Last weekend, moviegoers could find a film at their multiplex that emanated radical originality and depth of feeling, told on the grandest scale. It was sweeping science fiction with a beating heart, crafted by a master storyteller. Amid claims of the most perilous moment in the mediums history, there was a tour de force in theaters for all to see.
That movie, of course, is Steven Spielbergs Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, Spielbergs alien-contact parable returned to 901 theaters for a limited Labor Day run and was met with $1.8 million in ticket sales, enough to take 13th place at the box office. This turn of events was both hearteningClose Encounters is one of the directors clearest and most resounding worksand a bit troubling for many film distributors. A week ago, in the face of Hurricane Harvey, a fight of the century, and the conclusion of the monocultures last true symbol, the box office turned in its worst performance since September 2001. This one marked the weakest Labor Day performance since Bill Clinton was in office, down 45 percent from last years overall receipts. And the doubt is coming from inside the house: For the first time in decades, the major studios did not release a new movie over this holiday weekend. On the year, domestic box office is down 6.2 percent. The sky is falling. Movies are done. Hope your kids taught you how to use Snapchat.
There is no life in the movies if it cant be threatened from time to time. We have reached that time of year, immediately after a long and IP-choked summer, when gravestones for the industry are being etched. The culprits this year have been manifold: unwanted sequels, botched new properties, useless reboots, the scourge of Rotten Tomatoes. This weekend, Deadline asked in typically overstated fashion, Is Moviegoing Dead? before carefully clarifying in a column by Anthony DAlessandro that it is, in fact, not. (This happens every year or so.) But there are curiosities worth unpacking and lies worth dispelling. Because the narrative is about to change in four days time.
This week brings a new movie with all of the symptoms we have been warned against. Warner Bros. rebooted adaptation of Stephen Kings novel It arrives in theaters on Friday. Here are the strikes against it: 1. Its a reimagining of beloved source material. 2. This has been done before, as a memorable (if imperfect) 1990 ABC miniseries starring Tim Curry as the demon clown Pennywise. 3. Its a prefab expanded universe movie with a built-in sequel meant to continue the half of Kings story that is not featured in the first film. 4. Its helmed by a largely unknown filmmaker with just one credit to his name (2013s successful but small-scale Jessica Chastain horror movie Mama), continuing the trend of entrusting unproven directors with big-budget properties (see: Trank, Josh). 5. The film has been in a development hell for nearly a decade. For years, it was in the hands of True Detective director Cary Fukunaga before he abruptly departed the project in 2015 due to creative differences with the studio. These five factors look like warning signs of an apocalypse already in process, like flares fired into a burning building.
But guess what? Director Andy Muschiettis version of It is the best studio horror film since The Conjuring 2a massive hitand arguably the best King adaptation since 1995s Dolores Claiborne. Its also been expertly marketed, on track to earn $60 millionsome have speculated as high as $80 millionat next weekends box office. Coincidentally, Muschiettis sister and producing partner Barbara cited a memorable filmgoing touchstone in an interview last week: I remember one of the films that scared the bejesus out of Andy in particular was Close Encounters. It was a seminal experience, he says, both an introduction to the magic of movies but also to the horror of movies. It is no Close Encounters, but its in pursuit of a similar blend of the sentimental and the heart-clutching. The Muschiettis are from Argentina, but they came to Kings story of the monster who kills the children of Derry, Maine, in a familiar way, reading the book and becoming ensnared in the worlds the author could build inside a small town. Their movie is a reminder that something based on something else isnt always a cynical gambit.
This month brings another sequel, one less predictable than the inevitable It, Part II. Kingsman: The Golden Circle is the follow-up to 2015s Kingsman: The Secret Service, Matthew Vaughns hyperviolent millennial spin on James Bond based on the Mark Millar comics series. The first movie was a ludicrously staged, cheekily told piece of exploding pop artthe sequel is even more violent, more arch, and more star-stacked, featuring appearances by Channing Tatum, Halle Berry, Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, and an extended (and exceptional) Elton John cameo, joining the originals stars, Taron Egerton and Colin Firth. It is, in a word, fun. And like It, the new Kingsman and the forthcoming The Lego Ninjago Movie are pegged to make more than $40 million in their opening weekendif that comes true, it would be the first time, DAlessandro noted, that three September releases opened that big. How can that be? Its as if someone repaired the hole in the sky.
The production, scheduling, marketing, and release of movies is not a crapshoot, but its not an exact science, either. The studios are often reactive not proactive, scanning the calendar dates aggressively claimed by their competitors and responding accordingly. There are three Marvel movies planned per year through 2020. The weekends in which those movies will be released are unimpeachableto open against them is to risk death. To schedule in their vicinity is to tempt the fates: Consider the truly disastrous month of May in Hollywood. After the success of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the following tentpole movieseach fitted with an unnecessary after-the-colon titleflopped domestically in consecutive weeks: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Alien: Covenant, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. A week after that, Wonder Woman opened and kick-started a new conversation about opportunity and empowerment, redefined the DC universes identity, minted a new star, reignited a filmmakers career, and set Warner Bros. up for a strong 2017. Things change quickly though. By the end of June, after Transformers: The Last Knight and The Mummy, movies were imperiled once again. By the end of July, riding an unexpected wave off Dunkirk, Baby Driver, and Girls Trip, Hollywood had rediscovered a creative mojo. By August, the business was fucked again, buoyed only by a horror sequel about a possessed doll. But September is promising! The hamster circles the wheel.
No one in Hollywood sets out to make a bad movie, but sometimes they make them under cynical pretense. Most of this summers fiascoes were made in bad faith, particularly the fifth installments of the Pirates of the Caribbean series and Michael Bays Transformers movies, two movies American audiences didnt much want that were only bolstered by international ticket sales. (Notably, overseas box office is up this year, by more than 3 percent.) To commit to making movies like this, studios decrease the number of annual productions theyre willing to invest in, pursuing a home run strategy that often has disastrous consequences. These movies embody a sin that the author and critic Tom Shone identified in his essential 2004 book, Blockbuster: How Hollywood Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Summer. In writing about James Camerons Aliens, Shone cites the typical sequel trajectory for pre-Rocky films.
During the sixties and seventies, [sequels] generally followed a law of diminishing returns, with each film expected to make only about 60 percent of its predecessors money. Thus the first Airport movie made $90 million, the second $50, the last $30. Some of the Rocky movies, on the other hand, made more money than the firstRocky grossed $117 million and Rocky III $123 milliona pattern swiftly followed by the Star Wars sequels
In describing why Cameron pursued a sequel to Ridley Scotts Alien, he finds a filmmaker with a purpose, looking to answer questions about the originals intent. There were unanswered elements in Scotts vision, and space for Camerons militaristic, mechanical interpretation. That it came seven years after the first film only emboldened Cameron and the other filmmakersit wasnt a cash grab, it was inspired. And ultimately Aliens did outearn its predecessor. The same cant be said for the most recent edition in the Alien story. Adjusted for domestic inflation, Alien: Covenant is the least successful movie in the canon. But if you include its haul overseas and unadjust for inflation, it becomes the second-biggest, behind only Scotts Prometheus. The least successful internationally? The original Alien, which counts only 23 percent of its gross from international sales. Some of this is a product of the vagaries of an evolving industry, some of it is inexplicable, and some of it is related to Scotts confounding late-life allegiance to telling the story of idiotic space travelers and their willingness to get close to the membrane of intergalactic spores.
Alien: Covenant may not have been made for the wrong reasons, but its not a movie that captured the imagination eitherhardcore fans were bemused, and the general population just didnt care to meet seven more Xenomorph entres. Its never quite clear why we need to see the movie in the first place. The same cant be said for Steven Soderberghs Logan Lucky, a well-made, clever, and entertaining caperso, a Soderbergh flickthat touted its funding and distribution scheme but failed to verify its thesis. For a movie that stars James Bond, Kylo Ren, and Magic Mike robbing a NASCAR racetrack, Logan Lucky didnt exactly intoxicate the public imagination. The film was distributed by the tiny Bleecker Street Media, and awareness was fairly low, likely the result of a marketing strategy that deemphasized Los Angeles and New YorkSoderberghs bread and butterand waited until a scant few weeks before release to start aggressively promoting it. For a movie that exists in a middle ground Hollywood hasnt been able to reconcile of late, Logan Lucky suffered a fate similar to many other recent Soderbergh projects. It is neither forgettable, nor essential. The market for a movie like that is unclear.
Harvey Weinstein, once a master manipulator able to sell moviegoers on romantic period pieces better than anyone, sat on the beleaguered Tulip Fever for three years only to unfurl it into fewer theaters than the 40-year-old Close Encounters. Unsurprisingly, it wilted. This is a movie based on a bestseller starring three Oscar winners, including Tomb Raidertobe Alicia Vikander. Harvey Scissorhands couldnt cut it into a shape he wanted us to see. Maybe hes lost something essential, just four years removed from a 2013 slate that included Lee Daniels The Butler, Silver Linings Playbook, and Django Unchained. Only, he also is responsible for one of the only success stories of recent weeks, the slow rise of Taylor Sheridans dour Wind River, which has steadily added theaters and cash to its portfolio since opening in limited release the first week of August. As always, Hollywood is built upon contradiction. The New Hollywood of the 70s begat the blockbuster age begat the indie rebels of the 90s begat the superhero globalization of this century. This summer in Hollywoodby turns crass and inspiring, confounding and crystal clearcould trigger a new era. But more likely, its business as usual.
See the rest here:
Sequels and Lies: What Hollywood's Disastrous Summer Really Means for the Future of Movies - The Ringer (blog)
- Blumhouse to Return Insidious and Other Titles to Theaters for Halfway to Halloween Fest - Hollywood Reporter - March 16th, 2024
- Every Movie In The Wrong Turn Franchise Ranked - SlashFilm - March 16th, 2024
- Blumhouse Celebrating 'Halfway to Halloween' With Five Horror Movies Returning to 100 AMC Movie Theaters - Bloody Disgusting - March 16th, 2024
- DeWanda Wise Sings Creepy Theme Of New Horror Film: 'Imaginary' - The Root - March 16th, 2024
- Hostel: Part II (2007) WTF Happened to This Horror Movie? - JoBlo.com - March 16th, 2024
- New LEPRECHAUN Movie Will Be Funny, Scary And Full Of Practical Effects - FANGORIA - March 16th, 2024
- Blumhouse Celebrating Halfway to Halloween With Five Horror Movies Returning to 100 AMC Movie Theaters - IMDb - March 16th, 2024
- The Horror Nail-Biter On Max With A Controversial Ending - Giant Freakin Robot - March 16th, 2024
- "Says the person who was in Madame Web": Sydney Sweeney is Getting Skewered for Saying Modern Horror Movies ... - FandomWire - March 16th, 2024
- First trailer for horror movie reboot The Crow features an unrecognizable Bill Skarsgrd on a bloody mission of revenge - Gamesradar - March 16th, 2024
- You'll Never Find Me Is Unforgettable Horror, See The Terror In Action - Giant Freakin Robot - March 16th, 2024
- The First Omen star has seen all of your internet theories about the horror movie prequel and, well, they're all wrong - Gamesradar - March 16th, 2024
- Sltface take on horror movies with their new single, 'Final Grl' - Dork Magazine - March 16th, 2024
- From 'Five Nights at Freddy's' to 'Imaginary': Why Blumhouse loves PG-13 horror - theday.com - March 16th, 2024
- The First Omen's Big Death Reveal Really Doesn't Bode Well For The Prequel - Screen Rant - March 16th, 2024
- 20 Scariest Horror Movies to Come Out in the Last 5 Years - MovieWeb - March 16th, 2024
- 'The Animal Kingdom' Exclusive Clip Previews the Gnarly Body Horror of Magnet's New Movie - Bloody Disgusting - March 16th, 2024
- 'Oddity' Review: This Supernatural Horror Film Will Tear You To Pieces | SXSW 2024 - Collider - March 16th, 2024
- "Marketing is failing this movie tremendously": David Dastmalchian's Late Night With the Devil Dubbed as One of the ... - FandomWire - March 16th, 2024
- STOPMOTION is a handcrafted tale of beauty and horror - Moviejawn - March 16th, 2024
- Horror Lovers Will Love this Dining Spot in Texas - klaq.com - March 8th, 2024
- Is Late Night With The Devil Based On A True Story? - Screen Rant - March 8th, 2024
- Kooky King: 6 of the Weirdest Stephen King Film Adaptations - Nightmare on Film Street - March 8th, 2024
- The Unknown, the Viral Willy Wonka Experience Villain, Is Already Getting Their Own Horror Movie - IGN - March 8th, 2024
- 13 Original Horror Movies We Can't Wait to See in 2024 - Screen Rant - March 8th, 2024
- From 'Imaginary' to 'Five Nights at Freddy's.' Why Blumhouse loves PG-13 horror - Los Angeles Times - March 8th, 2024
- Imaginary Movie Review: M3gan Meets The Boogeyman - Mama's Geeky - March 8th, 2024
- Christopher Nolan Originally Conceived Inception As A Horror Movie - SlashFilm - March 8th, 2024
- 'Whalefall' Movie in the Works From 'No One Will Save You' Director Brian Duffield - The Mary Sue - March 8th, 2024
- Horror Movie Based On THE UNKNOWN From Glasgow's WILLY WONKA Experience In The Works Horror Movie ... - CBM (Comic Book Movie) - March 8th, 2024
- Horrifying 'Late Night With The Devil' Trailer Released - Outkick - March 8th, 2024
- Imaginary review: M3GAN, take the wheel - Dexerto - March 8th, 2024
- The Unknown: Horror Movie Based on Unofficial Willy Wonka Experience Is in the Works - ComingSoon.net - March 8th, 2024
- Imaginary Film Review: Light on Frights - Loud And Clear Reviews - March 8th, 2024
- Dead Mail Directors on Their '80s Horror Influences - MovieWeb - March 8th, 2024
- HORROR BEAT: Blumhouse offers a non-update on the future of THE EXORCIST - Comics Beat - March 8th, 2024
- And the Oscar for best picture doesn't go to ... horror! - NPR - March 8th, 2024
- Shaitaan OTT Release: When And Where To Watch R Madhavan And Ajay Devgn Starrer Horror Thriller Film - Indiatimes.com - March 8th, 2024
- The 'Wonka Experience' Is Being Turned Into A Horror Movie - UPROXX - March 8th, 2024
- 8 new horror movies on Netflix, Max, Shudder and more in March 2024 - TechRadar - March 8th, 2024
- 10 Horror Movies More Deserving of the Best Picture Oscar Than the Winner - Collider - February 28th, 2024
- The Horror Movie That Inspired 'The Shining' Actually Scared Stephen King - Collider - February 28th, 2024
- 10 Most Anticipated Movies Of March 2024 (According To Real Data) - IMDb - February 28th, 2024
- 10 Best Classic Horror Movies with No Oscar Nominations - Collider - February 28th, 2024
- THE WATCHERS Trailer Puts Voyeuristic Creatures in the Irish Woods - Nerdist - February 28th, 2024
- Christopher Nolan Originally Conceived 'Inception' as a Horror Film - IMDb - February 28th, 2024
- The Watchers trailer: Dakota Fanning is stalked by the unknown - BGR - February 28th, 2024
- This Czech Horror Film Turns the Terror of 'The Zone of Interest' Into Weird Comedy - Collider - February 28th, 2024
- The Jennifer Lopez Horror Movie That's More Interesting Than It Seems - Collider - February 28th, 2024
- This '90s Kids Movie Is the Grossest Flick of All-Time - Collider - February 28th, 2024
- Eli Roth's Big 2024 Movie Couldn't Be More Different Than His Thanksgiving Horror Hit - Screen Rant - February 28th, 2024
- How The Butterfly Effect with Ashton Kutcher filled a void in US cinema - Post Magazine - February 28th, 2024
- 'Stopmotion' Review This Hand-Crafted Horror Film Is One of a Kind - Collider - February 28th, 2024
- 10 Tasty Horror Movies (Including Thanksgiving) Streaming on Netflix - Gizmodo - February 28th, 2024
- They Did the Mash, They Did the Monster Mash: 10 Epic Horror Crossovers You Can't Miss! - Nightmare on Film Street - February 28th, 2024
- 20 movies that mostly take place in one location - Yardbarker - February 28th, 2024
- Scream: What Happened To Jenna Ortega's Character? - GameRant - February 28th, 2024
- One of 2024's most anticipated horror sequels finally gets a promising update, as director teases "weird idea" for fourth ... - Gamesradar - February 28th, 2024
- DYK This Christopher Nolan Classic Was Conceived As A Horror Film? - Republic World - February 28th, 2024
- New Paranormal Activity Video Game Revealed by the Mortuary Assistant Team - Beebom - February 28th, 2024
- 10 Best Cult Classics of the 1970s, Ranked - Collider - February 19th, 2024
- 51 Best Horror Movies Of All Time That Are Suitably Spooky - GLAMOUR UK - February 19th, 2024
- M. Night Shyamalan's Horror Movie From 8 Years Ago Is More Impressive Based On Its Budget Record - Screen Rant - February 19th, 2024
- 10 Horror Movie Monsters That Were Way Scarier Without CGI - Screen Rant - February 19th, 2024
- 10 Most Anticipated Horror Movies Releasing in 2024 - IMDb - February 19th, 2024
- Top 30 best horror movies of all time - Dexerto - February 19th, 2024
- Sting Trailer Releases Spider Movie into the Horror Comedy World - MovieWeb - February 19th, 2024
- Trailer For The Survival Horror Movie THE WOODS ARE REAL GeekTyrant - GeekTyrant - February 19th, 2024
- The horror movies that inspired Emerald Fennell's 'Saltburn' - Far Out Magazine - February 19th, 2024
- 15 Best Body Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked - MovieWeb - February 19th, 2024
- Hunter Schafer Responds To Scream Queen Compliment As Horror Debut Cuckoo Premieres In Berlin: I Love Horror Movies and Screaming Is Really Fun -... - February 19th, 2024
- The Horror Movie That Terrified Martin Scorsese and Guillermo del Toro - Collider - February 19th, 2024
- Where To Watch Thanksgiving On Streaming - Screen Rant - February 19th, 2024
- The Correct Order To Watch The Amityville Horror Movies - SlashFilm - February 19th, 2024
- New Jordan Peele movie set to be released in 2025 - Dexerto - February 19th, 2024
- The real-life haunting of Ti West and 'The Innkeepers' - Far Out Magazine - February 19th, 2024
- Trailer For Werewolf Film Blackout Puts The Monster Front & Center - 411mania.com - February 19th, 2024
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Had the Production From a Nightmare - IMDb - February 19th, 2024
- 65 Years Ago, a Legendary Director Invented a Terrifying New Trick And Launched a Trendy Gimmick - Inverse - February 19th, 2024
- Cuckoo Review: Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens Keep You Glued Even When This Reproductive Horror Careens Off the Rails - Hollywood Reporter - February 19th, 2024
Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero