In Vulture’s Fall Movies Fantasy League, contestants stake their pride, and the respect of their peers, on their ability to predict the tumultuous next few months of cinematic releases.
This week in the Fall Movies Fantasy League, the house of cards is looking mighty wobbly.
In our opening frame, Tenet’s $100 million worldwide gross was enough to earn it the coveted box-office bonus. But witnessing its comparatively meager $20 million domestic opening, Hollywood executives began to tremble like Oppenheimer in the Jornada del Muerto. The movie they had been counting on to save the industry managed to open to less than The Accountant did in the before-times?
And so, now that the crisis of theatrical moviegoing has proven it will not just vanish with frequent scrub-downs of socially distanced multiplexes, a few studios have gathered their shovels and begun burying cash in the backyard. The first unlucky domino to fall was Universal’s Candyman remake, which was moved from October to an unspecified date in 2021, thus making it the FMFL’s first official blank. My condolences to all the Candyman owners. Commiserate by saying “I should have drafted Antebellum†three times in your bathroom mirror.
Things are likewise not looking too great for Warner Bros.’ other would-be tentpole, Wonder Woman 1984, which got pushed back to Christmas in a move that one might say slightly contradicts the studio’s public confidence in Tenet’s box office. WW1984 remains in play for its owners, as does the Gerard Butler action vehicle Greenland, which just got undated, but more delays could see either one score a goose egg. It’s not all doom and gloom, though: Despite rumors that it would also be pushed, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune at the moment remains set for a December 18 opening. I would tell Dune owners not to be afraid, but I think they’re probably way ahead of me.
Now on to the movies that have actually come out! This week saw two popular budget picks do exactly what their owners drafted them to do. You might have expected HBO Max’s abortion road-trip comedy Unpregnant to score well with critics, and indeed it did, pulling in an 85 Rotten Tomatoes score to earn the critical bonus. But, as it turns out, so did the micro-budget coming-of-age comedy Summerland (not to be confused with the Gemma Arterton film of the same name), which debuted on VOD on Monday to surprisingly good reviews. However, we need to keep an eye out: Summerland’s 88 RT score comes from only eight reviews, so we’re in the realm of small-sample-size theater here. If more pans come in, that bonus won’t be around for long.
Finally, the weekend’s other movies, the Helen Reddy biopic I Am Woman and the Wil Wheaton nerd thriller Rent-A-Pal, both debuted to fairly disappointing scores, receiving positive but not earth-shattering reviews — though the latter at least earned some spare points for releasing in actual theaters.
Here is the update for the staff league:
Week 2 Results
Jackson McHenry
Unpregnant: September streaming release (4) + Hitting scheduled release date (1) + RT score above 80 (2) = 7 points
Total: 7 points
Tolly Wright
Unpregnant: September streaming release (4) + Hitting scheduled release date (1) + RT score above 80 (2) = 7 points
Total: 7 points
Katy Brooks
Summerland: September VOD release (3) + Hitting scheduled release date (1) + RT score above 80 (2) = 6 points
Candyman: Pushed to 2021 = 0 points
Total: 6 points
Alison Wilmore
I Am Woman: September VOD release (3) + Hitting scheduled release date (1) = 4 points
Total: 4 points
Chris Murphy
Summerland: September VOD release (3) + Hitting scheduled release date (1) + RT score above 80 (2) = 6 points
Total: 6 points
Justin Curto
Candyman: Pushed to 2021 = 0 points
Total: 0 points
Neil Janowitz
Candyman: Pushed to 2021 = 0 points
Total: 0 points
Jen Chaney
Summerland: September VOD release (3) + Hitting scheduled release date (1) + RT score above 80 (2) = 6 points
Candyman: Pushed to 2021 = 0 points
Total: 6 points
Current Standings
1. Katy Brooks: 28 points (4 movies)
2. Rachel Handler: 26 points (3 movies)
3. Tolly Wright: 17 points (3 movies)
4. Jackson McHenry: 13 points (2 movies)
t-5. Chris Murphy: 6 points (1 movie); Jen Chaney: 6 points (2 movies)
7. Alison Wilmore: 4 points (1 movie)
t-8. Hunter Harris: 0 points (0 movies); Justin Curto, Neil Janowitz: 0 points (1 movie)
Staff fantasy-league teams are listed in full here.
Vulture’s Fall Movies Fantasy League is open to all readers. Enter and you can look forward to an exciting autumn of endlessly refreshing Box Office Mojo and Rotten Tomatoes and quibbling over the precise definition of wide release.