A long, semi-hot summer for movies
Kids are barely out of school, most vacations haven’t yet started, and the Fourth of July beer is far from chilling. While it may seem that summer has barely begun, by Hollywood’s calendar (where summer starts in early May) it’s almost halfway over.
Several presumptive blockbusters have yet to debut - Wednesday’s Hancock, Will Smith’s sometimes bleak superhero story from Sony; and July 18’s The Dark Knight, Warner Bros.’ latest Batman installment from writer-director Chris Nolan.
Yet even with so many successes and potential hits to come, there are some causes for concern. Here are a few of the season’s lessons so far:
•Even in the summer, originality counts more than anything. The season’s (if not the year’s) highest-grossing movie could very likely be Iron Man, which already has grossed more than $305 million. Anyone looking at Paramount’s slate would have predicted that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull would collect that honor. And while audiences flocked to that mostly weakly reviewed sequel starring Harrison Ford, Iron Man, thanks to its fresh story and glowing notices, will probably take the No. 1 spot.
•Size matters. Even within the past two years, specialized film distributors could drop smaller art-house movies into the summer and make some money - An Inconvenient Truth, Waitress and Once among the recent examples. This summer, even the best-reviewed limited releases are dying on arrival, including Paramount Vantage’s Son of Rambow, Fox Searchlight’s Young@Heart and Magnolia’s Bigger, Stronger, Faster*. The rare indie film that’s stuck around: Overture’s The Visitor.
•Event movies come in all shapes and sizes. Rival studios (and several box-office analysts) wrote off New Line’s Sex and the City because its appeal fell narrowly into one demographic group: older women. But those women turned the movie into a happening, organizing screening parties that included pregame cocktails and fancy footwear. The result: $133 million and counting.
•Darkness should be limited to theater lighting, not tone. Various explanations were offered to explain the comparatively feeble performance of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, which will gross less than half of 2005’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The sequel may have been damaged by its more menacing tenor; as the continued rejection of any war-related movie suggests (War, Inc. being the latest casualty), moviegoers of all ages are craving light escape more than ever.
•Paramount is on fire. In addition to its winning marketing of Iron Man and Indiana Jones, the studio guided Kung Fu Panda to the best opening for any DreamWorks Animation nonsequel. Tropic Thunder looks like a potential late-season hit, too.
John Horn writes for the Los Angeles Times.
- Horror & Suspense Movies: the Best Way to Stay Thrilled
- Bollywood Movies Now Days
- Bollywood Movies Nodays
- Disney to offer free movies online
- Top 100 movies named by AFI
- 5 Christmas Movies For The Whole Family To Enjoy!
- Easy summer salads, lighter foods for a brighter summer
- Moms Head To Toe List - Five Things To Do Before Summer
Related Posts
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
One Response to “A long, semi-hot summer for movies”
Discussion Area - Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
[...] A long, semi-hot summer for movies •Even in the summer, originality counts more than anything. … Rival studios (and several box-office analysts) wrote off New Line’s Sex and [...]