These summer flicks can tell us something about the future of movies
If it appears there are more movies than usual playing this summer, it’s because Hollywood productions are starting to hit their pre-pandemic numbers. Theaters are open.
Most audience members — having flocked to “Top Gun: Maverick” last year — proved they are willing to sit in a darkened room with strangers again. But are things the same? The types of films being released, as well as the people willing to shell out money to see them, say a lot about the film industry and where it’s going.
One of the big things to watch is how well the upcoming slate of Disney films will do business-wise. During the pandemic, the studio went all in on its streaming service Disney+ and conditioned audiences to watch movies at home. Pixar’s “Elemental” (June 16) looks really fun, but there’s not much audience enthusiasm according to pre-release research.
Another effort to make the amusement park ride “The Haunted Mansion” (July 28) into a film comes later this summer. If families know they can watch those movies online in literally just a few weeks, there might not be much incentive to load up the minivan and spend a week’s salary on tickets and concessions.
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So far, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” proved that a decent movie with compelling characters and a filmmaker-driven point of view will actually attract an audience other than hardcore fanboys. It’s too early to tell if “The Little Mermaid” will be able to eke a profit from its eye-popping quarter-of-a-billion dollar budget, but the opening weekend shows families will take little girls to see a larger-than-life fairytale on a big screen.
The live-action “Little Mermaid” isn’t the only big-budget behemoth looking to both capitalize off the nostalgic whims of Gen X-ers and also attract younger audiences. We’re also getting “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” (June 30) without Steven Spielberg at the helm and an 80-year-old Harrison Ford in the lead. No matter how good this this series is (and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” remains a personal fave), it defies basic physiology that we’re still making these movies. Ford gets the perks of AI-assisted de-aging, adding another example to an ongoing debate about how technology makes the old new and the dead un-dead in cinema.
Tom Cruise, at the big 6-0, seems childlike in comparison with “Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning (Part One)” as this film series moves closer to the three-decade mark. One wonders if the Last Great Movie Star has a death wish, continuing to do all his own mortality-defying stunts on this series. It’s fine, for now, because Cruise looks so good and elegant in executing these action set pieces. (The new film bows on July 12.)
The question with these films is not simply whether they will make money. They will. But who’s going to take over for these marquee names when they can no longer limp along in a foot chase? Is there an action star half Cruise’s age with a tenth of his star potential? What’s going to happen when these guys kick the bucket and movie audiences decide that comic-book movies and live-action remakes of cartoons are no longer the bee's knees?
There’s a shortage of movie stars in general — performers that will drive an audience to a movie. But action stars are becoming an endangered species. We need to toss Austin Butler out of an airplane onto a motorcycle pronto!
One person who still has a movie-star way about her is Margot Robbie. She plays the titular “Barbie” that comes out July 21. That film is directed by Greta Gerwig, who helmed two of the better films of the past 10 years — “Lady Bird” and “Little Women.” It’s a little depressing that she feels compelled to take on what could be an extended toy advertisement, but I am hopeful she will keep some of her smarts and skill in making something unusual. This begs another query about whether any smart filmmakers are going to be allowed to make movies for adults.
On the same day, Christopher Nolan unleashes “Oppenheimer” and that will be a real test as to whether older movie lovers will show up for a three-hour opus about a tortured genius. Wes Anderson also premieres “Asteroid City” (June 23) and it looks like a vintage offering from the quirky auteur. These two appear to be the only artist-driven films coming out this summer. Gerwig doesn’t seem to have an invitation to this small, boys-only club.
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There’s also horror movies and, as long as the budgets stay low, these can always be counted on to make money. There’s “The Boogeyman” (June 2), “The Blackening” (June 14), and “Talk to Me” (July 28), with the promise of continuing to keep a certain subset of the audience coming back for more thrills and spills.
The movies are back, rest assured, but there’s an ongoing concern about their appeal as well as the audience who will still want to see something in a theater.
And remember, the ongoing Writers Guild strike will ensure a slowdown of product a few years from now. So we will probably have to talk about this a few years from now. Then, a few years after that. Then …
James Owen is the Tribune’s film columnist. In real life, he is a lawyer and executive director of energy policy group Renew Missouri. A graduate of Drury University and the University of Kansas, he created Filmsnobs.com, where he co-hosts a podcast. He enjoyed an extended stint as an on-air film critic for KY3, the NBC affiliate in Springfield, and now regularly guests on Columbia radio station KFRU.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: These summer flicks can tell us something about the future of movies
