Filmmaker Cary Fukunaga has been waiting more than a year and a half for the biggest movie of his career, the James Bond film to arrive in theaters. It has been a strange and surreal wait. Months before the much-delayed movie is even released on Oct. 8, the film鈥檚 theme song, by Billie Eilish, has already won a Grammy.
鈥淚 had a dream last night where Sam Mendes was there,鈥 Fukunaga said in a recent interview, referring to the director of the previous two Bond movies. 鈥淲e were on vacation on some frozen lake. He was done with Bond films. And he was like, 鈥極h, you finished one. Now you get a break.鈥 Then we started, like, water skiing on a frozen lake.鈥
鈥淚t was a weird dream,鈥 says Fukunaga.
The fall movie season 鈥 usually a reliable rhythm and cozy autumn comfort 鈥 is this year, like much of the past 18 months, a little disorienting. On the way are movies once planned to open as far back as April 2020, like 鈥淣o Time to Die,鈥 summer movies that hope to find better conditions in autumn, and films that have been shot and edited during the pandemic.
What has coalesced is a movie mishmash 鈥 something much more robust than last fall鈥檚 cobbled together, 鈥 a season that stretched all the way to the Oscars in April. But the recent rise in COVID-19 cases due to the delta variant has added new uncertainty to a time Hollywood had once hoped would be nearing normality.
鈥淓verything is fluid, and everything will stay fluid,鈥 says Tom Rothman, chairman and chief executive of Sony Pictures. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the antithesis of the way it used to be. In the old days, you planted your flag and you didn鈥檛 move for hell or high water. Now, there鈥檚 a great premium on being very flexible and nimble.鈥
The unpredictability of the conditions is universally shared but acutely felt at studios like Sony that even through the pandemic have remained largely committed to exclusive theatrical releases. While Disney (with Disney+) and Warner Bros. (with HBO Max) have sought to hedge their bets and boost subscribers to their streaming services with day-and-date releases in 2021, Sony, Universal, Paramount and MGM (home to Bond) 鈥 with various windowing strategies 鈥 have mostly stuck to theater-first plans.
In all the movies coming this fall 鈥 among them (Oct. 15), (Oct. 22), (Nov. 5), (Nov. 24) 鈥攏othing may be quite as tense as the ever-unfolding drama around old-fashioned, butts-in-the-seats moviegoing. Citing the delta-driven surge, Paramount has uprooted from the season, . But on the heels of some promising box-office performances, many of the fall鈥檚 top movies and leading Oscar hopefuls are only doubling down on theatrical, and the cultural impact that comes with it. Even if it鈥檚 a gamble.
鈥淲e have a lot of inventory. You don鈥檛 want to keep pushing all of the films,鈥 says Rothman. 鈥淎t a certain point, you have to go.鈥
After building confidence in moviegoing over the summer, delta has sapped some of Hollywood鈥檚 momentum. The National Research Group had recorded more than 80% of moviegoers were comfortable going to theaters in July. But that number dipped to 67% last month.
Yet summer鈥檚 last big movie, Marvel鈥檚 鈥淪hang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,鈥 鈥 one of the best performances of the pandemic. Notably, it was only playing in theaters.
Even before all the numbers were in, Rothman and Sony moved up the release of the sequel to its $856 million superhero hit, by two weeks to Oct. 1. It kicks off Sony鈥檚 slate including Jason Reitman鈥檚 (Nov. 19), Denzel Washington鈥檚 (Dec. 10) and (Dec. 17).
No studio is betting quite as big on movie theaters this fall as Sony. The studio lacks a major streaming platform but with Netflix and Disney to stream films after theatrical release. Discussing the disappointing results of day-and-date movies like Warner Bros.鈥 鈥淭he Suicide Squad鈥 versus a Rothman recently touted the explanation:
鈥淭here is no economic model to 鈥 never mind make a profit 鈥 to break even on the assets themselves without a windowed universe. It doesn鈥檛 exist,鈥 says Rothman.
That debate 鈥 what movies open where and when 鈥 is sure to remain unsettled in the coming months, and probably well beyond. Warner Bros. has pledged to return to exclusive theatrical releases, for 45 days, next year. But little this fall 鈥 including the movie calendar 鈥 is a sure thing.
鈥淯ntil the pandemic is genuinely behind us, I don鈥檛 think that you can prognosticate about what the future of cinema is going to be,鈥 says Rothman. 鈥淚t鈥檚 still on emergency footing right now.鈥
So Hollywood鈥檚 summer in limbo will stretch into the fall. But more than any previous point in the pandemic, a whole lot of movies are lined up. The Venice and Telluride film festivals have kindled buzz for a wide array of upcoming films, including (Nov. 17), with Benedict Cumberbatch. The Oscar race could have some major star power, too. Among the early standouts: (Nov. 5) and Will Smith as Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena, in (Nov. 19).
In Jessica Chastain transforms into the infamous televangelist. Searchlight Pictures will release it Sept. 17 in theaters.
鈥淲e like that communal experience, especially after a year and a half of being starved of it. It doesn鈥檛 mean streaming is going away. It鈥檚 here to stay,鈥 says Chastain, who also stars in the HBO miniseries 鈥淪cenes from a Marriage.鈥 鈥淚n my mind, I just see the industry as expanding.鈥
Just how many films have been released during the pandemic is often underestimated. But even with a few high-profile departures, the upcoming season is crowded. Apple has Joel Coen鈥檚 with Denzel Washington. Amazon has the musical adaptation (Sept. 17). New movies are on tap from world-class filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson, Guillermo del Toro (鈥淣ightmare Alley,鈥 Dec. 3), Pedro Almod贸var ( Dec. 24), Asghar Farhadi (鈥淎 Hero,鈥 Jan. 7) and Paolo Sorrentino ( Nov. 24).
There鈥檚 also a feast of docs including Julie Cohen and Betsy West鈥檚 Julia Child portrait 鈥淛ulia鈥 (not yet dated); Liz Garbus鈥 (Oct. 22); Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin鈥檚 (October), about the 2018 Thai cave rescue; and, fittingly, a portrait of one of the pandemic鈥檚 most ubiquitous faces, infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, in John Hoffman and Janet Tobias鈥 鈥淔auci鈥 (Sept. 10).
Netflix will release three dozen films between now and Christmas 鈥 including (Dec. 17); the Western (Nov. 3), with Jonathan Majors and Idris Elba; Lin-Manuel Miranda鈥檚 directorial debut ; and Antoine Fuqua鈥檚 (Sept. 24), a single-setting crime thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a demoted police officer taking 911 calls.
Just before production began earlier this year, Fuqua came in close contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus. To keep distance from his cast and crew, he directed the movie from a van parked outside the set.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a strange world we鈥檙e in at the moment, and it wears on all of us quite a bit,鈥 says Fuqua. 鈥淏ut I try to stay positive. That鈥檚 why 鈥楾he Guilty鈥 happened. I do think there鈥檚 a responsibility for all of us to forge ahead, not wallow in the situation that we鈥檙e in, and find new ways to do it.鈥
Hopefully, the long delay of a number of films that have been waiting in the wings for more than a year 鈥 including Steven Spielberg鈥檚 (Dec. 10), Wes Anderson鈥檚 (Oct. 22) and, yes, 鈥淣o Time to Die鈥 鈥 will soon finally be over.
鈥淲hat I haven鈥檛 gotten on this one is the satisfaction of anyone else seeing the film and saying 鈥業 hated it鈥 or 鈥業 like it,鈥 says Fukunaga. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the part you鈥檙e waiting for. Some people are going to like it. Some people aren鈥檛 going to like it. But you still want to hear it. Even if you don鈥檛 want to hear it, you want to hear it.鈥
鈥擩ake Coyle , The Associated Press
