<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



DC Comics’ late-summer superhero movie&nbsp;Blue Beetle&nbsp;grossed roughly $9.8 million on its opening day at the U.S. box office, taking down Mattel’s&nbsp;Barbie&nbsp;after a month on top of the box office charts, though&nbsp;Blue Beetle’s opening still pales in comparison to rival Marvel’s recent releases, a lackluster start for DC’s latest movie, which cost a reported $104 million to make.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



Blue Beetle&nbsp;has pulled in more than $13 million since its opening, including $3.3 million in Thursday previews,&nbsp;<a href="https://deadline.com/2023/08/box-office-blue-beetle-strays-barbie-1235522235/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Deadline</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/box-office/box-office-blue-beetle-previews-1235698810/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Variety</a>&nbsp;reported, taking down&nbsp;Barbie&nbsp;after 29 straight days on top of the U.S. box office, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Box Office Mojo</a>.



The DC movie is projected to make between $25 million to $32 million through Sunday,&nbsp;Variety&nbsp;reported, though&nbsp;Deadline&nbsp;puts it at $25 million, making it DC’s latest underperforming film as it struggles to compete with rival Marvel.



Its opening could also finish with less than half of the $55.1 million DC’s&nbsp;The Flash&nbsp;pulled in domestically over its opening weekend in June, though&nbsp;The Flash&nbsp;also struggled to meet expectations, falling short of its $70 million opening weekend projection, after the film faced&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2023/02/14/a-detailed-look-at-flash-star-ezra-millers-rough-2-years-harassment-burglary-charges-and-more/?sh=29e8e15029b7">controversy</a>&nbsp;over harassment and disorderly conduct charges against star Ezra Miller.



By comparison, Marvel’s&nbsp;Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3&nbsp;pulled in $118.4 million in its opening weekend in May, while&nbsp;Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania&nbsp;grossed $106.2 million in its opening weekend in February and Sony’s&nbsp;Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse&nbsp;grossed $120.7 million in its first weekend.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



The DC movie has a 91% audience score and a 75% critics’ score on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blue_beetle" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rotten Tomatoes</a>, though critics have not been universally friendly, giving it a score of 61 out of 100 on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/blue-beetle" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Metacritic</a>. A review in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/aug/16/dc-latino-superhero-film-blue-beetle-review" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Guardian</a>&nbsp;lauded the movie for setting a “milestone for representation” as the first live-action Latino superhero film, but confessed the movie “suffers from overplayed beats,” due to the “fatigue from oversaturation” of a seemingly never ending string of Hollywood superhero movies. A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/16/movies/blue-beetle-review.html#:~:text=The%20plot%20is%20boilerplate%20and,family%20members%20steal%20the%20show." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York Times</a>&nbsp;review didn’t pull any punches either, calling the plot “boilerplate” and the superhero “not particularly compelling.”



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



Barbie&nbsp;is just under $30 million short of surpassing&nbsp;The Super Mario Bros. Movie&nbsp;as the year’s highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office. Since its release,&nbsp;Barbie&nbsp;has pulled in $545.8 million in the U.S. and another $660.6 million internationally, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1077904129/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a>&nbsp;from Box Office Mojo, putting it just behind the Universal Pictures and Nintendo blockbuster, which has grossed more than $574.2 million domestically since its release on April 5.&nbsp;Barbie&nbsp;still has $110 million to go to catch up with James Cameron’s&nbsp;Avatar: The Way of Water, which has grossed more than $684 million in the U.S. since its December release.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/08/06/barbie-tops-1-billion-at-global-box-office/?sh=6c5fe75c7520">‘Barbie’ Tops $1 Billion At Global Box Office</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2023/08/13/barbie-and-oppenheimer-continue-box-office-dominance-for-fourth-week-raking-in-combined-525-million/?sh=65ef9f762019">&#8216;Barbie’ And &#8216;Oppenheimer&#8217; Continue Box Office Dominance For Fourth Week—Raking In Combined $52.5 Million</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/08/12/barbie-breaks-500-million-at-us-box-office-further-cementing-itself-as-summers-blockbuster/?sh=744fe19b43f9">‘Barbie’ Breaks $500 Million At U.S. Box Office—Further Cementing Itself As Summer’s Blockbuster</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)

New Barbie Movie Sparks Barbie-mania Across U.S.

End Of Barbiemania? ‘Blue Beetle’ Unseats ‘Barbie’ With $9.8 Million Opening

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Barbie&nbsp;was pulled from theaters in Algeria this week, joining a growing list of countries that, despite the summer blockbuster’s widespread success, have banned the film because of its themes of gender and sexuality or because of the film’s alleged use of a controversial map. (Say what?)



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



Algeria:&nbsp;Algeria’s Ministry of Culture and Arts notified cinemas in the cities of Algiers, Oram and Constantine earlier this week to “immediately” pull the movie, the Algerian news outlet 24H&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24hdz.com/le-film-barbie-interdit-en-salles-en-algerie/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>&nbsp;(a source confirmed the news to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/algeria-bans-barbie-movie-media-official-source-say-2023-08-14/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reuters</a>).



Kuwait:&nbsp;On Thursday, officials in Kuwait announced they were banning the film because it promoted “ideas and beliefs that are alien to the Kuwaiti society and public order,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=3105733&amp;Language=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to</a>&nbsp;a statement published by the state-run KUNA news agency. (The statement did not cite any specific scenes that Kuwaiti censors found objectionable.)



Vietnam:&nbsp;Before the film premiered, officials in Vietnam&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/07/03/barbie-movie-banned-in-vietnam-over-controversial-map/?sh=7ec28cfc4ba7">announced</a>&nbsp;they were banning&nbsp;Barbie&nbsp;over a scene that included a map that appeared to show China’s contested territorial claims in the South China Sea—Warner Bros.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/07/07/warner-bros-defends-child-like-map-that-got-barbie-banned-in-vietnam/?sh=2702920437bd">disputed</a>&nbsp;the claim, describing the drawing as “child-like.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-contra">CONTRA</h2>



Before it was banned,&nbsp;Barbie&nbsp;had sold out Algerian theaters every day since its July 19 release, the Algerian news outlet 24H&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24hdz.com/le-film-barbie-interdit-en-salles-en-algerie/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



It’s not uncommon for countries, particularly Gulf nations, to ban movies or TV shows because the content goes against certain religious beliefs. A number of countries in the Middle East, for example, have&nbsp;<a href="https://deadline.com/2022/05/everything-everywhere-all-once-banned-middle-east-1235016780/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">banned</a>&nbsp;films that include gay characters, such as&nbsp;Everything Everywhere All At Once, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, Eternals&nbsp;and&nbsp;West Side Story.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-we-don-t-know">WHAT WE DON’T KNOW</h2>



It’s unclear how many other countries may ban the box office hit.&nbsp;Barbie&nbsp;is scheduled to premiere in theaters in Lebanon on August 31, but some officials have said they might follow the lead of other Middle Eastern countries and ban the movie from theaters. Lebanese culture minister Mohammad Mortada asked the interior ministry to ban&nbsp;Barbie&nbsp;because he said it contradicts “values of faith and morality” and promotes “homosexuality and sexual transformation,” the Associated Press&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mideast-barbie-movie-censorship-955390b933747bfc3f662022db2e4d9b" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>. Mortada also said&nbsp;Barbie&nbsp;questioned the necessity of marriage and ridiculed the role of mothers, the&nbsp;New York Times&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/10/arts/barbie-ban-kuwait-lebanon.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



Barbie&nbsp;was nearly banned in the Philippines earlier this month. Following news of Vietnam’s decision to not air the film, officials in the Philippines launched a weeklong review of the film that included two review sessions and conversations among multiple government departments,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=741736454626335&amp;set=pcb.741736844626296" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to</a>&nbsp;a press release from the country’s Movie and Television Review and Classification Board. The board&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=741736454626335&amp;set=pcb.741736844626296" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">decided</a>&nbsp;the map included in the film did “not depict the ‘nine-dash line,’” a term used to describe China’s contested claims over the South China Sea, and instead the map “portrayed the route of the make-believe journey of Barbie.” In the statement, the board&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=741736454626335&amp;set=pcb.741736844626296" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">noted</a>&nbsp;it has previously sanctioned filmmakers and distributions for exhibiting the fictitious nine-dash line in their films.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



$1,187,042,188. That’s how much money&nbsp;Barbie&nbsp;has grossed worldwide since it premiered in mid-July,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1077904129/?ref_=bo_hm_RECENT_WEEKEND_WIDGET_1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to</a>&nbsp;Box Office Mojo. Domestically&nbsp;Barbie&nbsp;has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1077904129/?ref_=bo_hm_RECENT_WEEKEND_WIDGET_1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">earned</a>&nbsp;more than $526 million, making it the second-highest-grossing movie of the year&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/08/12/barbie-breaks-500-million-at-us-box-office-further-cementing-itself-as-summers-blockbuster/?sh=4ba5ebde43f9">behind</a>&nbsp;the&nbsp;Super Mario Bros. Movie.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Barbie&nbsp;has dominated the U.S. box office since it first opened in theaters in July and taken the top box office spot for the past four weeks. The film tells the live-action story of Mattel dolls Barbie and Ken. With an all-star cast—Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, Ncuti Gatwa, Michael Cera, Simu Liu, America Ferrera and Dua Lipa—and pop soundtrack produced by Mark Ronson, the film’s release was long awaited by many.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/07/03/barbie-movie-banned-in-vietnam-over-controversial-map/?sh=7ec28cfc4ba7">‘Barbie’ Movie Banned In Vietnam Over Controversial Map</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/10/arts/barbie-ban-kuwait-lebanon.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kuwait And Lebanon Look To Ban ‘Barbie’ For Moral Reasons</a>&nbsp;(New York Times)

The European Premiere of Barbie in London

‘Barbie’ Banned In Algeria—Here’s Where Else You Can’t See The Box Office Hit

Justin Lin’s&nbsp;F9&nbsp;finally opened in North America this weekend with a $70 million debut. Yes, that’s lower than the $71 million launch of&nbsp;Fast &amp; Furious&nbsp;and every&nbsp;Fast &amp; Furious&nbsp;movie since then, including&nbsp;Fast Five&nbsp;($86 million in 2011),&nbsp;Fast &amp; Furious 6&nbsp;(a $117 million Fri-Mon launch in 2013),&nbsp;Furious 7&nbsp;($147 million in 2015) and&nbsp;Fate of the Furious&nbsp;($99 million in 2017). Considering that&nbsp;Fate of the Furious&nbsp;took an understandable drop from&nbsp;Furious 7&nbsp;(no nationwide mourning for Paul Walker, no generational coronation for the franchise, no super-cool notion of Jason Statham as the prime baddie, etc.), it would also make sense that&nbsp;F9&nbsp;would open below&nbsp;F8.



There were no real added value elements this time out, all due respect to John Cena’s decency and charisma and the #justice4Han folks. News that there would be 11&nbsp;Fast &amp; Furious&nbsp;movies instead of ten made this Vin Diesel vs. John Cena flick less anticipated. The reviews were mixed-positive as was (comparatively speaking) audience buzz. It earned a B+ from Cinemascore, compared to a B+ for&nbsp;The Fast and the Furious&nbsp;back in 2001 (when it was an unknown quantity) and A or A- grades for every sequel since.&nbsp;F9&nbsp;likely wasn’t looking at another $97 million Fri-Sun/$117 million Fri-Mon debut weekend had it opened in a non-Covid world in Memorial Day weekend 2020.



That’s not to say that&nbsp;F9&nbsp;would have opened below $70 million in normal times, although&nbsp;Spectre&nbsp;opened with $70 million in 2015 and legged out to $200 million domestic/$881 million worldwide. In conventional circumstances,&nbsp;F9&nbsp;might have nabbed a $80 million Fri-Sun/$92 million Fri-Mon Memorial Day weekend debut. Considering the Covid curve, strong legs for&nbsp;A Quiet Place part II&nbsp;and the new normal of nine big-deal streaming platforms (Peacock, HBO Max, Paramount+ and Disney+ all didn’t exist two years ago) all offering your favorite movies for the monthly price of a single movie ticket, I’d argue that a $70 million Fri-Sun domestic launch for&nbsp;F9&nbsp;is close to “business as usual.”



It’s the biggest Fri-Sun debut weekend since&nbsp;Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker&nbsp;($179 million) in December of 2019.&nbsp;F9’s&nbsp;$30 million opening day was the biggest single-day gross since the first week of&nbsp;Episode IX’s domestic run.&nbsp;F9&nbsp;had a 2.3x weekend multiplier earned 10.2% of its opening via Thursday previews.&nbsp;Furious 9&nbsp;($147 million from a $67.4 million Friday and $15.6 million in Thursday previews) had a 2.18x weekend multiplier and earned 10.6% of its weekend via previews.&nbsp;Fate of the Furious&nbsp;($98.8 million/$46.5 million/$10.4 million) had a 2.12x multiplier and 10.5% via previews. It’s, by default, the leggiest Fri-Sun&nbsp;Fast&nbsp;sequel opener since&nbsp;Fast Five&nbsp;($86.2 million/$34.4 million/$3.8 million) in 2011.



The Fast Saga&nbsp;sequels have been pretty consistent.&nbsp;Fast &amp; Furious&nbsp;($155 million from a $71 million debut),&nbsp;Fast &amp; Furious 6&nbsp;($238 million from a $117 million Fri-Mon debut) and&nbsp;Fate of the Furious&nbsp;($226 million/$99 million) were arguably frontloaded.&nbsp;2 Fast 2 Furious&nbsp;($127 million/$50 million),&nbsp;Fast Five&nbsp;($210 million/$86 million) and&nbsp;Furious 7&nbsp;($353 million/$147 million) had over/under 2.5x multipliers.&nbsp;Hobbs &amp; Shaw&nbsp;($175 million/$60 million) benefited from being the last biggie of summer 2019 and legged out to 2.91x, while the glorified spin-off&nbsp;Tokyo Drift&nbsp;($62.5 million/$24 million) had a 2.6x multiplier. Presume a final domestic gross between $152 million and $170 million, with a possible upswing to $175-$180 million.



F9&nbsp;is not among the best-loved sequels but may have a pretty open field.&nbsp;Black Widow&nbsp;opens in two weeks, but after that it’s a question of whether&nbsp;Space Jam: A New Legacy&nbsp;(July 16) and&nbsp;Snake Eyes&nbsp;(July 23) break out. If not,&nbsp;F9’s got a month before&nbsp;Jungle Cruise&nbsp;(July 30) and&nbsp;The Suicide Squad&nbsp;(August 6). Since it opened above $50 million, it gets a 31-day window. That&nbsp;A Quiet Place part II&nbsp;is legging out like a champ despite a 45-day window, and that&nbsp;The Croods: A New Age&nbsp;earned $33 million of its $58 million cume after PVOD availability (on day 21), means it may not be a huge factor.



So, yes, at a glance, Universal’s choice to move&nbsp;F9&nbsp;to late June essentially worked in terms of kicking off what counts as the tentpole-centric portion of summer 2021. It was trying to do this summer what&nbsp;Tenet&nbsp;couldn’t do last summer, with the important caveat being that North American theaters were actually doing their part this time. Theaters nationwide (including New York and California this time) are open and the next wave of biggies (Black Widow, Space Jam 2, Jungle Cruise, Suicide Squad, Free Guy, etc.) are still on tap for cinemas alongside the various horror movies (The Forever Purge, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, Old, Don’t Breathe 2&nbsp;and&nbsp;Candyman) already doing their part.



F9 had already earned $216 million in China (on par with Hobbs &amp; Shaw’s $201 million cume but down from Fate of the Furious’ $393 million cume) and $297 million heading into the weekend. Thanks to the North American debut and a combined $38 million “overseas debut” in Mexico, Brazil and the U.K., its new global cume is $405 million worldwide, becoming just the third Hollywood release to pass that milestone (after Bad Boys For Life in January 2020and Godzilla Vs. Kong this past March) in 2020 and 2021. It should swiftly zoom past Japan’s Demon Slayer: The Movie ($500 million) as both this year and last year’s biggest-grossing movie. Your move, Black Widow…



By Scott Mendelson, Forbes Staff

May Day Holiday Movies

Box Office: ‘F9’ Tops $400M Global With $70M US Debut

I’m pretty comfortable predicting that this summer’s theatrical movie season will be the weirdest summer movie season since last summer’s movie season. No, theaters won’t be closed worldwide while the few open indie multiplexes and drive-ins try to subsist on nostalgic re-releases and arthouse horror flicks. However, the theatrical offerings are a set of mostly B-level franchise entries amid a few A-level tentpoles. Even with the emphasis on franchises and IP, that makes this summer feel like a distinctly early 1990’s season.



Back in, say, 1995, there was&nbsp;Batman Forever, Pocahontas, Apollo 13&nbsp;and then everything else fighting it out amid a more merciful theatrical environment. Or, more recently,&nbsp;Avengers, Dark Knight Rises&nbsp;and&nbsp;Amazing Spider-Man&nbsp;vs. everything else in summer 2012.



There are quite a would-be summer 2020 biggies (Tenet, Wonder Woman 1984, Mulan, Soul,&nbsp;etc.) that have already been released. Meanwhile, a number of would-be summer 2020 flicks (Top Gun: Maverick, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, etc.) have been further delayed. There are yet more would-be summer 2021 biggies (The Batman, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Jurassic World: Dominion,&nbsp;etc.) are set for release in late 2021 sometime in 2022. And let’s not forget films like&nbsp;Cinderella&nbsp;and&nbsp;The Tomorrow War&nbsp;which were sold off to streaming platforms.



Point being, the summer release slate is a hodgepodge of “was supposed to be in 2020” and “didn’t have to vacate 2021” titles, most of them smaller in scale and not aiming for blow-out status. The hope is for achieving normalcy, not notching milestones.



So, without further ado, thus continues this summer movie preview. There’s only a handful here that I might expect to outgross&nbsp;Godzilla Vs. Kong&nbsp;($425 million with Japan on the way) and even fewer that might hope to just match what&nbsp;Hi, Mom&nbsp;($825 million) or&nbsp;Detective Chinatown 3&nbsp;($700 million) earned in China alone earlier this year. Without further ado, the three “surefire” blockbusters and the four biggest “might break out” question marks.



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="F9 - Official Trailer 2" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fEE4RO-_jug?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



F9: The Fast Saga&nbsp;(Universal)



Universal is positioning the ninth&nbsp;Fast &amp; Furious&nbsp;movie as the “welcome back, blockbusters” event. Opening May 21 in China and much of the world and then on June 25 in North America, the Justin Lin-directed flick pits Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto against John Cena as his evil big brother. We already know that we’ll get car chases involving magnets, a trip to space and the return of Sung Kang&#8217;s Han Lue after his apparent fiery demise at the hands of Jason Statham’s (now-reformed) Deckard Shaw.&nbsp;F9&nbsp;will allegedly/possibly set up a two-part “Dominic Toretto and the Deathly Hallows”-type finale. Prior to the pandemic,&nbsp;F9&nbsp;was pegged to be 2020’s biggest global grosser. It’s now likely to be 2020’s biggest Hollywood-specific global grosser save for maybe&nbsp;Spider-Man: No Way Home&nbsp;(December 17).



Prior to all of this,&nbsp;F9&nbsp;was potentially going to be the first movie to top $1 billion worldwide without passing $200 million domestic. Now we’ll see if it can out-gross&nbsp;Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales&nbsp;($177 million domestic and $794 million worldwide in 2017) as the biggest-grossing Hollywood film to earn under $200 million domestic. Absence may indeed make the heart grow fonder, as it’s been four years between straight-up Dominic Toretto-specific sequels (starts singing “See You Again”). That’s especially if the movie is closer in quality to&nbsp;Fast Five&nbsp;than&nbsp;Fate of the Furious. I would be shocked if&nbsp;F9&nbsp;wasn’t the biggest movie of the summer, partially thanks to potentially huge business in China and halfway decent business in North America. The only question is “How big?”



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="Marvel Studios’ Black Widow | New Trailer" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Fp9pNPdNwjI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



Black Widow&nbsp;(Walt Disney)



While I’d argue that&nbsp;Black Widow&nbsp;would have been a bigger deal had it opened in summer 2017 (between&nbsp;Civil War&nbsp;and&nbsp;Infinity War&nbsp;which is when it takes place) or before Natasha took a long walk off a short cliff in&nbsp;Endgame, it’s still a solo MCU superhero movie centered on one of the flagship Avengers. Scarlett Johansson is passing the metaphorical torch to Florence Pugh in this&nbsp;Bourne/Red Sparrow/Atomic Blonde-ish espionage actioner. Kate Shortland’s MCU prequel will arrive with the MCU machine back in full swing via Disney+ television shows and&nbsp;Black Widow&nbsp;looking even more like yesterday’s MCU business. The film will open in theaters and on Disney+ “Premier Access” on July 9. All of these factors will be why it’ll only make “much of the money” instead of “all the money.”



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings | Official Teaser" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/giWIr7U1deA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings&nbsp;(Walt Disney)



This is the second Marvel/Disney flick, but to be fair much of the competition (Universal’s&nbsp;Jurassic World 3,&nbsp;Paramount’s&nbsp;Top Gun 2, etc.) fled to safer waters. The Simu Liu/Awkwafina/Tony Leung/Michelle Yeoh “first Asian MCU superhero” movie could be our first unmitigated Labor Day blockbuster. There’s little reason not to expect the Daniel Destin Cretton-directed flick to break out on the level of (at least, give or take Covid variables)&nbsp;Doctor Strange&nbsp;($677 million in 2016) even if China reacts with a comparative shrug. It’s a demographically-specific event movie along with being Marvel playing in thus-far uncharted waters (the martial arts movie), and it’ll have three weeks before&nbsp;Venom: Let There Be Carnage. A summer unlike any other is hoping to end with the most conventional thing in the world: an MCU blockbuster.



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="Free Guy | Official Trailer | 20th Century Studios" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JORN2hkXLyM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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The burning questions…



Yes, if there were more “biggies” opening this summer, had the likes of&nbsp;Jurassic World: Dominion, Top Gun: Maverick&nbsp;and&nbsp;The Matrix 4&nbsp;not been pushed back, this might have been a closer competition. As it is, it’s really a three-way race between the MCU actioners (huge in North America, healthy in China, with strong fan-specific loyalty and goodwill) and the&nbsp;Fast Saga&nbsp;sequel (healthy in North America, huge in China, with strong fan-specific loyalty and goodwill). But what else is there? Well, aside from a handful of high-profile horror flicks (Spiral, Candyman, A Quiet Place part II, etc.) and some “just a movie” offerings like&nbsp;Free Guy&nbsp;and&nbsp;In the Heights, that’s mostly it. However, there are four other potential “biggies” opening in June, July and August which absolutely could break out, relatively speaking.



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</div></figure>



Space Jam: A New Legacy&nbsp;(Warner Bros.)



Will LeBron James’&nbsp;Space Jam&nbsp;sequel play to generational nostalgia or be another unrequested sequel?



Opening July 16, this Malcom D. Lee-directed&nbsp;Space Jam&nbsp;sequelhas mostly been discussed in terms of fabricated controversies about Pepe Le Pew getting “canceled,” and whether making Lola Bunny (now voiced by Zendaya) a more well-rounded character plays into the “social justice warrior” crowd. Pepe’s barely in&nbsp;Looney Toons: Back in Action, and that 2003 romp includes Speedy Gonzalez and Porky Pig mourning their declining popularity due to changing times. The big question is whether the film will be another “this sequel exists because the studio and/or certain filmmakers wanted it” or whether this 25-years-later follow-up will play as an all-ages theatrical-worthy romp while capitalizing on decades of multi-generational nostalgia (and the original film’s place as a comparative touchtone for Black moviegoers). Presumably responsible (under-$100 million?) budgeting aside, this could go either way.



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="Monster Pets: A Hotel Transylvania Short (2021) | Movieclips Trailers" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RZ0zdJw0VZs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



Hotel Transylvania: Transformania&nbsp;(Sony)



Will the fourth “Drac Pac” movie thrive without Adam Sandler?



Each of the three&nbsp;Hotel Transylvania&nbsp;movies have out-grossed their predecessor worldwide, which each one has been leggier than the last in North America. With the biggest/best animated films (The Mitchells Vs. the Machines, Luca,&nbsp;etc.) mostly going to streaming, Sony Animation’s fourth “Drac Pack” flick is by default summer’s biggest animated film. The initial trilogy has earned $379 million, $469 million and $527 million in 2012, 2015 and 2018 on a combined budget of $230 million. However, Adam Sandler will not be reprising this time out, with Brian Hull (made famous via a YouTube video of him singing “Let It Go” as various animated characters) taking over. While kids won’t care about the actor swap when it opens on July 23, the demos that view&nbsp;Hotel Transylvania&nbsp;as a Sandler-and-friends animated franchise might (even with everyone else reprising).



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="Disney&#039;s Jungle Cruise | Official Trailer" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f_HvoipFcA8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



Jungle Cruise&nbsp;(Walt Disney)



Can this be Disney’s first true “new to cinemas” live-action franchise in nearly 17 years?



Delayed from last July, this action-comedy is loosely based on the popular theme park ride, one which ironically has undergone an allegedly “less cultural offensive” reworking over the last year. Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt are headlining this Jaume Collet-Serra-directed romp which wants to remind you of Stephen Sommers’&nbsp;The Mummy. Hopes were high last year that it might become Disney’s first new-to-cinema live-action franchise (outside of the MCU) since&nbsp;Pirates of the Caribbean&nbsp;in 2003 and&nbsp;National Treasure&nbsp;in 2004. Johnson is a force with a viable IP, Blunt is an added value draw, and the film looks like quite a bit of fun. If Disney’s live-action departments want to be more than just Marvel,&nbsp;Star Wars&nbsp;and live-action remakes/revamps of their animated hits, well, this one (opening July 30) better break out.



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="THE SUICIDE SQUAD - Rebellion Trailer" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vBumm7mYT_0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



The Suicide Squad&nbsp;(Warner Bros.)



Can a&nbsp;Suicide Squad&nbsp;sequel still soar without Will Smith and the Joker?



This has all the ingredients of a “too late” sequel to a film that was a big hit ($745 million sans China) without being terribly well-liked. David Ayer’s (heavily compromised) ensemble supervillain flick boasted the first live-action appearance of Harley Quinn, a Will Smith star turn and cameos by Ben Affleck’s Batman and Jared Leto’s Joker. Margot Robbie is back as Harley, while James Gunn is in the director’s chair. That’s ironic since&nbsp;Guardians of the Galaxy&nbsp;is what Warner Bros. was aiming for even if Ayer was initially crafting something closer to&nbsp;The Fast &amp; the Furious. A crowdpleasing trailer, a marquee director and a rejuvenated DC Films may help compensate for the “just curious the first time” variable. Besides, in normal times, I’d have pegged&nbsp;Godzilla Vs. Kong&nbsp;as a whiff, so WB gets my benefit of the doubt.



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Epilogue



That’s a wrap for “part two.” Now is it possible that I’m wrong on these flicks? Sure,&nbsp;F9&nbsp;could underperform while&nbsp;Free Guy&nbsp;soars to infinity and beyond.&nbsp;Suicide Squad 2&nbsp;could be a classic “Tomb Raider Trap” while&nbsp;In the Heights&nbsp;pulls&nbsp;Greatest Showman-level grosses worldwide. Hell,&nbsp;Cruella&nbsp;could play closer to&nbsp;Cinderella&nbsp;($520 million in 2015)than&nbsp;Dumbo&nbsp;($350 million). But the vast majority of 2021 summer movie releases will be content with $100-$150 million worldwide (the horror movies) or thrilled with $300 million worldwide (the likes of&nbsp;Peter Rabbit: The Runaway, Free Guy&nbsp;or&nbsp;Cinderella). Theaters shouldn’t expect that many blow-out hits or record opening weekends. They can still hope that the consistent output offers a steady stream of halfway decent business from May 7 to Labor Day weekend. It’s a summer about survival, not superlative success.



By Scott Mendelson, Forbes Staff

Wuhan Reopens Cinemas After Months In Lockdown

Box Office: The Biggest Blockbusters And Riskiest Releases Of Summer 2021

The international worldwide box office has never been this
big or this competitive. 2018 proved to be a record year as Comscore reported
that the worldwide box office peaked at $41.7 billion. This is already a 2.7%
upward shift from last year’s $40.6 billion and marks only the second time ever
that it has cracked $40 billion.



At a time when blockbuster films are all but devouring the
lion’s share of traffic at the international turnstiles, we thought it
appropriate to pause and take a look at just what these figures mean for the
future of film and film releasing. Is Hollywood cannibalising itself by
creating these juggernauts?



Well, let’s take a look at the latest numbers sensation, Avengers: Endgame. The film broke a few records. It had the biggest international opening of all time raking in just over $1.2 billion in its first 11 days of release, an unheard-of figure. 



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Will Cinema Just Disappear? (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/arts/2019/03/28/will-cinema-just-disappear/" target="_blank">Will Cinema Just Disappear?</a>



As of May 13, Avengers: Endgame is sitting on a worldwide total of $2.5 billion and is guaranteed to go even higher in the weeks ahead. But where does this leave variety, where does this leave the smaller film, the adult-orientated film, the arthouse film?



The reality is that the mere existence of films like Avengers: Endgame means that this leaves such kinds of pictures nowhere. It’s impossible for any other picture to compete with a $356 million budget superhero movie with at least another $200 million in worldwide marketing costs behind it. 



Hollywood’s technique is complete saturation and to kill the competition. So while the film may have performed exceptionally, let’s be honest, with the kind of market saturation, brand name power and the sheer size of the international release, it should have.



Another important point when reviewing this film’s incredible box office performance is again to take into account the all-important Chinese market. Avengers: Endgame has already grossed over $600 million in China accounting for over a third of its total gross already. 



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="How I marvelled at Black Panther’s reimagining of Africa (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/life/2018/02/21/marvelled-black-panthers-reimagining-africa/" target="_blank">How I marvelled at Black Panther’s reimagining of Africa</a>



But how has it performed from a historical perspective? When looking at ticket prices adjusted for inflation based on grosses in the United States only, the film slips all the way down to number 24 on the all-time grossers list. Top of the pops is still Gone With The Wind from 1939, followed by the original Star Wars from 1977. 



This brings me to my next point. Whatever happened to films that had legs, such as Steven Spielberg’s E.T. from 1982 or The Exorcist from 1973? The grosses of these films adjusted for inflation would be billions of dollars worldwide. The key to their ongoing longevity is that they had legs. 



These were films that discovered their audience week by week and although they were smash hits, they often grew in terms of their numbers from one weekend to the next as word-of-mouth spread, increasing their turnover. 



In this age of instant gratification and mass saturation, Avengers: Endgame is doing the opposite – it dived by 70% in its second week, numbers showing no signs of any real longevity.



So is Avengers: Endgame going to be the ultimate releasing strategy going forward? Does one push the film out into as many cinemas as possible, spend the equivalent of a small country’s GDP in terms of marketing power and try and pack in as many viewers into your first seven days with sell-out performances, then take the money and run?



Speculation is always circumspect so I’d like to pose
another question. If film is a business, should the business strategy be hit
and run? 



Will any of these films have the kind of longevity from a film fan perspective or will they disappear into the chasm of disposable entertainment. 



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Marvel Money: How Six Avengers Made $340 Million Last Year (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/arts/2019/07/12/marvel-money-how-six-avengers-made-340-million-last-year/" target="_blank">Marvel Money: How Six Avengers Made $340 Million Last Year</a>



Again, only time will tell. Where to from here for Hollywood? 



This kind of maximum impact output surely isn’t sustainable
and is surely too risky. You can’t spend half a billion dollars on producing
and marketing a film and then have any kind of risk in terms of the film not
connecting with its broad-based audience. 



All you need is two or three box office bombs and you’ll
sink a studio.



The old cliché that you can’t put all your eggs in one
basket exists for a reason. If entertainment tastes continue to split into
niches, the theatrical movie-going experience will also continue to take a
backseat to Video On Demand, and Hollywood may just be shooting itself in the
foot with this glut of summer tent-pole pictures. 



I sincerely hope this doesn’t mean the death of
“word-of-mouth”. Bigger does not necessarily mean better. 



– Robert Haynes is Executive Producer of entertainment at CNBC Africa and owner of film and TV production company, 42nd Street Films, in Johannesburg.

Tag: Box Office

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