It's no secret that Warner Bros' hand in the Barbie movie provides them with the biggest box office success of the year. It's already breaking records, pulling in over $300 million in its opening weekend, the biggest for a female director (in Greta Gerwig) ever. And it's already garnering Oscar buzz. It went head-to-head with previous Warner Bros right-hand-director Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer and won decisively .
People were calling Barbenheimer the biggest day for cinema since Christopher Nolan released
The Dark Knight and Phyllida Lloyd opened Mamma Mia! on the same day in 2008. However, the magnitude of power both Barbie and Oppenheimer held on cinema-goers this weekend far outpaced that. And yet, you can't help but notice a few key points Warner Bros is already having as a studio this year.
With the failing world of DC Comics unable to compete with Disney's
Marvel, Warner Bros. faced major controversy by continuing production and promotion of The Flash. After star Ezra Miller was openly accused of grooming, kidnapping, delivering confusing open messages to the Ku Klux Klan, and being charged with disorderly conduct and harassment (to name only a few), Warner Bros. made the curious decision - keep them in the film entirely.
The film (in simpler terms) flopped. Only bringing in $268 million through the box office,
The Flash was ill-attended and ill-received. But that wasn't all the production company faced this year.
Christopher Nolan was Warner Bros. Golden Boy from 2002-2020 until he left and publicly condemned their hybrid release model. In response to the breakup, Warner Bros. put their top-budgeted film (with insane marketing) up against his 3-hour-long biopic that was only meant to be viewed in IMAX theaters. In other words, Nolan had no chance of winning.
And while
Barbie is one of the best films I've seen in forever, you can't help but sense that there's some deep drama underneath its glossy surface.
Director Christopher Nolan, (The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception) Is known for his stunning visuals, heavy use of practical effects, and mind-bending plots.
The new trailer for Tenet makes it clear that his newest film—scheduled for a July 17th release date—is no exception. A spiritual successor to Inception, the film plays with time and physics using the concept of time inversion (i.e. reversing cause and effect to move backward in time) to orchestrate elaborate, bewildering action sequences. It's basically the music video for Coldplay's The Scientistconverted into a shoot 'em up movie where guns catch bullets. "Tenet," being a palindrome, serves as the codeword for the secretive organization that uses inversion as part of an elaborate plan to "prevent World War III" and save the future from a terrible and mysterious fate.
The whole concept is as silly as it is awesome, and the trailer shows how inversion can be a great tool for building suspense—with the wreckage of wild action sequences presaging the chaos that Robert Pattinson and John David Washington are about to get into (er…out of). But undoubtedly the most suspenseful part of the trailer comes at the very end when the words "COMING" and "TO" are closely followed by "THEATERS," each with a dramatic sting.
TENET Official Trailer #2 (2020) Robert Pattinson, Christopher Nolan Movie HDwww.youtube.com
Of course it makes sense that Christopher Nolan wants a movie that is so visually intense to be viewed on the big screen. As much fun as it is to watch an action movie at home, it just isn't the same as being engulfed in the sights and sounds of a movie theater—with no distractions, forced by the proximity of strangers to stay off your phone and remain in your seat until your bladder is ready to explode. But that's the problem as well. How do you handle that "proximity to strangers" part during a global viral pandemic? Of course, we can't know what the rate of infection will look like two months from now, but it seems unlikely that everything will be fine and back to normal. So how will a would-be blockbuster fair in the context of social distancing?
Prior to their total closure, AMC and Regal theaters briefly instituted a 50-person-per-theater maximum to allow people to spread out. Will that—combined with more stringent cleaning practices—be enough to prevent the coronavirus from spreading? And how will theaters and movie studios make a profit with such reduced attendance?
Tenet's premiere includes IMAX theaters, which already involve a premium on the usual cost of admission, will theaters be forced to charge even more? And will desperate movie-goers be willing to pay that added fee for the privilege of the theater experience they've been deprived of, or—in an era when most Americans have a huge flat screen TV and a Trolls sequel can rake in $100 million in three weeks of digital sales—will people opt to just stay home and wait for Tenet to be available for streaming?
Nolan and Warner Bros. are taking a gamble in a number of ways with Tenet, and we're all going to have to wait a couple months to see how it pans out. Hopefully the suspense doesn't kill anyone...
Summertime always means great new movies, and this year has not disappointed.
So far, we've found even more love in our hearts for Keanu Reeves thanks to John Wick 3, Disney's Aladdin took us to a whole new world, Booksmart confirmed that high school comedies are still hilarious and charming, and Avenger's: Endgame was expectedly sensational.
Another month has come and gone, and that means Netflix is also welcoming a new wave of titles to contribute to your choice fatigue.
It wouldn't be a Netflix rollout without some Netflix originals. This June, the techno-dystopian Black Mirror (Season 5) is coming back in three new episodes, one of which features Miley Cyrus. Jennifer Anniston and Adam Sandler also teamed up for the new Netflix original movie, Murder Mystery. Plus, the Amanda Bynes early aughts flick, What a Girl Wants, that's canon to some (me), is coming to the streaming platform this June. We're also getting Carrie, Magic Mike, Cabaret, 20th Century Women, and 50/50.
If you're looking for something a little more real and raw, Martin Scorsese is releasing his Bob Dylan documentary, Rolling Thunder Revue, straight to Netflix in June, too. If that isn't your style, and you didn't get your superhero fix with Avengers: Endgame, then Netflix's June selection might still be up your alley. This month brings Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse on June 26th, plus the third and final season of Marvel's Jessica Jones. If you're craving the classics, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are also both coming this month.
It's not a massive month for comedy releases, but Documentary Now: Season 3 is coming to Netflix, as well as Jo Koy's comedy special, Comin' In Hot, and season 5 of Girlfriends' Guide To Divorce.
Here's everything coming to Netflix in June 2019.
Available June 1
Arthdal Chronicles
Oh, Ramona! (Netflix Film)
50/50
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day
Batman Begins
Cabaret
Carrie
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Dynasty, Season 2
Good Night, and Good Luck
Gran Torino
Life in the Doghouse
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Magic Mike
Network
Platoon
Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz
Satan & Adam
Small Soldiers
The Dark Knight
The Phantom of the Opera
The Space Between Us
What a Girl Wants
Available June 3
Documentary Now, Season 3
Malibu Rescue: The Series (Netflix Family)
Available June 4
Miranda Sings Live…Your Welcome (Netflix Original)
Available June 5
A Silent Voice
Black Mirror, Season 5 (Netflix Original)
Dr. Seuss' The Grinch
Available June 6
Alles Ist Gut (Netflix Film)
Todos lo Saben
Available June 7
3%, Season 3 (Netflix Original)
Belmonte
The Black Godfather (Netflix Film)
The Chef Show (Netflix Original)
Designated Survivor, Season 3 (Netflix Original)
Elisa & Marcela (Netflix Film)
I Am Mother (Netflix Film)
Pachamama (Netflix Family)
Rock My Heart (Netflix Film)
Super Monsters Monster Pets (Netflix Family)
Tales of the City (Netflix Original)
Available June 8
Berlin, I Love You
Available June 11
Disney's Ralph Breaks the Internet
Available June 12
Jo Koy: Comin' In Hot (Netflix Original)
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (Netflix Film)