Movie Preview: August 2022

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.

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.

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.

August 5 – 7

Sony Pictures' "Bullet Train"

The biggest attempt at a late summer hit comes right in the first weekend with David Leitch’s Bullet Train. 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.

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.”

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 Easter Sunday. 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.  

August 12 – 14

Gravitas Ventures' "Mack & Rita"

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 Mack & Rita, 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.

Movie No. 2 of the weekend will go from the comedy side to the thriller side with Lionsgate’s Fall. 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.

On the expansion from, perhaps the buzziest film of this weekend is the A24 horror Bodies Bodies Bodies. 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.

And finally, the last movie hitting theaters is one of the most well-known and successful movies of all-time, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. 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.

August 19 – 21

Universal's "Beast"

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.

Anyways, of the two new titles, Beast 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.  

If there’s a competitor for the top spot, I definitely wouldn’t count out Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. 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.

August 26 – 28

Sony Pictures' "The Invitation"

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.

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 The Invitation. 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.

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.

Movie Preview: July 2022

We’re halfway through summer of 2022 and the box office has been absolutely on fire. Sure, the landscape of the whole world will be changed forever and some things will never go back to being the quite the same again, but numbers and attendance so far have been on par with pre-COVID levels of summer fury. Already we’ve had two movies in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Top Gun: Maverick” top $400 million domestically, with “Jurassic World: Dominion” inching its way towards that mark. Having three $400 million films would be impressive for any summer movie season, pandemic or not. Can we add more to that list? Again, summer is only halfway done and this July suggests that we’re not slowing down quite yet. How many massive event films can be stuffed into one summer? A lot, apparently. Let’s dive in and look at the options that July has in store.

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 release in the United States and Canada and are subject to change.

July 1 – 4

Universal's "Minions: The Rise of Gru"

Starting us off with a bang this month is the return of the crazy, little yellow guys that parents hate and children love. That’s Minions: The Rise of Gru. This is a movie that effectively serves both as a sequel to 2015’s “Minions” and a prequel to 2010’s “Despicable Me” as it connects the dots between the two in bringing in a young Gru, with Steve Carell returning to voice Gru. Now if you’re rolling your eyes and wondering why we’re getting a sequel to “Minions,” this one is an absolute no-brainer. Sure, in some circles that “Minions” movie was burned to a crisp and called one of the worst movies to ever exist. But guess what? Your 5-year-old doesn’t care about opinions of the grumpy critics and film Twitter members who’ve become keyboard warriors in trashing the little yellow guys. Point in case, did you know that “Minions,” when it came out, became the second highest grossing animated movie ever at the worldwide box office behind only “Frozen”? Currently it still stands at No. 4 on that list as only “Frozen 2” and “Incredibles 2” have passed it. Again, your 5-year-old doesn’t care about internet opinions.

The honest question going into the weekend was the state of the economy. As mentioned, the theatrical business is doing great. But most of the movies doing well have been mostly targeted at adult males, who have been the quickest audience to rush back to theaters. Is it possible that the family audiences are the ones that are less likely to rush back because parents are paying tickets for the entire family instead of a ticket just for themselves? And could that be one of the reasons why “Lightyear” failed in June despite everything around it succeeding? While that is certainly still a potential factor, coming out of the weekend the answer seems to be that “Lightyear” problems are specific to that movie alone and not the entire target audience. “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” as of me typing this, has an estimated weekend 3-day opening of $108 million and a 4-day opening of nearly $130 million, making it the fourth $100 million opener of the summer. Potential questions of franchise fatigue or the fact that it’s been five years since the last entry in the franchise and seven years since the previous “Minions” movie also seemed to have not been as big of an issue as potentially thought.

Sneaking into a moderately wide release this weekend was Bleeker Street’s Mr. Malcolm’s List. Its theater count was 1,384 theaters and the weekend estimates have it down in seventh place with $851,853. The math on that is $616 per theater, which is not particularly good. Despite not getting a whole lot of attention, the story behind this is fascinating. In 2009, author Suzanne Allain self-published her novel, “Mr. Malcom’s List,” and adapted it into a screenplay. It was discovered by filmmaker Emma Holly James in 2015 and a short film was made first. Following the success of the short film, the green light was officially given for this feature-length film and the novel was published in 2020 by Berkley Press. The book and movie itself is a PG-rated period piece about a young woman in 1800s England helping a friend get revenge on a suitor who rejected her. Given the soft opening for the movie, it’s conceivable that this hits streaming or VOD of some sort before too terribly long.

July 8 – 10

Marvel’s "Thor: Love and Thunder"

Two movies in two weekends both opening above $100 million start July off, after the busy May and June we’ve already had? Almost certainly. Because this weekend has the second MCU opening of the year with Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder. Back in 2017, Waititi pulled off an impressive feat with “Thor: Ragnarok,” completely resurrecting the character of Thor and his franchise following the first two entries that are, generally speaking, among the lesser received movies of the MCU. Not as many people cared about Thor in comparison to the likes of Iron Man and Captain America. But “Ragnarok” instantly changed that as the movie is still considered as one of the MCU’s best and made Thor an A-lister hero. Add in two more Avengers movies after “Ragnarok,” that of course being “Infinity War” and “Endgame,” and in an interesting turn of events Thor has now outlasted most of the OG Avengers in the MCU, becoming the first sub-franchise in the MCU to get a fourth film. Thor’s journey in “Love and Thunder” sees him relaxing and enjoying his “retirement” from being a superhero after we last left off in “Endgame” with him going off with the Guardians of the Galaxy, who will make an appearance here in at least the first act of the movie. But his conflict here will see him face Gorr the God Butcher, played by Christian Bale, while teaming up with ex-girlfriend Jane Foster who is now the “Female Thor” counterpart, with Natalie Portman returning to her role.

Financially speaking, after the first two Thor movies opened to $65.7 million and $85.7 million, “Ragnarok” was given a huge boost to a $122.7 million opening following the insane hype from the trailers that led to very positive word of mouth, a surprise that many didn’t see coming. It finished with $315 million domestically and $850 million worldwide, all numbers that “Love and Thunder” should be able to comfortable hit. MCU fatigue and a slew of huge movies already this summer could theoretically hinder the movie a bit. But the idea that people are getting tired of the MCU has yet to reflect in the actual box office totals. “Love and Thunder” isn’t expected to hit the numbers of the previous two MCU films, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” both of which had event level hype behind them, but it’ll probably hit somewhere between the opening of “Ragnarok” and the $187.4 million opening of “Multiverse of Madness.” Box Office Pro has it projected between $140-160 million currently, which would put it slightly ahead of March’s “The Batman,” which opened with $134 million.  

July 15 – 17

Sony Pictures' "Where the Crawdads Sing"

After two straight weekends in July with huge openings, the third weekend of July will be a bit of a cool-down weekend, which is par for the course following a big MCU release. However, there are three movies this weekend that will be throwing themselves into the race, hoping to land somewhere in the top 10 or top 5. Current tracking has Where the Crawdads Sing leading the pack. This is based on a book that has become a bit of a phenomenon in the last few years. It was published in 2018 and has already sold 12 million copies by January 2022. It was written by Delia Owens and is a mystery/thriller novel following two timelines, the first being a young girl named Kya growing up in the marshes of North Carolina and the second being a murder investigation of a local celebrity. The setting is that of the 1950s and 60s. The movie is being directed by Olivia Newman and stars Daisy Edgar-Jones in the lead role as the Marsh Girl. The current long-range forecast from Box Office Pro pegs it at $17-26 million for its opening, which would put it in line with June’s “The Black Phone,” which opened to a healthy $23.6 million.

The next movie of the weekend is another animated film, although this one being a smaller animated film called Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank. This is a cat and dog movie universe with a premise surrounding beagle named Hank who is being trained to be a samurai by a cat mentor named Jimbo so that he can beat the evil giant cat, Ika Chu, who is trying to destroy their village. If it feels like a low budget version of something like “Kung Fu Panda,” that might be accurate, although the initial idea was for it to be loosely based on Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles” from 1974. It was even called “Blazing Samurai” at one point. This is an animated movie that has actually been stuck in Production Hell for quite some time, potentially as early as 2010. It’s passed through several hands and has had quite the evolution. Its initial release date was April 2017 by Open Roads and its long journey has landed it with Paramount Animation, stuck between two major animated movies on the July schedule where it will probably get mostly ignored. An opening around $10 million is the expectation.

The third movie of the weekend is Focus Features’ Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. Although scheduled as a wide release, this might be closer to a moderate release like “Mr. Malcom’s List.” Also like that movie, this is a historical drama following a British woman. The setting is a century later in the 1950s, so perhaps not a period piece for this one, but it does have a comedic undertone as a widowed cleaning lady embarks on a journey to Paris after becoming obsessed with a Dior dress. This is based on a novel from 1958 called “Mrs. ‘Arris Goes to Paris” that had three subsequent sequels with Mrs. Harris going to New York, Parliament, and Moscow. In the U.K., it was published as “Flowers for Mrs. Harris.”

July 22 – 24

Universal's "Nope"

Not many filmmakers in today’s market can sell a movie simply by their name alone. But Jordan Peele has quickly become one of them following “Get Out” and “Us.” Really, though, he did that after his first movie, “Get Out,” became a phenomenal sensation in 2017. And now he has his next movie, Nope, coming out this weekend, getting the entire weekend to itself in regards to new releases. The premise of “Nope” has even been mostly shrouded in mystery. It’s quite simply been advertised as “Jordan Peele’s next movie” and has gotten serious hype with that alone. That said, this is a horror film, of course, and the general theory is that it has something to do with aliens and thus might dive into the sci-fi horror realm. Even with that basic knowledge, the trailers themselves have been also extremely vague and the idea is that there’s a lot that Jordan Peele has up his sleeve with this one that audiences are excited to figure out. After “Get Out” was a sensation, “Us” fed off of that to an opening of $71.1 million, the highest opening weekend ever for a horror film not based off any IP. “Nope” is expected to at least come close to that with an opening in the range of $50-70 million.

July 29 – 31

Warner Bros.' "DC League of Super Pets"

The month of July will close with another big animated movie, DC League of Super Pets. While maybe not expected to open nearly as big as “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” this one definitely has breakout potential with a lot of crossover audience as this is not just a fun family film targeted at kids, but this is also a DC film that will at least have comic book fans curious. The stars of the show are the pets of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Green Lantern, who themselves also have super powers. And yes, these pets are canonical to the DC comics. In addition to the comic book realm, these pets are voiced by the likes of Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart and Kate McKinnon. The movie also has John Krasinski as the voice of Superman and Keanu Reeves as the voice of Batman in limited roles. So yeah, there’s a lot of ammunition here, especially given that Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart have led quite the number of surprise hits. In regards to an animated movie about pets having a… secret life, I am reminded of the huge breakout hit that was “The Secret Life of Pets.” So don’t underestimate the potential of an animated movie about pets, even if it doesn’t hit as high as that one.

While there are a lot of pros here, there are also plenty of potential cons. While this summer has been very consistent in delivering big hits, even in pre-COVID times it was very common for some movies to fail because there are too many of them. While there will be four weeks in between “Minions” and “Super Pets,” it’s possible that “Minions” is simply the movie choice for family audiences this summer. Even though these characters are based off of comics, this is the beginning of a new attempted franchise. Especially in the realm of animation, animated sequels often play much better than original animated films. And we also have the fact that Warner Animation Group, which this is from, doesn’t have as successful of a history as the likes of Pixar, Disney, and Illumination. Not counting their COVID releases, their previous six animated movies have averaged an opening of $36.8 million. This should beat the average, but a $40-60 million opening might be a better expectation rather than matching “Minions” or “The Secret Life of Pets” in opening above $100 million.

Officially finishing off this post is another Focus Features release called Vengeance. Like Focus’s other release from this month, “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” this is likely a moderate release. That’s generally their strategy. Judging based off of the trailer, this is appears to be a blend of genres as a comedic western of sorts set in modern Texas where a podcaster and a journalist goes to Texas to investigate a murder of a girl that he once hooked up with. This is written and directed by B.J. Novak, who played Ryan Howard in “The Office,” in his feature-length directorial debut. He’s directed a handful of TV episodes, including five episodes of “The Office,” but this will be his first movie. Novak also stars as the lead role and is joined by the likes of Ashton Kutcher, Dove Cameron, Boyd Holbrook, and Issa Rae. As an alternative option to some of the bigger blockbuster affair, this could gain some traction if word of mouth ends up being solid, but it’s not likely to have a huge opening.

Movie Preview: February 2022

It’s been a busy week for this blog as I just posted my big year-end lists of my favorite movies of the year and my yearly preview of the upcoming year. But because I was a tad bit late on those than usual, we immediately turn our attention to the second month of the year. January went about as expected. Essentially there was just one new movie that made any noise and that was the reboot/sequel “Scream,” the fifth movie in the franchise that did rather well for itself with a $30 million debut, which was about double that of what I was expecting. Outside that, “The 355,” “Redeeming Love,” and “The King’s Daughter” all opened with less than $5 million, paving the way for “Spider-Man: No Way Home” to continue to dominate. Its current total of $740 million domestically is just around $20 million shy of the $760.5 million domestic total of “Avatar,” which will make it third on the domestic charts if it manages to pass that mark.

Onto February. “Spider-Man” will finally be dethroned for good (“Scream” reigned for a week, but then “Spider-Man” took the weekend title right back for the final two weeks). Winter storms are brewing. A Super Bowl match will take place that always impacts the box office. But we do have Valentine’s Day and President’s Day. And February has proven its worth in the recent past as a month that can have mega releases. See the likes of “Black Panther” or “Deadpool” for an example. But are there any on the calendar this year with potential or will the box office world stand still while the world waits for “The Batman” in March?

As always, release date information for this post is courtesy of the-numbers.com and boxofficepro.com. The movies listed are the movies currently scheduled to open in wide release domestically, so the United States and Canada, yet are always subject to change.

February 4 – 6

Paramount's "Jackass Forever"

Normally the first weekend of February is Super Bowl weekend. But not this year. The NFL added an extra week onto its schedule, which pushes Super Bowl weekend to the second weekend of February. We’ll get into the implications of that here in a second, but what it means for this weekend is a brief opening where both wide releases are targeting a male audience while the NFL is essentially on a bye week.

Hoping to take clear advantage of that is Jackass Forever, the fourth movie in the Jackass franchise, full of dangerous pranks, stunts, and a team of people putting themselves in harm’s way to get some laughs out of people. This team of people, led by Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, and others, has been doing this shtick for quite some time now. They started in 2000 with a TV show and have since done three movies and a spin-off and thus carry a built-in audience that has been quite reliable in the past. In fact, their first two movies in the early 2000s both opened in the 20 million range. The third movie in 2010 opened to $50.4 million and even the “Bad Grandpa” spin-off in 2013 surprised with a $32 million opening. So there seems to be a pretty solid floor for this movie. And given the low production costs of making these, the bar for success is quite low, in terms of making an official profit.

Perhaps the major obstacle for this franchise is that it’s been 12 years since that last movie in the main saga and nine years since the “Bad Grandpa” spin-off. And while video sharing platforms obviously existed when those movies were released, the popularity has skyrocketed since in the past decade. While the main core of the audience is likely to show up, it might be hard for the movie to attract much of a new young audience who has access to these types of videos for free on the likes of YouTube and TikTok. There have also been huge winter storms this weekend that could be impacting box office totals to at least some degree. “Jackass Forever” opened with an estimated $9.6 million on Friday, meaning its heading towards a weekend around $20-25 million, generally in line with expectations.

The other movie looking to target the male audience this weekend is the new Roland Emmerich disaster movie Moonfall. The premise of this movie surrounds a potentially apocalyptic disaster with the moon falling out of orbit and on a crash course towards Earth. A team of scientists has to figure out what’s going on and what they can do to save the world. In other words, a typical Roland Emmerich disaster movie. 20-25 years ago this is the type of movie that would be the movie event of the year. In 1996, “Independence Day” was the top movie of the year. Even in the years since then, Emmerich has scored huge six of his movies spanning three decades making over $100 million total at the domestic box office. The issue is that his reputation as filmmaker who makes quality films is a bit in question, especially as of late. Not helping his cause is the general lack of desire for these type of world-ending disaster movies.

Going into the weekend, the comparison for “Moonfall” was to the 2017 movie “Geostorm,” which opened with $13.7 million in its opening weekend. But “Moonfall” is looking to even fall short of that. Its estimated opening day total was $3.4 million, which means it could struggle to crack the $10 million mark. For comparison, “Geostorm” earned $5.9 million on its opening day on its way to that $13.7 million. This will be Emmerich’s worst opening weekend of his career for a movie that opened in at least 3,000 theaters. Lack of awareness, lack of a desire to see the movie, plus a wave of negative reviews is the cause of this.

February 11 – 13

20th Century Studios' "Death on the Nile"

The second weekend of February is an extremely unique weekend as Super Bowl meets Valentine’s Day. As mentioned above, the Super Bowl in the past has been the first Sunday of February, but due to the NFL adding another week the Super Bowl is now on the second Sunday of February. Why that has relevance to the movie world is that the Super Bowl is so popular that it completely axes the Sunday box office for that weekend, which means everything opening this weekend only has a two-day weekend. What makes it weird is that Valentine’s Day weekend often is quite the popular movie weekend. With Valentine’s Day on Monday, a date night movie trip for the weekend before will be in the cards for many. Does that mean this will be an extra big Friday and Saturday combined with an extra small Sunday?

The other question here becomes was Disney aware of this when they committed to this weekend for Death on the Nile? This is the follow-up to the 2017 movie “Murder on the Orient Express,” both of which are adaptations of the Agatha Christie series of mystery novels involving fictional detective Hercule Poirot. The character first appeared in “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” in 1920 and was continued appear in Christie novels and short stories until “Curtain” in 1975. This recent film series involving the character is portrayed by Kenneth Branagh, who has also directed both movies as well. This is good timing for Branagh as he’ll be coming off of many academy award nominations for “Belfast,” but is it good timing for this particular weekend?

“Death on the Nile” has been one of the COVID victims. It was initially scheduled for 2019 until Disney pushed it into 2020, a horrible decision in hindsight that they obviously couldn’t have predicted. Its final rescheduling came in March of 2021, when Disney pushed it to this date, which was probably before Disney knew that this would be Super Bowl weekend. So it’s possible Disney just wants to get this one out of the way. Its predecessor opened to $28.7 and wound up pretty leggy, finishing with $102.8 million domestically. The Super Bowl weekend record is $31.1 million, set way back in 2008 with the Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus concert movie. Only seven movies total have opened above $20 million. But again, we’re currently in uncharted territory with Valentine’s Weekend colliding with it.

Although speaking of Valentine’s Day, the movie that actually seems well positioned in the romance drama of the month in Marry Me. Jennifer Lopez plays one half of a superstar, celebrity couple. When things go awry between her and her partner, she decides to propose mid-concert to a nobody in the audience she has never met, played by Owen Wilson. Whether or not Owen Wilson can successfully pull off a “nobody” is probably irrelevant to the target audience here. A romance drama starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson could be perfect for Valentine’s Day. And what potentially puts it in better position is that the movies that have done well on Super Bowl weekend are the movies targeted at female audiences. Of the seven movies mentioned in the previous paragraph, most of them have been romance movies. So if things go south for “Death on the Nile,” and “Marry Me” does connect with its target audience, this could be potential upset territory here.

The third movie of the weekend that seems to be in the worst position is the latest Liam Neeson action flick Blacklight. Now outside the obvious here of trying to sell an action movie to a male target audience on the Super Bowl, the big challenge here is that these Liam Neeson action are becoming a dime a dozen. Even pre-COVID, “Cold Pursuit” and “The Commuter” opened to $11 million and $13.7 million respectively. But recently “The Marksman” and “Honest Thief” both opened just above $3 million. Now while that was during COVID and thus not the most apple-to-apples comparison, it nevertheless wouldn’t be surprising to see this movie fall in that range. Awareness seems low. Interest doesn’t seem to be there. And the weekend is a horrible one. Last month’s “The 355” opened to $4.6 million, which seems like a good range and thus means this might open around those latest two Liam Neeson, anyways. Even with a lot more theaters opened at this current time.

February 18 – 20

Sony Pictures' "Uncharted"

The third weekend of February is a lot more positively positioned. No Super Bowl to deal with and a four-day holiday weekend with Presidents’ Day on Monday. If any of the previous weekend’s movies get good reviews that could lead to excellent holdover business. On top of that, the new movie hoping to take full advantage of the holiday weekend is the long-awaited film adaptation of Uncharted. Theoretically speaking, this is a movie that’s in excellent position with the weekend at hand plus the presence of Tom Holland, fresh off the enormous success of the latest Spider-Man movie. That’s destined to sell a few extra tickets at the least. “Uncharted” is based off the video game series that began in 2007 and has spawned several sequel games since. Tom Holland will be playing the lead role of Nathan Drake in the action/adventure movie with Mark Wahlberg in line as his co-star. The obvious hurdle is the abysmal track record of video game movie adaptations. If this is yet another poorly reviewed video game adaptation, some might choose to stay away, so the reaction to this one will be key.

Sliding in right along with “Uncharted” will be the Channing Tatum drama Dog. Simple title for probably a simple movie. Channing Tatum plays a former Army Ranger who is paired against his will with this Army dog. Things seem like chaos at first, but because dog is man’s best friend, the two end up getting along and becoming close partners. Seems like a feel-good drama that has potential to become an underrated sleeper hit. I’m reminded of the 2015 movie “Max,” another movie about a military dog and his new human partner. That movie opened to $12.2 million and legged out to $42.7 million domestically. This isn’t going to win the weekend, but it could provide solid counterprogramming, especially if “Uncharted” ends up with poor reviews and this movie gets good reviews.

The final movie of the weekend is a movie that may or may not be actually coming out. It’s listed as being on the schedule, but it might be one of those movies that ends up in just a few hundred theaters. That movie is the horror film The Cursed. This was actually a 2021 Sundance film, but it didn’t get much attention and the reaction was fairly middling. The movie surrounds a supernatural threat in 1800s France and a pathologist that comes to investigate. The biggest concern to me in regards to box office potential is that it doesn’t seem to be getting much of a marketing push. The trailer just barely came out 10 days ago and I’ve not seen it anywhere. Compare that to “Uncharted” and “Dog,” both of which have been heavily pushed over the last several months. If this does come out, it seems to be the type of movie that will be fighting for a spot in the top 10 rather than one people pay attention to.

February 25 – 27

United Artists' "Cyrano"

Speaking of movies that may or may not come out, it’s the boy that cried wolf at this point with Cyrano, a movie I’ve included in both my December and January movie previews. It’s a musical starring Peter Dinklage that has received enormously strong praise… from the small handful of people that have managed to see it. Screeners have been sent out and it had a brief Oscar-qualifying run in December, but United Artists has really botched its rollout. It should be a movie getting all the awards attention with multiple nominations, or at least in the conversation. But it’s probably going to get blanked because no is talking about it due to few people even having the opportunity to see it. Even if it does finally commit to this newest release date, it has another major problem. “The Batman” comes out in the first weekend of March. Which is why every other studio is smartly choosing to completely avoid this weekend.

Movies of 2022: The Good, the Bad, and the Maybe

Welcome to the year 2022! I am excited to once again be bringing back one of my favorite yearly segments, my big yearly movie preview. I didn’t do this last year because we still had no idea what was going to be coming out. And while COVID still exists and the release schedule remains fluid to a certain extent, 2021 was a positive year in regards to box office recovery that ended in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” earning $1.7 billion at the worldwide box office and counting. So I am confident enough in the state of the industry to once again do this post. Movies will come out and it’s time to preview them! Even if I’m wrong and the world ends again, I enjoyed looking back at my 2020 post for this and I wish I had done a 2021 post. So regardless of what happens, we’re doing this and I will be curious looking back on this to compare what came out and what was better or worse than what I was expecting.

If you’re new to this post for whatever reason, this is not an all-encompassing list of everything coming out, but I take a lot of the major highlights of what’s currently on my radar and separate them into three categories: “The Good,” “The Bad,” and “The Maybe,” with brief commentary on each. Yeah, this post is always long, but I organize it in a way that hopefully makes it fun for you to look through and get yourself excited or scared for what’s coming our way. The order here is by release date, so this isn’t a ranked list. And as always, let me know which movies you are most excited for. I’m curious to know what you think.

And since we are one month in, if you’re curious about January, check out my January preview that I did earlier in the month. Or just know that “Scream” was really the only highlight. I wasn’t excited for it, and I haven’t seen it just yet, but it got better than expected reviews. The other three releases, “The 355,” “The King’s Daughter,” and “Redeeming Love,” all got critically panned and barely made a dent at the box office. Typical January affair. And no, “Cyrano” did not come out. But the anime “Belle” got a wide expansion, so that’s another highlight. Anyways, now it’s on to the main event!

The Good:

Death on the Nile – February 11

One of those movies that was supposed to come out in 2020 and has seen about a thousand new release dates since. Blame COVID for all of that. But this is the sequel to “Murder on the Orient Express,” a movie that I really enjoyed. Both “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Death on the Nile” are based on Agatha Christie novels. Kenneth Branagh is back to direct and star and has a whole new cast of big names joining him, highlighted by Gal Gadot, Annette Benning, and Russell Brand. Not bad timing for Branagh, either, as he’s about to get showered with Oscar nominations for his movie “Belfast” right before this movie’s release.

The Batman – March 4

Need I really say anything about this? It’s Batman, for crying out loud. And I’m a long time DC fan. Matt Reeves, director of the new Planet of the Apes trilogy, is in charge, with Robert Pattinson as Batman, an absolutely fantastic choice. If you’re still whining about “Twilight,” get yourself out of 2008 and enter 2022. Both Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are two of the industry’s best actors. And “The Batman” looks like it’s a dark, psychological thriller in the vein of “Se7en,” but with Batman characters. I can’t wait to dive into all three hours of it!

Turning Red – March 11 (Disney+)

I feel really bad for Pixar. Their third straight movie that got yanked off the theatrical schedule and dumped on Disney+. But hey, “Encanto” has gone absolutely crazy since getting put on Disney+, so maybe Disney knows what they’re doing? But yeah, I’m always excited for a new Pixar movie! Especially a Pixar original. They rarely miss with those.

The Adam Project – March 11 (Netflix)

Outside catching my attention because it has my name in it, when I looked up what this movie was, I learned that it’s Shawn Levy, director of “Free Guy,” re-teaming with Ryan Reynolds, star of “Free Guy.” That’s all I needed to know. It’s an action/adventure time travel thing. I’m not 100 percent sure that it’s actually getting released on March 11, but whenever Netflix decides to put this out, I’m immediately pressing play within minutes, if I can.

The Lost City – March 25

I watched the trailer for this and was won over. Sandra Bullock is an author and Channing Tatum is her book cover model. A crazy sequence of events has them on a cutthroat jungle adventure together. I’ve never heard of the directors, Aaron and Adam Nee, but Brad Pitt and Daniel Radcliffe also co-star. This looks like it could be a fun, sleeper hit.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – April 8

We’ve come a long way since the original trailer for “Sonic” was released. The director listened to the fans, completely reanimated the movie, and released a final product that looked good and was a lot of fun. Then COVID hit a month later, making it the second highest grossing movie of the year… by default. Crazy that it’s been two years since all of that, but this sequel looks a lot of fun and adds both Tails and Knuckles to the mix.

The Bad Guys – April 22

When I looked this up, my first impression was that it looked like a really silly and dumb kids movie, but then I saw it was DreamWorks and was caught off guard that they had a movie coming out in a couple of months that I had never heard about. DreamWorks is always hit and miss, but watching this trailer was a bit of a romp. Maybe they won me over by having “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish as their trailer song, but it also looks like one of the fun and wacky DreamWorks movie. A team of animals trying to pull off a heist. I’m always down for a fun heist movie, especially one as wacky as this trailer makes it out as.

The Northman – April 22

No, I don’t rank these movies by most anticipated, but if I did, this is No. 1. Yes, ahead of “The Batman” and all the Marvel stuff that you’ll eventually see. It’s the director of “The Witch,” one of my favorite movies of last decade, and “The Lighthouse,” an extremely solid follow-up. This guy likes diving into different historical eras to tell intense and edge-of-your seat stories that are accurate to the era. And with “The Northman,” he’s diving into the Vikings. And he’s bringing back Anya Taylor-Joy from “The Witch” and Willem Dafoe from “The Lighthouse,” along with Alexander Skarsgard, Nicole Kidman, and Ethan Hawke.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – May 6

But of course all of the Marvel movies are going to be on this list. They’ve been on a 13-year winning streak with very few bumps in the road, so why would I doubt them? And I’m actually more excited for this current era of Marvel than I have any other era simply because they can tell whatever story they want with whatever characters and people will show up because the Marvel brand is so huge. So many new opportunities that I’m excited about. But with this one, “Doctor Strange” is still one of my top MCU films and I love multiverse stuff. Plus, Sam Raimi is returning to the superhero movie genre, so that has me excited! I would’ve hoped for Scott Derrickson to return, but if we can’t have him, Sam Raimi sounds like the perfect replacement.

DC League of Super Pets – May 20

OK, I saw this one on the schedule quite some time ago and laughed pretty good. DC is doing whatever the heck they want. They’ve completely abandoned their stint of copying Marvel and are just throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. The result is some pretty ugly lows, but also some insanely fun highs. And why not make an animated movie about all the super pets from the comic books? I just hope they don’t dive too deep into the bottom of the barrel humor often found in kid-targeted animated movies because this could be fun.

Top Gun: Maverick – May 27

Is this finally coming out? I wasn’t excited for it originally, but the initial trailer that dropped before COVID hit had me convinced that this could be fun. I’m mostly curious to see it finally come out after being one of the COVID victims, but if I can’t have Tom Cruise in “Mission: Impossible 7” this year (it got delayed when I was putting together this list), then I suppose him in “Maverick” will have to hold me over for now.

Lightyear – June 17

Crossing my fingers that Disney keeps this one in theaters. Pixar deserves to finally get a theatrically-released film. And given the Toy Story connection, I think their current plan is to keep it on the schedule, but we’ll see. The premise of this movie is a bit confusing to describe to other people, and that may result in confusion among casual movie-goers that this isn’t exactly the Toy Story spin-off that they might be expecting and it’s Chris Evans voicing Buzz Lightyear instead of Tim Allen. But once you wrap your mind around what they’re trying to do, a Lightyear-related space adventure done by Pixar should be a fun time.

Elvis – June 24

I’m not sure of “Elvis” is the official title of this movie, I’ve seen it still listed as untitled Elvis project in some places. But we’re on a kick of musical biopics of late and Elvis is finally getting his due. Baz Luhrmann is here to direct and he’s always selective with what he chooses to do. “The Great Gatsby” in 2013 was his most recent feature-length movie he directed. In fact, since “Mulan Rouge!” in 2001, he’s only directed two movies. So I pay attention whenever his name shows up. Austin Butler, a fairly unknown actor, is playing Elvis, with Tom Hanks on board to play a supporting role. Not all musical biopics work, but I trust Baz to do Elvis right.

Thor: Love and Thunder – July 8

Taika Waititi is back on board to direct another Thor movie. With “Ragnorak,” he took a dying Marvel franchise with a character few cared about and instantaneously made him one of everyone’s favorite. And now with many of the OG Avengers gone or retired, Thor is still alive and kicking. So of course I’m stoked to see what Taika has in store next. “Love and Thunder” sounds like such a Taika subtitle and I love it. And he also has Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster coming back and playing a Female Thor? Or Jane getting Thor-like powers? That sounds like a risky move, but I have full trust that Taika knows what he’s doing.

Nope – July 22

Yep. This is Jordan Peele’s next movie. After “Get Out” and “Us,” I think every horror fan is super excited for pretty much anything he has in store. I don’t even know what this is about, but I don’t care. It’s Jordan Peele’s next movie. That’s all we need to know.

Black Adam – July 29

If “The Batman” is too dark for your taste and “DC League of Super Pets” is too childish, then this might be DC’s most widely accessible movie of the year, especially since there are questions about “The Flash” and “Aquaman 2” that I’ll get into later. I’m excited for all of DC’s movies for different reasons, but “Black Adam” is DC adding Dwayne Johnson to their roster of characters and Dwayne Johnson is super excited to be bringing this character to life. It’s also in the Shazam-verse of whatever DC’s timeline is right now. And “Shazam!” is one of DC’s best recent films. The character of Black Adam is an anti-hero that I assume is going to be a big player in the “Shazam!” sequel that’s currently scheduled for 2023. If not, they’ll cross paths eventually. And whenever that is, I’m excited for it to happen.

Don’t Worry Darling – September 23

Olivia Wilde’s second feature-length directorial effort. And she did quite well for herself in “Booksmart,” a movie I never saw but heard very strong praises across the board. And by the looks of the poster and premise, she’s diving into the horror/thriller realm. Florence Pugh and Harry Styles star in a movie about a 1950s housewife learning that her husband’s company is hiding disturbing secrets. I’ll perhaps revisit my thoughts when a trailer is out and we know more, but initial information has my curiosity piqued.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – September 23

I saw this on the schedule and I initially didn’t believe it. They’ve been trying to make this Puss in Boots sequel for years, almost right after the first on came out in late 2011. But it’s gone through so many delays and changes, most notably when DreamWorks restructured their whole company after a string of failures. They dumped so many movies and this was one of them. “The Croods 2” was in the same boat and finally came out at the end of 2020, so maybe this is real? If it is, I’m on board because “Puss in Boots” was a fun Shrek spin-off that felt more like a Zorro movie than a Shrek movie. There’s a lot of options to take the franchise if they are want to continue, so I’m up for the adventure.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - Part One – October 7

I’m a bit weary of the “Part One” designation here. If they’re announcing off the bat with that title that this is only going to be half of a movie, I fear disappointment could be in this movie’s future. It’s also hard to catch lightning in a bottle twice. But those nitpicks aside, this is the sequel to “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” That alone is cause for excitement. There’s so much in this universe that I want to see and I’m ready to continue exploring.

Disenchanted – Fall 2022 (Disney+)

Speaking of a movie that should’ve happened a decade ago, it should not have taken a full 15 years to get a sequel to “Enchanted.” But it’s finally happening, with Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Idina Menzel, and James Marsden are all back on board. Belated sequels are often a cause for worry. But hopefully they’ve spent this time getting the script right because “Enchanted” is one of my favorite live-action Disney movies. It deserves a good sequel. I don’t know when this is coming. Disney didn’t set a date. They just said Fall of 2022.

The Flash – November 4

I almost put this one in the maybe category, if I’m being honest. It’s finally our first live action film version of “The Flash,” something that baffles me that it took until 2022 to do when the Flash is one of the most popular DC characters. And that’s cause for excitement. It’s also cause for excitement that Michael Keaton’s Batman will be back in this movie. How? Well, it’s the Flash. If you’ve watched any of the now eight seasons of the Grant Gustin led TV show on the CW, you’ll know that multiverse and wacky timelines are their specialty. The problem for me, though, is that they’ve gone through so many production issues here that it worries me. Lots of directors and lots of story ideas. I think they’re still doing Flashpoint, but I’m not so sure anymore. And the last time they did a panel on a DC event for this movie, there didn’t seem to be as much positive energy as the other projects. I hope they got it all figured out, but I worry.

Untitled Bee Gees Biopic – November 4

Again, like I mentioned with the Elvis biopic, musical biopics are the popular thing to do. If they do it right, there is a lot of interesting story to tell with the Bee Gees. So I’m willing to be excited for it. This is Kenneth Branagh again directing. Yes, that means he’s been busy with this, “Death on the Nile,” and “Belfast.” But I’m assuming “Death on the Nile” was finished ages ago and has just been waiting for Disney to decide to release it. So he has time. Although outside Branagh directing and it being a Bee Gees biopic, I know nothing else about this. IMDb doesn’t even have a cast or writers listed. So is this one even on track?

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – November 11

And the Marvel movie I have the most questions about is undoubtedly this Black Panther sequel. As we all know, Chadwick Boseman tragically passed away and the whole world wishes he were still here to do this sequel. And I’m sure everyone at Marvel wishes that, too. And I’m sure they have it all figured out to properly honor his legacy and make a movie that he’d be proud of. They’ve just kept it all under wraps, so I don’t know what their plan is, outside saying that they won’t be recasting Black Panther. Just having someone take over the mantle, I’m assuming. But who? And will the result be as smooth as everyone hopes? I’m sure we’ll eventually get an idea when they decided to release a trailer and start advertising, but that might not be until the summer until after “Thor: Love and Thunder” gets released.

She Said – November 18

This is where we get into Oscar territory. Predicting what movies are going to be big players this far in advance is nearly impossible. But on paper this one seems like it will at least have people’s attention. It’s the story of the “Me Too” movement, specifically in regards to sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein, as exposed by New York Times journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor. So this has the potential to be one of the most important movies of the year. Directed by Maria Schrader and starring Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan as the two reporters. Based on the 2019 book by Twohey and Kantor.

Creed III – November 23

I am a big fan of the Rocky franchise and so I’m always excited when a new entry comes along. Michael B. Jordan did an excellent job of taking on the mantle from Sylvester Stallone and both Creed movies were really good. And this time around, Michael B. Jordan is directing the movie in what will be his directorial debut. They haven’t revealed much of anything else about the movie just yet, but I’ll be down for whatever fight they have in store.

The Fabelmans – November 23

Another very early Oscar projection is that it could be the year of Steven Spielberg. Think of “Roma” or “Belfast” with “The Fabelmans,” but for Spielberg. A semi-autobiographical film directed by him about his life growing up. Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, and Paul Dano are the top billed cast members for this, with a young actor named Gabriel LaBelle playing Sammy Fabelman, the representation of Speilberg. Most of Spielberg’s movies get showered with Oscars, but it’s been since “Saving Private Ryan” in 1999 that he won best director and “Schindler’s List” in 1994 since a movie of his has won best picture. Will this be the year they reward him again, assuming “West Side Story” doesn’t win the 2021 best picture?

Strange World – November 23

The next entry for Walt Disney Animation Studios. And they love this Thanksgiving release date. There’s not a whole lot they’ve released in regards to plot and voice cast because they’re focused on advertising the two Pixar movies at the moment. What I can piece together is that the plot revolves around a family of explorers. IMDb lists Alan Tudyk as a cast member. And Don Hall is directing. He was one of the co-directors on “Raya,” “Moana” and “Big Hero 6. But anyways, it’s a Disney animated movie. That’s enough for me to be excited.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom – December 16

Look, I’m not happy about the whole Johnny Depp and Amber Heard thing either. But am I going to boycott “Aquaman 2” because Warner Bros. is keeping Amber Heard in the movie after firing Johnny Depp from Fantastic Beasts, when it maybe should’ve been the other way around? Or at least get rid of both of them? No, I’m not. Because there’s so many others involved with this movie who had nothing to do with all of that and are innocently just trying to make another fun Aquaman movie. And I rather enjoyed the first Aquaman, so I’m excited to see what James Wan has in store next.

Babylon – December 25

It’s Damien Chazelle’s next movie. That’s all I need to be excited. “La La Land” was also one of my top movies of last decade and “Whiplash” before that was high up on my list, too. I even interviewed Chazelle over the phone when I did my internship for Deseret News, so you might say I’m invested in what he does. The subject matter is pre-code Hollywood in the 20s and 30s and the stars are Brad Pitt, Tobey Maguire, Olivia Wilde, and Margot Robbie. But the Damien Chazelle aspect of this is what really has be drawn in.

Blonde – TBD 2022 (Netflix)

I don’t know when Netflix is planning on releasing this movie. They don’t really reveal that until they’re ready to start advertising, but this is another buzzy film that I’ve been hearing early word of in regards to the awards circuit. It’s a movie about Marilyn Monroe. And yes, we’ve had a movie like that before. But buzz I’ve been hearing is that this is a more intense version that perhaps is less sugar-coated when it comes to her story. Maybe that means it’s not quite as accessible to the general audience, but her story is a very interesting and tragic one. Ana de Armas is playing Marilyn Monroe and she’s a great actress who deserves more attention.

Knives Out 2 – TBD 2022 (Netflix)

Again, no idea when Netflix is releasing this. But they paid a lot of money for the rights to stream the “Knives Out” sequels. I think this is slated for the end of the year. And there’s a chance they push into 2023 if they’re not ready for it. But Rian Johnson is back to write and direct. Daniel Craig is back as Benoit Blanc. And alongside Daniel Craig is a huge list of stars completely different than the first movie. New story. New mystery. New characters. But if it’s the same tone and feel as the first “Knives Out,” give me all of the sequels. I’m a bit disappointed that this is a Netflix movie and not a theatrical movie. But hey, Netflix has released some of their recent movies in theaters, so maybe they’ll do that here.

 

The Bad:

Home Team – January 28 (Netflix)

OK, so this movie is already out on Netflix right now, so maybe this is cheating, but Adam Sandler’s production company, Happy Madison Productions, is responsible for this movie. And most of the time those movies are harmless garbage not worth mentioning, but this time they made a movie about NFL head coach Sean Payton during the time when he was suspended from coaching. Which is all fine and dandy, but Kevin James is playing Sean Payton. Like, what? Kevin James might have the same hair color as Sean Payton, but that’s about as far as the comparisons go. It might be the most hilariously bad casting choice I’ve heard.

Moonfall – February 4

It’s Roland Emmerich. He doesn’t make good movies. Sure, at first I was curious about a sci-fi action movie, albeit confused as to why it’s coming out in a few days and I’ve barely heard of it. But then I saw Roland’s name and was immediately like, no thank you. And if your argument back is that he made “Independence Day,” my comeback will be, yeah… and when? Because that’s literally the last time he made a movie that’s worth anything. And even that movie might be a tad bit overrated and nostalgia fueled.

Blacklight – February 11

It might be low-hanging fruit to hate on all these February movies, but are we done with these generic Liam Neeson action movies? He makes one or two of them a year now and they’re never worth anything. If you’ve seen one of these poorly done Taken rip-offs (a movie that’s not that good, anyways), you’ve seen all of that. And that’s all this is.

Uncharted – February 18

Movies based on video games rarely work. I personally know nothing about “Uncharted.” I’m not a gamer. And so people confused at the Tom Holland casting is not why I’m low on this, even though I do understand the worry about him looking absolutely nothing like the character in the games. It’s better to cast someone who can pull off the character rather than casting someone just because they’re popular. My worry as a neutral onlooker is that this just looks extremely generic and boring. Like we’ve seen this movie a hundred times before and this adds nothing new. I’m ready to add it to the long list of video game movies that have completely failed. It’s not a coincidence. The genre doesn’t present itself to movie format.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – February 18 (Netflix)

Horror movies are a dime a dozen. They cost little to make and thus it’s easy to make a profit, so I’m used to them milking franchises to death. It’s whatever. But “Halloween” set an annoying trend of doing reboot/sequels of classic horror franchises with the same exact title as the original. So now apparently EVERY horror franchise has to follow suit. And this one doesn’t even look like they’re trying. Hire a no-name director, a cast that you’ve mostly never heard of, and throw it straight to Netflix. And I’m willing to bet they’ll ignore everything about what made the first movie so effective and be an empty killfest instead.

Cheaper by the Dozen – March 2022 (Disney+)

File this into the category of remakes that I don’t think anyone needed or asked for. It’s Gabrielle Union and Zach Braff, if you’re curious. And a straight to Disney+ movie that doesn’t even have a trailer yet. Just a couple of months ago Disney said this is March of 2022 on Disney+, so they might want to start advertising it. Or maybe they know it’s really bad and are just planning on using it as watch-bait for the five-year-olds. Not that straight to Disney+ is an indication of quality. They’re putting everything they can on Disney+ and have some exciting ones coming. But Disney+ is also the new Disney Channel Original Movies thing. And to me this looks like exactly that. See “Home Sweet Home Alone,” for example.

Morbius – April 1

I don’t want to just follow the trends and jump on the Jared Leto hate bandwagon. But he’s not doing himself a whole lot of favors, either. “Morbius” is another one of those movies that has been the victim of COVID delays. And I don’t think it looks quite as bad as some claim it does, but every time they push it back, I feel myself less interested in seeing what they have to offer. It doesn’t help that this is one of Sony’s solo adventures. They’ve done very well with the help of Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige, but both Venom movies have left something to be desired for, even if I think the first is better than some give it credit. Even beyond that, their record is quite spotty and don’t know if a vampire villain movie is something that was that great of an idea in the first place. We’ve kinda overdone the vampire genre.

Ambulance – April 8

It’s Michael Bay. Granted, he has a slightly better track record than Roland Emmerich. The 2016 movie “13 Hours” was just fine. And his 90s films were perfect for their time. But still, I’m not going to let myself get excited for a new Michael Bay movie, especially not one about two robbers that steal an ambulance after their heist goes bad, even if it does star Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. You watch the trailer and you see all the Michael Bay style of explosions and you roll your eyes because the guy just can’t help himself.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – April 15

If you see my “Aquaman 2” discussion above, you’ll know that I’m not boycotting the movie just because Amber Heard is still in it. Likewise, it’s only fair for me to not boycott the latest Fantastic Beasts movie simply because they unfairly fired Johnny Depp. I’ll see the movie. But I got burned hard by “Crimes of Grindelwald.” It was a terrible movie in just about every way. JK Rowling should not write movie scripts. It’s different than writing a book. And it’s baffling that she seemed to have no idea how well people knew her books given how many gross inconsistencies there were in the movie. Not to mention it was a poorly structured movie in its own right that wasn’t interesting. With that background in mind, we have the title that instantly became a meme and a punchline and a trailer that just delivered nothing.

Jurassic World: Dominion – June 10

The small bit of hope that I have for this third Jurassic World movie is that Colin Trevorrow said that he wanted to make a Jurassic movie where the dinosaurs are running free around the world. And this is exactly what this movie will be. That means the previous two movies literally only existed to set up this movie, so I hope it turns out. But I am really sick and tired of watching dumb people make dumb decisions just so we can watch dinosaurs run around and eat people. “Jurassic Park” was a horror movie. And it was an insanely smart, well set-up, intense horror movie. It absolutely infuriates me that this movie devolved into a brainless action film with no plot and no intelligence. And I’m even more infuriated that many don’t care and love it anyways, because… DINOSAURS. That’s literally some people’s only defense. “Adam, I know what you are saying is right, but I don’t care. I love it because DINOSAURS.” Well, do you know what? You can go drool all over yourself watching dinosaurs on screen. I’ll be in my corner crying that they removed the heart and soul out of my favorite franchise and completely tossed in the trash. I’m not mad. Not at all.

Halloween Ends – October 14

No. I don’t believe it. These horror franchises will never end. So how DARE you insult my intelligence by claiming in the title that this is the final Halloween movie. I’m not that stupid. Also, your previous movie sucked, that being 2021’s “Halloween Kills,” of course.

Hocus Pocus 2 – Fall 2022 (Disney+)

The original “Hocus Pocus” is a bad movie. It’s a really, really bad movie. And the prime example of how holiday nostalgia can singlehandedly boost a bad movie and trick you into thinking it’s something great and special. So, no, I don’t care that they’re finally doing a sequel to this bizarre phenomenon that is the atrocity of “Hocus Pocus.”

Pinocchio – Fall 2022 (Disney+)

OK, I’m not a part of the band wagon that hates all of these Disney live action remakes and will automatically dread every one of them. There is a decent chance that this one could be good. I’ve enjoyed plenty of them. But do you realize how many times the story of “Pinocchio” has been made and remade? It’s rather ridiculous. But the real reason that this movie is on here is that we’re getting TWO of them this year. Because of that, they’re both going on the bad list and will have an uphill battle in trying to prove themselves. This one is Disney’s version, going straight to Disney+ at some point and is directed by Robert Zemeckis, who himself is on a bit of a losing streak. But hey, Tom Hanks is Geppetto. I like that casting choice.

Avatar 2 – December 16

I bet this isn’t the list you expected this movie to be on. Maybe this is a hot take, but I think “Avatar 2” is going to be a widely disliked movie that is going to vastly underperform. Here’s the thing. “Avatar” was a groundbreaking, revolutionary cinematic experience with what it did for 3D. People saw it and loved it because of the 3D and the visual experience that brought. And THAT’S why it became the highest grossing movie ever worldwide. Fast forward 13 years and no one cares about 3D anymore. It’s not even really a thing that is offered. The plot of the movie was never the strength. In fact, the plot is really generic and bad. So explain to me what the draw of an “Avatar 2” is when the reason people loved it is not a thing anymore? I think people are going to be really burned out of this franchise long before “Avatar 5” comes out in 2028. Yes, you heard that right. Instead of making one movie and releasing in in 2012 like he should’ve, James Cameron spent the last 13 years making FOUR sequels at once. And I think that’s going to wind up being a massive mistake.

Mario – December 21

Call me weird, but I’m really happy that this movie is coming and I hope it is a massive success for Illumination. So why do I say that, then proceed to put it in the bad section? Well. Allow me to explain. There’s a 90s live action Mario movie that is one of the worst movies ever. But since that’s the only Mario movie, it is currently “the” Mario movie, if you know what I mean. I’m glad that we get to erase that movie’s title of being “the” Mario movie. Also, there are so many awesome Nintendo properties that deserve movies that could potentially be on the way if this Mario movie does really well. So I’m rooting for it. But Mario is not a franchise that lends itself to an interesting story. And I say that as one of the biggest Mario fans there is. It’s also Illumination and most of their movies are bad. And they have a weird cast that includes Chris Pratt as the voice of Mario. That makes no sense at all.

Blade of the 47 Ronin – TBD 2022 (Netflix)

Remember that 2013 movie starring Keanu Reeves called “47 Ronin”? If you don’t, that’s because it was really bad and did terrible at the box office. So naturally it makes sense to do a sequel ten years after it came out. And it’s not something that has developed a cult following since it flopped. It’s just a bad movie with no fans that is getting a sequel. The positive note is that it’s a completely different cast and crew. So maybe it’ll be an actual Samurai movie instead of a bad American movie pretending to be a Samurai movie?

Pinocchio – TBD 2022 (Netflix)

I told you we had two Pinocchio movies coming out this year. This is the non-Disney version heading to Netflix probably around the same ballpark as Disney’s version is going to Disney+. Neither has a date. But this one is a stop-motion animation version with Guillermo del Torro directing. That’s kinda cool. But I still don’t know if it’s necessary. It’s also described as a darker version of the story. And Pinocchio is dark enough as is, so I really don’t know if we need a darker version of an already dark story.

 

The Maybe:

Jackass Forever – February 4

I have no interest in these guys. But I know many people who do. Just a bunch of grown men who are pre-teens at heart doing dangerous stunts and getting beaten up and punched around. I know there’s a name for this type of physical comedy, but I can’t think of it. Granted, I’ll watch my fair share of dumb YouTube videos of people getting hurt. And I can watch the MTV show “Ridiculousness” for hours. But something about people purposely hurting themselves to get people to laugh at them I think is weird. But I’m putting this here as an FYI if you do like these guys.

Marry Me – February 11

The cute romance movie for Valentine’s Day. It seems harmless and the right crowd will probably enjoy it. Jennifer Lopez plays a superstar and Owen Wilson plays the nobody she pulls up onto stage and decides to marry instead of her celebrity fiancé. But I don’t know, when I watch the trailer and see Owen Wilson playing the nobody, it just seems kinda weird. As much as I love him as an actor, he’s not the type of guy that can blend. I think it would work better if they cast a lesser known actor to play his part?

Dog – February 18

A movie about a man and his dog. Channing Tatum stars and co-directs. He’s a former Army Ranger and the do is a former Army dog. They are paired together against their will and learn to get along. Seems like a cute movie.

Sneakerella – February 18 (Disney+)

OK, now speaking of Disney Channel Original Movie, this one totally has that vibe. The story of Cinderella, but set around modern-day sneakers. Depending on your view of DCOMs, you might love this or hate this. It’s probably going to be bad, but the right audience won’t care.

Downton Abbey: A New Era – March 18

Another FYI sort of thing. One day I’ll watch “Downton Abbey.” I’ve heard great things and I’d probably enjoy it. It’s just not too terribly high on my list of shows to catch up on. The first movie they did a couple of years ago did really well, so it makes sense for them to make another one and keep the franchise going.

Operation Furtune: Ruse de guerre – March 18

A Guy Ritchie movie starring Jason Statham. It’s probably all you need to know. You’re either in or out based on that statement. And that’s the running theme so far with this part of the list. Niche movies for niche audiences. Nothing wrong with that.

The Unbreakable Boy – March 18

A PG-rated family-friendly drama about a young boy with a rare bone disease and autism. A very tough allotment in life that he takes with the most cheerful approach possible. Reading that premise reminds me of the movie “Wonder,” which the poster has right on the top. “From the studio that brought you ‘Wonder.’” Zachary Levi stars and the director is Jon Gunn, the director of “The Case for Christ” and “Do You Believe,” so this also could be an Easter-themed religious movie, but I’m not 100 percent sure if that’s the exact angle they’re going.

Thirteen Lives – April 15

This is a drama about a group of young boys in Thailand and their soccer coach that guy trapped in some underground caves and the rescue mission that is assembled to save them. It’s a Ron Howard directed movie with Colin Farrell, Viggo Mortensen, and Joel Edgerton in lead roles.

65 – April 29

I sometimes get weary of April releases, especially ones released at the end of April that we know is going to get drowned out immediately by the summer movie season. But this is a sci-fi thriller about an astronaut crash landing on a mysterious planet. It stars Adam Driver and the director the director team of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods were writers that helped on “A Quiet Place.” So there’s enough there to get me intrigued.

Bob’s Burgers – May 27

Another FYI entry here. I’ve never seen “Bob’s Burgers” and don’t really have a strong desire to. But those who are fans might be interested in this movie.

The Black Phone – June 24

This is a horror movie that has been decently well advertised in movies that I’ve gone to. And if I’m being honest, it looks like an extremely generic horror movie. And maybe it still will be, but I looked up the cast and crew and it’s a Scott Derrickson movie. He’s the director of “Doctor Strange,” as well as horror movies such as “Sinister,” “Deliver Us from Evil” and “The Exorcism of Emily Rose.” So his name makes me slightly more curious.

Bullet Train – July 15

A David Leitch directed action movie. He’s one of the two “John Wick” directors, the one that went onto direct “Atomic Blonde,” “Deadpool 2” and “Hobbs & Shaw,” while letting the other guy, Chad Stahelski, direct the other “John Wick” sequels. I think Stahelski has proven to be the better of the two, but I’m still curious about a David Leitch movie. This one stars Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock, Zazie Beetz, and several others and is about five assassins on a train.

Blazing Samurai – July 22

An animated movie that looks like it’ll be fun for the kids. It’s essentially a parody of Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles,” which is directly mentioned on the poster, alongside “The Lion King” and “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.” The poster has a giant cat that looks like he’s in a Samurai outfit, which also reminds me of “Kung Fu Panda.” So it looks like it’s trying to be a fun parody of a bunch of other movies. And I would be more excited if it was actually from a major animated studio, but it’s Paramount Animation trying their best to join the animation game after being founded in 2011 and having mixed success, so I’m just a bit skeptic.

The Man from Toronto – August 12

An August action movie from the director of “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” along with its sequel. It probably knows exactly what it is. The premise is about the world’s deadliest assassin and New York’s biggest screw-up being mistake for each other. Kaley Cuoco, Woody Harrelson, and Kevin Hart star in the movie. I’m not quite sure which one is who.

Samaritan – August 26

This is a movie that I might be slightly more excited for if it wasn’t for the late August release date. Maybe that’s unfair, but where a studio decides to put a movie can say a lot about their confidence in said movie. But that aside, if anyone remembers the 2018 movie “Overlord,” which was essentially a zombie D-Day movie, this is the same director. And I thought that movie was a lot of fun, which is why I’m curious about this one. The premise is about a young boy learning that a superhero who was thought to go missing 20 years previously might still be around. Sylvester Stallone is one of the lead stars in the movie.

Dark Harvest – September 9

Warner Bros. learned with “IT” that the second weekend of September is a really good one to release a horror movie. And they’ve take that spot every year since. This is not that movie. That’s coming up next. But other studios have decided they want to join the club. So we currently have two horror movies on the schedule for this weekend. “Dark Harvest” is from United Artists and is about a monster called October Boy that rises from the cornfields every Halloween. Based on the 2006 horror novel by Norman Partridge. The director is David Slade, who has directed a few “Black Mirror” episodes and other random projects.

Salem’s Lot – September 9

This is the Warner Bros. horror movie that I was just referencing. They put a horror movie on this weekend every year. And this is said movie for 2022. It’s based on a Stephen King novel about a writer who travels to a town where people become vampires. The director is Gary Dauberman, an in-house name for Warner Bros., it appears. He directed the third Annabelle movie and helped out as a writer on some of these other Warner Bros. horrors, like “IT,” “The Nun,” and all three Anabelle movies. I don’t know which of these horror movies are going to be a hit, or if they’re both going to stay on that date. But I now have my eye on both.

White Bird: A Wonder Story – September 16

A movie about a young Jewish girl hidden by a boy and his family in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. So we’ve seen a lot of movies like this and they’re sometimes really good. I don’t know if this is going to be on the level of “Jojo Rabbit” or “The Book Thief,” but it’s worth watching out for at the least. Marc Forster is the director. He did “Christopher Robin” and “Finding Neverland,” so he’s done his fair share of feel-good movies. He also directed “Quantum of Solace” and “World War Z,” so you can say that he has a varied resume.

Untitled David O. Russell Project – November 4

David O. Russell is one of those directors who, when he releases a movie, all the Awards people pay attention. “The Fighter,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” and “American Hustle” all got showered with Oscar nominations. “Joy” in 2015 not so much, but it still got Jennifer Lawrence another Oscar nomination. But he hasn’t done a movie since “Joy,” so this is kinda a big deal, even though we don’t have a title or a premise yet. But it is a movie starring everyone in Hollywood, which is also often the case with David O. Russell movies. This one brings in Anya Taylor-Joy, Margot Robbie, Timothy Olyphant, Christian Bale, Zoe Saldana, Robert De Niro, Rami Malek, Michael Shannon, John David Washington, Mike Meyers, Chris Rock, and even Taylor Swift. So how about that for a movie cast? Sounds like “American Hustle” to me, which I was not a fan of. Once I know more about what this is, I’ll decide how excited I am.

Violent Night – December 2

A Christmas-themed action film whose title made me laugh, so I had to put it on. It’s probably going to be a bad movie and not make much of an impact at the box office, but so be it. It stars David Harbour and is produced by David Leitch, although not directed. I talked about him up in the “Bullet Train” segment of this post.

P31 – December 21

OK, so I have no idea what this really is, but I was highly amused by it. It’s a musical adaptation of Psalms 31, which is the Psalm that talks about a virtuous woman being more precious than rubies. And for the life of me I couldn’t figure out if this is a Christmas musical that I should be excited about or a worldly musical that uses Christian imagery that I should be worried about. And the director is a guy who directed a 2017 movie called “The Jesus Freak,” a movie I’d never heard of about Christians going to Las Vegas with the intent on converting people, but get quickly tempted. So that didn’t help me out. And I don’t know if this is even going to be big enough to be a thing that is actually a thing or is a small movie released in just a few random theaters. I guess I’ll know more about this mystery when December rolls around.

I Want to Dance with Somebody – December 23

Another musical biopic being released this year. We have one on Elvis and another on the Bee Gees that I talked about earlier. And this is a biopic about Whitney Houston. Which definitely has a lot of potential. I don’t know why this is down in the maybe while the other two are in the good section, but I think it’s more because this release is further out the director, Kasi Lemmons, is more of an unproven filmmaker. “Harriet” was her last film and that was supposed to be a big Oscar film, but got met with very mixed results. She also did “Black Nativity” in 2013, which again had mixed reviews. But if she can pull this off, I could see this positioned as a big Oscar film. It has a better release date than Elvis and the Bee Gees as far as Oscars go.

Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises – TBD 2022 (Disney+)

I guess this is the year where Disney brings back all of their old franchises to give them another sequel. I suppose the last “Night at the Museum” was in 2014, so not as old as “Enchanted” or “Hocus Pocus.” But hey, I enjoyed the Night at the Museum movies. Give me a decent sequel and I’ll fire up my Disney+ for it. I’ll admit that “Kahmunrah Rises” is a great subtitle.

Peter Pan & Wendy – TBD 2022 (Disney+)

I’m not as negative on this as I am a bit Grinchy on getting two Pinocchio movies in one year. “Peter Pan & Wendy” is directed by David Lowery, who directed the “Pete’s Dragon” remake, which was really good. So I have faith in him. It’s just that we have so many Peter Pan movies that I’m wondering if we really need another one. And if we do, what’s the new take that they’re bringing to the table. The fact that Wendy gets a spot in the title makes me think that their relationship gets more of a focus, but looking at the cast, which is fairly impressive, makes it look like a traditional Peter Pan. So I don’t know. It’s a Disney+ release, so whenever Disney decides to put this one out, I’ll be curious enough to check it out.

All Quiet on the Western Front – TBD 2022 (Netflix)

And to finish this list off, we have a remake of the 1930 best picture winner. Or, rather, another adaptation of the 1929 novel by Erich Maria Remarque. In thinking about this, this is a novel and a movie that it kinda makes sense to do another adaptation of. But all that Hollywood has ever done is the original movie and a 1979 TV film. So as I’ve thought about it, I think it could work. It’s just that it’s directed by a German director named Edward Berger who I’ve never heard of, so I don’t know what to think. It will be filmed in German and it does star Daniel Bruhl, so that’s cool on both fronts. But also with it being a Netflix release, I don’t know if it’s going to be a major awards player that Netflix will make a big push for or if it’s something that will quietly be released without much noise. TBD, I suppose, just like its release date.