Below is a wrap-up of the predictions I made several months ago, an exploration of what succeeded and what failed, and how I observe things to have gone. NOTE: This was the first month were exhibitors and studios had become skittish, so a lot of these pictures may have been rescheduled (several times, possibly).

March 6, 2020

Onward

Oscar Prospects: What I said: “Excellent. Few Pixar films haven’t competed for the Best Animated Feature Oscar and being an original production, that will continue to be the case.”
Oscar Results: Still Excellent. With the pandemic ravaging theaters, the primary seasons for animated features seem to be barren, leaving this Pixar feature and Trolls World Tour as the only contenders so far this year.
Box Office Prospects: $250 M
Box Office Expectations: What I Said: “Excellent. Every original Pixar film, with a few exceptions, has done exceptionally well at the box office, so this one should as well.”
Box Office Results: $61.6 M
Thoughts: [Unexceptional] Yanked from theaters after only two weeks in release, this result certainly is unexceptional. That said, it had a tepid debut of $39 million, and had only made $61 million after two weeks. Some of that may have been early leeriness from audiences over the pandemic, but I don’t know that that’s entirely true.

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Here we look at the upcoming month’s offerings.

August 7, 2020

The Broken Hearts Gallery

Premise: From IMDb: “After a break up, a young woman decides to start a gallery where people can leave trinkets from past relationships.”
Box Office Prospects: $1 M
Expectations: Uncertain. If I say anything but “Uncertain,” I would be blowing smoke. Anyway, this film says it’s going wide, but I don’t believe that. This is a classic platform release, but I suspect with the pandemic, it won’t go much of anywhere.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

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Below is a wrap-up of the predictions I made several months ago, an exploration of what succeeded and what failed, and how I observe things to have gone.

February 7, 2020

Birds of Prey

Oscar Prospects: What I said: “Uncertain. The film’s releasing a bit early for consideration, but Suicide Squad won an Oscar for Best Makeup & Hairstyling, so nothing is entirely out of the question.”
Oscar Results: Now unlikely. The film’s less than spectacular box office will hinder its chances in categories it would deserve recognition in such as Makeup & Hairstyling and Production Design.
Box Office Prospects: $350 M
Box Office Expectations: What I Said: “Good. DC’s Extended Universe always does well even when the films aren’t good and this all-female superhero tale is sure to perform well.”
Box Office Results: $84.2 M
Thoughts: [Minor Flop] When this film released, theaters were less than a month away from closing down in some areas of the country or even all areas. While that might have impacted its future prospects, the sad fact is that the film didn’t perform nearly that well in its opening weekend as it should have.

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Here we look at the upcoming month’s offerings.

July 1, 2020

Unhinged

Premise: From IMDb: “Unhinged is a psychological thriller that takes something we’ve all experienced – road rage – to an unpredictable and terrifying conclusion.”
Box Office Prospects: $20 M
Expectations: Uncertain. It’s uncertain just how many theaters will open, whether all of them will be at 50% capacity, and whether audiences will really want to go to the theater at present. This will be the theme for all of the potential releases from July well into next year, depending entirely upon whether a vaccine is developed and widely available or not. That said, this concept isn’t terribly exciting for most people and while it might be interesting to see how audiences respond to Russell Crowe as a villain, I suspect it will be unsuccessful.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

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Below is a wrap-up of the predictions I made several months ago, an exploration of what succeeded and what failed, and how I observe things to have gone.

January 3, 2020

The Grudge

Oscar Prospects: What I said: “None.”
Oscar Results: Still None.
Box Office Prospects: $75 M
Box Office Expectations: What I Said: “Uncertain. It’s been a long while since The Grudge, its remake or its remake’s sequel have been in the multiplex. Is it enough time to have built an interest in a reboot? We shall wee.”
Box Office Results: $21.2 M
Thoughts: [Major Flop] Remakes have always been an iffy proposition, but horror remakes have a small chance of being popular. This remake, however, did not. The audiences weren’t that interested in starting over, so it failed to live up to expectations.

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Like last month, it’s possible, even probable, that theatrical business is not back up and running by the end of May. If I feel that we will indeed have new movies, then I’ll post an update.

Below is a wrap-up of the predictions I made several months ago, an exploration of what succeeded and what failed, and how I observe things to have gone.

December 6, 2019

The Aeronauts

Oscar Prospects: What I said: “Uncertain. While the production certain looks like something that could compete in Production Design and Costume Design categories, the wind hasn’t caught this balloon and sent it into the Oscar stratosphere, so it’s probably not getting anything in that regard.”
Oscar Results: Failure. The film ultimately didn’t make a sufficient impression to earn Oscar consideration.
Box Office Prospects: $35 M
Box Office Expectations: What I Said: “Uncertain. This aeronautical adventure might have been a box office draw two decades ago, but today, it all sounds too odd to make much of a run at the box office.”
Box Office Results: $N/A M
Thoughts: The film saw a limited release, but not in a theater that reported box office numbers.

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While May has not been entirely vacated due to some hopes that things will be under control by then, the handful of titles still there will probably move out eventually. As such, at this time, I cannot do a May preview. That said, if it appears May will have theaters open, I will post my updated preview article at that time.

With the pandemic in its second month and most of the summer releases pushed off to fall or 2021 release dates, there isn’t much to see in the upcoming list of films. As such, this preview will be notably mediocre in terms of coverage.

To introduce you to the upcoming films, there will be two preview articles every month and this introduction every four months. The Season Preview article will focus on one of three seasons Spring Season (January through April), Blockbuster Season (May through August) and Oscar Season (September through December). In these introductory articles, I will give you the current release schedule for the specified season, which may change as the release dates get closer.

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Below is a wrap-up of the predictions I made several months ago, an exploration of what succeeded and what failed, and how I observe things to have gone.

November 1, 2019

Arctic Dogs

Oscar Prospects: What I said: “None.”
Oscar Results: None.
Box Office Prospects: $20 M
Box Office Expectations: What I Said: “Weak. This terrible-looking animated feature didn’t even show up on the Academy’s list of Animated Feature submissions, suggesting it’s either too awful to be selected or is about to get pushed into next year. Whatever the reason, it looks like a flop in the making.”
Box Office Results: $5.8 M
Thoughts: [Minor Flop] This animated adventure looked terrible from the start. It’s no surprise it didn’t inspire audiences to give it a shot.

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Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, theater attendance is down. Several films have been moved out of their original release berths, so the below does not include films like The Lovebirds, The New Mutants (again), Peter Rabbit 2, No Time to Die, and Antlers. I’ve also revised a few figures downward from where I originally placed them due to the concerns of lower attendance. There are no new wide releases for April 3, 2020.

Here we look at the upcoming month’s offerings.

April 10, 2020

Saint Maud

Premise: From IMDb: “Follows a pious nurse who becomes dangerously obsessed with saving the soul of her dying patient.”
Box Office Prospects: $40 M
Expectations: Uncertain. The film hasn’t had enough advertising to make it a hit, but with few options, it might do better than expected.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

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Below is a wrap-up of the predictions I made several months ago, an exploration of what succeeded and what failed, and how I observe things to have gone.

October 4, 2019

Joker

Oscar Prospects: What I said: “Good. There’s talk of Joaquin Phoenix being an Oscar contender for this role. He would be the second person to be nominated should that occur and the second to win for this same role as well if he should.”
Oscar Results: Winner. The film performed way above expections earning the most nominations of the year, but only going home with two, Original Score and Actor.
Box Office Prospects: $150 M
Box Office Expectations: What I Said: “Good. Although the film doesn’t fit into the current DC Extended Universe, it’s still a DC film, which should allow it to make a fairly large sum of money.”
Box Office Results: $335.4 (STILL IN LIMITED RELEASE) M
Thoughts: [Major Success] Proving that anything DC touches can turn to gold when it targets the very toxic demographic it attempts to coddle.

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Here we look at the upcoming month’s offerings.

March 6, 2020

Onward

Premise: From IMDb: “Set in a suburban fantasy world, two teenage elf brothers embark on a quest to discover if there is still magic out there.”
Box Office Prospects: $250 M
Expectations: Excellent. Every original Pixar film, with a few exceptions, has done exceptionally well at the box office, so this one should as well.
Oscar Prospects: Excellent. Few Pixar films haven’t competed for the Best Animated Feature Oscar and being an original production, that will continue to be the case.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

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Below is a wrap-up of the predictions I made several months ago, an exploration of what succeeded and what failed, and how I observe things to have gone.

August 2, 2019

Hobbs & Shaw

Oscar Prospects: What I said: “None.”
Oscar Results: Still none.
Box Office Prospects: $150 M
Box Office Expectations: What I Said: “Good. The Fast and Furious films have become reliable box office draws, regularly topping $200 million. With Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson on the outs, this new film has pulled Johnson and Jason Statham into their own buddy film and the prospects, being pulled away from the original “family,” are a bit weaker. That said, I could expect it to top this number easily if it pulls those fans to the theater.”
Box Office Results: $173.9 M
Thoughts: [Success] This franchise never ceases to pull in big bucks even if the film wasn’t quite the juggernaut the mainline films have been.

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Here we look at the upcoming month’s offerings.

February 7, 2020

Birds of Prey

Premise: From IMDb: “After splitting with the Joker, Harley Quinn joins superheroes Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya to save a young girl from an evil crime lord.”
Box Office Prospects: $350 M
Expectations: Good. DC’s Extended Universe always does well even when the films aren’t good and this all-female superhero tale is sure to perform well.
Oscar Prospects: Uncertain. The film’s releasing a bit early for consideration, but Suicide Squad won an Oscar for Best Makeup & Hairstyling, so nothing is entirely out of the question.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

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