Hit & miss, miss, miss
Sequel overkill leads to a mild summer movie season
There’s nothing hazy, lazy or even crazy about Hollywood’s summer so far. As July 4 marked the midpoint of what should be the film industry’s most popular period, it’s turning out to be a major disappointment. The hits are few, the misses many. There’s no buzz, no delightful unexpected sleeper hit.
Once upon a time, Hollywood’s “summer” began Memorial Day weekend. It officially ends on Labor Day. However, “summer” moved up, to the first weekend in May.
This year, “Avengers: Endgame” moved summer another week earlier to open April 26 and dominated not just the seasonal box office but the year’s with $842 million domestic box office and $1.9 billion overseas. That’s amazing, even with a rumored $356 million price tag.
But one massive blockbuster does not a summer make.
Doing more than well are:
▪ The just-opened, second : installment of Tom Holland’s leading-man duties in “SpiderMan: Far From Home.”
▪ Disney’s live-action musical : update of “Aladdin.”
▪ The return of Keanu : Reeves to the top of the boxoffice charts with “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum.” Where to put the blame for the stunning belly-flops of too many big-budget entries? Sequel overkill. “X-Men: Dark Phoenix,” now minus the franchise’s biggest draw, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, was DOA on its opening day. “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” stumbled badly. And few cared about the revival of “Men in Black: International,” a special effects entry rumored to cost $100 million (plus $60 million in marketing) that’s done a meager $65 million.
The return of not one but three John Shafts in the modestly budgeted “Shaft” earned a dismissive shrug for this fifth entry in the franchise. Even the wellreviewed 10 years later “Toy Story 4” underperformed. DisneyPixar had expected a $150 million smash opening weekend. They got $118 million.
“The Secret Life of Pets 2” is yet another illustration of, “Seen once, seen enough.” If hardly a disaster, “Pets 2” gets dumped into the Major Disappointment bin. A third? Highly unlikely.
After the gloriously unexpected nearly billion dollar global gross for the Freddie Mercury “Bohemian Rhapsody,” expectations were sky high for Elton John’s biopic “Rocketman,” which covered roughly the same period of the ’70s through 1980s. But “Rocketman” is not expected to even hit $90 million. That’s far, far from Bohemian’s $900 million.
Three low-budget, critically praised originals also stumbled: “Booksmart,” a lesbian high school romance, “Late Night,” which set a Sundance record when it sold for $13 million to Amazon, and “The Souvenir” with Tilda Swinton and her daughter.