We have a calm-before-the-storm situation this weekend. No major studio dared to open against Christopher Nolan & The Odyssey last week, and they didn’t dare do it a week after its release either. Most people will elect to watch Odysseus find his way home again this weekend before Tom Holland dominates the box office for the second time this month next week when Spider-Man: Brand New Day likely breaks records in its debut. However, don’t fret! Some smaller offerings might grab your attention while a trio of summer releases hit digital for home viewing.
What’s Opening In Theaters?
Opening this weekend after a polarizing Cannes Film Festival run is the science fiction thriller, Her Private Hell, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn from a script he co-wrote alongside Esti Giordani. In the film, a futuristic metropolis is engulfed by a mysterious mist that unleashes an entity known as the Leather Man, as another storyline begins to intertwine involving a privileged actress navigating a life of debauchery. The movie stars Sophie Thatcher, Charles Melton, Havana Rose Liu, Kristine Froseth, Shioli Kutsuna, Aoi Yamada, Dougray Scott, Diego Calva, and Hidetoshi Nishijima.
As a director, Refn impressed with 2011’s Drive, but the majority of his filmography is an acquired taste that has split critics and audiences alike. Her Private Hell has certainly already done that, currently registering a 44 percent on Rotten Tomatoes with critics calling it a beautiful hot mess while others have called it a straight-up disaster. That being said, at least it has cinephiles talking for better or worse. Rather be interesting than boring, and at least Her Private Hell doesn’t sound like the latter.
Also opening is the action thriller Motor City, directed by Potsy Poncirolli and written by Chad St. John. In the film, an ex-con named John Miller (Alan Ritchson) is thirsty for revenge after a gangster (portrayed by Ben Foster) framed him for a crime he didn’t commit and stole his girlfriend (portrayed by Shailene Woodley). The film also stars Pablo Schreiber & Lionel Boyce.
Motor City is decently reviewed at 66 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and it has an interesting hook where there are only about five lines of dialogue spoken in the film while action scenes and a rock soundtrack drive the plot. Motor City likely won’t make much of an impression theatrically, but it seems destined for cult status where it should find more life.
What To Watch At Home
Should you want to skip a trip to the theater, there is a trio of high-profile summer releases that can now be viewed at home. Steven Spielberg is back making audiences question if we’re alone in the universe. The Wayans Brothers get their horror spoof franchise back. Star Wars takes a popular Disney+ series to give us the first big-screen go-around with the IP in seven years and He-Man hopes to get a better reception on Prime Video than he did in theaters.
Hitting digital after premiering in theaters in June is Disclosure Day, a science fiction film featuring a story crafted by Spielberg and a screenplay from one of his frequent collaborators, David Koepp. In the film, a cybersecurity expert uncovers a decades-long government conspiracy involving alien contact. As he goes on the run with the classified data, he comes across a TV meteorologist who has suddenly developed psychic abilities and can speak in an alien language. The movie stars Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, and Colman Domingo.
Disclosure Day is Spielberg working in territory he’s familiar with, as he has always been intrigued by the notion of us not being alone in the universe. From Close Encounters of the Third Kind to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, this is storytelling that Spielberg has essentially perfected, and Disclosure Day engaged audiences enough during its theatrical run to get them talking, although the reception from moviegoers was a bit mixed. Despite an 80 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, the audience score sits a bit lower at 76 percent, while the film received a “B” CinemaScore from opening day moviegoers. Some questioned if this was too “been there, done that” for the film to work for modern audiences, while others felt Spielberg still had the juice to make stories like this work. The film has grossed $237.3 million worldwide to date on a $115 million budget, making it a decent performer considering the mixed notices. Now that it can be viewed at home, it’s likely to spark even more debate and go a long way to prove that Spielberg is still very much relevant to get people talking.
Also hitting digital is Scary Movie, directed by Michael Tiddes, with Craig Wayans and Rick Alvarez also contributing to screenwriting duties. In the film, Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris), Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall), Shorty Meeks (Marlon), and Ray Wilkins (Shawn) reunite twenty-six years after they were first made the target of a Ghostface killer, and they are joined by new faces as legacy sequels, reboots, and spinoffs are no longer safe from hilarious mayhem. The film also stars Cheri Oteri, Dave Sheridan, Heidi Gardner, Lochlyn Munro, Olivia Rose Keegan, Sydney Park, Jon Abrahams, and Cameron Scott Roberts, among others.
The sixth installment of the popular spoof franchise didn’t wow critics (it’s currently 23 percent rotten on Rotten Tomatoes), but that didn’t seem to matter to moviegoers when the film opened to $55 million, becoming the biggest opening of the franchise to date. That being said, at least domestically, it suffered crazy drops after its opening weekend and has grossed $108.1 million on the home front. It all doesn’t matter in the end because globally the film cleared $230.3 million on a $30 million budget, so another Scary Movie and a White Chicks 2 is likely in the cards. Its digital release ensures fans get to have a proper Scary Movie marathon with the Wayans Brothers’ entries but definitely without Scary Movie 5.
Star Wars hits home after what should’ve felt like an event kind of run when it opened in May, but instead it seemed like it came up a bit short. The Mandalorian and Grogu was the first Star Wars film to hit the big screen in seven years and even though it had a pretty decent opening weekend, its reception showed that the franchise needs to do more to stay relevant. Directed by Jon Favreau, who co-wrote the film with Dave Filoni and Noah Kloor, The Mandalorian and Grogu is a continuation of the Disney+ televsion series The Mandalorian and is set following the fall of the Galactic Empire as Din Djarin/The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and his trusty companion Grogu are enlisted by the New Republic to rescue Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White) in exchange for valuable information.
It’s doubtful that anyone had the horror movie Obsession ($444 million worldwide and counting) outgrossing a Star Wars movie ($344.9 million globally) on their bingo card, but that’s where we’re at this summer with The Mandalorian and Grogu. It’s the lowest-grossing live-action Star Wars film to date, and it received mixed reviews from critics (60 percent on Rotten Tomatoes). The biggest complaint was that it felt like a TV series made for the big screen but maybe this is why the movie will thrive at home. Audiences who did see it seemed to enjoy it (“A-” CinemaScore and an 87 percent audience score) so maybe it will gain some steam now that force can be summoned at home.
Lastly, a film hitting Prime Video and one that deserved a much better theatrical fate is Masters of the Universe. It’s labeled as one of the biggest bombs of the summer but here’s hoping that its reception on Prime Video will encourage Amazon MGM to move ahead with a sequel. Directed by Travis Knight and from a screenplay by Chris Butler, Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, and David Callaham, Masters of the Universe follows Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine), who escaped his home planet of Eternia as a child, as he fulfils his destiny as He-Man and attempts to save his home from the treacherous Skeletor (Jared Leto) and his evil cohorts. The film also stars Camila Mendes, Alison Brie, James Purefoy, Kristin Wiig, Morena Baccarin, and Idris Elba.
Masters of the Universe carried a reported budget of $170-$200 million, so its $65 million final domestic take and $114 million final global haul means it technically bombed, but Amazon has said they weigh their theatrical footprint differently. The theatricaly run is like an elaborate marketing push for Prime Video streaming and merchandise, so there are claims Masters of the Universe can become a win. The movie certainly deserved better because it’s one of the better blockbusters of the summer. It’s another example opf those who did see it, really enjoyed it (87 percent audience score) and now it just needs the uninitiated to discover it. If any recent big-budget endeavor deserves a fresh shot at home, it’s this one. Eternia doens’t have to end at your local multiplex. It can come home too.
Check back next week when we keep you in the know about What To Watch!
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