Month: October 2020

Best Picture Contender, Easy

~ Huncrweo ~ Leave a comment

Paul Greengrass‘ Western News of the World (starring Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel) looks very good. Both in terms of quality and cinematography. I could easily see it picking up a Best Picture nomination as a kind of ode to the old kind of blockbusters that Hollywood no longer funds – think Unforgiven or Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Fincher‘s Mank could fill that position this year but that’s kind of a different feel – Citizen Kane wasn’t a big Hollywood blockbuster in the same way the films Greengrass‘ movie is paying homage to. I could also see a Director nomination for Greengrass, Actor for Hanks, maybe even Supporting Actress for Zengel, depending on how good she is in the movie. (It feels like it’s been a while since the Academy nominated a child performance – Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit is the last one I can think of off the top of my head. Has there been another since then?) Plus Cinematography, Production and Costume Design, possibly Sound, maybe Screenplay depending on how much dialogue there is in the movie. Given Zengel‘s character’s monosyllabic nature, the talking might be a bit sparse.

The only thing that’s a little off-putting in the trailer is the music. It’s meant to stir emotions in you but it makes the trailer feel a bit Disney-ish, and much fluffier than what the visuals seem to be conveying. I’m guessing it’s not part of James Newton Howard‘s score?

Another Dune Delay?

~ Huncrweo ~ Leave a comment

I’m dubious as to whether Denis Villeneuve’s Dune will make it’s planned release date of December 18th, 2020 in the US. That spot in the calendar is essentially the Star Wars slot, as it’s around where four of that franchise’s previous five films have premiered. With Wars out of the picture for at least a couple of years, Dune was set to take that spot and fulfil the public’s need for a Christmas space opera.

At least, before COVID-19 took hold of the world. With movies being pushed back by the dozen, Dune is lucky that it’s been able to hold on to its original release date for this long. It’s essentially Warner Bros.’ tentpole movie for this year, alongside Wonder Woman 1984 and the already-released Tenet. Speaking of WW1984, I’ve long posited that Dune making its release date is entirely dependent on the Wonder Woman team making theirs. Originally scheduled to come out in the summer, the superhero movie was delayed to August, and then dropped again to the start of October. This was concerning to me as another delay would almost certainly result in it taking Dune‘s spot, with Villeneuve’s film pushed back to 2021.

Lo and behold, WW1984 was delayed again, but it didn’t take Dune‘s spot, rather opting to open the week after, on Christmas Day. Crucially, Dune has not yet been delayed. This results in a bit of a dilemma for Warner Bros. As both of their movies are intended to be big hits, no way are they going to release them within a week of each other and split the box office. That would be monumentally stupid of them. Frankly (and assuming that the coronavirus doesn’t force them to give up on the Christmas box office), one of the movies has to go. Which leaves the studio with a few options.

Option 1: Keep Dune where it is and push Wonder Woman back to summer 2021. This is beneficial for two reasons: unlike Dune, WW1984 would be able to compete in next year’s summer market, even against a copious amount of MCU movies. Keeping Dune in December also allows it to compete for Oscars, which I think is the goal. This is the best option as far as benefiting both movies, in my opinion.

Option 2: Keep Wonder Woman at Christmas, release Dune in January or February. This option would be appealing to Warner Bros. as it allows them to release both movies without significant delays, and also keeps Dune within this year’s extended Oscar season. However, this would not be my preferred choice, as I feel it does Dune a disservice financially. Box office in the early months isn’t a great in a normal year, so how’s Dune going to fare while there’s a global pandemic going on. Yeah, it’ll get its Oscar nominations, but a financial failure means that we likely won’t get the planned sequel (as happened with Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049), which will adapt the second half of Frank Herbert’s novel.

Option 3: Keep Wonder Woman at Christmas, push Dune back to the summer. Don’t do this. There’s no way Dune, a dark, introspective, complex sci-fi epic, will be able to hold its own against the more popular Marvel fare. There’s a reason that the Lord of the Rings trilogy didn’t come out in summer – epics just can’t compete with shorter, breezier blockbusters unless their title begins with Avengers. You know when the LOTR films did come out? December.

Option 4: Keep Wonder Woman where it is, push Dune back a whole year to take the Christmas 2021 slot. This could be a way to split the difference and let both films enjoy box office success, but I’d be cautious. For one, Dune, being not a sequel, reboot etc., will have to rely a lot on word of mouth to get going at the box office. It built up some buzz with the release of the trailer a few weeks ago – would Warner Bros. really want to prolong its hype-building for a full year? It should also be noted that a December 2021 release pits it against it both Spielberg’s West Side Story and an untitled Spider-Man movie. Could it compete against those? I’m not sure.

Having reviewed these options, it would be my opinion that Option 1 would be the best way to go. To be financially successful, Dune needs more help than Wonder Woman, and as such I think Warner Bros. should be considering the former first and foremost when they make scheduling decisions in the near-future. Will they follow my advice? Probably not, but it’s a nice thought.