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 7, 2020

The Broken Hearts Gallery

Oscar Prospects: What I said: “None.”
Oscar Results: Still None.
Box Office Prospects: $1 M
Box Office Expectations: What I Said: “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.”
Box Office Results: $4.1 M
Thoughts: [Unexceptional] Did not release until Sep. 11, 2020, but was not covered in our September preview. The box office tally, being for a weekend very early in the mid-pandemic release schema, is decent, though unexceptional.

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Here we look at the upcoming month’s offerings.

January 22, 2021

The Marksman

Premise: From IMDb: “A rancher on the Arizona border becomes the unlikely defender of a young Mexican boy desperately fleeing the cartel assassins who’ve pursued him into the U.S.”
Box Office Prospects: $20 M
Expectations: Uncertain. The pandemic still controls the box office and the subject matter might not be enough to pull hardcore Liam Neeson fans to the theater.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

The first four months of 2021, which are normally a dumping ground for studio films that no one thinks will be successful is now the playground of pandemic fears asking audiences to decide if they feel safe enough to return to theaters. Several films have been moving around the dial in these months, so this list is unlikely to look the same next week as it is right now, but this is the best idea of where things will stand for the immediate future.

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.

July 3, 2020

The Outpost (Limited)

Oscar Prospects: What I said: “None.”
Oscar Results: Still None.
Box Office Prospects: $0.5 M
Box Office Expectations: What I Said: “Uncertain. Released day-and-date, this Rod Lurie-directed film was intended for release on a different July date, but whether or not it succeeds depends on how many streaming viewers take away from its theatrical haul.”
Thoughts: Streamed on Amazon, skipping theaters.

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Here we look at the upcoming month’s offerings.

December 4, 2020

All My Life

Premise: From IMDb: “A couple’s wedding plans are thrown off course when the groom is diagnosed with liver cancer.”
Box Office Prospects: $5 M
Expectations: Weak. The premise doesn’t sound like something holiday audiences will want to catch at the box office, but a weepy might find some small audience. It’s just not certain.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

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What should have been the saving grace of the box office season turned out to be a wasteland with no major wide releases and very few minor limited releases.

Here we look at the upcoming month’s offerings.

November 6, 2020

Let Him Go

Premise: From IMDb: “A retired sheriff and his wife, grieving over the death of their son, set out to find their only grandson.”
Box Office Prospects: $15 M
Expectations: Uncertain. It’s got a familiar lead and will play well in the midwest, so it could perform well where theaters are most likely to be open.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

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With theaters largely closed down and releases few and far between, the report I had planned to write in May was scrapped in its entirety, thus the wrap-up is going to do nothing.

Here we look at the upcoming month’s offerings. With few of them and most of them being potentially rescheduled.

October 2, 2020

A Call to Spy

Premise: From IMDb: “In the beginning of WWII, with Britain becoming desperate, Churchill orders his new spy agency — the Special Operations Executive (SOE) — to recruit and train women as spies. Their daunting mission: conduct sabotage and build a resistance. SOE’s “spymistress,” Vera Atkins (Stana Katic), recruits two unusual candidates: Virginia Hall (Sarah Megan Thomas), an ambitious American with a wooden leg, and Noor Inayat Khan (Radhika Atpe), a Muslim pacifist. Together, these women help to undermine the Nazi regime in France, leaving an unmistakable legacy in their wake. Inspired by true stories.”
Box Office Prospects: $1 M
Expectations: Weak. The film doesn’t sound like something audiences will rush out to see.
Oscar Prospects: Uncertain. Some elements of the film feel like they might be Oscar caliber, but with very little forward press, it might be a mirage.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

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None of the films highlighted in my original preview article back in March were actually released. Some went virtual, others were postponed. As a result there will be no update this month. This was the first month of a slimmed-down or non-existent cinematic experience across the country. Things wouldn’t open up until August, so expect similar reports to this in May, June, and July (posted in October, November, and December respectively).

September 4, 2020

Bill & Ted Face the Music (Limited)

Premise: From IMDb: “Once told they’d save the universe during a time-traveling adventure, 2 would-be rockers from San Dimas, California find themselves as middle-aged dads still trying to crank out a hit song and fulfill their destiny.”
Box Office Prospects: $2 M
Expectations: Weak. Since it’s opening online simultaneously with its limited run, it’s not likely to pull in many dollars.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

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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.

Once again our quarterly preview is looking at films with tentative release dates in 2020. At this point, it’s unlikely that most of these films, especially the ones supposedly releasing in September, actually see cinemas. With films like Tenet and Mulan being postponed indefinitely and Wonder Woman 1984, Black Widow, and The King’s Man each having been postponed from earlier release dates, there is just no conceivable way that the pandemic ends soon enough to resume a normal blockbuster season, though Oscar’s contenders still have a chance with the Academy’s revised rules, so we’ll see.

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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. 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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