2021 At The Box Office (1 Viewer)

[Tino]

Here we are coming up on 2021. 2020 was pretty much a disaster in terms of box office returns. With the vaccine here and hopefully a light at the end of the tunnel, Movies are ready to return to theaters. Are we?

Here are some of the most anticipated films planning to release in 2021.

The 88 Most Anticipated Movies of 2021

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is now set to open earlier than anticipated, moving into the October 1 slot. Plus, more anticipated 2021 movies, including Dune and Spider-Man: No Way Home.

editorial.rottentomatoes.com

 

[Tino]

Some tentative release dates.
JANUARY 2021

January 1 (Friday)​

Shadow in the Cloud (VOD)

January 7 (Thursday)​

Pieces of a Woman (Netflix)

January 8 (Friday)​

Herself (Amazon)
The Reason I Jump (Theaters)

January 15 (Friday)​

Acasa, My Home (Theaters)
American Skin (VOD)
The Dig (Theaters)
The Marksman (Theaters)
MLK/FBI (Theaters + VOD)
One Night in Miami (Amazon)
Outside the Wire (Netflix)
Some Kind of Heaven (Theaters + VOD)

January 22 (Friday)​

No Man's Land (Theaters + VOD)
The White Tiger (Netflix)

January 29 (Friday)​

The Little Things
The Night (Theaters + VOD)
Palmer (Apple TV+)
Supernova (Theaters + VOD)

FEBRUARY 2021

February 5 (Friday)​

Cinderella
Falling (Theaters + VOD)
A Glitch in the Matrix (Theaters + VOD)
The Human Factor (Theaters + VOD)
Little Fish (Theaters + VOD)
Minamata (Theaters + VOD)
Rams (Theaters + VOD)

February 12 (Friday)​

Judas and the Black Messiah
Land
Minari
What About Love
French Exit (Theaters)

February 19 (Friday)​

The Mauritanian
Blithe Spirit (Theaters + VOD)
The Courier (Theaters)
Nomadland (Theaters)

February 23 (Tuesday)​

The Killing of Two Lovers (Theaters)

February 26 (Friday)​

Nobody
Tom & Jerry
The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Cherry (Theaters)
The Father (Theaters)
The Vigil (Theaters + VOD)

MARCH 2021

March 5 (Friday)​

Chaos Walking
Coming 2 America (Amazon)
Masters of the Universe
Raya and the Last Dragon (Disney+)
Boogie (Theaters)
My Salinger Year (Theaters)
The Truffle Hunters (Theaters)

March 12 (Friday)​

The King's Man
The Many Saints of Newark
Cherry (Apple TV+)
Finding You (Theaters)

March 19 (Friday)​

Morbius
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

March 26 (Friday)​

Six Minutes to Midnight (Theaters)

APRIL 2021

April 2 (Friday)​

No Time To Die
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway

April 9 (Friday)​

Bob's Burgers

April 16 (Friday)​

Bios
Fatherhood
Mortal Kombat
Reminiscence

April 23 (Friday)​

A Quiet Place Part II
Last Night in Soho
Ron's Gone Wrong

Summer 2021

MAY 2021

May 7 (Friday)​

Black Widow
Dog

May 14 (Friday)​

Marry Me
Rumble

May 21 (Friday)​

Free Guy
Godzilla vs. Kong
Spiral: From The Book of Saw
Starbright (Theaters)

May 25 (Tuesday)​

5-25-77 (VOD)

May 28 (Friday)​

Cruella
Fast & Furious 9
Infinite

JUNE 2021

June 4 (Friday)​

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
Samaritan
Spirit Untamed
Vivo

June 11 (Friday)​

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

June 18 (Friday)​

In the Heights
Pixar's Luca

June 25 (Friday)​

Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Blue Bayou (Theaters)

June 30 (Wednesday)​

Zola (Theaters)

JULY 2021

July 2 (Friday)​

Minions: The Rise of Gru
Top Gun: Maverick

July 9 (Friday)​

The Forever Purge
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

July 16 (Friday)​

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
Space Jam 2: A New Legacy
Uncharted

July 23 (Friday)​

Old
The Tomorrow War

July 30 (Friday)​

Jungle Cruise
The Green Knight (Theaters)

AUGUST 2021

August 6 (Friday)​

Hotel Transylvania 4
The Suicide Squad

August 13 (Friday)​

Deep Water
Don't Breathe 2
Respect

August 20 (Friday)​

The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard

August 27 (Friday)​

The Beatles: Get Back
Candyman

SEPTEMBER 2021

September 3 (Friday)​

Jackass 4

September 17 (Friday)​

The Boss Baby: Family Business
Death on the Nile
The Man from Toronto

OCTOBER 2021

October 1 (Friday)​

Dune

October 15 (Friday)​

Halloween Kills
The Last Duel

October 22 (Friday)​

Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins

NOVEMBER 2021

November 5 (Friday)​

Clifford the Big Red Dog
Elvis Movie
Eternals
Spider-Man 3

November 19 (Friday)​

King Richard
Mission: Impossible 7

November 24 (Wednesday - Thanksgiving)​

Encanto

DECEMBER 2021

December 10 (Friday)​

West Side Story

December 22 (Wednesday)​

The Matrix 4
The Nightingale
Sing 2

December 25 (Saturday - Christmas Day)​

Babylon (Theaters)

 

[Josh Steinberg]

With the vaccine here and hopefully a light at the end of the tunnel, Movies are ready to return to theaters. Are we?

Mentally I’m ready. I do think the business will need to evolve and that some of this premium or subscription streaming of new titles should probably co-exist with theatrical, but I’d still like to visit a theater. Once everyone in my household is vaccinated (which will take longer because they haven’t yet developed one for children, that’s expected in the fall last I heard), I will be delighted to go on a movie date night with my wife.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The list in @Tino's first post has both The Eternals and Spider-Man 3 on November 5. Obviously, that is not going to be the case. Spider-Man 3 is currently dated for December 17, 2021.

I am high risk for the virus and am still basically quarantining at home. I don't know when my turn will be to get the vaccine, but I will certainly be thrilled to take it as soon as it is offered to me. That being said, I'm starting to think it might be a while longer until I would feel comfortable returning to theaters. I absolutely 100% support wearing masks when in public. But being high risk, I have only been out of the house six times since March. As such, I am not accustomed to having a mask on and am not comfortable in them. I would never consider going out without one until the pandemic is behind us. But I don't think I would make a choice to sit in the movie theater for two hours with a mask on because I would be too uncomfortable to focus on the film. If that means I have to wait until we have some degree of herd immunity to safely go back to the theater, then I'd wait.

My most anticipated film of 2021 is Encanto, which isn't coming out until Thanksgiving week. So that is the big one I am looking toward. I would absolutely love to be able to go back into a theater before then, but we'll see what happens. I'm glad that the film I am most looking forward to next year is not coming out until nearer to the end of the year, which increases the chances that I might feel comfortable going to it.

If I were not particularly high risk and/or if I were accustomed to going out all the time with a mask on, I might feel differently. But right now, that's where I'm at personally. I hate that I'm saying this because going to the movie is one of my very favorite outings. I've never gone as long in my life between movies and I really hate that I can't be more enthusiastic about going back soon. But I'm just not there yet. I wish I was.

On a related note, how many of these films do we think will stick to their current release dates? I think the big films for the early part of the year are especially vulnerable. I would be very surprised if No Time to Die sticks in April. I suspect MGM to move that one more time to next November because they have been ping-ponging it between November and April slots, and I just don't think the box office will have recovered to the extent they need by April. We'll see.

 

[TravisR]

By far the movie I most want to see is Halloween Kills. I'm also looking forward to Last Night In Soho (unfortunately, an April date seems a strong possibility to get bumped again), Luca, Mission: Impossible and The Beatles documentary.

I didn't realize that Jackass 4 was coming already. Is it just them shaking people's hands and not wearing a mask while people cough on them for 90 minutes?

 

[Jake Lipson]

I'm also looking forward to Last Night In Soho (unfortunately, an April date seems a strong possibility to get bumped again),

Last Night in Soho is being released by Focus Features, which means that it is eligible for Universal's shortened window deal with Cinemark and AMC. They could decide to just leave it there and make back any deficit in PVOD rentals 17 days later.

That being said, Universal just delayed The Boss Baby 2 from March to September yesterday. Because Trolls World Tour worked on PVOD, and The Croods has been reasonably successful using the hybrid theatrical/PVOD model, I thought they would just do that again. Delaying it seems to indicate that Universal hopes for bigger box office if moviegoing has recovered by September, but we'll see. I have never understood the appeal of The Boss Baby to begin with, so what do I know?

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I have never understood the appeal of The Boss Baby to begin with, so what do I know?

Yeah, that was a pretty mediocre movie. Cute concept, meh execution...

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I am high risk for the virus and am still basically quarantining at home. I don't know when my turn will be to get the vaccine, but I will certainly be thrilled to take it as soon as it is offered to me. That being said, I'm starting to think it might be a while longer until I would feel comfortable returning to theaters. I absolutely 100% support wearing masks when in public. But being high risk, I have only been out of the house six times since March. As such, I am not accustomed to having a mask on and am not comfortable in them. I would never consider going out without one until the pandemic is behind us. But I don't think I would make a choice to sit in the movie theater for two hours with a mask on because I would be too uncomfortable to focus on the film.

With that being the case, if there were something you really wanted to see you could always buy a soda. If you've got a soda sitting in front of you, no one will say anything to you about not having a mask on. Spending an extra $6-7 isn't ideal but it would solve that problem for you.

 

[jcroy]

On a related note, how many of these films do we think will stick to their current release dates? I think the big films for the early part of the year are especially vulnerable. I would be very surprised if No Time to Die sticks in April. I suspect MGM to move that one more time to next November because they have been ping-ponging it between November and April slots, and I just don't think the box office will have recovered to the extent they need by April. We'll see.

A wildcard will be if MGM is sold to another major movie company in early 2021 (such as Warner or Apple).

If a traditional media conglomerate gobbles up MGM, then this ping ponging will probably still happen.

If Apples gobbles up MGM, then it can appear immediately on Apple's services. (For that matter, also the same thing if somebody like amazon or Microsoft gobbles up MGM).

 

[Jake Lipson]

If you've got a soda sitting in front of you, no one will say anything to you about not having a mask on.

Nice idea. But since I am high risk, not having the mask on would be the problem in that scenario, rather than whether someone complains about it. I'd really love to be able to go back to the movies sooner. I really miss it. But because I am high risk for the virus, that has to be my primary concern. Just to be clear, In no way am I advocating going out without a mask. Finding them uncomfortable is an additional reason to stay home when possible, which I do. It is not a reason to go out without one.

 

[Malcolm R]

I really don't understand complaints about comfort and masks. After a few minutes, I forget I have it on. This includes over an hour in the gym on a regular basis, with 30+ minutes of elliptical cardio, and the mask is on continuously (because I'm also high risk, and the gym management recommends it). That mask is puffing in and out like a furnace bellows on my face, but it doesn't really bother me (this is a disposable, surgical type mask).

If you can't sit still, in a chair, and watch a movie . . . .

 

[Jake Lipson]

If you can't sit still, in a chair, and watch a movie . . . .

...then you don't go.

That's it. Or at least that's it for me.

I think it is totally valid for some people to feel uncomfortable in a mask. It is not valid to use discomfort as an excuse to not wear one when you are out in public. I am fortunate in that I don't have to go out, so I don't. I look forward to resuming normal leisure activities such as movies when enough people have been vaccinated to make mask usage less necessary. If that means I have to wait longer to go back to the movies, that's fine.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Nice idea. But since I am high risk, not having the mask on would be the problem in that scenario, rather than whether someone complains about it. I'd really love to be able to go back to the movies sooner. I really miss it. But because I am high risk for the virus, that has to be my primary concern. Just to be clear, In no way am I advocating going out without a mask. Finding them uncomfortable is an additional reason to stay home when possible, which I do. It is not a reason to go out without one.

OK, I misunderstood. I thought you were saying that after you get vaccinated, you still wouldn't want to go because of the mask requirement.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I thought you were saying that after you get vaccinated, you still wouldn't want to go because of the mask requirement.

You know, I really don't know. I know that wearing a mask for that long doesn't appeal to me. But it's also about the risk. The vaccine is 95% effective, which is great, and I look forward to whenever it will be my turn to get that. Regardless, I believe that with my personal risk factors and history of fighting off infections that I would probably not survive a bout with the virus even if I got it. So even once I get the vaccine, I'm going to be really careful.

I miss the movie theater so much. I wish I could go back safely right now. I wish I knew when I could go back. I certainly hope it is safe to do so at some point this year. As soon as I do feel like that is safe, it will be my first leisure outing. But I just don't have an answer yet as to when I would feel comfortable doing that.

My memories feature on Facebook showed me that last year on New Year's I posted a list of my most anticipated 2020 movies.

They were:

1) In the Heights
2) West Side Story
3) Raya and the Last Dragon
4) Onward
5) "A big fun surprise movie I don't know about yet."

It's crazy to me that of the four that I listed by name, only one of them was actually able to come out, and ti was the last movie I saw in a theater ten months ago. For the fifth one, Palm Springs absolutely qualifies as that, but seeing it on streaming wasn't at all what I had imagined. I figured it would be something I got to discover in a crowded room as the audience reacted together. Seeing this particular memory pop up made me remember, again, how much I miss the movie theater and how much I want to go back there. But I just don't know.

Remaking my most anticipated list for 2021, it would be:

1) Encanto
2) In the Heights
3) West Side Story
4) Raya and the Last Dragon
5) Spider-Man

So It is extremely similar. We know Raya will come out in March because it is doing the theatrical/Disney+ thing. I'll probably end up seeing that on Disney+ because I doubt I'll feel safer in two months. Maybe if we're lucky it might be safe to see In the Heights in a theater by June, if the chains will agree to carry it. But who knows? I certainly didn't think I would ever go this long between theater visits, but here we are. If it isn't safe, I will end up streaming that as well.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

In terms of mask-wearing, that became less annoying to me when I found a way to keep my glasses unfogged!

I still don't enjoy it, but it bugs me less if my glasses remain wearable!

 

[Tino]

First Weekend

	Movie	Distr	Gross	%LW	Thr	Thr Chng	Per Thr	Total Gross	W
1	(1)	Wonder Woman 1984	Warner Bros.	$5,500,000	-67%	2,151	n/c	$2,557	$28,500,000	2
-	(3)	The Croods: A New Age	Universal	$2,180,000	+25%	1,751	+25	$1,245	$34,514,280	6
-	(2)	News of the World	Universal	$1,690,000	-25%	1,928	+28	$877	$5,407,170	2
-	(6)	Fatale	Lionsgate	$700,000	+6%	1,183	+15	$592	$3,091,447	3
-	(5)	Promising Young Woman	Focus Fea…	$660,000	-8%	1,333	+23	$495	$1,868,180	2
-	(10)	The War with Grandpa	101 Studios	$113,983	+27%	305	-210	$374	$18,667,688	13
-	(-)	Alien	20th Cent…	$75,000		505		$149	$2,058,690	2,172
-	(12)	Freaky	Universal	$55,000	+8%	201	-54	$274	$8,757,060	8
-	(13)	Come Play	Focus Fea…	$54,000	+26%	110	-13	$491	$9,559,540	10
-	(14)	Half Brothers	Focus Fea…	$40,000	+11%	134	-52	$299	$2,056,150	5
-	(-)	All My Life	Universal	$10,000	-5%	88	-45	$114	$909,585	5
-	(-)	Let Him Go	Focus Fea…	$8,000	+18%	49	-5	$163	$9,355,940	9

 

[Jake Lipson]

From Deadline:

Warner Bros.’ theatrical release of Wonder Woman 1984, which is also available on HBO Max for the next 21 days, grossed $5.5M, -67%, for a running domestic B.O. of $28.5M. From that kind of drop, it sounds like whatever moviegoing public exists out there finally got the message that they can see the movie at a cheaper price for the family at home on HBO Max.

I disagree with this analysis. I think the drop was large because those people who are comfortable going to the theater and really wanted to see Wonder Woman 1984 went last weekend when it was new. Because the film has been delayed so many times, people got tired of waiting and wanted to see it as soon as possible.

The mixed response might also have something to do with it. Also, there could be some people who would be willing to go see something they really want to see one time who might not be willing to accept the risk for a repeat viewing.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I think the drop was large because those people who are comfortable going to the theater and really wanted to see Wonder Woman 1984 went last weekend when it was new.

Bingo.

 

[Wayne_j]

A 67% drop isn't that huge for a comic book movie where people might want to see it immediately to avoid spoilers. The highly mixed reactions to it definitely doesn't help.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

From Deadline:



I disagree with this analysis. I think the drop was large because those people who are comfortable going to the theater and really wanted to see Wonder Woman 1984 went last weekend when it was new.

Not everyone!