots. And it’s a great win. I ranked all of the best picture nominees. Head over to my Letterboxd to see that list. “Barbie” is my favorite of the nominees. “Past Lives” is my second choice, actually. But then “Oppenheimer” is third. And all three made my year-end list of favorite movies, along with “Anatomy of a Fall” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.” So it’s a great year for this category.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But yeah, that means I have “Oppenheimer” going home with eight Oscars, followed by “Poor Things” with three and “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Barbie,” “The Holdovers,” “American Fiction,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest” all getting one each. Of the best picture nominees, I have “Maestro” and “Past Lives” going home empty. “Maestro” going home empty and “Barbie” only getting one feels wrong. But I don’t know what to change at this point, so I’m not. I’ll take the L on that, wherever it is.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Agree? Disagree? Let me know what your thoughts on this ceremony is, especially if you’re one who made it this far on this post.</span></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-12820756459694970612024-03-01T17:14:00.000-07:002024-03-01T17:14:20.448-07:00Movie Preview: March 2024<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYcMVAiJ4GPTlgEOchPUS6d5LQMauafzgW1r4PsIhFqxI51508E3JhvGy_K0hFFDIyemw1r1sBxs72tYZFT0FhKR68bO4QhIs_ivEtFpGECfJsCtfDO6zlP1kY7NE2u_yuzVVBwNi1E6lW7Vk460mcae4SRgIs4Qaa6vJM3R4XAQwhKaNpYFfoBjqT9nTv/s1564/IMG_20240301_170747.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1083" data-original-width="1564" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYcMVAiJ4GPTlgEOchPUS6d5LQMauafzgW1r4PsIhFqxI51508E3JhvGy_K0hFFDIyemw1r1sBxs72tYZFT0FhKR68bO4QhIs_ivEtFpGECfJsCtfDO6zlP1kY7NE2u_yuzVVBwNi1E6lW7Vk460mcae4SRgIs4Qaa6vJM3R4XAQwhKaNpYFfoBjqT9nTv/w400-h278/IMG_20240301_170747.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">I mentioned at the beginning of last month’s preview that after a very empty January, February seemed ready to get the ball rolling for 2024. Whoops. That didn’t happen. Although I suppose unlike January not having a very large quantity of releases, February did at least have a decent quantity of movies that were put in theaters, they just didn’t do anything to “get the ball rolling.” The one bright spot was the over-performance of “Bob Marley: One Love,” which made $51.5 million in that opening six-day frame from Valentine’s to President’s Day. The rest? Well, “Argylle” and “Madame Web” both failed spectacularly, plagued by toxic reviews. And the rest of the smaller releases were barely a blip on the radar. And even though “Bob Marley” did well, in a month that has shown the ability to have success with movies like “Deadpool” and “Black Panther,” if your highest grossing movie of the month has made just $71.1 million after its second weekend, that’s a not a good sign for the month.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Even though I feel like a broken record in saying that March will actually get the ball rolling for 2024 - it’s the boy who cried wolf at this point, it seems - I actually do have confidence that this will actually happen. There’s a little thing called “Dune: Part Two” that starts the month off and another little thing called “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” that will finish the month off. I’m not saying everything is going to be a smash hit this month, but there seems to be more of a safe floor for success here with those two, as well as a few others sandwiched between, so let’s check it out!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> As always, release date information for this post is courtesy of boxofficepro.com and the-numbers.com. The movies listed are the ones currently scheduled for a wide release in the United States and Canada and are always subject to change.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>March 1 - 3</i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmoq6FHcwHrGLc93XFBgukGAZ8No891FOPoTVNy89jE-8u_KK516UuUSDfOOPSqd4e85fdE1YqRh2HeCqymms_UzYv03wAdZGqTlTbY3R3PCxc0qKWJeJSi3iCPn50vdGTC0piBmJiX6ogmzVRpG1yfvxzubOL5URVyLiTIwRqVHinpas_Xsf81hYcrJA/s1082/rev_1_DUN2_T3_0084r_High_Res_JPEG.0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1082" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmoq6FHcwHrGLc93XFBgukGAZ8No891FOPoTVNy89jE-8u_KK516UuUSDfOOPSqd4e85fdE1YqRh2HeCqymms_UzYv03wAdZGqTlTbY3R3PCxc0qKWJeJSi3iCPn50vdGTC0piBmJiX6ogmzVRpG1yfvxzubOL5URVyLiTIwRqVHinpas_Xsf81hYcrJA/s320/rev_1_DUN2_T3_0084r_High_Res_JPEG.0.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warner Bros.' "Dune: Part Two"</td></tr></tbody></table>As mentioned in the intro, the box office is set to get a massive kick of adrenaline in the first weekend of March with the debut of <b><i><u>Dune: Part Two</u></i></b>. As this point, “Dune” doesn’t require a whole lot of introduction. Frank Herbert’s original novel from 1965 is one of the most popular science fiction novels ever. Herbert went on to write a total of six “Dune” novels before his death in 1986, after which his son Brian Herbert teamed up with science fiction writer Kevin J. Anderson to write a whole bunch more. That means there’s plenty of lore for Warner Bros. to continue this series for as long as they want. The 2021 movie and it’s sequel here find Denis Villeneuve taking on just the first book, splitting that story into two parts instead of doing what the 1984 David Lynch movie did by attempting to cram the entire novel into one 2 hour 17 minute long movie. Compare that to the two Denis Villeneuve movies combining to be a total of 5 hours 21 minutes, with this weekend’s “Part Two” clocking in just 14 minutes short of three hours on its own. Word on the street is that Villeneuve wants to conclude his dive into this franchise with “Part Three” being his adaptation of “Dune: Messiah.” Although that’s not officially confirmed, I’m sure that will be rather soon if the movie performs as well as it’s expected.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Speaking of which, the financial outlook of this “Part Two” should be an interesting one to follow. The first movie opened to $41 million and made $109.9 million domestically and $434.8 million worldwide, which wasn’t bad for a $165 million budget. Typically you want to see a return of 2-3 times your production budget due to other various costs, including marketing and advertising as well as the theaters keeping a percentage of the total, so that first movie maybe didn’t do quite as well as Warner Bros. was probably hoping, but one also has to take into consideration that it opened in 2021 while the box office was still in recovery and while Warner Bros. was releasing all of it’s movies in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously, so it feels like there was money left on the table there. The movie was very well received, though, and got nominated for 10 Oscars, winning six of them. So there’s some major hype for this sequel. A current 95 percent score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes for “Part Two” suggests that this will live up to the hype and have great word of mouth going forward. The weekend projection has been in the $60-80 million range, with Box Office Pro officially projecting the high end of that with an $80.9 million opening.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There is technically another release here this weekend, but I talked about it with last month’s preview, so you can go back and read that post for more info. But briefly, the final segment of episodes from <b><i><u>The Chosen Season 4</u></i></b> will debut, this being Episodes 7 and 8. The expectation is about $3-5 million for it’s opening. While it’s not a lot, Episodes 1-3 wound up making $13.2 million total in its two week run, with Episodes 4-6 finishing with $8.9 million. That means at the end of the run of Episodes 7-8, Season 4 as a whole will have bagged close to 30 million from its theatrical release alone, before it’s regular streaming release. Even though Angels Studios has plenty of funds from this show at this point, that sum alone would probably be enough to fund a Season 5 on its own, so I’m sure they’re happy with these results.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>March 8 - 10</i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ5vgyRzyL-40114rkH9ydgR1eSQ8T68-sLWfB03-y6XX4m3W4ABLcZUPzeH2i6tVS44kkmb8lYacZx8vUip3bW-nS8lXr268o-Jft-RTnrNcT2sdXK41mQXPp9hW_6npXe7zcbKqfHV3sJzGEil97Z79jzjut8wlckYVtjcjD2HFaGn5226jwSw3gAV1m/s905/g7NYmeQFC8ktvZrTanXpiA-1200-80.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="905" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ5vgyRzyL-40114rkH9ydgR1eSQ8T68-sLWfB03-y6XX4m3W4ABLcZUPzeH2i6tVS44kkmb8lYacZx8vUip3bW-nS8lXr268o-Jft-RTnrNcT2sdXK41mQXPp9hW_6npXe7zcbKqfHV3sJzGEil97Z79jzjut8wlckYVtjcjD2HFaGn5226jwSw3gAV1m/s320/g7NYmeQFC8ktvZrTanXpiA-1200-80.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Universal's "Kung Fu Panda 4"</td></tr></tbody></table>Opening in the second weekend of “Dune: Part Two” is the return of another franchise with <b><i><u>Kung Fu Panda 4</u></i></b>. Perhaps it wasn’t on your Bingo Card to see this franchise return for a fourth film, but in an attempt for DreamWorks Animation to remain relevant after a rough few years, this latest franchise revival makes sense in that it’s one of their most popular franchises and perhaps their most consistent in terms of audience reaction and financial output. So that means Jack Black is back to voice Po and this adventure finds Po needing to step up and become the new spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace while finding and training a new Dragon Warrior to take his place. In the meantime, he also has to deal with a new villain called the Chameleon who has the ability to conjure up villains from the past. Back in 2008, “Kung Fu Panda” opened to $60.2 million and finished with $215.4 million domestically. The second and third movie, from 2011 and 2016, respectively, both opened the $40 million range. The second movie finished with $165.2 million domestically while the third finished with $143.2 million. So diminished returns are probably expected to continue, especially since it’s been eight years since the last one, but the current projections have it opening in the $30-35 million range, which probably won’t be enough to dethrone “Dune: Part Two,” but it will be another healthy addition to the market.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Next up for this weekend is the horror film <b><i><u>Imaginary</u></i></b>. Not to be confused with John Krasinski’s upcoming family film called “IF,” which stands for “Imaginary Friends” and releases in May, “Imaginary” is also about… imaginary friends. Except in this movie they’re trying to kill people as opposed to trying to become friends in the Krasinski movie. One of the funny Hollywood coincidences. Specifically here, a woman returns to her childhood home and discovers that her imaginary friend she left behind, which appears from the trailers to be in the form of a teddy bear, is very real and unhappy that she abandoned him. This movie is a Blumhouse production released by Lionsgate and Blumhouse has been historically really good at releasing low budget horror films that find success relative to those budgets. And this one is another of the PG-13 variety, which means it has the potential to attract teenage audiences as well. With a reported budget of just $13 million, if this movie hits its projected opening of $15-20 million, it could make that budget back in just one weekend and be another hit for Blumhouse, regardless of what people think about it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The third and final wide release of this weekend is the Angel Studios movie <b><i><u>Cabrini</u></i></b>. Angel Studios has had great success from “The Chosen” in the TV realm and had a huge breakout hit last year in “Sound of Freedom.” The success of those two projects alone will probably continue to fund the rest of their smaller projects for quite a long time. And they’ve already had a few of these. In the post “Sound of Freedom” world, they released “After Death” in October, which opened to $2.2 million and made $11.5 million domestically. A couple of months later in December, they released “The Shift,” which made $4.3 million in its opening and $12.1 million total. This movie tells the story of Francesca Cabrini, an Italian-American Catholic religious sister and saint. After founding the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1880, her and a few others immigrated to New York in 1889 in order to help other Italian immigrants in the United States. In 1946, she became the first U.S. citizen to be canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church. Following the pattern of the other two smaller Angel Studios releases, a $2-5 million opening for “Cabrini” is most likely in the cards here.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>March 15 - 17</i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIksVKEzB-zyGlXzwl9Sw5zZ3RvjViLDTgiDGxjBw39W_KychZMkC664P92S3GhkJ3cdAKvTKwmMnrLgUd7-KstvSAfjZ0-TL3k3A3aT0dWmt2Gzp1Flk_KXrg8bsxCLHYf7pknmknGdQ-lVWHXUZKzIK6S_xGiVjdykQcbXZgfWRLx3yjRhn2ohtocjtJ/s940/Arthur-the-King-movie-2024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="940" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIksVKEzB-zyGlXzwl9Sw5zZ3RvjViLDTgiDGxjBw39W_KychZMkC664P92S3GhkJ3cdAKvTKwmMnrLgUd7-KstvSAfjZ0-TL3k3A3aT0dWmt2Gzp1Flk_KXrg8bsxCLHYf7pknmknGdQ-lVWHXUZKzIK6S_xGiVjdykQcbXZgfWRLx3yjRhn2ohtocjtJ/s320/Arthur-the-King-movie-2024.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lionsgate’s "Arthur the King"</td></tr></tbody></table>After two big franchise films in the first two weeks of the month, the third weekend of March will be a bit of a cool-down week before two more big franchise films in the final two weeks. But there are still three new smaller releases, which will likely be led by <b><i><u>Arthur the King</u></i></b>. No, this is not another movie adapting the Medieval tale of King Arthur. This is a story about a dog named Arthur, who was found and rescued by an adventure racer named Mikael Lindnord in the midst of a 435-mile endurance race he was on in the Dominican Republic. The dog then continued with him for the entire race. This is based on the book “Arthur - The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home” by Mikael Lindnord himself based on his own experiences. And you know you’ve made it in life when Mark Wahlberg is cast to play you in a film. The movie is directed by Simon Cellan Jones, who has worked mostly in the TV realm, but did direct a movie called “The Family Plan” for Apple TV+, released this past December, which also starred Mark Wahlberg.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Scheduled for a limited release on March 8 and a planned expansion this week to wide release is the Sundance film <b><i><u>Love Lies Bleeding</u></i></b>. The three words in that title do a good job of describing three things that happen in this movie. A gym manager falls in love with a body builder. But in the midst of that relationship, there were some lies told that lead to some bleeding. In other words, the couple are dragged deep into the web of Lou’s criminal family, making this part romance and part action thriller. Kristen Stewart plays Lou, the gym manager, while Katy O’Brian plays Jackie, the body builder, with Ed Harris, Jena Malone, and Dave Franco also having roles in the movie. It got positive reaction out of Sundance this year, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 92 percent with 52 reviews counted, so positive word of mouth could help lead it to be a sleeper hit if general audiences are as high on it as the Sundance audience was. The movie is directed by Rose Glass, who also directed the 2019 horror film “Saint Maud,” which also currently has a 92 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The final movie on the schedule for a wide release is the Anthony Hopkins film <b><i><u>One Life</u></i></b>. This debuted last year at the Toronto International Film Festival and has since had several international release dates already, but finally hits the United States in what might be a more moderate release rather than a massively wide release. The movie is about Sir Nicholas Winton, a British stockbroker and humanitarian who helped rescue Jewish children who were in risk of being murdered by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. In total he assisted in the rescue of 669 children from Chechoslovakia on the eve of World War II, helping them find legal homes and sponsors in Britain. The movie stars Anthony Hopkins as an older Nicholas Winton, reflecting back on his accomplishments, with Johnny Flynn playing the younger Nicholas Winton.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>March 22 - 24</i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw43Pu61GAXForn8FU8eBlzozg1svNTolbfaEZg28O1MP3pqEz-8qPUe9sOhIGSZGkG_5kAxXugQEtLIufXY8LSESQohpBdfgwxoCSGDBCjHB5Gm95Bvucjnz2XfCtT0HfBJIcnwCkvamUn5nCct2Pcs0ZA7z7HHC9RCd9UAMnV_6d46QwaP0etH6z6UoM/s1264/Ghostbusters-Frozen-Empire-banner-e1699975931637.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="930" data-original-width="1264" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw43Pu61GAXForn8FU8eBlzozg1svNTolbfaEZg28O1MP3pqEz-8qPUe9sOhIGSZGkG_5kAxXugQEtLIufXY8LSESQohpBdfgwxoCSGDBCjHB5Gm95Bvucjnz2XfCtT0HfBJIcnwCkvamUn5nCct2Pcs0ZA7z7HHC9RCd9UAMnV_6d46QwaP0etH6z6UoM/s320/Ghostbusters-Frozen-Empire-banner-e1699975931637.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sony Pictures' "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire"</td></tr></tbody></table>If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? Yep, the Ghostbusters are back in town with <b><i><u>Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire</u></i></b>. This will be the fifth theatrically released Ghostbusters movie and a direct sequel to “Ghostusters: Afterlife” from 2021, which was in the continuity of the first two 80s movies and thus counted as a “rebootquel,” a movie that was a sequel to the first two, but also rebooted the franchise for a new generation. And it did well enough to justify continuing. Like “Dune,” “Afterlife” also came out at the end of 2021 while the box office was still in recovery mode, but still managed to open to $44 million domestically, legging it out to $129.4 million domestically during the holidays. And now the gang is back and looking at the trailers and the poster, there is a whole lot of ghosts and quite a bit more people in the Ghostbusting squad itself instead of just the traditional group of four. And at least some ghosts are causing a new Ice Age to take place, laying the groundwork for this movie’s conflict. The advertising for the movie has been kicking into full gear, but there doesn’t seem to be quite as much buzz for the movie. Nevertheless, it should be able to at least come close to that $44 million opening of “Afterlife,” even if it’s not likely to do “Dune: Part Two” numbers.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">No other new wide releases scheduled for this weekend, but Disney will complete their trio of COVID Pixar re-releases with <b><i><u>Luca</u></i></b> getting its first ever theatrical release at the domestic box office. But like the other two, “Soul” and “Turning Red,” I’m not sure what the awareness or interest level is for this. “Soul” was re-released for two weeks back in January in 1,350 theaters and made $946,154 total. “Turning Red” actually did slightly better, but in its two weeks in February from 1,560 theaters it made $1.4 million total. I imagine “Luca” will also be somewhere in that realm. This is probably not what Disney was hoping for with this, but I’m also not quite sure what they expected. All three of these movies should’ve been released in theaters when they first came out and not gone straight to Disney+. And expecting people to show up 2-3 years later in theaters when they can watch for free at home does not seem reasonable, nor does it make-up for mistakes of the past.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>March 29 - 31</i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLDs0uMPTi7myeTGOHTp23-9P8stlR4Jqw3H6UgFLgBuGqsfayt0NBP-5XdENW6gIZRkjsXPYHDnUopz3gYCw3b85gzKhxUI_ZsMFORlP70b3bwl31Alw252ei2xLnDkojsGRx3sfL1OfKJGEdTVptT5vkcoaBZa4d60zZwHbp9McQBRU5cOm7U9Asz9W0/s910/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-trailer-features-the-epic-tea_gqtd.1200.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="910" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLDs0uMPTi7myeTGOHTp23-9P8stlR4Jqw3H6UgFLgBuGqsfayt0NBP-5XdENW6gIZRkjsXPYHDnUopz3gYCw3b85gzKhxUI_ZsMFORlP70b3bwl31Alw252ei2xLnDkojsGRx3sfL1OfKJGEdTVptT5vkcoaBZa4d60zZwHbp9McQBRU5cOm7U9Asz9W0/s320/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-trailer-features-the-epic-tea_gqtd.1200.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warner Bros.' "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire"</td></tr></tbody></table>Finishing off the month, also as mentioned in the intro of this post, is <b><i><u>Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire</u></i></b>. Straight off the bat, addressing the elephant in the room before we get any further, possibly the biggest obstacle this movie might have to face is the fact that Japan released “Godzilla Minus One” at the end of last year. Even though “Minus One” didn’t make as much domestically as the recent American Godzilla movies, the reaction to it was so positive that it set a new bar for what a Godzilla movie can accomplish, which will put a lot of pressure on “The New Empire.” That aside, the American Godzilla and Kong movies, coined simply as the MonsterVerse, have done fairly well for themselves. After their personal showdown in 2021’s “Godzilla vs. Kong,” the two monsters appear to be teaming up together to fighting an even bigger Kong in “The New Empire.” Financially, 2014’s “Godzilla” opened to $93.2 million, so that’s the potential ceiling of possibilities for this franchise, although each ensuing entry has seen diminishing returns. In 2021, “Godzilla vs. Kong” opened to just $32.2 million, although like “Dune” and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” it was again during the COVID recovery phase, but this time in early 2021. Like “Dune,” it was also a day-and-date streaming release on HBO Max. Due to those factors, it barely crossed the $100 million mark domestically in its final run, with $100.9 million. If “The New Empire” can’t manage to have a significant improvement on those numbers, we might have issues. All that said, “Godzilla vs. Kong” did wind up making a total of $468 million worldwide, so those international numbers are the biggest reason why we’re seeing another sequel and could very easily rescue this franchise again.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The final movie coming out in wide release this weekend is <b><i><u>In the Land of Saints and Sinners</u></i></b>, which is the latest in a very long string of low-budget, low-quality Liam Neeson action thrillers, this one from the same director as the 2021 movie “The Marksman.” Since 2020 alone, this is the 7th theatrically released movie of this style from Neeson. Different names. Different characters. A rotation of directors. Pretty much the same movie. And, hey, if Neeson is enjoying this, then all power to him. But the last four, which were released in 2022 and 2023 - “Blacklight,” “Memory,” “Marlowe” and “Retribution” - all opened to less than $5 million and made less than $10 million total domestically. I wouldn’t expect much to change for this one. The specific premise here is that a damaged father in an Irish village is forced to fight for redemption after a life of sins. Yep. Sound familiar?</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-49201294895251788382024-02-05T17:32:00.001-07:002024-02-05T17:34:00.181-07:00Movie Preview: February 2024<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALo_UxGMpeiiM4ycgKdEtGYORDfzEGYX98YhmSjjIcgXbd1rQ-cIO5rv3fIZG7hRwxqrPw1lKrRgrmYAnaGEA5-aYCGYxnePJsQi4na36tW2BoY8actZ0bXFzH4_PhosbHJ4Hh1U9-l9TdC9wGXwh5jp6guPhotkhjnCtftUlvtC1K9M52Krmwi28opx6/s1564/IMG_20240205_172415.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1104" data-original-width="1564" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALo_UxGMpeiiM4ycgKdEtGYORDfzEGYX98YhmSjjIcgXbd1rQ-cIO5rv3fIZG7hRwxqrPw1lKrRgrmYAnaGEA5-aYCGYxnePJsQi4na36tW2BoY8actZ0bXFzH4_PhosbHJ4Hh1U9-l9TdC9wGXwh5jp6guPhotkhjnCtftUlvtC1K9M52Krmwi28opx6/w400-h283/IMG_20240205_172415.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">After a very… empty January, February seems ready to at least get the ball rolling for 2024. In regards to January, “Mean Girls” and “The Beekeeper” did well enough for January standards. “Night Swim” did fine for a low-budget horror film, but didn’t make much of a dent otherwise. Outside that, “The Book of Clarence” and “I.S.S” that I mentioned in last month’s preview were both dead on arrival. And “Miller’s Girl” only wound up in 350 theaters. And there were a few Indian films that did decently that weren’t on my radar at the month’s beginning. That all led to “Mean Girls” in its third weekend leading the final weekend of January with just $6.9 million, which will certainly go down as one of the lower grossing weekends of the year.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That means if you were caught up on all the holiday films and Oscar expansions, you were literally left with no options in theaters. And while February is not necessarily known as a big movie month - the excitement will begin in March with the likes of “Dune: Part Two,” “Kung Fu Panda 4” and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” - February will at the very least have options in theaters for you to see, which isn’t a very high bar, but is at least a slightly step up from the previous month, so let’s check it out!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As always, release date information for this post is courtesy of boxofficepro.com and the-numbers.com. The movies listed are the ones currently scheduled for wide in the United States and Canada and are always subject to change.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>February 2 - 4</i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYmxs7thKgNitkU5ZFxMsowkf-ifrdUzRo9gl_0GOgAPspMLoS0lDtnsrduusPwFiBJYGDYZ-xsavtB7rJjTu_6xBeHqp0FPwg-6aCaq2uAdQ7j8l8c2yqIVyMx9bgpzqkQZb2QTONroiNti3cQOsttdjNv-YGgA79ZCBBFvLuKUVZL12AdxiNx1hqfG1x/s1826/argyle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1364" data-original-width="1826" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYmxs7thKgNitkU5ZFxMsowkf-ifrdUzRo9gl_0GOgAPspMLoS0lDtnsrduusPwFiBJYGDYZ-xsavtB7rJjTu_6xBeHqp0FPwg-6aCaq2uAdQ7j8l8c2yqIVyMx9bgpzqkQZb2QTONroiNti3cQOsttdjNv-YGgA79ZCBBFvLuKUVZL12AdxiNx1hqfG1x/s320/argyle.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Universal's "Argylle"</td></tr></tbody></table>The first event worthy of noting for this February is the release of the fourth season of <b><i><u>The Chosen</u></i></b>, split up into three sections. If you haven’t heard of it, “The Chosen” is a dramatized TV series based on the life of Christ and his followers that has continued to gain more and more popularity, especially among Christian audiences who have responded very highly. The series is written and directed by Dallas Jenkins and is distributed by Angel Studios. While Angel Studios has released various holiday specials in theaters, as well as the season premiere and season finale of Season 3, this is the first season where the entire season will be available to watch in theaters.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Starting on February 1 were episodes 1-3, then on February 15 will be episodes 4-6, and then it will finish with episodes 7-8 starting on February 29. Instead of bringing this up three different times throughout this post, I’m deciding to post this at the top here. In regards to its box office, each segment is projected to make around $5-8 million, which is not bad considering it will be available on streaming before too long. The first three seasons of “The Chosen” are currently available on Amazon Prime, Peacock, and Angel Studios’ own platform, while season 1 is up on Netflix.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The movie that was actually No. 1 at the box office this past weekend was Matthew Vaughn’s action/spy thriller <b><i><u>Argylle</u></i></b>. This is a movie that centers around author Elly Conway who has just written her fifth book in her spy franchise surrounding the character of Agent Argylle. Elly then gets recruited on a mission to stop a certain organization because it is learned that the events of her book are taking place in real life and thus maybe she can be of help to stop them. The draw here is director Matthew Vaughn, who had solid success with the first two Kingsman movies, the first of which opened in February back in 2015 to $36.2 million. The sequel in 2017 then opened to $39 million. The prequel, “The King’s Man” did very poorly in 2021, but that had a lot of things going against it. In the weeks leading up to the movie, it was thought that “Argylle” could come close to $30 million, especially since it has a more user-friendly PG-13 rating. But now that said weekend is in the past, it wound up making a more modest $17.5 million, partially impacted by less than stellar reviews.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Opening in moderate release in 762 theaters by Roadside Attractions is the comedy/drama <b><i><u>Scrambled</u></i></b>. This is a movie that is written, directed, and stars Leah McKendrick in her feature-length directorial debut and is about a 34-year-old girl, who, after a breakup, decides to freeze her eggs after being unsure about her dating prospects. The trailer mentions that it’s based on the true story of so many women, which definitely feels like an accurate statement, although it does seem to at least be inspired by experiences the director herself went through. The movie premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2023 to positive remarks. Given the moderate theater count, it didn’t make much of a dent at the box office, opening to just $249,788, but it’s around as an option for some and will probably be available for streaming before too long.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>February 9 - 11</i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOB6WXujmec6S0rqfHmqXZQR9NdPYiTE5fO2BGqDIOg-QhOQ0p15NBhRxq19GraW3JNU9-Rhp6wxqW_Ji-0B1XTgfhWhAgpxOJdtoysR4FBsL4g59XLZjUlwSiPwobz8u1GmAAPtFedgQQRQa-WCSLDADv9AzjJVLuDcNsjaeh6p0B8zXq7PsY0ZIsG1N0/s1357/lisa-frankenstein-010424-1-171f090ab46341d792c722a44945b828.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1357" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOB6WXujmec6S0rqfHmqXZQR9NdPYiTE5fO2BGqDIOg-QhOQ0p15NBhRxq19GraW3JNU9-Rhp6wxqW_Ji-0B1XTgfhWhAgpxOJdtoysR4FBsL4g59XLZjUlwSiPwobz8u1GmAAPtFedgQQRQa-WCSLDADv9AzjJVLuDcNsjaeh6p0B8zXq7PsY0ZIsG1N0/s320/lisa-frankenstein-010424-1-171f090ab46341d792c722a44945b828.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Focus Features' "Lisa Frankenstein"</td></tr></tbody></table>The second weekend of February includes Super Bowl Sunday! For those who don’t follow the NFL, this in past years has been the first Sunday in February. Recently the NFL added a new week to their schedule, pushing the Super Bowl to the second Sunday in February. Movies can do well over Super Bowl Sunday, but it’s typically movies that target those who are less likely to be interested in watching football because otherwise you’re basically getting a two-day weekend. Point in case, the record for Super Bowl weekend at the box office remains “Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour” from 2008 at $31.1 million. I don’t think you’re getting a ton of crossover with Hannah Montana and the NFL fans. Most of the time, studios simply avoid this weekend and release their February movies closer to Valentine’s Day. If we come to a point where the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day collide, I guess we cross that bridge when we get there. Looking at my calendar, that’s not until 2027, so we have some time.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All that to say that there’s only one new wide release for this weekend and that is <b><i><u>Lisa Frankenstein</u></i></b>, which is not looking at a very strong debut. Miley’s Super Bowl Weekend record will easily stay intact for yet another year. Although “Lisa Frankestein” is getting decent buzz among some film circles. I have heard early reviews of people who saw it and loved it, so there’s a chance that this at least hangs around in the conversation. As the title suggest, this is an adaptation of sorts of Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein,” or at least inspired by it. A teenage girl in the modern age going through a goth phase falls in love with a corpse that comes to life in a comedy that seems to have shades of the 2013 movie “Warm Bodies,” which was a Romeo and Juliet adaptation with a girl and a zombie falling in love. This actually could be a decent option for Valentine’s Day, which hits mid-week after this weekend if people are less enthused at the two new options that will be opening. And in a funny coincidence, with “Lisa Frankenstein” opening and “Poor Things” having expanded for the Oscars, there will be two movies in theaters this month that are loosely based on “Frankenstein.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not a new release, but Disney this year will be releasing the three Pixar movies that didn’t get a theatrical release during the COVID years in “Soul,” “Turning Red” and “Luca.” Although word on this didn’t seem to get last month as “Soul” opened last month to just $431,840 in 1,350 theaters. But this weekend it will be <b><i><u>Turning Red</u></i></b> getting its chance. Given that “Soul” was a winner of best animated feature and still didn’t attract much of audience, I don’t imagine that “Turning Red” will do much better.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>February 16 - 19</i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_7xBm18LkFTnwFBaDzNZUkLpsyaKWOOjBk3UBQKkqzIuHoPs9FuVY_692DVB8QbjSAympi49dqqSsaDnudar1zD42OVNjCAt7KkDjrRbL7EgtDabJIWGB-imOtKXwqdszSTj8LgQB3Zf3bO0UVgeoReQcqsEeWjjARJEgT1bItk_w60RaRvU6Vmc51NU/s905/Madame-Web-Streaming-Release-Date.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="905" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_7xBm18LkFTnwFBaDzNZUkLpsyaKWOOjBk3UBQKkqzIuHoPs9FuVY_692DVB8QbjSAympi49dqqSsaDnudar1zD42OVNjCAt7KkDjrRbL7EgtDabJIWGB-imOtKXwqdszSTj8LgQB3Zf3bO0UVgeoReQcqsEeWjjARJEgT1bItk_w60RaRvU6Vmc51NU/s320/Madame-Web-Streaming-Release-Date.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sony's "Madame Web"</td></tr></tbody></table>For this weekend, I have the date selection listed as Friday through Monday, with Monday being President’s Day, thus giving us a four-day holiday weekend. However, both new wide releases come out early on Wednesday, February 14, for Valentine’s Day, essentially giving both movies six days for their opening weekend window. That means the traditional three-day numbers will be muted a bit with their opening stretched out from Wednesday to Monday.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In year’s past, the release of the latest superhero movie would be the event of the month that would have everyone talking and buzzing, but with <b><i><u>Madame Web</u></i></b>, that’s not quite the current reality. The superhero genre had a really bad year in 2023 in regards to mainstream audience reaction to both Marvel and DC’s releases. Due to a certain chain of events, both studios essentially have the year off, leaving the stage to Sony for 2024 as they continue to build their Spider-Man Universe. Like with both Venom movies and “Morbius,” Spider-Man himself will not be showing up in any of these movies, but “Madame Web” will be introducing several of his female counterparts. Spider-Woman has had a fascinating history in the comics with many characters taking up that alias. The two most popular characters are probably Jessica Drew and Gwen Stacey, both of whom were in last year’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” And while neither of them will be in this movie, barring a surprise cameo, this movie introduces Cassandra Webb, Julia Carpenter, Anya Corazon, and Mattie Franklin, all of whom have had time in the Spider suit in the comics at some point as some variation of a Spider-Woman, whether it be a second or third Spider-Woman, Madame Web, or Spider-Girl. In this movie, Dakota Johnson will be playing Cassandra Webb, aka Madame Web, while the biggest supporting character is Sydney Sweeney as Julia Carpenter (or Julia Cornwall as she's renamed here). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Projecting an opening weekend for “Madame Web” or its main competition is a bit hard to pin down exactly considering the less conventional six day frame, with the Wednesday and Monday holidays making things more spread out, but Box Office Pro’s long range forecast has had it in the $20-29 million range for the three-day, which would put it in the realm of DC’s “Blue Beetle,” which opened to $25 million in August. Considering both “Venom” movies opened above $80 million, while the much maligned “Morbius” opened to $39 million, this would not be the start that Sony is hoping for. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Early buzz is that forecast might even be a tad bit generous for “Madame Web,” with the outside possibility that it could lose out to the other movie opening this weekend, <b><i><u>Bob Marley: One Love</u></i></b>, which the same long range forecast from Box Office Pro currently has at $15-20 million for the three-day. This Bob Marley biopic has been pushed quite heavily by Paramount for several months now and has Kingsley Ben-Adir starring as Bob Marley, with Reinaldo Marcus Green as director. Green’s last movie, “King Richard,” received six Oscar nominations, including best picture, and Ben-Adir is one of Hollywood’s current rising stars. So on paper this sounds like it could work out. And when these musical biopics hit, they hit big. But for every movie like “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Elvis” that does hit, there’s at least one or two examples of movies that don’t. “Respect” in 2021 and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” in 2022 did not hit, and those had Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston as their subject matters, so we’ll see if Bob Marley can strike a chord with audiences. A February release means they’re not pushing this as an Oscar, but there’s a chance it might catch on with audiences.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>February 23 - 25</i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguvGxh_hRMNCbyyHFy1KyDiJ9S0Jrt7kUjyqMyDPG5BRPhAyDfG1HAHb-Itu27zPZ0PDcxHYrOIXHCHz_PKdYyhU6X79qFUziQQqBDu_55s2_rY7IoBpx5jo3oH1XV2N2JE3dMAuLkUD8VAV3_UgH8Q8gp49DC_ar4XfKETxa1mAE-aoUXlhmcxnk9o5od/s562/7659298c1ca210488b9a5b56c54c1062.webp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="562" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguvGxh_hRMNCbyyHFy1KyDiJ9S0Jrt7kUjyqMyDPG5BRPhAyDfG1HAHb-Itu27zPZ0PDcxHYrOIXHCHz_PKdYyhU6X79qFUziQQqBDu_55s2_rY7IoBpx5jo3oH1XV2N2JE3dMAuLkUD8VAV3_UgH8Q8gp49DC_ar4XfKETxa1mAE-aoUXlhmcxnk9o5od/s320/7659298c1ca210488b9a5b56c54c1062.webp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crunchyroll's "Demon Slayer: To the Hashira Training"</td></tr></tbody></table>February is a short month, which means this weekend is the final weekend showcased in this post. While the highly anticipated release of “Dune: Part Two” hits right on Friday, March 1, this weekend before that has three new options for people, which will likely be led by <b><i><u>Demon Slayer: To the Hashira Training</u></i></b>. “Demon Slayer” is a Japanese anime series that began in 2019 and has had three seasons so far. Over in Japan, much of the first season, which was 26 episodes in total, was released in blocks of episodes in theaters. Following the first season, there was a sequel movie titled “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Movie: Mugen Train” or simply “Demon Slayer: Mugen Train,” which became the highest grossing movie of 2020 worldwide, mostly boosted by it becoming the highest grossing movie ever in Japan, dethroning 2001’s “Spirited Away.” The second season of “Demon Slayer” premiered in 2021 and the first seven episodes were an extended and recompiled version of the movie, followed by a second arc that was 11 episodes, meaning 18 episodes total. And finally, season 3 premiered last year in 2023 with one arc of 11 episodes.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you’ve now got all that down, last February before season 3 premiered there was a theatrical event titled “Demon Slayer: To the Swordsmith Village that consisted of Episodes 11 and 12 of season 2 as a well as sneak peak of Episode 1 of season 3. The initial movie, “Demon Slayer: Mugen Train,” was released in the United States in April 2021 and opened to $22.8 million, which was impressive for early 2021. Nothing had opened quite that high since COVID began. Last year in February 2023, “Demon Slayer: To the Swordsmith Village” opened to $10.1 million domestically. If you’re caught up on “Demon Slayer,” this current title, “Demon Slayer: To the Hashira Training” is doing exactly what “To the Swordsmith Village” did last year. It’s the final episode of Season 3 and the first episode of Season 4, before Season 4 premiers later this year. Box Office Pro has it projected at $14-23 million for its opening, but again that $10.1 million from last year’s event is the benchmark here. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For those not on the “Demon Slayer” train, there are two other options available this weekend that are likely to attract polar opposite crowds. The first of those is <b><i><u>Ordinary Angel</u></i></b>, the feel-good, faith-based movie of the month. This is based on a true story in 1994 when a hairdresser rallies the community to help a widowed father save the life of his critically ill young daughter after a major snowstorm hits their city. The tagline in the trailer is “Faith can make the impossible possible.” Lionsgate is advertising this as being from the studio that brought you “Wonder,” which they’ve put on a lot of feel-good movies like this, but then more appropriately list that it’s from the team that produced other movies like “I Can Only Imagine” and “Jesus Revolution,” said team being the Erwin Brothers - Jon and Andrew Erwin, who have produced and/or directed a lot of movies like this. The actual director this time around is a man by the name of Jon Gunn, who also helped produce a lot of these films, but whose recently actual directing work includes “Do You Believe?” and “The Case for Christ.” With Easter being around the corner, this is well timed for Christian audiences.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I mention that the other movie might attract a polar opposite crowd, I’ll say that the easiest way to describe <b><i><u>Drive-Away Dolls</u></i></b> is that it’s a quirky lesbian road-trip comedy. The movie follows a girl named Jamie, who has recently broken up with her girlfriend, and her friend Marian, who perhaps needs to loosen up a bit. In search of a fresh start, the two go on an impromptu road trip, where things get a bit wacky and weird, which includes them crossing paths with a group of inept criminals. The main draw here is that this comes from one half of the Coen Brothers duo, Ethan Coen. Among film fans, the Coen Brothers are very popular with movies like “Fargo,” “The Big Lebowski,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “No Country for Old Men” and “Inside Llewyn Davis.” The brothers’ last movie together was back in 2018, and while I hear there’s not any animosity among them, they’re nevertheless flying solo for the time being, so we enter a new era, seeing what Ethan Coen can do on his own. And it starts here with what is reported to be a trilogy of silly lesbian B-movies.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While that’s it for new releases, it’s worth quickly noting that Warner Bros. this weekend will be re-releasing <b><i><u>Tenet</u></i></b> into theaters, perhaps timed decently as Christopher Nolan’s more recent release “Oppenheimer” is slated to perform very well at the Oscars the weekend after. “Tenet” was among the first movies to be released in theaters in 2020 during the pandemic as an experimental venture to attempt to bring audiences back to theaters. It did well enough, all things considered, but in hindsight it would’ve been a much smarter choice to just delay it for a year or two when theaters are open. It’s easy to say that now, but in fairness studios were desperate at the time to figure out how they’re going to make money and the future of movies was very unclear at the time. But nevertheless, those who missed “Tenet” in theaters now at least have an option to go see it again if they so desire. </span></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-73828282042510774582024-01-31T15:02:00.000-07:002024-01-31T15:02:18.932-07:00DrogeMiester's Top 10 BEST Movies of 2023<p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIeY2VzJC0i7GJgyyES4R-hO043Pu6Wm6v8QS5eRAuptJUou_ovora35XtOP2rUfxj1S2r65axQ-tVl3XiX4RU9Ps31AhTgGhicTSzfon5u7FlMBQjjhhkrB7T-UbFdXmP9joj8YzJFxbMvKtZW2hNVdX-HeUAkeUvX9_DLPefbWBnWfGq54gAL0M6MeDD/s1564/IMG_20240131_145159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1061" data-original-width="1564" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIeY2VzJC0i7GJgyyES4R-hO043Pu6Wm6v8QS5eRAuptJUou_ovora35XtOP2rUfxj1S2r65axQ-tVl3XiX4RU9Ps31AhTgGhicTSzfon5u7FlMBQjjhhkrB7T-UbFdXmP9joj8YzJFxbMvKtZW2hNVdX-HeUAkeUvX9_DLPefbWBnWfGq54gAL0M6MeDD/w400-h271/IMG_20240131_145159.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">An end-of-year list is a snapshot in time. After spending so much effort into watching as many things as I could for the entire calendar year, it feels like a ceremonial way to officially put a bow on the previous year before moving onto the next year.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Some people do this in December. I’ve even seen posts like this in late November. And sure, I get the idea of wanting to put out your list in the most optimal time while the “year in review” idea is on people’s minds. To me, though, I would rather do justice to the year itself by waiting until the year is actually over. Even then, I give myself a few extra weeks to beyond that to catch up on major movies I missed or wait for a few more of the limited release movies to expand far enough for me to actually see them.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">But at some point you’ve gotta call it and post the list. You’re never going to see every movie that’s released. And that’s fine. For me that point in time always comes around Oscar nomination time, which was about a week ago. And definitely before February I need to get this submitted, so here we are.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">The unique thing about this year, though, is that I finally signed up for a Letterboxd account at the beginning of 2023. In past years, I kept track of everything with Excel charts. When it was time to post the year-end list, I’d fire up my system of organizing the list and I would surprise myself with what I came up with. But with Letterboxd I’ve been keeping track of everything on the app for the whole year and I had a private list of favorite movies of 2023 that I kept up to date with an ongoing ranking of my favorite movies. So there’s no real “surprise” this time around for myself. It was just a matter of some last minute tinkering and cutting it down to 25 movies before making that list public and typing up this blog post. Now I only have 13 followers on Letterboxd, so I don’t exactly use it as a “social media,” per sé, but it’s been a very useful tool for me in tracking exactly what I watch and an easy place for all the lists I enjoy creating.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">The other reason I bring the Letterboxd thing up is that, while this particular blog post will be a snapshot in time with how I’ve felt at this moment about the movies I’ve seen in 2023, when I catch up on other movies in 2023 that I missed, whether that be in a day or two, or 10 years down the road, I can instantaneously update my 2023 list if that movie was good enough to make the top 25. I can even adjust the order of the current movies at any time if I decide I feel differently. And I did that for every year-end list from 2010 on this past year and in several cases they ended up quite different than what I had initially posted. Again, this is all mostly for my personal tracking since I’m the one that cares about this the most, but if you do want to be part of the very exclusive club that follows my every movement there, feel free to give me a follow. It’s just my first and last name. But all of that means that I’m less worried about seeing everything I need to because I know I can update things later.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">All that said, it’s still fun to do this post, even if it becomes outdated in a week or two. And yes, that was a longer than normal preamble, but it I feel it was an important one to point out. But enough of all that, let’s get to the list proper, as currently constituted! </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;">10- </span><!--[endif]--><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3</span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSJEFanKQ_Bya9I7_wpREgil_6aTqSifBnTbwNujYAHocOfNNuVlS1Tr5gLdPqK4C8ZOHZJFR2KqD-ejXMeIbOCykYhx5b19RoyAI_ErOGjGrUzLjfG-Nv4e5NTuXgo4jJyJV8iph9hIe6b-Wp-nepGe1fatbcJ5Eskt9JAK961RWHQNpcJ-nvgethug4A/s1115/guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-3-8d6b8314621544fab87826c5b7d97792.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="1115" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSJEFanKQ_Bya9I7_wpREgil_6aTqSifBnTbwNujYAHocOfNNuVlS1Tr5gLdPqK4C8ZOHZJFR2KqD-ejXMeIbOCykYhx5b19RoyAI_ErOGjGrUzLjfG-Nv4e5NTuXgo4jJyJV8iph9hIe6b-Wp-nepGe1fatbcJ5Eskt9JAK961RWHQNpcJ-nvgethug4A/s320/guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-3-8d6b8314621544fab87826c5b7d97792.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was a really rough year for Marvel in terms of the public reaction to their projects. And I could go on a long tangent about how silly all of that is and how people are definitely being way too critical towards both Marvel and the superhero genre itself, but that can be a conversation for another time. Suffice it to say, though, I’m still on board. And if enjoying superhero stuff goes back to being a niche thing rather than something that mainstream audiences still gravitate towards, then so be it. Marvel might have to learn how to budget things more responsibly, but I’ll still be showing up. Funny thing about all of that, though, is that in the midst of people trashing everything Marvel and Disney as the worst pieces of trash they saw all year, you remind them about “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, that was good.’ Because it was. After the second movie was a bit of a let down for me, James Gunn in his swan song from Marvel before going off to fix DC provided us with the Guardians sequel that I wanted all along. And yes, for me this is the best of the three movies for me. Even better than the original.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;">9- </span><!--[endif]--><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Killers of the Flower Moon</span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0QMAIftiPftU4puUaq57ftijA0WSf6eD4RcGFk_R3y7nCXjZvjQaiMbRk-LmnkgWQDFa0ZWabd15PV_T2JRfwqnWSrFiHL4m3JbcbavHyxl0uTcp8lZzKG-g1F1jgrwCpQBrg5CkutpP1LPogIN4rI9IK3j6M9sbSfyFJQ28TRarvuj32R9cdiWwlv85z/s690/killers-of-the-flower-moon-pic-6532cc0b2fe97.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="690" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0QMAIftiPftU4puUaq57ftijA0WSf6eD4RcGFk_R3y7nCXjZvjQaiMbRk-LmnkgWQDFa0ZWabd15PV_T2JRfwqnWSrFiHL4m3JbcbavHyxl0uTcp8lZzKG-g1F1jgrwCpQBrg5CkutpP1LPogIN4rI9IK3j6M9sbSfyFJQ28TRarvuj32R9cdiWwlv85z/s320/killers-of-the-flower-moon-pic-6532cc0b2fe97.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A cold, dark crime thriller from Martin Scorsese. Given the subject matter was one I was familiar with, combined with Scorsese returning to the crime drama genre, this was one of my most anticipated movies of the year and it definitely delivered. Scorsese decided to tell the story of the Osage Tribe murders in the early 1900s and the way in which the movie is constructed makes you extremely frustrated. Greedy white men are taking advantage of a rich Native American tribe by marrying into their families and secretly murdering them to inherit their wealth, yet the government is not doing a dang thing about it. If it was just about any other race of people, the FBI would be right on it, but it’s a sad reminder of how poorly the Native Americans have been treated by our country, a trend that honestly hasn’t improved that much. The frustration you feel from this movie means the whole thing is extremely effective at what it sets out to do. The biggest gripe is that I listened to a podcast that told this story very effectively in 40 minutes, while Marty’s movie is a massive 206 minutes. I didn’t need the movie version to be short, but cut out 45 minutes and you have a perfect crime thriller.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;">8- </span><!--[endif]--><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anatomy of a Fall</span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBOnNVF9prYRLFBXYxyRZ1A-O1q-i85YhDBmNtGOey1RMiqhyTJG-aKoIhDjH-T6yoRwZqlncuBQN8AHirWk4rTYm99GvoveLdv3fCvbD-Yp8o4dMf_CFPGcMKXQbMwrSS2SyzCyhBVxSaY_LXcCFuGRZOzHqt8TVgpBN9R-67Vsm3NheSEc0wZ_Sxx_O5/s3394/anatomy-of-a-fall-cannes_custom-677310d4f9219b221154d99206c40220c5d6759a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2534" data-original-width="3394" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBOnNVF9prYRLFBXYxyRZ1A-O1q-i85YhDBmNtGOey1RMiqhyTJG-aKoIhDjH-T6yoRwZqlncuBQN8AHirWk4rTYm99GvoveLdv3fCvbD-Yp8o4dMf_CFPGcMKXQbMwrSS2SyzCyhBVxSaY_LXcCFuGRZOzHqt8TVgpBN9R-67Vsm3NheSEc0wZ_Sxx_O5/s320/anatomy-of-a-fall-cannes_custom-677310d4f9219b221154d99206c40220c5d6759a.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The most recent movie from 2023 that I saw and reviewed, but one that’s been on my radar since it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2023. One that, based on everything I heard about it, is a movie that I knew I would love. It just took forever to get the opportunity to see it. When I finally did, it was exactly what I thought it would be. And in this case, that’s a very good thing. Another movie that can fall into the crime thriller category. If you didn’t know by now, that’s one of my favorite genres. This one was a lot more focused on the courtroom part of it. In a deserted area in France, a woman’s husband winds up dead and in this case, the options of how that happened are very limited. Either the woman killed her husband, he committed suicide, or it was a freak accident where he fell and hit his head the wrong way. The movie doesn’t spell out what happens. Instead, you are basically in the vantage point of the jury themselves, in a movie style similar to “12 Angry Men.” This is a fascinating little French film with a lot more layers and twists to it than you expect when you initially press play or sit down to watch.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;">7- </span><!--[endif]--><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Oppenheimer</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinASnY2nQDGVR-bnOipWKZtoNWFCOk53YHlY3jeU88eneTq_bOr4feiA3aVEZdto_B_-fmLiECLqX-sVXSKJp_oZxHuuxqMx0JisHcOaMtzRbq7zJXQS7Rqd8-39eXzFQxEbFMNpee0Pth6IzmIzKwEUPAX1pzrp04Wej5tS_a5FFHJH1uPuvVy-WZGMaM/s774/Screen-Shot-2023-05-04-at-9.32.01-AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="774" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinASnY2nQDGVR-bnOipWKZtoNWFCOk53YHlY3jeU88eneTq_bOr4feiA3aVEZdto_B_-fmLiECLqX-sVXSKJp_oZxHuuxqMx0JisHcOaMtzRbq7zJXQS7Rqd8-39eXzFQxEbFMNpee0Pth6IzmIzKwEUPAX1pzrp04Wej5tS_a5FFHJH1uPuvVy-WZGMaM/s320/Screen-Shot-2023-05-04-at-9.32.01-AM.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The movie of the year by many accounts. And could very well pull a sweep at the upcoming Oscars as we finally give Christopher Nolan his due, something we should’ve done a long time ago, in 2008 with “The Dark Knight” or 2010 with “Inception” at the very latest. I mean, ask yourself, is “Slumdog Millionaire” or “The King’s Speech” really better than those two movies, respectively? That’s what I thought. Now I’ve been a tad bit critical of Nolan’s last few projects, which has put me in a bit of hot water with Nolan fans who worship him as their Lord and Savior, but “Oppenheimer” is an excellent return to form. A very impressive feat that Nolan can take a three hour long historical biopic that is very dialogue heavy and courtroom based and turn it into one of the most fascinating and thrilling movies of the year. To go along with that, one of the most impressive acting performances I’ve seen in some time from Cillian Murphy, portraying the very complex J. Robert Oppenheimer. The movie will leave you deep in thought as you ponder on it’s fascinating themes. In the hands of any other filmmaker, this doesn’t even come close to $100 million at the box office. But Nolan somehow got this to close to the $1 billion club worldwide. Give the man all the awards. Obviously not my personal top of the year, but a movie in which I have no problem with seeing it take the gold.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;">6- </span><!--[endif]--><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Past Lives</span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR-8zmXDNECv3lREGLiwqwMTZJaeHxQp6KfMJzANwor5ITko00FMNzImqHORhJam5_jwzmR8tCQJbbQZL6Lly3Nxmbfr8eMZ_Dua5ZqhYVB8jbWBgNZxem6KKWTAgL5cDv6n2Q5S-VaVsT_T48Adc6dfrXYxyN7OS8vYUgeGX_BbTyaOFl2UEvlLP5RCUO/s2819/5ec0c9b725ae0fdfb28bd8179c14951051-past-lives.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2062" data-original-width="2819" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR-8zmXDNECv3lREGLiwqwMTZJaeHxQp6KfMJzANwor5ITko00FMNzImqHORhJam5_jwzmR8tCQJbbQZL6Lly3Nxmbfr8eMZ_Dua5ZqhYVB8jbWBgNZxem6KKWTAgL5cDv6n2Q5S-VaVsT_T48Adc6dfrXYxyN7OS8vYUgeGX_BbTyaOFl2UEvlLP5RCUO/s320/5ec0c9b725ae0fdfb28bd8179c14951051-past-lives.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now we’re hitting the range of some movies that hit me in a very personal way, which is why they rose to the top in my personal favorite movies list. And few movies made me as much of an emotional wreck as this little Korean drama that I saw during the Summer. The story of two childhood lovers whose lives went in different directions, reconnecting later in life. And no, this is not a sappy romance movie. Not that there’d be anything wrong with that. But this is a movie that reflects on all the “What Ifs” in life. The girl in this story is married. Happily married. But reconnecting with this guy after being apart for years still brings in a flood of memories for her. And if you’ve ever had a situation in life where you’ve wondered how things would be with a certain person if one or both of you had made different decisions, then this is a movie that’s going to take a dagger right to your heart and cause all of those memories to flood right back to your mind. Not that I want to get too personal here, but… yeah. I’ve had lots of those. And this movie wrecked me. And I love it</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;">5- </span><!--[endif]--><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nimona</span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3l7SDU69fNowOmYCOesl0XgDdL4vWdaEBu3FHS1mNmFPDhjCFaIE-g2mffHEjN7jHu8iAsv_0T_YAYk6mMYwKLVij9y1ZuKzGhrbPAM3nyfYfyIFbC1AG0aaozgRVgfuyaf6fDrpK2fh929RZ8LV7srgVbvfF1zz4B88i3UklG-FkNlaZdBEEqx01T6AT/s980/AAAABSSTnHW8pXtpkhZRHPRk3YT1DoIWBIrDrUGaQAZTX4o3l9Mb67Y43H9FNRgyyPCk6-jq0avQYrbhMyCG3B6Idow3RkxTJ1rbxwzM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="980" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3l7SDU69fNowOmYCOesl0XgDdL4vWdaEBu3FHS1mNmFPDhjCFaIE-g2mffHEjN7jHu8iAsv_0T_YAYk6mMYwKLVij9y1ZuKzGhrbPAM3nyfYfyIFbC1AG0aaozgRVgfuyaf6fDrpK2fh929RZ8LV7srgVbvfF1zz4B88i3UklG-FkNlaZdBEEqx01T6AT/s320/AAAABSSTnHW8pXtpkhZRHPRk3YT1DoIWBIrDrUGaQAZTX4o3l9Mb67Y43H9FNRgyyPCk6-jq0avQYrbhMyCG3B6Idow3RkxTJ1rbxwzM.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Kids. Little kids. They grow up believing that they can be a hero if they drive a sword into the heart of anything different. And I’m the monster? I don’t know what’s scarier. The fact that everyone in this kingdom wants to run a sword through my heart… or sometimes, I just wanna let ‘em.” Holy fire, this fun, silly, quirky little animated film that has you rolling over in laughter the whole film suddenly takes a massive emotional freight train and runs you right over. The metaphor of the movie presents the idea of what if society as a whole has been wrong in the way that it’s looked at and treated certain minorities. However the metaphor applies to you, if you’ve ever felt different in any way and been discriminated against because of it, this is a powerful movie that you’re going to relate to. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I SEE you, Nimona. And you’re not alone.” That there might be one of the most powerful moments in film last year. Because when someone feels like they want to disappear due to how society has been treating them, sometimes all it takes is for one person to truly see them for who they are. You can make a difference in someone’s life if you just open your eyes and look. And to think Disney tossed it in the trash when they got rid of Blue Sky. It would’ve been Blue Sky’s best movie by a long shot. I’m glad that Annupurna and Netflix revived it and put it out because it’s special.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;">4- </span><!--[endif]--><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Godzilla Minus One</span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE41nzgSMUc4VYdt4cJuiB32u56LjeDng0N_ZiUJ2BtS1NCRputqFgj8oYc_gR4pxE9L9xw8eLTXdgDDpy2FYB6sz6wZDxUXUijCgvcTPK2e7ZCRMqQ8ZJDH7U7zXh_rGZewbs0S2c6QqoTCou2Jw4slX_Qj5gvx-O6RgO73vXuWBXCPqhSzRF1QholLYi/s703/1410490_godzillaminusone_754145.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="703" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE41nzgSMUc4VYdt4cJuiB32u56LjeDng0N_ZiUJ2BtS1NCRputqFgj8oYc_gR4pxE9L9xw8eLTXdgDDpy2FYB6sz6wZDxUXUijCgvcTPK2e7ZCRMqQ8ZJDH7U7zXh_rGZewbs0S2c6QqoTCou2Jw4slX_Qj5gvx-O6RgO73vXuWBXCPqhSzRF1QholLYi/s320/1410490_godzillaminusone_754145.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I heard the buzz on this one when it was released and that made me excited to see it. When I immediately did, even though I prepared myself for something really good, I was not ready for what I got. The opening of this movie has to be one of the best openings to any monster movie. For a decent portion of the runtime, the most direct comparisons that I had in my mind is that it reminded me of a monster movie on par with the likes of “Jaws” and “Jurassic Park.” Godzilla in this movie is not a secret protector of the city. He’s a terrifying monster. Set in post World War II Japan, he’s also a metaphor. And not only are the scenes he’s in absolutely incredible, but the scenes that he’s NOT in wind up telling a very moving, emotional story with the human characters in the movie, something that few Godzilla movies have effectively done. You grow to love and care about the characters in the movie, who have beautiful arcs. And when Godzilla enters the picture, threatening to destroy their lives, you shrink in terror, thinking to yourself in your seat, “Oh HECK no. You get away from the humans I care about, you big dumb dumb lizard.” I haven’t seen every Godzilla movies. But I’m a fan of the ones I have seen. And I enjoy the recent American movies for what they are. But this is by far the best Godzilla movie I’ve ever seen. And one of the best monster movies, in general.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;">3- </span><!--[endif]--><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Barbie</span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgEI8zoqo0AJiww1l6kDJCBlqYryDA2F0JSw4fH7SX9s772s2hC2iWGL1dL_bmdeDuRo_DsSbQgyvrCawMTHz-8Zah5W6Zz27cnKrEi5kJ8bO7pukuV9YcS20oCj-jMGnNSMZZyfXjiZxOddDTH8w2IKOVmV1x6xv2RyR_WqrGIY0ZWVt9sx3du6Blmzkk/s1287/18barbie-review-ftwc-superJumbo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="962" data-original-width="1287" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgEI8zoqo0AJiww1l6kDJCBlqYryDA2F0JSw4fH7SX9s772s2hC2iWGL1dL_bmdeDuRo_DsSbQgyvrCawMTHz-8Zah5W6Zz27cnKrEi5kJ8bO7pukuV9YcS20oCj-jMGnNSMZZyfXjiZxOddDTH8w2IKOVmV1x6xv2RyR_WqrGIY0ZWVt9sx3du6Blmzkk/s320/18barbie-review-ftwc-superJumbo.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The “Barbenheimer” phenomenon was definitely a wild one that easily defined 2023. People might try to find the next “Barbenheimer,” which is funny because movies come out on the same day all the time, so it’s not like this is anything unique. But the social media reaction to this was the unique element. Instead of people arguing over which one to see, it became a trend to go see both movies on the same day. Which is what I do a lot, anyways. But hey, if people want to follow my way of watching movies, then I’m all for it. If you want to do another double feature, just hit me up! Anyways, it certainly helped boost the phenomenon that both movies were fantastic, which helped the phenomenon last all the way until the combined for 21 Oscar nominations last week. “Oppenheimer” might have the last laugh at the actual awards ceremony, which again I’m fine with, but my personal favorite of the two was actually “Barbie,” an absolute riot of a film that encapsulates the world of “Barbie” in a wonderfully amusing way, that also ends up being so much more. Some people say it tried to do too much, but my take is that I was blown away by how beautifully Greta Gerwig weaved everything together. Her first two movies, “Lady Bird” and “Little Women,” both made my best of the decade list for the 2010s. And now she’s three for three in regards to home run hits for me. Even the best directors have their off films, so I won’t turn against her if that happens, but it’s not happened yet, so I might as well assume everything is going to be a masterpiece. If Narnia is next, let’s do it!</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;">2- </span><!--[endif]--><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">John Wick: Chapter 4</span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcJOlsR4GtX8H-sWTIxyqI7jA8I-nHdPrKa1lVZvdqlw4QNwZV64konO8MYLcM9CDAq-LGN-bMo5rztL2TS34lcuETha-awajYlbUWXCKpyg5FBs10t8C1iaVTNKmqPWdaGZQhjqH1vYAdRrt2wQMpM42MYgz50tMMQW4CVhCelWno0KOLU8mOvnSL7U9h/s764/John-Wick-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="764" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcJOlsR4GtX8H-sWTIxyqI7jA8I-nHdPrKa1lVZvdqlw4QNwZV64konO8MYLcM9CDAq-LGN-bMo5rztL2TS34lcuETha-awajYlbUWXCKpyg5FBs10t8C1iaVTNKmqPWdaGZQhjqH1vYAdRrt2wQMpM42MYgz50tMMQW4CVhCelWno0KOLU8mOvnSL7U9h/s320/John-Wick-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Not just another John Wick movie, which I would’ve had no problem with. But this potential final film feels like a whole lot more. After making three very successful films that beautifully built off each other, it feels like Chad Stahelski and Keaunu Reeves set out to make this the most epic final chapter that they could and they definitely outdid themselves with a movie that I think is one of the most entertaining action flicks I’ve seen. The villain is top notch. The rivalry in the film is the best of the series. The action sequences are bigger and better than before. The cinematography in the movie should’ve been nominated for an Oscar. It doesn’t hurt on a personal level that most of the movie is set in Paris, which just happens to be my dream vacation. The movie is nearly three hours long and it absolutely flies by. The final act in this movie is absolutely thrilling and it leads to a final showdown that is epic. The movie wraps up in a way where I don’t need another John Wick movie. This is the perfect ending for the series and I think maybe Chad Stahelski wants to try something else after spending the last decade making John Wick movies. Although I’m sure Lionsgate looked at the box office numbers and said, ‘Oh no you don’t. You come back and make us a fifth one.’ If that happens and John Wick: Chapter 5 undoes the ending of Chapter 4 and continues the series, that’s not going lessen the impact of Chapter 4 for me. That’ll be all on Chapter 5. There’s already several spin-off in the works, a series that’s already on Peacock and a the first spin-off movie coming out in June. And that’s not even involving the side characters they set up in the fourth movie. I say let’s focus on all of those instead of continuing the main series, but we’ll see what they decide.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun;">1- </span><!--[endif]--><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLZ1LaieARpjFA3hrOVZjYztWy5WlzwmFWndik0PvZ_wzJ5KEofyJJfvpuoGHeCo1BGJ7TP5gAV_X2DWpcln_Ut0HcF2HPS-AS-aUwXYW3XmSaRGhlO_Fo7DNEv50KSWg5WMF6GgEdqtI-qcls-HX-9YApGykcnDUa3Vl0qxtOh1L50vuTbmW-eOtmsERk/s915/spider-man-across-the-spider-verse-2023-billboard-1-1548.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="915" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLZ1LaieARpjFA3hrOVZjYztWy5WlzwmFWndik0PvZ_wzJ5KEofyJJfvpuoGHeCo1BGJ7TP5gAV_X2DWpcln_Ut0HcF2HPS-AS-aUwXYW3XmSaRGhlO_Fo7DNEv50KSWg5WMF6GgEdqtI-qcls-HX-9YApGykcnDUa3Vl0qxtOh1L50vuTbmW-eOtmsERk/s320/spider-man-across-the-spider-verse-2023-billboard-1-1548.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s hard to even know where to begin with “Across the Spider-Verse.” I really enjoyed “Into the Spider-Verse.” Some called it the best animated movie ever made, so I guess there are a lot of people that liked it a lot more than me. That’s not a critique of the movie, though. It’s still great. I don’t really have anything bad to say about it. But in my opinion, “Across the Spider-Verse” does what all great sequels should do. Take everything that’s good about the first movie and amplify it. I loved that the first movie combined a lot of different animation styles while also being a fun ode to actual comic books. With this second one, they were, like, ‘Yeah, hold my beer.’ What they accomplished in bringing together just about every animation style possible with an almost uncountable number of Spider-Things might be one of the greatest feats in animation. Going along with that, the Multiverse journey is as crazy and bonkers as you expect from a properly done Multiverse story. But at the same time, they don’t let that get in the way of the story they’re telling. And they very cleverly tie in every Spider-Man story to create a very powerful arc for Miles himself. And before we even dive headfirst into the chaos, the movie takes its time to build the emotion and make this a beautiful character piece. Not just for Miles, but also for Gwen Stacey. After finishing “Into the Spider-Verse,” I badly wanted a Spider-Gwen movie. This movie gave that to me, while also not letting that get in the way of Miles’ story. Truly an absolute stunning piece of art in just about every way. The potential “Empire Strikes Back” of the Spider-Verse franchise, cliffhanger and all. If they stick the landing with “Beyond the Spider-Verse,” whenever that ends up coming out, this could be one of the greatest trilogies ever.</span><p></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-53105023936540168232024-01-26T01:52:00.000-07:002024-01-26T01:52:52.782-07:00Movies of 2024: The Good, the Bad, and the Maybe<p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A new year is upon us! In fact, we’re almost one month into said new year. But as I mentioned in my previous blog post, we get a bit twisted here on this blog with the three posts to start this year and I feel I do things a tad bit differently each time, depending on what life is like. But we got January previewed in its own post at the beginning of the month. In the meantime, I’ve been spending the month working on a few different things. Next week, the plan is to get my year end list of favorite movies of 2023 out, which will be followed shortly by the February movie preview, but right now it’s time to preview the entire year of 2024!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve managed to put together a long list of movies. Slightly more than average for this list for some reason. I’ll give brief thoughts on each, but I organize this in a way that hopefully you’ll be able to skim through and what you want without being obligated to read the whole post. If you want to read every word I’ve typed, then by all means go for it. But if you simply want to scroll through and just read all the titles, that works for me to.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This upcoming year is a bit of a unique one. The writers and actors strikes last year definitely shook up the schedule. While things didn’t get as crazy as the COVID years. While the strikes were certainly for a good cause, the consequences were such that without any writers or actors for a significant part of the year, deadlines weren’t met and production wasn’t able to go forward on most things. That means things that were scheduled for the end of the year were pushed into 2024 and a lot of stuff that was scheduled for 2024 got pushed back into 2025. The result is… what you will see in this post.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But yes, the release schedule is very subject to change. The movies listed here are in order of release date, separated into three different categories: movies I’m excited about, movies I’m not so excited about, and movies that I’m on the fence about for one reason or another. Given the nature of things, you might see many of these movies on next year’s preview if they don’t make their release date this year for whatever reason. Life happens. And no, believe it or not, this is not an all encompassing list. These are just the highlights. There’s hundreds of movies that come out every year, especially a lot of smaller ones from film festivals that I have no idea about at this point in time. But it’s always fun to prepare myself for the year to come and get excited about what’s ahead of us. I hope you enjoy this, too! And, of course, let me know what movies you are most excited about from this.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Good</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u></u></i></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><u><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMvpVBkh9gRLWYmz9qxowr87gu5bdak7N6o6etXf_Sb-xlwA0XDz15nywy2C4dozBbiHVGbyKdsxt4IlGKw6prhOxFRiOmF6ExjSRrI__kv2ERQyJbywCtZWyj7WAyBa_XfIh980eTxE4xWzCyMqbhU0dZ9Wf3nHW4ZqtKCzET6A4NNPUe1Wl-sapC3GQ/s1564/IMG_20240126_013855.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1014" data-original-width="1564" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMvpVBkh9gRLWYmz9qxowr87gu5bdak7N6o6etXf_Sb-xlwA0XDz15nywy2C4dozBbiHVGbyKdsxt4IlGKw6prhOxFRiOmF6ExjSRrI__kv2ERQyJbywCtZWyj7WAyBa_XfIh980eTxE4xWzCyMqbhU0dZ9Wf3nHW4ZqtKCzET6A4NNPUe1Wl-sapC3GQ/w400-h259/IMG_20240126_013855.jpg" width="400" /></a></u></i></b></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Argylle</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> - </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">February 2</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">The director of the “Kingsman” movies has what looks to be another zany action film to kick off February. I was actually surprised to see this was PG-13 and not R, so I guess this means it’s a tad bit less intense than “Kingsman.” But that also means a more broad audience can enjoy it? If this ends up being not good, at the very least I can commend it for a well put together trailer that’s been fun to see at the beginning of every movie I’ve been to lately.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lisa Frankenstein</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- February 9</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">I suppose it’s a popular time to release weird Frankenstein-like stories, with “Poor Things” getting tons of Oscar buzz at the moment and now this hitting around Valentine’s Day. With this looking like all sorts of crazy and weird, consider this my most anticipated Valentine’s Day option, which there are several to choose from.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Drive-Away Dolls</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- February 23</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">We’re three for three so far in quirky comedies. I’m not exactly sure what to expect from this road trip adventure, but it is from one of the Coen Brothers, which as a film fan that has my attention. I’m curious to know when the next time the brothers do a movie together again will be, but until then we’ll see here what Ethan Coen has up his sleeve. This was slated for a Fall release and a potential awards push, but the strikes pushed this one to 2024 instead.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dune: Part Two</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- March 1</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Of course this was going to be here. I’d wager a bet that this is towards the top of a lot of people’s most anticipated list. I was a fan of the first one. And Denis Villeneuve doesn’t miss as a director. But as one who has not read the books and is really not very familiar with this world at all, I’m rather excited to see how the second half of the story turns out. The first movie left off in what felt like a very weird spot to me that made me feel I need to see the second movie before I can even fully judge either of them.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Spaceman</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- March 1 (Netflix)</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">We briefly veer away from the theatrical schedule to explore a quick Netflix release. I don’t have a ton of Netflix movies on this list, partially because they don’t exactly announce their release dates too far in advance. But if you watched the 2019 TV mini-series “Chernobyl,” this is from the director of that. That’s enough to get my attention. It’s also the rare dramatic role for Adam Sandler as he goes on a space adventure of sorts, as he seemingly has regrets about leaving his family back home.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Kung Fu Panda 4</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- March 8</span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">I saw a trailer for this in theaters a month or two ago without realizing it was a thing. That was a pleasant surprise. I’m not sure I expected DreamWorks to go back to the Kung Fu Panda franchise, but they are three for three so far in that realm. And this new one looks like they could continue that and go four for four.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- March 29</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">The elephant in the room here is that “Godzilla Minus One” came in at the end of last year and set a surprisingly new high standard on what a Godzilla movie has the potential to be. It’ll be hard not to compare and it’s possible that Toho just stole all the thunder away from Warner Bros. That said, I’ve still enjoyed all of the American Godzilla and Kong movies, so I’m still excited for some more dumb fun. You might just have to keep your expectations tempered.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Fall Guy</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- May 3</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">The Summer movie season in 2024 will NOT begin with a Marvel Superhero movie. “Deadpool 3” did have that slot, but the strikes made Marvel move that to July. Instead the summer begins with a fairly random action movie. David Leitch, director of “Bullet Train,” “Hobbs & Shaw,” “Atomic Blonde” and “Deadpool 2” has an action film for us centered around Ryan Gosling as a stuntman who gets caught in some crazy real-life adventures. Looks like a fun time!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- May 10</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">But the real fun kicks off a week later. The recent Planet of the Apes trilogy in my books goes down as one of the best trilogies to ever be made. Given that said trilogy was a prequel trilogy to the original movie, this fourth movie looks like it’s arrived at the point of the timeline where the original Charlton Heston movie started. Different continuity, of course. But I’m excited to see their take on it. New director on bored, which has me slightly nervous. But the trailers make it seem like the quality is still on par, which quickly made this one of my most anticipated movies this year.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">IF</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> - </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">May 17</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After directing a par of “A Quiet Place” movies, John Krasinksi has now moved onto what looks like an adorable family film centering around a young girl who begins to see all of the imaginary friends that kids have left behind as they grow up to be adults. The adult star here is Ryan Reynolds and it seems like a good portion of Hollywood has joined in various supporting roles as well.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Furiosa</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- May 24</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">May should be a lot of fun with “Planet of the Apes” and “Furiosa,” which were initially both scheduled for Memorial Day weekend before “Apes” choose to move a few weeks ahead. But “Mad Max Fury Road” was one of my favorite movies of last decade and one of my most watched, too. And now George Miller is back to tell the origin story of that movie’s best character? And he’s cast Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa, with Chris Hemsworth looking like he’s having the time of his life in a supporting role? Sign me up!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Watchers</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- June 7</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">A mystery thriller about a girl getting trapped in the forest along three strangers as they get stalked by mysterious creatures each night. Based on a book of the same name. But the draw here is that this is a Shyamalan movie. No, not M. Night. His daughter Ishana Shyamalan in her directorial debut. She worked with her dad a bit on “Servant” and “Old.” And now I’m curious about what the next generation of Shyamalan can do on her own!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hit Man</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- June 7 (Netflix)</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Back to Netflix real quick, “Hit Man” is an action comedy that I heard a lot of positive things about coming out of the festival circuits last year. Netflix picked it up and they just now sent it to another festival in Sundance this movie before putting it on their service in June. It might not be an awards play, but it’s a Richard Linklater movie starring Glen Powell as a hit man who becomes attracted to a woman who enlists his services.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Inside Out 2</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- June 14</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Pixar is best at their original films, in my opinion. But when the recent string of original films aren’t hitting with audiences, which is a shame in my opinion, you sometimes have to go back into the franchise realm to make some money. And in this case, I think returning to the world of “Inside Out” kinda makes sense. They are following Riley as a teenager now and that brings in a whole lot more emotions that it seems like they are going to have a lot of fun exploring. A few new voice actors for some of the old emotions, but if the writing is on point, that shouldn’t matter too much.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Bikeriders</span></u></i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> June 21</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Another movie effected by the strikes. This was supposed come out in December and the advertising was already in full force. I did hear early word that this wasn’t quite an awards player and may not have caught on in that realm, so instead it was pushed ahead a few months so they can have their cast and crew available to promote it. But it starred Tom Hardy and looked intense and fun. So I was personally up for the ride. Maybe a summer release will end up making more sense, anyways?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A Quiet Place: Day One</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- June 28</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">No John Krasinksi directing this one, but he still has writing credit. And if you have to get a different director while Krasinksi decides to go do his family movie “IF,” then the director of the Nicholas Cage movie “Pig” seems like a solid choice. At some point it’s understandable to get nervous about horror franchises milking a good idea a little too much, but I think I’m still on board to explore more in this universe. In this scenario, it looks like we get to learn more of how all this came to be.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Deadpool 3</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- July 26</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In a funny turn of events, “Deadpool 3” is the only movie in the MCU to come out this year. No, it’s not because of any recent failures, even though that might be the narrative people might choose to go with. It’s due to the strikes causing Disney and Marvel to push everything down the road. As I mentioned above, this was supposed to be a May film, but is instead in July. Marvel will be back in 2025, but until then the adults get to be entertained with Deadpool’s introduction into the MCU. And no, don’t take your kids to this movie. This is for the adults only.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Trap</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- August 2</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Surprise! Not only is M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter on deck to release her first movie, but M. Night himself is back as well! Not much is known here outside the cast, led by Josh Hartnett and Hayley Mills. But that’s how it should be with a Shyamalan movie, right? Shyamalan is very hit and miss. But he has had plenty of hits for me to still be excited for a new movie of his.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Transformers One</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- September 13</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">An animated Transformers focusing on the origins of Cyberton, the home of the Autobots and Decepticons. So… a Transformers movie that is set to focus solely on the Transformers? Now there’s an idea!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Wild Robot</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- September 20</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">A new DreamWorks movie! I can’t find a ton of information on this one, but it is based on a series of kids books and I have seen some excited reaction from people about these prospects, even if I myself am not as aware. DreamWorks has been doing some interesting things as of late that I think have been very healthy for the animation genre as a whole, so I’m curious about what they have here.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Wolfs</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- September 20</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Jon, the plural for “wolf” is “wolves.” Not sure what you’re doing here, haha. But fine, maybe he’ll show me up when we learn more about what this actually is. The Jon I mention is Jon Watts, director of the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies, taking a break from the Marvel Machine for now to direct this movie that stars Brad Pitt and George Clooney.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Saw XI</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- September 27</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I liked “Saw X.” In fact, I did a whole “Saw” marathon this past Halloween season leading up to “Saw X.” It’s a fun horror franchise wherein the best movies are a lot more psychologically based than their “torture porn” reputation would lead you to believe. I don’t know what part of the timeline this eleventh movie is going to be. It might be a tad bit confusing to newcomers later on. But I’m on board.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Joker: Folie á Deux</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> - </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">October 4</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Todd Phillip’s “Joker” was my favorite movie of 2019. I fully realize that it’s a fairly controversial movie that rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, but it connected in all the right ways for me personally. I’m not sure Todd Phillips initially planned on making a sequel, but when you make $1 billion at the box office, sometimes you get pressured to do one, anyways. And in this case, he’s turning his dark psychological thriller into a… musical? That’s a funny choice for a sequel that has me morbidly curious. And hey, if you’re going to do a musical and you need a Harley Quinn that can both sing and act, Lady Gaga is an excellent choice. She’s now been nominated at the Oscars for both singing and acting. So there you go!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Terrifier 3</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- October 25</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don’t know much about the Terrifier movies. Just that there’s a new killer clown that has become a bit of a phenomenon. But I will definitely catch myself up before the third one this Halloween.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Wolf Man</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- October 25</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">We don’t know a lot about this new Wolf Man movie, just that it’s been in the idea room for a long while, with a lot of potential iterations. Ryan Gosling was on board at one point, which would’ve been fun. But recent news is that he’s been replaced with Christopher Abbott. I’m not 100 percent sure this is actually coming out, but if it does then I’m excited because Leigh Whannell is the director and he did great with his 2020 remake of “The Invisible Man.” So if he has ideas for Wolf Man, then I’m ready to see them. Because if we’re rebooting the Universal Monster movies, I fully believe that Whannell has the correct ideas as to how to do them right, based on what he do with “The Invisible Man.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Wicked Part 1</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> -</span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> November 27</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After years and years of waiting, the movie version of “Wicked” is finally coming! I don’t need to tell any of you what this is all about. It’s one of the most popular Broadway Musicals. What I can contribute here is letting you know that it’s in good hands as the director is Jon M. Chu, who did a great job with “In the Heights” in 2021. Ariana Grande is an interesting choice for Glinda. The girl can definitely sing. We’ll see how she can act. But Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba and that girl can do both. “Defying Gravity” is in great hands, my friends. And if you need proof, go look up the song “Stand Up” from the movie “Harriet” and you’ll be on board. The only thing that makes me nervous is the “Part 1.” I’m not sure why we need to split everything in half these days, but hey Part 2 is scheduled for 2025, so we won’t have to wait too long for the second half of the movie.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- December 13</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">More Lord of the Rings. What more do you need? I suppose “Rings of Power” was a tad bit divisive. And those Hobbit movies were mostly pretty bad. So maybe I should say that this is an animated prequel that focuses on the origins of Helm’s Deep, from what I read, taking place 100+ years before the events of the original trilogy.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sonic the Hedgehog 3</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- December 20</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I still love the story of Sonic the Hedgehog, how they literally paused production to redo the movie when they heard the backlash. And it became a huge hit because of it. The second movie was also a lot of fun, doing justice to the old video game franchise. Shadow was teased in the mid-credits scene, so I’m guessing that’s where this third movie is going.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nosferatu</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- December 25</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">If you make me rank all of these movies in order of my most anticipated, I’m not sure exactly what is No. 1, but this version of “Nosferatu” might be close to the top at the very least. It’s Robert Eggers’ “Nosfertu.” Eggers is the guy who directed “The Witch,” “The Lighthouse” and “The Northman.” If you know me, you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of all three of those movies. I’ve come to really enjoy Eggers’ style. I’m excited to see what he has in store for this one!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mickey 17</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> -</span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> TBD 2024</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">And now we go through a bunch of movies that aren’t yet dated, but seem to be planning on coming out at some point. The strike has a lot to do with that, so maybe a good number of these end up in 2025. We’ll see. But “Mickey 17” was scheduled for March, so I don’t think it’ll be delayed by too much. I don’t know anything about it, outside it being directed by Bong Joon Ho, director of “Parasite,” “Okja” and “Snowpiercer.” And it stars Robert Pattinson. That’s all that I need to know. Just tell me the release date and I’ll be there.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- TBD 2024</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">I don’t actually believe that this is coming out in 2024. From what I’ve heard, they were not close to hitting their initial planned release of March 2024… and that was before the strikes. But Sony still thinks they’re going to make it this year, so I’m listing it just in case. If they stick the landing, this could be one of the best animated trilogies ever.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">MaXXXine</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- TBD 2024</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This one I have more optimism that it’ll hit the release, mostly because it’s the third movie in the trilogy of “X” and “Pearl.” And those two came out in the exact same year, that being 2022. It was a risky experiment, but I think it worked out. If you’re a horror fan and you haven’t watched those other two, then do yourself a favor and check them out. Then you can impatiently wait with the rest of us for the release date for this third one.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Kinds of Kindness</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> -</span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> TBD 2024</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next movie from Yorgos Lanthimos. The dude is on a roll. “The Favourite” got 10 Oscar nominations and just this week “Poor Things” beat that with 11 Oscar nominations. I’m a bit surprised to see that he’s already got his next movie close to ready, but if it makes it this year, and if “Poor Things” doesn’t win the Oscars this year, I could conceivably see a scenario where the Academy makes it Yorgos year with this next film. We don’t know much about it, but it does star Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe again, with Jesse Plemons and Margaret Qualley also as co-stars.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Maria</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> -</span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> TBD 2024</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Pablo Larrain’s recent big awards players were “Jackie” in 2016 and “Spencer” in 2021. And now his next single-name movie is “Maria,” which has Angelina Jolie playing Maria Callas, one of the world’s greatest opera singers, in the final days of her life. Oscar time for Angelina?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Woman of the Hour</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- TBD 2024</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The trio of movies before this are mostly here based on director’s name. We’ll get a couple more of those before moving onto our next section. But real quick we have a movie that HAS been seen be real humans at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. And it seems right up my alley as it’s about a serial killer named Rodney Alcala, who went on a killing spree while being on the popular game show “The Dating Game.” I don’t know why I’m so obsessed with movies and shows about serial killers, but here we are. And this seems like my movie. And it got great reviews out of TIFF, so I’m excited. And can you believe after hearing that description that it’s directed by… Anna Kendrick? Her directorial debut? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Megalopolis</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- TBD 2024</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">I feel like I’ve heard about this movie for a long time. The newest film from Francis Ford Coppola, director of The Godfather movies. Wikipedia claims he started writing this one as his passion project way back in the 1980s. Apparently filming wrapped up in March of last year, so whatever this is, if it comes out, I’m at the very least curious to see how it goes.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Knox Goes Away</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- TBD 2024</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Did you know that Michael Keaton directed a movie? It’s his second one, actually. The first being a 2008 movie called “The Merry Gentleman,” which I had never heard of until researching this post. “Knox Goes Away” is a thriller from Keaton starring himself along with Al Pacino and James Marsden, about a contract killer who has dementia who has the opportunity to redeem himself by saving his son’s life. It premiered at TIFF to somewhat mixed reaction, but it has me curious. Sometimes festival audiences aren’t ready for certain genres of movies.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Juror No. 2</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- TBD 2024</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Clint Eastwood has a movie for us this year. The man has a bit of a hit and miss in his older age, but this movie centers around a Jury trial, which has me curious. It’s described as a man serving as a juror in a high profile murder trial dealing with some sort of moral dilemma that could potentially sway the verdict. I like courtroom dramas and this one also has a solid cast to go along with it’s premise, so maybe this is the one that Eastwood can make a comeback and put together a solid thriller?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Havoc</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> -</span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> TBD 2024 (Netflix)</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">The final movie on this list is one that I also had on last year’s list. And I almost took it off because it appears to be flying somwhere in movie purgatory. But I couldn’t help myself be excited again about the idea of an action thriller directed by Gareth Evans, the director of The Raid movies. If Netflix decides to actually release it this year, that would be nice. Or maybe I’ll just keep putting it on these lists until they do. Tom Hardy, Timothy Olyphant, and Forest Whitaker star.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Bad</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidthGIHXRbUk3sfnMuUjGd1WkMJzk4d01g4f-ivmMZf4IP2xBWU5eYP2fNNUydWWYeWpZRl8qiXPAc9NG8F3lFlHo1MaMfa5xVzEJhg5BKthwcT_cq8whSwTHWQmS-K44YFLRwoCOVDL_2Awn2hy04YXz7CJFFYvPEvfkN1sHE19QIGsT8UzwXDJEmNHZE/s1564/IMG_20240126_014327.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1051" data-original-width="1564" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidthGIHXRbUk3sfnMuUjGd1WkMJzk4d01g4f-ivmMZf4IP2xBWU5eYP2fNNUydWWYeWpZRl8qiXPAc9NG8F3lFlHo1MaMfa5xVzEJhg5BKthwcT_cq8whSwTHWQmS-K44YFLRwoCOVDL_2Awn2hy04YXz7CJFFYvPEvfkN1sHE19QIGsT8UzwXDJEmNHZE/w400-h269/IMG_20240126_014327.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></b></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Imaginary</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- March 8</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">I try not to focus too much on the bad. You’ll see it’s a bit of a shorter list than the good section. But there’s a few things that I have to grumble and complain about. And we start by picking on a few low-budget horror movies. It’s weird that we have two movies about imaginary friends this year, but I’ll take the John Krasinski family movie over this one. This director is responsible for “Fantasy Island” and “Truth or Dare,” two really bad horror films, so this one involving a young kid, their little bear, and supposed imaginary friend does not seem any good.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The First Omen</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- April 5</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Likewise, these constant ripoffs of “The Exorcist” are rarely any good. And this is another one of those hidden in April that looks like a throwaway horror film to make a few bucks.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rebel Moon - Part 2: The Scargiver</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- April 19 (Netflix)</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">No, I haven’t actually seen Part 1 of this. It came out while I was busy trying to catch up on all the real movies out there before the year ended. Normally I’d say that it’s worth giving something a chance before judging, but this is Zack Snyder and I hate most of his movies. Based on everything I’ve heard from the internet and film people I trust, this is not one of the exceptions. The crazy Snyder fans that worship the dude are the only ones singing that movie’s praises. Everyone else has said it’s garbage. If I get bored enough, maybe I’ll watch them both in April. But we’ll see.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Wildfire: The Legend of the Cherokee Ghost Horse</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- April 19</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">I feel bad picking on this one. It looks like their heart was in the right place, making a cute family film about a girl and a horse. But when I checked this out after the title caught my attention, everything about it felt like a movie made on a budget of $10 and not in a good way.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Back to Black</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- May 10</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">I’m really kinda getting tired of musical biopics that are nothing but cinematic Wikipedia articles about an artist’s life. And while Amy Winehouse certainly has enough complexity regarding her life and death to make a compelling movie, tagging the director of “Fifty Shades of Grey” is not something that inspires confidence for me that they’ll get this one right. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Horrorscope</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> -</span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> May 10</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Maybe the studio behind this one can release a trailer that will change my mind, but this is described as a horror comedy about a group of college friends dying after getting their horoscopes read. And it’s from a new directing team that helped write “Moonfall” and “Expend4bles.” Not winning me over there.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Strangers: Chapter 1</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> -</span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> May 17</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Do you remember the cult horror movie “The Strangers” from 2008? Or it’s poorly received sequel in 2018, “The Strangers: Prey at Night”? No? Well, they’re attempting to reboot that franchise with a new sequel trilogy. And there’s a non-zero percent chance that they try to release all three of them this year. Yay?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Garfield</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> -</span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> May 24</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">I don’t hate Chris Pratt. But I need Hollywood to be done with their obsession with him. He doesn’t have a special voice, yet they’re using his name to reboot Mario and now Garfield? When they could, you know, cast a voice actor that SOUNDS like those characters? But whatever. Mario made over $1 billion, so maybe I’m just out of touch with reality. But I still don’t personally have to be excited about Chris Pratt and his generic white dude voice being cast as everyone.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Despicable Me 4</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- July 3</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I actually liked the first two “Despicable Me” movies. But the third one was bad. And since then we’ve had two Minions movies that both made way too much money and are now movies that certainly exist in the world. But now we’re back to the franchise proper and my confidence in Illumination is currently at an all-time low, so they’re going to have to prove themselves to me before I get excited again.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Twisters</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- July 19</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bringing back the 90s and expecting people to react like they did in the 90s is certainly a choice. Remember when we did a sequel to “Independence Day”? Yeah, that was miserable. Potential hot take, but I don’t think “Twister” was a very good movie. It was of its time and worked for that time, but doesn’t hold up well in a re-watch. So I don’t have much confidence in this new one. Prove me wrong?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Alien: Romulus</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> -</span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> August 16</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me… uh… how many bad Alien sequels have we had now? Seven if you count the Alien vs. Predator movies? “Alien” and “Aliens” are two all-time greats. And the rest are garbage. So excuse me if can’t get myself to be excited for another one of these. It was the boy who cried wolf a long time ago. But hey, speaking of the Predator franchise, I hear the movie “Prey” in that was good, so maybe Alien can be good again, too. Until I see it, though, I’m going to be skeptic.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Forge</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- August 16</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Get Alex Kendrick and his garbage Christian movies far away from me. He makes the rest of us Christians look bad to those who aren’t of the Christian faith.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Beetlejuice 2</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- September 6</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I deeply apologize for putting this one in here. That might cause a fight. For the record, I have nothing against “Bettlejuice.” It’s just that long belated sequels that should’ve happened decades ago rarely work out. “Beetlejuice” will be turning 36 years old this year. And we’re just now getting around to a sequel? At least they have Tim Burton on board. But that may or may not be a good thing these days. I hope it’s good, but if it ends up being a disappointment, don’t say I didn’t warn you.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Speak No Evil</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> - </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">September 13</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A remake of a 2022 horror film. Why? Because it was a foreign horror film. And every good foreign film apparently needs an American remake because we’re too dumb to read subtitles.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Smile 2</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- October 18</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hot take. A lot of people liked “Smile.” It did very well at the box office. I was not one of those people who liked it. So I’m not exactly excited for the inevitable 30 sequels that will come our way. I suppose we can take them one at a time. But even when a horror movie is good, the sequel being equally as good is not a thing that happens too often.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Gladiator 2</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- November 22</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Speaking of long-belated sequels, this falls into that category as well. Although I’m not 100 percent sure “Gladiator,” as great as it is, is a movie that needed a sequel. Can you believe that it’s now been 24 years since “Gladiator”? And that movie came out in the year 2000. I refuse to believe that the year 2000 was 24 years ago. Ridley Scott is on board doing this sequel, but same thing with him. I’m not sure that’s a good thing.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mufasa: The Lion King</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- December 20</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Remember how everyone almost universally hated that 2019 remake of “The Lion King”? Well, Disney listens to their bank account rather than online chatter. And that is one of the highest grossing movies ever at $1.646 billion. So if you wonder why Disney keeps pumping out these remakes, that’s why. People hate them, but they see them anyways. So… sequel. Or in this case, prequel. And I don’t care that Barry Jenkins in the director here. He’s getting his Disney paycheck so he can go make his next real movie. I can’t blame him. But my excitement level for a new Disney thing here couldn’t be lower. And I’m one that’s defended a lot of the recent Disney stuff. But not this one.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Karate Kid</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> - </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">December 26</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Look, I’m not morally opposed to a new “Karate Kid” thing. In fact, they released a poster that shows them uniting the worlds of Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan, which is a cool idea. I’m just confused here because we’ve done really good with the “Cobra Kai” show, which should be releasing their sixth and final season at some point this year. And for some reason I’m hearing buzz that this movie is not connected to the show? If things get cleared up as we get closer to December, then maybe I can be excited. But right now I just have no idea what to think about this.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- TBD 2024 (Netflix)</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Copy and past with some of my recent comments. I’m excited to go revist the “Beverly Hills Cop” movies because they’re a bit of a blind spot that I can now have an excuse to fix. The first two are some of the biggest 80s movies in terms of box office gross. But do we need another one? And is a belated sequel going to do well? And is skipping theaters to go straight to Netflix a smart idea when we’ve been in an 80s Renaissance the last many years now?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lilo & Stitch</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"> -</span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> TBD 2024 (Disney+)</span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Of all the Disney live action remakes, this is one that’s perhaps given me the biggest sigh of annoyance. I don’t know if it’s coming out this year, but they had begun filming before the actor’s strike started, so I’m guessing they’re well into production. They’ve not set a date, but they have announced it as a straight-to-Disney+ thing, which also doesn’t bode well for confidence. You would think that Disney has learned their lesson to not skip theaters and after the awful year of 2023 that they had, maybe they’ll change their mind here. Or maybe they’re just as embarrassed that they’re moving forward with this particular project and would rather hide it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Maybe</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvo5-orn5Je5R0IP3yxCulPQczG8-eC1XYoh1SEzxAX2FOGlsMqHrMpHE1Olq6gB2mmhB22kmdu_WjnpdNRPZRrY4shUHLF1YOJsmQBnLm5XK-XQ1G2db_vFikYwgRKCWqjfZtV4JBLFfoXhUY4FsiaWyV9mSHgllgqmy_WBgqwvlrqXsSP7kSiYrOzR_/s1564/IMG_20240126_014812.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="1564" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvo5-orn5Je5R0IP3yxCulPQczG8-eC1XYoh1SEzxAX2FOGlsMqHrMpHE1Olq6gB2mmhB22kmdu_WjnpdNRPZRrY4shUHLF1YOJsmQBnLm5XK-XQ1G2db_vFikYwgRKCWqjfZtV4JBLFfoXhUY4FsiaWyV9mSHgllgqmy_WBgqwvlrqXsSP7kSiYrOzR_/w400-h268/IMG_20240126_014812.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></b></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bob Marley: One Love</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- February 14</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m really excited for this movie to finally come out… so that they can STOP showing this trailer. I swear I’ve seen in front of every movie for the last six months. That aside, I menionted that I’m not excited for these musical biopics anymore. But Bob Marley has an interesting enough story that this could work, theoretically. And the talent involved is not terrible. So I don’t want to ignorantly toss it in the trash just because of its genre.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Madame Web</span></u></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> - February 14</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Most people would be putting this in the bad section. I don’t know if there’s any excitement here, especially after the awful year that superhero movies had in terms of general audience reception. But I’m not most people. I’m still enjoying superhero movies. That caveat is that Sony has had the most rocky journey with their non-Spider-Man Spider-Man movies. But I don’t think this looks Morbius levels of bad. In fact, we have two different versions of Spider-Woman/Madame Web in this with Cassandra Webb and Julia Carpenter, played by Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney, respectively. So I’m more hopeful than most.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Love Lies Bleeding</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> -</span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> March 8</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Initially when I saw this poster and trailer, it looked like a generic January action movie. Until I realized it was a March action movie. Crazy as it seems, that makes a difference in regards to studio confidence. A female-led action movie from A24 with Kristen Stewart as a part of the cast is enough to intrigue. Stewart is not the buff girl with a gun on the poster, but I’ve enjoyed most of the movies she’s been. And they did release this at Sundance this week and it got decently positive remarks. I still am a little worried about it being a tad bit generic, but I lean much more on the positive side of the fence here.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Arthur the King</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- March 15</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A movie about a dog. And Mark Wahlberg as a dude running a fancy race who finds the dog. That’s much better than this being another King Arthur movie, which I thought it was. But dog movies are often pretty cute.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- March 22</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I wasn’t a fan of the recent Ghostbusters reboot in “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.” But the trailers for “Frozen Empire” have actually intrigued me. So maybe I’ll go revisit “Afterlife” to remind myself of my thoughts on that and then compare to “Frozen Empire.” I’m always hopeful that a new Ghostbusters movie will be a fun time at the movies.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Civil War</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- April 12</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I almost put this one in the good section because the idea here is highly amusing to me. No, this is not a comic book thing, nor a historical movie about the Civil War in the 1800s. This is an alternate version of modern America in the not-so-distant future that portrays us in a new Civil War with different factions fighting against each other. Released during Election Year, which very much feels like NOT a coincidence. It’s going to spark outrage, for better or for worse. It is Alex Garland, who I love from directing “Ex Machina” and “Annihilation.” But he also did “Men” in 2022, which I was not a fan of, so he no longer has a clean record for me. I’m curious to see where I will fall and what outrage this will spark and why.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Abigail</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- April 19</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was about to put this is the bad section. Another April horror film that looks generic and kinda bad. But I am a horror fan. I’m just annoyed that there are so many bad ones out there that make the genre look awful. But yet when I looked at the director here, it’s the directing duo that did the recent two Scream movies, as well as the 2019 movie “Ready or Not,” which was a really fun horror movie that was also a great blend of action and comedy. So that’s a great track record. Maybe this is one of those horror movies that looks bad and generic, but is actually fun and smart. I’m willing to give it a try.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- April 19</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The latest Guy Ritchie movie. He’s been more miss than hit for me recently. But “The Covenant” last year was solid. And this is another war-themed movie with a cast that includes Henry Cavill, Cary Elwes, and Henry Goulding.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Challengers</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> -</span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> April 26</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The tennis movie Zendaya and two boys that had a lot of traction last year. It was supposed to be released in September. And with it being from the director of “Call Me By Your Name,” it was thought to maybe be an awards contender? But when the actors strike hit, they decided they wanted Zendaya to be around to promote it, so they pushed it to April, which is not a good sign for awards consideration, but it could still be a good movie. I’m worried about it being a little to steamy for my liking, if you know what I mean, but it’s on my radar.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ballerina</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- June 7</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The first spin-off of the John Wick franchise. Or the first movie spin-off, I should say. They had the Peacock show about the hotel that I haven’t watched because I don’t have Peacock, but I almost immediately put this in the good section because I love John Wick. The potential problem is that it’s not the director of the John Wick movies. Which is fine… except for the new director here is Len Wiseman, who’s mostly known for a lot of bad Underworld movies and the Total Recall remake that no one liked. So that makes me a bit nervous. But if he can capture the style of John Wick, I’m hoping this is at least a fun chapter because an action movie starring Ana de Armas in the John Wick Universe sounds like a winner on paper.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bad Boys 4</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- June 14</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">They really painted themselves in a pickle by calling the THIRD movie “Bad Boys for Life,” which could’ve been stylized as “Bad Boys 4 Life” if it was the fourth movie. Now they have an actual fourth movie and they have to pick a different creative title. Anyways, the 2020 movie that I did not watch actually got decent reviews, so maybe I’ll catch up on this franchise before this movie comes out.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Horizon: An American Saga Chapters 1 & 2</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> -</span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> June 18 & August 16</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">An interesting cinematic experiment that I’m hoping will work out. Kevin Costner directed and starred in a Western movie. Which on its own doesn’t seem very risky. That actually seems rather safe and really fun. But the risky part is that he made a really long Western movie that he split into two halves. Common trend these days, I suppose. But both halves come out this summer, Chapter 1 in June and Chapter 2 in August. So that’s a fairly unique experience. I’m curious to see how this works out.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Borderlands</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- August 9</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you’re a fan of the video game series “Borderlands,” you should let me know if you’re excited about the idea of a movie adaptation, given the history of video game movies. Then tell me if you like the idea of Eli Roth as the director of this movie with Kevin Hart as the star, playing a character named Roland. We also have Cate Blanchett, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jack Black. But yeah, I’m not much of a gamer, so I don’t know what I’m supposed to be thinking about this.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Flint Strong</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- August 9</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This sounds like an awards film. It tells the story of a boxer who is training to become the first woman in her country’s history to win a gold medal in the sport. It has a solid cast. Written by Oscar-winner Barry Jenkins and directed by Rachel Morrison, who was nominated for a cinematography Oscar for “Black Panther.” But it’s being released in August, which is not quite awards season. August movies sometimes get lost in the shuffle, so I’m not sure what to think.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Kraven the Hunter</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> - </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">August 30</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had this on my list last year… in the bad section. I’m not sure if I believed it existed. But then a trailer came out and it was a very violent and bloody version of this character, meaning Sony was leaning into the Hard R for this comic book film, which is what they should’ve done for “Venom” and “Morbius.” It fits the character and looks like a lot of fun. But then the strike hit and they postponed this almost a whole year, meaning it landed in August. Given the Sony track record, I’m not quite willing to put this in the good section, but the maybe section is a decent step up here.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">White Bird</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> -</span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> October 4</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another movie that sounds like an awards film. From the author of the book “Wonder,” adapted by Marc Forster, director of the 2022 remake of “A Man Called Otto,” which was really good. He also directed “World War Z” and “Finding Neverland” back in the day, so this is a good director. I don’t know much about the book, but the description talks about how one act of kindness can live on forever. If not an awards film, maybe it’s a simple feel-good movie?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Venom 3</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> -</span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> November 8</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve heard rumblings that they might actually make this Venom movie rated R, which they SHOULD’VE done with “Let There Be Carnage.” Normally I say just make a good movie and I don’t care about the rating, but they finally did Carnage, but did not do Carnage justice, which was disappointing because I enjoyed the first Venom movie more than most and I like Tom Hardy as the dual role of Venom and Eddie Brock. But given that we don’t yet know exactly where they’re going with this third movie, I don’t know exactly how excited I can be. Stay tuned, I guess.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Red One</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> -</span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> November 15</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The bizarre Christmas Santa movie with JK Simmons as Santa Claus, and Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, and Lucy Liu as some sort of characters. This is supposed to be a potential franchise starter for potential re-imagined holiday mythology. I’m not sure what to think about it, but Jake Kasdan is directing and he did both of the new Jumanji movies, so that’s a plus.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Old Guard 2</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">- TBD 2024 (Netflix)</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We end with a Netflix movie that is not yet decided on a release date. And there is a whole Wikipeida page on upcoming Netflix movies if you want to go through them. I’ve put a few of them here, but you can definitely go down quite the rabbit whole with that. Of all of them to put on here, I do remember that I really enjoyed “The Old Guard.” Sequels to this type of movie could end up being bad, but if we get a second one at some point this year, I would give it a chance admist the very deep and never-ending see of Netflix originals that are around.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-16341101428305980872024-01-06T03:22:00.000-07:002024-01-06T03:22:06.523-07:00Movie Preview: January 2024<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGoMS_cIbUErvB6MaPJ-56JmDLLWRhSykMpQ6-6uw73kmeS6Ij7V8NenhvmQhmDArd04ClVFPJ_Y0H1BWOqjRZKfSFA-LI2-yo-QlU1ZmZWy7BdALQKKn_n3U4OQ9Wd8Z847fWho3mYtfbG8tx-tyfV2BUi39MRmH_hr2IVGILp25m_9CjqfxODThuF5eC/s1564/IMG_20240106_031234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1564" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGoMS_cIbUErvB6MaPJ-56JmDLLWRhSykMpQ6-6uw73kmeS6Ij7V8NenhvmQhmDArd04ClVFPJ_Y0H1BWOqjRZKfSFA-LI2-yo-QlU1ZmZWy7BdALQKKn_n3U4OQ9Wd8Z847fWho3mYtfbG8tx-tyfV2BUi39MRmH_hr2IVGILp25m_9CjqfxODThuF5eC/w400-h269/IMG_20240106_031234.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">In what feels like record time, the year 2023 is now behind us and we are now currently embarking on the year 2024. As such, there's a few blog posts that I like to get to every year to kick off the new year. The big post is my wrap-up of 2023 with my list of top 10 favorite movies of the year. But I always give myself a few extra weeks on that one. So, while it may seem a bit counterintuitive, before we wrap up 2023, we're going to preview 2024. But before we preview 2024, we're going to deep dive into January first. I feel like I've done things slightly different every year with the yearly preview and the January preview. But this time around with how the schedule worked out, it made sense in my mind to do January first.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">January is always a bit of an interesting month. There's always a slate of new releases, of course. There have been good movies released and ones that have performed well, but yet there is a common stigma that it's a dumping ground month where studios release movies that they don't care about. They save their big releases for the holidays or maybe in late February or March if they don't want to wait for the summer. Then they dump the leftovers in January to get them out of the way. But mixed in with that are the movies that actually got released over the holiday that enjoy an extended runway without much serious competition. Then finishing the trifecta are the awards movies that maybe didn't want to release wide in a competitive market, but were required to have some sort of release to qualify, so they open in a limited fashion in December and expand wide around Oscar nominations - which are on January 23 this year - to take advantage the boost from the awards buzz.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">This January will have a fascinating combination of the three. There wasn't a Star Wars, Avatar, or Spider-Man movie released this past Christmas, so it was a bit of a quieter holiday frame, but there was a lot that came that will still be around this month and a good number of awards expansions as well. That said, the bigger emphasis with this post will be on the newer releases as I talked about most of the others last month, but there's still an interesting combination of new releases that should catch some people's attention. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">As always, release date information for this post is courtesy of boxofficepro.com and the-numbers.com. The movies listed are the ones currently scheduled for a wide release in the United States and Canada and are always subject to change. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>January 5 - 7</i></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqtv_P6WJA5eAyIJiGARzvrVVsUXzNG4rCy-Rf9BApuxSNK4OIbZJcfMIZRlf3GJcqT-HYl4yondoPNKZFZAmXAv8KqZYWi_XfHoLqCKj53uku4A8LkJmJiGpo-L1gwXzhUKYAdr5gEMnhbch4Fa_QoiNIJZoAt1Zm66NVC-8z1dyWjdPbGSRRThFh7vZw/s969/night-swim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="969" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqtv_P6WJA5eAyIJiGARzvrVVsUXzNG4rCy-Rf9BApuxSNK4OIbZJcfMIZRlf3GJcqT-HYl4yondoPNKZFZAmXAv8KqZYWi_XfHoLqCKj53uku4A8LkJmJiGpo-L1gwXzhUKYAdr5gEMnhbch4Fa_QoiNIJZoAt1Zm66NVC-8z1dyWjdPbGSRRThFh7vZw/s320/night-swim.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Universal's "Night Swim"</td></tr></tbody></table>While there was no massive movie over the holidays, there were a large quantity of movies that opened sporadically throughout season. With the dust seemingly settled, “Wonka” and “Migration” seem to be the two that have risen to the top. Among the rest, weekday box office totals have seen various combinations of “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” “Anyone But You,” “The Color Purple” and “The Boys in the Boat” jockeying for the spots right below. We'll see what order everything ends up in when the weekend concludes, but those will be the top movies. Despite not having huge openings, most of these are enjoying decent legs. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Opening somewhere in the mix is the lone new release, the horror film <b><i><u>Night Swim</u></i></b>. January horror is very common. More often than not, a January horror film is associated with the previously mentioned “dumping ground” phenomenon of January. A common place for a studio to just leave a horror film that they don't care about. That said, dumping ground fodder or not, January has been a consistently profitable area for horror. Some studios have actually been confident enough to release their good horror movies there, as evidenced by last January with “M3GAN” and January 2022 with the reboot/sequel “Scream,” both of which opened above $30 million and were received very well. Could “Night Swim” continue that trend? Well… no. Like the movie “Lights Out,” it's based on a short film where said director gets to come make a feature-length version of their short. The premise follows a girl in her pool at night with something watching her. This new version is that, but 90 minutes. It's a Blumhouse production with a small $15 million budget, so it doesn't need much for success, but the 27 percent Rotten Tomatoes score doesn't give much confidence and the general audience buzz does not seem to be there. A $10-15 million opening is about what's expected as opposed to being the next January breakout horror hit. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>January 12 - 14</i></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisPmQRWe8OGfU4VGlds61Qg21y1otVVVbwWEICU5T-TebwIubD53CD7QE_OvTWTxEBBuExk8M2Fjhk2-1boTl7OtbA6xxaw7hGT7BHHfBn-g14mxwUsXl4OiWmpGrHnNq4wbpPl8dc6u7j-YtPGHIbU7vC2QUwwzDDPRm0PcXpbWmQCwDw01vuCb9iIFK4/s928/mean-girls-2024-promo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="928" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisPmQRWe8OGfU4VGlds61Qg21y1otVVVbwWEICU5T-TebwIubD53CD7QE_OvTWTxEBBuExk8M2Fjhk2-1boTl7OtbA6xxaw7hGT7BHHfBn-g14mxwUsXl4OiWmpGrHnNq4wbpPl8dc6u7j-YtPGHIbU7vC2QUwwzDDPRm0PcXpbWmQCwDw01vuCb9iIFK4/s320/mean-girls-2024-promo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paramount's "Mean Girls"</td></tr></tbody></table>Continuing the recent trend of surprise musicals will be the musical adaptation of <b><i><u>Mean Girls</u></i></b> in this second weekend of January. I'm not 100 percent sure why certain studios are scared to advertise to the world that they made a musical, but that's what this is. And like “Wonka,” if you went in solely based on the trailers and knew nothing else, you might be a tad bit surprised when they start breaking out into song and dance. This version of “Mean Girls” is actually parallel to “The Color Purple.” Both original films got adapted into Broadway musicals and both new movies are not remakes of the original film, but are rather adaptations of the Broadway musical. “Means Girls” was actually initially scheduled to go straight to Paramount+, but they instead opted for a theatrical release, which looks like a good decision as this is expected to open around $30 million. For comparison, the original 2004 movie opened to $24.4 million, which adjusted for ticket price inflation would be $41.4 million. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The second new release of this weekend is the latest from director Jeymes Samuel, <b><i><u>The Book of Clarence</u></i></b>. Samuel's first directorial feature was the 2021 Netflix film “The Harder They Fall” and now he dives into a curious Biblical epic of sorts that Samuel said was modeled after Biblical epics such as “The Ten Commandments” (1956), “The Greatest Story Ever Told” (1965), “Samson and Delilah” (1949) and “Ben-Hur” (1959). Perhaps parallel in a way to “Ben-Hur,” at least in terms of having a fictional protagonist set in the backdrop of the story of Christ, Clarence is a “nobody” living in 33 A.D. Jerusalem and is captivated by the idea of bringing glory and relevance to himself by acting as a Messiah or becoming a “13th Apostle.” In the midst of his journey, he interacts with a lot of the New Testament figures such as Pontius Pilot, John the Baptist, as well as Jesus and the apostles themselves. LaKeith Stanfield plays Clarence and he's joined by quite the cast of actors. The movie debuted at the BFI London Film Festival to mostly positive reviews and from that it seems to be more comedic and entertaining rather than anything spiritual or religious. From the first 17 reviews it stands at a 94 percent score, those reviews coming from the festival release. It remains to be seen what general audiences decide to make of it and if it can manage to gain an audience. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The third wide release of the weekend is perhaps a tad bit more straightforward. At least when you're going in, you'll be well aware of exactly what you're getting yourself into. It's the new Jason Statham action film <b><i><u>The Beekeeper</u></i></b>. In this movie, Statham plays a literal Beekeeper. Although that gig might be more of a cover up to help him blend in. Turns out there's a secret organization called “The Beekeepers” that, as described by a character in the trailer, is a special program outside the chain of command. Or then as Statham himself puts it, “I protect the Hive. When the system is out of balance, I correct it.” All that being more of a plot mechanism for Statham to be angry at people, causing him to punch and shoot a whole lot of people who get in his way. Statham has certainly shown up in a lot of major franchises as one of the more popular action stars. But he also seems very happy to also show up sporadically in smaller action films like this. Although this “small” action film is directed by David Ayer, director of “Fury” and the 2016 “Suicide Squad,” so it has plenty of big names behind. But it's still not exactly projected to make much of a dent at the weekend box office. Perhaps it's the type of movie that'll show up in a Jason Statham 4-pack set in your local $5 Walmart bin in a few years from now. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The final release of the weekend is not a new release, but is rather an actual theatrical release of Pixar's <b><i><u>Soul</u></i></b>. Yes, this is the 2020 Pixar film Disney sent straight to Disney+ when they were in their phase of sending everything straight to Disney+, thinking streaming is the new thing that'll take over the movie industry. In hindsight that's seen as a huge mistake wherein Disney just kept repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot. Now that they've realized that the theatrical industry is still the way to make money, they can't get their audience back to theater as they've conditioned them to skip theaters and wait for Disney+. It's hard to get people to start spending money again when they've learned to wait and get everything for free. Anyways, in their latest attempt to make amends, they'll be releasing “Soul,” “Luca,” and “Turning Red” into theaters this year as those were the three Pixar movies that skipped theaters. Whether or not this strategy will work is yet to be seen. It doesn't seem like many will pay to see a movie in theaters that they can see for free at home. But any fans that wanted the theatrical experience for these three movies will at least have the option presented to them. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>January 19 - 21</i></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ3CgQjxSsiZbWXbbb5lvN0Znr3l2-SRS_iKyOvCcm6cvsph5bIlhusX0ZSF-c1TfDcIORFU3dmDcmHac54v2oaooAhvBKO9phqqMRmrm4mYKc6ddyzlxg59Ecm8PPeSXL_dJg-0BMzhSKwhuS_ZKEp1fppAQv__BsBzP3zgqwhaMINoVhCWjivKrxt8RM/s971/full_I.S.S.-01-Clean-16x9.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="971" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ3CgQjxSsiZbWXbbb5lvN0Znr3l2-SRS_iKyOvCcm6cvsph5bIlhusX0ZSF-c1TfDcIORFU3dmDcmHac54v2oaooAhvBKO9phqqMRmrm4mYKc6ddyzlxg59Ecm8PPeSXL_dJg-0BMzhSKwhuS_ZKEp1fppAQv__BsBzP3zgqwhaMINoVhCWjivKrxt8RM/s320/full_I.S.S.-01-Clean-16x9.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bleeker Street's "I.S.S."</td></tr></tbody></table>The third weekend of this month is probably going to be dominated mostly by holdovers. The last part of January is mostly empty in regards to new releases, but there is at least one scheduled wide release and that is a new sci-fi movie called <b><i><u>I.S.S.</u></i></b>, which is short for International Space Station. The movie is set in the “near future” and follows a group of astronauts that is a mix of Americans and Russians. They notice a war beginning down below and are given the instruction by their individual governments to take over the station by any means necessary. As consequence, battle on the station breaks as the astronauts turn on each other, leads to a sci-fi thriller. This is currently projected by Box Office Pro to earn between $2-7 million. It's had a bit of buzz, but Bleeker Street might have to give this a bit more of a push for it to really get noticed. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm reading conflicting information as to whether or not this next movie is getting a wide release or simply a limited release this weekend, but nevertheless it seems important enough to bring up Ava DuVernay's new movie <b><i><u>Origin</u></i></b>. The movie is based on the nonfiction book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” which describes racism in the United States as being an aspect of the caste system. The movie itself follows author Isabel Wilkerson, played by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, as she comes to the discovery of these ideas. By calender release, this is a 2024 movie. However, it did hit the festival circuit this past year and had an Oscar qualifying run in December, making it eligible for awards this year and might also be classified as a 2023 movie by some because of it. However, it feels like this is a movie that should be getting a lot more buzz than it currently is. Yet for some reason NEON, the distributor here, hasn't given it much of a push to either put it in the minds of Oscar voters or in the general public conscience to make people aware of its existence. And that seems like a bit of a mistake.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>January 26 - 28</i></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih9ieB0U-5A_13zFvV1Hr4vyJzeErdZN9vAyWHTVRyW_R5iF9qoui8OHq6B-ZBiC2omW8ZluPkW95KCYeh0Qdzj1ujHkfLDKfaw8al01aC9jDwxgI9NmuIhmfdZUxgsfFJR_vBJHbXn0LVW34HmTPyBR4imcipnFuU5pRWJE2PqaifcITNHGiInUEyu8IQ/s3198/7-1702491638.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="3198" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih9ieB0U-5A_13zFvV1Hr4vyJzeErdZN9vAyWHTVRyW_R5iF9qoui8OHq6B-ZBiC2omW8ZluPkW95KCYeh0Qdzj1ujHkfLDKfaw8al01aC9jDwxgI9NmuIhmfdZUxgsfFJR_vBJHbXn0LVW34HmTPyBR4imcipnFuU5pRWJE2PqaifcITNHGiInUEyu8IQ/s320/7-1702491638.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lionsgate’s "Miller's Girl"</td></tr></tbody></table>As mentioned at the beginning of this post, Oscar nominations happen on the 23rd of this month. What this means is that you should probably look for movies such as “Poor Things,” “American Fiction,” “The Zone of Interest,” “All of Us Strangers” or “Anatomy of a Fall” to finally get more of a wide release, taking advantage of Oscar nominations - depending on how those go. You might even see other movies such as “The Holdovers” come back to more theaters or even “Oppenheimer” showing back up in theaters after leaving. Those movies will be more of the story of this final weekend. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">As far as new releases? Well, let's just say studios took this week off. There's plenty on deck for February and even more in March. But currently the only new release listed as wide is a movie called <b><i><u>Miller's Girl</u></i></b>. By the looks of the trailer, it seems like the movie is about a female teenage student trying to seduce her older male teacher, with him doing his best to resist. The trailer even ends with the warning of “There are complex themes that appear in this film.” It then provides a link for resources on some of the issues. If there's a major selling point, it's that the student is played by Jenna Ortega, who has become a bit of a superstar as of late. She is, in fact, an adult at the age of 21, but has a young enough face to continue playing teenagers. The teacher, Mr. Miller, is played by Martin Freeman. The movie will premier at the Palm Springs Film Festival on January 11, so some will get an opportunity to see it early before its theatrical release.</span></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-52737403997514395802023-12-09T04:24:00.001-07:002023-12-09T04:25:43.076-07:00Movie Preview: December 2023<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4bQ0yJgFMiOZQ1C6fKK5Td-GdDwrPVg6N88ONFvO_P630vHR947tWkdztQVvrgsPBTL0-N5W6irbYrg6O9GxiaO1GBXME_56vUtazgmK6ss8IwV3dgU2QbO_svYcijjI807leYThcFsqR0LIvAAeZmbWd5B-nCQO7rPKoSfajkZltXqLT37zBQ9nfCMP/s1561/IMG_20231209_041823.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1115" data-original-width="1561" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4bQ0yJgFMiOZQ1C6fKK5Td-GdDwrPVg6N88ONFvO_P630vHR947tWkdztQVvrgsPBTL0-N5W6irbYrg6O9GxiaO1GBXME_56vUtazgmK6ss8IwV3dgU2QbO_svYcijjI807leYThcFsqR0LIvAAeZmbWd5B-nCQO7rPKoSfajkZltXqLT37zBQ9nfCMP/w400-h286/IMG_20231209_041823.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">December is already one weekend in, with the second weekend about to start. The goal with this monthly post is to always get it out before or during the first weekend of the month, or as quickly as I can thereafter. However, at the end of November my computer died and I didn’t get the new one set up until a day or two ago. So that’s why this post is delayed a bit this month.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That said, we’re in December and this has always been a bit of a backloaded month anyways, so we haven’t missed too much. So we’ll recap that first weekend and dive into what the Christmas season has in store, which is quite a bit, actually. At least in terms of quantity of releases. What movies will connect with audiences? That remains to be seen. I’m not sure I see many guaranteed box office smashes, but there’s certainly plenty that at least have decent potential. And if something doesn’t open high, no need to immediately sound the alarms. December is a unique time of year where things often open smaller and hold much better throughout the holiday season and into January as opposed to being so reliant on the opening weekend totals.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And for the sake of the market as a whole, let’s hope something manages to hit. November was a very rough month to start the holiday season with a double dose of massive Disney failures in “The Marvels” and “Wish,” with a Hunger Games prequel that opened to less than half of the previous low in the franchise.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As always, release date information for this post is courtesy of boxofficepro.com and the-numbers.com. The movies listed are the ones currently scheduled for a wide release in the United States and Canada and are always subject to change.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>December 1 - 3</i></b> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYsugFf_sjLki1pnyVhpX52b24j5CeCQL_Q0WUof3caxSMGc14YzgEIzR-GZN1rfFnKLqsYSEFWIJT6P8pvxzTAi7oRhE5skCppttkiNVIL75IA7uyv2382KxK_zPzoacg_mhOVpdEx4I4cf5wbsDDwQLiQ5NSz_pMZU8fdaiVkeAxTFZz4LsJf3wS_Yn/s1977/beyonce-renaissance-gettyimages-1503043534-64e5239dd408a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1977" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYsugFf_sjLki1pnyVhpX52b24j5CeCQL_Q0WUof3caxSMGc14YzgEIzR-GZN1rfFnKLqsYSEFWIJT6P8pvxzTAi7oRhE5skCppttkiNVIL75IA7uyv2382KxK_zPzoacg_mhOVpdEx4I4cf5wbsDDwQLiQ5NSz_pMZU8fdaiVkeAxTFZz4LsJf3wS_Yn/s320/beyonce-renaissance-gettyimages-1503043534-64e5239dd408a.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"RENAISSANCE: A Film by Beyoncé"</td></tr></tbody></table>The weekend following Thanksgiving is often a more quiet one. Studios often load up for the Thanksgiving holiday, then give themselves a bit of a cool down phase before priming up for the Christmas holiday. Typically it’s a good idea to have your biggest releases as close to the holiday as you can instead of opening right after the holiday is finished.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That said, there was a decent amount of releases that made for a somewhat busy weekend. Headlining everything was Beyoncé seeing the massive success Taylor Swift had earlier in the year and wanting to join the party with her own concert movie, <b><i><u>RENAISSANCE: A Film by Beyoncé</u></i></b>. This was announced shortly after the Taylor Swift concert movie was announced, which was presumably Beyoncé’s camp seeing those pre-sales and deciding they want in. It was either that or an interesting coincidence. Either way, this could end up as a decent new trend. Not that Taylor Swift started the trend, but her making more money in one weekend than any other attempt had in their entire runs certainly might spark new interest. Now “RENAISSANCE” was never expected to hit the heights of “The Eras Tour,” which opened to $92.8 million and so far has made $178.9 million domestically and $249.6 million worldwide, but a $21.8 million first place opening for Beyoncé is certainly nothing to scoff at. It’s actually more par for the course for this type of event. Before Taylor, the previous high was “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” in 2011, which made $73.01 million after a $29.5 million opening.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“RENAISSANCE” was initially scheduled as the only major release this weekend, but making huge headway leading up to its release, mostly due to buzz and word of mouth was Toho Studios’ <b><i><u>Godzilla Minus One</u></i></b>. It was initially planned to only open in moderate release for just a week or two, but that plan certainly changed after becoming one of the best reviewed films of the year. It wound up opening in third place with $11.4 million. Now this isn’t the American MonsterVerse with Godzilla and Kong that is four movies in, with a fifth coming next year. This is the Japanese studio that initially debuted Godzilla in 1954 and has now made 33 total Godzilla movies, with “Minus One” being No. 33. Their previous movie was “Shin Godzilla” in 2016, which only made $1.9 million total in America as it made most of its $75.6 million worldwide gross overseas. So “Minus One” is already far past that in just a few days. The movie takes Godzilla back to his origins as a monster, not a protector, and a setting of post-World War II Japan.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Those two movies were mostly it for the major headlines of the weekend. The rest of the top five was filled up by Thanksgiving holdovers. But we did have a trio of smaller releases towards the bottom of the top 10. Opening in seventh place was the Indian film <b><i><u>Animal</u></i></b>. Indian Cinema has actually done pretty well in the states this year. And the studios distributing this movies have their system down of knowing where to release the movies. Despite opening in just 700 theaters, “Animal” made $6.5 million this weekend, which ended up higher than the two movies we’ll get to in a second, despite them having double or tripe the theater count. “Animals begins as a movie about a father and son, but apparently goes quite a few directions in its 204 minutes of runtime, including it turning into some sort of action/war epic at some point.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Below that at No. 8 is the Angel Studios release of <b><i><u>The Shift</u></i></b>. The movie stars Neal McDonough and is about a man trying to escape a dystopian world in order to return to his wife. In regards to Angel Studios, they are mostly known for the TV series “The Chosen” about the life of Christ, but found massive success earlier this year with “Sound of Freedom.” “The Shift” has them experimenting a bit more with genre, with this labeled as a sci-fi film, and instead of being another massive hit ends up more along the lines of their previous release, “After Death,” a documentary that opened in 2,645 theaters with $5.05 million. “The Shift” opened in a similar 2,450 theaters with $4.3 million.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rounding out this trio of smaller releases was <b><i><u>Silent Night</u></i></b>, opening in ninth place with just $3.01 million, albeit in a slightly lower 1,870 theaters. As you can probably tell by the title, this is a Christmas themed movie, but specifically its a Christmas action movie from Lionsgate, the studio who released “John Wick,” which they will probably remind people in every action movie they release for the foreseeable future. Joel Kinnaman is the lead and he’s out to get revenge against a ruthless gang on Christmas Eve. Unlike “John Wick,” this movie was met with mediocre reviews at best and was unable to catch on with general audiences.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">December 8 - 10</span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9dfIH0hZQa2ci9aDZ5BrTK6zOCitF9JYpZiZQdpsKXKaf0S5IxLGr2HFgnGt23F22TKWYM6VE6gCKzGD_ZH7V5I6IX9CsgnzL4yZaa_rBV5duWlGxVYObRBXkZ38pFhz0Ur1c7yI-sh7IkPMpdPMChVsxLDrIuLDbOHNaGKmwshPSmGH8Yuxx-uN9SaHT/s1087/boy-heron.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1087" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9dfIH0hZQa2ci9aDZ5BrTK6zOCitF9JYpZiZQdpsKXKaf0S5IxLGr2HFgnGt23F22TKWYM6VE6gCKzGD_ZH7V5I6IX9CsgnzL4yZaa_rBV5duWlGxVYObRBXkZ38pFhz0Ur1c7yI-sh7IkPMpdPMChVsxLDrIuLDbOHNaGKmwshPSmGH8Yuxx-uN9SaHT/s320/boy-heron.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GKIDS' "The Boy and the Heron"</td></tr></tbody></table>Moving forward to the current weekend that we’re in, there’s only one major release this weekend. But like the first weekend, there’s a couple of moderate releases and a massive limited release title. But the one major release is Studio Ghibli’s <b><i><u>The Boy and the Heron</u></i></b>. For the last several years this movie has been labeled as the final movie from acclaimed anime filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. Fans certainly hope Miyazaki finds the pool of eternal life and lives forever, but in his perspective he feels that maybe he might not have quite as many years left on Earth, so he wanted to come back and make one final film as a tribute to his posterity after previously making his other final film, the 2013 movie “The Wind Rises.” Turns out there’s buzz, partially from Studio Ghibli themselves, that Miyazaki might actually have a few more final films after this one, which I’m sure no one is complaining about. However, it’s still a major event in that it’s been 10 years since his last movie. The movie was a massive success in Japan earlier this year and is looking to dethrone Beyoncé for the top spot in America this weekend with a projected $10-15 million after coming out on top Thursday night with $2.4 million.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In terms of theater count this weekend, the next highest release is <b><i><u>Waitress: The Musical</u></i></b>, which opened Thursday night in 1,214 theaters. It might pick up more heading into the weekend proper and come somewhat close to the 2,200 theaters of “The Boy and the Heron.” But regardless, this is an event wherein Fathom Events has paired with distributor Bleeker Street to release this recording of the Broadway musical “Waitress.” The musical was based on the 2007 movie of the same name, with music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles and the book by Jessie Nelson, and began its run on Broadway in 2016 after first premiering in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2015. The musical played on Broadway until 2020 and has done a few other tours since. This particular recording of the musical that’s being released was recorded 2021 during its limited run at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York in an attempt to slowly reopen Broadway following the COVID shutdown.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Releasing in about 640 theaters is the Book of Mormon war epic <b><i><u>The Oath</u></i></b> from LDS filmmaker Darin Scott, formerly known as Darin Southam, a somewhat popular LDS actor who most notably played the lead in the movie “Ephraim’s Rescue.” For the last 13 years, Darin has had a long-term goal of writing and directing the first major Book of Mormon war epic. And in 2023 his dream is finally coming true after a very long journey. This will probably perform best in Utah and Idaho, but as noted they did manage to get it into over 600 theaters nationwide. After seeing the success of “Sound of Freedom,” Darin has high hopes that his movie will be the next major phenomenon. Whether or not that actually happens feels unlikely, but at least one can respect his perseverance and optimism for this project.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That’s it for the wide releases, but finally hitting limited release this weekend is the potential best-picture front-runner <b><i><u>Poor Things</u></i></b>. This will start in just 9 theaters this weekend and slowly expand outwards. The goal here is probably not necessarily be a holiday hit, but make itself known as the awards season progresses. The movie is the latest from director Yorgos Lanthimos, who is known for his odd, off-kilter movies like “The Lobster,” “Dogtooth,” “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” and “The Favourite,” the latter of which received 10 Oscar nominations, definitely putting Yorgos in the awards spotlight. His next movie has been highly anticipated and has been met with near universal praise since its premier at the Venice Film Festival in September and is predicted to compete with the likes of “Oppenheimer,” “The Holdovers” and “Barbie” for the best picture prize. Whether or not this connects with general audiences is a different story. Yorgos is very much an acquired taste as a director and this is essentially his version of a Frankenstein-like story with scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter, played by Willem Dafoe, bringing a young woman named Bella Baxter, played by Emma Stone, back to life, where she then explores all sorts of things regarding this thing called life.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">December 15 - 17</span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyjR7cVCNK8dhFXk0aPDBIRGVWrzJlHh8Ci72mO5DJKxyinrpEYn9retBG2RhclCPrW3KL7H0JQ69ZioYtz4cZfKNfzD38h7nQncQTJ8mcgoOz6IGWR0xmhjdJXAfdwc0jETshUCa_TtF8Lrh7peYb12zWnv6vZ-JwGvbOHHAcATnuutI9mu4R2zJDk-pZ/s854/MV5BMDRlOWE4OGEtMmQwOS00NGJjLWI4NDUtZjQ2ZDU3M2IxYzIzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXZ3ZXNsZXk@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="854" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyjR7cVCNK8dhFXk0aPDBIRGVWrzJlHh8Ci72mO5DJKxyinrpEYn9retBG2RhclCPrW3KL7H0JQ69ZioYtz4cZfKNfzD38h7nQncQTJ8mcgoOz6IGWR0xmhjdJXAfdwc0jETshUCa_TtF8Lrh7peYb12zWnv6vZ-JwGvbOHHAcATnuutI9mu4R2zJDk-pZ/s320/MV5BMDRlOWE4OGEtMmQwOS00NGJjLWI4NDUtZjQ2ZDU3M2IxYzIzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXZ3ZXNsZXk@._V1_.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warner Bros.' "Wonka"</td></tr></tbody></table>While the first two weekends obviously brought a high number of movies into the market, at least in regards to a lot of those moderate to small releases, the third weekend of December is where the holiday fun begins. There’s only one wide release, but it’s a family film with potential to win the month and that’s <b><i><u>Wonka</u></i></b>. This is the third major theatrical film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s popular novel that probably doesn’t need much of an introduction. The book was released in 1964 and has had a very long life since then, first being adapted in 1971 with a bit of an inverted title, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” with Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. Then in 2005, Tim Burton took has stab at it, reverting the title back to “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” while casting Johnny Depp in the lead. And now Timothée Chalamet gets his turn as the character in “Wonka,” which focuses on a young Willy Wonka before he opened his famous chocolate factory. The movie is directed by Paul King, director of the two live-action Paddington movies, and based on early reaction is looking to be quite the crowd pleaser over the holidays. What hasn’t been pushed to heavily is that this is a musical. When that word comes out, the buzz could potentially higher.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Given that I mentioned the release of “Poor Things,” I feel the need to briefly mention a couple of other awards contenders hitting limited release this weekend. The first of that is the winner of the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and that is <b><i><u>American Fiction</u></i></b>, a movie starring Jeffrey Wright as a novelist who is upset at the establishment for consistently profiting off of “Black” entertainment. So to prove a point, he creates an anonymous pen name to write his own “Black” novel. In regards to Oscar correlation, the winner of the People’s Choice Award at TIFF has a pretty strong correlation with best picture nominations. The last 11 winners were all nominated for best picture. Going back to 2008, five of them have won best picture. This year it would appear “American Fiction” has too much competition to actually win, but it would appear its chances for a nomination is at the very least is pretty strong.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While perhaps not on quite as strong ground as “American Fiction,” nevertheless the other notable limited release this weekend is <b><i><u>Zone of Interest</u></i></b>. This movie has also hit just about every major festival this season and has built quite a bit of buzz, but the subject matter has also lent it to receive some push back. The movie is about Rudolf Höss, a German officer during Nazi Germany, showing him and his wife trying to build a good life for him and his family. While the premise is certainly not showing him as a justified protagonist, perhaps not everyone will be on board for a movie about Nazi Germany. But still, it will at least be in the conversation this season. The movie is directed by Jonathan Glazer, who most recently directed the 2013 movie “Under the Skin,” so he’s not exactly one who directs movies with easy or comfortable subject matter.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">December 22</span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBd80LVjE4N-vbJ49LApz9DZ7b9IStO7oPtg70YCPopwrI94APBoLhPSSLF9vRxjAM_kLkHAQ_rDFMD1_bWlewaSIMMVjvbSHoCBjhe9i-hWah0dxS5-0GSoZcgZtaHuGoEev6xlwX93s9xsOm8SL76IWsCwOtZ5k9lcQJdqfA7h7EJFcstou8GrrIjxWU/s815/jason-momoa-reveals-first-look-of-aquamans-new-suit-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="815" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBd80LVjE4N-vbJ49LApz9DZ7b9IStO7oPtg70YCPopwrI94APBoLhPSSLF9vRxjAM_kLkHAQ_rDFMD1_bWlewaSIMMVjvbSHoCBjhe9i-hWah0dxS5-0GSoZcgZtaHuGoEev6xlwX93s9xsOm8SL76IWsCwOtZ5k9lcQJdqfA7h7EJFcstou8GrrIjxWU/s320/jason-momoa-reveals-first-look-of-aquamans-new-suit-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warner Bros.' "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom"</td></tr></tbody></table>There are, count it… EIGHT movies hitting wide release over the Christmas weekend. With Christmas falling on a Monday this year, five of them are taking a more traditional route of releasing on the Friday before Christmas, while the other three are releasing right on Christmas Day, so the Monday after the weekend. Because of that, instead of my traditional format of separating by weekend, I will separate these movies by their release day, either on the 22nd or the 25th.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Leading things off is the final movie in the “SnyderVerse” continuity of DC movies, <b><i><u>Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom</u></i></b>. There’s perhaps a lot of people, both inside the studio and as DC fans, that are very happy to move on from this phase of the DC Universe. James Gunn has taken over at DC and will begin a new chapter at DC with his Summer 2025 release of “Superman: Legacy.” What the correct move was in hindsight for Warner Bros. and DC can be debated, but it certainly feels like announcing at the end of 2022 that the Universe will be rebooted, then continuing to release four “lame duck” DC movies in 2023 was not timed the best as the previous three - “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” “The Flash,” and “Blue Beetle” - all failed pretty miserably. Will James Wan’s Aquaman sequel buck that trend and perform well or will it be the latest to fail? There’s not a lot of confidence for it at the moment, but nevertheless an opening weekend performance will not be the thing to judge it by, especially with Christmas Eve on Sunday, a day where people don’t usually go to theaters. The first Aquaman only opened to $67.9 million in this same December slot, but legged it out to $335.1 million domestically and $1.1 billion worldwide, making it the only movie in the DCEU (“SyderVerse”) to cross $1 billion and the second highest domestic gross behind “Wonder Woman” at $412.6 million. So if there’s any DC movie right now that still has potential to do will, it’s this one.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another movie to definitely not count out is the latest animation movie from Illumination, <b><i><u>Migration</u></i></b>. Ever since breaking onto the scene with “Despicable Me” in 2010, Illumination has been on fire, with pretty much zero misfires on their resumé. In fact, this year they’re at their absolute peak as they’re fresh of the release of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which made a staggering $1.363 billion worldwide. Their now 13 animated features have averaged $286 million at the domestic box office and $725 million worldwide. “Migration” is them taking a bit of a risk. It’s an original movie, not based on a previous property or a sequel of a previous film. As such, its obviously not expected to do as well. It’s opening 3-day weekend is currently projected in the $15-30 million range. But again, that means less in the holiday season. In 2016, Illumination opened “Sing” around Christmas to $35.3 million and that wound up with $270.8 million. Just Christmas year DreamWorks opened “Puss & Boots: The Last Wish” to just $12.4 million and that held on to eventually make $185.5 million. So if this little movie about a family of ducks catches on, it has the potential to hang around.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyone looking for a drama film around Christmas has the option of seeing <b><i><u>The Iron Claw</u></i></b>, a movie about the Von Erich family, a family dynasty of professional wrestlers. Fritz Von Erich, born Jack Adkisson, was the father of six sons, one of whom died at the age of six and the other five having been professional wrestlers, following in the footsteps of their father. The movie primarily focuses on three of the sons instead of all five and is headlined by Zac Efron as Kevin Von Erich. The brief Wikipedia summary of the plot mentions that the popularized the iron claw wrestling hold, hence the name of the movie, but also mentioned that in addition to fighting their battles in the ring, they had a long string of personal tragedies outside of it. And if you click on the ensuing link to learn about their family, boy did they have quite the long list of personal tragedies, which I’m guessing the movie is going to dive into. Initial reviews on this one are very positive and this could be the type of movie that manages to ride the line of being successful with general audiences while also possibly getting a decent amount of awards attention.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rounding out the list of varying genres this Christmas, the next genre on the list is romance, with <b><i><u>Anyone But You</u></i></b>, released by Sony and starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell as our lead couple. The premise sees the couple having a great first date, but then finding their relationship turning ice cold until they are unexpectedly reunited at a wedding in Australia where they decide to “pretend” to be a couple. This certainly has the star power to work, and is directed by Will Gluck, director of “Easy A,” “Friends with Benefits,” and “Peter Rabbit.” But despite that, tracking has this barely on the radar, so perhaps awareness isn’t super high. Or maybe it’s the wrong holiday they’re releasing this on.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The final movie for this initial half of the Christmas weekend is the Indian film <b><i><u>Salaar: Part 1 Ceasefire</u></i></b>. As mentioned at the top of this post, Indian Cinema has done quite well. We quite frequently see Indian films come seemingly out of nowhere, releasing in a moderate number of theaters, but doing very well on a per theater average. So it’s hard to count this one out. This one appears to be an action film where the leader of one gang tries to keep a promise made to his dying friend by taking on the other criminal gangs.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">December 25</span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLAHlyycQImPpIY-wydV4F4AB0j3K8X9lnK8wsxCLCdVz2O-Cga8YZreII5hmE88k4k2TKEsG1S9DXfxrLS2Z-1m6kuU38YF-m15WOtLRXpZ6iJgBDDq5YPrEzSicbKUE6WXqaohQ4lKs5q8gYjCplTGhzGowofBmzFl4n6CEshc2CBsukQsouQqb5Gmty/s1375/MV5BOTkxZmUyMzQtNDMzNy00ZmFhLWIwNDUtMTliYjU3NGU0ZTY1XkEyXkFqcGdeQWpnYW1i._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1375" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLAHlyycQImPpIY-wydV4F4AB0j3K8X9lnK8wsxCLCdVz2O-Cga8YZreII5hmE88k4k2TKEsG1S9DXfxrLS2Z-1m6kuU38YF-m15WOtLRXpZ6iJgBDDq5YPrEzSicbKUE6WXqaohQ4lKs5q8gYjCplTGhzGowofBmzFl4n6CEshc2CBsukQsouQqb5Gmty/s320/MV5BOTkxZmUyMzQtNDMzNy00ZmFhLWIwNDUtMTliYjU3NGU0ZTY1XkEyXkFqcGdeQWpnYW1i._V1_.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warner Bros.' "The Color Purple"</td></tr></tbody></table>Fast forwarding just three days to Christmas Day on Monday, there are the three additional releases. The major one from this trio is <b><i><u>The Color Purple</u></i></b>. The origins of this movie date back to 1985 with the original movie “The Color Purple,” directed by Steven Spielberg, a movie about a Southern black woman struggling to find her identity after suffering abuse from her father and others over several decades. The movie was nominated for 11 Oscars. It took home none of those. But double digit nominations is still an impressive feat. While it would be accurate to describe this 2023 version as a remake, a more accurate description would be to note that the movie was adapted into a Broadway Musical in 2005. This current movie is a movie adaptation of the musical. As such, if the movie catches on, musicals have a very positive history around the Christmas box office. Early reactions suggest that this could definitely be a big crowd-pleaser. And if it’s even luckier, how close can it come to matching the nomination total of the original at the Oscars?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not a competition vs. Ford this time around, but next up on Christmas will see NEON get <b><i><u>Ferrari</u></i></b> ready to ride. This comes from director Michael Mann, who directed a trio of 90s hits in “The Last of the Mohicans,” “Heat,” and “The Insider.” He had a fairly decent streak in the early 2000s as well, but has only done one movie since 2009 and that was 2015’s “Blackhat.” So he is back in business and the story he has to tell takes us back to 1957 where Enzo Ferrari, played by Adam Driver, decides to enter the 1,000 mile race across Italy called the Mille Miglia, this after a string of losses puts some of his personal life and business at risk. This also could be a potential awards player, but the early reaction has been a tad bit more mixed than would be necessary for it to break through like “Ford v. Ferrari” did a few years back. But it will at least try to attempt to attract a similar crowd as that one.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The final movie of the long Christmas weekend sees George Clooney back in the director’s chair with <b><i><u>The Boys in the Boat</u></i></b>. The title of this movie is a fairly appropriate description. It’s about some boys in a boat, specifically taking us back to the 1930s to tell the story of University of Washington’s rowing team that went from their beginnings in the Depression Era to competing at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. This movie has not yet screened to any critics or awards pundits at the time of me posting this and doesn’t seem to be pushing heavily for awards, but along with “Ferrari,” it does give people a second option for a sports movie over the Christmas. Neither are tracking super high at the moment, so maybe directly competing for the same audience might not have been the best idea. And with so many total options, it might be hard for everything to do well in competition, but if reviews turn positive, you never know what could stick around for a bit.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">December 29 - 31</span></i></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">There is a final weekend of December. But there are no new wide releases. Whatever movies surface to the top of the box office during a busy Christmas will have plenty of breathing room before something new comes to join the market. </span></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-69182186962027192762023-11-03T17:40:00.000-06:002023-11-03T17:40:06.168-06:00Movie Preview - November 2023<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMAZMUhgpoVEQnXKjcF1JAWolf1KE8N0-z6VP9TRIhQsYPtXOrNEBMxUrbJXmkt1KonBzosyudcrzrRPvavvPjG78vcyeF9Z-xRkH8_aDXHRC9LjAy6f3uIIsi3ku3GFwS7vbYN51rsRLVhhR6rM_nZQJeLiSI9xab3tjirwGOxeYA5Dx5BDsGXMecUi8T/s1552/IMG_20231103_173309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1119" data-original-width="1552" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMAZMUhgpoVEQnXKjcF1JAWolf1KE8N0-z6VP9TRIhQsYPtXOrNEBMxUrbJXmkt1KonBzosyudcrzrRPvavvPjG78vcyeF9Z-xRkH8_aDXHRC9LjAy6f3uIIsi3ku3GFwS7vbYN51rsRLVhhR6rM_nZQJeLiSI9xab3tjirwGOxeYA5Dx5BDsGXMecUi8T/w400-h289/IMG_20231103_173309.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Outside a duo of very notable hits, it was a fairly quiet
October at the box office. After a pretty huge summer, things have taken a huge
dip in the fall and are working their way back up. At a domestic total of
$553.9 million, it’s up a bit from September ($472.8 million), as well as last
October ($469.1 million), but not as high as October 2021 ($623.3 million). As
expected, Taylor Swift led the way with her Eras Tour concert movie. Although
it didn’t open as astronomically high as some were expecting, it still became the
highest grossing concert movie in just three days with a $92.8 million opening
weekend. Said opening was the second highest opening all time in October,
behind only 2019’s “Joker” at $96.2 million.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And speaking of that list, following two Venom movies at
third and fourth (“Venom: Let There be Carnage” with $90.0 million and “Venom”
with $80.3 million), “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is now fifth on that all-time
October openings list with $80.0 million. So having two all-time October
openings in one month is very impressive. But yeah, everything else just
cleared the way for these two movies, which makes the overall total a tad bit
low despite that.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A dip like this is pretty normal, though, for this time of
the year - down over half from the billion dollar summer months. November,
though? It’s the holidays and that’s where things start going back up. One additional
variable here that has definitely had an effect on the box office is the
ongoing actor’s strike. While everyone hopes it’s resolved soon, with a deal
that the actors are happy with, not having actors available to work not only
effects a lot of movies next year that have delayed due to them unable to
finish filming, but some studios have elected to push other finished movies
back a bit so that they can have their cast available to help promote their
movie. And that has impacted November in a very large Dune-sized way that we’ll
get into more in the first weekend section, but there’s still plenty of other titles
hitting theaters, especially as we get closer to Thanksgiving, so let’s jump in
and see what November has to offer!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As always, release date information for this post is
courtesy <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of boxofficepro.com and
the-numbers.com. The movies listed are the ones currently scheduled for a wide release
in the United States and Canada and are always subject to change.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">November 3 – 5</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuASaMslqSLNIOmqFO7UoVBi3-wVSUpfAN32nV4cQo6vBk4YqwtA6IdI9Z5jxD1IMqsCCqWP5NB3CoDRjLS0tPAm7A-w7RF2vxODKkGSuOLcPx4dG0534cy0myv6VhlJXXoX2orL7zOm-KRlEgFR-1SK66N90F5Rd0jG6cprLpgRBEuJKXYrPCUmthBaDU/s972/PRISCILLA-Jacob-Elordi-and-Cailee-Spaeny-Credits-Philippe-Le-Sourd-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="729" data-original-width="972" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuASaMslqSLNIOmqFO7UoVBi3-wVSUpfAN32nV4cQo6vBk4YqwtA6IdI9Z5jxD1IMqsCCqWP5NB3CoDRjLS0tPAm7A-w7RF2vxODKkGSuOLcPx4dG0534cy0myv6VhlJXXoX2orL7zOm-KRlEgFR-1SK66N90F5Rd0jG6cprLpgRBEuJKXYrPCUmthBaDU/s320/PRISCILLA-Jacob-Elordi-and-Cailee-Spaeny-Credits-Philippe-Le-Sourd-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A24’s "Priscilla"</td></tr></tbody></table>As referenced in the intro to this post, this initial
weekend has a very Dune-sized hole in it. The previous “Dune” wasn’t actually a
massive box office hit. It had a domestic opening of $41.0 million and finished
with $108.3 million. The worldwide total wound up being $391.8 million, so it’s
not like the movie was a failure on its $165 million budget, but for a massive
sci-fi epic based on a very popular novel, Warner Bros. was probably expecting
a tad bit more? The reaction was very positive and the movie wound up with 10
Oscar nominations, winning six of them. So “Dune: Part Two” is expected to be
much bigger, and given that Warner Bros. kinda needs it to be much bigger to
justify continuing the franchise by adapting “Dune Messiah,” it kinda makes
sense for them to wait until the likes of Zendaya and and Timothee Chalamet are
available to help promote the film. So the movie got pushed to March.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the meantime, it would’ve made sense for something to
move up into this spot to kick off the holiday season. At the very least, “The
Marvels” moving up a week to give it extra time before the Thanksgiving rush
would’ve made a lot of sense. But that didn’t happen. Instead, “Five Nights at
Freddy’s” is poised for a second box office win, even though it is expected to
have a massive fall from its $80 million opening. Granted, most horror films
tank hard in their second weekend, but this one seemed to be especially boosted
by fans of the franchise, which usually is an indication of heavy frontloaded.
But still, a second weekend in the $20-30 million range is an easy No. 1 hold
when there’s no competition.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The highest profile new release of the available options is
the nationwide expansion of the movie <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Priscilla</u></i></b>. We’re on a bit of
an Elvis Presley kick in Hollywood right now, especially after the musical
biopic “Elvis” was a massive success. “Priscilla” tells the story from the
vantage point of… Priscilla Presley, Elvis’ ex-wife, who serves as an executive
producer on the film. The movie is directed by Sofia Coppola, daughter of
Francis Ford Coppola, director of the first two Godfather films. Sofia over the
years has made a name for herself in the film industry instead of just being
the daughter of one of the most famous film directors as in 2003 she was a
triple nominee at the Oscars for writing, directing, and best picture for her
movie “Lost in Translation,” winning her Oscar for best original screenplay. “Priscilla”
is thought to be a potential Oscar player and so far has decent response. It’s
done very well in limited release and has an 86 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and
played well at the festival circuit. Whether or not that translates to
mainstream success is a different story. “Dumb Money” had similar success in
September, but only opened to $2.4 million in its nationwide expansion. “Priscilla”
will be opening in 1,450 theaters and is expected to earn $5-8 million.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are two other moderate releases vying for adult
audience’s attention. In 1,492 theaters, Bleeker Street will be playing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>What
Happens Later</u></i></b>, which sees the return of Meg Ryan to a new romantic
comedy. She plays a girl who ends up snowed-in at an airport overnight with one
of her ex-lovers, played by David Duchovny. Meg Ryan is, of course, most known
for other rom-coms such as “When Harry Met Sally…,” “You’ve Got Mail” and “Sleepless
in Seattle,” so this return could easily be a nostalgic play for those who are
fans of her previous work. Not only does she star in the movie, but she’s also
directing this one, which is only her second time directing a feature-length
movie after directed the 2015 movie “Ithaca.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The other moderate release will be Roadside Attractions
releasing the movie <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Marsh King’s Daughter</u></i></b> in 1,055 theaters. Perhaps
this is not from as notable of a filmmaker as Sofia Coppola or Meg Ryan, but
this is from Neil Burger, director of “Limitless,” “Divergent” and “Voyagers.” The
actual draw might be the cast of Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn, or perhaps
someone who is in the mood for a crime drama instead of a romantic comedy or
historical biopic as this is about a woman, played by Daisy Ridley, who is out
seeking for revenge against the man who kidnapped her mother. Neither “What Happens
Later” or “The Marsh King’s Daughter” is expected to debut in the top five, but
both will be fighting for a spot in the top 10.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">November 10 – 12</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXGXQdoCtWhRhnhQ8RyKtt99sn14x1p7jmHCAT-SL_bts0H31vBnM3tM8XwXoZyh1SwkeMrtn6b7pgLqRAjHdq5Ky5uWdFxFm_2Nz3PJXevdf_hNT0n1CVKRn0VYH7xqV9bHNuIygGkCaquaJ4GL2Mx7ulgC7kvJUwZusMkpn9nMX5Fy0C8hAhl7udGSf/s1344/The-Marvels-Trailer-brie-larson-072123-84ffd90cffea455cb01a2c24a1c2239d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1344" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXGXQdoCtWhRhnhQ8RyKtt99sn14x1p7jmHCAT-SL_bts0H31vBnM3tM8XwXoZyh1SwkeMrtn6b7pgLqRAjHdq5Ky5uWdFxFm_2Nz3PJXevdf_hNT0n1CVKRn0VYH7xqV9bHNuIygGkCaquaJ4GL2Mx7ulgC7kvJUwZusMkpn9nMX5Fy0C8hAhl7udGSf/s320/The-Marvels-Trailer-brie-larson-072123-84ffd90cffea455cb01a2c24a1c2239d.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marvel's "The Marvels"</td></tr></tbody></table>After a quiet initial weekend, at least for most, the second
weekend of November is where things will start to kick into gear as Marvel
Studios will be releasing the 33rd movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Nia
DaCosta’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Marvels</u></i></b>, this being the sequel to the massive 2019
hit, “Captain Marvel.” This is not just the next solo adventure of Captain
Marvel, though, as this sees Marvel do what they enjoy doing the most, a
team-up film to fight a big baddie. Roped into this adventure are a couple of
characters from the Disney+ shows, Monica Rambeau from “WandaVision” and Kamala
Khan from “Ms. Marvel,” played by Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani, respectively.
And, of course, it wouldn’t be a Marvel movie with another appearance from
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Our villain here is a character named Dar-Benn,
played by Zawe Ashton, and she has the powers of Carol, Monica, and Kamala all
entangled, hence the forced team-up to stop her. This movie is not from the
directors of the initial “Captain Marvel,” but sees Nia DaCosta take over, she
most notably being the director of the 2021 “Candyman” reboot, which was a
pretty decent success.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The biggest question in regards to “The Marvels” is how well
is this actually going to do. And while many are championing the idea that
Marvel is dead and that no one cares, especially in regards to a Captain Marvel
sequel that no one wants, it’s worth reminding people that, in the midst of a
heavy internet campaign to tank the first movie, the movie opened to $153.4
million and finished with $426.8 million domestically and $1.129 billion
worldwide. That said, it’s also worth noting that “Avengers: Endgame” came out
a month later and provided a massive boost to the movie. People were wanting to
make sure they were caught up before seeing “Endgame.” Yes, things have changed
a lot since 2019 for Marvel, and Captain Marvel isn’t necessarily the most
popular character. The team-up idea might bounce off many who skipped “Ms.
Marvel,” which was one of the lowest viewed Disney+ Marvel series. So yes,
there’s a lot going against this movie, especially with no Avengers movie next
month. But to those who claim that the MCU is dead, the most recent MCU release
was “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and that did very well. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, believe it or not, we’re on a streak of
six straight MCU releases to open above $100 million. So is the MCU really dead?
I say no, even if it is more vulnerable than in the past.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All that said, the expectation is on the lower end of MCU
releases, perhaps in the $50-75 million range. The lowest opening is still “The
Incredible Hulk” with $55.4 million. While a handful of other early MCU films
also fell in that range, maybe a more recent comparison might be “The Eternals”
at $71.3 million, “Shang-Chi” at $75.4 million, or “Black Widow” at $80.4 million.
Granted, those still aren’t perfect comparisons as that was a part of the COVID
recovery phase, but nevertheless that’s still about the expectation here.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There is competition for “The Marvels.” Well… kinda. Opening
in what’s expected to be about 1,800 theaters (“The Marvels” will be in around
4,000) is Sony getting a head start on the Christmas season with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Journey
to Bethlehem</u></i></b>. Yes, this is a retelling of the classic Christmas
story, the birth of Jesus. That’s easy to discern from the title. The spin here
is that this is a musical version of that, described as weaving classic
Christmas melodies with humor, faith, and new pop songs. The movie is directed
by Adam Anders, a first time director, and written by him and Peter
Barsocchini. Anders has been a writer and producer on a variety of projects,
but has mainly worked in the musical department, while Barscocchini is most notable
for being the writer for “High School Musical” and its sequels, which, yes, is
one of the musical departments that Anders helped with. So a musical version of
the story of Jesus from the people who worked on High School Musical? That’s
certainly a curious combination.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The other notable release this weekend is the expansion of
Alexander Payne’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Holdovers</u></i></b>. Similar to the aforementioned “Priscilla”
and “Dumb Money,” this was another festival movie that just had its platform
debut in New York and Los Angeles at the end of October. While those two had a
decent response from festivals and critics that might not translate into awards
play and go somewhat unnoticed by mainstream audiences, “The Holdovers” might
be a very different story. It had an excellent response from festivals and has
a 96 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, and is currently seen as an awards
frontrunner. And it has a premise that could actually play very well with
mainstream audiences, especially around the Christmas season. Paul Giamatti
plays a grumpy, older instructor at a New England prep school who has to remain
on Campus during Christmas break with people who have nowhere to go, including
a troublemaker played by newcomer Dominic Sessa and the school’s head nurse,
played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who has recently lost a son in Vietnam. Maybe
this won’t have a massive opening in its expansion this weekend, but it should
be a decent word of mouth hit that plays well over the whole holiday season.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">November 17 – 19</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVXjI1F7_hOjfl5sdv8klaXHN8ZPD8UaEwlhgg3ts0tsoOOcOoEcZfYqaVR2DmIafiSr8BrFiz5t62S6ZF_Vg_vkvfAzqod0JvbVKx2bmIutI3cEX9kLOeghVECgiOwYybYlKMg85nDAeGsESigM-SsSPDXMEOz3Q5Q5bkNOv_Mk1chnUQyI1CNKS6QR01/s1333/The-Hunger-Games-Trailer-03-042723-fa971ad490ce47dab9d76e3815afa9dc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVXjI1F7_hOjfl5sdv8klaXHN8ZPD8UaEwlhgg3ts0tsoOOcOoEcZfYqaVR2DmIafiSr8BrFiz5t62S6ZF_Vg_vkvfAzqod0JvbVKx2bmIutI3cEX9kLOeghVECgiOwYybYlKMg85nDAeGsESigM-SsSPDXMEOz3Q5Q5bkNOv_Mk1chnUQyI1CNKS6QR01/s320/The-Hunger-Games-Trailer-03-042723-fa971ad490ce47dab9d76e3815afa9dc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lionsgate’s "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes"</td></tr></tbody></table>A week after “The Marvels” hits theaters sees a very busy
pre-Thanksgiving with quite the allotment of movies hoping to get holiday
attention. Leading the way will be what might feel like a trip to about a
decade ago with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes</u></i></b>.
While the first Hunger Games movie was a March release in 2012, the other three
that followed were on this exact weekend in consecutive years, the weekend
before Thanksgiving, a slot that other YA movie adaptations such as Harry
Potter and Twilight also had success in. All four Hunger Games movies opened
north of $100 million, making it easily Lionsgate’s most lucrative franchise.
Thus it makes sense that when Suzanne Collins decided to write another book,
released in 2020, Lionsgate immediately started production on making that a
movie. This is a prequel that takes us back to the 10th Hunger Games, following
Coriolanus Snow as the main protagonist, who 64 years later becomes the main
antagonist of President Snow in the main trilogy of books.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The biggest question on this one is do people want to go
back into the world of the Hunger Games? While yes, all four previous movies
opened above $100 million, the third and fourth movie had diminishing returns
compared to the first and second. And looking at the even bigger picture, this
genre of a YA Dystopian movies adapted from books is one that kinda died. Many
tried to follow Hunger Games. Most failed. And even initial popular movies like
Divergent failed so hard that they couldn’t even justify finishing the series.
So if interest in the genre as a whole died off, are people going to care to
come back? Perhaps a recent comparison is the Fantastic Beasts spin-off of the
Harry Potter franchise. While that spin-off series started off decently enough,
the most recent one last year opened to $42.2 million, finishing with $95.9
million domestically, a final domestic total that is lower than many of the
previous opening weekends in the franchise. If the expected $35-50 million that
Box Office Pro is currently projecting pans out for “Songbirds & Snakes,”
this might be the final swan song of the franchise. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Onto the other movies of the weekend, though, DreamWorks
Animation is putting their name back in the hat with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Trolls Band Together</u></i></b>,
the third movie in the popular Trolls franchise. It also marks the franchise’s
return to theaters after “Trolls World Tour” got COVIDed out of theaters and
decided to go straight to PVOD. Although official numbers weren’t available,
Universal at the time boasted that the movie played excellent on PVOD. On top
of that, the initial movie remains super popular, so it makes sense for
DreamWorks to continue the franchise. Speaking of DreamWorks, they just
recently suffered their most abysmal release with “Rudy Gillman, Teenage Kraken”
being completely dead on arrival this summer, opening to $5.5 million and
finishing with $15.7 million. But their release right before that was a massive
success. “Puss and Boots: The Last Wish” only opened to $12.4 million, but
legged all the way out to $185.5 million. If “Trolls Band Together” can put
together a weekend of $20-30 million, then hold well throughout Thanksgiving
and Christmas, that’ll be a win for DreamWorks. It does have some Disney competition
literally five days after its release, but we’ll get to that in a second. Anna
Kendrick and Justin Timberlake return for this sequel. And speaking of
Timberlake, his band *NSYNC also reunited for the first time in 20 years to
write a song for this movie, titled “Better Place.” That’s certainly notable.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This weekend provides something for pretty much everyone as
Eli Roth has a treat for horror fans with his new slasher flick themed for the
holiday and titled simply <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Thanksgiving</u></i></b>. While on the
surface this may seem like a run of the mill slasher flick, and while viewing
the movie that might the end result, this nevertheless has a more interesting
backstory on how it came to be. In 2007 there was a movie called “Grindhouse,”
a movie presented as a double feature of Robert Rodriguez’s “Planet Terror” and
Quentin Tarantino’s “Death Proof.” As a part of the experience, there were a
handful of fictional movie trailers for fake films. One of those fake movies
was a slasher film called “Thanksgiving,” directed by Eli Roth, who directed
the fake trailer. Fast forward 16 years and now we have an actual movie based
on the fake movie trailer. “Grindhouse” fans have been hoping for a long time
that this would become an actual reality. And now they have their wish. Eli
Roth’s shtick is usually very bloody, graphic horror films that land in the “torture
porn” or “splatter fest” subgenre of horror, so this is definitely not going to
be for the faint of heart, but rather a fun, niche surprise for “Grindhouse”
fans.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rounding out this weekend is an indie sports drama from a
little known director named Taika Waititi, presenting his new movie <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Next
Goal Wins</u></i></b>. OK, yes, that introduction was a bit tongue-in-cheek.
But before Taika directed two Thor movies, “Ragnarok” and “Love and Thunder,”
while also being involved a bit with “The Mandalorian,” smaller indie films
were what Taika did best. Yes, “Jojo Rabbit” happened in between Thor films,
but before that was “What We Do in the Shadows” and “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,”
two movies that have been discovered more in the years since Taika directed “Ragnarok.”
With “Next Goal Wins,” Taika steps away from the big blockbuster, at least for
a bit, to go back to his roots with a smaller film. The movie tells the story
of the infamously terrible American Samoa soccer team, in which they lost a
FIFA match in 2021 by a score of 31-0. Michael Fassbender in the movie plays a
new coach who comes in to try to help them at least be able to score a goal.
While the movie isn’t expected to be an Oscar player like “Jojo Rabbit” was, it
nevertheless has the potential to be a solid feel-good movie over the holidays
for those interested in a sports drama or curious about Taika’s next film.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">November 22 – 26</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKHHNTLJV03jMkwPcX08an9CXtrEhn-wg7fzPlhFvHlV3FhhHVkMAEZYz6ot8bDhqFtD3_l0Jjby4wDwYmg-M83jDlEKavinufZ_ttAy43GFkKrTV1f_v4QXSUyQTW0YG_0VLVE72ShhfjkGC7RGIyM2o4HbXpnNVncD3IIUG_E7FjYx8zuTvz-fZpW0W/s1832/Screen-Shot-2023-09-27-at-12.02.51-PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1354" data-original-width="1832" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKHHNTLJV03jMkwPcX08an9CXtrEhn-wg7fzPlhFvHlV3FhhHVkMAEZYz6ot8bDhqFtD3_l0Jjby4wDwYmg-M83jDlEKavinufZ_ttAy43GFkKrTV1f_v4QXSUyQTW0YG_0VLVE72ShhfjkGC7RGIyM2o4HbXpnNVncD3IIUG_E7FjYx8zuTvz-fZpW0W/s320/Screen-Shot-2023-09-27-at-12.02.51-PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Disney’s "Wish"</td></tr></tbody></table>Advancing five days into the future, movies opening on the
week of Thanksgiving open on a Wednesday instead of a Friday, hence the longer
date span here. And while all the movies from the previous weekend are still
going to be in play, Disney enters into the ring with their new animated movie <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Wish</u></i></b>.
On October 16, 1923, Walt Disney Studios was founded by two brothers, Walt and
Roy Disney, initially as the Disney Brothers Studio. I bring this up, not
necessarily for a history lesson that everyone already knows, but to point out
that Disney this year has been celebrating 100 years of Disney and “Wish” seems
very much tied into that as a movie about a new 17-year-old female protagonist
named Asha who makes a passionate plea to the stars when she senses a darkness
in the Kingdom that others might not see. All of that feels perfectly aligned
with classic Disney as a tribute to Disney of old. And while not reverting
completely to a classic hand-drawn animation style, this is nevertheless a
combination of modern computer animation with Disney’s historical watercolor
animation. And yes, it’s also a new Disney musical, led by Chris Buck, Jennifer
Lee, and others who worked with Disney on “Frozen.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Disney certainly has been very mortal at the box office of
late. COVID combined with the hard push for Disney+ trained much of their
audience to not show up to theaters for their animated movies, both from Pixar
and Walt Disney Animation Studios, but rather to wait for Disney+. In the year
or two since the initial huge streaming push, studios have learned again that
theaters and not streaming is what makes them the most money, yet it’s been
hard for Disney in their attempt to retrain their audience to go back to theaters.
Last year for Disney Animation Studios, which is where “Wish” specifically
comes from, “Strange World” opened to just $12.2 million, while in 2021 “Encanto”
opened to just $27.2 million, before it later became a Disney+ phenomenon. And
that’s not even mentioning the struggles of Pixar, who saw several movies in a
row skip theaters altogether and is still recovering from that. But in
pre-COVID days, this Thanksgiving slot has been very good for Disney. In 2013, “Frozen”
opened to $93.9 million over the 5-day, “Moana” in 2016 to $82.1 million, and “Ralph
Breaks the Internet” in 2019 to $84.8 million. The traditional 3-day opening
(Friday to Sunday after Thanksgiving) for the latter two were both in the $56
million range, which is about where Box Office Pro projects “Wish,” with a $40-60
million 3-day range, which would probably translate to a $60-80 million range
for the 5-day. And long legs throughout the holidays at the box office if it’s
a popular hit.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As you’ve seen, it’s primed to be quite the varied selection
of options for Thanksgiving. Along with everything else, Ridley Scott will also
be joining the party with his new movie <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Napoleon</u></i></b>. This one is one of
the wild cards of the month as no one really knows exactly what to expect.
Ridley Scott is a very prominent filmmaker with movies like “Alien,” “Blade
Runner,” “Gladiator,” “Black Hawk Down” and “The Martian” on his resume. But
recently you don’t know if you’re going to get another classic like this or
something that’s almost universally disliked. “Napoleon” could realistically go
either way. With Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon Bonaparte and Vanessa Kirby as
Empress Josephine, it could be an excellent historical war drama that becomes a
sleeper hit. Or it could wind up as a dud. With poor word of mouth, it could be
a blip on the radar. As an awards hopeful, what it did NOT do was play the
festival circuits, then do a limited run theatrically. That could be seen as a
red flag. It’s also not yet had any pre-screenings for critics. But maybe it
ends up being a good crowd pleaser for mainstream audiences while not really
caring about playing the awards game?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The final movie that I’ll be mentioning here is one that,
unlike “Napoleon,” HAS played the awards game. And that’s Emerald Fennell’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Saltburn</u></i></b>.
This is Fennell’s second directorial feature following “Promising Young Woman”
in 2020, which vaulted her onto the scene in an impressive way. Granted it was
2020, so the awards season that year was slimmer pickings, but the movie
nevertheless managed five Oscar nominations, including a best picture nominee
and an original screenplay win for Fennell. Fans of the movie have been curious
to see what she comes up with next and “Saltburn” apparently a very out-there
film that’s wild and crazy, certainly a movie that’s not for everyone. It’s
about an Oxford student who is drawn in by a classmate into said classmate’s
eccentric family estate. It debuted at the Telluride Film Festival in late
August and hit several other festivals along the way. It currently holds an 81
percent Rotten Tomatoes score from those who have seen it. It’s slated for its
limited release on November 17 before starting its nationwide expansion on
November 22. Barry Keoghan is the lead in the movie. </span><o:p></o:p></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-11061739427414279202023-10-08T19:58:00.002-06:002023-10-08T19:58:37.633-06:00Movie Preview: October 2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmdqGMUwAAu1qfuAe_MAv0vhsjj8boGyFK5NYKIRhc_QDgU5_UQjVu89tVSWCZzF8wVVBms8yztlpq1j30S73zLUgTwcQdNfGEAG3sDWxHMxtquoMVebiqs7_cowIsuOGPvzvw2wtoSaEhT1Age995br49Yud-uDdnGT6Xw5rR15c2Skp3L6S_nFvWoRl8/s1564/IMG_20231008_195015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1033" data-original-width="1564" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmdqGMUwAAu1qfuAe_MAv0vhsjj8boGyFK5NYKIRhc_QDgU5_UQjVu89tVSWCZzF8wVVBms8yztlpq1j30S73zLUgTwcQdNfGEAG3sDWxHMxtquoMVebiqs7_cowIsuOGPvzvw2wtoSaEhT1Age995br49Yud-uDdnGT6Xw5rR15c2Skp3L6S_nFvWoRl8/w400-h264/IMG_20231008_195015.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>It was an expectedly slow month at the box office in
September. Based on expectations and budget, both “Expendables 3” and “The Nun
II” performed admirably. “Expendables 3” opened with almost the exact same
total as the previous two, which made the franchise even more impressively
consistent. It finished September with $85.2 million, so not holding quite as
well as the first two, despite the consistent opening. But that was good enough
for the top movie of the month, which tells the story of September. The Nun II
finished the month with $75.5 million domestically, in second place. With a
responsible budget of $38 million and a worldwide total of just under $235
million, that’s another win for The Conjuring franchise. But continuing to tell
the story of the month, “Barbie” was third place, adding $33.8 million. Nothing
else was able to top that, as movies like “A Haunting in Venice,” “Expend4bles”
and “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” mostly failed to register. “PAW Patrol” and “Sax
X” had solid openings in the final weekend, but only counted for two calendar
days in the month. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Which then means we look forward to October, our current
month. Historically speaking, October is also not known to be a very big month
at the box office, even though it’s often a slight step up from September. But
this October, even though there’s not much on the calendar in terms of
quantity, is actually looking at a few big releases as we celebrate the
Halloween season while also beginning the rollout for awards season. The
biggest theatrical event of the month, though, won’t even be a movie. It’s a
concert. A concert released in theaters that looks to scare away all the
competition. Of course we’ll get to the details of Ms. Swift’s concert and all
the rest in detail below, so let’s dive in and explore!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As always, release date information for this post is
courtesy of boxofficepro.com and the-numbers.com. The movies listed are the
ones currently listed for a wide release in the United States and Canada and
are always subject to change.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">October 6 – 8</i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD-zEE4420BfkMlg5U8DI-0o5CEFHXU6ePHUKmPG22E319L1CSHB0FWFEMVolhsTBRDuREX0WpVzccYLjRdyHlG3qBglRd5CQnu3hCmz-lr78MdoNOekyzzzWN3En8PWGNakFuOgI5lWJuuXk22jSGdofxbpMJCGARVXYDFm63x7UDWYUBnieEuxYC0uuc/s2282/MCDEXBE_UV001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1686" data-original-width="2282" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD-zEE4420BfkMlg5U8DI-0o5CEFHXU6ePHUKmPG22E319L1CSHB0FWFEMVolhsTBRDuREX0WpVzccYLjRdyHlG3qBglRd5CQnu3hCmz-lr78MdoNOekyzzzWN3En8PWGNakFuOgI5lWJuuXk22jSGdofxbpMJCGARVXYDFm63x7UDWYUBnieEuxYC0uuc/s320/MCDEXBE_UV001.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Universal's "The Exorcist: Believer"</td></tr></tbody></table>Spooky season officially was kicked off at the end of
September with the release of “Saw X,” which had a respectable opening of $18.3
million. While that wasn’t as high as the franchise’s peak, it was nevertheless
a big step up from both “Jigsaw” and “Spiral,” the previous two entries. And
with a budget of just $13 million, there’s at least a financial justification
for an eleventh film if they want it. Now just one week later, another horror
franchise entry is currently haunting theaters with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Exorcist: Believer</u></i></b>.
If I’m not mistaken, this is approximately the 1,786th Exorcist movie to hit
theaters since the original completely changed the horror game back in 1973.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">OK, yes, I confess that that number is an exaggeration. In
terms of the actual Exorcist canon, there is the original trilogy, “The Exorcist”
in 1973, “Exorcist II: The Heretic” in 1977, and “The Exorcist III” in 1990.
Then there were two prequel films, “Exorcist: The Beginning” and “Dominion:
Prequel to the Exorcist,” released in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Then there
was a TV series titled simply “The Exorcist” that ran for two seasons from
2016-17 before getting canceled. And finally there was a novel written in 1971
that predated the movie, with a follow-up novel titled “Legion,” published in
1983. So I suppose that’s actually not a ton of official entries, but the
reason I mention that it feels like there’s been a lot is that there’s been a
very long list of horror films that have used the Exorcism concept, even though
most of them aren’t directly connected with the official franchise. And
probably the reason why there’s been so many is that “The Exorcist,” released
in December 1973, finished its initial theatrical run with $193 million
domestically. Subsequent releases has boosted it to $230.3 million domestically
and $428.2 million worldwide. Unadjusted for ticket price inflation, that
domestic total STILL is the 4th highest grossing horror film ever. And that’s
only if you count “Jaws” and “I am Legend.” If you specifically look at R-rated
horror films, “The Exorcist” held that record of the highest-grossing R-rated
horror film ever for 44 years until 2017’s “IT” topped it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Putting that into more context, given that “The Exorcist”
was released in 1973 and still has made more money than almost every other
horror film, despite ticket prices today being much higher than they were back
then, if you adjust for ticket price inflation, “The Exorcist” would clock in
as the 9th highest grossing movie ever at the domestic box office, that based
on data compiled by Box Office Mojo that was continued by Wikipedia. For some
reason Box Office Mojo stopped updating that list in 2019, so Wikipedia has
kept it up to date with their own calculations added. They estimate, based on
2022 ticket prices, that “The Exorcist” would have made the equivalent of
$1.171 billion domestically in today’s money. That’s two slots higher than 2015’s
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which updates to $1.145 billion in today’s
ticket prices. So if you remember the phenomenon that “The Force Awakens” was,
that’s what “The Exorcist” compares to.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Anyways, with that box office history lesson behind us, “The
Exorcist: Believer” hails from director David Gordon Green, who most recently
did an updated trilogy of “Halloween” films. And now he’s giving “The Exorcist”
the same treatment, with “Believer” being approached as a direct sequel to 1973’s
“The Exorcist.” Like “Halloween,” this will also be a planned trilogy, with “The
Exorcist: Deceiver” currently set for April 2025 and as of now an untitled
third movie with a TBD release date, although the pattern would suggest maybe
2027. “Believer” was received poorly, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 23
percent as of me typing this post. Despite that, it’s still on pace for an
opening close to $30 million.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While “The Exorcist: Believer” is the only official new wide
release of the weekend, Disney is re-releasing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Hocus Pocus</u></i></b> in
1,430 theaters for Halloween season. In moderate release, IFC Films will be
releasing the new horror film <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>When Evil Lurks</u></i></b> in 659
theaters before it becomes available on Shudder on October 27. So perhaps if
you’re in the mood for a new theatrical horror experience and the new Exorcist
movie doesn’t interest you, it’s possible that this one might be near you. “When
Evil Lurks” follows two brothers who come across a demon-infected man that they
try to get rid of, but end up making things much worse. It was initially
released at the Toronto International Film Festival last month and has so far been
almost unanimously enjoyed. It has a limited 40 reviews counted on Rotten
Tomatoes, but nevertheless has a 98 percent score through those 40 reviews.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">October 13 – 15</i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQJ4nBlgLt4YCsc47cDUxvCoqzJA63ckCKs6RT9ZHclJ3cLmA6rGMO8rpHGadLoCGK4fkb_lolEbxbCWABt5alsDLZEVOLaCGw6zjawaGxkzik6wGs8qIsFrgMecGhhZxNLmtEXiRBkyv2Pcp9N2ofcuRBVffvzP_ecXO3GTZhCTnLeiIRyA2yNlyJJtlX/s836/taylor-swift-eras-tour-movie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="836" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQJ4nBlgLt4YCsc47cDUxvCoqzJA63ckCKs6RT9ZHclJ3cLmA6rGMO8rpHGadLoCGK4fkb_lolEbxbCWABt5alsDLZEVOLaCGw6zjawaGxkzik6wGs8qIsFrgMecGhhZxNLmtEXiRBkyv2Pcp9N2ofcuRBVffvzP_ecXO3GTZhCTnLeiIRyA2yNlyJJtlX/s320/taylor-swift-eras-tour-movie.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taylor Swift from The Eras Tour</td></tr></tbody></table>As mentioned in the intro to this post, the biggest
theatrical event of the month will not be a movie. It will be a Taylor Swift
concert, officially titled <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour</u></i></b>. Taylor
Swift of course needs no introduction. Everyone knows who Taylor Swift is,
whether they want to or not. The Eras Tour is the ongoing sixth concert tour
for Swift, which began at Glendale, Arizona in March of this year and will
continue through November of next year, finishing in Toronto. Taylor described
this as a journey through or an homage to all of her albums up to this point.
There’s a set list of 44 song divided into 10 sections. The filmed version of
the concert that’s being released in theaters is listed as 169 minutes long.
And actually, this isn’t the first time Taylor has filmed one of her concerts
and released it to the masses. She filmed and released a recording of her
Reputation Tour for Netflix in 2018, that’s still available to be watched for
those who haven’t seen that. But “The Eras Tour” filming is unique because she’s
putting it in theaters, both here domestically at least at AMC and Cinemark
theaters, but also worldwide.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The announcement of this came it late August and the
response has been very positive. I mean, who of Taylor’s fans wouldn’t want to
go see a filmed version of her concert in theaters? It’s more expensive than
your typical movie, with ticket prices reportedly being either $19.89 or
$13.13, but that’s of course incredibly cheaper than paying for a concert. How
much will this end up making at the box office? Well… a lot. While the idea of
a concert movie isn’t a new one, one at this scale being released in theaters
does seem like a more unique event and thus official prognostication might be
hard to pinpoint exactly. However, it was reported that presales at one point
were comparable to the presales of “Avengers: Endgame.” I’m not sure that means
this will open to $300+ million like “Endgame” did, but most do seem to think
that a $100 million opening for this concert film is pretty much guaranteed.
And that might be the very low end, safe expectations. I mean, Taylor went to a
football game to watch her maybe boyfriend Travis Kelce play and that led to
jersey sales and Instagram followers for Kelce to soar through the roof. The
next week, when Taylor also attended the Sunday Night Jets vs Chiefs game, that
became the most watched NFL game since the Super Bowl. And if Swift fans can
make that happen just because she went to a football game, I imagine a
theatrically-released concert film will be very well attended. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And no, there is no competition for Taylor. Some might find
that unfortunate given that Friday the 13th in October is actually happening
this year. “The Exorcist: Believer” was the horror film that was planning on
taking advantage of that date. But the second Taylor announced her concert film
on this weekend, Universal noped “Believer” right out of that date and onto the
first weekend of the month, which was recently vacated by “Kraven the Hunter,”
the latest solo movie from a Spider-Man villain following “Venom” and “Morbius.”
“Kraven the Hunter” moved to August 30, 2024 due to the ongoing actor’s strike,
which will hopefully be resolved soon, given that the writer’s came up with a
deal and ended their strike last month.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">October 20 – 22</i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrfk8XrPpYjDnwyjTxRP3xhxfJH6NL0Kzl_MrMkbWU9K8t2GybbCass2A7mvRtN3RQEyUzotTrcsw159pTw1UVwgafLsExkm1tJjg9LabHu1dqO90DEN1TRj28UZOaxXmasCI269iT6GwIOIUVuwxbLEv-i5nG6gkCJlfzFz4mgSlddYz9u4ttHxm4nOJ3/s5448/MV5BZmMyMDc4NWMtZmUzNC00ZjczLWE1ZmYtYWQ3ZTk4ODBmYzE2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTkxNjUyNQ@@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="5448" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrfk8XrPpYjDnwyjTxRP3xhxfJH6NL0Kzl_MrMkbWU9K8t2GybbCass2A7mvRtN3RQEyUzotTrcsw159pTw1UVwgafLsExkm1tJjg9LabHu1dqO90DEN1TRj28UZOaxXmasCI269iT6GwIOIUVuwxbLEv-i5nG6gkCJlfzFz4mgSlddYz9u4ttHxm4nOJ3/s320/MV5BZmMyMDc4NWMtZmUzNC00ZjczLWE1ZmYtYWQ3ZTk4ODBmYzE2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTkxNjUyNQ@@._V1_.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apple TV+ and Paramount's "Killers of the Flower Moon"</td></tr></tbody></table>Taking a break from both Halloween and Taylor Swift for a
moment, the third weekend of the year will be the kick-off of what should be a
major awards contender this season. That movie is Martin Scorsese’s latest
release, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Killers of the Flower Moon</u></i></b>. This is a movie based on the
nonfiction book “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of
the FBI,” published in 2017 by journalist David Grann. The story here from the
book and the movie, as referenced in the subtitle of the book, chronicles the story
of the Osage Nation, a Native American tribe who lived in Osage County,
Oklahoma, in the early 1900s. The Osage Nation became very wealthy when it was
found that there were large oil deposits on their land. And given that Native
Americans were found to be lesser by many white people back in the day (and
perhaps still now to at least some degree – unfortunately racism still exists),
the big scheme involved many of the Osage Tribe getting murdered for their
money. The newly formed FBI eventually got involved and that led to the
conviction and trial of many involved. Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro
portray two of the main suspects involved, with Jesse Plemons playing the lead
FBI agent and Lily Gladstone getting a lot of praise for her portrayal of one
of the Native American women.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The box office prospects of this movie are interesting.
Scorsese has been a reliable draw for a very long time, with his first
feature-length directorial effort coming in 1967 via “Who’s That Knocking at My
Door.” The first movie of his to get Oscar wins and nominations was “Alice
Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” in 1974, while Scorsese got his first individual
nomination in 1980 with “Raging Bull.” His most recent movie was “The Irishman,”
and while that was very successful with 10 nominations, it was also a Netflix
film. The one before that, “Silence” in 2016, had a very muted campaign and,
although it was liked by many, didn’t do much in terms of awards or box office,
which wasn’t necessarily the movie’s fault. So then we have to go back to 2013
for the last Scorsese film to have a proper theatrical run combined with strong
awards play. That was “The Wolf of Wall Street,” which opened to $18.4 million
domestically over the Christmas holiday and finished with $116.9 million, a
final total that seems within the range of possibilities for “Killers of the
Flower Moon,” especially since it’s had its release in several film festivals
and has been met with very high praise. The kicker for general audiences is
that Scorsese in his later years doesn’t exactly seem to be a fan of short
films. This one is a big ask at 3 hours 26 minutes. But in a year where the
3-hour, R-rated historical biopic of “Oppenheimer” has made close to $1 billion
worldwide, maybe the runtime here also might not be a huge deal? It’s projected
by Box Office Pro to earn somewhere between $29-38 million in its opening
weekend.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Like with “The Exorcist: Believer” and Taylor Swift, “Killers
of the Flower Moon” doesn’t exactly have much competition this week. In
addition to re-releasing “Hocus Pocus” earlier in the month, Disney will also
be giving <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Nightmare Before Christmas</u></i></b> a re-release this weekend
leading up to Halloween. Similarly, Fathom Events will be putting on a
re-release of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Back to the Future</u></i></b> on Saturday, October 21, honoring
what is now the Anniversary of when Marty McFly arrived to the future in 2015. </p><p class="MsoNormal">And finally, certainly a potential attention-grabbing title that could make you
do a double take is the nationwide expansion of <b><i><u>Dicks: The Musical</u></i></b>.
Yep, it’s exactly what you think. From the director of “Borat” and at least one
of the producers of “The Greatest Showman,” this is advertised as A24’s first
musical. And you’d expect nothing less than a heavily raunchy musical from the
director of “Borat.” The actual plot, if one cares about that, is somewhat of a
“Parent Trap” premise. Two business rivals discover that they’re twins and
decide to swap places to get their divorced parents back together. Josh Sharp,
Aaron Jackson, Megan Mullally, Nathan Lane, and Megan Thee Stallion headline
the cast. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">October 27 – 29</i></b> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiASDV2yj6VCoH0EqnPBqcwFoIlS1jRk7OVxO77sWoPdyjMj-OQrtW0MvWgdIEdKz-SbFx3V6qrR6R5ug_p-ARJELm4c69TchWbohyphenhyphen2NV7ttlXbNvk3C0to8zPEf1QDdXUZ9zrOXoHyHz7Uk1cJ0OtuddBdOJta6wNGjqioAw90mJMbeyxMg9GPRRcKQNoi/s903/Five-Nights-at-Freddys-2023-Streaming-Release-Date.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="903" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiASDV2yj6VCoH0EqnPBqcwFoIlS1jRk7OVxO77sWoPdyjMj-OQrtW0MvWgdIEdKz-SbFx3V6qrR6R5ug_p-ARJELm4c69TchWbohyphenhyphen2NV7ttlXbNvk3C0to8zPEf1QDdXUZ9zrOXoHyHz7Uk1cJ0OtuddBdOJta6wNGjqioAw90mJMbeyxMg9GPRRcKQNoi/s320/Five-Nights-at-Freddys-2023-Streaming-Release-Date.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Universal's "Five Nights at Freddy’s"</td></tr></tbody></table>Whenever there is a new Saw film released, it’s the
tradition to release it right on Halloween weekend. And that’s exactly what “Saw
X” initially had in mind. But like “The Exorcist: Believer” being scared away from
Friday the 13th by Taylor Swift, “Saw X” was scared away from this weekend by
the impending release of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Five Nights at Freddy’s</u></i></b>, a
PG-13 horror film that could potentially do huge numbers, regardless of what
the critical reaction will end up being. Movie night for teens around the world
right before Halloween, based on the popular video game franchise that many of
them have probably played. There’s actually been nine of these games released
in the main series, with a handful of spin-offs as well, the first being
released back in 2014. The idea here in the games is that you’re a night time
employee at a family pizza place, similar to something like “Chuck E. Cheese,”
and you have to survive the animatronics that come alive and try to kill you.
So like in the games, so it is in the movie. Josh Hutcherson plays a character
named Mike Schmidt who gets a night job at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, that was
once successful, but is now abandoned. And it’s because anyone there after
midnight have to not get killed by the animatronics. The movie is distributed
by Universal and produced by Jason Blum, who is a master at taking low budget
horror films and getting them to make a ton of money. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The production budget is $25 million and it’s
currently projected to easily pass that in its opening weekend.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Like is the case with every other weekend this month, we
have one main event and perhaps a collection of smaller releases to supplement them.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” is definitely the main event here. But there are four
smaller movies on the schedule officially listed as having a wide release
scheduled. My guess is that one or more could end up in just a couple hundred
theaters rather than being a huge wide release, but it’s hard to tell exactly
at this point.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Of the group, one would assume that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Freelance</u></i></b> would be
the one to actually get the most attention, based on the cast of John Cena,
Allison Brie, Juan Pablo Raba, and Christian Slater. This is an action comedy
where ex-special forces operative takes a job to provide security for a journalist
interviewing a dictator, when the three of them suddenly end up on a survival
mission together. It’s from the director of “Taken” and “Peppermint,” so why
the trailer on YouTube only has 18K views right now is a bit of a mystery.
Relativity Media helped distribute “Hypnotic” this year, a Ben Affleck-led
sci-fi movie directed by Robert Rodriguez. That opened to $2.4 million from
2,118 theaters, so maybe that’s the comparison here. Unless some marketing
kicks in soon.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The other potential somewhat big release is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>After
Death</u></i></b>, a documentary from Angel Studios, who distributed the
surprise hit “Sound of Freedom” this summer, which earned $183.9 million at the
domestic box office. Documentaries don’t usually register too high at the box
office, so it’s hard to believe this will be another massive surprise, but “After
Death” follows the stories of a handful of notable people who had near death
experiences or some touch with the afterlife. This at the least could do well
in certain markets.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The other two listed on the schedule are two that definitely
don’t seem like they’ll be released too wide, although I could be wrong. The
movie <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Sight</u></i></b> is a biopic following the story of Doctor Ming
Wang, one of the world’s top laser eye surgeons. It stars Terry Chen and Greg
Kinnear. I’m having a hard time even hunting down a trailer for this, but it’s
from the director of 2018’s “Paul, Apostle of Christ” and 2015’s “Full of Grace,”
so I’m guessing there’s some Christian angle to this. The director also had a
movie called “The Blind” that released last month to a bit of a surprise $4.4
million from 1,715 theaters, so maybe I’m underestimated this.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The other movie is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Inspector Sun</u></i></b>, a Spanish
animated movie that in some countries is called “Inspector Sun and the Curse of
the Black Widow” and was released in Spain back in December of 2022 and several
other countries in between then and now. It appears that the United States is
among the last to get it. Despite that, it also doesn’t appear that there’s a
lot of information on this one. It seems like a fun whodunit detective movie
for younger kids where the main detective is a spider and the various other
characters are different bugs and small animals. Maybe it won’t attract a huge
American audience, but it could be a fun thing that a handful of people end up
stumbling upon.<o:p></o:p></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-79191782839712898622023-09-01T01:37:00.000-06:002023-09-01T01:37:06.523-06:00Movie Preview: September 2023<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCBUDXCGzm9IQ5xjga67E3B_znLcRS10x0KT6LYwekO9bBeNiSjX7rhhyTcEYv3YIje-YAqNpOpYuaayNnqPDmiUGt_ZM0X9m5oBhbs5dlCAibX6Bdf22n3b7dLYt2bK90Iy8BB2LVqbNKfomYjokQw--M55T2KTcj9Wp1Z3nQWAoRptFczLhbdYmKqBWo/s1564/IMG_20230901_012937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="1564" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCBUDXCGzm9IQ5xjga67E3B_znLcRS10x0KT6LYwekO9bBeNiSjX7rhhyTcEYv3YIje-YAqNpOpYuaayNnqPDmiUGt_ZM0X9m5oBhbs5dlCAibX6Bdf22n3b7dLYt2bK90Iy8BB2LVqbNKfomYjokQw--M55T2KTcj9Wp1Z3nQWAoRptFczLhbdYmKqBWo/w400-h264/IMG_20230901_012937.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The summer of 2023 has come
to an end. As is often par for the course, with summer winding down and kids
getting ready to go back to school, August was the quietest month of the
summer. The top two movies of this August were our two July phenoms, “Barbie”
and “Oppenheimer,” accounting for nearly half of the month’s $800 million
domestic total. That said, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and “Meg
2: The Trench” performed fairly decently compared to expectations. But there
was nothing on the scale of a “Guardians of the Galaxy” or “Suicide Squad” to
help the month stand out. “Blue Beetle,” even though it did slightly better
than expectations, still managed to be the second worst opening in the DCEU,
while “Gran Turismo” got off to a decent start but has only been in theaters
for a few days now. “Strays” certainly didn’t help things out as it was a
surprising misfire.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A quick recap of the game we
played in last month’s preview, that of what can beat “Barbie” at the weekend
box office, both “Blue Beetle” and “Gran Turismo” did manage to get weekend
wins. “Barbie” made those races very close, though, and wound up back ahead in
the weekday box office. So even though it ceded the top spot twice, by the time
the month officially ends, “Barbie” will still manage to have topped the box
office 27 of 31 days in August, including finishing on top on the final day (I
don’t have final totals of August 31 as of me typing and releasing this post).</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Moving forward to September,
historically this joins August and October as one of the awkward parts of the
year in regards to the box office, being the months between peak movie season.
Hollywood has proven time and again now that movies CAN open huge in these
quieter months. So release date doesn’t actually matter that much. But yet
studios still mostly maintain tradition in releasing their biggest tentpole
films in the optimal spots, hence this being a bit awkward. Also, the ongoing
actors and writers strikes is going to contribute to the awkwardness the longer
they carry on. Actors being unable to promote their films has motivated some
studios to postpone said films. Movies that weren’t yet finished when the
strikes began aren’t able to be finished if there’s no actors or writers to
help finish them. So as long as studios continue to not give the people making
their films proper compensation, options for viewers will continue to diminish.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All that said, there is a
franchise film attempting to attract audiences on each weekend this month, so
we’ll see how this pans out. As always, release date information for this post
is courtesy of boxofficepro.com and the-numbers.com. The movies listed are the
ones currently scheduled for a wide release in the United States and Canada and
are probably even more subject to change than usual with the strikes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">September 1 – 4</span></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6tjJMbd8n2GT9WitDegHA46G7ViReNmtGDzP3iydKKVQlLMuzCiArKvLJrf1WOj6hMnfUeQq2d6TGWGmoloaKKa0p5aFPhZDEPNUetJCxlTCX7pzoibwR39YJSJkJ8loX7c8382JRXp6O3iZqmc6kGh8YG7gUH_JeT0W27E9HQbYKHU92hN5zvoPaDO1z/s1074/the-equalizer-3-trailer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1074" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6tjJMbd8n2GT9WitDegHA46G7ViReNmtGDzP3iydKKVQlLMuzCiArKvLJrf1WOj6hMnfUeQq2d6TGWGmoloaKKa0p5aFPhZDEPNUetJCxlTCX7pzoibwR39YJSJkJ8loX7c8382JRXp6O3iZqmc6kGh8YG7gUH_JeT0W27E9HQbYKHU92hN5zvoPaDO1z/s320/the-equalizer-3-trailer.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sony's "The Equalizer 3"</td></tr></tbody></table>Labor Day weekend has
historically been one of the worst weekends for movies. There are many reasons
for that, although two years ago Marvel proved that it was probably more of a
self-fulling prophesy than anything, meaning that movies didn’t do well because
studios avoided the weekend, thinking it was cursed when maybe it actually wasn’t?
Prior to 2021, the biggest 3-day Labor Day weekend total was Rob Zombie’s “Halloween”
in 2007 with $26.4 million. But in 2021, while the box office was still in
recovery mode to a degree from COVID, Marvel released “Shang-Chi” to a $75.4
million 3-day opening. Perhaps that will make studios more confident going
forward.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With that in mind, while in
some years this would mean “Barbie” would have a chance to take the weekend box
office again had there been no significant new releases, “Barbie” will
definitely be blocked by Denzel Washington’s action movie <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Equalizer 3</u></i></b>.
While it may be a surprise to some that this franchise ended up being a trilogy,
it nevertheless makes sense in a John Wick era with other franchises trying to
cash in on that success. Both Equalizer movies have also been incredibly
consistent. In 2014, the first movie opened to $34.1 million, finished with
$101.5 million domestically, and $192.9 million worldwide, all on a $55 million
budget. Off that success, “The Equalizer 2” in 2018 increased that budget to
$77 million, but opened to $36.0 million, finished with $102.1 domestically,
and $190.4 million worldwide. It would be fun of “The Equalizer 3” also came
within $2 million of those numbers, but at the very least one would expect it
to open with $25-30 million and finish around the $100 million mark.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For the weekend, Box Office
Pro is projecting $31 million for the 3-day and $37.6 million for the 4-day. In
addition to Denzel Washington obviously returning in the lead role, so does
Antoine Fuqua as director. So fans of the first two naturally should show up
for the third, even though it’s been five years and a COVID pandemic since the
last movie came out. There’s also a hurricane that hit the southeast United
States this week that could cause theater closures or lower attendance in that
area. That Mother Nature variable could impact things at least a bit.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While “The Equalizer 3” is
the only new wide release coming out this weekend, MGM will be expanding the
indie film <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Bottoms</u></i></b> into wide release after a successful weekend in
limited release last weekend that saw it earn $461,052 from just 10 theaters,
which was the fifth highest per theater average of the year so far. The movie
is an LGBTQ teen sex comedy involving two teen girls who set up a fight club
that they tell the other girls is for the sake of self-defense, but their
secret plan is to hook up with the cheerleaders. The movie currently has a 95
percent score on Rotten Tomatoes from 112 critics, paired with a 97 percent
audience score. Whether or not this translates to success with general
audiences is yet to be seen. R-rated comedies have struggled quite a bit this
summer, even the ones with great reviews, but this still could end up as a
decent sleeper hit, especially with the market a bit bare. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">September 8 – 10</span></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhwIGaXyob8Ern6ZMN-mHgtYytnTUrOwZ-_G9sAfGFvs-qXSf5CNff76mL0GsL9Fyc4JSuHnep89164JmqvDz-Cd4BnbARyFWeJHfRkHQDvQKT64B7Wq39dul2btfw6DO5Ue1qFJioyDHvGwvkEs0skYkmfkSkoVDKYhR66G5T0McYWwZxMKXK1kgvd_E/s1025/MV5BNjNmY2U5NDgtNTM0ZS00NGQ4LThiMmQtOTg1YzUyNWY2MDQ4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXNuZXNodQ@@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1025" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhwIGaXyob8Ern6ZMN-mHgtYytnTUrOwZ-_G9sAfGFvs-qXSf5CNff76mL0GsL9Fyc4JSuHnep89164JmqvDz-Cd4BnbARyFWeJHfRkHQDvQKT64B7Wq39dul2btfw6DO5Ue1qFJioyDHvGwvkEs0skYkmfkSkoVDKYhR66G5T0McYWwZxMKXK1kgvd_E/s320/MV5BNjNmY2U5NDgtNTM0ZS00NGQ4LThiMmQtOTg1YzUyNWY2MDQ4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXNuZXNodQ@@._V1_.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warner Bros.' "The Nun II"</td></tr></tbody></table>While studios have spent many
years completely avoiding Labor Day weekend, Warner Bros. learned back in 2017
with “IT” the weekend after is a very good one for horror. Perhaps “IT” would’ve
done well in any weekend, but nevertheless it shattered the September opening
weekend record with a staggering $123.4 million. Warner Bros. has understandably
put a horror movie on that weekend almost every year since, including the very
next year with “The Nun,” which opened to $53.8 million.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That of course is relevant
because on this weekend finally sees a sequel to that movie arrive, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The
Nun II</u></i></b>. The discourse here is an almost identical conversation as
to one we had last month with “The Meg” and “Meg 2.” In August 2018, “The Meg”
was a huge success, but yet it took five years for a sequel to come out. Yes,
maybe the COVID of it all could’ve postponed the production of both sequels,
but it’s still a bit baffling that “The Nun” opened to $53.8 million, made
$117.5 million domestically, and $363.4 million worldwide, all on a $22 million
budget, yet took five years to get a sequel out. “The Conjuring” wound up with
a higher domestic total than “The Nun,” but the rest of those numbers - the
opening weekend and the worldwide totals - are the highest in the Conjuring Universe.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps a reason for the delay
came with the reaction to the movie? Despite the high totals that showed how
effective the scene with the haunted Nun in “The Conjuring 2” was, “The Nun”
itself wound up with a 24 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and 35
percent from audiences. An insane amount of hype for this spin-off led to super
high attendance, but resulted in lots of disappointment across the board. A
poor reaction to a horror movie usually doesn’t stop a studios from producing a
long string of sequels if people keep showing up anyways, but perhaps in the
years since, they’ve maybe come up with an idea that will please audiences a
bit more? The trailers seem to show them going in a slightly different
direction with this sequel that lines up better with the sequence from “The
Conjuring 2.” The director is different from the first, but it’s Michael
Chaves, the director of “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” and “The Curse
of La Llorona,” two other Conjuring movies that got low reception. This all
probably means it doesn’t hit the heights of the first, but it might not be too
much lower and also doesn’t need as much to be considered a success.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On a discussion of third
films in a franchise that you maybe didn’t think would wind up as a trilogy, as
I mentioned earlier with “The Equalizer 3,” the other wide release of this
weekend is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3</u></i></b>. It’s also a possibility that
you didn’t realize they even made a second one of these. The first one was
quite the box office phenomenon, though. Opening on April 19, 2002, it was in
theaters for nearly an entire year, its final weekend being the weekend April
4, 2003. It never hit No. 1 and its best individual weekend was only $11.1
million in August 2002, but still legged out to $241.4 million domestically,
the type of run that doesn’t happen anymore. They came back with the sequel in
2016 and that opened to $17.9 million, higher than any individual weekend of
the first, but it finished with $59.7 million. Now it’s been an addition seven
years since that and over 20 since the first one was in theaters, but
nevertheless we’re going on another adventure with this wacky Greek family. I’m
not sure audiences will be too enthused over this one, but you never really
know.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">September 15 – 17</span></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYsbXue7JOKabrPGNHpDLjvvfQ209H7gSJO1Olqfx4jEz4YdMsHyoCVf7moPFg3aIo1w09_PLwKaCKWfgItdo1k01ozCP9pKeCnaqU2qirkaN6LDvnaAfjaqWdzOzIT3DMOx0KPrPqU5l8gIdPb1TKRilxdALbTYHzAW2YLlA12L-VO817gpcYDPgumGKx/s2855/haunting_in_venice_dtlr2_4k_185_t_709_tiff_87836.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="2855" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYsbXue7JOKabrPGNHpDLjvvfQ209H7gSJO1Olqfx4jEz4YdMsHyoCVf7moPFg3aIo1w09_PLwKaCKWfgItdo1k01ozCP9pKeCnaqU2qirkaN6LDvnaAfjaqWdzOzIT3DMOx0KPrPqU5l8gIdPb1TKRilxdALbTYHzAW2YLlA12L-VO817gpcYDPgumGKx/s320/haunting_in_venice_dtlr2_4k_185_t_709_tiff_87836.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">20th Century Studios' "A Haunting in Venice"</td></tr></tbody></table>On first glance you may think
that this next film is another random horror film. However, it’s also a third
film in a franchise, the third film in the Hercule Poirot franchise, this one
titled <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>A Haunting in Venice</u></i></b>. If the name Hercule Poirot doesn’t
ring a bell right off the bat, he is a fictional detective from Agatha Christie’s
mystery novels, appearing in 33 novels, two plays, and 51 short stories from
the span of 1920 to 1975. In the film adaptation world of these stories, he was
first played by Albert Finney in the 1974 movie “Murder on the Orient Express.”
He was then played by Peter Ustinov in six different movies, “Death on the Nile”
(1978), “Evil Under the Sun” (1982), “Appointment with Death” (1988), “Thirteen
at Dinner” (1985), “Dead Man’s Folly” (1986), and “Murder in Three Acts”
(1986), the latter three mentioned being TV movies. He was also played by David
Suchet in the British ITV series “Agatha Christie’s Poirot,” which had 70
episodes over 13 seasons that ran from 1989 to 2013. There were also various
other films and projects where the character showed up in.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In context of this modern
series, Hercule Poirot is played by Kenneth Branagh in both “Murder on the
Orient Express” in 2017 and “Death on the Nile” in 2022. And now he returns for
a third time in “A Haunting in Venice.” Kenneth Branagh has also directed all
three films in addition to starring as Poirot. “A Haunting in Venice” is based
on the Christie novel “Halowe’en Party” in 1969, which initially garnered largely
negative reviews, but has recently had a bit of a reassessment in modern years.
The trailers of the movie have also given off the vibes of it being a slight
departure from the traditional murder mystery genre of the other two and having
a bit more of a supernatural/horror spin, which may have led it to not quite
having as high awareness as the first two. “Murder on the Orient Express” did
wind up with $102.8 million domestically and $351.8 million worldwide, which is
why they’ve been able to continue, but after a long series of COVID delays and
other issues, “Death on the Nile” wound up with just $45.6 million domestically
and $130.3 million worldwide, opening to $12.9 million, less than half of the
$28.7 million opening of the first.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This makes “A Haunting in
Venice” a bit more of a risk for Disney/20th Century Studios after the troubles
of “Death on the Nile,” but Disney is obviously hoping for a bit of a rebound.
It has the advantage of being the only wide release of the weekend, which is
why I’ve spent a bit more time on it. There’s also only one additional wide
release the following weekend, which is a completely different target audience
at that. But if awareness isn’t too terribly high, that might not mean much.
Box Office Pro’s most recent long range forecast gave it a predicted opening
weekend range of $11-16 million, which might not even be good enough for No. 1
depending on how big “The Nun” opens and how much it falls in its second
weekend.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">September 22 – 24</span></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1x1-zYvK6QcIgZYLEFT8QebprZ-xfBx8ICXak_joKrzVjaOcZJbVLWOYCjjWuiagwjfXRC-yQKAevmMywrk0SwWX2IU8sdjxB35yvMnwii7YxwFv0YeaRpCV0lecUZhATyB_V6v7_LWyQRBniAMgFUJr1PGyACb6KyXADGAxuuoCZdsjthDBTeoS9gLKn/s1055/exp4-unit-01320-r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1055" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1x1-zYvK6QcIgZYLEFT8QebprZ-xfBx8ICXak_joKrzVjaOcZJbVLWOYCjjWuiagwjfXRC-yQKAevmMywrk0SwWX2IU8sdjxB35yvMnwii7YxwFv0YeaRpCV0lecUZhATyB_V6v7_LWyQRBniAMgFUJr1PGyACb6KyXADGAxuuoCZdsjthDBTeoS9gLKn/s320/exp4-unit-01320-r.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lionsgate's "Expend4bles"</td></tr></tbody></table>As referenced in the previous
weekend, only one new wide release this weekend after just the one new wide
release the weekend before. And it’s another franchise film, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Expend4bles</u></i></b>.
Because apparently replacing a letter in the title with the sequel’s number is
something studios still think is a cool thing to do. Anyways, this is the
fourth film in The Expendables franchise, which initially sold itself as an
action franchise that had a long list of former action stars, with each ensuing
chapter adding a few more. The curious part of this is that each of the first
three films were just two years apart, 2010, 2012, and 2014. Even with that
close proximity, though, they all saw diminishing returns. “The Expendables 3”
got more negative backlash after reducing down to a PG-13 rating, after the
first two were rated R, and thus only made $39.3 million total at the domestic
box office after the first two made $103.1 million and $85.0 million
respectively. All of them were pretty big worldwide hits, which helped them
keep going ($268.3 million, $311.9 million, $209.5 million), but nine years
after a poorly received third chapter, are people ready and excited for the
first?</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Expend4bles” does return to
the R rating, which might make some happy. It also returns Jason Statham,
Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgreen, and Randy Coutre from the first three,
which is a positive, but I’m not sure 50 Cent, Megan Fox, and Andy Garcia are
the exact brand of “action stars” that is representative of the franchise? That
said, it does add Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais, who are very popular international action
stars, so if they goal is to appeal mainly to an international audience where
the first three made the bulk of their money, that’s not a bad approach. Box
Office Pro’s long range forecast pegged it at $13-18 million for its opening,
which isn’t good. But if it can manage to get a couple hundred million from
overseas markets, the domestic total may not matter.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">September 29 – October 1</span></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMOSKSeZUv_y4o6LP776QBfpnD5IZJWIAPSUlYO4vZh18hul2bGDEKl4jn4vCOFmib6AZu89gYiIWa0Y4NrPYuZIWU02P8ebfD9JPrHVbupmXGqy_XM1PzyJVFdcdIXzR5UvNF_Wsjn15mHw-ym-Q0zCCQgmVUXNcAITT5VlRLKn4tQsRELv_3MjYLDJm/s1392/saw-x-trailer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="1392" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMOSKSeZUv_y4o6LP776QBfpnD5IZJWIAPSUlYO4vZh18hul2bGDEKl4jn4vCOFmib6AZu89gYiIWa0Y4NrPYuZIWU02P8ebfD9JPrHVbupmXGqy_XM1PzyJVFdcdIXzR5UvNF_Wsjn15mHw-ym-Q0zCCQgmVUXNcAITT5VlRLKn4tQsRELv_3MjYLDJm/s320/saw-x-trailer.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lionsgate's "Saw X"</td></tr></tbody></table>After the massive success of “Barbie”
and “Oppenheimer,” which garnered the nickname “Barbenheimer,” some jokingly
suggested the next double feature phenomenon would be “Saw Patrol.” That’s
obviously not going to happen, especially with massively different audiences,
but nevertheless that’s what will conclude September and move us into October.
This actually could be a close race for the top spot, but let’s start with the
horror film <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Saw X</u></i></b>. A new Saw film used to be a Halloween tradition. Beginning
in 2004, there was a Saw film every Halloween for seven straight Halloweens,
finishing in 2010 with the seventh film, “Saw 3D.” It began with James Wan
directing and Leigh Whannell writing and has since rotated through a lot of
different writers and directors. Attempted revivals in the franchise happened
with “Jigsaw” in October 2017 and “Spiral” in May 2021, which had the only
non-Halloween release date. The general premise surround a serial killer named
Jigsaw, who trapped his victims and forced them to participate in violent “games”
in order to survive, forcing them to harm themselves. To the chagrin of some
Saw fans, this also helped inspire the term “torture porn” or “splatter film”
as its own subgenre of horror.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now how excited for a new Saw
film are people really? Granted, its core fan base who has loyally gone to all
of these films will probably show up. And the attempted revival of the
franchise proper might be a more intriguing prospect than the spin-offs of “Jigsaw”
and “Spiral,” neither of which did particularly well. Even better, “Saw X”
chronologically fits in between “Saw” and “Saw II,” as a direct sequel to the
original, following the recent trend started by the latest “Halloween” trilogy.
But it’s still worth pointing out that it’s been 13 years since the series
proper. “Halloween” and “Scream” both proved that franchise revivals of popular
horror films can be done successful, but there’s still no guarantee that this
does well. It was also initially set for Halloween weekend, but moved to this
spot to seemingly avoid competition with “Five Nights at Freddy’s.” That does
give it the entire month of October as its runway, which could end up being a
positive, but “The Exorcist: Believer” also just moved up a week, putting it in
the second weekend of “Saw X,” which is not great. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Saw X” could very well win
the weekend, but don’t underestimate the power of “PAW Patrol” as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>PAW
Patrol: The Mighty Movie</u></i></b> also sees a release this weekend. In
regards to both movie’s immediate predecessors, “Spiral” opened with just $8.8
million in May 2021, while “PAW Patrol: The Movie” opened to $13.1 million
three months later, in August 2021. Granted, a return to the era of the first
two Saw movies could see “Saw X” open closer to the franchise average, which is
$23.2 million, or even higher if it hits the $30 million range of the second
through fourth movies, but this PAW Patrol thing has been around for some time
and is quite popular with the younger audience. The main series began in 2013
and is currently in season 10, having aired over 200 episodes, with a handful
of other films, games, video games, and lots of merchandising. And as you can
see, family audiences haven’t been given a lot to go to theaters for recently.
It’s mostly stuff targeted at adult males, so this could be perfect positioning
for this newest PAW Patrol movie, brewing up the potential upset.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Saw X” and “PAW Patrol” aren’t
the only two movies getting a wide release this weekend. In poetic fashion, we
began with a movie starring Denzel Washington and now we finish the month with
a movie starring his son, John David Washington, for a Washington Family
sandwich. John David’s movie is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Creator</u></i></b>, which is
described as a post-apocalyptic thriller involving a war between humans and AI.
And if I lost you with that premise, given that it’s one we’ve see a hundred
times, it’s possible I could get your interest back if I tell you this is a
from director Gareth Edwards. And if that exactly name doesn’t immediately ring
a bell, it will when I tell you that his last directed film was this little
known indie film called “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Before that he did the
2014 reboot of “Godzilla.” And given that the bar here isn’t incredibly high,
if Disney decides to give a good advertising push, a weekend win over “Saw
Patrol” isn’t a crazy idea. After a month full of adult-targeted male action
flicks and horror films, a sci-fi action thriller could appeal to a more broad
audience. But that depends on how much awareness it gets. “65” was a similar
sci-fi film this year that should’ve done a lot better, but only opened to
$12.3 million after poor reviews and low awareness.</span></span></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-68671744448626735852023-08-01T21:16:00.000-06:002023-08-01T21:16:49.893-06:00Movie Preview: August 2023<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiJBP4XUe7485AFrgF-XnvmB1EecvUkvlICtEEWij5Rh4kOsAtBpG9iidNFS269MdAsiyJZbKHppSpdMIN-YsB19BRjE1kuN7r53wsH-s6Geptf6D0V7ay2TFL6sm7AgUOIerc5aVhp8I6tklJUTirg1kfgN22NLUJSwfw3kUVgPUJ6KPqZCOZTllAE3h2/s1564/IMG_20230801_211049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="1564" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiJBP4XUe7485AFrgF-XnvmB1EecvUkvlICtEEWij5Rh4kOsAtBpG9iidNFS269MdAsiyJZbKHppSpdMIN-YsB19BRjE1kuN7r53wsH-s6Geptf6D0V7ay2TFL6sm7AgUOIerc5aVhp8I6tklJUTirg1kfgN22NLUJSwfw3kUVgPUJ6KPqZCOZTllAE3h2/w400-h264/IMG_20230801_211049.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Following what was seen as a disappointing June at the box
office, the July box office, led by the massive Barbenheimer phenomenon, lit
the summer on fire. In fairness to June, it did manage to be the year’s first
billion dollar month and was led by the massive hit that was “Spider-Man:
Across the Spider-Verse,” so collectively as a whole it could still be
considered a positive month. It was just stained by a string of underperforming
blockbusters following “Spider-Verse” that led some to wonder if the general
population was getting tired of the theatrical experience.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nope. My general conclusion last month was that if you make
a movie that people are excited about, that also gets great reaction, then
people will show up. Maybe people just people weren’t that interested in “The
Flash,” “Transformers” and “Indiana Jones.” Each of those were part of
long-winded franchises that hadn’t had a great entry in quite some time, which
would explain their disappointing performances. Compare that to “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,”
two movies that were highly anticipated by audiences that both got great
response from critics and audiences alike, and you have a great formula for
success. It’s, of course, a very positive added bonus that the combined release
date created the unique Barbenheimer phenomenon, which I definitely feel
boosted both movies quite a bit. But I still think both movies would’ve still
done well had they released separately. Make a good movie and people will show
up.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As far as how big this ended up being? Well, if you look
back at my July Preview, you would realize that “Barbie” making $93 million and
“Oppenheimer” making $46.7 million was EXACTLY what I was expecting… for their
opening weekends. But that’s how much both made in their SECOND weekend. “Barbie”
opened to $162 million and “Oppenheimer” opened to $82.5 million. That’s an
insane opening combo. I did a very detailed breakdown on my personal Facebook
of how many records this set, so I won’t repeat myself here. Wander over there
to see that post. But nevertheless, the two movies combining for nearly $250
million in their opening weekends helped set lots of records and pushed the overall
month of July to a $1.328 billion, the highest grossing July since 2016.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The unfortunate consequence of this is that “Mission:
Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” and “Haunted Mansion” were both swallowed
up in this success. “Haunted Mansion” seemed doomed to fail, but the failure of
“Dead Reckoning” is a peculiar one because it was set up for success. Popular
franchise. Great critic reviews. Great audience reviews. Tom Cruise being
hugely popular after “Top Gun: Maverick.” But the result was one of the worst
entries in the franchise at the box office. Outside maybe the “Part One” label
causing people to be less interested, this seems to come down to an unfortunate
release timing, one in which you can’t really blame Paramount for because no
one expected Barbenheimer to be as massive as it was.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What does this all mean for the month of August? Well, what
it means is that we’re going to play a game of “what can dethrone ‘Barbie’ at
the box office?” And, spoiler alert, I’m not so sure anything can. But let’s
dive in and find out! </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As always, release date information for this post is
courtesy of boxofficepro.com and the-numbers.com. The movies scheduled are the
ones currently listed for a wide release in the United States and Canada and
are subject to change.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">August 4 – 6</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjC4sdXSguhrUCG0LxifuAlDEfDAg36UO7eenHNKwU_TXPIUf9Kqv5lN8J7DgPFoqZwR3FW-296ALJVByV91yVjt7CC8eysXUTJQjj3NQvJJHupVwGbdzTC7-ol_-s9mje2An1eHyINapn6nAa5l5-2tH_NCz-QtmR6NHQXOs0WOKFS0jSvMmLyzDp4uwZ/s975/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-mutant-mayhem-sdcc-clip-1280x720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="975" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjC4sdXSguhrUCG0LxifuAlDEfDAg36UO7eenHNKwU_TXPIUf9Kqv5lN8J7DgPFoqZwR3FW-296ALJVByV91yVjt7CC8eysXUTJQjj3NQvJJHupVwGbdzTC7-ol_-s9mje2An1eHyINapn6nAa5l5-2tH_NCz-QtmR6NHQXOs0WOKFS0jSvMmLyzDp4uwZ/s320/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-mutant-mayhem-sdcc-clip-1280x720.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paramount's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem"</td></tr></tbody></table>Before we dive into the first of our two new releases this
weekend, the baseline I’m establishing for this little game of ours comes from
another movie that opened earlier this year. “Barbie” is a fairly unique movie
with little to directly compare it to and while it’s not a direct
apples-to-apples comparison, the stars have aligned in an interesting way that “Barbie”
has followed an almost duplicate trajectory of our current top grossing movie
of the year, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” “Barbie” opened to $162 million. “Mario”
opened to $146.4 million, but that was muted a bit by it opening on a
Wednesday. Its five day total, Wednesday through Sunday, was $204.6 million. “Barbie”
had the advantage of opening in the summer, so higher totals on weekdays with
school not in session than “Mario” in April, but nevertheless “Barbie” earned
$214.1 million in its first five days. Both movies fell about 40 percent in
weekend 2, “Barbie” slightly more, but they both wound up with nearly identical
weekend results, “Barbie” earning $93.0 million and “Mario” earning $92.3
million.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If we make the prediction that “Barbie” continues to closely
follow “Mario,” we note that “Mario” in weekend 3 fell just 35 percent to $59.9
million, with only “Evil Dead Rise” and “Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant” as
competition, both of which were very different target audiences. So with that
$60 million mark as our projected total for “Barbie,” is this the weekend it
falls?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first of our two competitors is <b><i><u>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
Mutant Mayhem</u></i></b>, which actually gets a head start on the weekend,
opening on Wednesday, August 2. In my calculations, this is the fourth attempt
at starting up a new TMNT franchise cinematically. We had the live action
trilogy in the 90s, the 2007 animated movie, and the two live-action Michael
Bay produced movies in the 2010s. Added to that, of course, a long series of
various comic books, TV shows, and video games, all of which began as a comic
book by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, released by Mirage Studios, in 1984. It
was more or less a parody of various superhero comics at the time and has now
blossomed into its own mega franchise. This latest version, “Mutant Mayhem”
takes the characters back to animation, with an animation style that seems to
take influence from the Spider-Verse films, which can be seen as a new era of
animation where not everything is your traditional 3D, computer generated
animation. The team behind the mayhem is Seth Rogen and Evan Golberg, who have
collaborated on a lot of things on the writing and producing side of the game,
from your long list of raunchy comedies that you might associate Seth Rogen
with to various shows like “The Boys” and “Invincible.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rogen does lend his voice to the movie as well, as John Cena
and him voice Rocksteady and Bebop, but he’s primarily been pushed as writer
and producer of this, the trailers advertising, “From permanent teenager Seth
Rogen.” While animation is often a team effort, the actual directors of this
are Jeff Rowe and Kyler Spears, Rowe being a co-director of “Mitchells vs. the
Machines” and Spears having directed 20 episodes of Disney’s “Amphibia.” As far
as our game of can it beat “Barbie”? Well, a $60 million debut is probably a
bit on the high end here, especially with it opening on a Wednesday. If you look at the six previous theatrically
released TMNT movies and adjust for ticket price inflation, the original 1990
movie would clock in at $63.4 million ($25.4 million unadjusted) for its
opening weekend and the 2014 Michael Bay produced movie would equal $84.5
million ($65.6 million unadjusted), so it has theoretically been done, but maybe
the more apt comparison is the 2007 animated movie, which unadjusted opened to $24.3
million, which would equal $37.1 million adjusted. With great early reviews
that should lead to positive word of mouth, while this probably won’t top “Barbie,”
it could end up as its new second place running-mate throughout the rest of
August.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The other movie opening this weekend is one that feels like
it should’ve come out 2-3 years and that is <b><i><u>The Meg 2: The Trench</u></i></b>.
While “Mutant Mayhem” will be primarily attracting young males and boys, “The Meg
2” is a movie that will attract older males. This means that both movies can
co-exist, both with each other and with “Barbie,” which had an opening weekend
audience that was 65 percent female. “The Meg” was a very simple movie that was
a huge surprise back in August 2018 as the movie about Jason Statham fighting a
giant Megalodon opened to $45.4 million, when it was expected around $20
million. It also came out around the time of a random string of other shark
movies, like “47 Meters Down” and “The Shallows.” If you do that well, you
typically want to capitalize on that by getting the sequel out a year or two
later. But five years later? Do people still care? Now, if you do the math,
maybe they tried to start production and were stopped by COVID. So perhaps it’s
not all their fault. But nevertheless, five years ago, with a pandemic in
between, makes August 2018 feel like 10 years ago. “The Meg 2” is also
projected at around $20 million, so is it possible we’re in for another
surprise? Sure. But if so, probably not a $60 million surprise. The original
didn’t even hit that. The other challenge is that, a few days away, awareness
doesn’t seem super high and the reviews have not been released. This movie
could surprise, but it’s also an easy candidate to be a dud.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">August 11 – 13</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUsnQ6auIjvI5OsDljG9gd-LJr1XUb8GExwYdDGyDk7u-Z7OpGqE6mGeqk-fRG0udUfm2S3zsfePz73h8iTQDC_VipUcKKLTg5duiAASahGZHjLS-t2EaSX2EU8kJqpsmAUPR7RVIfK5SHWu9TLoeJq8mcQfRLVvV7P4Y207Tqx5H-txwfBIN-HxCb86c/s1056/demeterr.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1056" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUsnQ6auIjvI5OsDljG9gd-LJr1XUb8GExwYdDGyDk7u-Z7OpGqE6mGeqk-fRG0udUfm2S3zsfePz73h8iTQDC_VipUcKKLTg5duiAASahGZHjLS-t2EaSX2EU8kJqpsmAUPR7RVIfK5SHWu9TLoeJq8mcQfRLVvV7P4Y207Tqx5H-txwfBIN-HxCb86c/s320/demeterr.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Universal's "The Last Voyage of the Demeter"</td></tr></tbody></table>The second weekend of our will it top “Barbie” game will
most likely see “Barbie” come in around $40 million. In the fourth weekend of “Mario,”
it fell an even softer 32 percent to $40.8 million, with the only competition
being the moderate release of “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret.” If neither
“Mutant Mayhem” or “The Meg 2” were able to hit $60 million, ain’t no way that
our one new wide release will sniff $40 million.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If this weekend feels a bit empty, it’s because Sony took
one look at the Barbenheimer success and said, “Yeah… no. We’re not releasing ‘Gran
Turismo’ this weekend.” That movie was supposed to come out this weekend, but
was bumped last minute to the final weekend of August. So we’ll tackle it
there. That leaves the only wide release of this weekend as <b><i><u>The
Last Voyage of the Demeter</u></i></b>, which is a Dracula-themed horror film
that’s tracking to open to less than $10 million. The specifics here is that
this is a movie based on one specific chapter of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula,”
specifically the chapter titled “The Captain’s Log,” where a crew was haunted
by this Dracula figure as they were traveling on their ship from Transylvania
to London, of which there ends up being no trace of the crew when the ship
arrives in London. Believe it or not, production on this film dates way back to
when writer Bragi F. Schut was inspired by the 1992 film “Bram Stoker’s
Dracula.” The rights to the film were first acquired in 2003 and it’s been a
long journey since. It also winds up being the second Dracula-themed movie this
year, as April’s “Renfield” was a major flop, opening to just $8 million on an
$86 million budget. Early signs point to “Demeter” opening in a similar way
with a budget that might be even larger?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">August 18 – 20</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpy5nMpdnHuafpuJRfXDGkh8-Pa_gMki4dSbcWlcj3LZL1yaOvuz7sDH0BSGmvYXm87jEwt4LpaCmwrh7awNGJW6-8-MIomamvBQW7DjbDtZJFwaxrX1GugpAoEHKvotMudpIz1Wsu6z9ZimJyOawi5LPbX2_306kxEf-0Gfc_rruM6wGSirteSA7vQpFU/s1197/l-intro-1680887060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1197" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpy5nMpdnHuafpuJRfXDGkh8-Pa_gMki4dSbcWlcj3LZL1yaOvuz7sDH0BSGmvYXm87jEwt4LpaCmwrh7awNGJW6-8-MIomamvBQW7DjbDtZJFwaxrX1GugpAoEHKvotMudpIz1Wsu6z9ZimJyOawi5LPbX2_306kxEf-0Gfc_rruM6wGSirteSA7vQpFU/s320/l-intro-1680887060.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warner Bros.' "Blue Beetle"</td></tr></tbody></table>The third weekend of August is where our “Barbie” game
becomes interesting. “Mario” becomes slightly less helpful in this instance
because in its fifth weekend it went up against “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”
and plummeted 55 percent, its first big drop. But nevertheless, it still made
$18.6 million. With that on the low end of the spectrum, and $25-30 million
being more on the realistic side if it continues to only fall 30-40 percent,
this is the first weekend where it seems like the top spot at the box office
could be up for grabs if one of our late August films over-performs.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I say the “Mario” comparison is slightly less helpful here,
but as it turns out there is a superhero movie opening on this weekend. And
while it ain’t no “Guardians 3,” DC will have <b><i><u>Blue Beetle</u></i></b>
opening here. This is a movie that perhaps has the absolute worst timing. It’s
been well documented that DC, at the end of last year, has already made plans
to completely reset their universe, with James Gunn leading the charge. And
that was questionable timing even at that point given that DC had four movies
in the old DCEU on the docket. And so far the people questioning that timing
seem to have been proven right. While poor reaction to the first two could’ve
been a big reason why they failed, the idea that the future was very cloudy for
the characters of Shazam and Flash had to at least play a big role in why their
movies failed. “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” opened to just $30.1 million and
finished with just $57.6 million total domestically, which was almost less than
the opening weekend of 2019’s “Shazam!” at $53.5 million, which itself was
considered a bit of a disappointment. That, of course, was followed up by “The
Flash,” which, despite three variations of Batman, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, and
a handful of Superman cameos, in addition it being advertised as a big
multiverse movie that even James Gunn promised was pivotal to his universe in
using Flashpoint Paradox to reset things, opened to just $55 million, tanking
historically to making just $107 million domestically, not only finishing with
less than “Guardians 3” did in one weekend ($118.4 million), but barely beating
out the opening weekend of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” which opened to
$106.1 million.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And with DC’s image and reputation at an absolute low,
perhaps a historic low, “Blue Beetle” is supposed to follow up? A movie based
on a comic book character that few have ever heard of? Had DC been doing great,
this would’ve been a solid intro to a new character. But even then, Marvel even
sometimes has a hard time taking a brand new character and making everyone
care. It’s not often they strike gold with a “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Going
in favor of “Blue Beetle” is that it’s either the first or one of the first
major superhero movies based on a Latino character. Representation can go a
long way in that realm. Just look at “Shang-Chi” or “Black Panther.” But again,
do people care? Even if the movie is well received, it’s possible that DC’s
reputation is so low that people just don’t show up and cause “Blue Beetle” to
be dead on arrival. Reviews probably have to be through the roof for this to
find success, and even then it would probably be a word of mouth hit rather
than a huge opening. Actors not being able to promote this during the strike
also doesn’t help. In Box Office Pro’s long range forecast, they said initial
tracking has it significantly behind “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” which again,
only opened to $30.1 million. They pegged it as a $12-17 million opening
weekend, with a $27-55 million range for its final domestic total.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If worse comes to worse for “Blue Beetle,” it might not even
be the top competition for “Barbie” this weekend. That might end up being <b><i><u>Strays</u></i></b>,
an adult-targeted raunchy comedy about a group of stray dogs wanting to get
revenge on their owners that abandoned them. The trailers point to this as
being from the humans who brought you “21 Jump Street” and “Cocaine Bear,”
those humans being Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who have a long string of
success in the comedy realm. Lord and Miller are producers on this film, with
the director being Josh Greenbaum (“Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar”) and the
writer being Dan Perrault (“American Vandal”). Although the real draw is Will
Ferrell and Jamie Foxx leading the voice cast of foul-mouth dogs. This movie
isn’t a Seth Rogen vehicle, but speaking of his team, they had a movie called “Good
Boys” that opened to $21.4 million in late August of 2019 that this could
replicate. And if “Barbie” ends up in the $18-25 million range, this could be a
competition.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">August 25 – 27</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgMsZ67BKRAMa2IpmV-uBiTebJGmhJhorfS4P9Xml25wUR_3hhnQJU4lmdHX8OzCpOuTGtv9xNbjCfUlLPwsxSi2Ljbt0NjPfcYXtowyJxlhXlRD7XgtCC5Hj8oKi7-17dQRuuUW--UC5LF5U1d5B_Xj9wPZ6rCYWL7rbiHAnQBBXwS3u4tFl565S3yi4i/s1041/Gran-Turismo-Movie-Trailer-and-Release-Date-Revealed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="786" data-original-width="1041" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgMsZ67BKRAMa2IpmV-uBiTebJGmhJhorfS4P9Xml25wUR_3hhnQJU4lmdHX8OzCpOuTGtv9xNbjCfUlLPwsxSi2Ljbt0NjPfcYXtowyJxlhXlRD7XgtCC5Hj8oKi7-17dQRuuUW--UC5LF5U1d5B_Xj9wPZ6rCYWL7rbiHAnQBBXwS3u4tFl565S3yi4i/s320/Gran-Turismo-Movie-Trailer-and-Release-Date-Revealed.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sony's "Gran Turismo"</td></tr></tbody></table>The final weekend of August will be the most vulnerable “Barbie”
will be if nothing still has knocked it out. Continuing the “Mario” comparison,
in weekend 6, “Mario” dropped just 32 percent to $12.6 million, but again that
was after getting dinged the weekend before. If “Barbie” ends weekend 5 in the
$25-30 million range, $15-20 million could be its range for weekend 6. In late
August with little to offer, this is where often a previously popular summer
film either continues to reign or even resurfaces at top after conceded the
previous weekend. Will “Barbie” complete the sweep of August before “The Equalizer 3”
and “The Nun 2” hit in early September?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This was going to be another empty final weekend of August,
but as mentioned earlier, this is where <b><i><u>Gran Turismo</u></i></b> got moved to.
And Sony has been pushing this one hard. In fact, if I’m projecting “Barbie” to
earn somewhere in the $15-20 million range, it’s noteworthy that that’s the
exact range that Box Office Pro has “Gran Turismo” at for its opening weekend.
Granted, their last Long Range Forecast post was right before it swapped dates,
but still. The bar isn’t very high and there’s no guarantee “Gran Turismo”
clears it, but there’s at least a pathway for it to, uhh… “race” to the first
place finish. “Gran Turismo” began in 1997 as a racing game for PlayStation and
the franchise has since become the highest selling video game franchise under
the PlayStation brand. The franchise so far has eight primary releases, the
most recent being “Gran Turismo 7” in 2022, as well as a handful of secondary
releases. The movie adaptation is not based specifically on the game itself,
but rather tells the true story of Jann Mardenborough, who transitioned from
being a video game player to a professional
race car driver after winning the GT Academy competition in 2011,
beating 90,000 other entrants. The GT Academy was a television program from
2008 to 2016 that allowed the best Gran Turismo players the chance to earn a
professional racing career. Mardenborough was the third and youngest winner,
successfully transitioning to a racing career despite having no previous
on-road experience. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are two other movies scheduled for a wide release this
weekend. Both of them seem like they’re heading for weekends that barely register. Typical late August affair as this last weekend of August before Labor Day is
often the worst weekend of the year. But anyways, speaking of unlikely success
stories in sports, the first of these two small films is <b><i><u>The Hill</u></i></b>, a movie
based on the story of Rickey Hill, a baseball player who had to
overcome a severe physical handicap (the trailer shows him having very bad
legs) to becoming a professional baseball player. Dennis Quaid plays his dad in
the movie who is trying to be real with him, saying he’s not going to make it
with his condition. The movie is being released by a small distribution company
named Briarcliff Entertainment, whose highest grossing movie is the Liam Neeson
thriller “Blacklight,” which opened to $3.5 million in February 2022. Relevant
to “The Hill,” they also released the sports drama “Sweetwater” this April,
which only earned $351,010 in 1,204 theaters.</span></p>
<span style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And actually, speaking of Liam Neeson thrillers,
he has yet another one coming out this weekend with our other small film, that
of <b><i><u>Retribution</u></i></b>.
In this scenario, Liam Neeson is in a car with his kids when he gets a phone
call from a person saying that there is a bomb in his car that will go off if
he decides to leave the car, so he is held hostage in his own car while being
forced to follow the demands of the person on the phone. If this type of
generic action thriller, that feels like he’s redone “Taken” about a hundred
times, is what Liam Neeson enjoys doing, then all power to him. Do what you
enjoy. But they’ve definitely become very predictable, at least at the box
office. The last five of them have all made less than $20 million total at the
domestic box office and all opened below $5 million. The said openings are “Honest
Thief” (October 2020) - $3.6 million, “The Marksman” (January 2021) - $3.1
million, “Blacklight” (February 2022) - $3.5 million, “Memory” (April 2022) -
$3.1 million, and “Marlowe” (February 2023) - $1.8 million. Based on that, you
should know what to expect from “Retribution.”</span>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-74568042846640778312023-07-06T17:21:00.000-06:002023-07-06T17:21:21.187-06:00Movie Preview: July 2023<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQQV8ZXz5o2Szw2A287QLq5rLDotX2H56zzop-cnA1_YK_1SYA2c8IwW-Rjftr7eoUgu2k1UTkEdHd5JUaBAm37auXtX0mjFecQXmJ8GrlP4Mu7joxXwuruGrss9ggNEJ1VW-GDG6uN4VS6vBf6hiGNWcedHLnC8dTTudosdnh7WcqULPTl8lw0KWz7tB_/s1564/IMG_20230706_170741.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1097" data-original-width="1564" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQQV8ZXz5o2Szw2A287QLq5rLDotX2H56zzop-cnA1_YK_1SYA2c8IwW-Rjftr7eoUgu2k1UTkEdHd5JUaBAm37auXtX0mjFecQXmJ8GrlP4Mu7joxXwuruGrss9ggNEJ1VW-GDG6uN4VS6vBf6hiGNWcedHLnC8dTTudosdnh7WcqULPTl8lw0KWz7tB_/w400-h280/IMG_20230706_170741.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">We’re halfway through the summer box office season! While
June was certainly an eventful month in terms of the quantity of high profile
releases, and while the combined box office of all the releases led to the
first billion dollar month of the year and just the second since COVID (July
2022 being the other), the month was nevertheless viewed as a bit of a train-wreck
in terms of the constant stream of individual disappointments. “Transformers:
Rise of the Beasts,” “The Flash” and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”
all opened in the $60 million range domestically for their three-day weekends,
which considering their budgets and expectations were not what the studios were
hoping for, especially since international numbers didn’t help much either. In
a surprise turn of events, “Rise of the Beasts” was the highest of this trio
and considering some thought it might only open with $35-40 million, a $61
million opening was a small silver lining, even though that was a far cry from
what a Transformers movie used to open to. Meanwhile, on the animated front,
both Pixar and DreamWorks earned their worst opening weekends ever with “Elemental”
and “Ruby Gillman,” respectively.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What went wrong this month? Well, there’s probably not just
one answer. I often mention that too many high profile releases at the same
time can end up cannibalizing each other. And that’s certainly a possible part
of the equation. But in each case with the so far mentioned releases, the
movies were part of bigger franchises with less than stellar reputations.
Combine that with mixed reaction on the movies themselves and you have an
unfortunate formula for disappointment.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The obvious omission so far is that of “Spider-Man: Across
the Spider-Verse,” which was the lone bright spot of the month. It opened to
$120 million and has legged out to over $330 million domestically so far,
putting it on track for the highest grossing movie of the summer. The
difference? Well, people loved “Into the Spider-Verse,” were excited for “Across
the Spider-Verse,” and were very pleased with the result as the movie had very
high marks across the board. Moral of the story, make a good movie that people
want to see and people will go see it. Transition that into our upcoming July
slate and the initial prognosis is looking very positive, although we’ll
obviously have to wait until the movies come out to see the exact reaction, but
let’s take a look at what we have on the schedule!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As always, release date information for this post is
courtesy of boxofficepro.com and the-numbers.com. The movies scheduled are the
ones currently listed for a wide release in the United States and Canada and
are subject to change.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>July 7 – 9</i></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdxg-ydv9lS5DDYvqld5koar4yOz2Gmc6J2wyRSRCKVIVYqCTz91fQdna3JtjRpFNtDCcKePlB-QulQSK9oPKR5zYcG52woqlTHQ9LK_BPqYBnfeLHlKIFB_F4Oy0AeDSBrVBRFiT4EyT4FBmpriEqDCf-3KxOGED3cUZsHEyIQZhSLqX53Daf4cmdmxmz/s953/im-810065.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="953" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdxg-ydv9lS5DDYvqld5koar4yOz2Gmc6J2wyRSRCKVIVYqCTz91fQdna3JtjRpFNtDCcKePlB-QulQSK9oPKR5zYcG52woqlTHQ9LK_BPqYBnfeLHlKIFB_F4Oy0AeDSBrVBRFiT4EyT4FBmpriEqDCf-3KxOGED3cUZsHEyIQZhSLqX53Daf4cmdmxmz/s320/im-810065.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Angel Studios' "Sound of Freedom"</td></tr></tbody></table>This first weekend of July will see the second weekend of “Dial
of Destiny” pull in around $25-30 million, which could make this a close race
for No. 1, given the current projections of our three new films. And while
there is a major studio film on the schedule that we’ll get to in a second, the
potential spoiler comes from Angel Studios with their new film <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Sound
of Freedom</u></i></b>. Angel Studios is a Utah-based distribution company most
well-known for the TV series “The Chosen,” of which they’ve actually had major
success with in releasing certain episodes in theaters. “Sound of Freedom”
tells the story of Tim Ballard, who quit his job as a government agent in order
to dedicate his life to rescuing children from child sex trafficking, with the
specific mission portrayed in this film taking place primarily in Colombia. Jim
Caviezel plays Tim Ballard and the movie is directed by Alejandro Monteverde.
As far as its box office potential goes, the movie actually opened on July 4 in
2,634 theaters and actually beat “Dial of Destiny” on that day with an opening
day total of $14.2 million, compared to Indy’s $11.7 million. Could that spill
over into the weekend, giving it a surprise upset at the top? It’s quite
possible. Although it should be mentioned that both Monday previews and a certain
total from a pay-it forward campaign were rolled into that $14.2 million, so
that could indicate a bit of frontloading. But so far word of mouth is very
positive with an A+ CinemaScore, an 8.6 score on IMDb, and a 99 percent Rotten
Tomatoes audience score. That should at least translate into a very healthy
theatrical run. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The aforementioned major studio film getting released this
weekend, that’s also in contention for the top spot is Sony Pictures’ <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Insidious:
The Red Door</u></i></b>. This is the fifth movie in the Insidious franchise,
with the previous entry, “The Last Key,” having been released in 2018. So it’s
been five years, which could be seen as too long of a break for a horror
sequel, but nevertheless these are very low budget horror films made for $10
million or less that have in turn have come close to or made more than $100
million worldwide. So they’ve been very profitable. “The Red Door” is reported
to have a budget of $16 million, the highest in the franchise, but that’s still
a very low bar for profitability. The movie itself is actually a direct sequel
to the second movie as the third and fourth movie followed a slightly different
arc. The movie thus sees the return of Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne as Josh
and Renai Lambert as the main conflict centers around their son Dalton, now in
college, having the demons from his past come back to haunt him. Ty Simpkins
will also be reprising his role as Dalton. Patrick Wilson will actually be
directing this movie in his directorial debut, with a story by Leigh Whannell,
director of the third movie, and produced by James Wan, director of the first
two movies. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not to be forgotten, but also most likely looking at a
fourth place debut, is the comedy <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Joy Ride</u></i></b>. Although this is
the second comedy of its nature to come out in three weeks, the other being
Jennifer Lawrence’s “No Hard Feelings” on June 23, it’s nevertheless noteworthy
the adult comedy has been much more rare than it has in the past, at least in
terms of a theatrical release. Many of them have instead gone straight to
streaming and found much success there. That means there should be a healthy
market for “Joy Ride,” given that fans of the genre haven’t had much in terms
of quantity. “Joy Ride” follows four Asian-American friends traveling in search
of one of their birth mothers, with many shenanigans happening along the way.
The movie is directed by Adele Lim, who was a part of the writing team for both
“Crazy Rich Asians” and “Raya and the Last Dragons,” and stars Ashley Park,
Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, and Sabrina Wu as the four friends. Also helping
the film out is the very strong initial reaction. The 91 percent Rotten
Tomatoes score as of this post suggests that it’s a great crowd pleaser and
that should help word of mouth. As a comparison, it’s fellow comedy “No Hard
Feelings” opened to $15 million, although that was boosted by the star power of
Jennifer Lawrence. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>July 14 – 16</i></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHrSj40ZktNqG_q1dCxFcl6tqK3fdGtRLBXfkGct9S2Q-sX2OMogFrAOxuR2j0j1A2dqGsop0ciLZXSIM6mCPhEs8un2hYlBpA7pI6y1VZHdM9Uk_fzB8nYwQ-V5B-JQ_n9hRCVTiKUzGPD7kHyIyNc6CEGnUKxGdhrsZgEGwQtllg08RbaPgjdEPNE7IO/s1339/tom-cruise-mission-impossible-dead-reckoning-051723-4-9871f2327c9e4418be97cf25f74a51bc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1339" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHrSj40ZktNqG_q1dCxFcl6tqK3fdGtRLBXfkGct9S2Q-sX2OMogFrAOxuR2j0j1A2dqGsop0ciLZXSIM6mCPhEs8un2hYlBpA7pI6y1VZHdM9Uk_fzB8nYwQ-V5B-JQ_n9hRCVTiKUzGPD7kHyIyNc6CEGnUKxGdhrsZgEGwQtllg08RbaPgjdEPNE7IO/s320/tom-cruise-mission-impossible-dead-reckoning-051723-4-9871f2327c9e4418be97cf25f74a51bc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paramount's "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One"</td></tr></tbody></table>Opening on Wednesday, July 12, most likely in an effort to
keep as many IMAX screens as possible before Oppenheimer steals most of them
away, is the next major summer tentpole, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part
One</u></i></b>. This is perhaps among the final wave of films that was
directly impacted by COVID. Word on the street early on was that this two part “Dead
Reckoning” story was to be filmed back-to-back, with Part One set for a July
2021 release and Part Two set for an August 2022 release. Filming for Part One
began in February 2020, which was obviously immediately cut short. Instead of
taking the route of rushing to film and release as soon as possible, the
production team took the route of “Top Gun: Maverick” in patiently waiting for
the right moment. Three years later, the movie is finally being released, with
Part Two currently scheduled for next summer. Patience is looking to pay off as
not only is this particular franchise continued to get more and more popular
over time, with the 2018 release of “Fallout” finding huge success, but “Dead
Reckoning” is also bound to get a bump due to the massive success of last year’s
aforementioned “Top Gun: Maverick,” which not only made $1.48 billion worldwide,
$718 million of that coming domestically, but was also a huge awards contender
after being universally praised by pretty much everyone. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Dead Reckoning Part One” obviously sees Tom Cruise return
as Ethan Hunt, but also sees Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Ving Rhames, and
Simon Pegg all return as well, with Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, and Cary
Elwes being among the new additions. Director Christopher McQuarrie, who
directed both “Rogue Nation” and “Fallout,” is also returning as director for
both Part One and Part Two. As for its box office comparison this weekend, “Rogue
Nation” opened to $55.5 million in 2015, while “Fallout” opened to $61.2
million. So that’s the previous bar set by the franchise. How much will the
massive success of “Top Gun: Maverick” boost that? “Maverick” opened to $126.7
million last year. “Dead Reckoning” is not likely to get that high, nor is it
fair to expect it to replicate that movie’s success, but it should manage to
open higher than “Fallout,” with the other note being that the Wednesday opening
is likely to mute the traditional 3-day numbers, with it’s opening being spread
out over those five days. All things noted, Box Office Pro has it pegged at a
$65-75 million range for its opening. As of this posting, initial critical
reactions have begun to come out and it is sitting at a very strong 98 percent
on Rotten Tomatoes after 119 reviews. From the note to start this post, if you
make a good movie, people will generally show up. And if audiences like this
movie as much as critics are, then this is in for a very healthy run throughout
the rest of the summer.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One other quick note on this weekend is that Crunchyroll
will be releasing the anime film <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Pscyho-Pass Providence</u></i></b> this
weekend. These anime films are always a bit of a wildcard. Sometimes you’ll get
a situation like “One Piece Film: Red” opening to $9.3 million in November 2022
or “Demon Slayer: To the Swordsmith Village” opening to $10.1 million in March
of this year. Other times will be like two of the other releases this year, “The
Time That I Got Reincarnated as a Smile: Scarlet Bond” opening to $1.5 million
from 1,473 theaters in January or “Sword Art Online” opening to $607,000 from
892 theaters in February. How popular is the “Psycho-Pass” anime? Well, the
initial run had three seasons, beginning in 2012. It’s also had three movies
released since then, none of which have had a domestic release. So “Providence”
will be a first for the franchise in that manner as they celebrate the 10th
anniversary. There’s also been a few mangas, novels, and video games. The
release will obviously be overshadowed by “Dead Reckoning,” but its niche
audience could show up as well.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>July 21 – 23</i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRscUQEf2g4kF9FrR6QJI9NM1bqaOyD_fcdlbpOy85m2aidqj7G6LXmLEyGW01ZSONExakVBOaaksDxPkLwICFAH6OC82Pee2YTm2rMmulP2h9vENgQmtGL_h6HlYdAmro6uJs-CEND5FSZ3BbH7qiHY9VyNp2HarPJ3VCkXxkMe9iLJjwO1vt4unpoX7T/s1564/IMG_20230706_170903.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1183" data-original-width="1564" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRscUQEf2g4kF9FrR6QJI9NM1bqaOyD_fcdlbpOy85m2aidqj7G6LXmLEyGW01ZSONExakVBOaaksDxPkLwICFAH6OC82Pee2YTm2rMmulP2h9vENgQmtGL_h6HlYdAmro6uJs-CEND5FSZ3BbH7qiHY9VyNp2HarPJ3VCkXxkMe9iLJjwO1vt4unpoX7T/s320/IMG_20230706_170903.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warner Bros.' "Barbie" and Universal's "Oppenheimer"</td></tr></tbody></table>The third weekend of the month has been potentially one of
the buzziest weekends of recent memory as two very different movies that can
most definitely coexist will go head to head in a fated duel. Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie”
vs. Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.” The online chatter for this weekend has
been so strong that “Barbenheimer” t-shirts have been made and sold. The likely
winner of this epic duel?</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You guessed it. Greta Gerwig’s live action adaptation of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Barbie</u></i></b>.
It’s Barbie’s World and we’re all just living in it. As a writer and actress,
Greta Gerwig has been around the indie scene for quite some time, going back to
2006. As a director, she came on strong with “Lady Bird” in 2017, which got
five Oscar nominations. She followed that up in 2019 with her adaption of “Little
Women,” which got six Oscar nominations. Both movies were nominated for best
picture and screenplay, while Gerwig got a directing nomination for “Lady Bird.”
So naturally it makes sense for her to follow that up by doing a live-action “Barbie”
movie. But hey, when you’ve gained that much notoriety, you have more freedom
in Hollywood to do what you want. And if Greta wants to do “Barbie,” then we
let Greta do “Barbie.” She quite literally dragged her partner Noah Baumbach on
against his will to help write, who himself has had quite the prestigious career
with indie films such as “The Squid and the Whale,” “Frances Ha” and “Marriage
Story.” The Hollywood power couple now combine their forces together to make
the whole world excited to see a live-action Barbie movie.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Starring as Barbie in what might be the perfect casting
choice is Margot Robbie, with Ryan Gosling co-starring as Ken. But there’s also
a lot of other Barbies and Kens in the Barbie World, with Kate McKinnon, Issa
Rae, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Sharon Rooney, Dua Lipa, Nicola
Coughlan, Ana Cruz Kayne, and Rita Arya being among the actresses playing
different variations of Barbie, while Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Scott Evans,
Ncuti Gatwa, and John Cena as different Kens. Not that one needs a plot for a
Barbie movie, but the plot sees Margot’s Barbie suffering an existential crisis
where she journey’s into the human world with Gosling’s Ken to learn what “real
life” is like. That world has Will Ferrell as the CEO of Mattel and America
Ferrera as a Mattel employee named Gloria who helps Barbie and Ken. Helen
Mirren is the narrator of the movie. So yeah, everyone in Hollywood got on
board for “Barbie.” Given how unique this movie is, there’s not really a direct
box office comparison, but Box Office Pro currently has it opening in the
$65-90 million range. If the response to this movie is as great as the
advertising is leading people to believe, that could be even higher. I’ve seen
projections as high as $80-100 million from different sources. So this is set
to be quite the event.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Christopher Nolan’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Oppenheimer</u></i></b> is certainly not
going to be left completely in the dust, though. The movie stars Cillian Murphy
as J. Robert Oppenheimer, an American theoretical physicist who is often
credited as the father of the atomic bomb. The movie is telling his story of
the role he had in developing these nuclear weapons that of course were used
later in August 1945 in the bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki during World War II. This movie seemingly has Christopher Nolan moving
away from his huge, mainstream blockbusters like “Inception,” “Interstellar,”
and “Tenet” and at least temporarily going back to his roots when he did movies
like “Memento” and “Insomnia,” movies that are more psychologically grounded and
adult-targeted. In fact, it’s his first R-rated film he’s directed since “Insomnia”
back in 2002. That combined with the three-hour run time and the heavy subject
matter will likely make this less of a huge summer opening and more of a
long-term play with excellent staying power, assuming that the response to the
film is positive. “Barbie” is likely to win the weekend, but “Oppenheimer” is
likely to have the last laugh when all is said and done, especially if it
manages to be a huge awards player. That said, Box Office Pro still has it
opening in the $45-57 million range, which would put it in the realm of Nolan’s
last non-COVID release, that being the $50.5 million opening of “Dunkirk” in
July 2017. In fact, also in that range, “Interstellar” opened to $47.5 million
in November 2014, while “Inception” opened to $62.8 million in July 2010. “Tenet”
only opened to $20 million, but that was during COVID in September 2020,
perhaps an unwise choice in hindsight.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>July 28 – 30</i></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvoKFChHnXdCL9NRw5vwcFTfacPwq9kk_bUE7WED_gEXmQilN7m2tK2FTqphZq9ETg2MPmWLAbPnSVZcFFr_FlTFDona93OY5Lw54fKfXNJBiuWQ5SGmh-Sn_uobWAPl5tB9iEFZsdQyDJd5OPISLiYxXoJlgBz9ewUfo6UZM02XYrHUkJuWHe8Eur2PwR/s963/g_disneymovies_hauntedmansion_gallerystills_1_1617_dfed406f.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="963" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvoKFChHnXdCL9NRw5vwcFTfacPwq9kk_bUE7WED_gEXmQilN7m2tK2FTqphZq9ETg2MPmWLAbPnSVZcFFr_FlTFDona93OY5Lw54fKfXNJBiuWQ5SGmh-Sn_uobWAPl5tB9iEFZsdQyDJd5OPISLiYxXoJlgBz9ewUfo6UZM02XYrHUkJuWHe8Eur2PwR/s320/g_disneymovies_hauntedmansion_gallerystills_1_1617_dfed406f.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Disney's "Haunted Mansion"</td></tr></tbody></table>After what is certainly poised to be a grand, epic weekend,
with the winner likely to take a second weekend crown in this final week, Disney
is nevertheless entering themselves into the ring with their remake of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Haunted
Mansion</u></i></b>. The first “Haunted Mansion” came out in 2003 and was a
decent hit that year. Starring Eddie Murphy it opened to $24.3 million,
finishing with $75.8 million domestically and $155.8 million worldwide on a
reported $90 million budget. While this 2023 movie is essentially a remake of
that movie, it’s probably more accurately described as a second adaptation of
the popular Disney theme park attraction, located at Disneyland, Disney World,
and Tokyo Disneyland. Movies based on rides don’t always work out, but it
certainly did with “Pirates of the Caribbean” and every once in a while Disney
attempts to see if they can replicate that success with other ride to movie
adaptations. This certainly has the elements to work as a more family oriented
horror/comedy. The haunted house subgenre of horror has existed ever since
horror has existed, essentially. So it’s not too crazy of a stretch. The movie
is directed by Justin Simien and has a cast that’s headlined by LaKeith
Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, and Rosario Dawson. The
biggest question is why was this not released closer to Halloween instead of in
the middle of the summer? It’s projected to earn around the same as the 2003
movie in its opening, which probably wouldn’t be considered a success given
that we’re 20 years later. You would think that a September or October release
would’ve given it a boost as opposed to being in the shadow of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.”
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That’s mostly it for the weekend, and the month for that
matter. But there is two other smaller films scheduled for a wide release on
this weekend worth quickly mentioned. One of them is actually another horror
film, that being A24’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Talk to Me</u></i></b>. Although this is
probably the opposite of “Haunted Mansion” as it’s an adult-targeted
supernatural horror film that’s most definitely not for families. The movie
follows a group of friends who discover how to conjure spirits using a certain
embalmed hand. You grab the hand and say “talk to me.” Given the genre, this of
course goes from a fun thrill to a deadly threat. While this sounds like things
we’ve seen before, the movie had its debut already, initially at the Adelaide
Film Festival in Australia in October 2022, given that Australia is its country
of origin, then at both the Sundance Film Festival and South by Southwest Film
Festival in January and March of this year, respectively. And the reaction has
been very positive. After 62 reviews, it has a 97 percent score on Rotten
Tomatoes. The movie was directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, two brothers
who run the RackaRacka YouTube channel. Best case scenario would be an opening
like last year’s “Smile” or “The Black Phone,” both of which opened just over
$20 million. But that would depend on how heavy A24 decides to push their
campaign and how wide they actually release it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The other smaller release is another anime film, this time
being GKIDS’ release of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The First Slam Dunk</u></i></b>. See my
comments above on “Psycho-Pass Providence” on how anime can be a wild card at
the domestic box office. Another comparison in this instance might be the movie
“Suzume” from this April, which had already made over $300 million at the
international box office before then opening to $5 million here domestically. I
mention that because “The First Slam Dunk” is a movie that’s already made $262
million at the international box office, most of that coming from China, Japan,
and South Korea beginning at the end of last year. It also won the Japan
Academy Prize for Animation of the year. So its domestic launch is irrelevant.
But nevertheless it’s an anime sports film based on the “Slam Dunk” manga that
ran from 1990 to 1996. It follows the Shohoku High School basketball team
challenging the inter-high basketball champions, the Sannoh School. Central to
the story is the character named Ryota Miyagi, the point guard of the team
whose older brother of three years inspired him to play basketball.</span><o:p></o:p></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-44803357325035425992023-06-04T11:24:00.002-06:002023-06-04T11:24:59.159-06:00Movie Preview: June 2023<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMxDTG5YY1y5ut93vZnahgn4UNM7ru52NBHeipZiPiP9VpBzQrPbcMrW-yBa2GEj69HaMQWZbIHzVCT5uSss4uqmqCcXWmV1pxnM2dPZ3cy2FD5Dkh7QLZZKMlS1OWD4e-Dh3i7qV9wBxxK6JeawSEAk6v58bHTyyuOt1H3pSy4oEVGywPBh0WjL4wCQ/s1564/IMG_20230604_110335.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1564" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMxDTG5YY1y5ut93vZnahgn4UNM7ru52NBHeipZiPiP9VpBzQrPbcMrW-yBa2GEj69HaMQWZbIHzVCT5uSss4uqmqCcXWmV1pxnM2dPZ3cy2FD5Dkh7QLZZKMlS1OWD4e-Dh3i7qV9wBxxK6JeawSEAk6v58bHTyyuOt1H3pSy4oEVGywPBh0WjL4wCQ/w400-h272/IMG_20230604_110335.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">We are well underway with summer 2023 at the box office as
May kicked off what was a fairly healthy start to the summer. Sure, in comparing
calendar grosses, we still haven’t quite hit the levels of the pre-COVID summer
box office that saw eight Mays cross over $1 billion total at the domestic box
office between 2009 and 2019. In comparison, May 2023 settled in with $773.9 million, just below May 2022’s $785.9 million total. Although
in fairness, much of that was Hollywood staying mostly clear of “Guardians of
the Galaxy Vol. 3” before finishing with the one-two punch of “Fast X” and “The
Little Mermaid” in the last two weekends. But all things considered, not bad at
all. “Guardians 3” did great business, especially when looking at weekend holds
that showed very positive word of mouth, while “Fast X” and “The Little Mermaid”
got off to perfectly fine starts.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Enter June 2023. While I still don’t know if we’re at a
point where we’ll hit pre-COVID box office numbers, if May was the primer for
the summer, then June is where things will start firing on all cylinders in
terms of big releases almost every single weekend. Will all of them land as
expected? To be determined, of course. Oftentimes with too many releases, at
least one or two movies will end up lost in the shuffle. But at least on paper
this is looking like a very strong month, so let’s dive in and see what’s on
the table for moviegoers!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As always, release date information for this post is
courtesy of boxofficepro.com and the-numbers.com. The movies listed are the
ones currently scheduled for a wide release in the United States and Canada and
are subject to change.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">June 2 – 4</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeNIExlSo-KH_wFrjeSYyiQ-oq1Tlq6rCh3gH22s2eeHfbGRRzONLPDTdVAKcDM3td9oTG1rznjF0BhSQpzNX2033su6VTp7lPgpo8C_pNbHX8zk7hnspL9o5Rv5m8-R3OpM98VuU9pxbcsodTU4wpfEyCxNSU9NZOm-DZ2NsVeweF8-qJG-pSSJF53A/s2272/221213152642-01-spiderman-across-the-spider-verse-2023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1716" data-original-width="2272" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeNIExlSo-KH_wFrjeSYyiQ-oq1Tlq6rCh3gH22s2eeHfbGRRzONLPDTdVAKcDM3td9oTG1rznjF0BhSQpzNX2033su6VTp7lPgpo8C_pNbHX8zk7hnspL9o5Rv5m8-R3OpM98VuU9pxbcsodTU4wpfEyCxNSU9NZOm-DZ2NsVeweF8-qJG-pSSJF53A/s320/221213152642-01-spiderman-across-the-spider-verse-2023.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sony Animation’s "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse"</td></tr></tbody></table>We’ll start the month off with a movie that’s not only one
of the most anticipated movies of the summer, but also of the entire year as a
whole. And that’s Sony Animation’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse</u></i></b>.
This is, of course, the sequel to the 2018 movie “Spider-Man: Into the
Spider-Verse,” which introduced the world to Miles Morales, another young kid
who gets bitten by a radioactive spider and takes over the mantle of Spider-Man
after his world’s Peter Parker gets killed. It also introduced the world to
lots of other versions of Spider-People as issues with the multiverse sent a
lot of the Spider-People into Miles’ universe. After a very well received
origin to these characters and this universe, with a very unique animation
style, the world is now very ready to dive in and explore Miles’ next
adventures in the Spider-Verse, which promises more multiverse chaos and reviews that suggest fans of the first will be very pleased with the product
that the sequel has in store.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The box office story of “Into the Spider-Verse” is a very
intriguing one. In an era flooded with comic book films, “Into the Spider-Verse”
could be seen as a disappointment with an opening of just $35.4 million and a
final total of $190.2 million domestically, if compared to other comic book
films. However, in context of Sony Animation, that type of opening was par for
the course, about in the range of the Hotel Transylvania movies. And the $190.2
million domestic total is actually their highest, besting the $169.7 million of
“Hotel Transylvania 2.” So in that context, it did very well. But that said, “Across
the Spider-Verse” is about to blow the roof off of their studio. Not only did “Into
the Spider-Verse” hold well in theaters, as seen by those numbers, but it
steamrolled to an Oscar win for best animated feature, beating Disney behemoths
“Incredibles 2” and “Ralph Breaks the Internet." It’s also had a very long life
post-theatrical release, spending the last five years gaining a very large
following. And now that looks to translate to your traditional comic book
opening, with projections pegging it for a debut north of $115 million. With audience reaction resembling critical reaction, both of which are in the 90 percent
range on Rotten Tomatoes, this could be looking at a very healthy run
throughout the summer.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Across the Spider-Verse” isn’t the only wide release of
this weekend. Looking to counterprogram some of the blockbuster affair is the
Stephen King horror film <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Boogeyman</u></i></b>, which is
directed by Rob Savage from a screenplay by Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, and Mark
Heyman, and is an adaptation of the 1973 short story of the same name by
Stephen King. This is a movie distributed by 20th Century Studios, which of
course means it’s technically a Disney property. Reportedly, Disney was
initially planning to send it straight to Hulu, but opted for a theatrical
release upon positive test screenings. As such, any sort of theatrical revenue
will simply be a bonus, especially considering it’s moderately budgeted at $35
million. The premise involves a young family suffering from the recent death of
the mother. The father, a therapist, then has a patient show up to the house
that brings a terrifying entity that preys on the family’s grief and suffering.
While obviously not a Stephen King adaptation on the level of the “IT” films,
this is nevertheless tracking for an opening around $10-15 million, which would
put it in the range of other recent Stephen King films, such as “Doctor Sleep,”
“Pet Sematary,” and “The Dark Tower,” all of which finished between $30-60
million total domestically.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">June 9 – 11</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy3Y2rA8-30wQpfqXvdh53K-vfqiu6u1wjve78qL5E5lRWldEbrGuVPjDnDl8tlWXP7w-CQev-PmGGcpU23yefUTTO0VWVqVmnL01PpPvJr4SgXCTcH4b13RuyndNVD1mGvPpDjGJQyLcxJR-0p70i8nqMl6gW3fGO_vjXP2GbG11WYEl7UMCw9GoyOw/s1461/thumb_CFDA1BC1-6450-4F16-A1C8-BDAEEB2C9645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1461" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy3Y2rA8-30wQpfqXvdh53K-vfqiu6u1wjve78qL5E5lRWldEbrGuVPjDnDl8tlWXP7w-CQev-PmGGcpU23yefUTTO0VWVqVmnL01PpPvJr4SgXCTcH4b13RuyndNVD1mGvPpDjGJQyLcxJR-0p70i8nqMl6gW3fGO_vjXP2GbG11WYEl7UMCw9GoyOw/s320/thumb_CFDA1BC1-6450-4F16-A1C8-BDAEEB2C9645.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paramount's "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts"</td></tr></tbody></table>The second weekend of June is one that has only a single
wide release, that movie being in a tad bit of an awkward spot, sandwiched
between two highly anticipated comic book films. That movie is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Transformers:
Rise of the Beasts</u></i></b>. Quality aside, the Transformers movies used to
be huge box office draws. Adapted from the toys and the popular TV show, the
six more recent Transformers movies beginning in 2007 have totaled nearly $5
billion at the worldwide box office, the third and fourth movies both earning
over $1.1 billion worldwide. But now bringing quality back to the table,
eventually making movies that audiences don’t enjoy will come back to haunt
you. The fifth movie only made $602 million while the spin-off “Bumblebee” did only
$465 million. Still solid numbers, but far less than the $1.1 billion the
previous movies made. Franchise fatigue definitely kicked in. Five years after
the release of “Bumblebee,” do audiences care? Even though “Bumblebee” was more
well received, and essentially a reboot and the first not directed by Michael
Bay, there still is a lot of good will that needs to be built before audiences
return in numbers like they used to.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To that point, early tracking from Box Office Pro has the
movie opening in the $37-46 million range, finishing with $75-103 million
domestically. Of course domestic numbers are slightly less relevant with a
franchise that has been historically huge worldwide, but still, movies 2
through 4 opened between $97-108 million, before movie 5 fell to $44.6 million
and movie 6 (“Bumblebee”) opened to just $21.7 movie. Even if movie 7 increases
and sees numbers closer to movie 5, finishing with less than what movies 2-4
opened to might not be what Paramount was hoping for. In the movie’s defense,
though, it’s also not a Michael Bay directed film. Even though the review
embargo has not dropped as of me typing this post, Twitter buzz seems positive.
If it ends up being a liked movie, that would obviously help. But it still
faces the challenge of releasing directly in between “Across the Spider-Verse”
and “The Flash.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">June 16 – 18</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQpEDqnckinBvEGlr-qaLKiur5mKRL7931ksU-vDKJ7i7w2NVbVAmkxZPWxY2wD_QBkF9BnzZRuVvAa-ywuKdXRFvKyounTxgDXq2plu3U17m735QDGqh4d3_OH2ZFrqUp5jfKh16IrQ_cu3JShgCDyVLKxFCIGXqFVC6gIbF7q6W0n7yluyWUK78pzQ/s966/230213110742-trailer-the-flash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="966" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQpEDqnckinBvEGlr-qaLKiur5mKRL7931ksU-vDKJ7i7w2NVbVAmkxZPWxY2wD_QBkF9BnzZRuVvAa-ywuKdXRFvKyounTxgDXq2plu3U17m735QDGqh4d3_OH2ZFrqUp5jfKh16IrQ_cu3JShgCDyVLKxFCIGXqFVC6gIbF7q6W0n7yluyWUK78pzQ/s320/230213110742-trailer-the-flash.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warner Bros.' "The Flash"<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>After strong reviews out of “Across the Spider-Verse”
indicate that comic book fans will be very pleased with that movie’s final
product, just two weeks later another big comic book movie gets released that
early buzz suggests comic book fans will be very pleased with. That, of course,
is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The
Flash</u></i></b>. This is a movie from DC that has been a long time in the
works with a very troubled production that saw a carousel of directors attached
and many delays. The director they finally landed on is Andy Muschietti, which,
speaking of Stephen King earlier in this post, is the director of both “IT”
films. Despite what seemed like a disaster in the works, the movie could wind
up sticking the landing. James Gunn kicked off the positive buzz when, after
taking over for DC a few months back, in talking about the upcoming DC slate
mentioned that he had seen “The Flash” and considered it one of the best DC
movies ever made. Building off that, Warner Bros. screened the full movie to
attendees of CinemaCon this April, which certainly had Twitter buzzing as many
wound up agreeing with James Gunn’s claims of it being a great film. How that
translates to regular audiences and critics is yet to be seen, but it at least
shows the potential of it being a well-liked film that will also, according to
James Gunn, be an important turn in the DC Universe as it will reset the DC
timeline with its Flashpoint premise.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In regards to timing, while it could’ve initially come out
several years ago if things had gone right, it winds up getting released after
the conclusion of The CW’s TV series “The Flash,” which began in 2014 and ran
for nine seasons and 184 episodes, before concluding on May 24 of last month.
With fan reaction being quite negative towards the series’ finale, that could
stand to benefit this new movie. The movie also introduces Sasha Calle as this
universe’s Supergirl, which also comes after CW’s “Supergirl” series concluded
its six seasons at the end of 2021. While Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist are
still popular with fans, this will nevertheless stand as more of a passing of
the torch, per se, rather than running at the same time. Not to be ignored,
though, is Ezra Miller’s off-camera legal issues, which may turn many off of
this film, regardless of quality. That puts Warner Bros. in an awkward positive
that they’re so far choosing to ignore, perhaps counteracting with putting
Michael Keaton’s Batman front and center in the marketing. And any film with
Batman front and center usually does well, especially with the return of
Michael Keaton. All this combines for a multitude of variables and moving parts
that could send this in a variety of directions. But another $100 million
opener is very much in the cards.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Opening alongside “The Flash” is not simply just a movie
with hopes of providing counterprogramming, but rather aims to be an event of
its own and that is Pixar’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Elemental</u></i></b>. Pixar, of course,
has a very strong track record with providing quality films to family audiences
and with advertising in “Elemental” that has some being reminded of “Inside
Out,” there’s definitely strong potential, especially if reviews wind up
positive. Combine “Inside Out” with “Avatar,” the popular animated series, not
the blue people movies, and you’ve got “Elemental”? There are fire, water,
earth, and air people, or anthropomorphic element people that all live in their
separate communities, when it appears that, in a Romeo and Juliet sort of way,
a man from the water city begins a relationship with a girl from the fire city
in a Pixar film that might wind up being a romantic comedy? The real issue, in
terms of box office, might come more with Mother Disney rather than Pixar
themselves. After COVID hit, Disney sent the next three Pixar films straight to
Disney+, even when at least two of those could’ve been theatrical releases. And
now instead of being almost a guaranteed box office draw, some might be conditioned
that they will be able to wait for Disney+ for the new Pixar films, even if the
reviews come out positive.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There is a third movie scheduled for wide release this
weekend and that is the horror comedy <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Blackening</u></i></b>. While horror
comedy is certainly accurate, perhaps an even better label is horror parody.
With the tagline, “We can’t all die first,” this is a movie about a group of
black friends who go to a cabin in the woods and get hunted by a mysterious
villain who captures one of their friends and forces the others to play a
violent game in order to get her back. This is, of course, poking fun at a lot
of different horror tropes while examining racism in America. The movie
actually premiered last year at the Toronto International film Festival and
early word doesn’t seem too terribly positive. However, comedy is certainly
subjective and there’s potentially a world that can exist where this movie
connects well with its target audience and becomes a sleeper hit. Director Tim
Story has plenty of experience there with movies like “Ride Along” and “Think
Like a Man” that did quite well despite less than stellar reviews.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">June 23 – 25</span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZRujMhthUB_Wh53QIozp0VHtj9IBJSczEgYh1Fit3tEP9kp0LMw3FgfPMVKGYBc4bkPR6LuPOjaEptA2xGZB6FZ85EuMOVz0HKJEEv6EOn3IvvKnnoJJzhYk4N-DVR3TQDcmFF3HkoNUanD89-qYLCRE5RSFyCS51Z4DsOC651SJ-jgO1IyRY339ayg/s1615/Screen-Shot-2023-03-09-at-10.13.32-AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1202" data-original-width="1615" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZRujMhthUB_Wh53QIozp0VHtj9IBJSczEgYh1Fit3tEP9kp0LMw3FgfPMVKGYBc4bkPR6LuPOjaEptA2xGZB6FZ85EuMOVz0HKJEEv6EOn3IvvKnnoJJzhYk4N-DVR3TQDcmFF3HkoNUanD89-qYLCRE5RSFyCS51Z4DsOC651SJ-jgO1IyRY339ayg/s320/Screen-Shot-2023-03-09-at-10.13.32-AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sony Pictures' "No Hard Feelings"</td></tr></tbody></table>After three weeks in June full of potential summer
blockbusters, the fourth weekend of June might be a cooling off week before we
get to another blockbuster in the final weekend, but there’s still a couple of
wide releases to talk about, the first being the Jennifer Lawrence led comedy </span><b style="font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>No
Hard Feelings</u></i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">. After a blistering hot start to her career that saw
four Oscar nominations between 2010 and 2015, including a win for “Silver
Linings Playbook,” as well as a major blockbuster lead role as Katniss in “The
Hunger Games,” Jennifer Lawrence has seemingly taken it easy recently. Which,
all power to her. And perhaps now she’s having a bit of fun with this more edgy
comedy that sees her star as a woman who takes a job listing from two parents
looking for someone to help bring their introverted, socially awkward
19-year-old son out of his shell before he heads off to college, which
seemingly leads to quite the chaotic adventure with Lawrence, now in her early
30s, and this older teenage boy. This comes from director Gene Stupnitsky,
director of “Good Boys,” which was another edgy comedy that became a sleeper
late summer 2019, opening to $21.4 million and finishing with $83.1 million
domestically, numbers that early tracking suggests “No Hard Feelings” could
potentially hit.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">From the director Nick Cassavetes, director of “The Notebook”
and “The Other Woman” comes the other wide release of the weekend, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>God
is a Bullet</u></i></b>, a dark and gritty crime thriller that looks to be the
exact opposite type of movie as those other two. In fact, this is Cassavetes’
first directed film since “The Other Woman,” which was released in 2014. The
movie is based on the novel of the same name from Boston Teran, and according
the trailer, is inspired by true events, which could mean a whole host of
things. Anyways, the film follows a detective played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
who finds his ex-wife murdered and his daughter kidnapped by an insidious cult and
decides to take matters in his own hands to save his daughter, and is helped by
the cult’s only female escapee. Co-starring in the film is Jamie Foxx, January
Jones, and Maika Monroe. The distribution rights to the film were acquired in
April of this year by Wayward Entertainment and will be their first
theatrically released film. A digital rollout will also reportedly begin in
early July, so all of that means this is probably not expected to be a huge
release.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">No other new wide releases, but a couple of quick notable
expansions to mention. The movie <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Past Lives</u></i></b> was released in
Sundance this year to strong reviews and has since been picked up by A24, who
released it in limited release on June 2 and has remained quite buzzy in said
limited release. The movie currently holds a 96 percent score on Rotten
Tomatoes. It’s the debut film for director Celine Song and tells the story of
two childhood friends who were torn apart when and reunited 20 years later for
a week.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The other expansion scheduled for this week is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Asteroid
City</u></i></b>, the latest from acclaimed director Wes Anderson, which is
currently scheduled for a limited release on June 16 before its scheduled
before its wide expansion. Wes Anderson definitely has a unique style that has
helped him grow a devoted group of niche followers with movies like “The Grand
Budapest Hotel,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” and “The Royal Tenenbaums,” as well as the
animated movies “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Isle of Dogs.” This movie is set in
1955 around a Junior Stargazing event in a desert city, with romance,
coming-of-age drama, and perhaps world-changing events disrupting the
convention. And whatever else Wes Anderson decided to throw in there, which
could be quite a bit. As is typical for his films, the movie is an acting party
with a long list of stars, many of whom are probably cameos. But the top-billed
names include Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright,
and Tilda Swinton.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">June 30 – July 2</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOOgQp4AYHTP1DBHpCaTbbhN3xDlxnKUq_i5exN0VZ2eYFHm1wUh_w9Pd15izDLwpFZBsFGyxiOWQVMi6gUhBelJKwqWaE1jS11XnzTQZ3tflPzVGDHVbBT7L27hz0905nX6NPxM4WFxrW93j8FBmx9Su8q4ZByguk7KrJf5ZjC4JHXNeK_LzNROnmag/s933/Indiana-Jones-header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="933" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOOgQp4AYHTP1DBHpCaTbbhN3xDlxnKUq_i5exN0VZ2eYFHm1wUh_w9Pd15izDLwpFZBsFGyxiOWQVMi6gUhBelJKwqWaE1jS11XnzTQZ3tflPzVGDHVbBT7L27hz0905nX6NPxM4WFxrW93j8FBmx9Su8q4ZByguk7KrJf5ZjC4JHXNeK_LzNROnmag/s320/Indiana-Jones-header.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walt Disney's "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny"</td></tr></tbody></table>The final weekend of June only has one day in June and two
days in July. And actually, with July 4th the following Tuesday, this could end
up as more of a 5-day opening weekend sort of thing. But anyways, after two
superhero films with a Transformers movie sandwiched in between, we finish the
month with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny</u></i></b>. Despite the
extremely poor reputation of the fourth film in the franchise, 2008’s “Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull,” fans have nevertheless been highly anticipating this
fifth and what could be the final film in the franchise, or at least the final
film for Harrison Ford as the titular star of Indiana Jones. This adventure,
split between two timelines in 1944 and 1969, centers around a mysterious dial
known as the Antikythera that they’re trying to keep away from the Nazis, while
Indy has a whole host of personal matters that are making life difficult for
him on top of all that. While there are some returning characters, like John
Rhys-Davies as Sallah, there’s also a whole host of new actors joining, such as
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelson, Boyd Holbrook, and Antonio Banderas. The
obvious missing party is director Steven Spielberg, his first time not
directing an Indiana Jones film. Taking the torch from Spielberg is James
Mangold, director of “Logan.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Given the high anticipation of the return of a beloved
franchise, this is a movie that has the potential to play out like last year’s “Top
Gun: Maverick,” using 80s nostalgia to boost a 2020s sequel, if reaction is
positive. Unfortunately, though, Disney made the bold choice to release the
movie at Cannes Film Festival and it was not received very well as it’s
currently hovering around the 50 percent mark on Rotten Tomatoes. Instead of
boosting the momentum of the film leading up to the release, that type of mixed
reaction might be the type of thing that stalls the movie instead, especially
since many fans probably still feel a bit betrayed with “Crystal Skull.” If
word on the street is that “Dial of Destiny” is not much better, that might
cause people to stay home. That said, despite all the hate the “Crystal Skull”
received, it still managed a $100.1 million opening weekend and a domestic
total of $317.1 million. Adjust those numbers for ticket price inflation and
the-numbers.com says that’s a 2023 equivalent of a $145.7 million opening and a
$461.3 million domestic total. Not bad for a movie everyone seems to hate.
Might the goodwill of the original trilogy still cause fans to show up for “Dial
of Destiny,” even if they’re aware this could be another disappointment?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The other movie opening this weekend, and the final movie of
the month discussed in this post, is the latest from DreamWorks Animation, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Ruby
Gillman, Teenage Kraken</u></i></b>. One could potentially say that this is a
fairly well timed movie, considering the recent release of Disney’s “The Little
Mermaid,” as this is a movie that takes that mermaid premise and flips it on
its heels. The mermaids are still the creatures people in this movie’s universe
loves, with the kraken seen as the evil counterparts. However, this universe’s “truth”
is the exact opposite as the mermaids are actually evil and the kraken are
good. Ruby Gillman is a teenage girl who really wants to just live a normal
teenage life, but discovers she is actually a kraken, and part of a royal line
of kraken destined to help protect the seas from the evil mermaids, one of whom
is the new popular girl in the school. So Ruby has some choices to make to embrace
who she is and help protect the ones she loves. DreamWorks has been trying to
push this one pretty hard, but the ultimate big obstacle here is the presence
of “Across the Spider-Verse” and “Elemental” all fighting for the family
audiences this month with “Ruby Gillman.” And the former two might be the ones
more poised to steal the attention, which means “Ruby Gillman” will likely need
positive reviews and good word of mouth to be recognized in a competitive
summer market.</span><o:p></o:p></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-20010582235779625592023-05-07T02:03:00.000-06:002023-05-07T02:03:07.039-06:00Movie Preview: May 2023<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXGoST7CTguVvWoalNOWfynAnV4Y7c0wjl7wjGWSQdGwmEnmvoK849stHqdj-Yyhvpj7W6OgIvEWcmi2QnROsu-iMWxEOd_wP_x55m5OgsmfUv6IY3pqV3RqUSZuSJlji0fic8N2FD4CjLB4i2Jns-rb7wb0z-IQSO8Vn3pe51dOV8iSQC2VU3TEUUaQ/s1564/IMG_20230507_015711.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1121" data-original-width="1564" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXGoST7CTguVvWoalNOWfynAnV4Y7c0wjl7wjGWSQdGwmEnmvoK849stHqdj-Yyhvpj7W6OgIvEWcmi2QnROsu-iMWxEOd_wP_x55m5OgsmfUv6IY3pqV3RqUSZuSJlji0fic8N2FD4CjLB4i2Jns-rb7wb0z-IQSO8Vn3pe51dOV8iSQC2VU3TEUUaQ/w400-h286/IMG_20230507_015711.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The summer movie season at the box office is
officially upon us and it’s time to take a look at month one of four. Sure,
actual summer doesn’t start until June 21 if you’re following the summer
solstice via the Astronomical seasons or simply the beginning of June if you’re
following the Meteorological seasons, but the Hollywood tradition is to begin a
month early in May and we’re already underway with Marvel kicking it off with
their latest superhero film, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” so we’ll take a
look at that and the other May releases. At initial glance, June is looking
like the most crowded month of the summer, but May still has some huge titles
to talk about.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Although if you look at it from a financial
prospective, it would almost look like summer has already begun at the box
office as “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has completely dominated the box
office, crushing all sorts of animated movie records on its way to already
earning over $1 billion worldwide and over $500 million domestically in just
the month of April, making for the highest grossing April on record outside the
two Aprils that had “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame” on the
calendar, starting the summer season a week early. So these blockbusters on
schedule for this summer will hopefully look to continue the momentum of “Mario”
and add to the continued success and theatrical recovery of the box office.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As always, release date information for this
post is courtesy of boxofficepro.com and the-numbers.com. The movies listed are
the ones currently scheduled for a wide release in the United States and Canada
and are subject to change.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">May 5 – 7</span></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbi3Qxsu3IK4Hd_yeSWUjnjr2x1Cxt7RPupVoPZte99oWBZ5KAtiQ5REvsQ86w_--oXlQTWLeFL4NonVWvLru2_dciip6tgnR3d7_o_-6XXoxGLmIvj5vT1k9JafG4rKlAEkDNF3Z3f9jQU_tWzO1K_ZC0YurIzaFoN2G1LT3GKXaVyPKq6RUM7wogPw/s1333/Marvel-Studios-Guardians-of-the-Galaxy-Volume-3-Official-Trailer-01-120122-3b52642d616b4971af5dec2fed483bdd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbi3Qxsu3IK4Hd_yeSWUjnjr2x1Cxt7RPupVoPZte99oWBZ5KAtiQ5REvsQ86w_--oXlQTWLeFL4NonVWvLru2_dciip6tgnR3d7_o_-6XXoxGLmIvj5vT1k9JafG4rKlAEkDNF3Z3f9jQU_tWzO1K_ZC0YurIzaFoN2G1LT3GKXaVyPKq6RUM7wogPw/s320/Marvel-Studios-Guardians-of-the-Galaxy-Volume-3-Official-Trailer-01-120122-3b52642d616b4971af5dec2fed483bdd.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3"</td></tr></tbody></table>As previously mentioned, it is tradition to
start the summer movie season off with the next big Marvel movie. This has been
the case with very few exceptions for as long as the Marvel Cinematic Universe
has existed, dating back, of course, to May 2008 with “Iron Man.” This year it’s
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Guardians
of the Galaxy Vol. 3</u></i></b> that kicks the summer off. It’s been six years
since “Guardians 2” kicked off summer season of 2017 with $146.5 million.
However, with how the MCU is structured, the characters have remained relevant
in this six years between films, showing up in several places, specifically having
major roles in “Infinity War” and “Endgame.” In their first adventure together
following “Endgame,” the plot centers around Rocket Raccoon and his past
history with the villainous presence of The High Evolutionary, as played by
Chuckwudi Iwuji. The rest of the Guardians are trying to save Rocket and get
caught up in the web of The High Evolutionary’s current schemes.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While the characters in the film have the
ability to continue to show up in future Marvel projects, including whatever “Avengers”
film is on the docket, James Gunn will not be returning for a “Guardians 4” as
he is off to lead the future of DC. The likelihood of Marvel attempting a
fourth movie with a different director seems slim, so this is essentially written
as the swan song or final ride for this sub-franchise in the MCU, which should
help boost interest.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Financially speaking, prior to the current
estimates from the weekend being released, I would’ve looked at the previous
Marvel films to gauge where “Guardians 3” might open to. Outside looking at
that $146.5 million opening of “Guardians 2,” the previous four films opened
with the following: “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” with $187.4
million, “Thor: Love and Thunder” with $144.2 million, “Black Panther: Wakanda
Forever” with $181.3 million, and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” with
$106.1 million. So despite grumblings from fans that have made Marvel seem more
vulnerable than in the past, people have still showed up and thus I would’ve
said that a $150 million opening would be in the cards. However, as I type this
on Saturday, Thursday night preview and Friday opening day totals have been
more in line with “Quantumania.” So maybe this is a tad bit lower than
expected, but it still continues the trend of $100 million openings for the
MCU, which if you add in “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” is at five in a row,
looking to be six with “Guardians 3.”</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">While most audiences will be heading out to
see “Guardians 3,” there is one other option in regards to new releases. Sony’s
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Love
Again</u></i></b> has hit about 2,700 theaters, although it opened in fourth
place on Friday, behind the fifth weekend of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and
the third weekend of “Evil Dead Rise.” With a debut at or below $3 million, “Love
Again” is a rom-com about a woman who sends texts to the phone number of her fiancé
who has passed away to help ease the pain and winds up forming a connection
with the man who the number has been reassigned to. The movie stars Priyanka
Chopra Jones and Sam Heughan in the lead roles, as well as Céline Dion as a fictional
version of herself, as the man receiving the texts is a journalist who goes to Céline
for advice after getting the assignment of writing a feature about her. Céline
has written five new songs for the film while also having six of her current
songs woven in as well. The movie is based on the 2016 German film “SMS f</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">ür Dich,” which itself is based on the
2009 novel of the same name by Sofie Cramer.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">May 12 – 14</span></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ah9aWaM6XN_nbYiS9jF1pWbUk1e77II2HWgdoA_HDKnOfAMxXS4TQmsQwps-2M5D7GF21iFyR3Hn5oW-HGcO1RTP_G6mlV-Q503HFAumgKYc-ncdWaFd5yE6J3XRO9cWTTMT-7KhVZi0kIBbnBYTbp6f8ys7_5cAlpxcAmJIFihoqHBOnqMZOxkJ7A/s2287/4195_D018_00176_RC3%25202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1706" data-original-width="2287" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ah9aWaM6XN_nbYiS9jF1pWbUk1e77II2HWgdoA_HDKnOfAMxXS4TQmsQwps-2M5D7GF21iFyR3Hn5oW-HGcO1RTP_G6mlV-Q503HFAumgKYc-ncdWaFd5yE6J3XRO9cWTTMT-7KhVZi0kIBbnBYTbp6f8ys7_5cAlpxcAmJIFihoqHBOnqMZOxkJ7A/s320/4195_D018_00176_RC3%25202.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Focus Features' "Book Club: The Next Chapter"</td></tr></tbody></table>The second weekend of May will mostly
dominated by the second weekend of “Guardians 3.” Before getting to the long
list of smaller releases, allow me to state real quick that it’ll be curious to
watch how much “Guardians 3” will fall. While Marvel is on a good stream of
high openings, they’re also on a streak of extra sharp falls in their second
weekends, most falling 60 percent or more. After opening to $106.1 million, “Quantumania”
earlier this year fell nearly 70 percent in its second weekend with just $31.9
million. It’s worth pointing out, though, that “Guardians 3” currently has an
audience score of 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with an A on CinemaScore. That
means word of mouth should be pretty strong with how opening weekend audiences
have responded. Either way it’ll win the box office in its second weekend, but
will positive word of mouth help it hold better than the other recent Marvel
films?</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Opening in a very distant second place will be
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Book
Club: The Next Chapter</u></i></b>. This movie is a sequel to the 2018 movie “Book
Club,” which starred Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary
Steenburgen as a group of older friends whose lives changed after reading “50
Shades of Grey.” You may or may not have heard or seen that movie, but it was
actually quite the sleeper hit back in summer of 2018, providing
counter-programming to “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Deadpool 2” that month. It
only opened to $13.6 million, but it held remarkably well, finishing with over
five times it’s opening weekend at $68.6 million domestically and crossing $100
million worldwide. So now all the ladies are back and they’re off on a European
vacation together as one of the ladies is now engaged. Whether or not the movie
is able to repeat the feat of its predecessor is yet to be seen, but it is at
least looking to open in about the same range. Similarly themed and cast, while
sharing Jane Fonda as a cast member, “80 for Brady” also opened to $12.7
million earlier this year.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Outside “Book Club: The Next Chapter,” there
are four other smaller films scheduled for a wide release that are looking to
fight for some sort of positioning in the top 10 in whatever various levels of
wide release they’re actually being put in. I’m not sure exactly how they’re
going to stack together, but the first one I’m bringing up is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Knights
of the Zodiac</u></i></b>, titled in Japan as “Saint Seiya: The Beginning,” as
this is a live-action adaptation of the Japanese manga series “Saint Seiya,”
which was released between 1986 and 1990 and had 28 volumes. Released right
along with that was a 114-episode anime TV series released in Japan from 1986
to 1989, with a handful of other smaller movies and shows since then. And while
anime has grown in popularity recently, live-action adaptations of anime have
mostly not been received well and this one appears to be no different. It got
released in a handful of countries, Japan included, back in April and so far
has a 4.7 score out of 10 on IMDb, which is not a good early sign.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Next up is the directorial debut of actor
Charlie Day with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Fool’s Paradise</u></i></b>. Charlie Day is currently having success
as a part of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” as the voice of Luigi, but he’s been
around the block for a while, perhaps most known for playing the character
Charlie Kelly in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” His first step into the
directorial chair has been in the works since 2018 and stars himself in the
lead role as a mute man just released from a mental health facility who gets
found by a publicist due to him looking just like a method actor who won’t
leave his trailer. With the help of a powerful producer, this publicist helps
this mute man become quite the big celebrity, which leads him on quite the
journey. Starring with Day is a huge party of actors that includes Ken Jeong,
Kate Beckinsale, Adrien Brody, Jason Sudeikis, Edie Falco, Jason Bateman,
Common, the late Ray Liotta, and John Malkovich.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The last two I was a bit unsure of due to the
distributor, so I’m not sure how big of a release they are, but I can at least
verify that the Ben Affleck sci-fi crime thriller <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Hypnotic</u></i></b> at least
exists. It was released at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March and is
directed by Robert Rodriguez, with Affleck as the lead star. Based on the
trailer, it looks like potentially quite the trip, initially seeming
straightforward as a crime thriller with Affleck playing a police detective
whose life has fallen apart following the abduction of his 7-year-old daughter.
But then a mysterious man shows up and things start to get weirder and
trippier. In an interview with Collider back in 2021, Rodriguez said that he
started writing the movie way back in 2002 and said it’s like a Hitchcock
thriller on steroids. The hang-up I speak of is that it’s distributed by
Ketchup Entertainment, a distribution company I’ve never heard of. On their
website, they claim to have been around since 2012, but looking through their
filmography it appears that they’ve mostly released smaller European films.
This is their first U.S. theatrical released, so exactly what they’re planning
and how many theaters is something I guess we’ll find out.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Last and possibly least on the weekend is the
smaller animated film <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Rally Road Racers</u></i></b>. This is
more of a smaller, independently made animated film rather than something
coming from a big studio and is released by Viva Kids and helped produced by a
few other production companies that are hard to get information on. The
trailer, which was only released a few weeks ago, has just 10,000 views and
looks like not a very high quality film. But nevertheless they did convince both
J.K. Simmons and John Cleese to voice roles. And if it happens to be playing
around you and your kids want to get their Fast and Furious kick in, without
actually seeing the next movie we’ll be talking about this is a story about a
slow moving mammal who wages a bet to be part of a big four-day race to save
his grandmother’s house. It’s kind of a “Tortoise and the Hare” meets “Fast and
Furious” sort of thing, but for really young kids.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">May 19 – 21</span></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmoce2EOQPS-HLED1avWo17d5Or-Y2_t4i4qddlovpvKDM5XRue8CKJ0nOkG5BDhv97qf2xfiM7lUIu7PiqSCHfz1eeLXQbLej1BaQ21oSxrNspTD4h-a2ff-GKu5FJnoy1zEUikIj5xnhiKxb3t_8gA4xHwaUdEuUb1KdeIKZn0_3tOMdfC-ZSA-zWA/s1417/2558_D102_00097R.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1054" data-original-width="1417" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmoce2EOQPS-HLED1avWo17d5Or-Y2_t4i4qddlovpvKDM5XRue8CKJ0nOkG5BDhv97qf2xfiM7lUIu7PiqSCHfz1eeLXQbLej1BaQ21oSxrNspTD4h-a2ff-GKu5FJnoy1zEUikIj5xnhiKxb3t_8gA4xHwaUdEuUb1KdeIKZn0_3tOMdfC-ZSA-zWA/s320/2558_D102_00097R.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Universal's "Fast X"</td></tr></tbody></table>After a weekend of a bunch of smaller films
that is basically Hollywood giving Marvel some space, Hollywood is back in the
third weekend with their next big blockbuster, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Fast X</u></i></b>. And yeah,
this is the only film currently scheduled for a wide release, so Vin Diesel and
company will have theaters all to themselves. To the uninitiated it might seem
a bit mind-blowing as to how a simple street racing movie has created a
franchise that has now endured over 20 years and 11 movies – 10 in the main
saga and one spin-off. But yeah, this franchise has been on quite the journey,
adding just about every Hollywood actor along the way and even making it to
space in the most recent one. But, believe it or not, they might be finally
coming to end? At least that’s the tagline here. “The end of the road begins.”
The plan for a while has been to make the 10th and 11th film a two-part finale,
with the 11th film planned for a 2025 release. Although it seems a bit doubtful
that they’ll let this franchise completely go. It seems likely that they’ll at
least keep it going with various spin-offs, but we’ll see.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The main conflict involves the addition of
Jason Momoa joining the fun as the villain of the film, playing the character
of Dante Reyes, the son of drug lord Hernan Reyes from “Fast Five.” Dante is
seeking revenge against Dom and crew for the death of his father Hernan. And by
the looks of it, Jason Momoa seems like he’s relishing his opportunity to be
the villain in this movie.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps the biggest obstacle of the movie is
the budget, which is reported to be a massive $340 million, making this one of
the most expensive movies ever made. Not helping is the diminishing returns of
the franchise. “F9” opened to $70 million, making $173 million domestically,
which is closer to the spin-off “Hobbs & Shaw” than “The Fate of the
Furious,” which opened to $98 million and made $225 million domestically. But
the domestic numbers are almost irrelevant as this is a worldwide franchise.
The seventh and eighth films were both $1 billion films, while “Hobbs & Shaw”
and “F9” both made over $700 million. Given the budget, Universal is probably
hoping “Fast X” goes back to being a $1 billion film, in which case they can
probably blame the pandemic for “F9” not doing quite as well. But either way,
it’s probably fine. They just got a tad bit carried away with the money thing.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">May 26 – 29</span></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoKckkWLbi0_A_bnQswt5FJsQZ_ZdlxoIEoJwBSOW-XG1KaNenoxZXXhOyM3HiBqYWNoxkkbxiBpj4oCBLBTNQdKZoEnAUOzb7ydnYJDIdgIujIpVf_iDAf80lyFMxy3D_YxURmR3jWEJXrhdHowkcpZ5nhN-tLB09b9KRA_p43sXZRNDr0AXdpizmmg/s1333/The-Little-Mermaid-Live-Action-04-100622-f22b0c34d1ea444cb120638717eba961.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoKckkWLbi0_A_bnQswt5FJsQZ_ZdlxoIEoJwBSOW-XG1KaNenoxZXXhOyM3HiBqYWNoxkkbxiBpj4oCBLBTNQdKZoEnAUOzb7ydnYJDIdgIujIpVf_iDAf80lyFMxy3D_YxURmR3jWEJXrhdHowkcpZ5nhN-tLB09b9KRA_p43sXZRNDr0AXdpizmmg/s320/The-Little-Mermaid-Live-Action-04-100622-f22b0c34d1ea444cb120638717eba961.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Disney's "The Little Mermaid"</td></tr></tbody></table>The fourth and final weekend of May is the
four-day Memorial Day weekend. And although this is another busy weekend with
five films, there’s really only one main event and that’s Disney’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The
Little Mermaid</u></i></b>. Yep, laugh and roll your eyes all you want, but
Disney seems to be basing their decisions with these constant live-action
remakes on their bank account and box office receipts rather than social media
reaction. And despite the whining and constant complaining, people keep showing
up to see these movies, so Disney keeps to be putting them out. And although
not all of them have been massive hits, and several recent ones have gone
straight to Disney+, the three that have scored huge are the three Disney
Renaissance films, “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin” and “The Lion King.” So it
makes perfect sense for “The Little Mermaid” to be up next, again from a
financial vantage point. And although they’ve maybe put less effort into a few
of the Disney+ movies, it seems like they’ve realized that “The Little Mermaid”
is their big money maker, so they went all out in at least attempting to make
this a big, popular summer blockbuster.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">No need to describe what “The Little Mermaid”
is, especially since Disney doesn’t really stray from the idea of doing mostly
carbon-copy remakes, but this is directed by Rob Marshall, director of the best
picture winning musical “Chicago,” as well as two other big Disney musicals in “Into
the Woods” and “Mary Poppins Returns.” Lin-Manuel Miranda is back with Disney
getting his paycheck for making music for them. Singer and actress Halle Bailey,
perhaps most known for being one half of the musical duo Chloe x Halle, is
Ariel. Highlights from the rest of the cast include Melissa McCarthy as Ursula,
Javier Bardem as King Triton, Jonah Hauer King as Prince Eric, and Daveed
Diggs, Jacob Tremblay, and Awkwafina voicing some of the animal friends. Perhaps
the best financial comparison is “Aladdin” also opening on Memorial Day weekend
in 2019. It opened to $91.5 million over the 3-day and $116.8 million over the
4-day. It went onto make $355.6 million domestically and $1.046 billion
worldwide.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As far as the other four releases from this weekend,
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Kandahar</u></i></b>
is another Gerard Butler action film. This time Butler plays an undercover CIA operative
stuck deep in Afghanistan and has to fight his way out with his Afghan
translator when his identity is leaked. The easy box office comparison here is “Plane”
from this year, another Gerard Butler action film that opened to $10.3 million.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">About My Father</span></u></i></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
is a comedy that stars Sebastian Maniscalco as himself in a movie loosely based
on his actual life, where he tells his his immigrant father Salvo, played by
Robert De Niro, that he plans on proposing to his girlfriend. After which,
Salvo insists on joining them for a weekend with her parents. The movie is
directed by Laura Terruso from a screenplay written by Maniscalco and Austen
Earl.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Also starring in a movie based on his own life
experiences is Bert Kreischer playing himself in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Machine</u></i></b>. The
premise is Kreischer and his father are kidnapped by those Bert wronged 20
years ago while drunk on a college semester abroad in Russia. The story
revolves around how he inadvertently helped the Russian mafia rob a train while
on this college trip, which earned him the nickname “The Machine.” Kreischer is
a stand-up comedian and podcaster and this movie is based on a 2016 comedy
routine that he told about this story. Starring along with Kreischer is Mark
Hamill playing his father.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And finally, A24 will be releasing the
Sundance film <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>You Hurt My Feelings</u></i></b>. This is written and directed by Nicole
Holofcener and is comedy-drama starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as an author named
Beth who overhears her husband giving his honest reaction to her latest novel
when he told her that he thought it was great. A couple of pull quote the
trailer uses from Sundance reviews is that the movie is “a hilarious look at
the little white lies we tell our loved ones” (Consequence Film) and “a story
about how love means always having to say you’re sorry” (Slate).</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So yeah, as mentioned, “The Little Mermaid” is
the biggest attraction of the weekend, but these other four films will at least
provide options to those who maybe are less enthused about seeing another
carbon copy remake of a Disney animated film.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-57623706378528610902023-04-11T01:47:00.000-06:002023-04-11T01:47:10.017-06:00Movie Preview: April 2023<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6TqOdzE83EjEIDg-HLgyyfb2AzeY0XiOXvDquyMUGZb4jOqXIK_v3VBEP-AxJ-dLNd1xbsLYb9BMPN276RCM-Sa6F5fus9EI4zRMt9MPbal0eNB_tLAVyiRRp7smeSNg-SP-K2ba4xjvmQNYP30Sia3-PABfa_QgtnAI3A0El-Vk6lVcRuDVV4yhVyA/s1564/IMG_20230411_013249.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1101" data-original-width="1564" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6TqOdzE83EjEIDg-HLgyyfb2AzeY0XiOXvDquyMUGZb4jOqXIK_v3VBEP-AxJ-dLNd1xbsLYb9BMPN276RCM-Sa6F5fus9EI4zRMt9MPbal0eNB_tLAVyiRRp7smeSNg-SP-K2ba4xjvmQNYP30Sia3-PABfa_QgtnAI3A0El-Vk6lVcRuDVV4yhVyA/w400-h281/IMG_20230411_013249.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It was a very successful
March for the box office, so long as you’re not DC. But the other major
franchise films that opened – “Creed III,” “Scream VI,” and “John Wick: Chapter
4” – all had franchise high openings. The jury is still out on the new attempted
franchise in “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” but it at least
opened higher than was expected after getting positive reviews across the board.
This definitely made things feel like an early summer month at the box office,
which has often been the case for March.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Normally April ends up being
the calm before the storm. The quiet month in between two blockbuster filled
months via March and May. But Mario said we’re having none of that and might
singlehandedly push the month to being as big as its two neighboring months.
More on that in a second. The rest of the month’s releases will make this about
par for the course, though. So not a ton of help for Mario in terms of big
releases. But as also the case with April, there’s a lot to talk about in terms
of quantity. Whether or not many humans will be particularly interested in
comparison is yet to be seen. But nevertheless we will discuss the options.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Noting that the weekend of
March 31 – April 2 was covered in my March preview a month ago, we’re only one
weekend behind here. So we’ll recap what just happened this past week, while
previewing the upcoming three. As always, release date information for this
post is courtesy of boxofficepro.com and the-numbers.com. The movies listed are
the ones currently scheduled for a wide release in the United States and Canada
and are subject to change.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">April 7 – 9</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFqs16-dXEbGrWbzoDem8ycoMyrxIv6ptwqm-LENbARx6d_ZD0yF58rq7i8TPKeTp-jKrTyb9UwjbdlKCu8v6CM7vptscapl-PlQhcsP2_Yw018-rcy_BxxZi2Zand9DzjyVttXTFrmXArFaikva9CBeJW9f7FOSF86NdrscXFCSlXhdp7CzN6KpzU9g/s894/super-mario-movie-mushroom-kingdom.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="894" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFqs16-dXEbGrWbzoDem8ycoMyrxIv6ptwqm-LENbARx6d_ZD0yF58rq7i8TPKeTp-jKrTyb9UwjbdlKCu8v6CM7vptscapl-PlQhcsP2_Yw018-rcy_BxxZi2Zand9DzjyVttXTFrmXArFaikva9CBeJW9f7FOSF86NdrscXFCSlXhdp7CzN6KpzU9g/s320/super-mario-movie-mushroom-kingdom.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Illumination's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie "</td></tr></tbody></table>We live in an era where
studios are looking frantically for the next big movie franchise to cash in on.
And while many of these mines of content have been explored quite a bit,
multiple times over in certain cases, there is one mine that had almost not
been touched. Nintendo. For the record, this was not out of a lack of desire
from studios, but rather came from a stingy stance on the side of Nintendo
themselves. But the gate has now been opened and Universal and Illumination may
have struck absolute gold. We’re of course talking about <b><i><u>The Super Mario Bros. Movie</u></i></b>,
which, if you haven’t heard the news, just experienced what one might call
cinema-changing box office revenue. I don’t need to inform you that this movie
exists or tell you anything about what it’s about. The numbers say you were
well aware and probably have already seen it at this point. But nevertheless,
the staggering opening definitely deserves a bit more reflection on what it
means than I might normally give.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Here’s the numbers. After opening
on Wednesday, April 5, “Super Mario Bros.” opened with a 5-day total of $204.6
million, with $146.4 million of that coming on the traditional 3-day opening.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In regards to expectations,
or at the least what I was expecting heading in, I knew very well that this had
a lot of buzz going into it and would do very well, especially given that
Illumination has an excellent track record, combined with the fact that they
were adapting one of the most popular fictional characters ever. I was looking
at the highest opening weekend ever for Illumination, which was “Minions” in
2015 with $115.7 million. There were two other instances where Illumination
also opened an animated movie above $100 million and that was “Minions: The
Rise of Gru” last year with $107.0 million and “The Secret Life of Pets” in
2016 with $104.4 million. So conceivably it would make perfect sense for “Mario”
to hit somewhere in that range. But the fact that it opened on a Wednesday made
me wonder if its box office would be a bit more spread out, which often happens
for movies getting a 5-day weekend. Thus I had my eye on “Despicable Me 2,”
which also opened on a Wednesday, making $84.2 over the traditional 3-day
weekend, but $143.1 million over the 5-day weekend. And a tad bit for inflation
since 2013 and somewhere around $100 million for the 3-day made sense.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Box Office Pro’s official
projection leading into Wednesday of last week was $112 million for the 3-day
and $164 million for the 5-day. So you can imagine the shock that was experienced
as numbers started to roll in and they were blowing everything out of the
water, even the most generous of expectations.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Obviously looking at numbers,
this was the highest opening weekend for Illumination with just that 3-day
total. But on a broader spectrum, $146.4 million is the second highest opening
weekend for any animated film, behind only the $182.7 million of “Incredibles
2.” It would be third if you counted the 2019 “Lion King” remake as animated,
but I personally do not. It’s not perfectly fair to compare worldwide openings,
in my opinion, because not all movies open in the same set of countries, but
nevertheless it’s definitely worth noting that “Mario” opened with a worldwide
total of $377.6 million, which is the biggest opening ever for an animated
movie, besting “Frozen II,” which opened to $358.5 million. And, the final
notable number before I move on, “Mario” is now the highest grossing video game
adaptation at the domestic box office. That’s not a comparison of opening
weekends, but final domestic totals. Yes, the $204.6 million in five days is
more than “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” the previous record holder, did in its entire
run - $190.8 million.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">And the crazy thing is,
animated movies directed at family audiences often have great holds as parents
with kids don’t always rush out opening weekend. Maybe they did in this
instance, but this has a chance to wind up as the highest grossing movie of
2023, or at least close to it. The final domestic total of “Incredibles 2” was
$608.6 million. And given that “Mario” got an A on CinemaScore and a 96 percent
audience score on Rotten Tomatoes means that fans are loving it. And that bodes
well for its box office prospects, especially since it has no direct competition
all month. The closest competition is a month away with “Guardians of the
Galaxy Vol. 3” on May 5. And even that is not the exact same target audience.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">All of this also means that
you’ll be seeing a lot more of Nintendo in the future, whether that be all from
Illumination or if Nintendo decides to spread the love more is yet to be seen.
But it’ll happen. And other studios that don’t get Nintendo directly will try
their hardest to replicate this in any way they can. Yes, video game adaptations
happen a lot, but like “The Avengers” in 2012 sparked a new wave of superhero
films across the board, “Mario” is certain to do the same with video game
adaptations.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOm4frtdrfGWnPfWTNBLAQMhlck1RX55Y2eC_HPz77274dFbfRpL2GpPeiULKFRJVjPQVPOgy1CgEL_NvHmDeG2DyHODX452Uk0VzJcxz6gOPZd8-PBe2Y37z_JuOvBZOIsAk9VpKHcSHs4-VfQKXVTXdG9L8Bh3gdyfU7JClcAF8aM8SOfIXYyaoigw/s1455/screen-shot-2023-02-09-at-12-27-31-pm-1675963656.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1088" data-original-width="1455" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOm4frtdrfGWnPfWTNBLAQMhlck1RX55Y2eC_HPz77274dFbfRpL2GpPeiULKFRJVjPQVPOgy1CgEL_NvHmDeG2DyHODX452Uk0VzJcxz6gOPZd8-PBe2Y37z_JuOvBZOIsAk9VpKHcSHs4-VfQKXVTXdG9L8Bh3gdyfU7JClcAF8aM8SOfIXYyaoigw/s320/screen-shot-2023-02-09-at-12-27-31-pm-1675963656.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amazon's "AIR"</td></tr></tbody></table>Oh? There were two other
movies that were given a wide release this past weekend?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We’ll definitely be more “normal”
in my analysis and projections for the rest of this post, but nevertheless on
its own scale, the Ben Afflect directed <b><i><u>AIR</u></i></b> also had a solid showing.
Sure, “Mario” probably made more in a few hours than “AIR” did in its entire
weekend, but the $14.5 million debut in third place was above the $10-12
million it was expected to do. It also opened on Wednesday April 5, making
$20.2 million over the 5-day. Since you may be less familiar with this than
with “Mario,” the story here follows Matt Damon as Sonny Vaccaro and Ben
Affleck as Phil Knight as the two Nike businessmen push hard to sign Michael
Jordan to a shoe deal prior to his rookie year in 1984. Spoiler alert, it
worked. Air Jordans are a shoe that exist. And the gamble paid off Jordan being
considered the greatest to ever play. But this is all about the journey of how
they got there.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The response here has been
positive enough that this would definitely feel like an Oscar contender had it
come out at the end of the year. But given that our most recent two best
picture winners were both from the first part of the year, maybe there’s a new
trend brewing that may give Affleck and co. a chance with “AIR”?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The third movie of the
weekend wasn’t as lucky as the previous two. Opening down in 10th place from
819 theaters, with $570,512 was <b><i><u>Paint</u></i></b>. Sure, less theaters
obviously makes for less box office, but a per theater average of $697 is not
good when you at least want that to be in the couple thousand range. The movie
is… NOT a Bob Ross biopic, but is at least aimed to be a parody of sorts of
one. Owen Wilson stars as a fictional painter named Carl Nargle with a giant
afro and a very popular painting show. He seemingly has it all going for him
until a younger painter starts to steal his spotlight. Outside of being largely
ignored by audiences in the theaters it was playing in, its 32 percent score on
Rotten Tomatoes from critics and 56 percent from audiences seems to say those
who saw won’t help its word of mouth. This might be gone in record time and
possibly on streaming somewhere soon.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">April 14 – 16</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIMJ4aVCZb3lr5CNKnQ8u7HiSpp52ANydwWATrbD2XqHim2_sjvOZuQdbid99y0qSoIz5lqry047SQPDe7-TByQNR3UaLCluwzKskHQn2nzrUSizdQSsfVfpLykqqtT1gciYrlJe8Z1su8h9FbI7dnVVvKl7cUQ5nkQlYUS7ZCrzkJ7ETzCOpwBnCQ_A/s1925/Screen-Shot-2023-02-28-at-1.35.10-PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1444" data-original-width="1925" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIMJ4aVCZb3lr5CNKnQ8u7HiSpp52ANydwWATrbD2XqHim2_sjvOZuQdbid99y0qSoIz5lqry047SQPDe7-TByQNR3UaLCluwzKskHQn2nzrUSizdQSsfVfpLykqqtT1gciYrlJe8Z1su8h9FbI7dnVVvKl7cUQ5nkQlYUS7ZCrzkJ7ETzCOpwBnCQ_A/s320/Screen-Shot-2023-02-28-at-1.35.10-PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Universal's "Renfield"</td></tr></tbody></table>While the second weekend of “Mario”
may be positioned to earn as much in weekend No. 2 as some predicted it would
in its opening weekend, there are a large handful of films that will be
fighting for positioning somewhere in the top five or top 10. Leading the way
will likely by <b><i><u>Renfield</u></i></b>, the latest vehicle in the more recent Nicolas
Cage renaissance. Cage has been acting since the 80s and even got an Oscar win
under his belt in the mid-90s from “Leaving Las Vegas,” so he’s always been
popular to a degree, but after the well-received dramatic role in “Pig” in
2021, followed by the super Nic Cage meta comedy “The Unbearable Weight of Massive
Talent,” he’s definitely on the upper swing once again. And “Nicolas Cage plays
Dracula in a movie” might be the only sentence needed to get his fans out once
again. Perhaps the most genius play following “Massive Talent.” Despite the
positive reaction from fans, “Massive Talent” opened to just $7.1 million,
finishing with $20.3 million. So “Renfield” might not blow the doors off the
gates, but positive buzz around Cage and solid early reviews that are just now
coming out as I type this should help this to be a decent moderate hit.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The other film making the
most buzz of the new releases, at least in terms of an actual advertising push,
is the horror film <b><i><u>The Pope’s Exorcist</u></i></b>. The bigger horror film of the month
will come out next weekend, but nevertheless what makes this particular one slightly
more than just your traditional throwaway horror film is that it stars Russell
Crowe in the lead role. Crowe plays Father Gabriele Amorth, an actual Italian
Catholic priest, ordained in 1954 and appointed an exorcist in 1986. In 1990 he
founded the International Association of Exorcists along with five others and
by 2013 he made the claim of having performed 160,000 exorcisms in his career, counted
by each individual prayer or ritual, not the number of victims. The movie is
based on his two memoirs he wrote and specifically follows his investigation of
the possession of a young boy that results in him uncovering an old conspiracy
that the Vatican has apparently tried to cover up. Again, this is not the
horror film of the month that is likely to make much of a dent, but these low
budget horror films often don’t need much, anyways.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Hoping to play spoiler on the
weekend is the anime <b><i><u>Suzume</u></i></b>. This comes from
director Makoto Shinkai, who is notable for directing the films “Your Name.”
and “Weathering with You,” the former of which became quite the buzzy
phenomenon in 2016, at least on the international scale where it earned $349.7
million worldwide, only about $5 million of which came from the domestic box
office. “Weathering with You” followed that up with $189 million worldwide and
$8 million domestically in 2019. Following suit, “Suzume” has already earned
$132.2 million worldwide after beginning its worldwide rollout back in November
2022. So yeah, this director’s movies haven’t done much on the domestic side of
things, but it’s definitely put his name on the map and fans of anime will
certainly be curious about his next outing, which is a bit of a fantasy/action
adventure following a girl named Suzume who meets a mysterious young man who is
opening and closing that are causing disasters all over Japan.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Yes, there are three other
films also scheduled for some sort of wide release, although how big of a wide
release they are is something we’ll find out in a few days. They might be
smaller releases of a few hundred or close to a thousand. Nevertheless, <b><i><u>Sweetwater</u></i></b>
sees lesser known actor Everett Osborne star as Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, who
was the first African American to sign an NBA contract. Cary Elwes and Richard
Dreyfuss are in supporting roles. <b><i><u>Mafia Mamma</u></i></b> is an action/comedy
starring Toni Collette as an American mom who inherits her grandfather’s mafia
empire in Italy. And finally, <b><i><u>Nefarious</u></i></b> is horror/thriller
about a serial killer who, on the day of his scheduled execution, gets a
psychiatric evaluation where he claims he is a demon and also claims that the
psychiatrist will commit three murders of his own. Six smaller movies opening
on one weekend means that some of these will be left in the dust in hopes to
maybe gain a new life on streaming in the future.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">April 21 – 23</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Z9ku6Igmxg37Icp-zxnABRMJPIgB0H8hJMWUltnqF_KseSC6tnlsviFmtnGs7RRQuLzmPWsPXlQrtMxmzGnisGACifMV_4O8Cxbv4QKxzIoKkLlEMQDNcfqOg3bhOKuL8jRPWrpSK0Z_A_JuT0A6Wn-HxNgTzqb7HRssPmsB-r_RasyLqENTd4NkhQ/s965/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="965" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Z9ku6Igmxg37Icp-zxnABRMJPIgB0H8hJMWUltnqF_KseSC6tnlsviFmtnGs7RRQuLzmPWsPXlQrtMxmzGnisGACifMV_4O8Cxbv4QKxzIoKkLlEMQDNcfqOg3bhOKuL8jRPWrpSK0Z_A_JuT0A6Wn-HxNgTzqb7HRssPmsB-r_RasyLqENTd4NkhQ/s320/maxresdefault.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warner Bros.' "Evil Dead Rise" </td></tr></tbody></table>The horror film in late April
that looks like it actually might have a strong life to it is <b><i><u>Evil
Dead Rise</u></i></b>. This is the return of the Evil Dead franchise, which
began in 1981 with “The Evil Dead,” which actually only grossed $2.4 million in
the United States, but has since become one of the biggest cult classics and is
often thought of as one of the best horror films ever made. The movie was
directed by Sam Raimi, long before his Spider-Man fame. Raimi also directed
both of the original sequels, “The Evil Dead II” in 1987 and “Army of Darkness”
in 1992. Fast forward 20 years and in 2013 there was a reboot titled “Evil Dead”
and a TV series that ran from 2015 to 2018 called “Ash vs Evil Dead.” So this
month’s “Evil Dead Rise” will be the fifth film in the franchise and is
directed by Lee Cronin, who was reportedly hand-picked by Raimi to write and
direct this film, which is about the reunion of two sisters that is cut short
when they find a strange book in one of their apartments that unleashes
flesh-possessing demons. So far so good with this sequel as it debuted to
positive reaction the South by Southwest film festival in March and currently
holds a 96 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A second Guy Ritchie film in
two months will hit theaters and yes, this one has his name in the title to
remind people it’s his movie. That is <b><i><u>Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant</u></i></b>,
which I will refer to simply as “The Covenant” from here on out. In March, “Operation
Fortune: Ruse de Guerre” was released after quite the wild journey to finally
hitting theaters, which resulted in a big flat dud, opening to just $3.1
million and currently standing at $6.5 million. Obviously Ritchie will be
hoping “The Covenant” will at least do a little better than that. And even
though it has his name in the title, some have pointed out that it almost looks
like the least Guy Ritchie film, who is known for movies such as “Snatch” and “Lock,
Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” before directing the Robert Downey Jr. “Sherlock
Holmes” films. “The Covenant” is, rather, a straight up war film starring Jake
Gyllenhaal as a U.S. Army sergeant who was saved by an Afghan interpreter
following an ambush. After learning that said interpreter was not given safe
passage to America, he is headed back to the war zone to repay the debt and
retrieve him and his family.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Rounding out the weekend are
two other smaller films. First up is <b><i><u>Chevalier</u></i></b>, a festival film
that began at the Toronto International Film Festival last September and has
bounced around to other various festivals before landing in traditional release
here in April. This is based on the life of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier
de Saint-Georges, who lived in France in the late 1700s, around the time of the
French Revolution, and was the illegitimate son of an African slave and a
French plantation owner. He rose to improbable heights as a composer before
then falling out of favor due to an ill-fated love affair. The other film is <b><i><u>Beau
is Afraid</u></i></b>, which might actually be in more of a limited release at
this time – reporting is mixed on how big of a release it will have this
weekend. But this is the third feature-length film for director Ari Aster,
whose previous two films are “Hereditary” and “Midsommar,” two wildly divisive
and intense horror films. “Beau is Afraid” follows Joaquin Phoenix as an
anxiety-ridden man named Beau who embarks on a journey home after his mother
dies. Early reviews just coming out seem to reflect this being another crazy
journey of a film for Ari Aster, which at the very least might spark curiosity
from those who checked out his previous two films.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">April 28 – 30</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXAveP-qNPAb-2kuuHlYkQCjRwYEKFHQKAn3RTTBtFzBZ8TmSMhk6S-v_gAZzZwahjhRRqfdMy6pdz28jL9E5cXHwuuSW_39PDmRtHtRV5vKflqnpaQmotxgvQnKfkeOitLkk9QkylyMR46gAEbW3j1rpfiO2ohxkBNhxm32ILTVoFn90eQ5vs9ClA-g/s535/khris-davis-forest-whitaker-big-george-foreman-01-700x400-1-700x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="535" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXAveP-qNPAb-2kuuHlYkQCjRwYEKFHQKAn3RTTBtFzBZ8TmSMhk6S-v_gAZzZwahjhRRqfdMy6pdz28jL9E5cXHwuuSW_39PDmRtHtRV5vKflqnpaQmotxgvQnKfkeOitLkk9QkylyMR46gAEbW3j1rpfiO2ohxkBNhxm32ILTVoFn90eQ5vs9ClA-g/s320/khris-davis-forest-whitaker-big-george-foreman-01-700x400-1-700x400.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sony Pictures' "Big George Foreman"</td></tr></tbody></table>We finish the month off on
perhaps one of the more precarious weekends of the year, the weekend before the
beginning of Hollywood’s summer movie season, which will this time around be
kicked off with Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” Opening in the
shadow of that might not be the greatest idea, but nevertheless a movie with
perhaps the largest subtitle I’ve seen will be giving it a go and that’s <b><i><u>Big
George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and a Future Heavyweight
Champion of the World</u></i></b>. And with that subtitle as more of a movie
description, I almost want to call that good. “Future” heavyweight champion is
a curious word choice, but this is nevertheless a biopic of the famous boxer
George Foreman, who was also an entrepreneur, minister, and author. The
entrepreneurial side obviously saw him find great success with the George
Foreman grill, which very well could be the main reason some know his name.
Foreman is played in the movie by actor Khris Davis and sees Forest Whitaker as
a supporting character. Coming the month after “Creed III” found great success,
this has a chance of being a decently timed movie if that genre success spills
over.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Battling “George Foreman” on
this weekend is a movie that is actually primed to come out on top based on
presales and that is <b><i><u>Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret</u></i></b>.
This is based on a popular novel published in 1970 by Judy Blume. The
protagonist is a sixth grader named Margaret who goes on her own journey of
faith in a coming-of-age drama as one of her parents is Christian and the other
is Jewish. Young Margaret is played by Abby Ryder Forston, while her parents
are played by Rachel McAdams and Benny Safdie, with Kathy Bates playing the
grandma. Author Judy Blume has apparently had several offers for her book to be
adapted that she has rejected. Finally winning the sweepstakes to write and
direct was Kelly Fremon Craig, whose other directed movie was “Edge of
Seventeen,” another highly praised coming-of-age drama. According to Box Office
Pro, current presales reflect similarly to “Where the Crawdads Sing,” which
opened to $17.3 million last summer.</span></p>
<span face=""Calibri","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Rounding out the month will be the war film <b><i><u>Sisu</u></i></b>.
This is a Finnish film that is another film that debuted at the Toronto
International Film Festival in September of last year, then debuted in its home
country in January 2023. So its domestic release is a later than other
countries and maybe not the highest priority for Lionsgate, the studio that
purchased its domestic distribution rights. But nevertheless, the movie is set
in Finnish Lapland during World War II and follows a gold prospector living on
his own trying to find gold. When he is successful, he attempts to bring it to
the nearest town, but is instead met by a Nazi platoon who attempt to attack
him and take it for themselves, not knowing that the prospector was also a
skilled fighter during a previous war, which leads to some brutal clashes.</span>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-85005731930706334172023-03-12T15:55:00.000-06:002023-03-12T15:55:19.730-06:00The 95th Academy Awards: Predictions<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZVtlAiDnbWM9ZsousQTCINdnBZq-NFBG2DH6qUmePbQ8NK3G34A2HtnJV-Cc3uW6pk5Q5aBB6gBq7Gl2CyRley_VuEq1xP8_lSa4DHdET9HO3SO3DgdC2cqDVHx161TMklWa408888CiiPmofGAeSY_GY6hZs4MvcKJ5U0hpUOdJtI9vKnURlbn2HJQ/s1564/IMG_20230312_155251.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1018" data-original-width="1564" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZVtlAiDnbWM9ZsousQTCINdnBZq-NFBG2DH6qUmePbQ8NK3G34A2HtnJV-Cc3uW6pk5Q5aBB6gBq7Gl2CyRley_VuEq1xP8_lSa4DHdET9HO3SO3DgdC2cqDVHx161TMklWa408888CiiPmofGAeSY_GY6hZs4MvcKJ5U0hpUOdJtI9vKnURlbn2HJQ/w400-h260/IMG_20230312_155251.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The 95th Academy Awards are… tonight. And I’ve finally got
all of my predictions ready to go. Yeah, I meant to get this out earlier. But
in addition to having a busy week, I kept binging more and more last minute
things instead of typing up my post. But the deadline has past and this post
must get out before the ceremony actually begins, so here we go.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This post is pretty straight forward. I will go through all
23 categories at the Oscars, giving three things each. First, the list of
nominees. And if there are any typos or mistakes, I apologize. That was a lot
of names to type up. Second, I give my prediction on who I think will win.
Third, I give my pick on who I think should win, in other words my personal
pick if I were to have an Oscar ballot. Then of course I’ll finish each
category with whatever thoughts I have before moving on. If I’m wrong with
these, then so be it. It’s just for fun. I feel like I have a decent grasp on
what’s going to happen tonight, but there’s enough doubt in a lot of the categories
that I don’t think I’m going to score as well as I have in the past, but we’ll
see. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or random emotional
outbursts about any of this, then please let me know!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Documentary Short
Film<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Elephant Whisperers” – Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet
Monga<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Haulout” – Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxin Arbugaev<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “How Do You Measure a Year?” – Jay Rosenblatt<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Martha Mitchell Effect” – Anne Alvergue and Beth
Levison<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Stranger at the Gate” – Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Martha Mitchell Effect” – Anne Alvergue and Beth
Levison</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Stranger at the Gate” – Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you want to know exactly why I have this posted today
instead of last night, the direct reason is that I made a last minute decision
to watch the shorts. And it took longer than I was expecting. These are
categories that many don’t seem to ever care for, but I enjoy checking these
out every year. Picking them correctly is almost an impossible task. I decided
to go with “The Martha Mitchell Effect” because it tackles the Watergate
scandal with Richard Nixon, specifically with how the wife of Nixon’s attorney
general called him long before anyone else did, but wasn’t taken seriously.
Perhaps that political angle will connect with enough voters to give it a win?
Personally I watched four of these five. “How Do You Measure a Year?” seemed
like the most intriguing subject matter, but is the one that’s not available.
It’s apparently scheduled for HBO in June. But of the other four, while they
were all solid, “Stranger at the Gate” gave me the most emotional response. I
was fuming at the beginning, but it came full circle in a way that was quite
satisfying. Although I am a big animal fan, so “The Elephant Whisperers” was
the other choice I considered for my personal pick.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Short Film (Animated)<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” – Charlie
Mackesy and Matthew Freud<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Flying Sailor” – Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Ice Merchants” – João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “My year of Dicks” – Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I
Believe It” – Lachlan Pendragon</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” – Charlie
Mackesy and Matthew Freud</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” – Charlie
Mackesy and Matthew Freud<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This was a funny category. The best part of it was listening
to Riz Ahmed announce those last two nominees on nomination morning. Speaking
of which, “My Year of Dicks” is on Hulu and I currently don’t have Hulu, so I
wasn’t able to watch that. But in an attempt to feel the room, it feels like
there’s been a much stronger reaction to “- “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the
Horse” and after watching it… this morning… I can see why. It’s a beautiful
little animated short, currently on Apple TV+, with lots of nuggets of wisdom
packed in. It’s a very good watch if you have 40 minutes to spare.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Short Film (Live
Action)<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “An Irish Goodbye” – Tom Berkeley and Ross White<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Ivalu” – Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Le pupille” – Alice Rohrwacher and Aflonso Cuarón<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Night Ride (Nattrickken)” – Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid
Larssen<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Red Suitcase” – Cyrus Neshvad</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Le pupille” – Alice Rohrwacher and Aflonso Cuarón</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- n/a</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’m not making a personal pick on this one because only two
are available to be watched online. If I miss one or two, then fine. But if I
wasn’t able to watch most of them, then that doesn’t feel fair. But I’m still
making a prediction on who is going to win. And maybe it’s because it’s the
low-hanging fruit in terms of what feels like a safe pick, but it feels
reasonable to suggest that the Academy will use this as another opportunity to
give an Oscar to Aflonso Cuarón. Plus, it’s on Disney+, so it’s the most
accessible. Not that accessibility matters to Oscar voters because they get
special access to all of these, but still.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">International Feature
Film<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “All Quiet on the Western Front” – Germany <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Argentina, 1985” – Argentina <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Close” – Belgium <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “EO” – Poland <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Quiet Girl” – Ireland</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “All Quiet on the Western Front” – Germany</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- n/a<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you’re tired of the traditional Hollywood affair that you
get fed constantly by movie studios, something I would highly recommend is
diving into categories like this. There are so many various foreign films that
are incredible. And if you’re willing to read subtitles, you’re opening the
door wide open to a lot of new and exciting avenues to experience with film.
You just might have to start with years past rather than the current year
because these movies are almost never available right at Oscar time, which is
annoying. Except for the first two. “All Quiet on the Western Front” is on
Netflix and “Argentina, 1985” is on Amazon Prime. Hence is why I’m again not
making a personal pick. But the prediction is the easiest of the night. You
don’t get nominated for nine Oscars and lose international feature. Maybe if
“RRR” or “Decision to Leave” were included, that would be a different story.
But they’re not. And if you’re curious, “RRR” is not the Academy’s fault for
getting left out. Each country makes a submission and India did not choose “RRR,”
which is a baffling choice by them.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Documentary Feature
Film</b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “All That Breathes” – Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy
Leifer<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” – Laura Poitras, Howard
Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Fire of Love” – Sara Dorsa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “A House Made of Splinters” – Simon Lereng Wilmont and
Monica Hellström<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Navalny” – Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker,
Melanie Miller and Shane Boris</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Navalny” – Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker,
Melanie Miller and Shane Boris</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- n/a<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is the last category where I’m in trouble. And it makes
me sad that I only got around to watching “Fire of Love,” but you can’t do a
last minute binge of full-length documentaries. You need to set aside more time
and that is a thing that I did not do. But at the very least I will be watching
“Navalny” and “All That Breathes” very soon because both of those are on HBO
Max. And if you haven’t seen “Fire of Love,” it’s on Disney+. I didn’t love it quite
as much as some, but it’s still solid. And given the constant buzz I’ve heard
about it throughout the year, I wouldn’t be surprised if it did win, but
“Navalny” follows the assassination attempt on former Russian opposition leader
Alexei Navalny in August 2020, as well as the events surrounding that. That
just seems like the type of relevant documentary that the Academy will go for.
But at the same time this is a category where weird things happen all the time,
so I might have just as easy of a time picking one of these out of a hat.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Music (Original Song)<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Applause” – Sofia Carson (From “Tell It Like a Woman”; Music
and Lyrics by Diane Warren)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Hold My Hand” – Lady Gaga (From “Top Gun: Maverick”; Music
and Lyrics by Lady Gaga and BloodPop)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Lift Me Up” – Rihanna (From “Black Panther: Wakanda
Forever”; Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyrics by
Tems and Ryan Coogler)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Naatu Naatu” – Rahul Sipligunj, Kaala Bhairava and M.M.
Keeravani (From “RRR”; Music by M.M. Keeravani; Lyrics by Chandrabose)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “This is a Life” – Son Lux ft. Mitski and David Byrne
(from “Everything Everywhere All at Once”; Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and
Mitski; Lyrics by Ryan Lott and David Byrne)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Naatu Naatu” – Rahul Sipligunj, Kaala Bhairava and M.M.
Keeravani (From “RRR”; Music by M.M. Keeravani; Lyrics by Chandrabose)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Naatu Naatu” – Rahul Sipligunj, Kaala Bhairava and M.M.
Keeravani (From “RRR”; Music by M.M. Keeravani; Lyrics by Chandrabose)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’m not even going to entertain the idea that some other
song wins this award that’s not “Naatu Naatu.” And maybe that’s not being as
objective as I should be, but it has been winning in most of the precursors it
was up for and it just seems to have all the momentum behind it. I’ve listened
to the song and watched the scene from “RRR” more times than I care to admit in
the last month and if you don’t absolutely love it as well, I might think
something is wrong with you. I mean, who wouldn’t love a big giant, absurd musical
number taking place randomly in the middle of an absurdly insane Indian action
film? Also, I do think the Grinches who aren’t on board in the Academy will
have their vote split between Rihanna and Lady Gaga. I almost think “This is
Life” has the better chance of pulling the upset in the event it rides the
train of an “Everything Everywhere” sweep.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Music (Original
Score)</b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “All Quiet on the Western Front” – Volker Bertelmann<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Babylon” – Justin Hurwitz<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Banshees of Inisherin” – Carter Burwell<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – Son Lux<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Fabelmans” – John Williams</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Babylon” – Justin Hurwitz</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Babylon” – Justin Hurwitz<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This category is tough because there are five solid scores
here and I can envision just about everything taking this. You can’t count out
John Williams. Carter Burwell seems due after two other losses in the last
decade (“Carol” and “Three Billboards”). The big war movie could sweep all the
technical categories and “Everything Everywhere” might sweep everything, but
that hook in the “Babylon” score is one of the most infectious hooks from a
score that I’ve heard in a long time. It made for possibly the best trailer of
last year and I’m so happy that it was a big part of the movie rather than it
just being a trailer hook. It’s easily the score I’ve gone back to, thus making
it the easy pick for my personal vote, but I think the thing that also makes me
lean to predicting it to win is that it’s also the hook on the commercial for
the Oscars tonight, which seems to mean that it’s caught on beyond just the
film it’s in. And Justin Hurwitz does have two Oscar trophies thanks to “La La
Land,” so he’s not an unfamiliar name to them.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Visual Effects <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “All Quiet on the Western Front” – Frank Petzold, Viktor
Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Avatar: The Way of Water” – Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham,
Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Batman” – Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands
and Dominic Tuohy<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” – Geoffrey Baumann, Craig
Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Top Gun: Maverick” – Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan
Litson and Scott R. Fisher</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Avatar: The Way of Water” – Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham,
Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Avatar: The Way of Water” – Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham,
Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sure. Take your visual effects trophy, “Avatar.” I’m not
going to be an idiot and say it doesn’t deserve it in this category, either,
because it totally does. I just wish there was a movie to go along with its
visual effects. And at the least I can be happy that the movie is fairly quiet
in the other categories. I’m thinking that this is the only trophy it wins.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sound<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “All Quiet on the Western Front” – Viktor Prášil, Frank
Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Avatar: The Way of Water” – Julian Horwarth, Gwendolyn
Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael
Hedges<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Batman” – Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas
Murray and Andy Nelson<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Elvis” – David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and
Michael Keller<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Top Gun: Maverick” – Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al
Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Top Gun: Maverick” – Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al
Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Top Gun: Maverick” – Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al
Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Top Gun: Maverick” is undoubtedly a movie that everyone
loves. And even though it’s kinda getting overshadowed in this awards race due
to momentum of “Everything Everywhere” and “All Quiet on the Western Front,” I
don’t think it’s going home empty. And if there’s one trophy that it deserves
to win, isn’t it the category the sound was so awe-inspiring that you can feel
it? This was the best IMAX experience I’ve ever had and it’s the sound design
that’s the reason for that. That said, I’m not confident in this pick because
there’s a war movie in this category. Don’t underestimate the power of a
well-loved war film when it comes to these technical categories.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Makeup and Hairstyling<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “All Quiet on the Western Front” – Heike Merker and Linda
Eisenhamerová<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Batman” – Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” – Camille Friend and Joel
Harlow<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Elvis” – Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Whale” – Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Annemarie
Bradley</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Elvis” – Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win<o:p></o:p></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Whale” – Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Annemarie
Bradley<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This feels like a race between “Elvis” and “The Whale.” It
seems like it should be obvious because the makeup on Brendan Fraser was half
the reason why that performance worked so well. Unfortunately it feels like
“Elvis” has enough steam to take away a few awards that I’m not so sure it
really deserves? But I suppose I can’t get too mad at it for this one because
they did a great job of transforming Austin Butler into Elvis. So sure. But
again, watch out for the war movie. That was some great makeup work in that
movie and in a split between “Elvis” and “The Whale,” this would be one
surprise win that I personally wouldn’t be too terribly shocked at that not
many seem to be expecting.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Film Editing<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Banshees of Inisherin” – Mikkel E.G. Nielsen<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Elvis” – Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – Paul Rogers<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Tár” – Monkia Willi<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Top Gun: Maverick” – Eddie Hamilton<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – Paul Rogers<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – Paul Rogers<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And it begins. I think it’s going to be a great night for
“Everything Everywhere” and although this would be another category that makes
sense for “Top Gun: Maverick” given how much reported aerial footage they went
through to make the movie work. But I think that’s less apparent when you sit
down and watch the movie. And if the Academy loves “Everything Everywhere” as
much as I think they do, this seems like an obvious win that they’ll give it
given that the bonkers multiverse stuff that happens in the movie has a lot of
crazy editing work to give it the proper effect. And that is something you can
see without having to know any behind the scenes work.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Costume Design<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Babylon” – Mary Zophres<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” – Ruth Carter<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Elvis” – Catherine Martin<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – Shirley Kurata<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” – Jenny Beavan</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Elvis” – Catherine Martin</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – Shirley Kurata<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Again, I can’t be too angry at the idea of “Elvis” winning
costume design. Making Austin Butler look like Elvis is one part makeup and
hairstyling and the other part costume design. And I’m not getting a strong
vibe on anything else in this category. But my personal pick is trickier.
Obviously “Wakanda Forever” had some great costume work. But there was also a
few outfits for some of our heroes that looked like Power Rangers or other
cringy outfits, so I can’t go there. “Babylon” is tempting because there are a
lot of great 20s outfits that make those scenes wild and fun, but one
potentially overlooked part of “Everything Everywhere” is in the giant
multiverse of it all, there’s a lot of different costumes that had to be
figured out and tried on to give each of the variants of these characters their
own look and feel, so that’s where I’m leaning towards personally.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cinematography<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “All Quiet on the Western Front” – James Friend<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” – Darius
Khondji<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Elvis” – Mandy Walker<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Empire of Light” – Roger Deakins<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Tár” – Florian Hoffmeister</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “All Quiet on the Western Front” – James Friend</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “All Quiet on the Western Front” – James Friend<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Why is “Top Gun: Maverick” not in this category? That was
another one of the more odd choices for nominations this year. And it would be
the obvious winner, too. Given that it’s not, I think it’s a somewhat easy
prediction to give this to “All Quiet,” which, as you’ve noted, I think has
potential to win a lot of these technical categories. Not to be lost in the
shuffle, though, is the fact that a Mandy Walker win would make for the first
female cinematography win in this category. I’m not sure of the cinematography
in “Elvis” stands out as much as some of the other choices, but that would be a
cool thing that happens. And Roger Deakins could theoretically snag a second
win if you want a surprise choice. But the war movie just seems too strong to
ignore, both in my prediction and my personal take.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Production Design<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “All Quiet on the Western Front” – Production Design:
Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Avatar: The Way of Water” – Production Design: Dylan Cole
and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Babylon” – Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set
Decoration: Anthony Carlino<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Elvis” – Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen
Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Fabelmans” – Production Design: Rick Carter; Set
Decoration: Karen O'Hara</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Babylon” – Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set
Decoration: Anthony Carlino</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “All Quiet on the Western Front” – Production Design:
Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is a tough category to consider. I think “Babylon” has
been the front runner in this category and it makes sense given that the
Academy often loves movies about movies. And even if “Babylon” was more
divisive this year, making the movie look like old-time Hollywood is a solid
trick to getting yourself a trophy, so that’s what I’m going to predict will
happen. But again, the war movie. And in thinking of the war movie, that seems like
the mildly more impressive feat in recreating World War I as opposed to the
umpteenth time we’ve gone back to old Hollywood. I guess we’ve had plenty of
war movies, too. But it still seems to be a tad bit more impressive to me. It’s
a lot of work to put World War I on the screen. I’ve also heard mild buzz that
this is a category that “Avatar” could sneak in a second win. I’m not sure I’d
be on board with that. Sure, there are actual sets in that movie, but it seems
more heavily weighted on the visual effects in that movie in compared to these
other two. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Animated Feature Film<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” – Guillermo del Toro,
Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley (Netflix Animation)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” – Dean Fleischer Camp,
Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey (Cinereach)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” – Joel Crawford and Mark
Swift (DreamWorks Animation)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Sea Beast” – Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger
(Netflix Animation)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Turning Red” – Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins (Pixar)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” – Guillermo del Toro,
Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley (Netflix Animation)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” – Guillermo del Toro,
Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley (Netflix Animation)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Another easy category to predict. There’s a few categories
that seem like they’re set in stone and this is one of them. Guillermo has been
sweeping everything he’s up for without much of a conversation as to a
potential contender. And for good reason. This was one of my top movies of the
year. A movie that should’ve been in even more than just the animated category.
At least give it a song nomination that it was getting elsewhere. Now “Puss in
Boots” has been gaining a lot of momentum in a very natural way, being a movie
that is also genuinely really good that perhaps no one was expecting to be. But
I don’t think Guillermo is just way too far ahead for it to overtake it. In
other years, maybe. But not when we have an animated classic up for the award.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Writing (Adapted
Screenplay)<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “All Quiet on the Western Front” – Edward Berger, Lesley
Paterson and Ian Stokell<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” – Rian Johnson<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Living” – Kazuo Ishiguro<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Top Gun: Maverick” – Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Snger,
Christopher McQuarrie, Peter Craig and Justin Marks<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Women Talking” – Sarah Polley</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “All Quiet on the Western Front” – Edward Berger, Lesley
Paterson and Ian Stokell</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” – Rian Johnson<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And now we get into the bigger categories. Adapted
screenplay is very interesting because, of the two writing categories, I feel
it’s the weaker of the two this year. Also as I’ve referenced, I think it’s
possible for “All Quiet” to sneak in and win a lot of these categories it’s up
for. And if it happens, people might think we’re in for a potential upset in
best picture. While I don’t think the latter is going to happen, I am going to
make an official call here and predict it to win adapted screenplay instead of
continuing to say it could happen, but not pulling the trigger. And I think the
reasoning is that “Women Talking” feels pretty weak. Yes, the writing is
fantastic. But the reaction to the movie was more middling than I was expecting
and the box office was nearly non-existent. It snuck into picture, but it also
got no acting nods, which seemed like it should’ve had at least two. So I’m not
sure how much the Academy loves this movie. For my personal take, I was close
to picking it. I’m not sure the screenplay of “All Quiet” was its best quality.
Same thing for “Top Gun: Maverick,” although the story was really good. But
Rian Johnson’s sequel to “Knives Out” was just as sharp as the first, pun intended.
So that’s what I’d go for if I had a vote.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Writing (Original
Screenplay)<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Banshees of Inisherin” – Martin McDonagh<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – Daniel Kwan and
Daniel Scheinert<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Fabelmans” – Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Tár” – Tod Field<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Triangle of Sadness” – Ruben Östlund</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – Daniel Kwan and
Daniel Scheinert</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – Daniel Kwan and
Daniel Scheinert<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’ll spare you my soap box of how great “Everything
Everywhere” is. But it was my easy top movie of the year and the writing is
probably the best reason for that. The fact that such a crazy, bonkers
multiverse movie works so well is an absolute miracle. Every little detail that
you see all comes together and that’s a lot of brilliant work of writing to go
along with the editing and the acting. If the screenplay doesn’t work, neither
does the movie. And although there’s a lot of solid competition here with a lot
of beloved movies, the “Everything Everywhere” train seems like it’s leaving
Martin McDonagh, Steven Spielberg, and Tod Field completely in the dust, which
is an incredible feat. It’s not taking advantage of a weak year. It’s
steamrolling through a very competitive year.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Actress in a
Supporting Role<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Angela Bassett – “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Hong Chau – “The Whale”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Kerry Condon – “The Banshees of Inisherin”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Jamie Lee Curtis – “Everything Everywhere All at Once”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Stephanie Hsu – “Everything Everywhere All at Once”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Jamie Lee Curtis – “Everything Everywhere All at Once”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Stephanie Hsu – “Everything Everywhere All at Once”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This race has been very interesting to watch. It seemed like
Angela Bassett was primed to run away with this early in the season. But when
you look at everything she won, none of it was directly connected to Oscar
voters. When Oscar voters chimed in via BAFTA and SAG, she lost. To two
different competitors. But she still lost. And I think Angela Bassett is No. 3
in this category behind Jamie Lee Curtis and Kerry Condon. And I think the fact
that Jamie Lee Curtis won SAG, the final big category before Oscar voting
actually happened, might be what puts her over the top. I also remember being
impressed on nomination morning at how much “Everything Everywhere” showed up,
which included twice in this category. So that’s what makes me feel like taking
Curtis for the win and following SAG. But the vote between Curtis, Condon, and
Bassett is likely very close and I wouldn’t be surprised to see any of the
three ladies take it. Me personally, I would go the other lady in “Everything
Everywhere.” If Stephanie Hsu’s name were to be called, I might jump up and
scream in joy. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Actor in a Supporting
Role<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Brendan Gleeson – “The Banshees of Inisherin”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Brian Tyree Henry – “Causeway”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Judd Hirsch – “The Fabelmans”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Barry Keoghan – “The Banshees of Inisherin”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Ke Huy Quan – “Everything Everywhere All at Once”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Ke Huy Quan – “Everything Everywhere All at Once”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Ke Huy Quan – “Everything Everywhere All at Once”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unlike the other three acting categories, there’s no drama
here. The one hiccup in the season was Barry Keoghan winning at BAFTA, but Ke
Huy Quan has won just about everything else, Oscar related or not, in this
awards season. And I think the energy he exudes with each ensuing speech just
makes him more likeable. I don’t see him losing this award. And that makes me
happy because it’s the most deserving. Don’t you dare screw this up, Academy.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Actress in a Leading
Role<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Cate Blanchett – “Tár”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Ana de Armas – “Blonde”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Andrea Riseborough – “To Leslie”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Michelle Williams – “The Fabelmans”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Michelle Yeoh – “Everything Everywhere All at Once”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Michelle Yeoh – “Everything Everywhere All at Once”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Michelle Yeoh – “Everything Everywhere All at Once”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Like the supporting actress category, the lead actress
category also has had an interesting turn this awards season. Although it’s not
a three-way race like in supporting, Cate Blanchett seemed like she was running
away with this one early. And she did win in plenty of key races. Until the
momentum seemed to shift to Michelle Yeoh. And the kicker here is that it seems
like the biggest supporter of Michelle Yeoh is… Cate Blanchett. I personally
wouldn’t be upset at either. Two great performances. But I would love to see Michelle
Yeoh take this home. It would be another beautiful moment. And if Cate
Blanchett also seems to want that to happen, I could see that being the
deciding vote for Oscar voters who are a bit torn.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Actor in a Leading
Role<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Austin Butler – “Elvis”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Colin Farrell – “The Banshees of Inisherin”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Brendan Fraser – “The Whale”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Paul Mescal – “Aftersun”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Bill Nighy – “Living”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Brendan Fraser – “The Whale”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Brendan Fraser – “The Whale”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’m excited for all the acting categories this year. Because
supporting actor seems like the only one that’s locked up. Lead actor is
another three horse race that seems to have narrowed down to a two horse race,
with Collin Farrell being the one that seems to have been left out. And that’s
a bit of a shame because he had such a great year. But I suppose we don’t give
awards for the entire body of work, so it’s fair. The Brendan Fraser comeback
story is what led things early on. That got a little bit murky when his actual
film got mixed reaction, which led Colin Farrell and Austin Butler into the
race. But people still liked Fraser’s performance, even if they didn’t like the
film. And they REALLY liked his speeches when he did win, which has helped him
stay in it. But when it comes to the most important precursors, Colin Farrell
didn’t get any wins where he needed, so I think he fell out. Austin Butler won
BAFTA, which is also what Anthony Hopkins won in his lead up to upsetting the
late Chadwick Boseman two years ago, so BAFTA can’t be ignored. And Butler
seems like the current favorite? And although I didn’t like “Elvis,” his
performance was great, so I’m fine with that. It makes me feel like I’m going
out on a bit of an edge in saying that it’ll come full circle to Fraser, but
Fraser did win the SAG, thus making him the last one to give a speech before
Oscar voting. And I do think the likeability factor will come into play and
give him the win. And that’s where my personal pick is coming in as well. The
performance is great. But I also really want to see him win because of his
passion and humility.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Directing<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Martin McDonagh – “The Banshees of Inisherin”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – “Everything Everywhere
All at Once”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Steven Spielberg – “The Fabelmans”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Todd Field – “Tár”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Ruben Östlund – “Triangle of Sadness</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – “Everything Everywhere
All at Once”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – “Everything Everywhere
All at Once”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unlike many of the other categories, this is a major
category that seems like it’s wrapped. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, aka The
Daniels, are coming in and raining on Spielberg’s parade. It seemed like
Spielberg’s year. And Spielberg won at the Globes, which definitely don’t
matter. But his speech there showed how much he cared about this project and
this story of his life that he finally told. And that made me like “The
Fabelmans” even more. Part of me does want to see Spielberg give his Oscar
speech. I’d be fine with a director/picture split in that way. But The Daniels
have left him in the dust. They’ve won everything they’ve needed to, while
Spielberg seems to have been forgotten. And the movie didn’t perform that well,
either, which was surprising. So while the Spielberg speech would be really
neat to hear, with my favorite movie of the year being “Everything Everywhere,”
I do think this will be a deserved win because there was so much to juggle with
“Everything Everywhere” and they made it all work perfectly. Editing. Acting.
Writing. All of it. It all comes down to the guys steering the ship and they
were the perfect captains and have elevated themselves to legendary status. The
real challenge will be to follow this up. What do they have up their sleeves
next? The who world is excited to see.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Best Picture<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Nominations</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “All Quiet on the Western Front” – Malte Grunert, Producer
(Netflix)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Avatar: The Way of Water” – James Cameron and Jon Landau,
Producers (20th Century Studios)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Banshees of Inisherin” – Graham Broadbent, Pete
Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers (Searchlight Pictures)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Elvis” – Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman,
Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers (Warner Bros.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – Daniel Kwan, Daniel
Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers (A24)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “The Fabelmans” – Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven
Speilberg and Tony Kushner, Producers (Universal)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Tár” – Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert,
Producers (Focus Features)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Top Gun: Maverick” – Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie,
David Ellison and Jerry Bruckhemer, Producers (Paramount)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Triangle of Sadness” – Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe
Bober, Producers (NEON)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Women Talking” – Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances
McDormand, Producers (United Artists Releasing)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Will Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – Daniel Kwan, Daniel
Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers (A24)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Should Win</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">- “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – Daniel Kwan, Daniel
Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers (A24)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Of course I want “Everything Everywhere” to win. If you didn’t
know that by now, this post has definitely made that clear. It’s my top movie
of 2022. In years past I talk about my curse with my favorite movie not winning
best picture in the years I’ve been following the Oscars. And while the
superstition in me wants to go out on a limb and pick something else so as to
not curse myself, the crazy thing is that there’s not a good option. Almost
every year it ends up boiling down to a two movie race that becomes hard to
predict with the preferential ballot, but there is no contender. “Everything
Everywhere” has steamrolled through the entire season, especially in key
precursors that actually matter. So instead of trying to debate on how it’s
possible for another movie to take the win, let me just reflect on this crazy
journey that we’ve had. This movie premiered a year ago. And not in my wildest
dreams did I think a movie this weird and this different would actually break
through. Best case scenario, maybe it sneaks in and gets a screenplay nod and
perhaps one acting nod. But now not only has it successfully broken through, it’s
looking like perhaps the biggest Oscar juggernaut since “Return of the King.”
And that feels me with so much joy. If you haven’t seen it for some reason,
believe the hype and jump on the train. This movie is special and it deserves
to have the special night that it’s about to have.<o:p></o:p></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-52464971968649490492023-03-04T21:36:00.000-07:002023-03-04T21:36:15.249-07:00Movie Preview: March 2023<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX2kAay7V33Mu6E1ZoUM970Ws4rYIBIkTjsEsBo7pmp9aaEG8sDlBKETXTfT6IQtHmbKBtGHjac-uWqqWIPzUR0G9XHbt6EREUim_UNDh8vzgtA3yN6SwQPuGgvHFO46fVI4tliWWoIvovMDHcOJNo_2OiGZJEwVLqpK5hjgMmDWd8l9W_WMG83mCFbg/s1564/IMG_20230304_212540.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1014" data-original-width="1564" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX2kAay7V33Mu6E1ZoUM970Ws4rYIBIkTjsEsBo7pmp9aaEG8sDlBKETXTfT6IQtHmbKBtGHjac-uWqqWIPzUR0G9XHbt6EREUim_UNDh8vzgtA3yN6SwQPuGgvHFO46fVI4tliWWoIvovMDHcOJNo_2OiGZJEwVLqpK5hjgMmDWd8l9W_WMG83mCFbg/w400-h259/IMG_20230304_212540.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">We made it through the first two months of the year. And
even though it was cold and snowy throughout much of the United States, the box
office output wasn’t terrible. As previously mentioned, “Avatar: The Way of
Water” propelled itself to being the third highest grossing movie worldwide,
helping bolster an otherwise mostly nonexistent January in regards to new
releases. And February was helped by “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”
becoming the fifth straight movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to open
north of $100 million. Sure, the extremely mixed reaction resulted in a record
second weekend drop for the MCU, but it still made for a decent month overall,
even though not much from the rest of the slate really stood out. “Cocaine
Bear,” “Jesus Revolution,” and “80 for Brady” had good performances compared to
expectations, while “Knock at the Cabin” and “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” were the
exact opposite. But outside “Quatumania” opening to $106 million, the next
highest was “Cocaine Bear” with $23 million.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">March, on the other hand, should look to catch things on
fire, or at least start to warm things up a bit more. Whether or not there’s a
$100 million opening weekend is up for debate. Perhaps not? But it’s certainly
looking like an early summer month with the releases that are scheduled, which,
outside COVID, has recently been the case with March, so let’s dive in and see
what there is to look forward to!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As always, release date information for this post is
courtesy of boxofficepro.com and the-numbers.com. The movies listed are the
ones currently scheduled for a wide release in the United States and Canada and
are subject to change.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>March 3 – 5 </i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFyV287zIVkQ6CtRKKDNumNKjLfSEtIuTrotKx8ztiCEq1TzMwHuH28iqUbgu0qKcb9hjYCw9ZZYBKvllNLDd6iz_MyGqLj2vTv2x-1_ZETG7vaadsxOdFc_yw-4Wo6cuqjSofGroiQqhFJVctbS7ENDkA0g34o4KN0KIh-BuJXIAF0hT-VxO3b8KxqQ/s1787/221018152348-01-creed-press-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1332" data-original-width="1787" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFyV287zIVkQ6CtRKKDNumNKjLfSEtIuTrotKx8ztiCEq1TzMwHuH28iqUbgu0qKcb9hjYCw9ZZYBKvllNLDd6iz_MyGqLj2vTv2x-1_ZETG7vaadsxOdFc_yw-4Wo6cuqjSofGroiQqhFJVctbS7ENDkA0g34o4KN0KIh-BuJXIAF0hT-VxO3b8KxqQ/s320/221018152348-01-creed-press-image.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Metro-Goldwyn-Mayor's "Creed III"</td></tr></tbody></table>The first weekend of March will start things off with a
bang. Or maybe a punch? Or a knockout? Whatever boxing metaphor you choose to
use, it’s </span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i><u>Creed III</u></i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> that leads us off. What started off as a
spin-off to the Rocky franchise is now surviving well as a franchise on its
very own, which parallels the story arc of Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis Creed in
the initial “Creed,” as he was trying to make it on his own rather than feeding
off the legacy of being the son of Apollo Creed. This will also be the first
movie in the franchise that doesn’t include the character of Rocky Balboa as
Sylvester Stallone has fully passed the mantle of the franchise to Michael B.
Jordan. This will also be Jordan’s first time directing a movie in this
franchise as he follows in the footsteps of Stallone in that way, too, as
Stallone directed the second through fourth Rocky films as well as “Rocky
Balboa.” In fact, this is Jordan’s first time directing anything and so far he’s
received positive remarks for his directorial debut. “Creed” opened to $29.6
million in November 2015 and was followed by a $35.6 million debut from “Creed
II” in November 2018. Now “Creed III” strays away from the November release and
into March, negating the direct comparison to a degree, but nevertheless its
projected to improve upon its predecessor yet again as Box Office Pro has it
pegged at $43 million in their weekend forecast.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fighting for a spot somewhere in the top five amidst the
competition from “Creed III” as well as holdovers from “Quantumania,” “Cocaine
Bear” and “Jesus Revolution” will be the anime </span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i><u>Demon Slayer: To the
Swordsmith Village</u></i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">. “Demon Slayer” is a breakout success as an
anime. A 26-episode first season aired in 2019, adapting the manga, which began
in 2016. That was followed by “Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train” in 2020,
which became the highest grossing film ever in Japan. After a staggered
worldwide release, “Mugen Train” opened in April 2021 in the United States with
$22.8 million, a number which definitely indicates potential breakout for “To
the Swordsmith Village. “Mugen Train” was edited into six episodes, with one
new episode preceding it, and was followed by a new 11-episode arc, which made
the total 18-episode season 2. “To the Swordsmith Village” will be kicking off
the third season of the show, which is set to premier in April, so there’s sure
to be a decent amount of hype for this movie, which could lead it to a second
place finish if all goes well.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps on the outside looking in will be the is Guy Ritchie’s
new film <b><i><u>Operation Fortune: Ruse de Geurre</u></i></b>. Guy Ritchie is a
director who developed an early niche following as an action filmmaker due to
films like “Snatch” and “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.” Since then he’s
also gone bigger, directing both of the Robert Downey Jr. “Sherlock Holmes”
movies and later being swept up by the Disney machine to direct the live-action
remake of “Aladdin.” Mixed in with that success, though, has been a decent
amount of misses, specifically with his last two films, “The Gentlemen” and “Wrath
of Man,” both of which were seen more as generic action films rather than
having his specific style, leading to subpar box office performances, opening
to $10.7 million and $8.3 million, respectfully. “Operation Furtune” has also
had a bit of a journey as it was initially scheduled for early last year before
STX removed it, reportedly due to poor timing of having Ukrainian villains at
the same time as the Russian/Ukrainian conflict. Rumor also has it that the
movie almost went straight to streaming, but was recently bought by Lionsgate,
who is giving it a theatrical release. Reaction has also been mixed, so all
things considered, the expectation is for it to open even further below the
previous two movies. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>March 10 – 12 </i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSoTgnWB3MOUQi9k8dGX4u4GsH_zVjgJKB60b2imyTtRyhL3RXDx7EKgLylJ6sMPa6CjLq-7lLzWUZHHf5_0lsU8wMjlF6AjpaPTxdF_ErXouxGMnroQ_ECvdruYJ94UGJ9BYUJxDHs4AWYLXF8IvJqv2cSHBnya9ZMjz6Mn_JdFftNJ2WmPT-LqsgHw/s2816/scream-vi-ghostface-scream-6-1674138135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="2816" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSoTgnWB3MOUQi9k8dGX4u4GsH_zVjgJKB60b2imyTtRyhL3RXDx7EKgLylJ6sMPa6CjLq-7lLzWUZHHf5_0lsU8wMjlF6AjpaPTxdF_ErXouxGMnroQ_ECvdruYJ94UGJ9BYUJxDHs4AWYLXF8IvJqv2cSHBnya9ZMjz6Mn_JdFftNJ2WmPT-LqsgHw/s320/scream-vi-ghostface-scream-6-1674138135.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paramount's "Scream VI"</td></tr></tbody></table>Another franchise film will be leading the box office each
of the next three weekends in March, with this second weekend being led by the
horror film </span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i><u>Scream VI</u></i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">. Despite the potentially confusing numbering
scheming in this franchise, “Scream VI” is in fact a sequel to last year’s
entry, simply titled “Scream,” as it walked in the footsteps of the Halloween
franchise by having a reboot/sequel that had the same title as the original. Instead
of being super confusing by going for “Scream 2” or a subtitled sequel, this
entry simply goes back to “Scream VI” as the sixth entry in the franchise,
which began in 1996 as a meta horror/comedy by Wes Craven that at the same time
also managed to be a successfully intense and thrilling entry into the genre it
was providing horror commentary on. Fast forward nearly 30 years later and last
year’s “Scream” was a surprisingly well-received entry that also opened to $30
million. And you know the rules of horror franchises. When you make back your
budget in just one weekend, you continue as soon as possible. So with a very
quick turnaround, the Ghostface killer is back just a year later and the
marketing has people hyped. And although not a perfect comparison due to ticket
price inflation, the unadjusted record opening for the franchise is “Scream 3,”
which opened to $34.7 million in 2000. “Scream VI” has a solid chance of
topping that unadjusted record.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While the Ghostface killer will be out terrorizing people,
dinosaurs will also be wandering the Earth in the new Adam Driver led sci-fi
film </span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i><u>65</u></i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">.
No, this is not like “Jurassic Park” with dinosaurs in today’s world, but
rather sees Adam Driver traveling back in time into the world of the dinosaurs,
with his only human companion being a young girl. The goal, obviously, is to
survive this dangerous, prehistoric world, while assumingly trying to figure
out a way to get back home. Driver has become one of today’s biggest stars, not
just from his role as Kylo Ren in the new Star Wars trilogy, but also a decent
resume of more prestigious awards films that has helped build his resume. He
makes for a decent draw. But of course the draw will also be the dinosaurs as
the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies will witness. In fact, it’s
probably been a while since we’ve had on-screen dinosaurs not from a Jurassic
movie, so this will be an interesting test. The other challenge for the movie
will be a very crowded, very male-centric month at the box office and original
films have more of an uphill battle than franchise films, but this definitely
has the potential to be a sleeper hit, or at the very release provide another
option for filmgoers. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Coming in the rear this weekend will be Focus Features
releasing the sports drama <b><i><u>Champions</u></i></b>. Again, competing
with dinosaurs, Creed, and the upcoming superhero film and John Wick movie this
month makes it difficult for a sports drama to succeed in the middle of that,
especially with a mildly generic movie title. But nevertheless, this movie sees
Woody Harrelson star as a former minor league basketball coach who is ordered
by the court to coach a team of players with intellectual disabilities. And
with that premise, one can see the danger of this walking right down a generic
path of a sports movie that people have seen a thousand times. Granted, there
are only so many directions one can take a sports movie, but nevertheless an
element of creativity in the writing or proper execution of the familiar premise
would be necessary for this to succeed, thus meaning reviews and reaction might
be key to this movie’s success rather than just feeding off of star power or
franchise recognition that a lot of these other movies will be relying on. A
potential comparison could be to the Ben Affleck basketball movie “The Way
Back,” which had the unfortunate timing of opening a week or two before COVID
hit in March 2020. But nevertheless it still managed $8.2 million in its
opening weekend before the world shut down. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>March 17 – 19 </i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtvkdvhbdfvKMpe7oG6BgxJEASt-IowCYJU90W-OfgsigMvFIBV2k6buSc0dGzmEN61OJjP52y6y9wiIAnTIgJPBdsmj2r16xm9dGrghrdg7mMVNWs-MSpw4I_5nj0-vusV-KktIYEVZKrgUz1adb8lQ1a-PjNNQcDla4oVXgnyLJRDn57ON5pDvrKPg/s1010/image_2023_01_26_152904236.0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="1010" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtvkdvhbdfvKMpe7oG6BgxJEASt-IowCYJU90W-OfgsigMvFIBV2k6buSc0dGzmEN61OJjP52y6y9wiIAnTIgJPBdsmj2r16xm9dGrghrdg7mMVNWs-MSpw4I_5nj0-vusV-KktIYEVZKrgUz1adb8lQ1a-PjNNQcDla4oVXgnyLJRDn57ON5pDvrKPg/s320/image_2023_01_26_152904236.0.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warner Bros.' "Shazam! Fury of the Gods"</td></tr></tbody></table>No slowing down this month as the third weekend of the month
sees the opening of </span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i><u>Shazam! Fury of the Gods</u></i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">. This will be the first of,
yes, four DC films this year, the other three being “The Flash” (June), “Blue
Beetle” (August), and “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” (December). It’ll be a
very interesting test for all four movies as James Gunn recently took over as
head of DC and laid out a very specific plan for the studio’s future. Whether
or not any of these characters is a part of that plan is up in the air and may
depend on how well they do with fans. The uncertainty of these characters’
futures may in turn cause a bit of hesitation among more casual audiences. That
added to the fact that the first “Shazam!” wasn’t necessarily a smash hit,
either, provides an even more difficult uphill battle for “Fury of the Gods.”
The positive, though, is that “Shazam!” played very well with the people who
did see it, which may have helped give it a life beyond its initial theatrical
release. Warner Bros. was confident enough to give it a sequel and said sequel
will see Billy Batson and his entire family fight as a superhero team for the
entirety of a whole film instead of just in the final act, with the conflict
being the Daughters of Atlas, played by Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu. The first
movie opened to $53.5 million and I’m sure the team around this hope for an
improvement on that. Director David F. Sandberg tweeted recently that he’s been
told nothing in the Shazam! films contradict the future plans for DC, so
whether or not they play a role in the future will depend on if people show up
for this film.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There’s not really any direct competition for “Fury of the
Gods” on this specific weekend. The competition will be what is surrounding it
in the weeks before and after release. But nevertheless there are two smaller
films scheduled and the first is </span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i><u>Moving On</u></i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">, a film starring
Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as two old friends who reconnect at a funeral and
decide to get revenge on the widower who messed with them decades before. In
addition to that strong duo as the leads, the movie is directed by Paul Weitz,
who has previously directed movies such as “American Pie,” “About a Boy” and “Little
Fockers,” so there’s some prestige there. But since “Little Fockers” in 2010,
he’s only directed one movie that opened in wide release and that was back in
2013, so he’s been fairly quiet since and it doesn’t seem like there’s much
awareness on this one, so this might be a moderate to smaller release instead
of a super wide.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And speaking of movies that may not have much awareness,
the-numbers.com claims that <b><i><u>A Snowy Day in Oakland</u></i></b> is
releasing in wide release this weekend, so I’ll quickly bring it up, but there’s
not many other indications on the internet that this is much of thing as I can’t
even find a trailer that has even more than 5.7K views. Nevertheless, this is
comedy about a girl who works as a psychologist who breaks up with her
boyfriend and moves from San Francisco to Oakland, in a predominately black
neighborhood. Given that this is also from a new studio called PoC Studios, my
guess is that this will be in a few hundred theaters rather than a few
thousand.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>March 24 – 26 </i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnAhhBYsXLokhEC-PzFkNRikxjyLrDm-84PtRT6DABSre1tCeq0-dzO5NXN7iz0TdKjQTfXpyCe2B9T0DbqT_oS-PLa4Erd2x8L5SPoEoz4ZeQuo8t0HHMjtEPY22TWQzTI176Oo1cWltHcTUHquY90RdZOB2tnBZ_OnksZaVGI2oMtrrA-26FZmPMBA/s1347/Keanu-Reeves-John-Wick-111022-01-a824163fc201439cbc5c417910f602be.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1347" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnAhhBYsXLokhEC-PzFkNRikxjyLrDm-84PtRT6DABSre1tCeq0-dzO5NXN7iz0TdKjQTfXpyCe2B9T0DbqT_oS-PLa4Erd2x8L5SPoEoz4ZeQuo8t0HHMjtEPY22TWQzTI176Oo1cWltHcTUHquY90RdZOB2tnBZ_OnksZaVGI2oMtrrA-26FZmPMBA/s320/Keanu-Reeves-John-Wick-111022-01-a824163fc201439cbc5c417910f602be.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lionsgate's "John Wick: Chapter 4"</td></tr></tbody></table>Only one new movie this weekend, but there’s a world in
which this may be the top release of the month and that is Keanu Reeves
returning for <b><i><u>John Wick: Chapter 4</u></i></b>. What initially began as a simple,
low-budget, low-key action film in October 2014 has quickly grown to what may
be one of the most popular action franchises today. Yes, “John Wick” came out
of nowhere and only opened to $14.4 million on a $30 million budget, but it’s
very stylistic action and strong word of mouth grew quick and that led to two
much larger sequels in terms of the world itself, which has gotten bigger with
each subsequent movie, and the overall success, which culminated with “Chapter
3” opening to $56.8 million and making $171 million domestically, with $327
million total worldwide. Not bad at all for a $40 million budget. Now
eventually franchise trends in general suggest diminishing returns at some
point and the previous movie set a pretty high bar, but there still seems to be
plenty of hype for this movie, especially since “Chapter 3” ended in a way that
left the gate wide open for a sequel rather than this feeling like a forced
entry. Again, lots of competition this month. But this might be the competition
that hurts the other films rather than the other way around, so I’m guessing
this does quite well.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>March 31 – April 2 </i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ax0-sU2TLUozrnWdzmK68hj6aF4mho3LTelQocTL8lqcUK_biAIjy3ld7CQUJrifuXa5pTbqsi_2xbYWV0SQnUtITPwHM7PkWJHJus5QG2XDzTX8WEai7uIURy6727A0gWSlV5fFSAbKkMU9xNRRvHQ5C8TgWen7g3FcZeTZVHOgFLeTPcTArWyHTg/s1308/image%20(2).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="994" data-original-width="1308" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ax0-sU2TLUozrnWdzmK68hj6aF4mho3LTelQocTL8lqcUK_biAIjy3ld7CQUJrifuXa5pTbqsi_2xbYWV0SQnUtITPwHM7PkWJHJus5QG2XDzTX8WEai7uIURy6727A0gWSlV5fFSAbKkMU9xNRRvHQ5C8TgWen7g3FcZeTZVHOgFLeTPcTArWyHTg/s320/image%20(2).jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paramount's "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves"</td></tr></tbody></table>The final major movie of the month is not one that’s going
to impact the calendar gross of March very much, opening on the final day of
the month, but nevertheless that movie is </span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i><u>Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among
Thieves</u></i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">. Starring Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Reg</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">é</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia
Lillis, and Hugh Grant, this is looking to be a big budget, CGI monster fest fest
that attempts to bring to life the world of Dungeons & Dragons in a big
summer blockbuster style popcorn movie. And honestly this could be the type of
movie that ends up getting a 30 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes,
paired along with an 80 percent audience score. Based on trailers, it looks
like the filmmakers here are at least aware of the lore of Dungeons &
Dragons, in an attempt to bring specific niche creatures and characters into
the movie that might please the niche D&D audience, while completely
bouncing off others who have never explored the worlds of D&D and thus don’t
get the excitement of what’s happening. Said phenomenon might be similar to the
2016 “Warcraft” film, which has almost that exact divisive Rotten Tomatoes
score. Also like “Warcraft,” this movie has the chance to randomly explode in
some international markets, even if it doesn’t do well domestically. “Warcraft”
opened to $24.2 million domestically, then fell off a cliff and only made $47.4
million total domestically, but made a whopping $213 million in China and $391
million total internationally, for a $438 million total worldwide.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Opening alongside “Dungeons & Dragons” are two smaller
films, the first being Zach Braff’s new film </span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i><u>A Good Person</u></i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">.
Zach Braff is the director of “Garden State,” “Wish I Was Here” and “Going in
Style.” His latest is a movie starring Florence Pugh as a girl whose life falls
apart after being involved in a fatal accident. By the looks of the trailer, it
appears this character will have some lessons to learn about life from Morgan
Freeman, which perhaps would benefit anyone. Not that it’s relevant, but
director Zach Braff dated star Florence Pugh from 2019 to 2022. Braff wrote “A
Good Person” during COVID and it appears the movie was filmed in late 2021,
before the couple broke up in early 2022. Just in case you wanted your daily
dose of celebrity relationship gossip.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The other smaller film of the month is the Sundance film </span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i><u>A
Thousand and One</u></i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">. This is a movie directed by new filmmaker A.V.
Rockwell in her feature-length debut and stars Teyana Taylor, also fairly new
to the acting scene, as a woman who kidnaps her son from foster care and sets
out with her son to reclaim their sense of home, identity, and stability in a
rapidly changing New York City. The hook for this film is that it won the Grand
Jury Prize at Sundance this year, which is the top prize at Sundance. In the
last decade, other Grand Jury winners include Whiplash, Minari, and CODA, all
of whom went onto get nominated for best picture, CODA winning the prize a year
ago. Sure, it’s very hit and miss otherwise when it comes to Sundance winners
going onto being Oscar players, but Oscars or no, it’s typically a sign of a
really good indie film that people liked that is worth checking out. “A
Thousand and One” currently has a 100 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes after its
first 24 reviews, with a 7.7 average score from said critics. So if you’re
looking for a smaller indie film as a change of pace from these bigger
blockbusters that the month will provide, this might be a solid option.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-17731111921728976412023-02-12T21:11:00.000-07:002023-02-12T21:11:35.694-07:00Movie Preview: February 2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnHdTEG8Oah1c3NEKhB1e8bVlmKGi81kPb-M4V8e6syi4CO8JD76_L4h9O_GSrql9uFbkk4PB7Dc35E0ZN_Ej_r5nOqBQA5nagCCI5IounqUMC6Eq4lob4mbMNHpdH6QP7r_EnjB6c2BlKW22SGtvlt_fhBXyDSHgIB7U2kgVfaiOM9fc1n0yZnEbN-w/s1564/IMG_20230212_210234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1102" data-original-width="1564" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnHdTEG8Oah1c3NEKhB1e8bVlmKGi81kPb-M4V8e6syi4CO8JD76_L4h9O_GSrql9uFbkk4PB7Dc35E0ZN_Ej_r5nOqBQA5nagCCI5IounqUMC6Eq4lob4mbMNHpdH6QP7r_EnjB6c2BlKW22SGtvlt_fhBXyDSHgIB7U2kgVfaiOM9fc1n0yZnEbN-w/w400-h281/IMG_20230212_210234.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />We are finished with the month of January. The previous year
has been reviewed. This upcoming year has been previewed. If you haven’t seen
those two posts, then check them out! But with that out of the way, it’s time
to do a closer look into the month that we are currently in – February 2023.<p></p><p>And actually, it’s looking to be a fairly healthy month at
the box office. January started off the year in a decent fashion, thanks mostly
to the holdovers. “Avatar: The Way of Water” remained at No. 1 for the entire
month and crossed the $2 billion mark worldwide box office, while inching
closer to the $718.7 million mark of “Top Gun: Maverick” domestically, the
current highest grossing movie of 2022 in the United States. Meanwhile, “Puss
in Boots: The Last Wish” quietly had a great month as well, becoming the
leggiest wide release of 2022. And on the 2023 front, “M3GAN” was the story of
the new releases, opening to $30.4 million and being close to the $100 million
mark domestically, while already having passed $150 million worldwide. And we’re
your production budget is just $12 million, that’s going to make the studio
very happy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While January mostly played the holdover game, February
provides moviegoers with a wide variety of options that should help build
positive momentum on the year going into a March that is looking rather
stacked. So let’s jump in and take a look at what the month has in store! As
always, release date information for this post is courtesy of boxofficepro.com
and the-numbers.com. The movies listed are the ones currently scheduled for a
wide release in the United States and Canada and are subject to change.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u>February 3 – 5</u></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuMkpQVu50R-7kNbv7hfOxKspVMBe2LvCeMEtok56gYUUM-HgvGnXxKkhxYR4Vmqotzff-J06MGKYQ4qR-YEpFW3koBNRvti12_9GPdyeBuna3D9ik0uj3SjiIpTChkuqxMuhsPF7BsomxE-IKrzqURF7qL11CfsYLuvXxGaG2pUg25eJnsHNPqQnPIw/s881/63dd30a00a08ae0018a6a802.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="655" data-original-width="881" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuMkpQVu50R-7kNbv7hfOxKspVMBe2LvCeMEtok56gYUUM-HgvGnXxKkhxYR4Vmqotzff-J06MGKYQ4qR-YEpFW3koBNRvti12_9GPdyeBuna3D9ik0uj3SjiIpTChkuqxMuhsPF7BsomxE-IKrzqURF7qL11CfsYLuvXxGaG2pUg25eJnsHNPqQnPIw/s320/63dd30a00a08ae0018a6a802.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Universal's "Knock at the Cabin"</td></tr></tbody></table>After seven straight weeks at No. 1, “Avatar: The Way of
Water” was finally dethroned this past weekend at the hands of the latest M.
Night Shyamalan film, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Knock at the Cabin</u></i></b>. Although
the victory here was a bit unceremonious as the movie wound up being the lowest
opening for any Shyamalan film with just $14.1 million. Shyamalan’s previous
low was… the one right before this, 2021’s “Old” with $16.8 million. This
downward trajectory is perhaps a sign that Shyamalan’s drawing power at the box
office is diminishing, which is most likely directly correlated with mixed
reaction to his films. If you make a movie people like, people will show up. If
you continue to make movies that get mixed at best reaction, people are going
to be less inclined to show up, especially in a post-COVID era. The movie
itself sees David Bautista leading a small group of people that show up to a
family’s door at a cabin providing them with an ultimatum: sacrifice one in
your family or allow the entire world’s population to slowly die in the
Apocalypse. Despite the low opening, the reviews on the movie actually leaned
positive with a Rotten Tomatoes score that hovered around 70 percent all
weekend. But perhaps that wasn’t high enough to get casual audiences excited enough
to go out and see the movie.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rolling in just behind “Knock at the Cabin” in second place
with $12.7 million was the adult-targeted comedy <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>80 for Brady</u></i></b>,
which thus knocked “The Way of Water” down to third place this weekend. “80 for
Brady” was specifically targeting an older female audience as it’s about a
group of older females traveling to the Super Bowl to finally see their hero
Tom Brady. Coincidentally, Tom Brady in real life, who did not make it to the
Super Bowl this season, announced his retirement just days before this movie
was released. Despite retiring last season before coming back, Brady claims
this is for real this time. Another interesting point surrounding this movie is
that, according to a Deadline report, “80 for Brady” actually sold more tickets
this weekend than “Knock at the Cabin” as Paramount held discount matinee
ticket pricing all day for most theaters nationwide. The average ticket price
was $9.79 compared to $12.30 for “Knock at the Cabin.” Whether or not this
strategy worked can be debated. On the one hand, it did not beat “Knock at the
Cabin,” despite selling more tickets. But on the other hand, perhaps more
people came out to see it that otherwise wouldn’t have? The report also noted
that 47 percent of the opening weekend audience were over the age of 55, while
69 percent were female. This demographic is also not known for rushing out to
the theaters, so there’s a solid chance that the movie enjoys good holds
throughout February.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On the… non-movie related box office news from the weekend,
two special events made a decent impact. Opening in fifth place with an
estimated $5.1 million was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas</u></i></b>,
which was a theatrical showcase of the group’s free show at Busan’s World Expo
in October. A bit further down the chart in ninth place was the season 3 finale
of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The
Chosen</u></i></b>, taking in $3.6 million. While this opening is lower than
the $8.7 million that the first two episodes of season 3 opened to this past
November and the $4.2 million that the 2021 holiday special opened to, it’s
still nevertheless impressive that it managed to make that much despite being
available for free just a few days later. And the total certainly continues to
help fund further seasons of “The Chosen.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u>February 10 – 12</u></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfQUbGBU3-Gyo42TLwg607n7-k41u_6kPWLry8eu3Er1ypXsns_8SaRk8CDVaK2UFAB2hpuyJoh9XPxLgPAEUAVB04qs5ugKM_VuoKWupJkvSWSzUlXQqk1o-bE9-NqhZ0Ri8vXZubmbdgSMffBAMx4-jqTV0ba_F1KWsr0_2CaCsE6XtELKWxqK8fww/s1811/Brody%20-%20Magic%20Mike's%20Last%20Dance%20-%20rev-1-MM3-02580r_High_Res_JPEG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1346" data-original-width="1811" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfQUbGBU3-Gyo42TLwg607n7-k41u_6kPWLry8eu3Er1ypXsns_8SaRk8CDVaK2UFAB2hpuyJoh9XPxLgPAEUAVB04qs5ugKM_VuoKWupJkvSWSzUlXQqk1o-bE9-NqhZ0Ri8vXZubmbdgSMffBAMx4-jqTV0ba_F1KWsr0_2CaCsE6XtELKWxqK8fww/s320/Brody%20-%20Magic%20Mike's%20Last%20Dance%20-%20rev-1-MM3-02580r_High_Res_JPEG.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warner Bros.' "Magic Mike’s Last Dance"</td></tr></tbody></table>*Moving from past to future, the second weekend of February
has the Super Bowl, which is traditionally a harder weekend to open movies on,
given that you either have to settle with a 2-day weekend or directly
counterprogram by being a movie that targets people that don’t care for
football. And that’s part of the reason why the biggest Super Bowl opening
remains the 2008 film “Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds
Concert Tour” with $31.1 million. On that particular weekend in history,
perhaps the overlap of Hannah Montana fans and football fans watching the Super
Bowl weren’t very large.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In which case, it might work out nicely that this weekend’s
Super Bowl challenger is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Magic Mike’s Last Dance</u></i></b>,
which is another movie that is perhaps primarily targeting a female audience.
That said, there’s a fairly large number of people in critics circles that
found both Magic Mike movies to be surprisingly well-done, despite being a male
stripper movie, so maybe the movie might not be targeting a female audience as
much as one might think? While not a perfect box office comparison given that
the previous Magic Mike movies both opened in the summer, the first movie
nevertheless opened to $39.1 million. An opening on that front would be a new
Super Bowl record. However, the sequel “Magic Mike XXL” opened to a much
smaller $12.8 million. It’s also worth noting that “XXL” opened on a Wednesday,
over the fourth of July holiday weekend. Its five-day opening was $27.8 million.
If diminished returns are continued to be expected, perhaps a $15-20 million is
what the movie is looking at.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The other major headline from this weekend is not a new
release by any stretch of the imagination, but is rather the 25th Anniversary
re-release of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Titanic</u></i></b>. Interestingly enough, we have a bit of a James
Cameron duel going on over at the all-time charts. As of the typing of this
post, “Titanic” is third all-time worldwide with $2.194 billion, while “Avatar:
The Way of Water” is fourth with $2.176 billion. While “The Way of Water” is
just $20 million behind “Titanic” and is poised to pass it for third place, “Titanic”
will get the chance to retake that third spot right back. This is also not the
first time “Titanic” has seen a domestic re-release. In April 2012 it got the
3D re-release treatment, where it opened to $17.2 million. On the James Cameron
front, the re-release of “Avatar” last year in preparation for “The Way of
Water” saw “Avatar” open with $10.5 million. Somewhere along those lines might
be the expectations for this weekend’s “Titanic” re-release.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The final movie of the weekend is not one that I have a
whole ton of faith in with regards to the box office, but nevertheless opening
somewhere on the charts will be the horror movie <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Consecration</u></i></b>. This
is a movie starring Jena Malone as a doctor named Grace who travels to Scotland
after the alleged suicide of her priest brother. Not believing the church’s
account of what happened, she’s on a mission to discover what really happened.
A recent comparison that “Consecration” reminds me of is last month’s “Fear”
that I briefly talked about, which opened on the final weekend of January down
in 12th place with just $1.2 million from 974 theaters. It seems like “Consecration”
is in line for a debut somewhere along those lines.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*UPDATE: I typed this weekend’s segment a week ago. Before
finishing this post, a personal matter delayed me and finishing this blog post
became low on my priority list. I made the decision to keep what I wrote
instead of re-typing it. I also wasn’t too far off with this weekend’s movies. “Magic
Mike’s Last Dance” opened in first, but with only $8.2 million. What I didn’t
account for there is Warner Bros. barely promoting the movie and only releasing
it in 1,500 theaters, which seems like a bit of a strange decision. Meanwhile, “Titanic”
returned with $6.4 million in its 25th anniversary release while “Consecration”
barely registered, opening below the top 10 with just $365,000.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u>February 17 – 19</u></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrFhwhmc9-WP4ja0EfgRMxslnx7wrgmNAP61c21gQ6MEPw70-EMkQHzVq2L76IHuNDz180ShKsYJJcTVMyOnKnPMCfxBO6hbqedeq5BGRDI-JmcgfSjfwfzC0EoJuB_abV-Rhkiz_Tygd5UJ-wIX5x-VaemUG2hYOP3iIYIwRTbAgAoLG6A8Mj8L5Q_w/s1087/DBY_08940_R.0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1087" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrFhwhmc9-WP4ja0EfgRMxslnx7wrgmNAP61c21gQ6MEPw70-EMkQHzVq2L76IHuNDz180ShKsYJJcTVMyOnKnPMCfxBO6hbqedeq5BGRDI-JmcgfSjfwfzC0EoJuB_abV-Rhkiz_Tygd5UJ-wIX5x-VaemUG2hYOP3iIYIwRTbAgAoLG6A8Mj8L5Q_w/s320/DBY_08940_R.0.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marvel's "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania"</td></tr></tbody></table>UPDATE: This weekend’s segment was continued on Sunday,
February 12. Super Bowl Sunday. Carry on with your reading…</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Onto this month’s main event film, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Ant-Man and the Wasp:
Quantumania</u></i></b>, the third movie in the Ant-Man trilogy. There are some
comic book fans that have marveled at the idea that Ant-Man has now gotten a
trilogy before other comic book characters that may seem like they would’ve
done so first, but one of course has to realize that this is the Marvel
Cinematic Universe. Labeling it as the 31st film in this MCU saga might be a
more accurate label. Even though Ant-Man hasn’t been the biggest headlining
character throughout the MCU, the specific realm that he and his comrades deal
with look to be a key factor in the future of the MCU, namely their adventures
in the Quantum Realm. Also, as introduced in the TV series “Loki,” this next
chapter’s big baddie, Kang the Conqueror, will make his official cinematic
debut. In “Loki,” Kang was simply known as “He Who Remains,” but Marvel fans
will begin to learn more about his shenanigans here in “Quantumania,” before
things assumedly culminate in “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,” set for a release
in 2025. IMDb also has him listed as a cast member in the following year’s “Avengers:
Secret Wars” in 2026, so perhaps his story will cover both Avengers movies,
like Thanos’s final arc did in “Infinity War” and “Endgame.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On the box office side of things, the first “Ant-Man” was
one of the lowest MCU openings with $57.2 million, but built off positive word
of mouth to becoming one of the MCU’s leggier runs as it finished with $180.2
million domestically, 3.15 times its opening. “Ant-Man and the Wasp” in 2018
opened slightly higher with $75.8 million and then had a more average run in
terms of legs, making 2.86 million times its opening, finishing with $216.6
million. In looking at last year’s three MCU films, “Doctor Strange in the
Multiverse of Madness” opened with $187.4 million, “Thor: Love and Thunder”
opened to $144.2 million, and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” opened with
$181.3 million. Again, Ant-Man isn’t as high profile of a character as any of
those three, but as the official beginning of Phase 5 in the MCU, as well as
the presence of Kang, it should be the highest Ant-Man opening. Box Office Pro’s
current long range forecast has it pegged as opening between $101-125 million.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Much, much further down the list on the box office this
weekend will be the latest Liam Neeson adventure, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Marlowe</u></i></b>. Ever
since the release of “Taken” in 2009, Liam Neeson has seemed to enjoy acting as
an action star and even more recently has seemed content with starring in a
long string of low-budget action films that barely register at the box office.
Since 2020, he’s had “Honest Thief,” “The Marksman,” “Blacklight” and “Memory,”
all of which have finished with a domestic total below $20 million, the last
two finishing below $10 million. The respective opening weekends have been $3.6
million, $3.1 million, $3.5 million, and $3.1 million, in other words, they’ve
been highly consistent in their performance and yet they’re still being
released. Now in the defense of “Marlowe,” it’s set in the 1930s and has the
look of a neo-noir detective thriller and is directed by Neil Jordan, who is an
Oscar winner in 1992 for his screenplay of “The Crying Game.” So that could
give one optimism that this is more than just another generic Liam Neeson
action film. But then one watches the trailer and says, “Well, maybe not.” And
early tracking has it right in line with the previous four mentioned here. It’s
also opening on Wednesday the 15th, so that might spread its opening out a bit.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That’s actually it for wide openings on the weekend.
Although there are a couple more worth mentioning real quick. Also opening on
the 15th, listed as a Fathom Events special engagement, is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Winnie the Pooh: Blood and
Honey</u></i></b>. This one is a curiously amusing case of Winnie the Pooh
becoming public domain the other year and someone immediately taking advantage
of that by turning it into a live-action, bonkers, violent horror movie.
Christopher Robin has left his toys and come back years later, learning that
they’re very mad at him and are out for revenge. So yeah, not exactly the
Winnie the Pooh movie one would expect, but the type of strange thing that can
happen when a property becomes public domain. But perhaps the fact that it’s a
special engagement and not a traditional wide release is evidence of the
filmmakers or people in charge of distribution seeing the writing on the wall
and not being confident enough to book enough theaters for a wide release?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For those who read the January post, you might remember me
talking about an “Untitled Crunchyroll” film that was on the schedule. That
wound up being “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Scarlet Bond.” Unlike
other surprising Crunchyroll or other anime releases, it did not open high, but
rather opened in 8th place with a reported $1.5 million. I mentioned in that post
that there was another “Untitled Crunchyroll” in February. Now that this post
has been delayed long enough to get closer to the actual release, this one is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Kaguya-sama:
Love is War – The Kiss That Never Happened</u></i></b>. This appears to be a
continuation of the series “Kaguya-sama: Love is War,” which started in 2019
and currently has three seasons released – 39 episodes. It’s also listed as a “special
engagement” and not a wide release. On Valentine’s Day, for that matter. So it’s
not looking like another breakout anime hit, but will definitely be something
for fans of the series to check out, either now or later.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u>February 24 – 26</u></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzO9lz_Ru3AAoAGl26p4C8ddYfqK0bbIha1Yl5-DoG3-Z8vRmjG9yfQnDx3OZ32IpvaV21U5EqWeuymS0K0gxP-REagtVY_b_eFeEN-jX411o8zVKBMGeXYRWFqXqOHJthK_gx3UgQ7GaKL0UWpT1IsraUW_QRgzybPhUB1KV1QPB5wREGDL5QjhelWw/s1079/coke-bear.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="802" data-original-width="1079" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzO9lz_Ru3AAoAGl26p4C8ddYfqK0bbIha1Yl5-DoG3-Z8vRmjG9yfQnDx3OZ32IpvaV21U5EqWeuymS0K0gxP-REagtVY_b_eFeEN-jX411o8zVKBMGeXYRWFqXqOHJthK_gx3UgQ7GaKL0UWpT1IsraUW_QRgzybPhUB1KV1QPB5wREGDL5QjhelWw/s320/coke-bear.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Universal's "Cocaine Bear"</td></tr></tbody></table>The final weekend of February will mostly look to be studios
avoiding the second weekend of “Quantumania” before a wild March begins at the
box office, but nevertheless a bit of a viral sensation on the internet will
enter theaters, that being <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Cocaine Bear</u></i></b>. It’s a movie
that’s advertised as being “inspired by true events,” but that’s probably
heavily emphasizing the “inspired” rather than the “true.” In 1985, an American
black bear died after ingesting a whole duffel bag full of cocaine. That story
is true and the bear is apparently on display at the Kentucky for Kentucky Fun
Mall in Lexington, Kentucky. The idea of said bear turning into this crazy,
invincible, apex predator that went on a massive killing streak is more likely
movie imagination, but it nevertheless might make for a fun B-movie style of
self-aware action film. I am reminded of 2019’s “Crawl” about killer alligators
in a crazy hurricane or last year’s “Beast” with Idris Elba fighting a killer
lion. Those movies opened to $12.0 million and $11.6 million, respectively.
Whether or not internet virility can take “Cocaine Bear” higher than that is
yet to be seen, but that would nevertheless be a respectable mark.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From crazy bears to Christian movies this weekend, the other
notable release is <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Jesus Revolution</u>. This is a Christian movie set in the 1970s about a pastor who decides to let a bunch of hippies join his congregation, which may have made some of the older people not too happy, but sent a message that everyone is allowed to worship, even if they don't look or act the same as others. As a whole, this highlights the great American spiritual awakening in the 1970s as it adapts Greg Laurie's book of the same name, which highlighted his experiences in that era. As a 19-year-old in 1973, Laurie was allowed to lead a Bible study of about 30 people from pastor Chuck Smith, which eventually grew to be one of the biggest congregations in the United States. The movie is directed by Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle, who worked on the 2018 hit "I Can Only Imagine," which opened with $17.1 million, so this definitely has potential if it hits the right niche audience. Other movies directed by Erwin, like "American Underdog," "I Still Believe," and "Woodlawn," opened more in the $5-10 million range. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The final movie of the weekend and the month is another one of those movies that may or may not actually exist. Or may be a smaller release than the initial schedule makes it out to be, but nevertheless the movie is <u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">My Happy Ending</u>. From the official trailer, released February 2nd and currently having 6,311 views, Roadside describes this as a movie about a famous actor who goes incognito to find treatment for a severe medical issue, stage 4 cancer I believe, finding three friends along the way to help her - an aging rocker, a young mother, and a retired school teacher. The movie stars Andie MacDowell in the lead role. Could be a nice drama that serves as a change of pace. But Roadside is going to have start advertising their movie if they want people to see it. Otherwise it's a candidate for most people to find later, after its theatrical run.</p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-33200949567537560662023-02-04T00:41:00.002-07:002023-02-04T00:41:55.903-07:00Movies of 2023: The Good, the Bad, and the Maybe<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">We have entered into a new year for movies and thus it is
time to do an overview of what the year potentially has in store for us. Yes,
we are actually even one month into the new year. But to cover for the fact
that I wasn’t able to get this out before January began, I started the month
with my January preview to give me a bit of a buffer, then went hard into my
preparations for my yearly top 10. With that posted this week, it’s now time to
quickly get this out before then jumping right into the February preview. So
yeah, it’s a bit of a bang, bang, bang sort of thing on the blog, but it makes
it fun!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyways, the explanation for this post is self-explanatory,
I think. I gather up the major highlights for what is currently on the schedule
for the upcoming year and split it into three categories: the good, the bad,
and the maybe. Movies I’m excited for, movies I’m not that excited for, and
movies that could go either way. In each category, the movies are listed in
release date order, as currently scheduled. So no official rankings of most
anticipated to least anticipated. And yeah, for reasons stated in the previous
paragraph, we’re starting this in February. The highlight for January was
“M3GAN,” which was a blast. And that’s mostly it, outside a handful of smaller
releases, like “Missing,” “Plane,” and “Infinity Pool.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course, this is not an all-encompassing list of
everything coming out. These are just the major highlights that I currently see
on the schedule. It’s mostly fun to put this together each year as a personal
project to get myself prepped and excited for what’s ahead, but if there’s even
just a few others that find this post fun and useful, then all the better. So
let’s begin!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Good:</span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u></u></i></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvvJVk2JZD6EV7QIeiNLbEBzqJ98m2RwHiDg13Jpp3WYwo33BQ8iYVyO7B0pLMXC0__2HxfLMfW9YwGkrPQyqG5sa-8D8kp4Se4cGgA0tY-rNC9ofajtXCsZfWq5y4AGvlI_vJch0s7iNZxFsBccTYnQv1YNwbY3dR2lthkHRFPdjrFAPllq86QUS0Ug/s1564/IMG_20230203_234540.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1127" data-original-width="1564" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvvJVk2JZD6EV7QIeiNLbEBzqJ98m2RwHiDg13Jpp3WYwo33BQ8iYVyO7B0pLMXC0__2HxfLMfW9YwGkrPQyqG5sa-8D8kp4Se4cGgA0tY-rNC9ofajtXCsZfWq5y4AGvlI_vJch0s7iNZxFsBccTYnQv1YNwbY3dR2lthkHRFPdjrFAPllq86QUS0Ug/w400-h289/IMG_20230203_234540.jpg" width="400" /></a></u></i></b></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><br />Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– February 17</i></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yes, I’m still 100 percent on board the MCU train. We’re
living in a golden age for comic book films where we can do all sorts of
different and obscure superhero movies and TV shows and people will actually
show up to watch because of the brand. I have plenty to say about Phase 4 of
the MCU, which I thought was perfectly enjoyable. But “Quantumania” starts
Phase 5 and appears to give us a strong introduction to the villainy of Kang
after being briefly introduced in “Loki.” The guy has an Avengers movie named
after him in Phase 6, so I’m excited to get going on this story arc. Plus, I’ve
enjoyed both Ant-Man movies, so I’m totally in for a third movie.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Cocaine Bear</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
February 24</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">OK, full confession. This probably should be in the bad
section. I fully expect it to be really dumb and ridiculous. But after seeing
the first trailer, I instantly became absurdly excited to see this crazy romp
about a bear getting high on cocaine and causing all sorts of terror.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Creed III</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– March
3</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I love the Rocky movies. It’s one of my favorite franchises.
I’ve also loved both Creed movies, so of course I’m excited to see the third
movie. It’ll be the first movie without the involvement of Rocky himself or
Sylvester Stallone in any way, but I think Michael B. Jordan is fully ready to take
on the full load. And he’s also directing this third chapter, which will be his
directorial debut, so it’s always interesting to see what an actor can do
behind the camera. His foe in the arena will be played by Jonathan Majors, who
plays Kang in “Quantumania,” so it’s quite the beginning of the year for him.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Scream VI</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– March
10</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m going to have to trust my fellow cinema and horror fans
on this one. I didn’t see last year’s “Scream,” but I hear it was really good.
In fact, despite having the original “Scream” as one of my favorite horror
films, I’ve not yet seen any sequels. So I have some homework to do. Maybe
intertwined with my final Oscar preparations, I’ll sneak in a Scream marathon
in preparation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Shazam! Fury of the Gods</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– Mar 17</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I know DC is a giant mess at the moment. A mess that James
Gunn is trying to clean up and establish a new, strong reputation for. In which
case, that leaves me wondering about what the future holds for Zachary Levi and
the rest of the Shazam family. I would be excited for this movie, regardless,
because the first movie was one of the best DC films of late, but I was really
hoping this wouldn’t be a swan song for this crew. Fortunately, based on Gunn’s
brief DC presentation, it appears that he’s keeping these characters around,
which is a really good choice.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>John Wick: Chapter 4</u></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
– March 24</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One of the best recent action franchises. The crazy thing
about the John Wick movies is that all three of them were about on the same
level of high quality awesomeness. Chad Stahelski is doing a great job with
these movies. And ever since the third movie finished, I was fully ready for
them to flip around and give me Chapter 4 as soon as possible. Unfortunately we
suffered through a pandemic in the time between the third and fourth movie, but
we’ve finally arrived and I’m ready to go!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>AIR</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– April 5</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first time Ben Affleck and Matt Damon teamed up for a
movie was back in 1997 with “Good Will Hunting.” Then they waited all the way
until 2021 before bringing us “The Duel,” as directed by Ridley Scott, which I
thought was fantastic. Luckily we only had to wait two years before their next
outing. Both star. Both produce. Affleck directs. Alex Convery wrote the movie.
The movie is about Nike’s pursuit of Michael Jordan. Affleck plays Phil Knight
and Damon plays Vaccaro. April feels like a weird month to release this movie,
but I have no reason to doubt the quality at this point.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Renfield</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– April
14</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nicholas Cage plays Dracula. That’s literally all I need to
know about this movie.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– May 5</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As is tradition, Marvel will kick off the summer with one of
their big releases. This time it’s James Gunn and what I assume is his Swan
Song with the Guardians before I assume he puts all of his attention into DC as
he’s now in charge over there. Granted, I’m sure the Guardians as characters
will continue on in the MCU, but it’ll be great to see Gunn’s final vision with
this group, especially after getting fired and rehired by Marvel. Way more
shenanigans than was needed, but it all worked out in the end.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Fast X</u></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> – May 19</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I love how people who have never seen a Fast and Furious
movie are still whining and complaining about so many of them coming out. These
are some of the most entertaining and self-aware movies that exist. I want them
to keep coming and continue to get more ridiculous. I mean, they went to space
in the ninth movie. Now all that’s left is time travel or some absurd
crossover. Watch them and see for yourself. But just know that they don’t start
getting good until the fifth movie.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– June 2</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My tiny, little gripe with this when I put it on last year’s
list was the “Part One” in the title. Well, now they got rid of that and it’s
just simply “Across the Spider-Verse” for the subtitle. I am sufficiently
satisfied. Part Two is “Beyond the Spider-Verse.” That’s much better. And makes
for a really awesome-sounding trilogy: Into, Across, and Beyond the
Spider-Verse. Anyways, the first one is one of the best Spider-Man movies. Now my
only gripe is that I want them to actually get released instead of getting
postponed, like they did last year. I finished the first movie with the thought
that I wanted spin-offs with ALL of the characters. As well as more direct
sequels. So let’s git-r-done!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Elemental</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– June
16</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a Pixar movie. And Pixar *almost* always does great.
“Lightyear” was a tad bit of a slip-up last year, but they still had “Turning
Red” to represent in 2022, which was fantastic. Anyways, Pixar movies always
belong on this part of the list. And even though we don’t know a whole ton
about this particular movie, but it gives me “Inside Out” vibes, which is a
good thing.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Asteroid City</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
June 23</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Wes Anderson. He’s pretty much his own genre of film and
you’re either in or you’re out. And I’m 100 percent in. All of Hollywood are
always invited into his films. It’s tradition. Continuing that tradition,
“Asteroid City” has a list that’s too long to put in this post, but it begins
with Margot Robbie, Hong Chau, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johannson, Bryan Cranston,
Edward Norton, Sophia Lillis, Willem Dafoe, Adrien Brody, Steve Carell, Maya
Hawke, and Tilda Swinton. And keeps going. I have no idea who is a main
character or who is a five second cameo, nor do I care. The movie claims to be
about a Junior Stargazer convention that’s disrupted by world-changing events.
I’m also not sure what that means and I also don’t really care. I’m just
excited to see another Wes Anderson film! And given that this was also supposed
to come out last year, it might mean we have two Wes Anderson films this year,
the second being “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.” Scroll down to check out
that one.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– June 30</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Dial of Destiny” is a tad bit of a weird subtitle. It sounds
like more of an Indiana Jones parody than a fifth film. That title aside, I’m
all in on this film. I know many Indiana Jones fans are proceeding with caution
after the fourth film. I didn’t hate that movie, nor did I care too much for
it. So I’m on neutral standing. But I genuinely think Lucasfilm and everyone
else involved is also trying to forget that one happened and start fresh. And
this one is directed by James Mangold. Sure, it’ll be weird seeing an Indiana
Jones movie not directed by Mr. Spielberg, but I’m fine with him doing his
thing while letting someone new take the reins. And James Mangold is an
excellent director, so I have faith.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– July 14</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">OK, I suppose I have to be consistent with my “Part 1” debate
from above and say that this could’ve simply been subtitled “Dead Reckoning.”
But it’s whatever. If the next two “Mission: Impossible” films are one epic
story, I can be excited. Just don’t take too long to finish Part 2. That said,
this is a franchise that has only gotten better with time. “Fallout” was
honestly one of the best action films I’ve ever seen and was in my top 10
favorite movies… of last DECADE. At some point I understand if it’s an
impossible task to make a better film than one of the best ever action films.
If it’s simply just a “really good film” instead of “the best,” then I will be
perfectly satisfied. Not to mention Mr. Cruise is also following up “Top Gun:
Maverick” from last year. Expectations for this one will be insanely high. So,
Tom, you’re mission, should you choose to accept it…</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Barbie</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– July 21</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And we just went from “Mission: Impossible” to “Barbie.” No,
this is not a mistake. It’s weird to be this excited for a Barbie movie. Never
have I ever anticipated a Barbie movie. But y’alls. This live action Barbie
movie is directed by Greta Gerwig, whose last two films were “Lady Bird” and
“Little Women,” both of which made my best of the decade list, with “Lady Bird”
being top 10 and my favorite of that year. Never doubt the almighty Greta! And
not just that, but the teaser they released was one of the best teasers I’ve
seen as it parodied “2001: A Space Odyssey.” So it looks like they know what
they’re doing! And Greta also dragged her partner Noah Baumbach into this to
help write… against his will, which is hilarious. For the record, Noah himself
is also on a role.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Oppenheimer</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– July
21</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Well this is quite the double feature. Not only is “Barbie”
in between “Mission: Impossible” and “Oppenheimer” on this list, but it’s
currently scheduled to be released on the same day as “Oppenheimer,” which
would make for quite the double feature. “Oppenheimer” is Christopher Nolan’s next
film and is about J. Robert Oppenheimer, who developed the atomic bomb. I’m not
sure how Nolan and biopic combine. Is he going to try to do another twisted
timeline like he does with almost all of his movies or did he get all of that
out of his system in “Tenet” and plans to make a normal biopic? I have no idea.
And even though Nolan has burned me more often than not since “Inception,” I
still allow myself to get excited for a new film of his. And this one stars
Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer. The dude might be one of the best actors to have
never gotten any awards consideration for anything. Hopefully this is the role
that breaks that trend?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Marvels</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– July
28</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Potential hot takes. I actually really enjoyed “Captain
Marvel” and “Ms. Marvel.” Sure, “Ms. Marvel” might be on the lower end of the
echelon when it comes to the Marvel Disney+ shows, but it was still fun and
charming. And I’ve never gotten the hate for “Captain Marvel.” In fact, I’m
annoyed that a bunch of comic book nerds got super butt-hurt at Brie Larson’s
“anti-men” comments and tried to sabotage the film. That failed spectacularly
when it comes to box office, but also helped start a trend where it was “cool”
to hate the movie. The movie is not bad. And I’m excited to see the fun team-up
of Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel, even if it’s not towards the very top of the
Phase 5 and 6 MCU films that I’m looking forward to.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Meg 2: The Trench</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– August 4</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m not sure why it took them five years to make a sequel to
“The Meg” after it made $527 million worldwide in the summer of 2018. We should
be on “The Meg 5” by now. I live for dumb shark movies. And it doesn’t get a
whole lot better in that regard than Jason Statham fighting a Megalodon.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Blue Beetle</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
August 18</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I consider myself a life-long DC fan, but I’ve apparently
hit a bit of a blind side in my DC fandom because I know very little about Blue
Beetle. James Gunn seems to have good things to say about this one when he
recently laid out his DC plan, so maybe this is a character who will continue
to exist in his universe? That was my big question about this one going into
this year, as well as all of the DC movies that were scheduled this year before
Gunn took over. And there’s four of them? Anyways, I’m all for obscure
superheroes getting the spotlight instead of just doing Batman and Superman
over and over. So I can be happy for this.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>A Haunting in Venice</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
September 15</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The third movie in Kenneth Branagh’s Hercule Poirot series,
following “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Death on the Nile.” I think in
regards to this murder mystery genre, these movies might be starting to get
overshadowed by Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” movies, which are certainly far
superior. And I didn’t care much for “Death on the Nile,” which was a horribly
disappointing sensation. But I’m crossing my fingers for a bounce back. Both
franchises can live in harmony, right?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Next Goal Wins</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
September 22</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Taika Waititi. What he does, I will show up for. And if he
decides that he wants to make a movie about the American Samoa soccer team that
lost a FIFA match 31-0 in 2001, then that’s a movie I’m going to be watching.
And yes, that’s soccer. Not rugby or American football. You score one goal at a
time in soccer and this team lost 31-0 in that format. And yes, I know many
were put off my Taika’s “Thor: Love and Thunder.” I personally wasn’t. But even
so, this is Taika going back to doing an indie film, which he hasn’t yet missed
on, so I feel people should still be excited for this if they liked “Jojo
Rabbit” or “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” which I’m predicting this will be more
akin to.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Dune: Part 2</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
November 3</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My biggest complaint about “Dune” was that it felt like half
of a movie. That and I felt like I was thrown into a very deep and dense lore,
with the movie not caring to ease me in a bit. But hey, even if a lot of the
movie flew right over my head, I’m still excited for the second half of the
movie to come out so I can better judge this thing. And perhaps after
experiencing both parts, I will be more oriented and ready to explore this
world. Because there’s a lot of Dune to go around.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– November 17</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Compiling this list reminded me that I have another Hunger
Games book to read. I remember being excited for that when it was announced,
yet the actual release of the book completely escaped me. So I will make that a
goal before this Thanksgiving. Now the final Hunger Games movie burned and
crashed in a spectacularly disappointing fashion, and I was one who loved how
the series ended in the books. I just think the movie adaptation of said ending
was awful, this coming from someone who loved the first three movies. Anywho,
this one is a prequel, so it’s a clean slate. And I don’t want to go too deep
down the rabbit hole of figuring out exactly what this is about because I’d
rather discover that in the book first.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Wish</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– November 22</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dear Walt Disney Animation Studios, this year for your
latest film, would you please consider advertising it so that the world knows
it comes out? You did not do that thing with “Strange World.” Also, I hope you
made a better film this time because “Strange World,” while not terrible, was
also not that great. That aside, this is still the next addition in the canon
of Walt Disney Animation Studios and those movies are always to be eagerly
anticipated.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– December 25</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is this is the swan song for Jason Mamoa as Aquaman? James
Gunn also seemed to have positive vibes for this movie, but I’m not sure how
much Aquaman is in his future plans. It’s also a bit awkward to have Amber
Heard in this movie while Johnny Depp got kicked out of his Warner Bros. movie.
And although that upsets me, I vowed not to take that out on James Wan and co.
when they’re just trying their best to make a good sequel to a really fun movie
in 2018’s “Aquaman.” All of DC is a bit weird right now, but I plan on having a
bit of tunnel vision in this instance as I simply watch one sequel to one
previous movie. Then we’ll figure out the rest of this as we go. And they’re
planning on resetting everything in “The Flash,” anyways, which comes out
before this movie does. So maybe we’ll actually have a bit more clarity by the
time December rolls around?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Maestro</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– TBD 2023
(Netflix)</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Next on this list is a handful of TBD streaming movies. Up
to this point, we’ve gone in chronological order. But now there’s not really
any order? Netflix sometimes doesn’t announce release dates until they’re ready
to start advertising something. And sometimes that doesn’t happen until right
before the movie is released. They kinda do their own thing rather than
following in traditions of other studios. That aside, “Maestro” is written,
directed, and stars Bradley Cooper in his sophomore outing as a director. Given
how well he did with his first outing in “A Star is Born,” I’m excited to see
what he has next. I don’t know if this will be an awards contender, but it
sounds like one. The movie is about the life of Leonard Bernstein, with Cooper
playing Bernstein and Carey Mulligan, Matt Bomer, Maya Hawke, and Sarah
Silverman starring alongside him. And awkwardly, this might not end up being
called “Maestro”? That’s what it’s been called. And Wikipedia still calls it
that. But IMDb now calls it “Bernstein,” which certainly makes sense given the
subject matter. So if a movie called “Maestro” never hits Netflix and you also
wonder why I never talked about “Bernstein”… I did.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– TBD 2023 (Netflix)</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The other Wes Anderson movie. See “Asteroid City” from
above. The half of Hollywood that didn’t join the cast of “Asteroid City” will
most likely be showing up in “Henry Sugar.” And while I don’t actually know who
the protagonist of “Asteroid City” is, I do know Benedict Cumberbatch will be
playing the titular role of Henry Sugar. And I know even less about what all
this means. And I’m actually not 100 percent convinced this is coming out this
year. Just like “Asteroid City” was meant for 2022 and wound up in 2023, I
wouldn’t be surprised to learn that “Henry Sugar” will end up in 2024. But as
it’s currently scheduled for some mysterious date in 2023, it will be on this
list. And it may be on next year’s list, too. We’ll have to see.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Killers of the Flower Moon</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– TBD 2023 (Apple TV+)</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And speaking of movies that have been rumored to be coming
out for a long while now, Martin Scorsese is taking his sweet time finishing
this movie. I suppose Mr. Scorsese has earned the right to take as long as he
wants to finish a movie, but I’m growing a tad bit impatient because this
sounds like it will be right up my alley. It’s a crime drama from Scorsese that
is based on the 1920s Oklahoma murders in the Osage Nation after oil was
discovered on the land. Specifically it’s an adaptation of the 2017
best-selling book, “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth
of the FBI” by David Grann, which is a non-fiction book that explores the
subject. As a film fan, I think I’m legally obligated to be excited for a movie
directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.
Given that crime dramas are my favorite, and the fact that Jesse Plemons and
Brendan Fraser are joining the party, I’m more than happy to oblige. It may or
may not show up on Apple TV+ at some point. Or I might be talking about it
again next year. Who knows.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Napoleon</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– TBD
2023 (Apple TV+)</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Apple TV+ is attempting to have a solid year of movies. In
addition to being the eventual landing spot of the previously mentioned
Scorsese movie, it also is looking to be the home of Ridley Scott’s Napoleon
movie, which explores Napoleon Bonaparte’s rise to power. Joaquin Phoenix plays
Napoleon and Vanessa Kirby plays his wife Josephine. Predicting the Oscars a
year in advance is nearly an impossible task and I’m not even attempting to do
so, but if Ridley Scott and Scorsese end up a part of the conversation and
their two movies end up being really good, that’s looking to be a solid year at
the Oscars.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Flora and Son</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
TBD 2023 (Apple TV+)</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And the final movie included in this section is the third
Apple TV+ movie from a big director whose films I get excited to see and that
is John Carney. Sure, Carney isn’t nearly as big of a name as Ridley Scott and
Martin Scorsese. You might not even recognize who he is by just me mentioning
his name. But if I tell you he’s the director of “Begin Again” from 2013 and
“Sing Street” in 2016, that might do the trick in getting you excited. If you
have no idea what those two movies are, then I just added two movies to your
list that you should watch asap because both are really good. Both are
music-centered, which is a big part of the reason why I liked them. Following
that trend, “Flora and Son” is, too. Flora is a single mom who, as IMDb
describes, is at war with her son Max. She finds a guitar from a dumpster in
order to hopefully give him a hobby. I have a bit of an inside scoop on this
one as it was released at Sundance last month. No, I did not see it. And no, I
did not see any Sundance movies. But this one is getting positive reviews.
Granted, sometimes festival goers think everything they see at festivals are
all cinematic masterpieces, so it’s hard to gauge reality, but nevertheless
this director with this premise sounds like a winner to me. So I’ll choose to
believe the current reaction.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">The Bad:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u></u></i></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-PNTHI8jNMEpEaOqPy2rVZSCBrbbqGlOpw-vhvbRBzWqV9N_34a-Nhuhn_67CcPyoEVHUFf6C4_EkjpTmPgd8vIlUKp3L2aCfJKVQ7tf0osa8utF7DzYMbk2S3raVLChmlfVn0aEIqk9TmTmPp8YlWz7YhW75WyT0HVDBY_n9hl67wWRXFBK5B6s4Q/s1564/IMG_20230204_003334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1113" data-original-width="1564" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-PNTHI8jNMEpEaOqPy2rVZSCBrbbqGlOpw-vhvbRBzWqV9N_34a-Nhuhn_67CcPyoEVHUFf6C4_EkjpTmPgd8vIlUKp3L2aCfJKVQ7tf0osa8utF7DzYMbk2S3raVLChmlfVn0aEIqk9TmTmPp8YlWz7YhW75WyT0HVDBY_n9hl67wWRXFBK5B6s4Q/w400-h285/IMG_20230204_003334.jpg" width="400" /></a></u></i></b></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><br />80 for Brady</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
February 3</i></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And now we begin the bad list. I try to put less on this
part of the list as to not be negative. I stopped doing end-of-year worst
lists, too. But nevertheless, there are still things I’m naturally grumpy about
in looking at them and I want to get those thoughts out, too. And we begin with
a movie that actually came out this weekend as I’m posting this, so who knows.
Maybe it’s great. It has a solid cast. But<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I watch these trailers and I see a group of older ladies fawning over
Tom Brady in a way that makes me a little too uncomfortable. If this hits
strong for older females, then wonderful. But I’ll be seeing Shyamalan’s new
film instead, which we’ll be talking about in the final section of this.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Marlowe</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– February
15</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m happy that Liam Neeson is happy and enjoying life as an
action star, essentially remaking “Taken” a thousand different times in only
slightly different ways. But it is exhausting seeing so many of these
low-budget Liam Neeson movies all over the calendar every year. This one is
directed by Neil Jordan, who is an Oscar winner… back in 1992. So maybe this is
the Liam Neeson movie that’s not bad or generic? At this point, I’ll believe it
when I see it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– February 15</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">OK, confession time. I’m actually awfully curious about this
one, even if I’m awfully sure it will be… awful. But Winnie the Pooh went into
public domain recently and immediately someone took advantage of that and
decided to make a really bizarre-looking, live action Winnie the Pooh horror
film, which makes me laugh hysterically. Not as much as “Cocaine Bear,” but I’m
still highly amused at this movie’s existence. But a tad bit confused as to why
and how this ended up as a Fathom Events special engagement rather than a
traditional release? Maybe that’s another red flag?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Super Mario Bros.</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
April 7</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The biggest reason why I’m excited for this movie to come
out is that we can officially say that the 90’s abomination is not “THE” Super
Mario Bros. movie. We can now erase that movie from existence. I also at one
point hoped that this will do well so that it’ll open the door to other
Nintendo property to get adapted. But I’ve slowly changed my tune on that one
because this movie looks like a completely train wreck. Still not as bad as the
90s movie, but that’s an extremely low bar. Chris Pratt did not even attempt to
sound like Mario and that just messes with my brain. And apparently neither did
most of the rest of the cast in their respective roles. It seems like Jack
Black is the only one that understood the assignment and tried to sound like
his character, Bowser. And we all know that Mario games don’t have much of a
plot. That’s not the point. But that also makes them hard to adapt into a
movie, so the route that this movie is doing is a Mario nostalgia vomit trip
that combines every Mario game you’ve played. Nostalgia vomit can work, but
this seems like the bad nostalgia vomit in the vein of “Space Jam: A New
Legacy.” Sure, it would be great to have this succeed so that other Nintendo
property can be adapted. But do we really want Illumination to be the ones in
charge when we finally get “Legend of Zelda” or “Metroid Prime”? Can you
imagine Chris Pratt as Link and how much of a nightmare that would be to
everyone who has been wanting a “Legend of Zelda” movie for decades?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Book Club 2: The Next Chapter</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– May 12</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Did you remember that there was a movie called “Book Club”?
Did you know that it did well enough for it to get a sequel this summer? I
didn’t see the movie, but the premise involved a group of older ladies becoming
obsessed with “Fifty Shades of Gray” and that just did not feel like my wavelength.
I guess<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>if the same audience that is
planning on seeing “80 for Brady” this weekend has another thing to look
forward to later this year… cool?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Little Mermaid</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
May 26</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here’s a controversial placement of a movie. And right up
front, I have zero qualms with Halle Bailey as Ariel. She looks like a
beautiful, talented young woman that 100 percent deserves the role. I just have
an issue with Disney’s original animated Little Mermaid. I think there’s things
that definitely deserve to be fixed. And if this were a different director from
a different studio making a different version of the movie, like Guillermo del
Torro masterfully did with Pinocchio, then I’d be excited for a Little Mermaid
adaptation. But I know Disney’s track record with their live action remakes and
I know that they most definitely WON’T. And I’ve been one to defend Disney’s
live action remakes in the past because not all of them have been bad. But
they’re on such a bad streak that even I’ve been broken. This will be an exact carbon
copy of 1989’s “The Little Mermaid” and those who loved that movie might be
excited and pleased. But a carbon copy of that movie, together with every one
if it’s problems, is not the movie I want. Prove me wrong, Disney. I dare you!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Flash</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– June 16</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">James Gunn said he’s seen and loved this movie. I really
hope those are honest words rather than words he’s obligated to say as head of
DC. Because I’d love a great Flash movie. The problem is if we’re firing DC
actors and cancelling projects left and right, I’m not sure why someone as
problematic as Ezra Miller is not at the top of that list. But also, this movie
has gone through so many different directors and different visions that it’s
become exhausting. But also also, we’re about to start season 9 of “The Flash”
on CW with Grant Gustin. And although I’ve not kept up with the Arrowverse as
much as I’ve wanted to recently, I’ve still enjoyed “The Flash” and I think
Grant Gustin is fantastic as the character. So I’ve never had much reason to be
excited about this movie reset of the character. But sure, if they’re doing
Flashpoint, that’s a classic story. And if they do it good, then this could
work. If they have all of the Batmans and they do that as well as “Spider-Man:
No Way Home” did, then it could be fun. And it’s also James Gunn and DC’s
perfect excuse to reset everything to how they want it going forward. So maybe?
The other three DC movies were in my good section. But this one I’ve just not
been vibing with.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Insidious 5</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– July
7</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">They’re doing a fifth Insidious movie? Sure, that tracks
with the horror genre. Endless number of sequels to successful franchises. And
if it was a franchise I cared about, perhaps I’d be more willing to oblige. But
I actually didn’t really like the original “Insidious,” which was a surprise to
me considering how many others did. And I never cared to see all the others, so
I don’t really have a strong amount of confidence in a fifth one, nor do I know
if I care to binge the rest just to be caught up?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Gran Turismo</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
August 11</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Historically speaking, adapting video games into movies
doesn’t work well. So I’m playing the odds. Even though racing games are one of
the genres of video games I love, I will confess that Gran Turismo is not a
franchise I ever dove into. I think the Playstation of it all is the main
reason. So I don’t have as much expertise here, but still. This movie is going
to have to prove itself to me. If it ends up being a really cool racing movie
that Neill Blomkamp made, then that’s awesome.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Haunted Mansion</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
August 11</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As you’ll see, I’m being really mean to Disney on this list.
I remember enjoying the Eddie Murphy Haunted Mansion. And I’m sure the ride at
Disneyland is great, even though I’ve not been on it. But is this really a
thing we needed to do again? And if we are, casting Jared Leto as your ghost is
not exactly the perfect choice to gain my vote of confidence.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Equalizer 3</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
September 1</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do we really need a third Equalizer movie? Granted, I never
got around to “The Equalizer 2,” but I didn’t exactly hear a whole lot of votes
of confidence for it. I’m not as opposed to this as I might be for others, but
excitement is also not the emotion I’m feeling, either.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Nun 2</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
September 8</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Believe it or not, I’m a bit surprised that we didn’t get
this movie a lot sooner. “The Nun” was a massive box office success and usually
when you get that for a horror movie, you want to capitalize on it by getting a
sequel together as soon as you can. You don’t wait five years. That said, “The
Nun” was one of the worst horror movies, which was extremely disappointing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>considering how great the character’s
introduction was in “The Conjuring 2.” It’s certainly bottom of the barrel for
the Conjuring franchise and all its spin-offs. I’m not sure it’s even possible
for them to win me over with a sequel, but I’m open to them trying.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Expendables 4</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
September 22</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Does anyone still care about The Expendables? It was a fun
novelty at first, but I think that novelty wore off fairly quickly and led to
diminishing returns. And it’s now been almost 10 years since “The Expendables
3” was released in 2014. So why are we bringing this back? But even so, I
thought the point was to cram as many old action stars into one movie as they
could. Looking at their poster, they do have Jason Statham, Dolph Lungreen, and
Sylvester Stallone, the mainstays from the first three. But the other names on
the poster are… 50 Cent, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Randy Couture, Jacob
Scipio, Levy Tran, and Andy Garcia? That’s the cast we’re going with to get
people excited about a fourth Expendables movie after nearly ten years? I guess
that means we’re cheering for Iko Uwais from “The Raid” and “The Raid 2” to
beat up everyone, right? That’s the only name that excites me.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Kraven the Hunter</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
October 6</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m not sure this is a real movie that exists and is getting
released this year. Nor do I think it’s a good idea if it is. Did “Morbius” not
teach Sony anything? I guess they’re thinking that the box office success of
both Venom movies means that people are loving this trend of Spider-Man
villains getting their own solo movies without Spider-Man. But I’m not so sure
that’s an accurate reading. I think we should focus on Spider-Man movies and
wait for those movies to introduce these villains in. But hey, I’m just one
guy. What do I know?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Trolls 3</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
November 17</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I shouldn’t really be surprised a third Trolls movie is on
its way from DreamWorks. To be honest, I never got around to seeing “Trolls:
World Tour,” even though the advertising was highly amusing. Do to the COVID of
it all and their experimentation of making it a PVOD movie only, spending the
$20 to watch it didn’t seem like the best use of my time and money. After that,
it just slipped away from me. Maybe I’ll catch it at some point, but “Trolls” was
also not a movie that clicked with me. These movies definitely have their
audience, mostly consisting of younger kids. I’m just not a part of that
audience, I guess. DreamWorks is a fine studio that I often enjoy, but they’re
also fairly hit and miss and “Trolls” just seemed a bit to juvenile and
uninteresting to me.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Color Purple</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
December 22</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“The Color Purple” was a 1985 movie, directed by Spielberg,
that was nominated for 11 Oscars. And of all movies to get the remake
treatment, this would not have been very high at all. And I’m still wondering
why. I guess the answer is that it was adapted into a stage musical in 2005 and
this new movie is a movie musical adaptation of that. So I guess that can work?
I looked to the writers and director to give me a vote of confidence. And
although the cast looks great, said writers and director are names I don’t
know. Blitz Bazawule to direct with a screenplay by Marcus Gardley. Neither
have written or directed movies I’ve heard of. So I guess we’ll wait and see to
for a trailer or more info to see if this will be worth seeing?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Untitled Ghostbusters Sequel</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– December 22</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It feels weird putting a Ghostbusters movie in the bad list,
but I did not care for “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” so a sequel to that is not
something I can get excited for. I hope I am proven wrong because this is a
franchise that I would love to enjoy once again.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Peter Pan & Wendy</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– TBD 2023 (Disney+)</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At least with “The Little Mermaid,” Disney has enough
confidence to put it in theaters. Disney’s “Peter Pan” is an even more
problematic Disney movie than “The Little Mermaid.” And not only is Disney
redoing it in what will most likely be yet another carbon copy of their
original, but they’re throwing this one straight to Disney+. And I want to say it’ll
be earlier in the year, but we don’t know yet. So this is giving me vibes of
last year’s remake of Pinocchio for Disney, which was really bad. Also, Peter
Pan has been done a lot and most of those adaptations haven’t been any good, so
that’s not a great track record to inspire confidence.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Maybe:</span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u></u></i></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ8EV7kB9YiJj-JytC3fstAw1P-bDd8ukkzDNyBbpl93VEaS0kiX4UQs2QrnI2PPwy8sSkhqjg4glJlFUb5LuvhF7Y_Q3sNK1YgAolVADeXQq1t6zpyow4hKvJy7s7eFCU7XbEsRnmwko6I-tFY3_2XZGScPvMM4ODLZa3np2iV2ZKW6i_griAJn6_CA/s1562/IMG_20230204_004001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1116" data-original-width="1562" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ8EV7kB9YiJj-JytC3fstAw1P-bDd8ukkzDNyBbpl93VEaS0kiX4UQs2QrnI2PPwy8sSkhqjg4glJlFUb5LuvhF7Y_Q3sNK1YgAolVADeXQq1t6zpyow4hKvJy7s7eFCU7XbEsRnmwko6I-tFY3_2XZGScPvMM4ODLZa3np2iV2ZKW6i_griAJn6_CA/w400-h286/IMG_20230204_004001.jpg" width="400" /></a></u></i></b></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><br />Knock at the Cabin</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
February 3</i><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The final section is movies that I’m on the fence with, for
one reason or another. And no director is a better example of someone you have
no idea what you’re going to get than M. Night Shyamalan. It could be a really
bad movie or it could be a return to form. And the funny thing is, this movie
is now out and I still have no idea what I’m in for after looking at reviews. I
don’t want to look too far into it because we need to save the Shyamalan
surprise for the viewing experience, but there are some critics I follow on
Twitter who said they hated this movie. Thinking that would result in a rotten
score on Rotten Tomatoes, I was surprised to see a 70 percent? Which means plenty
of people did enjoy it, but that’s low enough to still have no idea what my
opinion will end up being.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Magic Mike’s Last Dance</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– February 10</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve not gotten up the courage to final check out the male
stripper movies that are “Magic Mike” and “Magic Mike XXL.” The near unanimous
reaction from people who have is that of pure shock that a movie they thought
was going to be really bad was actually really good, with an equally as good
sequel. So I’ll give this the benefit of the doubt and say maybe this will be
good? Although I wouldn’t anticipate a review on this one from me any time
soon.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Jesus Revolution</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
February 24</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Christian movies are really hard to figure out. I love
myself a really good, faith-inspiring Christian movie. But the honest truth is
that there’s a lot of them that end up not being any good. This is one where an
initially hesitant pastor opens up his congregation to a bunch of hippies in
the 70s and it has a solid trailer that gives me hope. And it’s by the
directors who did “I Can Only Imagine,” which actually is a good Christian
movie. So I want to be excited. But I honestly don’t know.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>65</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– March 17</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A sci-fi movie starring Adam Driver, who crash lands on a
mysterious planet, quickly figures out that he’s on Earth from 65 million years
ago and the only other survivor from his ship is a young girl. And yes, there
are dinosaurs that he has to fight off and survive while he tries to figure out
how to get home. And no, this is not a Jurassic Park movie. For some reason,
dinosaurs that aren’t Jurassic Park feels like an odd novelty. In a month that
already includes “Creed III,” “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” “Scream VI,” and
“John Wick: Chapter 4,” this has a lot of competition, but could become a
sleeper hit?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– March 31</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have a friend who is very into D&D, who was very
skeptic at the idea of a D&D movie, that watched this trailer and got
really excited that this seemed to be leaning right into all the D&D lore,
with lots of references that D&D fans would know and love. Granted, that’s
just one person’s opinion, but it gave me the feeling that could hit well with
a certain niche audience, even though I’m also almost sure it will have a
Rotten Tomatoes score somewhere in the 30 percent range. It looks fun enough to
me, though. I’m not a D&D person, so I have no idea how to react.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>A Good Person</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
March 31</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The latest movie from Zach Braff, director of “Garden State”
and “Wish I Was Here.” I’ve not actually seen either of those, but I’ve heard
both very positive and very negative things. So I’m not sure what to think. But
it does star Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman, which has my attention.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Paint</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– April 7</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">OK, this looks really strange to me. On first look, I
thought it was Owen Wilson playing Bob Ross in a biopic and that seemed like a
really strange casting choice, even though they had the makeup and hair done
well enough to make him look like Bob Ross. But then I read his character’s
name is Carl Nargle, which is not the name of a real human being, meaning this
is a purely fictional movie that just gives off strong vibes of Bob Ross? The
description is literally that this character is a local treasure with a
soothing voice who has his own painting show for the last few decades. IMDb
lists it as a comedy, so maybe this is supposed to be a parody. I don’t know,
you look it up and be the judge.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Covenant</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
April 21</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Late April is not a release date that gives me much hope for
anything. If a studio knew they had something good, they usually wouldn’t release
it in April right before the beginning of the summer movie season, which in
this case begins with “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” That aside, this is a
Guy Ritchie war movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Part of me really hopes that
this is a good movie that got stuck with a bad release date.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Evil Dead Rises</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
April 21</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The return of the Evil Dead franchise to cinemas. I guess my
first thought is always that of skepticism when this happens. It could work.
And apparently Sam Raimi, the original director of these movies, picked the
person to continue the franchise. So that’s good news, right? But the person
is… Lee Cronin? He’s only directed two movies, both horror, but both have low
reviews and neither I’ve heard of. Also, late April release date. But hopefully
it’s a surprise?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of a Once and a Future
Heavyweight Champion of the World</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– April 28</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This movie has a really long subtitle and that’s the main
reason why I included it here. Also, future heavyweight champion? I’m not so
sure about that. Also also, late April release date. But nevertheless, this is
a George Foreman biopic. His story is an interesting enough one to tell and I
usually enjoy a good boxing movie. So the year’s longest movie title could be
decent.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Transformers: Rise of the Beasts</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– June 9</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have a rule to always proceed with caution when it comes
to Transformers movies. “Bumblebee” was good. But that was a spin-off. The
original movie was decent fun, but all the sequels in the main saga have been really
bad. But they’ve also all been directed by Michael Bay. “Bumblebee” was
directed by someone else and was good. “Rise of the Beasts” is also not Michael
Bay, so maybe we’ll finally get a main saga Transformers movie that is good?
Steven Caple Jr. is the director of choice and he did good with “Creed II.”
Michael Bay is listed as producer, so that is a tad bit worrisome, but I don’t
know what his level of involvement is. The trailer looked great. But so has
every single trailer for this franchise. So I’m hoping for the best, but not
keeping my fingers crossed, if you know what I mean.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– August 4</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A new TMNT movie? Sure! I’m down for that! I just don’t know
much information about it just yet, so it’s hard to judge. Is it a reboot? Is
it following another TMNT story arc? I don’t know. It appears to be animated
and is directed by one of the co-directors of “The Mitchells vs. the Machines,”
so that’s a good start.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Last Voyage of Demeter</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– August 11</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">August is another questionable month, especially horror in
August. But as I was scrolling through, it caught my eye that this is a horror
movie that’s based on a single chapter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the chapter “Captain’s
Log.” That’s a curious idea. A Russian ship is transporting a bunch of unmarked
wooden crates and were stalked by a terrifying presence every night. When the
ship was found on the harbor, there was no trace of the crew. I have no idea if
this will be any good, but it caught my attention, at the least. And that’s something.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Untitled Saw Movie</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–
October 27</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m not a hundred percent sure we need another Saw movie.
But I do listen to a movie podcast where people are big fan of the Saw
franchise and it’s inspired me to maybe give it another look. I’ve never
actually explored the franchise much. If I choose to do so, I have about nine
months to watch the nine other movies leading up to Saw 10. Plus there’s “Spiral,”
which is a spin-off from the other year that actually looked fairly
interesting.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Wonka</u></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> – December
15</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I had no desire to see this “Wonka” movie with Timothee
Chalamet as a young Willy Wonka. I was going to put this in the bad section and
complain about it. But then I noticed that the director is Paul King, who
directed both Paddington movies. That alone made me transfer it up a degree to
the maybe section. If one guy can make a Wonka prequel work, it would be the
guy who made two perfect Paddington movies, right?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Havoc</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– TBD 2023
(Netflix)</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Netflix has a lot of generic action movies that come out and
most of the time I consider watching them, but don’t often get around to it.
And there’s a chance that “Havoc” ends up in that category. However, in
browsing through the list of Netflix movies coming out this year, I noticed
that this action movie is directed by Gareth Evans, who directed the Raid
movies. So maybe this will be a fun action movie? It also stars Tom Hardy and
Timothy Olyphant, which is a strong lead lineup.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Tetris</u></i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– TBD 2023
(Apple TV+)</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And the final movie I’m bringing up in this post, which
again is not a fully comprehensive list, is one that about gave me a heart
attack. There’s a lot of video game movies that seem like bad ideas, but a
Tetris movie? Why? Upon further investigation, this is actually a movie about
the high-stakes legal battle to secure the intellectual property rights to Tetris,
which makes a lot more sense. And it stars Taron Egerton and Toby Jones. So
that could be an interest movie. So it might be a good idea to actually take
advantage and use my Apple TV+ this year instead of just giving Apple free
money.</span><o:p></o:p></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-37112770497952026922023-01-29T23:43:00.000-07:002023-01-29T23:43:08.157-07:00DrogeMiester's Top 10 BEST Movies of 2022<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2TWna7jIZuZreEwL3orUVyCuwM3j-XSNf_OFi5ad41JahC1LsHaMMI-wLanE8IDopvuHsnx9cTBGOeCaPRRD36pT6311WNcOV82fe5WGXaqBiTgaQGYjbgHWP2PjzlV1rQi0n1uUrnIi0wFWcY8RdH0PYUwcH5TBNLbQD4EvoWw16Y7m4CmaWZWVeQ/s1564/IMG_20230129_234045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1564" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2TWna7jIZuZreEwL3orUVyCuwM3j-XSNf_OFi5ad41JahC1LsHaMMI-wLanE8IDopvuHsnx9cTBGOeCaPRRD36pT6311WNcOV82fe5WGXaqBiTgaQGYjbgHWP2PjzlV1rQi0n1uUrnIi0wFWcY8RdH0PYUwcH5TBNLbQD4EvoWw16Y7m4CmaWZWVeQ/w400-h272/IMG_20230129_234045.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s that time of year again! Time for me to release the
list of my personal favorite movies from the previous year! And, man, what a
great year we had in 2022. In looking specifically at the three years we’ve had
so far this decade, in my opinion 2022 easily blows the other two years out of
the water. And I look at my list from those two years and still like how they
turned out. Sure, maybe the COVID of it all puts those two years at a slight
bit of a handicap, but I also looked at my lists from the previous decade and I
think my top three movies of 2022 would take the top three spots of most of
those years as well. So that should put a bit of a perspective on things as you
read through this.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As per the usual, I didn’t see every movie this year. In
fact, my overall count might be a tad bit on the lower side of things compared
to previous years, which gives me plenty to catch up on. But that’s an ongoing
process for every year. There’s some movie podcasts I listen to where the
people have watched over 300 movies. And still have things to catch up on.
Meanwhile, I don’t think I even hit 100. But at some point you have to call it
and post your list and that list stands as a snapshot in time of what you felt
in that moment about the previous year. Then you come back and add to it later
and even redo it 5-10 years down the road if you want. That said, I still feel
confident about what I’ve put together here as I’m good at keeping my finger on
the pulse of what I should be seeing. And I’m excited to finally share it with
all of you, especially since I did a lot less reviewing this year, even though
I mostly kept up on my watching, which means some of these might be the first
time you’re hearing about them from me. Anyways, enough with the chatter. Let’s
get into the top 10!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">10- Bullet Train</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSretxQ0Y7cipaTG_O22AgwooK-lzs4aJgjJZcYfzLOpzrf8tmVpGp3KSCExAwH9o9R2Yvo_ZpwcXkGUjUPFZVmpWoVDitUcARNsA2ybfgyQQdj0qZIxmQvMXAMHMteDT0g97RTQOEjBWRRrzS3DngUAfSWTDG5735u82iyWEFaConHgClNatvfdN_FA/s720/bullet-train-brad-pitt.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSretxQ0Y7cipaTG_O22AgwooK-lzs4aJgjJZcYfzLOpzrf8tmVpGp3KSCExAwH9o9R2Yvo_ZpwcXkGUjUPFZVmpWoVDitUcARNsA2ybfgyQQdj0qZIxmQvMXAMHMteDT0g97RTQOEjBWRRrzS3DngUAfSWTDG5735u82iyWEFaConHgClNatvfdN_FA/s320/bullet-train-brad-pitt.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">We start this list off with one of the most absurdly
entertaining movies of the year. Brad Pitt plays a hitman who is hired to
simply board a train and steal a briefcase. Easy enough, right? Well, he’s
either the luckiest man alive or the unluckiest man alive, depending on your
vantage point, because this briefcase is attached to something much deeper,
with many people boarding this train to search for it. Before you know it, this
whole movie is littered with various characters, cameos, and story arcs. And
while, conceptually, that idea flirts with being too busy and too messy, in
this particular case the more layers that were added, the more absurdly funny
and wild this action comedy was. Almost the entire movie takes place either on
this bullet train or on the various train stations next to it, yet the world of
this movie was more deep and expansive than most action movies I’ve seen. And
you learn all of that from the various interactions from these characters on
the train. The movie definitely does not take itself seriously at all and if
you fall in line and just want to have a fun evening, this is a perfect choice.
Honestly, out of all the movies on this list, this one might be the most
rewatchable.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">9- Vengeance</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYkqN7xNg1UJjrsochFtQKKCo-4Sia7aEXvXsUDPA24zbyQZG1h_28Ldf98RSpsbRD0ZPtMkufhWqPK0BdTGOX_ypxlFw6vwjO7l36nMCvFrlj_g5jYfdAArarjTEeR_tD7Irt0k6cvRO5OPIGv9iqO7XZJbwS5fGG7PUfbZMBBsMyo51AO2lcXvYnw/s1026/MV5BOTAyMWMzNzItYjk1Yy00ZGNiLTllMjctYzg2ZWE0MTIzODZlXkEyXkFqcGdeQWpnYW1i._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="1026" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYkqN7xNg1UJjrsochFtQKKCo-4Sia7aEXvXsUDPA24zbyQZG1h_28Ldf98RSpsbRD0ZPtMkufhWqPK0BdTGOX_ypxlFw6vwjO7l36nMCvFrlj_g5jYfdAArarjTEeR_tD7Irt0k6cvRO5OPIGv9iqO7XZJbwS5fGG7PUfbZMBBsMyo51AO2lcXvYnw/s320/MV5BOTAyMWMzNzItYjk1Yy00ZGNiLTllMjctYzg2ZWE0MTIzODZlXkEyXkFqcGdeQWpnYW1i._V1_.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Most of the movies on my list are fairly high profile films
in terms of people being aware of their existence. This one, on the other hand,
has a very strong chance of you having never even heard of it. It came out in
late summer with very little fanfare and made just $4.3 million at the domestic
box office. If you happen to be among the few to have actually seen it, there’s
a solid chance you probably enjoyed it. But among the best of the year in a
very strong year? Yeah, I might be one of the few in that camp. And I will
admit that’s because this is very uniquely personal to me. First, it’s about a
journalist trying to find his place in the world. Second, it takes place mostly
in West Texas, which is where I served a two-year mission for my church. Combine
those two elements with the fact that it’s a whodunit mystery/thriller, which
is one of my favorite genres, and yeah this hit for me. It got the journalist
angle perfectly. It nailed the culture of West Texas. And it was a very
intriguing mystery. You could also call it a dark comedy because the movie was
hilarious, despite it being about the murder of a woman, who our main
protagonist is called in to investigate. Her family is convinced that he was
her lover, even though he only had a one-night stand with her. But he stays for
very selfish reasons and stumbles on a very intriguing case that helps him grow
a lot along the way. If you need other motivations to see it, it’s the
feature-length directorial debut of B.J. Novak, star of “The Office.”</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">8- RRR: Rise, Roar, Revolt</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDzWbl1Q4HpMavwIy8sE4m1iWQmDp01JwTAZO65lQo6P9p2af5eF33i5rIlHq20Tzl3jEPY_jZjqvk52UYLwJSidyh3eg6Q_WtxYW28ji82u_pEkwNgpfGV8MECgRMu8x33G4s-MxQEH7RGnvUbMQzrjn37T2mFrmBJ8SqgWT_KgISgJf39nP9scQy1A/s1349/merlin_205052391_46430411-aa97-45b4-b0a3-72ef8b593d40-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1012" data-original-width="1349" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDzWbl1Q4HpMavwIy8sE4m1iWQmDp01JwTAZO65lQo6P9p2af5eF33i5rIlHq20Tzl3jEPY_jZjqvk52UYLwJSidyh3eg6Q_WtxYW28ji82u_pEkwNgpfGV8MECgRMu8x33G4s-MxQEH7RGnvUbMQzrjn37T2mFrmBJ8SqgWT_KgISgJf39nP9scQy1A/s320/merlin_205052391_46430411-aa97-45b4-b0a3-72ef8b593d40-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Speaking of absurdly entertaining movies, “RRR” is an
absolutely bonkers movie that probably breaks every rule of cinema and
certainly follows no laws of physics, but is absolutely better because of it.
It’s the type of thing where if you know what rules you are supposed to follow,
you also know the proper time to break them. I mean, in your movie about a
revolution against the British government, why not have a giant action scene
that involves unleashing an entire swarm of wild animals onto your enemies or
have one British soldier fight off an entire mob of people in the opening
scene? Or come rushing into the heat of the action with one protagonist riding
on the shoulders of another protagonist while yielding two rifles. But in the
midst of all of this, we do manage to have quite the epic saga between two
friends, both undercover, who develop an unbreakable bond while not realizing
they are on completely opposite sides. Beautiful character growth and a
surprising amount of emotion, with fantastic acting, and a conclusion to their
arcs that is fully satisfying. And, oh yeah, there’s a giant music and dance
number in the middle of the film that just got nominated for best original song
at the Oscars. Because… why not? It’s the best three hours that you’ll ever
spend. And I’ve watched it twice… this month.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">7- Pearl</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7E9GNurAKr6ZgsxVs5s5s_dhrP3yB0wOemBN8nYeWKE487FtWOCDh__MFIfNUcvGGXmlvrp3oJ1hsf2QZNHi6V5iIezT5XzTdShOyoLGAPHz-tBTLbPR0Mu4uBRvko-jq3QkWC1TsrhwvLyt-8VUeJFm0vvUjgyj1cDjxjh-n5NMFtnDrhEOvFGcMDA/s1437/Pearl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="1437" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7E9GNurAKr6ZgsxVs5s5s_dhrP3yB0wOemBN8nYeWKE487FtWOCDh__MFIfNUcvGGXmlvrp3oJ1hsf2QZNHi6V5iIezT5XzTdShOyoLGAPHz-tBTLbPR0Mu4uBRvko-jq3QkWC1TsrhwvLyt-8VUeJFm0vvUjgyj1cDjxjh-n5NMFtnDrhEOvFGcMDA/s320/Pearl.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here’s my pick for best horror movie of 2022. Despite not
being represented much on this particular top 10 list, it was a solid
all-around year for horror, especially when it comes to the indie horror scene.
In the said indie horror scene, “Pearl” was quite the unique film in that it was
the prequel to the movie “X,” which also came out in 2022. And the third movie
in the trilogy, titled “MaXXXine” will be coming out very soon. Sure, horror
sequels and prequels are as common as they get, but to have a prequel come out
in the same calendar year, when the first wasn’t even a box office hit?
Director Ti West clearly got the green light from A24 to make a trilogy of
indie horror films, which he appears to have made back-to-back-to-back. Your mileage
may vary on whether you like “X” or “Pearl” more. Film Twitter is certainly
split. But I’m clearly on the train of “Pearl,” which is the origin story for
this murderous female psychopath named Pearl. Set in 1918, stylistically this
is shot and presented like a retro 1950s horror film and looks like something
the master himself, Mr. Alfred Hitchcock, could’ve made. In fact, in terms of
following a character’s descent into madness, I saw so many parallels to the
movie “Psycho,” a movie I often claim as my all-time favorite. I don’t use that
comparison lightly. But this movie absolutely blew me away. Now that the year
has officially passed, I can say with confidence that Mia Goth gave my favorite
performance of the year. The final sequence alone should’ve earned her an
Oscar. It’s too bad that the Academy is allergic to horror, though, because she
wasn’t even in the conversation.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">6- The Fabelmans</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvisF6BlNtJukbi1qKMYGAjwEnuwKaVWQcMTvjXmZbIx5vEIRBtKfWG2SksLbcTrZls3mbZgpl4Pevr5qd73k5Z14u4VxQKSwtak-NQx1Ie8vy8xBn68HOb-K6K9ZKZZNOZYm9ZuAQ7OvJvPhPf7TRfrmkOI5amJ4rp-bTTvdhKct_rXYAdxV1Xr1ZsA/s2274/Brody-The-Fabelmans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1706" data-original-width="2274" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvisF6BlNtJukbi1qKMYGAjwEnuwKaVWQcMTvjXmZbIx5vEIRBtKfWG2SksLbcTrZls3mbZgpl4Pevr5qd73k5Z14u4VxQKSwtak-NQx1Ie8vy8xBn68HOb-K6K9ZKZZNOZYm9ZuAQ7OvJvPhPf7TRfrmkOI5amJ4rp-bTTvdhKct_rXYAdxV1Xr1ZsA/s320/Brody-The-Fabelmans.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">A movie about the movies. From another master of film,
Steven Spielberg. But this is not just a movie that celebrates movies, this is
a movie directed towards lovers of film that shows how the magic of filmmaking
can be a driving force in one’s life, for better or sometimes for worse.
Obviously I’m easy prey for that, but I think this is Spielberg’s best work
since the 90s, where he put out movies like “Saving Private Ryan,” “Jurassic
Park” and “Schindler’s List.” And I say that with the opinion that his recent
slate films in the 2000s and 2010s are fairly underrated. But this one is a
deeply personal film for Spielberg as he basically tells the story of his
childhood, under the guise of a fictional family called the Fabelmans. Hearing
Spielberg speak about how difficult this movie was to make and how much it
meant to him as the movie he’s wanted to make for decades now really touched
me. And I can feel the passion behind this as I watch the story of his life,
split into three different sections from his childhood – his time as a kid in
New Jersey, his adolescence in Phoenix, and finally his high school days in Los
Angeles. And you see how film shaped him in every part of his life in different
ways. Not only did that really speak to me, but I also found myself deeply
invested in the story of this whole family. Not just the character who
represented young Steven, but also his father, mother, and sisters. This is a beautiful
coming of age story centered around the relationship between a boy and his
mother and the many trials they go through. Even though the writing on the wall
is there about what’s going to happen, seeing it all play out was quite the
emotional experience that left me rather moved.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">5- The Northman</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1013yi24kXxADwmFBIB1p044Udf0neUsvqVnF5qrDtYScURZmCBf1F6bXhmtURtR9_AP1wovwvxO6JoVe3XTmzkzKF6ZuLC_9H1xB6x6HVlA2CXFVUvyYybhnTP_WxSk_ot449RdrUXgg75XjP29qMDqN2F5UIC_LQ6xNykV6QlJSz9g406_9OJvKQ/s815/the-northman-movie-alexander-skarsgard-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="815" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1013yi24kXxADwmFBIB1p044Udf0neUsvqVnF5qrDtYScURZmCBf1F6bXhmtURtR9_AP1wovwvxO6JoVe3XTmzkzKF6ZuLC_9H1xB6x6HVlA2CXFVUvyYybhnTP_WxSk_ot449RdrUXgg75XjP29qMDqN2F5UIC_LQ6xNykV6QlJSz9g406_9OJvKQ/s320/the-northman-movie-alexander-skarsgard-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Robert Eggers made a movie about Vikings. That’s all you
really need to know here about why this was an incredible experience. For
context, Robert Eggers is the director of both “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse.”
Those two together with “The Northman” shows that Eggers has a fascinating
niche in stories he likes to tell as he apparently loves to tell stories from
eras past, being extremely brutal and honest about what happened, while using
dialogue straight from that era rather than trying to modernize it all or water
it down for casual audiences. In doing so, he’s created some movies that are
very thematically rich and deep with emotion. And if you think about how brutal
and horrifying the Vikings were in history, you can imagine how intense Eggers
goes with his interpretation of them. The fun part of this is that the specific
story here is based on the legend of Amleth, the direct inspiration for
Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” So yeah, if you know “Hamlet” or any of its thousands
of adaptations or interpretations, this will be a familiar ride. A casual
person might directly connect this to “The Lion King,” realizing that they’re
pretty much the same movie, but with Vikings instead of Lions. And no, that
connection didn’t lighten the experience for me. In fact, it enhanced it for me
knowing that Eggers took such a classic story and made perhaps the most brutal
and magnificent version of it. According to IMDb, Eggers’ next film will either
be a remake of “Nosferatu” or a movie called “The Knight.” Based on what we’ve
seen so far, both of those ideas sound rather intriguing. </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">4- Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH-KyVAVZQX9zsAXSo-UFa0U1iVViBs0q82cjiob4dMdU6AQSxbvhhEDi23EoAcDwscXN28QnPXiY9Mnym2IMTIsU5mNQVEEKC5TXfp1AXwm_xKA4sF75VWta5BphNi9cqif1eKof-OEO0PgPZfpAZ2AWDcSckaqeHL-pQ76T3yPKwR72pvO00p-lkFA/s2162/221206232536-03-guillermo-del-toro-pinocchio-review.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1621" data-original-width="2162" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH-KyVAVZQX9zsAXSo-UFa0U1iVViBs0q82cjiob4dMdU6AQSxbvhhEDi23EoAcDwscXN28QnPXiY9Mnym2IMTIsU5mNQVEEKC5TXfp1AXwm_xKA4sF75VWta5BphNi9cqif1eKof-OEO0PgPZfpAZ2AWDcSckaqeHL-pQ76T3yPKwR72pvO00p-lkFA/s320/221206232536-03-guillermo-del-toro-pinocchio-review.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">In 2022 we had, not one… not two… but THREE versions of “Pinocchio.”
And according to Wikipedia, the list of “Pinocchio” adaptations is a very long
one. And apparently Disney in 1940 wasn’t even the first one to attempt an
adaptation of this 1880s children’s novel. Why this is such a popular story to
do over and over is beyond me. In fact, going into the year I saw two major
adaptions on the calendar and very grumpily put both in the “bad” section of my
2022 preview. Turns out I was right on one account, but very wrong on Guillermo’s
account. The third was basically a straight-to-video quality of film, or
whatever the 2022 version of that is. But anyways, back to Guillermo, I don’t
know how he did, but he somehow took one of the most familiar stories ever told
and created what I think is the absolute best version of that. When he starts
by telling a backstory of how Geppetto lost his own son and how that led him to
create this wooden puppet called Pinocchio, I knew I was immediately in
trouble. And yeah, if you’ve lost someone you loved, whether it be a child, a
parent, a spouse, a sibling, a friend, or whoever, this movie will emotionally wreck
you. It’s all about life, love, and loss, using the story of Pinocchio to tell
that. And it doesn’t even do anything drastically different with the story, it
just creates a much more refined version of the story around every turn that
winds up having much more to say than any version of this story that I’ve seen.
And, oh yeah, it’s also done in stop motion animation, which means the actual craft
of the film took forever to do as well.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">3-Top Gun: Maverick</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJodcDIfsS9uInndqW_VLWZk0B5nmUP28uwKGRt73kPJv87Jcv114q7Dl5xFJNUcyjEgltjvrbphEUI5fDfNeW59mZqaZETsliz7FFu4jXbsEmKo4vJ8WetcyEjqYMXz8UmY4wviQ5qESnVwNe87j9k0tRj_t11R-obAO18fP8MredpShmq9YMnmVFXQ/s973/Top-Gun-Maverick-Cruise-Still-Everett-MCDTOGU_PA043-H-2022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="973" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJodcDIfsS9uInndqW_VLWZk0B5nmUP28uwKGRt73kPJv87Jcv114q7Dl5xFJNUcyjEgltjvrbphEUI5fDfNeW59mZqaZETsliz7FFu4jXbsEmKo4vJ8WetcyEjqYMXz8UmY4wviQ5qESnVwNe87j9k0tRj_t11R-obAO18fP8MredpShmq9YMnmVFXQ/s320/Top-Gun-Maverick-Cruise-Still-Everett-MCDTOGU_PA043-H-2022.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">This one needs no introduction. It’s the highest grossing
movie of 2022 at the domestic box office with over $700 million domestically.
It was topped by “Avatar: The Way of Water” worldwide, but the latter had a
Chinese release and “Maverick” did not, so that’s not the perfect
apples-to-apples comparison. Anyways, if you only saw one movie last year,
there’s a good chance it was this one. And for great reason. I’ve met very few
people, if any, who have had anything negative to say about “Maverick.” And the
impressive thing for me is that I watched the original “Top Gun” also for the
first time this past year and didn’t care for it. It’s a movie that’s very “of
its time” and doesn’t hold up too well. Given that belated sequels for movies
from decades past rarely works out, it’s very impressive to me that not only
did they make a good sequel, but they made a sequel that’s much better than the
original. Yes, that is possible. And I think Tom Cruise is a big reason why.
The man has only gotten better as his career has progressed and if you follow
the “Mission: Impossible” movies, you’ll know that he puts everything into
making his next project better and more intense than the previous one. In which
case, “Top Gun: Maverick” feels like a “Mission: Impossible” meets “Top Gun”
meets… Star Wars? But yeah, they have the technology today to make a movie like
this work much better. They have a star who is much more refined and won’t
accept anything subpar. And they had a writer and director who also managed to
write a very powerful, emotional story to go along with the best IMAX
experience I’ve ever had. There’s a reason why “Top Gun: Maverick” is the movie
of 2022 and I fully agree.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">2- The Batman</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiK90tXexfMiEnu3yZL2fnEPBKilHCemyQlxaLs1dQREHnbMdwjhEmXlI2NkVRSojWI_s1FbBskYK95Njh8UZ2QtAesdz3g0hUXPeECdkETYc4x7vrThVHxeLqTjamvmegXAi9wOojeQaRBErnBpyTkY4AdfA_HTkXL_KWzMHALWXlIy1velN2rnhkCw/s899/https___cdn.cnn.com_cnnnext_dam_assets_211227135008-02-the-batman-trailer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="899" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiK90tXexfMiEnu3yZL2fnEPBKilHCemyQlxaLs1dQREHnbMdwjhEmXlI2NkVRSojWI_s1FbBskYK95Njh8UZ2QtAesdz3g0hUXPeECdkETYc4x7vrThVHxeLqTjamvmegXAi9wOojeQaRBErnBpyTkY4AdfA_HTkXL_KWzMHALWXlIy1velN2rnhkCw/s320/https___cdn.cnn.com_cnnnext_dam_assets_211227135008-02-the-batman-trailer.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Top Gun: Maverick” would be a great pick for my favorite
movie of 2022 if it weren’t for the existence of these next two movies. Matt Reeves
took the reins with the Batman franchise and gave me exactly what I was hoping
for and expecting. After directing the last two movies in the recent Planet of
the Apes trilogy and choosing to cast Robert Pattinson as Batman, I knew we
were in for a treat. What he created was a dark and gritty portrayal of Gotham
that felt very real and lived in. Sure, that’s what every Batman has been since
Tim Burton’s 1989 film, but Reeves took that feel and created what felt like an
homage to a David Fincher crime/thriller, with a Year Two Batman played
brilliantly by Pattinson that leaned a lot more on the Detective Batman side of
things, while also showcasing how unsure of himself he was. It felt very much
like Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman hunting down the seven deadly sins serial
killer in “Se7en,” but with a combination of Bruce Wayne, Alfred, and Lt.
Gordon instead hunting down the Riddler, played hauntingly by Paul Dano, who
had himself quite the year. I think his Riddler was on par with Heath Ledger’s
Joker and I think the movie itself was on par with “The Dark Knight.” I’m glad
it got three Oscar nominations, but it deserved 10+. The fact that a long-time
DC fan in myself puts this in conversation of being the best DC movie ever made
should’ve made this a slam-dunk pick for my best of the year. Coming out
initially, I thought that’s what was going to happen. However, a few weeks
later…</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>1- Everything Everywhere All At Once</i></b></span></p>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7n60yJgE9qhA_OFJsWHqI_7e1wEus8gUkuThP_Tb0jx8X1GYi1ESWtokhAm3OSkXNqpb5JlPg-UMEN1No0rV2--HpL56iw-j_N3iYNebsjlgKiPkHtbEP7OGntxr7NZMIrcWlYHuH96aslIsfeSccYQ7gERjWFEAUvRWRoimE_SkgsHRF7XkmkfpHaQ/s3600/watch-everything-everywhere-all-at-once.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2700" data-original-width="3600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7n60yJgE9qhA_OFJsWHqI_7e1wEus8gUkuThP_Tb0jx8X1GYi1ESWtokhAm3OSkXNqpb5JlPg-UMEN1No0rV2--HpL56iw-j_N3iYNebsjlgKiPkHtbEP7OGntxr7NZMIrcWlYHuH96aslIsfeSccYQ7gERjWFEAUvRWRoimE_SkgsHRF7XkmkfpHaQ/s320/watch-everything-everywhere-all-at-once.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Y’alls. This one is an all-timer for me. I’m absolutely
stunned and floored that this movie exists and works as well as it does. I also
think it’s kinda amusing that, right in between the releases of “Spider-Man: No
Way Home” and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” came a small indie
film from A24 that completely showed Marvel up. And I really enjoyed both of
those Marvel movies. But this is how you do a multiverse movie. It’s as insane
and wacky as you want a multiverse movie to be. But somehow, instead of going
so insane that it drove itself right off of a cliff, every single frame of this
movie comes together in a way that feels calculated and planned out. There are
so many off-the-wall pieces to this wild puzzle that somehow come together
perfectly to create a beautiful masterpiece of a film. After being sent through
an absurdly zany ride that puts a huge smile on your face, you also end up
bawling your face off with how emotional of a story this ends up being with
this small family. Major round of applause to the Oscar-nominated Michelle Yeoh,
Oscar-nominated Stephanie Hsu, Oscar-nominated Jamie Lee Curtis, and the Oscar
nominated Ke Huy Quan for putting on an absolute acting clinic in this movie.
And a major standing ovation to the Oscar-nominated directing duo of The
Daniels, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert for being the masterminds behind all
this. Clearly I won’t be too upset if “The Fabelmans” or “Top Gun: Maverick”
end up winning best picture. But I’m impressed that the conversation behind
this film lasted the entire year and resulted in this being an 11-time Oscar
nominated film. Crossing my fingers that it finishes the marathon with a best
picture trophy.</span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>Honorable Mentions </i></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">With the top 10 behind us, here's the next set of movies that just barely missed the cut. Again, with how great of a year it was, it saddened me that I couldn't fit some of these in, but that's what happens when I commit myself to only doing a top 10.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">11- Puss in Boots: The Last Wish </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">12- Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">13- The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">14- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">15- A Man Called Otto </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">16- She Said </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">17- Violent Night </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">18- Turning Red </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">19- Babylon</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">20- Bodies Bodies Bodies </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">21- Marcel the Shell with Shoes On</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">22- All Quiet On the Western Front </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">23- The Menu </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">24- Barbarian</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">25- The Black Phone</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">And a special honorable mention to the movie "Cyrano." Based on my last year parameters in crowning "The Father" as my favorite movie of 2021, even though many considered it a 2020 film, "Cyrano" would qualify for 2022. And it would slide in at No. 6 on this list. All it got in 2021 was an Oscar-qualifying run, but it didn't hit regular theaters, limited or nationwide, until February of 2022. I don't count Festival releases or Oscar-qualifying runs when putting together these lists. Just its theatrical release. But for some reason it just felt weird to put "Cyrano" on, so I took it off. But regardless of release date shenanigans, you should find it and check it out because it's incredible. Peter Dinklage should've gotten nominated for best actor and the release strategy in general should've been handled much better because it was another one of those movies that deserved 10+ nominations, but it got ignored by everyone and made nothing at the box office. </span></div>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-5830431644049284672023-01-08T23:17:00.001-07:002023-01-08T23:41:39.009-07:00Movie Preview: January 2023<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHkfI6rbuPlOPgv4kgW8rTK8ne_EWmAmV3pfm0heTDaj2EjvNK_3EtWeSB62sPmHOJiw0eJn_5P9QFSlC66HpnKiWnS3bYt9LLu8-BZMTvC4QJR9weRiS_mDgcjk9WmJZLVl7iYboH-ybspQHWLsTbVPpHoK2UXXJ9XykxhF09RSvjHHd5oEO9tA-Qg/s1564/IMG_20230108_230931.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1070" data-original-width="1564" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHkfI6rbuPlOPgv4kgW8rTK8ne_EWmAmV3pfm0heTDaj2EjvNK_3EtWeSB62sPmHOJiw0eJn_5P9QFSlC66HpnKiWnS3bYt9LLu8-BZMTvC4QJR9weRiS_mDgcjk9WmJZLVl7iYboH-ybspQHWLsTbVPpHoK2UXXJ9XykxhF09RSvjHHd5oEO9tA-Qg/w400-h274/IMG_20230108_230931.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Is it 2023 already?</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The ending of a year, for me,
means that it’s time to start working on my series of year-in-review posts. For
this blog that means my top 10 favorite movies of the previous year as well as
my preview of what’s coming up this current year. And that’s a lot of fun to
dive into, even if only for my own personal reflection. But before we do all
that, I like to first get my January movie preview complete. Then after that
we’ll dive into the 2023 preview as a whole before finishing by looking back on
my favorite movies of 2022.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So… January.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Historically speaking, this
has always been an interesting month for new releases. Typically if a studio
has a big blockbuster they want to get audiences to, a holiday release the
month before is the way to go. And if a studio wants to push a movie for
potential awards, releasing the movie towards the end of the year keeps it
fresh on the minds of voters. Releasing it during the first month of the year
makes it nearly impossible to get any consideration, so the implications of
that is such that January becomes a bit of a wasteland for new releases while
holiday holdovers dominate the box office and previous year’s awards contenders
expand to wide release around the time of Oscar nominations for a final push.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the latter category, this
season was a bit of a weak one for the late year awards movies, at least in
terms of reception from general audiences. Movies like “The Banshees of
Inisherin,” “The Fabelmans,” “TAR” and “Women Talking,” while getting high
praise from critics and attention from the awards voters, have been mostly
ignored by general audiences with poor box office totals, comparatively. And in
regards to holiday holdovers, there’s one. And pretty much only one. That’s
“Avatar: The Way of Water.” The follow-up of my deep dive last month on this
film is that it very much succeeded. In less than a month of release as of this
post, it’s already become the highest grossing film worldwide of 2022 with $1.5
billion. And its domestic total of just under $500 million trails only “Top
Gun: Maverick” on the year. And that’s interesting considering it opened on the
lower end of pre-release expectations and fell fairly sharply in its second
weekend, causing some to prematurely label it as a disappointment. But the
holiday box office is a marathon, not a sprint.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Will it end up matching the
totals of the first “Avatar,” that of $2.7 billion worldwide and $760 million
domestically (in its initial run)? Maybe not quite, but the fact that those
numbers aren’t completely out of the realm of possibilities or that it will
come awfully close if it falls a bit short tells enough of a story. Any reports
of it being a disappointment in any way, at least financially, are outrageously
laughable. But this month will tell the story of exactly how high it can finish
as it’s likely to keep the top spot at the box office the whole month, due
mostly to the lack of major options.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But yes, there still are new
releases on the schedule and since this post is what that’s all about, let’s
actually step in and explore what will be hitting theaters this month. As
always, release date information for this post is courtesy of boxofficepro.com
and the-numbers.com. The movies listed are the ones currently scheduled for
wide release in the United States and Canada are always subject to change.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">January 6 – 8</span></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj20L8Cx7-PG4CEKVbCmAmD5yb3z2Xq4JzfxihqhGX2vanCypBAcYDKLAfGO51IYXdkhTG-OiU3cTOWBaG26VWykvGKSRTeg-YiBOJZpRb0dxTcJXxfoE5P4d3k_JVZr47r0AdPc3oyt9QKJSdsLp4LQqt1OuIM1fRY10pWATWe7785eysGZa4Wq9Na0g/s3555/m3gan-review.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2666" data-original-width="3555" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj20L8Cx7-PG4CEKVbCmAmD5yb3z2Xq4JzfxihqhGX2vanCypBAcYDKLAfGO51IYXdkhTG-OiU3cTOWBaG26VWykvGKSRTeg-YiBOJZpRb0dxTcJXxfoE5P4d3k_JVZr47r0AdPc3oyt9QKJSdsLp4LQqt1OuIM1fRY10pWATWe7785eysGZa4Wq9Na0g/s320/m3gan-review.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Universal's "M3GAN"</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Due to factors mentioned in
this post’s introduction, there is the stigma that “nothing good comes out in
January.” Turns out that might be proven false this time around right in the first
weekend as <b><i><u>M3GAN</u></i></b> rings in the new year as a new creepy doll horror
film for audiences to check out. This concept is certainly far from original,
with “Anabelle” and “Child’s Play” being obvious examples. M3GAN is an
artificially intelligent robotic doll that is programmed to be a young girl’s
best friend, and to protect her at all costs. And well, like with all movies
regarding creepy dolls or anything artificially intelligent, things are going
to go wrong as M3GAN is going to become a little overly protective to an
extreme fault.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">January has actually been a
solid month for horror films. This initial weekend of the year has provided
plenty of breakout horror films, which thus makes sense for Universal to stake
claim on the weekend with “M3GAN.” What might separate “M3GAN” from a lot of
these other outings are reviews that are surprisingly very high as the movie is
certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with a current score of 93 percent. Now if
one looks closely, not many are calling this a horror masterpiece, but the fact
that critics are nearly unanimous in calling this a fun, self-aware horror
comedy should speak volumes to what this movie’s potential could be. It’s had a
very aggressive marketing push in the weeks leading up to its release and even
has a user-friendly PG-13 rating that should attract even more of a younger
audience. Cap that off with great reviews and it looks to have hit the perfect
formula for success.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Current tracking for its
opening weekend has the movie pegged right in the range of last year’s “Smile”
($22.6 million) and “The Black Phone” ($23.6 million). Positive word of mouth
and lack of competition could cause the movie to at least flirt with a $100
million domestically when all is said and done. “The Black Phone” hit $90 million
and “Smile” hit $105 million. And considering the $12 million budget of
“M3GAN,” that means we should be seeing plenty more of this doll in years to
come.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">UPDATE: I typed this before
the weekend, yet was delayed in getting it out. “M3GAN” opened to $30 million,
higher than expectations and with better day-to-day holds compared to the other
movies mentioned. Rather than retype this paragraph, maybe it’ll be interesting
to some to see what was expected vs. what actually happened. It opened in
second place behind “Avatar: The Way of Water,” which had a $45 million fourth
weekend – the second best fourth weekend ever behind only the original “Avatar”
with $50.3 million.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">January 13 – 16</span></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIT2ncruaOHlbCkIabUJEjFzapGUfQjxw7ZRblTER3ufqTp1oQeVJ17S92DiumdGEDgXhKYeUZ5QcJvnlJKVNNAqIwS34R1maUpT15qel-7GzdkPmKx7Bd1rqMYHPhmZkpM9BEcciFGF-WfJqvUYEklXTPqN4Oy2E2wIGyPa4altQQfl5xSLfzpy4sdQ/s1320/MV5BZjY0YmNiMzEtNTEyYi00MzcxLTgzMGQtNTA2Mjg3ZWIxZGIwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXNuZXNodQ@@._V1_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="990" data-original-width="1320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIT2ncruaOHlbCkIabUJEjFzapGUfQjxw7ZRblTER3ufqTp1oQeVJ17S92DiumdGEDgXhKYeUZ5QcJvnlJKVNNAqIwS34R1maUpT15qel-7GzdkPmKx7Bd1rqMYHPhmZkpM9BEcciFGF-WfJqvUYEklXTPqN4Oy2E2wIGyPa4altQQfl5xSLfzpy4sdQ/s320/MV5BZjY0YmNiMzEtNTEyYi00MzcxLTgzMGQtNTA2Mjg3ZWIxZGIwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXNuZXNodQ@@._V1_.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sony Pictures' "A Man Called Otto"</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The second weekend of January
has four new wide releases. Whether any of them garner any attention over the
four-day holiday weekend, with Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday the 16th,
is a different story. But they will at least be options. Leading the way will
be Tom Hanks in <b><i><u>A Man Called Otto</u></i></b>. This is a movie I actually brought up
last month. I had it pegged as a Christmas Day release. Turns out it opened on
December 30 instead, earning $56,257 from four theaters on that weekend, for a
solid per-theater average of $14,064. And it is actually expanding to about 650
theaters in the first weekend of January before officially getting a wide
release in this second weekend. And while my tone last month was a bit cynical
at this remake of the 2015 Swedish film, “A Man Called Ove,” the surprise so
far is that the movie has been decently well received. It’s hanging in there
with a critics score around 70 percent and a much higher audience score of 96
percent. While it’s not likely to score too many Oscar nominations, outside Tom
Hanks possibly sneaking into best actor, this has the potential to be a decent
mid-range hit, especially with the popularity of Hanks and a role that he looks
perfect for.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After two positively received
options with “M3GAN” and “A Man Called Otto,” traditional January affair is not
lost this month with Gerard Butler’s <b><i><u>Plane</u></i></b> crash-landing this
weekend. Say what you will about Gerard Butler, but the man is at least
extremely consistent with the types of movies he puts out. And I’m sure that
means he has a lot of fun playing these types of action/disaster movies.
“Plane” sees him as a pilot who is forced to land his commercial aircraft after
he hits a terrible storm and that finds him in the middle of a war zone. So
yeah, if one has seen any Gerard Butler films, this seems to be on par with
most everything else. And that can be a positive if people know what they’re
getting into and are perfectly satisfied with a Gerard Butler action film that
requires little brainpower. The movie is expected to open in the single digit
million range, although Butler has surprised before in January, with “Den of
Thieves” opening to $15.2 million in January 2018. His “…Has Fallen” series has
consistently opened around $20-30 million, while “Geostorm” hit $13.7 million,
meaning there’s potential for “Plane” to not necessarily be completely dead on
arrival.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A movie with perhaps a bit
more potential than “Plane” is the comedy <b><i><u>House Party</u></i></b>. This is a movie
about two friends who are out of money and down on their luck that decide to
host a big party at the house they were last hired to clean, that of basketball
player LeBron James. While the main two leads are lesser known actors and the
movie is directed by Calmatic, who is mostly known for directing music videos,
the draw of the film comes with the cameos in this party, with LeBron being the
big one, as he also produces the film. And the fact that this is a remake of a
1990 film of the same name, which has become a cult classic. Whether or not
that’s a positive note in regards to people’s reaction to the movie could be up
for debate, but that nevertheless gives attention to the movie. And if it has
some attention, that could give it the potential to deliver decent numbers in a
quiet month.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While horror movies can do
well in January, even with varying degrees of quality, they also have the
potential to show up and simply end up on no one’s radar, which seems to be the
initial prognosis for <b><i><u>The Devil Conspiracy</u></i></b>. Based
on the trailer, the plot of this movie seems to be more ambitious than your
traditional horror film. A Satanic cult steals the shroud of Christ, giving
them access to Christ’s DNA, helping them give the ultimate offering to the
devil. This appears to lead to an eventual battle of Lucifer and the archangel
Michael, each taking hosts from Earth to allow them to return, which seems akin
to the TV show “Supernatural.” But if you’re going to release a movie and have
it make money, you have to advertise it. I had to search to find even a bit of
information on this after seeing it on the schedule. It doesn’t even have a
Wikipedia page and has almost nothing on IMDb. It’s also from a brand new
production company called Third Day Productions. So whether or not this is
actually getting a wide release and how much it will make is something I’m
currently questioning.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">January 20 – 22</span></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWKQ3sqSy229Y2Zzd-PLw6WTzjBJqYczzMwGt8--crpB89dWLoJU97KYalCk9QBiYWjmxoyN3quFFSMTg2AxhlZdpx6wuxbAGFm-Ru1nkKmwYM-3shXhHgaa5DhtpqokWj-gkAmBQXeIt0ngmGL41txghgDzcrKhCH52IASp1D6EjHTs7EGAdx-Pxdtw/s969/missing-trailer.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="969" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWKQ3sqSy229Y2Zzd-PLw6WTzjBJqYczzMwGt8--crpB89dWLoJU97KYalCk9QBiYWjmxoyN3quFFSMTg2AxhlZdpx6wuxbAGFm-Ru1nkKmwYM-3shXhHgaa5DhtpqokWj-gkAmBQXeIt0ngmGL41txghgDzcrKhCH52IASp1D6EjHTs7EGAdx-Pxdtw/w320-h240/missing-trailer.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sony Pictures' "Missing"</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Barring a surprise breakout
from one of the films from the previous weekend, a quiet second weekend should
be followed by an even quieter third weekend. Leading the light load of new
releases will be the new thriller <b><i><u>Missing</u></i></b>, which is advertised
as being from the team behind the 2018 movie “Searching,” which was a mystery/thriller
that was essentially a found footage movie, but with social media, computer
cameras, news stories, and the like. So a fairly unique concept. Reports are
that it took 13 days to film, but a year and a half to edit. Said editing team
of Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick are back to… direct “Missing,” also
getting credit for writing the screenplay, with a story by the original writer
and director team. So I suppose they’re playing musical chairs with their
roles, but it’s a similar concept as “Searching.” Wikipedia has it labeled as a
“computer screen mystery thriller,” with the story following a teen girl using
various technologies to try to find her mother, who’s gone missing. For the
sake of box office comparison, “Searching” opened to $6.1 million in its first
weekend of wide release and rode good reviews to a $26 million domestic total.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The next entry on this list
is a bit of a question. Box Office Pro says in their long range forecast that
there’s an <b><i><u>Untitled Crunchyroll Film</u></i></b> scheduled for this weekend, as
well as another on February 3. The-Numbers.com doesn’t list either of those,
but has an Untitled Crunchyroll on February 14. Crunchyroll doesn’t necessarily
bring a lot of fanfare leading up to their releases, but often are able to get
the niche audience in with strong numbers. Last year they released “One Piece
Film: Red” and “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero,” which opened with $9.3 million
and $21.1 million, respectively. So whatever they have up their sleeve, if
anything, it has potential to do numbers on a quiet weekend.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In other animation news,
GKIDS has the domestic release of <b><i><u>New Gods: Yang Jian</u></i></b> scheduled.
This is the sequel to the 2021 movie “New Gods: Nezha Reborn,” which made $70.1
million worldwide, most of that in China. In just about every other country,
the movie was released on Netflix. “Yang Jian” has already had a theatrical
release in China in August of last year, where it made $82.4 million. Whether
or not this domestic release of “Yang Jian” is a true wide release in over
1,000 theaters or is in just a couple hundred is something we’ll find out
later, but GKIDS films are targeted at more of a niche crowd, so this isn’t
going to do huge numbers. GKIDS had one movie last year open over $1 million,
that being “Belle” with $1.6 million. The other three were less than $1
million: “The Deer King” ($251,169), “Inu-Oh” ($191,004), and “Goodbye Don
Glees!” ($32,096). So that’s the range we’re looking at here.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On the expansion front, <b><i><u>Women
Talking</u></i></b> is scheduled for a wide release this weekend after having
underwhelming performances in limited release so far. I talked more about that
movie in last month’s preview. <b><i><u>Alice, Darling</u></i></b> is a
psychological thriller starring Anna Kendrick as a woman stuck in an abusive
relationship who gains a bit confidence from her two friends and might be out
for vengeance. It had its release back at the Toronto International Film
Festival last year and got its Oscar qualifying run in December. So it played
the game right, but has had no awards fanfare, which doesn’t help it much. But
it’ll have a chance to expand wide and see if general audiences will pay
attention. Speaking of Oscars, the nominations will be announced on January 24,
so those movies that do get nominations will take advantage of that by
expanding into more theaters around this time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">January 27 – 29</span></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi_RQQ1b5XUodYHpQs-zVH0oXXj0PlOf4KdqoaWNWqYVOHiZjmiSstKJDxsVtcQWiSiyFCW_zEoiKK9GUyVYoDN2sPVH2EMYVXXxZTQ6SwKFHu48TdMDt82eg5wDnAknuZD4JiZt2zgrbmN7eOhDWOK0G45X_wBzqAgmn--9Nf58dZQ3ZZPwMGsn4Bwg/s1497/Infinity_Pool_Still_1-e1670437455463.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1122" data-original-width="1497" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi_RQQ1b5XUodYHpQs-zVH0oXXj0PlOf4KdqoaWNWqYVOHiZjmiSstKJDxsVtcQWiSiyFCW_zEoiKK9GUyVYoDN2sPVH2EMYVXXxZTQ6SwKFHu48TdMDt82eg5wDnAknuZD4JiZt2zgrbmN7eOhDWOK0G45X_wBzqAgmn--9Nf58dZQ3ZZPwMGsn4Bwg/s320/Infinity_Pool_Still_1-e1670437455463.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NEON's "Infinity Pool"</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As just mentioned in the most
recent paragraph, Oscar nominations are on Tuesday, January 24 and that’ll
likely impact this weekend to a degree. Outside that, whatever ends up being
the top movie of the last two weekends will likely get another week at top to
finish January. At this point, unless “A Man Called Otto” breaks out, that
could very well still be “Avatar: The Way of Water” simply due to a lack of
competition. The two movies scheduled for a wide release on this weekend
certainly won’t do that.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Of the two, the one that’s
most notable is Brandon Cronenberg’s <b><i><u>Infinity Pool</u></i></b>, a movie about
a couple who are enjoying a perfectly good stay at an island resort, until they
wander outside the resort grounds and find a culture filled with violence,
hedonism, and untold horror. The movie stars Alexander Skarsgard and Mia Goth
in the lead roles. Brandon Cronenberg has made some small films, like “Possessor”
in 2020 and “Antiviral” in 2012, but is probably most notable as being the son
of filmmaker David Cronenberg, most notable for movies such as the 1986 remake
of “The Fly,” “Dead Ringers,” and more recently “Eastern Promises,” “A
Dangerous Method,” and last year’s “Crimes of the Future.” Putting it lightly,
it doesn’t appear that either Cronenberg is interested in making movies that
appeal to the masses. David Cronenberg is most known for being of the principal
originators of the body horror genre and it appears that Brandon is attempting
to follow in his footsteps. Point in case, “Infinity Pool” was initially given
an NC-17 rating, appealed and lost, then was only given an R after re-editing
the movie. It will premiere at Sundance a week early before hitting general
audiences this weekend.</span></span></p>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The final movie of the weekend and the month is
not one I’m really sure exists, or will have much of an impact at all. It’s a
horror movie called <b><i><u>Fear</u></i></b>. Maybe I say that because of that extremely
original title, the fact that it’s being released by what appears to be a new
distribution company called Hidden Empire Releasing, has a no-name cast, and/or
a generic premise where group of friends go for a getaway at a remote hotel and
one-by-one are forced to face their worst fear. At least I know that in its
favor is that it has a director in Deon Taylor who has made real movies that
have made money, but with a filmography that includes “Meet the Blacks,” “Traffik,”
“The Intruder,” “Black and Blue” and “Fatale,” that still doesn’t inspire of
ton of confidence given that none of those have high remarks from pretty much
anyone. The highest box office of the bunch is “The Intruder,” which opened to
$10.9 million. But most of the rest were movies that opened below $5 million,
which seems to be where this latest is headed. But hey, it will at least be an
option at some theaters.</span></span>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-54633898351660162022-12-05T01:14:00.000-07:002022-12-05T01:14:06.818-07:00Movie Preview: December 2022<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXZG17d7FYHm4Mm1mvU09cg9l2Um2RUJ2bMld_U_Ge3W6Ye5ayOpDSak2rgJ1zv-Y9t2Me_YzAE2nJhs9Z3ruli2MwBY43TR5Q-TzsfNCt1zlArRqdIOdBsCpngVteuVas-z_wpTN9yJvJeOJp6FS-hobvRkVBe6GudorivdAAwhSxquvhJJPvzytLwA/s1564/IMG_20221205_010639.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1252" data-original-width="1564" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXZG17d7FYHm4Mm1mvU09cg9l2Um2RUJ2bMld_U_Ge3W6Ye5ayOpDSak2rgJ1zv-Y9t2Me_YzAE2nJhs9Z3ruli2MwBY43TR5Q-TzsfNCt1zlArRqdIOdBsCpngVteuVas-z_wpTN9yJvJeOJp6FS-hobvRkVBe6GudorivdAAwhSxquvhJJPvzytLwA/w400-h320/IMG_20221205_010639.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Merry Christmas, one and all!
We have entered the month of December, which means it’s time to look at what
will be available for you to watch in theaters during the Christmas and holiday
season.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Of note, I did not get around
to making this post for last month. My deepest apologies for that. I did post
an abbreviated version on my personal Facebook in the middle of the month, but
not anything that gets saved in the archives of this blog. Nevertheless,
November was a month wherein “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” dominated, as
expected. It may not have gone quite as high as I personally would’ve thought,
but a $180 million domestic opening is nothing to sneeze at. It’s on track to cross
the $500 million mark domestically before its run is over, which is always an
impressive feat.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Outside “Wakanda Forever,”
nothing really broke out. Disney experienced one of their worst flops with
“Strange World.” Netflix left a lot of money on the table with “Glass Onion.”
Sony’s “Devotion” failed to take flight. Meanwhile, “One Piece Film: Red” and
“The Menu” wound up as decent mid-range options, while “She Said,” “The
Fabelmans,” “Bones and All” and “The Inspection” all officially entered the
theatrical market with hopes for awards love. Audiences haven’t yet flocked to
any of those, but they’re all looking to play the long game with the awards
season, so all is not lost as of yet. One big sleeper on the month was not even
a movie at all, but the first two episodes of season 3 of “The Chosen” were
released in theaters and wound up with an impressive $13 million so far.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So that’s your brief recap of
what ended up happening in November. Looking ahead to December, after audiences
visited Wakanda in November they’ll now finally get a return to Pandora, which
should dominate most headlines this month. But there will be plenty of other
options that will hopefully look to make at least more of an impact than some
of the November releases, with plenty of final Oscar hopefuls at least getting
their Oscar qualifying run in added into the mix, so with at least plenty to
talk about, let’s dive in!</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As always, release date
information for this post is courtesy of boxofficepro.com and the-numbers.com.
The movies listed are the ones currently scheduled for theatrical release in
the United States and Canada and are always subject to change.</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>December 2 – 4</i></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh2isprv_K95Q9fxv8eVxzwhjMExhMgXdKYDtd2nojtNezsyFBD7RNfvnzWo3NnLrQsyw5ofhi2pz3U-GwHVqEWSWXNGEVh4Rk7tUzxWN1BQoBZXObBQ8BkudkPIAcpl21eMEpjKCMBT9j21cmIrw4etB-R2A7N3dA_hHO_pRQLxBlkEoOU6iZIUhB8w/s1437/221129165517-01-violent-night-movie.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="1437" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh2isprv_K95Q9fxv8eVxzwhjMExhMgXdKYDtd2nojtNezsyFBD7RNfvnzWo3NnLrQsyw5ofhi2pz3U-GwHVqEWSWXNGEVh4Rk7tUzxWN1BQoBZXObBQ8BkudkPIAcpl21eMEpjKCMBT9j21cmIrw4etB-R2A7N3dA_hHO_pRQLxBlkEoOU6iZIUhB8w/s320/221129165517-01-violent-night-movie.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Universal's "Violent Night"</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Santa Claus is coming to town
this Christmas season and, in this instance, he has a bit of a bone to pick
with certain people as the movie <b><i><u>Violent Night</u></i></b> kicks off the
holiday season. Yes, this is a movie with Santa as the lead character, but
unlike your traditional Christmas affair, in order to save Christmas this Santa
has to fight off a group of mercenaries who come attack the estate of a wealthy
family. Thus we have a violent Christmas action film reminiscent of “Die Hard”
or “John Wick,” but with Santa as the main action star. “Stranger Things” star
David Harbour plays Santa in this movie, while David Leitch – co-director of
“John Wick” and solo director of “Atomic Blonde,” “Deadpool 2,” “Hobbs &
Shaw,” and “Bullet Train” – is on board as producer, bringing his action
expertise to the table. The movie’s actual director is Tommy Wirkola, who
directed the 2013 film “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters,” so you can say
he’s used to outlandish premises based off of traditional fairy tales.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While “Wakanda Forever” is
likely to take its fourth weekend at No. 1, “Violent Night” hopes to play like
“Krampus,” another unconventional Christmas movie that opened on the first
weekend of December in 2015. “Krampus” opened to $16.3 million and legged it
out to $42.7 million domestically in its final run. Box Office Pro is
officially projecting a $9.8 million opening weekend.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While “Violent Night” is the
only new wide release of the weekend, two notable awards hopefuls will be
hitting limited release. The first is the controversial return of Will Smith in
<b><i><u>Emancipation</u></i></b>.
This movie sees Will Smith play a runaway slave and is directed by Antoine
Fuqua. Normally coming off of an Oscar win, this would be the perfect way to
follow up for a potential back-to-back Oscar push. But as most of the world
knows, Will’s win was overshadowed by what is now known as “the slap.” Some
thought that “Emancipation” would be pushed into 2023 because of this, but
Apple decided to go ahead with it this year, anyways. After its limited run
this weekend, which may eventually see it expand to more theaters, the movie is
scheduled to debut on Apple TV+ the following weekend on December 9.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The other limited release of
this weekend is romantic comedy/drama <b><i><u>Spoiler Alert</u></i></b>. This tells the
true story of Michael Ausellio, a TV journalist who was the founder and
editor-in-chief of tvline.com, and his husband Kit Cowan, who suffered from a
rare form of neuroendocrine cancer. The movie is based off of Ausellio’s 2017
memoir, “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Other
Four-Letter Words,” which chronicled their love and relationship. Ausellio and
Cowan in the movie are played by Jim Parsons and Ben Aldridge, respectively,
and the movie is directed by Michael Showalter, director of “The Big Sick.”
After its limited release this weekend, it’s scheduled for a nationwide
expansion the next week.</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>December 9 – 11</i></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0a4hIsdbJmz-4zZRq_sEKVybG0XblVbulSDEml32MNvrp2ey-YHFa4ktZwHla4lwwoXF9eFU_b89kC3dQUw18fsMVuEWEY6vfMbP5Ina9oQTbqteveLL0FwBoFUqHANfjbBw6tyExj_YfKNOGG8tjQzKK8sjr-06txyFyL9EvLxFXH2FoiaKqnkvcRw/s1384/a25dab16-79b6-4508-8c8a-fee7e0ba7ca8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1038" data-original-width="1384" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0a4hIsdbJmz-4zZRq_sEKVybG0XblVbulSDEml32MNvrp2ey-YHFa4ktZwHla4lwwoXF9eFU_b89kC3dQUw18fsMVuEWEY6vfMbP5Ina9oQTbqteveLL0FwBoFUqHANfjbBw6tyExj_YfKNOGG8tjQzKK8sjr-06txyFyL9EvLxFXH2FoiaKqnkvcRw/s320/a25dab16-79b6-4508-8c8a-fee7e0ba7ca8.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A24's "The Whale"</td></tr></tbody></table>The second weekend of
December is poised to be a very light one. The calm before the storm, one might
say, which should lead “Wakanda Forever” to get a fifth weekend at No. 1,
barring a major over-performance of “Violent Night.” There’s only one new wide
release this weekend and it’s not really a “new” release, but it’s <b><i><u>Father
Stu: Reborn</u></i></b>. This is a PG-13 re-release of “Father Stu,” which
initially opened in April of this year. After opening to just $5.4 million, it
wound up having a fairly leggy run, finishing with $20.7 million domestically.
It had an even leggier run in its post-theatrical run, both in PVOD and when it
was added to Netflix in September. I suppose the goal of this re-release is to
attract a younger, family audience over the Christmas season that did not see
the movie due to its harsher R rating. It’s not expected to make a huge impact.
It would be a surprise if it made more than its initial debut.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While it’ll be a quiet week
on the national stage, two additional awards releases could make this a very
noisy weekend on the limited front and that’s mostly due to the release of
Darren Aronofsky’s <b><i><u>The Whale</u></i></b>, which features the highly anticipated
performance of Brendan Fraser in the lead role. The movie is based on a play
that has been adapted to film by Aronofsky and has Brenda Fraser playing a
600-pound middle-aged man named Charlie, who is trying to reconnect with his
teenage daughter, played by Sadie Sink, also of “Strange Things” fame. The
movie premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September and also played at the
Toronto Film Festival a week later. While the movie has had some mixed
reaction, which Aronofsky is no stranger to – his previous movie “mother!”
received a rare “F” score from CinemaScore – Fraser’s performance has been
unanimously praised and he’s a strong contender to take home the best actor
trophy this awards season. That potential alone has the possibility of driving
audiences to the movie, whenever it actually hits wide release, given the
popularity of Fraser as an actor.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While not nearly as buzzy as
“The Whale,” the other major limited release is <b><i><u>Empire of Light</u></i></b>,
from director Sam Mendes, who came awfully close to winning best picture with
his previous film “1917” before “Parasite” ended up stealing the show that
night. “Empire of Light” was never really expected to be as big of a hit as
“1917.” It’s more or a less a smaller follow-up, but nevertheless it stars
Oscar darling Olivia Colman as a cinema manager who is struggling with her
mental health when she meets a new employee named Stephen, played by Michael
Ward, and together they find a sense of belonging through the power of music,
cinema, and community. Colman could very easily get her fourth acting
nomination for this movie, although the mixed reaction from critics might limit
its potential to get much more than that.</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>December 16 – 18</i></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdUCToUWnBZeo5lAOgR-D7utTm6nT3scP2qDI5swguqPJkWj1QdaADdPaa1kXeKSyyRozsikE5gJOvhcLc2izE3EAcTEDHe2WGkea0ksvObtIhc2hEiHEOwavggj0w4tt34pphm9nY69r0CQYd6oQ91f_pr3Q8T_9nY485bsXaiZeRwgG9mNjad3eYQ/s898/2011-0010-v0420-1075-altered-v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="898" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdUCToUWnBZeo5lAOgR-D7utTm6nT3scP2qDI5swguqPJkWj1QdaADdPaa1kXeKSyyRozsikE5gJOvhcLc2izE3EAcTEDHe2WGkea0ksvObtIhc2hEiHEOwavggj0w4tt34pphm9nY69r0CQYd6oQ91f_pr3Q8T_9nY485bsXaiZeRwgG9mNjad3eYQ/s320/2011-0010-v0420-1075-altered-v2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">20th Century Studios' "Avatar: The Way of Water"</td></tr></tbody></table>And the major movie of the
month finally arrives in the third weekend of December. That, of course, is the
highly anticipated release of <b><i><u>Avatar: The Way of Water</u></i></b>. It’s
kinda crazy to think that, since the release of “Titanic” in 1997 – 25 years
ago, James Cameron has only directed one major, feature-length film. 2009’s “Avatar.”
His second release is the sequel to that film. Sure, he’s done some smaller
things between then as well as some writing and producing for other films, but
for the most part he’s spent the last 25 years of his life just doing Avatar
movies. And, sure, that most definitely paid off with the first movie as it
revolutionized 3D technology on its way to becoming the highest grossing movie
ever at both the domestic and worldwide box office – the latter of which it
still holds (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” took its domestic title). But can
lightning strike twice for Cameron?</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I think it’s safe to say at
this point that “The Way of Water” is going to be a massive financial success.
At this point, 13 years later, it has the nostalgia factor. And it does have
plenty of fans, even though its legacy is a bit mixed at this point. But trying
to determine exactly HOW successful it will be is a complete shot at the dark
at this point. The first movie only opened to $77 million, which wound up being
just 10 percent of its initial domestic run, which ended up being around $760
million. That type of run is definitely not happening again. Can it catch that
$760 million mark? Possibly. I wouldn’t personally bet on that. But if it does,
it means that it was a lot more frontloaded, with a much higher opening
weekend. That part does seem guaranteed. I would easily mark down a $100 million
opening weekend as the absolute floor. Anything lower would be a slight cause
for concern. But can it double that and notch a $200 million opening weekend?
Or will it fall somewhere in between with, say, $140-160 million?</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How well it holds after that
will be determined by what the reaction to the movie ends up being. If it’s
widely praised, with word of mouth being that it’s a must-see cinematic event,
that’s when the box office will soar through roof, even if it’s highly unlikely
to make 10 times more than whatever its opening weekend is. Now even though all
of this is a shot in the dark with little to compare to, perhaps other massive
global phenomenons can provide some insight. “The Force Awakens” made $936
million. “The Last Jedi” made $620 million. “The Avengers” made $623 million. “Age
of Ultron” made $459 million. “Black Panther” made $700 million. Last month’s
opening of “Wakanda Forever” is still in theaters, but is tracking for around
$500 million, give or take a bit. So somewhere in the $500-600 million range
might be a realistic expectation for “The Way of Water.”</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While it does have plenty
going in its favor, it is worth noting that “Avatar” in 2009 was successful
largely due to it being groundbreaking in 3D cinema. 13 years later, very few
people care about 3D. Even if seeing it in 3D or in IMAX is what’s pushed, that
is just not going to pull as much weight this time around in terms of it being
the sole draw. A second thing worth noting that is the movie’s legacy hasn’t
held up as much over time. Again, it has its fans. But it has a lot of people
who also don’t care. I think if “The Way of Water” had opened in 2012, just
three years after “Avatar,” maybe those two concerns would’ve been nonexistent,
but 13 years later is simply a different story. Finally, the movie has a runtime
of 3 hours 10 minutes. Sure, movies can be that long and still do quite well.
But you mathematically just can’t have quite as many showtimes per day. Even if
theaters make room by cancelling other screenings, it limits the likelihood of
repeat viewings with that level of a time commitment</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So yes, this movie is going
to do very well. How well is hard to pin down. In terms of the franchise’s
legacy as a whole, that might be given more of a test with the third movie,
which is on the schedule for December 2024. Whether or not the world is tired
of Avatar at that point will determine if Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 even happen.
But yes, those two movies are on the schedule as well, for December 2026 and
December 2028, respectfully. I do think a movie of this magnitude warranted a
deeper dive than normal, but yes, there are other movies to talk about. Just
not this weekend. So let’s move onto the week of Christmas itself.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>December 21 – 25</i></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27M51dEEkevqM_00_J_iJ47d34rvP4r8Ou-Blkj3AzqeqY6TWTO_VuVykloYuj9CRvLksF-h-UMikuCc2FkyGQHQNIenizhJi6sW0ntc4r7wtMzsvRxbFJs6ULmhgHeJ4tc75tysU_gUgO8H6By2XQAKNLfw7NvJWd6GpnS3niM-cmzk78K1RB5g8mA/s1440/Puss_in_Boots_The_Last_Wish1451.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27M51dEEkevqM_00_J_iJ47d34rvP4r8Ou-Blkj3AzqeqY6TWTO_VuVykloYuj9CRvLksF-h-UMikuCc2FkyGQHQNIenizhJi6sW0ntc4r7wtMzsvRxbFJs6ULmhgHeJ4tc75tysU_gUgO8H6By2XQAKNLfw7NvJWd6GpnS3niM-cmzk78K1RB5g8mA/s320/Puss_in_Boots_The_Last_Wish1451.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DreamWorks' "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish"</td></tr></tbody></table>Christmas Day is on Sunday
this year. Leading up to that, the releases are staggered throughout the week
from Wednesday through Sunday. The movie getting the head start on the bunch by
opening on Wednesday the 21st is <b><i><u>Puss in Boots: The Last Wish</u></i></b>.
It’s been a hot minute since DreamWorks has returned to the Shrek universe in
one form or another. 11 years, to be exact, when the original “Puss in Boots”
was released. And I’m not 100 percent sure a return to the franchise has been
high on people’s Christmas wish lists, but perhaps sometimes the best gifts are
the ones you weren’t expecting? Early screenings for “The Last Wish” have
happened already and the reaction has been surprisingly high. As of this
typing, it has a 93 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and a 98
percent audience score. If reaction remains that high, this is a contender for
the surprise hit of the season if word of mouth continues to build. In this
adventure, Puss has lost eight of his nine lives and is on a quest to get those
restored to him. Antonio Banderas returns to voice the character and he’ll have
Salma Hayek, Florence Pugh, and John Mulaney among those joining him. And in a
market where the Disney’s “Strange World” completely flopped, this might be the
main choice for family audiences over the holiday season and that’s a factor
that shouldn’t be overlooked.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Two days after “Puss in Boots”
opens, Friday the 23rd will see two additional wide releases and it’s Whitney
Houston on center stage for the most notable of the two with the musical biopic
<b><i><u>I
Wanna Dance with Somebody</u></i></b>. This musical biopic genre is getting a
lot of attention as of late. It seems like all the big musical stars of the
past are getting their time back in the spotlight, so it makes sense to give
Whitney Houston a go. Objectively speaking, a lot of these biopics have been
doing quite well with many fans of the respective artists responding quite
positively. “Bohemian Rhapsody” back in 2018 was a very notable example that
helped this genre catch fire as it wound up with over $200 million at the
domestic box office and many Oscar nominations. Just this year, “Elvis” wound
up with over $150 million as a sleeper summer hit. So the way is paved for “I
Wanna Dance with Somebody” to have a successful holiday run, with Naomi Ackie
playing Whitney Houston to be a breakout star. It’s worth noting, though, that
this genre hasn’t had a 100 percent hit rate. Last year’s “Respect,” a biopic
about Jennifer Hudson, was a complete blip on the radar, making just $32
million worldwide. Or there’s been plenty in between, like “Rocketman” in 2019
opening to $25 million and making $96 million domestically. So there’s no
guarantee here, but there’s still hit potential.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The final wide release of the
Christmas week, also opening on Friday the 23rd, is Oscar-winner Damien
Chazelle’s next film, <b><i><u>Babylon</u></i></b>. After finding
massive success with “Whiplash” and “La La Land,” at least in terms of awards
and reaction, and moderate success with “First Man,” Chazelle’s fourth feature
is honestly going to be a bit of a tough sell. It’s a movie about movies, so
that’s an instant plus for awards season as it is yet another film that tackles
the transition from silent film to talkies, but this movie tackles the wild
side of that era, reportedly riding the line between R and NC-17 in terms of
content, perhaps with “The Wolf of Wall Street” being a comparison. Add to
that, it’s another movie that’s over three hours long, clocking in at 3 hours 8
minutes. Early reaction has been quite divisive, naturally. Take what you saw
in the trailers and have that happening for three hours and not everyone is
going to be on board for it. Some might praise Chazelle for being extremely
ambitious while others will say he went way overboard. How will that translate
to general audiences? It probably won’t, but I can see it playing strongly for
a niche group of people who are up for the challenge.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That’s it for the wide
releases, but the end of the year always has a few limited releases throwing
their name in the hate for awards contention, while actually expanding wide in
January. Some of these I might touch on more come January with their wide expansions.
But they’re worth giving brief mentions here. The biggest name is the
theatrical release of <b><i><u>Women Talking</u></i></b>, which has been
a buzzy title all of awards season following its release in the festivals. It’s
from director Sarah Polley and tackles a heavy subject matter about an isolated
Mennonite colony where it’s revealed that men from their community have been
drugging and raping the community’s women at night for years, many of whom have
done nothing. Some critics have confessed that the movie lives up to its title,
a very dialogue-heavy with… women talking. Eight women debating on what they
should do, with Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, and Jessie Buckley leading the way.
That might mean this is more of a niche film that might not hit with audiences
when it does hit wide release, but it’s nevertheless still expected to be a
major awards contender.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A second notable limited
release is the Bill Nighy led movie <b><i><u>Living</u></i></b>. This is a movie that
was released way back in Sundance of this year, so January. It doesn’t
necessarily have as much momentum as some of the other awards contenders that I’ve
brought up, but nevertheless the movie is a British drama adapted from the 1952
Japanese film “Ikiru,” which in turn was inspired by the 1886 novella “The
Death of Ivan Ilyich,” by Leo Tolstoy. The story follows a man in 1950s London
who takes time off work to have some introspective looks on life following a
grim diagnosis. Even if the movie itself doesn’t have a ton of awards momentum
and might not be a huge hit with audiences, one element of the film that does
seem to have universal praise is the Bill Nighy performance, which does seem
like is in position to give Bill Nighy an Oscar nomination. And if that
happens, certain people are bound to actually check out the movie itself so
they can judge said performance themselves.</span></span></p>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And finally, opening on Christmas Day in select
theaters is <b><i><u>A Man Called Otto</u></i></b>. This isn’t getting a ton of awards
talk at the moment and could simply be a mainstream audience hit when it
expands in January. Perhaps we’ll revisit it in January to dive in more. But
anytime Tom Hanks is involved in a project, it’s at least worth a look. It’s
also a movie that’s 100 percent guilty of the idea that us dumb Americans are
sometimes allergic to subtitles and will never watch foreign films. In other
words, oftentimes very popular foreign films get American, English-language
adaptations and the hit rate with those is quite low in terms of audience
reaction. “A Man Called Otto” is an adaptation of the 2015 Swedish film “A Man
Called Ove,” which was nominated that year for the best foreign language film
Oscar after receiving strong praise. That movie itself is based off of a 2012
novel of the same name, so this counts as the second adaptation of that. The
general premise follows a grumpy old man who is kinda done with life who has to
deal with some boisterous new neighbors that might end up changing his outlook.
In which case, if an American adaptation of this has to happen, Tom Hanks is a
solid choice for a popular movie about a grumpy old man. January 13 is the date
that is currently set for its wide expansion, so we’ll bring this up again next
month. And at that point we’ll have the reaction to the movie to help us with a
better prognosis on how it might hit.</span></span>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-64611467782566557382022-10-06T21:14:00.000-06:002022-10-06T21:14:12.610-06:00Movie Preview: October 2022<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji7WWvWlL-kTp_gjyvJC8X3clffAsIA5hPue4qbLgXLSOCxeaQildXf8zB9-zu9KXoApnRHqKgs3aIKmyS4NYZ50R3NLAnuwEw62rvO7biOrC0atpC2tR1iDhy1x1clv7k4JqUqIcyqIkOX_57k_GIrpUKfE_b98_0-0Su5tZS8WgEBuBb3R-VR_lVMw/s1564/IMG_20221006_225951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1198" data-original-width="1564" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji7WWvWlL-kTp_gjyvJC8X3clffAsIA5hPue4qbLgXLSOCxeaQildXf8zB9-zu9KXoApnRHqKgs3aIKmyS4NYZ50R3NLAnuwEw62rvO7biOrC0atpC2tR1iDhy1x1clv7k4JqUqIcyqIkOX_57k_GIrpUKfE_b98_0-0Su5tZS8WgEBuBb3R-VR_lVMw/w400-h306/IMG_20221006_225951.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;">And we’re back. Here with the
October movie preview not too long after the late September preview. And this
one on time, given that I covered the weekend of September 30 – October 2, in
which “Smile” dominated with a $22.6 million opening weekend, in the September
preview. That opened made for a similarly identical weekend as the previous two
weekends where “The Woman King” and “Don’t Worry Darling” opened to $19.1
million and $19.4 million respectively.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">What that all added up to,
though, was a historically low September. But that’s what happens when
Hollywood forgets to schedule much. While those three movies did fine, there
was no “IT” or “Shang-Chi” type of movie opening to boost the month’s numbers
and thus we were left with the lowest accumulative September box office since
1996, not counting September 2020 when movies were just barely starting to come
back. But if you’re a movie fan and you feel you are suffering from a lack of
options, no need to worry. The holiday season is around the corner and that
should leave the year off with a bang. October specifically is a bit light on
quantity, but there are some major hits on schedule that should help prime the
box office for said holiday season.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As always, release date
information for this post is courtesy of the-numbers.com and boxofficepro.com.
The movies listed are the ones currently scheduled for a wide theatrical
release in the United States and Canada and are always subject to change.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">October 7 – 9</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTgs8tVuuLPfQWoK_wVEX-FqRLDhNXE3AmZao-4k29UpPEuf1fo19U7QzwsiFv1UNSyL8XUCVtY4RwzdYpbc5BUXIXvOlTM-9kbdgvOeBLMRnZsDP5DU_HRwVhQRy3OozZ02ngkH08E_xoLaY0kX0jH8BfL09RibKbr65QL5tAm555bJZeFsrf5RFxdA/s1519/lyle1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="1519" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTgs8tVuuLPfQWoK_wVEX-FqRLDhNXE3AmZao-4k29UpPEuf1fo19U7QzwsiFv1UNSyL8XUCVtY4RwzdYpbc5BUXIXvOlTM-9kbdgvOeBLMRnZsDP5DU_HRwVhQRy3OozZ02ngkH08E_xoLaY0kX0jH8BfL09RibKbr65QL5tAm555bJZeFsrf5RFxdA/s320/lyle1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sony Pictures' "Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile"</td></tr></tbody></table>The first weekend of October,
the beginning of the final quarter of the year, begins with what might be a bit
of a slow start. In fact, Box Office Pro suggests in their weekend preview that
it’s a possibility that “Smile” repeats at No. 1.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As far as the two new wide
releases, the one likely to open ahead is <b><i><u>Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile</u></i></b>. This
is based off of the 1965 children’s book of the same name, written by Bernard
Waber, which was actually a sequel to the 1962 book, “The House on East 88th
Street.” The general idea of the book series is that a family moves into a home
where a performing crocodile is living in the bathtub and they eventually learn
to love him and accept him as family. In 1987, it was adapted into an animated
musical TV special for HBO and now we’re coming full circle, combining all of
that in a live-action feature-length musical film starring Shawn Mendes as
Lyle, with original music by Pasek and Paul, who did the music for “La La Land,”
“The Greatest Showman” and “Dear Evan Hansen.” Whether or not anyone asked for
this is a different conversation, but the family audience it is intended for is
the audience that is less critical, so any sort of reviews and reaction will
probably be irrelevant. Last year the live-action “Clifford the Big Red Dog”
opened to $16.6 million. Somewhere along those lines in the mid-teen millions
is where “Lyle” will probably open. Depending on how good “Smile” holds, that
could be good enough for No. 1.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The second movie opening this
weekend is David O. Russell’s <b><i><u>Amsterdam</u></i></b>. David O. Russell is
a filmmaker who has been a very strong awards darling over the years, achieving
plenty of success with “The Fighter,” “Silver Linings Playbook” and “American
Hustle.” So his first film since “Joy” in 2015 has come with lots of
anticipation. And as often is the case with David O. Russell films, it’s an
acting party, with Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Chris
Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Zoe Saldana, Mike Myers, Michael Shannon, Timothy
Olyphant, Rami Malek, Robert De Niro, and even Taylor Swift, amongst others,
all joining said party. Unfortunately for this movie, though, is that critical
reaction is in the dumpster, with a 30 percent Rotten Tomatoes score through
nearly 100 reviews. In this case, that’s the audience that needs to be pleased
if it’s going to achieve its ultimate goal of being a major awards contender.
That reaction says that awards are out of the question, which puts this in a
bit of an awkward spot. What is the movie? Yeah, that’s the question here.
Advertising has it framed as a 1930s murder mystery, but much of the reaction
so far has it pegged as a big, convoluted mess in terms of plot, tone, and
pretty much overall movie identity. Unless general audience reaction is
stronger than critical reaction, this could be forgotten in record time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">That’s it for the wide
releases, but since we’re beginning awards season, with the major film festivals
having happened this past month, a couple of notable releases on the limited release
front. First is <b><i><u>TÁR</u></i></b>, which is directed by Todd Field and sees Cate
Blanchett play a fictional character named Lydia Tár, who in the context of
this movie’s universe is a world famous music composer and conductor of a German
orchestra. Word is that Blanchett, who is in pretty much every scene of this
film, is well on her way to a Oscar nomination for best actress and may be one
of the early strong contenders to win.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The other limited release is <b><i><u>Triangle
of Sadness</u></i></b>. While this might be a bit too heavy and/or unique for
major Oscar contention – it’s about cruise ship full of super rich people that
sinks and leaves the survivors trapped on an island – this is the winner of the
Palme d’Or, the big prize coming out of the Cannes Film Festival. While not a
great Oscar predictor by any means, the 2019 winner was “Parasite” and that did
end up winning best picture. So this one is at least worth mentioning.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">And finally, Fathom Events is
having their Fright Fest event throughout October. As a part of that pertaining
to this weekend, they will be playing Steven Spielberg’s 1982 film <b><i><u>Poltergeist</u></i></b>
from October 6 – 12. On October 9th and 10th, they will be releasing <b><i><u>Scream
2</u></i></b>. Later in the month with
this event, they will be releasing <b><i><u>Bram Stoker’s Dracula</u></i></b> on
October 23rd and 27th. And on October 29th they will have a one-day double
feature of <b><i><u>Creature from the Black Lagoon</u></i></b> from 1954 and <b><i><u>Phantom
of the Opera</u></i></b> from 1943.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">October 14 – 16</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoquzgTXG1QYCwKjxV7ENo5ai8xlTLcMk4sU8y9opQMOsfL58Jvm9rAGG6hVAoNWPpiUeBdiViCaOJ5wpch-2RXPF0tmfu62h-E-mdERGPy0DSFVw3xHv05EZrgKnfHxtg8Ke4hSGIhpWkq6NOQSsMOJcS_AfQOM5NQNl4wFGA8vs8z-oRf7DDoM1XJw/s1197/l-intro-1631633303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1197" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoquzgTXG1QYCwKjxV7ENo5ai8xlTLcMk4sU8y9opQMOsfL58Jvm9rAGG6hVAoNWPpiUeBdiViCaOJ5wpch-2RXPF0tmfu62h-E-mdERGPy0DSFVw3xHv05EZrgKnfHxtg8Ke4hSGIhpWkq6NOQSsMOJcS_AfQOM5NQNl4wFGA8vs8z-oRf7DDoM1XJw/s320/l-intro-1631633303.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Universal's "Halloween Ends"</td></tr></tbody></table>The second weekend of October
is where things start firing up at the box office. And that’s because this weekend
sees the final entry in the Halloween franchise, <b><i><u>Halloween Ends</u></i></b>. Or
that’s what they claim, anyways. Never believe Hollywood when they say
something is the final chapter, especially with this franchise and its very
complicated timeline that has probably seen the franchise “end” several times
already. And Michael Myers gets “killed” in just about every movie. But
nevertheless, that’s what they’re going with this particular premise, given the
title and the marketing. The whole film is centered around the idea of a final
battle between Michael and Laurie Strode. Even if they find a way to continue
the franchise yet again, the idea of a final film in a popular franchise can
often be a very strong selling point. It often puts the movie onto a more
event-level status that boosts the box office.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In terms of that box office,
the 2018 reboot of this planned trilogy performed very well, opening to $76.2
million and finishing with $159.4 million domestically. The middle chapter, “Halloween
Kills,” fell off quite a bit in compared to that, but still opened to $49.4
million and finished with $92 million. So yeah, both films were extremely
front-loaded, which is not surprising for a major horror franchise, but
nevertheless those openings are still among the best ever for the horror genre.
While middling reaction to “Kills” might lead to some fall-off with this third
film, that idea of it being a final film should at least make this come close
to that $49.4 million mark. “Halloween Ends” is also being released
day-and-date on Peacock for subscribers, which doesn’t help its box office
outlook, but “Kills” actually did the same thing, so the comparison still very
much stands.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Halloween Ends” is the only
new wide release of the weekend, but again on the limited front with awards
season heating up, this weekend will see the release of <b><i><u>Till</u></i></b> in select
locations before its scheduled wide expansion on October 28. The subject matter
here immediately puts it into the spotlight as this is a movie about Emmett
Till, a 14-year-old black kid who was abducted, tortured, and lynched in the
summer of 1955, and whose killers were acquitted in trial. This particular
movie centers around Emmett’s mother, Mamie Till Mobley, and her relentless
pursuit justice for her son.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">October 21 – 23</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBvCI766rk8hthl7kQ421bunhLNcQQEoW85_Sk83yIAiUCKKCW7Y-Xw7V4En_fbMWmPGJ7b-xNnawMW86MRbUk8GTtF6fa0ZV8LMdtHD6TjDRScgX27hNqAqFHOjLx1KdwGuLMJs41wcsRTEJx65mI6kNHn3jMnnRThUWbqZM1gfcmF0PYZBRu4o_whQ/s957/image-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="957" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBvCI766rk8hthl7kQ421bunhLNcQQEoW85_Sk83yIAiUCKKCW7Y-Xw7V4En_fbMWmPGJ7b-xNnawMW86MRbUk8GTtF6fa0ZV8LMdtHD6TjDRScgX27hNqAqFHOjLx1KdwGuLMJs41wcsRTEJx65mI6kNHn3jMnnRThUWbqZM1gfcmF0PYZBRu4o_whQ/s320/image-1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warner Bros.' "Black Adam"</td></tr></tbody></table>The biggest movie event of
the month for October falls in this third weekend with DC’s release of <b><i><u>Black
Adam</u></i></b>. Played by Dwayne Johnson in this film introduction of the
character, Black Adam is an anti-hero in the DC universe and has often been one
of the main archenemies of Shazam. In fact, there was a time in which it was
planned on introducing him as a character in 2019’s “Shazam!,” before switching
course and deciding to introduce him in his own solo film. While DC has
certainly been in a constant, unstable whirlwind for much of the last decade or
more, a “Shazam!” movie has been in talks since the 2000s and Dwayne Johnson
has been a part of those talks for almost the whole time in one way or another.
He was almost cast as Shazam before officially being cast as Black Adam in
2014. It was in 2017 when they decided to split the two projects and give Black
Adam his own solo film. And while an official crossover hasn’t been announced
between the characters of Black Adam and Shazam, that seems more of a matter of
time than anything, especially since “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” is next up for
DC after “Black Adam,” currently scheduled for March 17, 2023.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Financially, Black Adam as a
character isn’t as well-known as some of the others in the DC library. And as a
whole, the reputation of DC as of late is still shaky at best. Audiences haven’t
been nearly as willing to rush out to see the latest DC movie like they have
been for most things Marvel. But still, there does seem to be plenty of
positive anticipation for this, especially considering the star power of Dwayne
Johnson. And although “Shazam!” in 2019 didn’t quite break the bank in compared
to other comic book films, it did have a healthy $53.5 million opening at the
time and has been mostly well-received, not only initially but also in the few
years since as more people have discovered. That should lead “Black Adam” to an
opening of at least $50 million, if not approaching a $70-80 million opening of
various Marvel solo outings.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Opening alongside “Black Adam”
as this weekend’s other wide release is <b><i><u>Ticket to Paradise</u></i></b>. This is a
rom-com that stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts as a divorced couple that
travel to Bali to attempt to sabotage their daughter’s wedding after learning
she’s about to marry a man named Gede that she just met. Their motivation is to
stop their daughter from making the same mistake they believe they made. As
somewhat of a throwback to a cheesy 2000s rom-com, this very much could play as
some good counterprogramming for those that either aren’t interested in
superhero affair or horror films. And it certainly has the star power to work
out and 32 million views on its YouTube trailer, which says that it has people’s
attention. The counter against it is that the rom-com in 2022, or even in the
last several years, hasn’t been as strong as it once was in regards to box
office draw. “Marry Me” from earlier in this year had similarly everything
going for it as well, but could only muster a $7.9 million opening. And that
was around Valentine’s Day. So this is not a guaranteed hit, but rather stands
as something with potential. And perhaps it might play better as a streaming
option in the near future.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Again on the limited front,
another major candidate for awards hitting this weekend will be <b><i><u>The
Banshees of Inisherin</u></i></b>. This is a movie from Martin McDonagh, whose
previous movie was “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” a double Oscar
winner with seven total nominees. “Banshees” stars Colin Farrell and Brendan
Gleeson as two lifelong friends on a remote Irish island who find themselves in
an awkward situation when one of them decides they don’t want to be friends
anymore. After a very successful festival run, “Banshees” currently has a
perfect 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes with 60 reviews counted to go along with
a 90 score on Metacritic. What that translates to when it hits general
audiences might present a different story, but its rewards prospects initially
seem very high, especially since this is also one of Searchlight’s big awards
contenders. For context, Searchlight has won best picture with one of their
releases five times since 2009, so they have a good track record.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The other notable limited
release is <b><i><u>Aftersun</u></i></b>, another popular festival hit that debuted in
Cannes and has hit just about everything else along the way afterwards. This
might have a slightly more difficult uphill battle than “Banshees,” which comes
from a director with high Oscar prestige, whereas “Aftersun” is directed by Charlotte
Wells in her feature-length directorial debut, but nevertheless it’s about a
girl reflecting on the relationship she had with her father, which seems to
come with plenty of positives and negatives. The release is handled by A24,
which has had a very strong year. If not an awards contender, it might at least
be in conversations of smaller movies worth seeing.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">October 28 – 30</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZqMwVKLu5tW_AtBJa1dNcxZz596b2HBKW8LXfkPj1L4XPSHXdAhEQnBNj1jXZ6ecOUqxzyUChKtt4NLuf2HwIrffsMiYsIjBxpj04o4Hb2vGXsR9vh-olzecDNz8jX_F8QJuXvEznIrKByNYp04S6pUNXwmeAqEjR3gC8UMB_rqjhvaAEMBQ6a2VOZA/s933/prey-for-the-devil-Jacqueline-Byers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="933" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZqMwVKLu5tW_AtBJa1dNcxZz596b2HBKW8LXfkPj1L4XPSHXdAhEQnBNj1jXZ6ecOUqxzyUChKtt4NLuf2HwIrffsMiYsIjBxpj04o4Hb2vGXsR9vh-olzecDNz8jX_F8QJuXvEznIrKByNYp04S6pUNXwmeAqEjR3gC8UMB_rqjhvaAEMBQ6a2VOZA/s320/prey-for-the-devil-Jacqueline-Byers.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lionsgate's "Prey for the Devil"</td></tr></tbody></table>Halloween will be on a Monday
this year, which means there’s a whole weekend of movie going possible leading
up to the actual holiday. The could work to the advantage of some horror movies
in the market, especially this final one of the month, <b><i><u>Prey for the Devil</u></i></b>.
And yes, that is the correct spelling of the word “prey.” A bit of play on
words there. But they’re hunting the devil. Preying. Not kneeling down and
praying. By the looks of this trailer, it looks like it’s almost cut and paste
from 1973’s “The Exorcist,” which is something that has been done a thousand
times before, so that’s nothing shocking. In this exorcism movie spin, there’s
a nun who is feeling the calling to become the first female exorcist, possibly
to chase a demon that has been haunting her or has some connection to her past.
Now despite the timely release date, there’s no guarantee that this movie hits.
If reaction is poor, horror fans might just catch up on “Smile” or “Halloween
Ends” instead. So a lot will be riding on what the reviews are like here.</span></p>
<span face=""Calibri","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Only one new wide release this week, which means
it’s almost a sure thing that “Black Adam” will repeat as the box office champ,
but another awards hopeful opening in limited release is <b><i><u>Armageddon Time</u></i></b>.
This is the latest from director James Gray, who is a filmmaker that hasn’t
quite yet broken out on the awards front, but has built up a strong enough
reputation with movies like “Two Lovers,” “The Immigrant,” “The Lost City of Z,”
and most recently “Ad Astra,” that a lot of awards pundits feel like his time
is coming soon. Perhaps with this one? Word out of the festivals is a bit more
lukewarm than maybe the team here would hope, but this still has a strong cast
featuring Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, and Anthony Hopkins. The movie is a
flashback to Gray’s childhood, set in New York in the 1980s and follows a young
11-year-old kid and his friend figuring out life, being essentially parallel to
what “Belfast” was last year for director Kenneth Branagh. The title here is in
reference to a Ronald Reagan speech wherein the former president said that this
is the generation that might see Armageddon.</span>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-81058854729992241652022-09-18T18:45:00.000-06:002022-09-18T18:45:18.493-06:00Movie Preview: September 2022<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYN-cZYvsI9pNfMyrA-wlgJd9AFbpS97AhI9WT3xmATMPR7077UIzyWF11MZIp-fJG4Pn-2UQIhzdXuToMOZhkh4K0OY_4QsTiz8VpLNpDaWcdnMp2CYHtJd-ls1BCeFrlSl7S2nDWGH9c6c3I9Y04-xXcjv9RHFyZQyzqcHIIE4AL1Nxi0NXD8gFMiQ/s1564/IMG_20220918_122928.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1267" data-original-width="1564" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYN-cZYvsI9pNfMyrA-wlgJd9AFbpS97AhI9WT3xmATMPR7077UIzyWF11MZIp-fJG4Pn-2UQIhzdXuToMOZhkh4K0OY_4QsTiz8VpLNpDaWcdnMp2CYHtJd-ls1BCeFrlSl7S2nDWGH9c6c3I9Y04-xXcjv9RHFyZQyzqcHIIE4AL1Nxi0NXD8gFMiQ/w400-h324/IMG_20220918_122928.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Life is like a box of chocolates.
You never know what you’re going to get next. Like when things become super
busy and you aren’t able to make time for your monthly movie preview and get it
out before your personally set deadlines. But that’s OK. Life moves on. What
that means is that this is another monthly preview that is part recap and part
preview.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Luckily for me, there’s not a
whole to recap in the first two weeks of September. While this summer brought
quite the list of huge successes that made this feel like a normal, pre-COVID
summer movie season, studios forgot to schedule things at the tail end of the
summer. Of the past three weeks, two of those weeks saw the No. 1 movie at less
than $10 million, while the other week was barely above $10 million. While this
is fairly typical of late August and early September, “Shang-Chi” proved last
year that movies CAN succeed at this time of year, so there’s no longer an
excuse for studios to simply not try. But nevertheless, it is what it is. And
that means we’re still in good shape on the preview front because the most
interesting titles were in the end of September anyways, so let’s get going.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As always, release date
information for this post is courtesy of the-numbers.com and boxofficepro.com.
The movies listed are the ones currently scheduled for a wide theatrical
release in the United States and Canada and are always subject to change.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">September 2 – 4</span></i></b></p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioIb_-2699IDp9wsHaiBXVHUX8_fgHYsuV3mbapd9rkkIFxaRZvKQiHSKdjmWrGTZ8UTrZ20rsKmDLaLZaeHjOYgD8tFvr7V-8tg6DPNrxbVpXZcBLSZktAdIIB-qjtB-J0bZQidh4DDAOpE2Xy6eeRJkxkG7tlCaKg3KxI80J9xkld-v7CZa7yWJ1Lg/s1064/honk-for-jesus.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1064" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioIb_-2699IDp9wsHaiBXVHUX8_fgHYsuV3mbapd9rkkIFxaRZvKQiHSKdjmWrGTZ8UTrZ20rsKmDLaLZaeHjOYgD8tFvr7V-8tg6DPNrxbVpXZcBLSZktAdIIB-qjtB-J0bZQidh4DDAOpE2Xy6eeRJkxkG7tlCaKg3KxI80J9xkld-v7CZa7yWJ1Lg/s320/honk-for-jesus.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Focus Features' "Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul."</td></tr></tbody></table>The story of Labor Day at the
box office was one of familiar titles. Sony re-released “Spider-Man: No Way
Home” into theaters with an extended edition of the movie subtitled “The More
Fun Stuff Version.” This added 11 additional minutes of content. On top of
that, Universal also re-released “Jaws” into IMAX theaters. This after “E.T.”
got an IMAX re-release back in August and “Rogue One” made a return as Disney prepares
for their new show “Andor,” which starts September 21. So library titles were
the story of the week.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">What actually won the weekend
was “Top Gun: Maverick” in its 15th week of release. Sure, it only required $6
million to win the weekend, but it’s still an impressive feat considering the
movie opened on Memorial Day weekend and managed to outlast everything that
came after it to return to No. 1 on Labor Day weekend. Interestingly enough,
the original “Top Gun” pulled off a nearly identical feat in its release in
1986 as it also opened in May then held well enough to go back to No. 1 in
September. “Maverick” has also now passed the $700 million mark domestically,
entering the top five of the highest grossing movies ever at the domestic box
office.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As far as new releases this
weekend, there was not much to write home about. The top new release was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Honk
for Jesus. Save Your Soul.</u></i></b>, which opened way down in 13th place
with $1.4 million from 1,882 theaters. That’s a per theater average of $756
over the weekend, which is not particularly good. Lots of empty or mostly empty
screens. For those who did see it, a bit of confusion seems to be the story. No,
this is not an evangelical Christian movie. It’s actually a satire of organized
religion that came out of Sundance. Critics were fairly nice with it, awarding
it a 72 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences were not kind, though, as they
gave it a 26 percent to go along with a 5.3 on IMDb. One can imagine that a
Christian satire might be naturally polarizing. It’s also possible that people
just did not get what they expected from this or may have been confused as to
what it was in the first place.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Amusingly, the other
semi-wide release that opened two spots below “Honk for Jesus” was the exact opposite
in terms of reaction. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Gigi & Nate</u></i></b> suffered a
miserable 14 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, but its audience score was sky high at
95 percent. Granted, the sample size here is not exactly very, but the critics
who did write a review were generally not impressed, while the small number of
audience who did see it were rather pleased. It opened with less than a
million, $990,361 to be exact, from 1,184 theaters. It’s about a man named Nate
who is left as a quadriplegic after a near-fatal illness and is helped through
it all thanks to a service animal named Gigi, who is a capuchin monkey.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">If you missed either of these
two releases and are curious, you might have to wait for PVOD or streaming
because, given the low totals, they’ll probably be gone from theaters before
September concludes</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">September 9 – 11</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGevh4Mgs7q5AiTHfYIKREi27LsGmZ0cAB7ieq8078WPbgRam8XjW9N8lKbiEJu2Mz2RLB9aodvBqwBJ3lae9p-OhNYmIFUm27-IXwrGbR9jqRmaPiLgo3-VfHRIUKAoChBvDI_jQKxHw4uDRqjgdMqFErm7xaSChtSgbzodaUactmqPDGNKK3BmOcpg/s1829/BARB_TRL1_Shot21-scaled.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="1829" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGevh4Mgs7q5AiTHfYIKREi27LsGmZ0cAB7ieq8078WPbgRam8XjW9N8lKbiEJu2Mz2RLB9aodvBqwBJ3lae9p-OhNYmIFUm27-IXwrGbR9jqRmaPiLgo3-VfHRIUKAoChBvDI_jQKxHw4uDRqjgdMqFErm7xaSChtSgbzodaUactmqPDGNKK3BmOcpg/s320/BARB_TRL1_Shot21-scaled.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">20th Century Studios' "Barbarian"</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The second weekend of
September, while not much better financially compared to the first weekend, did
see the winner hit $10 million as opposed to the single-digit million winner of
the previous two weeks as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Barbarian</u></i></b> opened at the top
with $10.5 million. This is a movie that has the chance to be a lot like last
year’s “Malignant,” which seemingly has gained quite the online following
despite opened to just $5.4 million on this same exact weekend. I say this
because buzz on “Barbarian” has also been pretty high with its Rotten Tomatoes
critics score of 93 percent to go along with decently high audience scores. “Barbarian”
is a horror movie about a woman who rents a house via Airbnb, only to get there
and realize there’s another guy there who is already renting it. They both end
up staying and, of course in true horror fashion, there’s a bit of a house of
horrors thing going on with this place, with plenty of surprises hiding around
each corner of the movie.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Coming in right behind “Barbarian”
in second place at the box office with $4.5 million was a movie out of India
titled <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Brahmastra Part 1: Shiva</u></i></b>. Indian cinema has actually
been decently popular recently, so a movie like this coming seemingly out of nowhere
to do very well is fairly common. That $4.5 million might seem a bit low, but
with only 810 theaters, that count becomes more impressive. Although the report
is that this is one of the most expensive Indian films ever made, so it’ll have
to have much more help in other countries around the world, especially its home
country of India. This movie is actually the first of a planned trilogy that
has been in development since 2014. It’s a fantasy action-adventure film about
a DJ named Shiva who learns he has a connection with the element of fire and
holds the power of Brahmastra, a supernatural weapon that is able to destroy the
universe.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Beyond the top two, the
actual Christian movie <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Lifemark</u></i></b> opened at No. 7 with
$2.2 million from 1,531 theaters. “Lifemark” saw the Kendrick Brothers team up
with Kirk Cameron to make a movie about a boy who was almost aborted, but whose
mother chose adoption instead. This is a bit on the nose with recent events,
but is also par for the course when you consider said filmmakers involved. And
the other movie that hit wide release was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Medieval</u></i></b> down in 14th place
from 1,311 theaters. Speaking of expensive international films, this is
reportedly the most expensive Czech film ever made and is a historical drama
about the life of Jan Zizka, a Czech military general who lived from 1360 to
1424 and never lost a single battle, despite being completely blind in his last
stages of life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">September 16 – 18</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPw-TI7OxGTcwKo10gMa8lJiIdw0DYXdJPBdI_5Lk1GbjswFmbN6wzUEVV6wZuud5qh11EjT2ty4VRsMeo8Fgi4iqjJP5qMWr22nuGBfRgtks_SIOf5gqluvYn4buYYsBH3jGe7kGqgjmOqQQnZKMHRqdzBdnAAotejYZayYl1b-8Dbg7V_hZ3zZZteA/s2224/220913190323-01-woman-king-film.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1668" data-original-width="2224" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPw-TI7OxGTcwKo10gMa8lJiIdw0DYXdJPBdI_5Lk1GbjswFmbN6wzUEVV6wZuud5qh11EjT2ty4VRsMeo8Fgi4iqjJP5qMWr22nuGBfRgtks_SIOf5gqluvYn4buYYsBH3jGe7kGqgjmOqQQnZKMHRqdzBdnAAotejYZayYl1b-8Dbg7V_hZ3zZZteA/s320/220913190323-01-woman-king-film.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sony Pictures' "The Woman King"</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;">If you’re reading this post
on or around the weekend that I’m posting this, which is this weekend right
here, this is where the fun begins as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Woman King</u></i></b> looks to give
a spark to the depleted September box office. This is a movie about the Agojie,
an all-female warrior unit who protected the West African kingdom of Dahmey
from the 1600s up until the very early 1900s. “The Woman King” stars Viola
Davis in the lead role and is set specifically in the 1820s as she’s a general
who’s training the next generation of warriors. This is a movie that seems like
it’s hitting on multiple quadrants. To general audiences, it seems like a very
relevant and fun action flick that can be very appealing to a wide audience.
But also, on the festival and awards circuit, this is a movie that’s had a lot
of awards buzz for months now as a potential major Oscar contender. Based on
its 94 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, combined with its 99 percent
audience score and a rare A+ CinemaScore, this looks like it’s hitting all the
right notes. And even if that doesn’t translate into a monumental opening (it’s
tracking for around $15-20 million) that should lead to a long and healthy run
at the box office and beyond.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The other notable release on
the weekend is the return of Kevin Smith with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Clerks III</u></i></b>. Now
the fan base for Kevin Smith is a bit of a niche one, but for that audience, “Clerks
III” is a big deal as “Clerks” is a 1994 film that gave Kevin Smith his start.
He wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the movie. And it was his first
time doing any of that on a feature length level. Since “Clerks,” he’s gone onto
make movies such as “Chasing Amy,” “Dogma,” “Mallrats” and “Jay and Silent Bob
Strike Back,” while recently doing the likes of “Tusk” and “Jay and Silent Bob
Reboot.” But returning for a third Clerks movie after “Clerks II” in 2006 is a
big deal. How it impacts the box office is almost irrelevant. Kevin Smith
movies often have unique release patterns. “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” had a
travelling tour sort of thing and “Clerks III” started a similar thing back on
September 4 in Red Bank, New Jersey. And it’s also co-released by Lionsgate and
Fathom Events. And any sort of Fathom Events thing can be a bit unpredictable.
But nevertheless, Kevin Smith fans will find a way to see this at some point.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Opening on a slightly smaller
scale, although looking at a top 5 debut given the current competition, is the
horror movie <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Pearl</u></i></b>. The unique thing about this movie is that it’s a
prequel… to a movie that came out earlier this year, that being “X.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While “X” only opened to $4.3 million and made
just $11.8 million total, the A24 horror film had very strong reaction amongst the
film community and many on Film Twitter especially have listed it among their
top movies of the year. So it seems like it’s the type of horror movie that will
develop a solid cult following as a fun throwback to classic slasher horror. “X”
is set in 1979 rural Texas as a group of young filmmakers set out to make an
adult film that obviously goes quite wrong. All that context is important
because “Pearl” is a prequel to “X” about how the movie’s killer, named Pearl,
played by Mia Goth, becomes the vicious killer that’s seen in “X.” Current
tracking has the movie earning around a similar total to the $4.3 million that “X”
opened to in March.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Opening just below “Pearl” in
around the same number of theaters (about 2,500) is Disney releasing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>See
How They Run</u></i></b> via their Searchlight banner. Searchlight has had a
very strong history with smaller to moderate releases as they’ve gotten into
the best picture race pretty much every year and have won the award with “Slumdog
Millionaire,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Birdman,” “The Shape of Water,” and “Nomadland.”
This is not that awards movie. Searchlight’s big awards contenders this year
will probably be either “The Banshees of Inisherin" or “Empire of Light,”
but nevertheless, the studio’s history is still notable to point out. “See How
They Run” is a throwback whodunit murder mystery comedy set in the 1950s with a
sleazy Hollywood film director setting out to adapt a popular stage play when
things come to a halt when the director is murdered. The movie stars Sam
Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, and David Oyelowo in various roles and
has received mostly positive reviews as it currently sits in the low 70s range
with both critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Nope, we’re not quite done
yet. The fifth and final wide release of the weekend is a Christian-themed
baseball movie called <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Running the Bases</u></i></b>. This comes
from UP2U Films, whose YouTube channel and movie credits currently include… this
movie. So they appear to be a new film company who don’t even have a Wikipedia
page yet. But nevertheless they’ve built enough hype to get “Running the Bases”
released into just over 1,000 theaters and hope to be fighting for a spot in
the top 10, although they might fall just short of that. But the movie is about
a small-town baseball coach who gets hired to coach at a larger 6A High School,
but gets into a bit of hot water as the school’s superintendent doesn’t exactly
like the way he’s mixing coaching baseball with religion, so he feels like he’s
stuck between trying to choose what he’s being asked to do with what he feels
God wants him to do. While there’s a lot of choices this weekend, “Running the
Bases” does have the advantage of a PG rating, meaning there’s potential appeal
to both family audiences and religious audiences.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">September 23 – 25</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9pxKAvm-ySeRSIKqL57XAfNdLfP8hdHBbMFA77q8F4kcizNQ0Iyjj4wrKejE3j74AfvtMKlzETV_b_wjUWIaRCoIONhu5vHmBKHLHDDKDhueXfcQUzwQeZRiM5aElCq0whKCSg-bZmx843KcWjgaiKZyH-qCRTQuB7Ng80-lbsadWn3HZP7n1OOUQQ/s1061/MV5BYmJmNWEyZjktNTI1MC00MzJlLWIwMjMtZGE2MzJmNmUwODc5XkEyXkFqcGdeQWpnYW1i._V1_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1061" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9pxKAvm-ySeRSIKqL57XAfNdLfP8hdHBbMFA77q8F4kcizNQ0Iyjj4wrKejE3j74AfvtMKlzETV_b_wjUWIaRCoIONhu5vHmBKHLHDDKDhueXfcQUzwQeZRiM5aElCq0whKCSg-bZmx843KcWjgaiKZyH-qCRTQuB7Ng80-lbsadWn3HZP7n1OOUQQ/s320/MV5BYmJmNWEyZjktNTI1MC00MzJlLWIwMjMtZGE2MzJmNmUwODc5XkEyXkFqcGdeQWpnYW1i._V1_.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warner Bros.' "Don't Worry, Darling"</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;">There’s only one new release
in the fourth weekend of September, but it’s one that’s garnered a lot of
attention as of late and that is Olivia Wilde’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Don’t Worry, Darling</u></i></b>.
Olivia Wilde has been on the acting scene since the mid-2000s, but has just
recently joined the directing party and had quite the splash in 2019 with “Booksmart,”
her feature-length directorial debut. And now she’s following that up with this
mystery thriller in “Don’t Worry, Darling” that is about a 1950s housewife
living with her husband in a utopian, experimental community who begins to worry
that her husband’s company could be hiding disturbing secrets. The big red flag
here is that early critical reviews are coming in very sour at the moment. The
positive note is that a man named Harry Styles is in the lead role and he’s had
the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 for 13 weeks now, so negative critical
reviews might not matter. At least not for opening weekend. They might hurt the
movie’s staying power if audience reaction is similar. And obviously any awards
talk is probably gone. Florence Pugh, Chris Pine, and Olivia Wilde herself also
co-star and that star power alone is what’s going to lead this movie to
success.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">No other new wide releases
this weekend, but it is worthy of pointing out that James Cameron is bringing
back “Avatar” back to theaters in preparation for December’s release of “Avatar:
The Way of Water.” No introduction needed on this. “Avatar” was released in
2009 and became the highest grossing movie ever both on the domestic and
worldwide charts. It is currently fourth place now on the domestic chart, as it
has been passed by “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Avengers: Endgame” and “Spider-Man:
No Way Home” on the domestic charts, putting it in fourth place. And it also
briefly got passed by “Endgame” on the worldwide charts before a Chinese
re-release in 2021 brought it back to No. 1. This current re-release probably
won’t make a huge dent in the box office, but for the sake of comparison, “No
Way Home” opened to $5.3 million on Labor Day with its re-release, so there’s
your current bar that’s been set. While “Avatar” shouldn’t be underestimated,
it would take $60 million for it to pass “No Way Home” on the domestic chart to
re-take No. 3 and another $100 million for it to pass “Endgame” for No. 2. And
it’s highly unlikely for it to get close to those numbers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">September 30 – October 2</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgpzL8oIQLp3661HC1Wexy3n5ss2LN8BT-_fEtF8uVEp1uT8wBcxq76mhYmVOlsPz5_9zntzermoL9KSZuliFzJmjj89-PxQZxlSo_it0vTFyeQbTV8ERtJ2Ib06NTwPezs_OpZwakcB1-C3fZIRrZwvwFdsVIG1d06jNuX8euCVkJimngwKfwnw8SLA/s1247/image_2022_06_22_172205778.0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="932" data-original-width="1247" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgpzL8oIQLp3661HC1Wexy3n5ss2LN8BT-_fEtF8uVEp1uT8wBcxq76mhYmVOlsPz5_9zntzermoL9KSZuliFzJmjj89-PxQZxlSo_it0vTFyeQbTV8ERtJ2Ib06NTwPezs_OpZwakcB1-C3fZIRrZwvwFdsVIG1d06jNuX8euCVkJimngwKfwnw8SLA/s320/image_2022_06_22_172205778.0.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paramount Pictures' "Smile"</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The final weekend of September
poaches into October for both Saturday and Sunday, but if you’ve followed this
long enough, you’ll know that Friday is what I count for which month this goes
in, so that’s why this weekend is here.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">But anyways, October means
Halloween and that means horror films looking to cash in on the holiday. Before
we get to the big one with “Halloween Ends” in mid-October, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Smile</u></i></b>
will be looking to draw in that horror crowd. Paramount has been pushing this
really hard for quite some time now. And they’ve had a good year so far, so it’s
hard to bet against them right now. “Smile,” if you haven’t seen the trailers
everywhere yet, is a movie where a woman starts seeing people smile in
bizarrely weird ways. She is a doctor or a psychologist of some sort and sees
this first with a patient of hers, who quickly dies. According to the trailers,
this smiling is a bad omen wherein most people who’ve seen it also die within a
week, giving it an “It Follows” or a “Truth or Dare” sort of feel, the latter
of which might be a fairly apt comparison. “Truth or Dare” was a critically
panned movie at 15 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, but yet still opened to $18.7
million in April 2018. If reviews for “Smile” end up being positive, or at
least some degree of lukewarm, then the narrative could be even better. It’ll
get its first test prior to its wide release as it opens at Fantastic Fest on
September 22.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">For those not into horror or
otherwise not interested in checking out “Smile,” the other option in terms of
a new release is the romantic comedy <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Bros</u></i></b>. This is directed by
Nicholas Stoller, whose filmography varies from “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” to “Neighbors”
and “Storks.” So quite the variety there. The advertising is zeroing in on that
“Forgetting Sarah Marshall” rom-com connection, which is smart. The obvious
difference there is that this is a romantic comedy centering around two gay men,
one being a more “traditional” gay man who is a museum curator who falls in
love with a macho, “manly” gay man. So you have two guys on the opposite side
of the gay spectrum in a trailer and movie that seems to be trying to be as gay
as humanly possible. And I mean that in an objectively descriptive way, not in
any sort of derogatory sense. Now LGBTQ romance movies are far from a new thing
in Hollywood, but this movie still hopes to connect with that audience in a way
to bring them out for this. And if “Smile” tanks and burns, there is definitely
an avenue in which this over-performs and takes the weekend.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">There is also an avenue in
which both underperform and “Don’t Worry, Darling” ends up strong enough to
take a second weekend at No. 1. But of course, all of that will come down to
audience reaction to these movies that aren’t guaranteed for success. That
before “Halloween Ends” and “Black Adam” destroy everything in October. But
more on that in next month’s preview, which will hopefully come much earlier in
the month.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773339359099388172.post-51079690038713958752022-08-06T00:08:00.001-06:002022-08-06T00:08:51.553-06:00Movie Preview: August 2022<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhyWOfR-IkEn42fUkxTfyXZ7Xd2WduTKrxhl0_7aVvscosoxB_46mxBfMJuJCIgjW4OQEGOeyQszSGB0iLYGAkSg_kIEP43C3x8YczSqx3uU-Z-atH6s77_YIBlO8U48QOY9Ejud2t_uimXeqWA0WLdmVIyWB-gM7SyWh-INdspydzWVJPqG77AJusw/s1564/IMG_20220805_235912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1564" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhyWOfR-IkEn42fUkxTfyXZ7Xd2WduTKrxhl0_7aVvscosoxB_46mxBfMJuJCIgjW4OQEGOeyQszSGB0iLYGAkSg_kIEP43C3x8YczSqx3uU-Z-atH6s77_YIBlO8U48QOY9Ejud2t_uimXeqWA0WLdmVIyWB-gM7SyWh-INdspydzWVJPqG77AJusw/w400-h295/IMG_20220805_235912.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">There’s only one month left
of the 2022 summer season. And so far it’s been a refreshingly healthy summer
season, seeing a total of five different movies cross the $300 million mark at
the domestic box office, with “Top Gun: Maverick” being the clear winner at
$650 million and counting, good enough for one of the top 10 domestic
performances of all time. A pair of Marvel behemoths, a Minions movie, and the
theoretical conclusion of the Jurassic franchise filling out the rest of those
five, with “Doctor Strange” being the lone of the final four to cross the $400
million mark at this point.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not everything was a massive
success. “Lightyear” and “DC League of Super Pets” failed to take flight, but “Elvis,”
“The Black Phone” and “Nope” were among a decent crop of moderate successes to
help stabilize things. Do we have at least one more success story waiting in
the wings for August? Well, it’s a possibility. But the forecast seems to lean
on the side of it being a quieter, cool down month, which is often par for the
course when it comes to August. Nevertheless, let’s take a look at which movies
will be vying for your time before fall season hits.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As always, release date
information for this post is courtesy of the-numbers.com and boxofficepro.com.
The movies listed are the ones currently scheduled for a wide theatrical
release in the United States and Canada and are always subject to change.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">August 5 – 7</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRtTRuEd72YC72FFrnomcA8i3aK6BaVvSfvh6B2Cx2yc8GH18-JWdCNI7z_8u3ENOVwxYR2fFsoD_s2MIGetjGFEAeb9BD4SFpMt2wZuI-TB8mNW1g-IDgNbBeQcy4Dj60Z2RJ5p1rODUcsyn9djgUeoP5dP78RWFiezCtfSjtp4VmEdIYo6oQKI-4aA/s719/bullet-train-brad-pitt.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="719" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRtTRuEd72YC72FFrnomcA8i3aK6BaVvSfvh6B2Cx2yc8GH18-JWdCNI7z_8u3ENOVwxYR2fFsoD_s2MIGetjGFEAeb9BD4SFpMt2wZuI-TB8mNW1g-IDgNbBeQcy4Dj60Z2RJ5p1rODUcsyn9djgUeoP5dP78RWFiezCtfSjtp4VmEdIYo6oQKI-4aA/s320/bullet-train-brad-pitt.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sony Pictures' "Bullet Train"</td></tr></tbody></table>The biggest attempt at a late
summer hit comes right in the first weekend with David Leitch’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Bullet
Train</u></i></b>. This is a movie that is officially based on the 2010
Japanese novel “MariaBeetle,” translated in English to “Bullet Train,” although
it’s possible most seeing this won’t be aware they’re watching an adaptation.
The movie will probably play out like an original action film starring Brad
Pitt as an assassin fighting enemies while riding a Japanese bullet train. The
movie has been fairly buzzy in the weeks and months since the trailer has been
released and definitely has the potential of being a crowd-pleasing late summer
action flick. Director David Leitch was one half of the directing duo of the
original John Wick, who has gone on to direct the likes of “Atomic Blonde,” “Hobbs
& Shaw,” and “Deadpool 2,” while his partner in crime, Chad Stahelski, has continued
to direct the remaining John Wick movies.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Financially this is tracking
to open around $30 million, which is about where I would’ve expected. That’s
actually right about in line with last August’s “Free Guy,” which opened to
$28.4 million, on its way to a very leggy $121.6 million. An easy comparison
that I would’ve pointed to is Leitch’s last non-franchise film, “Atomic Blonde,”
which opened to $18.3 million, finishing with $51.6 million domestically in
summer 2017. Later that same summer, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” opened to a
similar $21.4 million, but was a bit more leggier, finishing with $75.5
million. If “Bullet Train” does hit the expected $30 million this week and has
a similar multiplier as “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” it has a chance to sneak past
the $100 million mark, especially with almost no competition from the rest of
the month. A mixed reaction from critics is a bit concerning (54% on Rotten
Tomatoes), but the audiences seem to be a lot more forgiving (81 percent),
which was also the exact case with “The Hitman’s Bodyguard.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There is a movie competing in
wide release with “Bullet Train” this weekend, although the early weekend
numbers suggest it isn’t a very competitive competition. That movie is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Easter
Sunday</u></i></b>. The movie is a comedy starring comedian Jo Koy and is
described as a movie that’s based around a family gathering to celebrate Easter
Sunday, based on Jo Koy’s life experiences and stand-up comedy. Jo Koy is a
Filipino American, so in theory that might be able to attract a bit more of an
international audience, especially with the movie’s Filipino supporting cast,
but early tracking on the weekend suggest awareness just isn’t that high and it
might struggle to land a spot in the top 10 with an opening of $5 million or
less. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">August 12 – 14</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2oj9euZ95mUiqkSMMC14TaVzov1L0-lN_FZO7xkAXnIkUVmWx6UPpsebNkRmZwJ8JVgZ1sd6KRLj1FUjxyZnO9Mf8zaUW5_x5jugUggJTiCLju5MqlYqktj_TtXKQOj7JtEAsjfqVkzEyvoBnEICycP09yy2YL0jrkvH0N0_uAE5gbk35seJqHZMCLw/s1440/x1080.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2oj9euZ95mUiqkSMMC14TaVzov1L0-lN_FZO7xkAXnIkUVmWx6UPpsebNkRmZwJ8JVgZ1sd6KRLj1FUjxyZnO9Mf8zaUW5_x5jugUggJTiCLju5MqlYqktj_TtXKQOj7JtEAsjfqVkzEyvoBnEICycP09yy2YL0jrkvH0N0_uAE5gbk35seJqHZMCLw/s320/x1080.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gravitas Ventures' "Mack & Rita"</td></tr></tbody></table>The second weekend of August
is about where things start to slow down. Although in terms of quantity, there’s
a trio of movies throwing themselves in the market, hoping for a spot in the
top 10. Whether or not any of them have breakout potential is a different
story, but they’ll at least be options. The first of these is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Mack
& Rita</u></i></b>, which is a body swap drama of sorts. Except instead of
swapping bodies with someone else, a 30-year-old writer named Mack goes on a
trip to Palm Springs and magically wakes up as her 70-year-old self. In the
niche film community, this movie has a bit of a stacked cast. Outside four time
Oscar nominee (and winner for “Annie Hall”) Diane Keaton, the movie also stars
Taylour Paige from “Zola” and Simon Rex from “Red Rocket,” two highly praised
movies from last year. Elizabeth Lail from Netflix’s “You” also plays as the
younger version of Mack. So the movie has enough going for it on paper. The
battle will be getting noticed by general audiences. Reviews will also be
critical here.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Movie No. 2 of the weekend
will go from the comedy side to the thriller side with Lionsgate’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Fall</u></i></b>.
Perhaps a bit of a basic and generic title, it’s fairly descriptive, too, as it’s
about two friends who climb up the top of a 2,000 foot radio tower, but get
stuck up there when the ladder down falls and leaves them stranded. The rather
plot-detailed trailer depicts one of the friends having gone through heavy
trauma when her partner fell to his death when they were on a climb. This climb
up the radio tower has her friend finally convincing her to go climbing again.
And of course this is what the result is. The challenge here is that both the
director and the cast are fairly lesser known, comparatively, so it’s the
premise itself that will be the draw. And again, awareness be the key there.
The trailer does reference it being from the studio that did “47 Meters Down.”
While connected by studio alone, that movie opened to $11 million in August
2017 and was leggy enough to warrant a sequel, which opened to $8 million.
Matching either of those numbers might satisfy Lionsgate here, but that might
not be a guarantee.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On the expansion from,
perhaps the buzziest film of this weekend is the A24 horror <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Bodies
Bodies Bodies</u></i></b>. This is currently experiencing a limited run in
theaters, opening on August 5. It also played at the South by Southwest Film
Festival back in March, so it has buzz from there. A24 has it as a planned
expansion on this weekend, although exactly how wide is a question. It might be
more of a moderate wide release in 1,000 or so theaters. Or it could be like “Men,”
A24’s latest horror from this May, which opened in 2,212 theaters, making $3.2
million. Either way, A24 is the brand here and they are a studio that has a
history of releasing more unconventional indie horror films that hit well with
critics and movie buffs, but confuse general horror audiences. With a 91
percent critics score, “Bodies Bodies Bodies” seems well poised to follow in
that trend. The movie is actually more of a horror comedy, meant as a satire or
a social commentary, surrounding a group of people in their 20s at a party at a
remote family mansion that goes horribly wrong. Critics describe it as a smart
and uncommonly well-written whodunit. What audiences say is to be determined,
but at the very least this should attract those who are fans of the more
unconventional, A24-style horror film.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And finally, the last movie
hitting theaters is one of the most well-known and successful movies of
all-time, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial</u></i></b>. Fun fact, “E.T.” has
accumulated a domestic total of $435.1 million, $359 million of that coming in
its initial run, which ran from June 1982 to June 1983. Yes, it last a whole
year in theaters, opening to just $11.9 million. While that was still solid for
1982 dollars, its story was how long it lasted at the time. In that initial
run, it was No. 1 at the box office for 16 non-consecutive weeks and was in the
top 5 for its first 27 weeks. It was released again in 1985 and 2002, which
added to its $435.1 million total. Because of that, adjusted for ticket price
inflation, it is the fourth-highest grossing movie of all-time, according to Box
Office Mojo’s tracking, behind only “Gone with the Wind,” “Star Wars” and “The
Sound of Music.” Unadjusted it’s still the 25th highest grossing movie at the
domestic box office. At some point in 1983, it became the highest grossing
movie of all time, surpassing “Star Wars.” It held that record for 14 years…
when “Star Wars” took it back after they released the Special Edition in 1997. “Star
Wars” held that record for another year or so until “Titanic” passed it.
Anyways, the 2022 release of “E.T.” will be in IMAX theaters, something that
might become a bit of a trend as “Jaws” gets an IMAX release around Labor Day.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">August 19 – 21</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSiVbMUMaLSwRqDXYKG4bRJl7OTa9KiwF8qQlAorbfyfCBtmg08T-Ac9Qn6U6p5vqV8gHjPM-FhbityG-vX1FyO0EzCaWadDJmyjRzCiAFHyjBBPKSm-HPRx8yCw1MviKw1g650G_AZit3Al6pjEDNJxmz_4yFPVxa3TtFrE4ohxT6mf9VoBbsNjWduw/s933/beast-idris-elba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="933" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSiVbMUMaLSwRqDXYKG4bRJl7OTa9KiwF8qQlAorbfyfCBtmg08T-Ac9Qn6U6p5vqV8gHjPM-FhbityG-vX1FyO0EzCaWadDJmyjRzCiAFHyjBBPKSm-HPRx8yCw1MviKw1g650G_AZit3Al6pjEDNJxmz_4yFPVxa3TtFrE4ohxT6mf9VoBbsNjWduw/s320/beast-idris-elba.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Universal's "Beast"</td></tr></tbody></table>After a somewhat busy second
weekend of August, at least in terms of the number of releases, the third
weekend adds two new titles. And if nothing hits, it shouldn’t be too terribly
hard for one of these two to actually hit No. 1. Unless “Bullet Train” does
just well enough to cruise at the top for the whole month, which is a realistic
possibility.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyways, of the two new
titles, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Beast</u></i></b> seems most likely to perform the best. This is a
lion-centric horror movie where a father played Idris Elba takes his family on
a vacation to a game reserve, where they start getting hunted by a very angry,
man-eating lion. Based on the trailers, I’m not sure if this is a
demonically-possessed lion or if it’s even an extra-large male lion, but either
way it’s not a very happy creature and Idris Elba and his family are in a lot
of trouble. Outside the obvious comparison to the 10,000 killer shark movies
out there, the 2019 film “Crawl” comes to mind. That was a movie about a man
and his daughter getting hunted by alligators in their house during a hurricane.
That opened to $12 million in July 2019. As referenced above, “47 Meters Down”
opened to $11 million in August 2017. That’s about the predicted range for “Beast.”
Based on the fact that the trailer has 30 million views and Universal seems to
be pushing it pretty hard, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this one over-perform,
but $10-15 million seems to be at least where it’ll hit. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If there’s a competitor for
the top spot, I definitely wouldn’t count out <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero</u></i></b>.
Anime like this has actually had a growing audience of late and there’s been
several instances where an anime film from a popular anime franchise comes
almost out of nowhere to vastly over-perform at the domestic box office, not to
mention many doing incredibly well overseas. And “Dragon Ball” is an anime
franchise that’s been extremely popular dating way back to the 80s. The
original manga was published in 1984 and has spawned several different anime
series over the years, from “Dragon Ball” from 1986 to 1989, to “Dragon Ball Z”
from 1989 to 1996, to “Dragon Ball GT” from 1996 to 1997, to “Dragon Ball Super”
from 2015 to 2018. And maybe more that I’m missing. Anyways, after “Dragon Ball
Super” ended, a sequel movie came out, “Dragon Ball Super: Broly,” which opened
to $9.8 million domestically in January 2019 from just 1,247 theaters. It would
make sense for “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero” to match that and possibly
exceed, which puts it right in the range of where “Beast” is expected to open.
And like “Beast,” I wouldn’t be surprised if this over-performs.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">August 26 – 28</i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi40k7jj7y79r2ScfWaV8wKSIN3x7KiX8P-95XTPbu4PL0tQPJLAvbgxZnxdzSSqGQWiizPlTen8kVyeVFl3jzuC2d0hc-NA-Nyxtrd62n_rgzAfrBYoMMfA0ViERnLAVe8KYR5Hmqv9R4_DuU_npVq9nZsqGPZi4f_XE0duoBcSNcCxqWN-Vz1kI8QMw/s1333/ne-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi40k7jj7y79r2ScfWaV8wKSIN3x7KiX8P-95XTPbu4PL0tQPJLAvbgxZnxdzSSqGQWiizPlTen8kVyeVFl3jzuC2d0hc-NA-Nyxtrd62n_rgzAfrBYoMMfA0ViERnLAVe8KYR5Hmqv9R4_DuU_npVq9nZsqGPZi4f_XE0duoBcSNcCxqWN-Vz1kI8QMw/s320/ne-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sony Pictures' "The Invitation"</td></tr></tbody></table>The final weekend of August
almost always seems to be a black hole. That and Labor Day weekend have
historically been very bad that Hollywood usually avoids. That trend was broken
by “Shang-Chi” last year, which proved that this time of year can be lucrative,
if some studio at Hollywood decides to take a rise. This Labor Day will be
interesting as it sees the re-release of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,”
specifically the extended “More Fun Stuff” version, but we’ll get to that next
month.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This final weekend of August
does not have any sort of superhero movie getting released, but rather one
final late-August horror film, this one titled <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Invitation</u></i></b>. If
you watch the trailer for this movie, it’ll seem like you’ve watched the whole
movie. In which case you’ll learn that it’s about a girl who gets invited by
some mysterious family she didn’t know of to a fancy wedding in England. And,
because this is a horror film, this goes from Jane Austin feel to some sort of
supernatural presence or cult of sorts where this whole mysterious new family
is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs - and potentially all vampires - and our main girl has to fight them all off. This
does give off a vibe of a “Ready or Not” from August 2019, which was a late
August surprise in terms of audience reception. If “The Invitation” ends up
with similar reception, it wouldn’t be too hard to match the $8 million of “Ready
or Not” or even exceed that. On the flip side, if it’s a poor received horror,
it might end up dead on arrival. That said, at this point it’ll probably only
take $10 million to win the weekend, so that’s a pretty low bar that could be
met.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That’s it for this weekend.
Only one new wide release. Of note, the newest George Miller movie, “Three
Thousand Years of Longing,” a movie about a woman who falls in love with a Genie
she finds, starring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton, does get released in August.
The very final day – August 31, which is a Wednesday. But its official opening
weekend will be a part of Labor Day weekend, so I’ll cover it more there, in
next month’s preview.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Adam Drogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158569449743033878noreply@blogger.com0