Filmmaker Cary Fukunaga has been waiting more than a year and a half for the biggest movie of his career, the James Bond film to arrive in theaters. It has been a strange and surreal wait. Months before the much-delayed movie is even released on Oct. 8, the filmB次元官网网址檚 theme song, by Billie Eilish, has already won a Grammy.
B次元官网网址淚 had a dream last night where Sam Mendes was there,B次元官网网址� Fukunaga said in a recent interview, referring to the director of the previous two Bond movies. B次元官网网址淲e were on vacation on some frozen lake. He was done with Bond films. And he was like, B次元官网网址極h, you finished one. Now you get a break.B次元官网网址� Then we started, like, water skiing on a frozen lake.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚t was a weird dream,B次元官网网址� says Fukunaga.
The fall movie season B次元官网网址� usually a reliable rhythm and cozy autumn comfort B次元官网网址� is this year, like much of the past 18 months, a little disorienting. On the way are movies once planned to open as far back as April 2020, like B次元官网网址淣o Time to Die,B次元官网网址� summer movies that hope to find better conditions in autumn, and films that have been shot and edited during the pandemic.
What has coalesced is a movie mishmash B次元官网网址� something much more robust than last fallB次元官网网址檚 cobbled together, B次元官网网址� a season that stretched all the way to the Oscars in April. But the recent rise in COVID-19 cases due to the delta variant has added new uncertainty to a time Hollywood had once hoped would be nearing normality.
B次元官网网址淓verything is fluid, and everything will stay fluid,B次元官网网址� says Tom Rothman, chairman and chief executive of Sony Pictures. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 the antithesis of the way it used to be. In the old days, you planted your flag and you didnB次元官网网址檛 move for hell or high water. Now, thereB次元官网网址檚 a great premium on being very flexible and nimble.B次元官网网址�
The unpredictability of the conditions is universally shared but acutely felt at studios like Sony that even through the pandemic have remained largely committed to exclusive theatrical releases. While Disney (with Disney+) and Warner Bros. (with HBO Max) have sought to hedge their bets and boost subscribers to their streaming services with day-and-date releases in 2021, Sony, Universal, Paramount and MGM (home to Bond) B次元官网网址� with various windowing strategies B次元官网网址� have mostly stuck to theater-first plans.
In all the movies coming this fall B次元官网网址� among them (Oct. 15), (Oct. 22), (Nov. 5), (Nov. 24) B次元官网网址攏othing may be quite as tense as the ever-unfolding drama around old-fashioned, butts-in-the-seats moviegoing. Citing the delta-driven surge, Paramount has uprooted from the season, . But on the heels of some promising box-office performances, many of the fallB次元官网网址檚 top movies and leading Oscar hopefuls are only doubling down on theatrical, and the cultural impact that comes with it. Even if itB次元官网网址檚 a gamble.
B次元官网网址淲e have a lot of inventory. You donB次元官网网址檛 want to keep pushing all of the films,B次元官网网址� says Rothman. B次元官网网址淎t a certain point, you have to go.B次元官网网址�
After building confidence in moviegoing over the summer, delta has sapped some of HollywoodB次元官网网址檚 momentum. The National Research Group had recorded more than 80% of moviegoers were comfortable going to theaters in July. But that number dipped to 67% last month.
Yet summerB次元官网网址檚 last big movie, MarvelB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淪hang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� one of the best performances of the pandemic. Notably, it was only playing in theaters.
Even before all the numbers were in, Rothman and Sony moved up the release of the sequel to its $856 million superhero hit, by two weeks to Oct. 1. It kicks off SonyB次元官网网址檚 slate including Jason ReitmanB次元官网网址檚 (Nov. 19), Denzel WashingtonB次元官网网址檚 (Dec. 10) and (Dec. 17).
No studio is betting quite as big on movie theaters this fall as Sony. The studio lacks a major streaming platform but with Netflix and Disney to stream films after theatrical release. Discussing the disappointing results of day-and-date movies like Warner Bros.B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淭he Suicide SquadB次元官网网址� versus a Rothman recently touted the explanation:
B次元官网网址淭here is no economic model to B次元官网网址� never mind make a profit B次元官网网址� to break even on the assets themselves without a windowed universe. It doesnB次元官网网址檛 exist,B次元官网网址� says Rothman.
That debate B次元官网网址� what movies open where and when B次元官网网址� is sure to remain unsettled in the coming months, and probably well beyond. Warner Bros. has pledged to return to exclusive theatrical releases, for 45 days, next year. But little this fall B次元官网网址� including the movie calendar B次元官网网址� is a sure thing.
B次元官网网址淯ntil the pandemic is genuinely behind us, I donB次元官网网址檛 think that you can prognosticate about what the future of cinema is going to be,B次元官网网址� says Rothman. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 still on emergency footing right now.B次元官网网址�
So HollywoodB次元官网网址檚 summer in limbo will stretch into the fall. But more than any previous point in the pandemic, a whole lot of movies are lined up. The Venice and Telluride film festivals have kindled buzz for a wide array of upcoming films, including (Nov. 17), with Benedict Cumberbatch. The Oscar race could have some major star power, too. Among the early standouts: (Nov. 5) and Will Smith as Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena, in (Nov. 19).
In Jessica Chastain transforms into the infamous televangelist. Searchlight Pictures will release it Sept. 17 in theaters.
B次元官网网址淲e like that communal experience, especially after a year and a half of being starved of it. It doesnB次元官网网址檛 mean streaming is going away. ItB次元官网网址檚 here to stay,B次元官网网址� says Chastain, who also stars in the HBO miniseries B次元官网网址淪cenes from a Marriage.B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淚n my mind, I just see the industry as expanding.B次元官网网址�
Just how many films have been released during the pandemic is often underestimated. But even with a few high-profile departures, the upcoming season is crowded. Apple has Joel CoenB次元官网网址檚 with Denzel Washington. Amazon has the musical adaptation (Sept. 17). New movies are on tap from world-class filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson, Guillermo del Toro (B次元官网网址淣ightmare Alley,B次元官网网址� Dec. 3), Pedro Almod贸var ( Dec. 24), Asghar Farhadi (B次元官网网址淎 Hero,B次元官网网址� Jan. 7) and Paolo Sorrentino ( Nov. 24).
ThereB次元官网网址檚 also a feast of docs including Julie Cohen and Betsy WestB次元官网网址檚 Julia Child portrait B次元官网网址淛uliaB次元官网网址� (not yet dated); Liz GarbusB次元官网网址� (Oct. 22); Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy ChinB次元官网网址檚 (October), about the 2018 Thai cave rescue; and, fittingly, a portrait of one of the pandemicB次元官网网址檚 most ubiquitous faces, infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, in John Hoffman and Janet TobiasB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淔auciB次元官网网址� (Sept. 10).
Netflix will release three dozen films between now and Christmas B次元官网网址� including (Dec. 17); the Western (Nov. 3), with Jonathan Majors and Idris Elba; Lin-Manuel MirandaB次元官网网址檚 directorial debut ; and Antoine FuquaB次元官网网址檚 (Sept. 24), a single-setting crime thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a demoted police officer taking 911 calls.
Just before production began earlier this year, Fuqua came in close contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus. To keep distance from his cast and crew, he directed the movie from a van parked outside the set.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a strange world weB次元官网网址檙e in at the moment, and it wears on all of us quite a bit,B次元官网网址� says Fuqua. B次元官网网址淏ut I try to stay positive. ThatB次元官网网址檚 why B次元官网网址楾he GuiltyB次元官网网址� happened. I do think thereB次元官网网址檚 a responsibility for all of us to forge ahead, not wallow in the situation that weB次元官网网址檙e in, and find new ways to do it.B次元官网网址�
Hopefully, the long delay of a number of films that have been waiting in the wings for more than a year B次元官网网址� including Steven SpielbergB次元官网网址檚 (Dec. 10), Wes AndersonB次元官网网址檚 (Oct. 22) and, yes, B次元官网网址淣o Time to DieB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� will soon finally be over.
B次元官网网址淲hat I havenB次元官网网址檛 gotten on this one is the satisfaction of anyone else seeing the film and saying B次元官网网址業 hated itB次元官网网址� or B次元官网网址業 like it,B次元官网网址� says Fukunaga. B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 the part youB次元官网网址檙e waiting for. Some people are going to like it. Some people arenB次元官网网址檛 going to like it. But you still want to hear it. Even if you donB次元官网网址檛 want to hear it, you want to hear it.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址擩ake Coyle , The Associated Press
