By George Robbins
There have been plenty of discussions recently about movies that are meant to hit theaters this year. The biggest issue currently being discussed is the fact that many have had their release dates pushed back. Even movies that were meant to release later this year like ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ have had their release dates pushed to some time next year. This has become a cause for concern for many different production companies that want to get their movies out there. When will they be able to release their movies and will they even get as many people watching their movies as they hope they will.
Jason Blum is the head of the eponymous Blumhouse Productions movie studio and the producer for many horror films in this generation. This past decade has seen a lot of his films becoming box office hits due to his movies being low cost compared to any other horror films. This has resulted in Blum being able to get his hands on a couple of films that other companies have given up on or sequels that no one imagined they would see. He has even said recently that the ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ movie that his company was handed in 2017 is still moving forward.
Blum has a big release coming up soon that he is really hoping won’t have to be delayed which is ‘Halloween Kills.’ It is meant to be the sequel to the 2018 hit movie ‘Halloween‘ which is, in itself, a sequel to the original film of the same name. The release of that film was one that was a surprise to many because no one was sure if the film would be as good as the original with the budget it had. It ended up being a massive success which allowed Blum to move forward with the sequel and his plan to make a trilogy out of it. As of now, the sequel is going to premiere later this year to the public and hasn’t yet changed its release date at all.
With the most recent spike in coronavirus cases, many production companies chose to push back the release dates for their films. Even dates that were set for late this year have moved into 2021 due to studios being worried about theaters getting business. This past Father’s Day weekend those theaters that were opened managed to drum up some business and the Box Office had some numbers on it for the first time in months. Hopefully this gives studios some incentive to keep their release dates and it makes Jason Blum hopeful that ‘Halloween Kills’ will keep its release date. At current, all we can do is wait and see how things turn out and if this all holds true.
By George Robbins
Horror movies are having their own type of resurgence over the past decade that are making people appreciate them again. One of the biggest contributor’s to this resurgence of horror films to the world is the Blumhouse production company run by the eponymous Jason Blum. They are responsible for most of the new age of horror cinema which made the genre step back into the spotlight. There have been horror films over the years since the slasher age of horror films which have made horror fans giddy with excitement, but an everyday person would not be interested. The newest era of films have some sort of thriller element to them which makes it possible for more people to get into the films they are meant to watch.
Blum has created a name for himself due to the wide variety of horror and thriller films that have been made under his company’s supervision. Not only the wide variety of films that have been made, but also the fact that the films have been low budget, high return films that have made his company a lot of money over the years. While not every film that has been made since the company started working on films have been well received, this hasn’t changed the fact that their films are generally box office success stories. They always make way more than they cost to make which is usually a few million dollars. Most people think that budget can make or break a film, but his company proves that this is not really true.
Although the pandemic has currently halted many productions, there are still films being worked on in other ways such as script writing and getting production prepared. Blumhouse is currently working on a couple of different films that have been in development, and most recently Jason Blum has said that the film adaptation for the game ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s‘ is still moving forward. The movie has been in the works since it was initially planned back in 2015 and is still moving ahead even now. It was originally picked up as an idea for a film back in 2015 by Warner Bros., but in 2017 it was handed over to Blumhouse Productions to work on. Like other films that Blumhouse has under their belt that people are worried aren’t being worked on, the movie is still being given some kind of focus.
The ‘Five Nights’ game series has become one loved by countless horror game aficionados that have found the plot of the series to be quite complex. The creator of the games, Scott Cawthon, has created a massive and diverse universe that is now perfect for a film to be made about it. There is murder and mystery as well as straight up terror found throughout that series of games and it makes for an interesting narrative to follow in a movie plot-line. The overall sense of dread found throughout the games means that Blumhouse might just be able to capture the spirit of the games and according to Jason Blum, we could be seeing it come out some time in the not too distant future.
By George Robbins
Movie theaters just haven’t had any luck these past few months since the pandemic began back in March and it isn’t getting any easier. Many privately owned theaters have already opened their doors to the public in order to try and drum up some kind of business. Most chain theaters won’t be opened up again, however, until the middle of July so there are still a large number of theaters that are shut down to the public. Those that have opened up are in nothing but trouble at this point anyway due to the fact they have no new movies to show anybody. This means that many theaters have no choice but to pull out classic movies that they know people may want to see in order to bring in customers. This is made even more difficult by the fact that they now have limitations they must follow as well.
Movie theaters must follow the new health guidelines that have been put into place, so they must regulate how many people are in their theaters at all times. Capacity limits have made it necessary that theaters have had to make adjustments that force people to be separated from one another. This means that even if they manage to draw crowds in to watch movies they have available, there won’t even be a lot of them allowed in the theater at once. This kind of limits the amount of money they can bring in and they must try and fill every seat that they can. Thus, the second problem they face soon becomes apparent and that is the fact that people are worried about going back out to such a public place.
In order to try and rebuild consumer confidence in their businesses, movie theater owners made the decision to play old movies that they know would draw people back into their theaters. This is why movies such as ‘Jaws‘ and ‘Jurassic Park‘ are being brought back out in an effort to get people out of the house and into theaters. People are looking for a reason to escape from their homes at this point and this is the perfect opportunity for them to do so, at least in their minds. There weren’t even that many theaters opened this past weekend, with only a couple hundred nationwide. Not every state is allowing them to be opened at the moment even if they say they are ready to open their doors, which is another reason numbers are kind of low.
Despite overall numbers being low due to the lack of customers and a lack of opened theaters, the box office still had something to report this past weekend. ‘Jurassic Park’ topped the Box Office charts this past weekend, even over 27 years after its initial release with ‘Jaws’ following right behind it. At over $500,000 this past Father’s Day Weekend, ‘Jurassic Park’ may not have record numbers, but it is far more than what was listed over the past few months. We normally expect millions, but taking into account everything else that has been said at this point, this isn’t too terrible for theaters. It isn’t all that great either, but it shows that people really do just want to get out of the house at this point and going to the movies is a good outlet for it.
By George Robbins
Discussions may still be in the works as far as casting is concerned, but there are already plans that have been established for what will be happening in the DCEU, at least for ‘The Flash’ movie. As of now there are not many films that are well liked by the DC fan base due to countless conflicting ideas over the direction of the movies. This has resulted in DCEU films having numerous reshoots which end up ruining the tone and plot of the films according to critics. This is something that people are currently trying to rectify with the upcoming movies that are considered a part of the DC Extended Universe. ‘Wonder Woman 1984‘ is the next film meant to release to theaters, but due to the virus it was delayed to some time later this year.
No one is sure of what direction this franchise of films is heading in at this point because of how the studio is going about making the films. It makes sense to say that the upcoming Wonder Woman takes place in the same universe as all of the other films thus far, but it’s the films that are coming out after it that make it all confusing. As of now, some time next year we will be getting ‘The Batman’ as long as filming is able to resume in the near future. Hopefully not too long after that we will get ‘The Flash’ movie which is where all of this talk about Michael Keaton possibly having a role in it is leading to.
Michael Keaton is well known for playing in the Tim Burton Batman films ‘Batman‘ and ‘Batman Returns‘ as the caped crusader as he fights against villains like Joker, Penguin, and Catwoman. These two films are the first big budget live action films that helped start the superhero movie craze that is now its own type of genre in the movie industry. The upcoming movie ‘The Flash’ supposedly has a plot set up where Barry Allen, The Flash, goes back in time to save his mother. This event creates an event known as Flashpoint in the comic book universe where it creates an alternate reality as a result and the multiverse becomes a reality known to the characters. What we will be seeing in the film will probably be something similar that gives us an introduction to the multiverse in the DCEU.
The idea going into that movie is that the discovery of the multiverse will bring Keaton’s Batman into the spotlight and he can become a part of the DCEU. If all goes according to plan, then the events of ‘Batman Forever’ and ‘Batman & Robin’ will be thrown to the wayside and the stories will stay on their own as standalone films. The Michael Keaton Batman films will end up being a part of the lore for the DCEU, but there is no telling how much is actually taking place in the same universe anymore. With the introduction of the multiverse, things could end up becoming even more strange and muddled in the near future in regards to the Extended Universe. As with most future events, all we can do is wait and see how it turns out.
By George Robbins
Ever since the middle of March movies have had almost no choice whatsoever in regards to keeping their movies on the same scheduled release dates. They have had to take movies out of theaters and release them digitally sooner than they wanted to, move the dates of film premieres, or just release their films straight to VOD. This is continuing to be an issue as time goes on since it seems things will not go the way people intended as cases of the virus have only increased. Ever since the reopening of many businesses, the virus has started spreading again and it will only keep spreading at this point. Once all theaters reopen, they won’t be able to draw in large crowds, so it is also dangerous for studios to put films out that could have little box office return.
Among the studios that have released films thus far is Universal who have decided to release their newest films to VOD instead of having theatrical releases. This has resulted in backlash from theater companies such as AMC which is a reason why many studios are simply delaying their films’ release dates. This helps them find out whether it will even be safe to put their films in theaters because even if they get a lot of turn-out, it won’t be nearly as many people as under normal circumstances. With this in mind, there are many films that will not see releases until late this year or some time next year because studios want to make as much as they can off of their films.
It can’t really be helped that some studios are willing to take a loss given everything that is going on right now. Even though it would be considered a loss, it could still end up being better for them in the long run as they can possibly recoup and make more money than it took to make and market the film. The truth of the matter is that the movie industry is kind of volatile right now as no one knows how things will end up over the next couple of months with theaters. If turn out is high enough for a couple of films, then we are sure to see studios keeping their theatrical releases in place so they can try and make their films successes. However, if turn out ends up being low, we could see more movies going straight to digital.
Most recently announced to be coming to digital is the ‘SpongeBob: Sponge on the Run‘ movie that was supposed to release this year. It was speculated that the movie would end up going straight to digital, but there was no word on that until now. The movie was supposed to have a full theatrical release this year, but now it will be delayed until 2021 and it will go straight to VOD. It will also have a streaming run on CBS All Access which is the CBS station’s personal streaming service. The delay will put the movie’s release some time into early next year and along with all past seasons of the show, it will be available on CBS All Access.
By George Robbins
Out of all of the upcoming events that are now back on track thanks to businesses reopening following being shut down due to the pandemic, one is very enigmatic. This would be the upcoming release of Christopher Nolan’s new movie ‘Tenet.’ Most chain movie theaters, such as AMC, will be opened by the middle of July after having been closed since the middle of March. This allows the opportunity for people to go back out to the movies in order to get themselves out of the house, but not without having to follow new guidelines put in place. As of now, and even upon the first couple of weeks after the openings of these theaters, they won’t really have any new content to show to the public. Nolan has had plans to make ‘Tenet’ one of the first new films available to the public.
Originally, the release date for the film was set around the time that theaters were meant to be opening their doors to the public again by releasing on July 17th. However, amid growing concerns and spikes in new virus cases, many movies had delays put on them with many being pushed back relatively far. ‘Tenet’ was not pushed as far back as people thought it would be and only ended up being pushed back about two weeks so that the studio could make Nolan happy. So as of now the release date for his newest film is set for July 31st.
Nolan has sort of a penchant for coming up with new original films and directing them in a way that makes people marvel at what it is they see on the big screen. Just like the rest of his films before they are released, ‘Tenet’ is a film that is shrouded in nothing but mystery and it seems the trailers we have for the film only serve to make people even more confused. People shouldn’t feel like they are missing out by not knowing anything either, because not even some of the actors are entirely sure of what is going on in the movie. This has led to people searching for any kind of information they can in regards to the movie and the constant asking of questions to try and get new information out of Nolan.
On a discussion about the movie and a question about what Robert Pattinson’s character’s name was, Nolan said, “We think he may be called Neil. You never really quite know what’s going on with these identities.” This leaves us with a guess as to whether this was just a joke or if the character has identities he uses to prevent enemy agents from identifying him. His character has also been described by Nolan as being “rascally” and he works within the “twilight world of operatives in different secret services.” So although he might be teaming up with John David Washington’s Protagonist, there is no telling what he will really do by the end of the film. The only thing that can be done now is wait for the film to release and hope we are one of the few people allowed in theaters.
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