What in the world happened this year?
By this time, there’s usually a number of films out there doing decently and/or getting people’s attention but this year…
…I dunno.
Many consider May 1st as the official start of the Summer Movie Season but one should consider Avengers: Endgame, released in the last week of April, as the start of the Summer Movie Season.
That movie did very well, of course, but I’m rather surprised by the fact that only a month or so later it seems like… it’s kinda/sorta in the past. Not forgotten, mind you. There are still people I find online posting positives about the film (I haven’t seen it yet) but I’ve also found a surprising number of people who feel the movie wasn’t all that.
Not that they hated it, mind you, but there are some who feel the film was something of a wiff… that it could, indeed should have been much better than it was. There are even some who offer a far more scathing view, that the film was a lot of “fan service”, ie. a bunch of sequences designed to make fans happy but which ultimately didn’t make the overall film all that great.
Again, I don’t know. Haven’t seen it yet.
But at least Avengers: Endgame did great at the box office!
At least for the time it was out. Again, it seems like the film did really well and all those that wanted to see it saw it and then… that was it.
What followed, however, were films that didn’t seem to catch on quite as well.
Over at this site found on firstshowing.net…
…you can check out the films that have been released to date along with those upcoming.
I did a quick check of some of the films that were hoping to get movie-goer’s interest/money over the Summer Season and was surprised by how many of them to date did only so-so.
Among others you had Pokemon Detective Pikachu (looked cute in commercials and the idea of Ryan Reynolds voicing the character was a plus, but the film sure did seem to come and go). There was John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, which, granted, benefited enormously with the good feelings people have regarding Keanu Reeves and, given what I’m sure is a smaller budget, did very good business. But again, it sure seemed to come and go.
What about Aladdin? Terrible early trailers had everyone doubting the film, but once it was released the critics were kind yet the film was another one week (if that) wonder. Brightburn? Low budget horror “take” on Superman produced by James Gunn had certain audiences intrigued, and given the movie’s low budget I’m sure it recouped its investment and then some. But, again, a one week wonder and out.
Godzilla: King of Monsters had decent reviews but under-performed. Dark Phoenix had pretty poor reviews and also didn’t do all that well. Last week we had two new morsels: Men In Black International and Shaft. Sadly, it appears neither of these films is drawing much interest and appear to be slipping away from theaters after only a week.
All, however, is not lost. There are still some interesting films to come. Child’s Play and Toy Story 4 are being released this coming week and while I suspect the later will do well, the former… we’ll see. Either way, I personally am not to interested in either.
Looking further ahead, July 2 sees the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home. I’m not all that interested but because its a Marvel film, I’m sure it’ll do good business. July 26 brings us Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. I’m intrigued with the film though I know very little about it other than the setting (Hollywood in the late 1960’s and immediately before -and I’m guessing during/after the Charles Manson horrors). Given how much I hated (no pun intended) his last film, though, I don’t know if I’m going to catch it during its initial release.
Looking over the list of films coming in the next months, there is only one film that currently has me intrigued: Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. That film looks beyond silly but in a good way.
Otherwise, I dunno. This could be one of the weakest summer movie seasons I’ve seen in a very long time… and, it would appear, for a few others as well.
If I do go see Hobbs & Shaw in theaters, it might well wind up being the only Summer film I see this season in theaters.
A stunning thing to admit!