F9 can’t top $1 billion worldwide in theaters if the theaters don’t survive the pandemic. If so, then it’ll kick off what could be a monster year for Universal ( Boss Baby 2, No Time to Die, Marry Me, F9, Minions 2, Candyman, Halloween Kills, Sing 2, etc.), which is a big reason why ComcastĬMCSA has been offering mid-level studio fare to help keep theatricals alive until the danger passes. More importantly, I have little idea, save for hope pinning on a new presidential administration and several promising coronavirus vaccines, whether The Boss Baby 2 will open theatrically as currently scheduled.
Remember when those kid-friendly set-ups (with playtime before the movie and during a fifteen-minute intermission) were supposed to destroy the cinema? I’d happily watch any movie in one of those things today.Īnyway, I have no idea if The Boss Baby: Family Business will be any good, except to note that all six of DWA’s previous “part two” sequels ( Shrek 2, Madagascar 2, Kung Fu Panda 2, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Trolls: World Tour and The Croods: A New Age) were better than their respective “part one” installments. I can’t speak from experience, but I did see the film theatrically with my kids at one of those infamous-at-the-time “playground” movie theaters. It joined up with Trolls (released 4.5 months earlier) and Cats as an ideal movie to watch while theoretically using controlled substances. The previous flick, loosely based on Marla Frazee’s picture books, was a happy surprise in that it was easily one of DWA’s most aggressively weird and chaotic comedies. No, it’s not banking on decades-old franchise nostalgia, nor is it bringing back beloved franchise actors who have been MIA for the last handful of installments, but you get the idea.
'The Boss Baby: Family Business' Dreamworks and UniversalĪt a glance, the sequel (which presumably doesn’t demand knowledge of Netflix’s pretty damn good Boss Baby: Back in Business episodic) is skipping ahead to make a glorified “legacy sequel.” The kid stars (Tim and Ted) of the first film now aged to adulthood and acting as the “elders” to Tim’s seven-year-old daughter as she reveals herself as a Bab圜orp agent as well. That said, with Mortal Kombat clearly not opening theatrically on Januand no official word on Peter Rabbit: The Runaway moved from 01/15/21 to Ap(alongside No Time to Die on Easter weekend), the damage done by Covid-19 to the 2020 movie release schedule won’t become magically undone when the big ball drops on December 31, 2020. That Marry Me is being moved to a safe mid-May slot (the second weekend of summer has been a safe harbor for female-targeted non-tentpoles like Monster-In-Law, The Horse Whisperer, Bridesmaids and The Great Gatsby) while The 355 is being pushed a year out could mean that Universal still hopes to maximize their “in-theater” revenue, which is an encouraging development. As of now, what were supposed to be Universal’s two biggest early 2021 releases, The 355 and Jennifer Lopez’s musical rom-com Marry Me (moved from Februto May 14, 2021), are now not going to be essentially kicking off the new year.
Jessica Chastain’s Ava has been hanging around the VOD charts for the last month and will debut on Netflix in early December.
That was a little puzzling as the Jessica Chastain/Lupita Nyong’o/Penelope Cruz/Diane Kruger/Fan Bingbing actioner was as much of a “test case” for Universal’s “17 day theatrical window” deal as anything else.