Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian guest-stars (as Ryan Scott takes a breather) amid a look at Civil War’s second-weekend hold (the good) and the debuts for Abigail and Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (the bad, both opening below Night Swim in early 2024) prior to a deep dive into the upcoming summer movie season (barring a miracle, the ugly).
Will Despicable Me 4 and Deadpool & Wolverine rule the season?
Can Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes rise to the levels of its 2014 predecessor?
Will Inside Out 2 reverse — asterisk notwithstanding — a Pixar slump?
Can less likely contenders like Twisters and Furiosa break from the pack?
Is the summer marketplace big enough for two WBD horror movies both directed by members of the Shyamalan clan?
All these questions and more will be discussed without actually being answered because, sadly, we cannot see or predict the future!
In terms of the written word…
Jeremy Fuster did deep dives into the shocking demise of Participant Media and the newest wrinkle in the “Will Paramount be sold, and if so to whom?” melodrama.
Ryan Scott’s latest “Tales from the Box Office” discussed Warner Bros. and New Line’s bemusing shell game concerning whether or not The Curse of La Llorona was actually a Conjuring Universe flick.
Lisa Laman penned a piece for Next Best Picture concerning whether the decent earnings for Poor Things (among others) constituted renewed box office potential for awards season releases. The answer… will astound you! She also just dropped another piece for Autostraddle, History and Future of Trans Women in Action Movies.
I assume if you’re here, you already read some of my stuff anyway, but just in case, check out this deep-ish dive into how comparatively “subversive” or self-aware superhero movies like Deadpool & Wolverine and superhero TV shows like The Boys, are now comparatively mainstream offerings.
As always, if you like what you’re hearing, do the usual thing of liking, sharing, commenting and *smashing* (using a cartoon mallet) that subscribe button with every justified ounce of strength and passion. And do check out my guests’ work at their respective home bases. If you want to bother them on social media, well, that’s what Google is for.
Jeremy Fuster - https://www.thewrap.com/author/jeremy-fuster/
Lisa Laman - https://lisalaman.wixstudio.io/lisaportfolio
Ryan C. Scott - https://www.slashfilm.com/author/ryanscott/
Ep 12 - Killer Nazis > Nazi Killers But Death Pools > Vampire Girls