B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� is a hard act to follow. But as Hollywood enters another summer movie season, armed with fewer superheroes and a landscape vastly altered by the strikes, itB次元官网网址檚 worth remembering the classic about what works: B次元官网网址淣obody knows anything.B次元官网网址�

Four decades later, that still may be true. Yet one thing Hollywood has learned in releasing films through the pandemic and the strikes is how to pivot quickly.

The summer of 2023 brought a new enthusiasm for moviegoing, with the of B次元官网网址淏arbieB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址� ,B次元官网网址� and surprise hits like B次元官网网址� ,B次元官网网址� helping the seasonB次元官网网址檚 box office crack $4 billion for the first time since 2019. But before the industry could take a victory lap, there was another crisis looming with , which for months.

MOVIES FIND A WAY POST-STRIKE

In the fallout, theaters lost big summer titles like B次元官网网址淢ission: Impossible 8,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淐aptain America: Brave New WorldB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淭hunderboltsB次元官网网址� to 2025. But they gained a gem in Jeff NicholsB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淭he BikeridersB次元官网网址� (June 21), about a 1960s Midwestern motorcycle club, as studios moved films around on the summer chessboard. B次元官网网址淒eadpool & Wolverine,B次元官网网址� once set to kick off the summer moviegoing season on May 3 like many Marvel movies before it, is now sitting happily on July 26, patiently waiting to dominate the summer charts.

B次元官网网址淚 do love being right there in the belly of summer,B次元官网网址� said director Shawn Levy. B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 a juicy moment.B次元官网网址�

The kickoff weekend instead belongs to an original film about a different kind of superhero. B次元官网网址� ,B次元官网网址� starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, is part romantic-comedy, part action-comedy, and all love letter to the stunt performers that make movies spectacular. ItB次元官网网址檚 an earnest crowd-pleaser that could jumpstart a season that feels, in some ways, like a throwback, with full-throttle spectacles (B次元官网网址淔uriosa: A Mad Max Saga,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淭wistersB次元官网网址�), comedies (B次元官网网址淏abesB次元官网网址�), IMAX wonder (B次元官网网址淭he Blue AngelsB次元官网网址�) and even a Kevin Costner Western.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has seen the highs and lows of summer movies over the decades, with blockbusters including B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� and the B次元官网网址淧irates of the CaribbeanB次元官网网址� movies.

This season, he has three very different offerings on the calendar, two are fourth installments in popular franchises B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淏everly Hills CopB次元官网网址� (July 3, Netflix) and B次元官网网址淏ad BoysB次元官网网址� (June 7, theaters) B次元官网网址� and one was planned for streaming but tested so well that itB次元官网网址檚 getting a theatrical rollout (B次元官网网址淵oung Woman and the Sea,B次元官网网址� May 31).

B次元官网网址淧eople just want to be entertained,B次元官网网址� Bruckheimer said. B次元官网网址淚t really comes down to us to make the right movies that they want to go see.B次元官网网址�

THE $4 BILLION GOAL POST

A Hollywood summer lasts 123 days from the first Friday in May through Labor Day Monday in September. Pre-pandemic, $4 billion was a normal summer intake and theaters could count on anywhere between 37 and 42 films to open on over 2,000 screens. The outlier was 2017, which had only 35 movies on over 2,000 screens and topped out at $3.8 billion. It makes last summerB次元官网网址檚 $4 billion haul with 32 wide releases (45% of the $9 billion domestic haul) even more impressive.

This summer should have 32 wide releases as well and over 40 movies opening in 500+ theaters. Notably only two of them are Marvel movies (B次元官网网址淒eadpoolB次元官网网址� and SonyB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淜raven the HunterB次元官网网址�) and are the only superhero movies on the calendar until the B次元官网网址淛okerB次元官网网址� sequel in the fall.

B次元官网网址淧eople are going to see movies, not box office, and it looks like a really solid summer from a moviegoerB次元官网网址檚 perspective,B次元官网网址� said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore.

REVVING UP FOR ORIGINALS

B次元官网网址淭he BikeridersB次元官网网址� was one that planned for an awards season rollout, with a turbo boost from stellar reviews out of the Telluride Film Festival hailing star turns for and Jodie Comer. But as they inched closer to its release date it became clear that the strikes were not going to resolve in time for a press tour.

B次元官网网址淚t was kind of like walking on frozen glass for three months,B次元官网网址� Nichols said. B次元官网网址淚 was touring around doing press and trying to build this energy on my own. Let me tell you, itB次元官网网址檚 not the same as Austin Butler.B次元官网网址�

Later in June, , Kevin Costner will begin rolling out his two-part Western epic B次元官网网址淗orizon: An American Saga,B次元官网网址� set during the Civil War. And as always there are a slew of Sundance breakouts peppered throughout the summer, from Jane ShoenbrunB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淚 Saw the TV GlowB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淒idiB次元官网网址� to B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淕ood One.B次元官网网址�

FARE FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

Family films often go into hyperdrive in the summer, capitalizing on long days out of school. This year has plenty, like B次元官网网址淭he Garfield MovieB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淒espicable Me 4,B次元官网网址� re-releases of Studio Ghibli classics, and streaming options (B次元官网网址淭helma the UnicornB次元官网网址�). But perhaps none has more anticipation behind it than B次元官网网址淚nside Out 2B次元官网网址� (June 14, theaters), which meets up with Riley as she enters her teenage years as a new group of emotions crash JoyB次元官网网址檚 party, including Anxiety, Envy, Ennui and Embarrassment.

B次元官网网址淭hat age gives us everything we need and love for a Pixar film,B次元官网网址� director Kelsey Mann said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 full of drama, it has potential for a lot of heart, and I could also make it really funny.B次元官网网址�

John Krasinski is also delving into the inner world of children with his ambitious live-action hybrid B次元官网网址淚FB次元官网网址� (May 17, theaters) about the imaginary friends that get left behind and two humans (Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming) who can still see them.

THE ALLURE OF HORROR

Audiences seeking the adrenaline rush of horrors and thrillers have plenty of choices, including B次元官网网址淢aXXXine,B次元官网网址� the conclusion to Ti WestB次元官网网址檚 accidental Mia Goth trilogy (B次元官网网址淴B次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址�) that debuts around the fourth of July.

GothB次元官网网址檚 aspiring actress has made her way to Hollywood where a killer is stalking Hollywood starlets around the time of the home video boom of the 1980s.

B次元官网网址淲e recreated the sleazy side of Hollywood in a hopefully charming way,B次元官网网址� West said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 definitely a pretty wild night at the movies. A big, rockinB次元官网网址�, fun movie.B次元官网网址�

On June 26, audiences can also delve into the beginnings of B次元官网网址淎 Quiet PlaceB次元官网网址� with a prequel set on B次元官网网址淒ay OneB次元官网网址� starring Luptia NyongB次元官网网址檕 and B次元官网网址淪tranger ThingsB次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Joseph Quinn. Director Michael Sarnoski said they wanted to explore the B次元官网网址渟cope and promiseB次元官网网址� of a Quiet Place movie in New York. Later, Fede 脕lvarez brings his horror acumen to B次元官网网址淎lien: RomulusB次元官网网址� (Aug. 16), set between the first two.

M. Night Shyamalan is back as well with a thriller set at a pop concert (B次元官网网址淭rap,B次元官网网址� Aug. 9) and his daughter, Ishana Night Shyamalan, makes her directorial debut with the spooky, Ireland-set B次元官网网址淭he WatchersB次元官网网址� (June 14) with Dakota Fanning.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 very suspenseful and unexpected,B次元官网网址� Ishana said. B次元官网网址淎nd itB次元官网网址檚 very much built for the experience of being in a theater.B次元官网网址�

THE STARS ARE STREAMING

Much to the chagrin of theater owners, big summer movies have also existed off the big screen for years now. And the streamers have movie stars and spectacle with the festival favorite B次元官网网址淗it Man,B次元官网网址� the Anne Hathaway romance B次元官网网址淭he Idea of You,B次元官网网址� Jerry SeinfeldB次元官网网址檚 starry pop-tart movie B次元官网网址淯nfrostedB次元官网网址� and a Mark Wahlberg/Halle Berry action comedy B次元官网网址淭he Union.B次元官网网址�

They have franchises too: B次元官网网址淏everly Hills Cop: Axel FB次元官网网址� (July 3) was a movie that was in and out of development since the mid-1990s, but got new life when Paramount licensed the rights to Netflix.

B次元官网网址淲e raised our hand to make sure we got the franchise right and kept the integrity and fun of the original,B次元官网网址� Bruckheimer said.

This installment adds an emotional component in which Eddie MurphyB次元官网网址檚 Axel Foley reunites with his estranged daughter (Taylour Paige). It also sees the return of Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser and Bronson Pinchot and adds Kevin Bacon and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

On Aug. 9, Apple TV+ will also have B次元官网网址淭he Instigators,B次元官网网址� a new action-comedy starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck as normal guys attempting a heist. B次元官网网址淢idnight RunB次元官网网址� was one of their touchstones.

B次元官网网址淭he script was so funny and I wanted to really embrace that,B次元官网网址� Doug Liman, who directed, said.

BUT ALSO, NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING

Remember, anything can happen with summer movies.

We can pretend we knew that B次元官网网址淏arbieB次元官网网址� would be the , but would anyone have bet that an R-rated drama about the father of the atomic bomb would have as Harrison FordB次元官网网址檚 last ride as Indiana Jones? Or that a $14 million crowdfunded movie from a new studio about child trafficking with next to zero promotion would earn over $250 million?

B次元官网网址淣obody knows anything is right,B次元官网网址� said B次元官网网址淭he InstigatorsB次元官网网址� producer Kevin Walsh. B次元官网网址淭he movie business is so unpredictable. You never know whatB次元官网网址檚 going to work and what isnB次元官网网址檛. But you have your taste. And following your taste and your instincts in this business is paramount.B次元官网网址�

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