A-List: Top Five Anticipated Summer 2016 Movies
By J. Don Birnam
May 5, 2016
BoxOfficeProphets.com
But it remains that magical time between May 1st and Labor Day where studios look to for hopefully consistent high returns. Last year, as we know, studios made a killing, not only because the all-time opening weekend record was broken by Jurassic World (at least until that other movie came along in December), but because comic movies and others proved good repeat business, Inside Out did remarkably well, and old franchises proved they still had resilience.
The studios are hoping for a repeat in 2016, but I have to say that the outlook looks bleaker to me than last year. It is not only that there is the usual glut of sequels, prequels, remakes and reinventions (and, oh, Lord, am I guilty of contributing to that - most of my top five consists of those movies!), it is that a lot of the subject matter of the movies does not seem particularly interesting.
Some of the new subject matter appears downright awful - I have little to no interest in movies from Warcraft to Angry Birds (when was the last good videogame based movie?), and I expect both to do terribly at the box office. Other sequels just look pointless, so I'm not sure what the makers of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows or Neighbors 2 were thinking.
Two of my honorable mentions are animated movies - The Secret Life of Pets would have made the cut based on its first trailer, which teased the concept of pets behaving badly when masters were gone. But, the second trailer brought it down a notch, seemingly focusing on some lost-adventure caper type that reminisces of movies from Finding Nemo to Shaun the Sheep, so it seems recycled. And I'm not quite sure what BFG is about, but it re-teams Steven Spielberg with Oscar winner Mark Rylance, which is intriguing to say the least.
I'm also looking forward to the reboot of Ghostbusters with women - mostly because Melissa McCarthy is hilarious and Chris Hemsworth is hot. And, okay, why not remake something like this with a twist for a change? X-Men: Apocalypse also looks deliciously over-the-top and ridiculously corny. I can't wait.
But as we wait with bated breath for the sun to finally break through, we wait more excitedly for these five movies.
5. Captain America: Civil War
As you're reading this I'm hoping to be staring into the transfixing eyes of the captivating superheroes of the Marvel franchise, Captain America, Tony Stark, and the rest of the gang, in the latest installment of the Captain America franchise.
After bombarding us with trailers for several months now, they have finally broken my will, and I'm genuinely curious who wins the epic battle - though I'm obviously rooting for the Captain, as Robert Downey Jr. annoys me. Still, last year I was most excited about Age of Ultron and was somewhat disappointed in the formulaic repetition that this franchise (for I consider these Avenger movies all one franchise) has fallen into.
So, my hopes are somewhat tempered for Civil War (which may just mean I will love it all that much more), but I still cannot resist the spectacle and the buzz that the movie is generating. As last year, I believe there is some, but not complete, overlap between what box office predictions tell me the public is most anticipating. This is one where I've been somewhat caught up in the wave.
Civil War opens in theaters tomorrow, May 6th, with sneaks already under way as you read this column.
4. The Founder
Can you fault an Oscar prognosticator for looking forward to what could be a serious Oscar contender next year?
Where Downey has revived his fortunes with his turn as Stark and somewhat stayed there, Michael Keaton's resurgence has gone in the opposite, and arguably better, direction. From Batman to Birdman, Keaton's Oscar nomination and appearance in two consecutive Best Picture winners makes him the hot (older) star of the moment. At the very least, his turn as legendary McDonald's pioneer Ray Kroc is sure to attract attention. And it's not just the Oscar potential of this movie that has me excited - any story about a man potentially greater than his britches, or greater than his time, from The Social Network to Steve Jobs, is right up my alley.
Now, I'm just hoping a movie about another such man - a certain presidential candidate - is not in the offing. But that's another topic for another column.
The Weinstein's Company The Founder opens in wide release on August 5th - just in time to catch the last wave of summer audiences while being late enough in the year to be a potential Oscar contender.
3. Suicide Squad
Somewhat stunningly, however, the third movie on my list is another one that opens on the exact same day as Keaton's film. But they couldn't be any different.
Suicide Squad is DC Comics' answer to Marvel's surprise hit Guardians of the Galaxy. While I was not sold on the invitingly silly nature of that superhero franchise, the movie caught me by pleasant surprise and made me a believer. I had a similar existential transformation with respect to Deadpool - from skeptic to fanatic - enough so that this movie is squarely on my anticipated list. The antihero genre, if you will, is an obvious but so far effective antidote to the goody-two shoes stories of the Captain, Thor, Hulk, and others. The franchises work infinitely better for me because they do not take themselves seriously, and thus fit much better in my stereotype of what a comic book movie should be - silly, non-pretentious fun.
Where The Avengers and Iron Man are trying to find profound answers to their existence, the faux-heroes in these movies revel (admittedly, somewhat woodenly) in their different-ness. Perhaps I'm giving a movie that stars Margot Robbie and Will Smith too much advance credit, but at least Jared Leto's presence is somewhat reassuring.
Like The Founder, Suicide Squad annoyingly opens on August 5th. Which will you go see first? Take it to Twitter if you will.
2. Finding Dory. My favorite movie of last summer was, far and away, the revelation that was Inside Out. Though this time I'm listing a sequel, it makes it impossible to ignore Finding Dory, which also happens to be the continuation of my favorite Pixar movie of all time. So, to say I'm excited about its return to the big ocean blue would be an understatement.
And what better return than to focus on the most interesting and exciting character in the original, by nautical miles, the little forgetful fish voiced by the brilliant Ellen DeGeneres? The franchise, of course, will have to balance carefully the love that Nemo and dad have from the fans as well, while offering fresh new characters to rival the memorable sharks, turtles, and others that made Nemo so endearing to audiences nearly 15 years ago.
Pixar rarely disappoints. Yes, some of its failures have come with sequels, from Monsters University to Cars 2, so let's hope the third time's the charm.
I forget just exactly when Finding Dory opens, but someone tells me that it's maybe June 17th.
1. Independence Day: Resurgence
Look, I never said I had good taste. Last year, San Andreas was my second most anticipated movie of the summer. I love disaster movies so much that it was one of my first A-List columns, and I did another column about them the very next day.
Are you surprised, then, to hear that the much awaited, 20-years-in-the-making sequel to the mother of all disaster epics, Independence Day, is at the top of my list? Need I really explain why?
The annoying Will Smith character is replaced by a Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum is back, Bill Pullman is back - I mean, what more do you want? Indeed, this movie is most obviously pining to be this summer's Jurassic World by tapping into a hunger or nostalgia for a known and beloved quantity. I do not expect it to do anywhere near that well - the trailers simply look way too over the top - but nothing would surprise me from sequel-hungry fans.
So, the aliens are bigger, badder, and meaner, and the stakes are higher. The dialogue, no doubt, will be cheesy. From a box office perspective, this sequel has all the makings of an absolute and complete disaster.
No matter, as I shall be there with bells on.
Independence Day opens, somewhat confusingly, on June 24th. Those distributors really need to learn how to make America great again.