*Can a “Naked Gun” movie be a hit in 2025?
Here’s your quandry: Is “The Naked Gun,” a reboot of the three-decade Zucker Brothers and Jim Abrahams comedy franchise, a movie that audiences laugh out loud at the trailer and wait to watch at home or on a plane, or do they actually go buy tickets to see it in a theater? Essentially, is it a genuine comedy hit, a rarity these days, or is it the dreaded “Snakes on a Plane” scenario? (Or will audiences be confused by a new trailer that is more thriller than comedy?) The budget is unclear and likely respectfully low for a summer release, but Akiva Schaffer is a talented filmmaker (“Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping,” “Hot Rod”) and producer (“Palm Springs,” “Pen15”). The movie has also been shooting all spring to keep it as timely and funny as possible. This is a curious one and perhaps the biggest question mark of the summer.
*Is the summer art house dead?
Even at the height of the indie film boom, the summer months were not known for independent movie “hits.” There have been years where art house killed it and others where it completely flopped. So far, we’re looking at the former. NEON’s TIFF People’s Choice Awards winner “The Life of Chuck” has been anything but and will be lucky to hit $8 million domestic, Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme” has barely surpassed “The French Dispatch,” a fall release during a COVID surge in 2021, SPC’s “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” has completely flopped despite very good reviews and there is a long list of other smaller indies that have haven’t come close to even $400,000 domestic. Lionsgate wouldn’t even release the box office numbers for “Everything’s Going to be Great” with Bryan Cranston and Allison Janey, and the cast did the entire New York media circuit (!). The only real breakout has been A24’s “Friendship,” which has taken in over $16 million in the U.S., thanks to the popularity of star Tim Robinson (Paul Rudd’s presence was almost an afterthought). A24 will hope to keep their success going with Eva Victor’s fantastic “Sorry, Baby” (the initial limited opening this past weekend was not great), SPC has “Oh, Hi!” with Logan Lerman and Molly Gordon opening in limited next month and NEON appears to be going wide with another Sundance title, “Together,” on July 30. And then August has a bunch of indies…
*Can any of the late August releases hit?
Is August a box office playground now? Or the dumping slot for troubled movies, the way it always has been? We’re still surprised Searchlight has sent Jay Roach’s “The Roses,” with Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch, to the dregs of August 29, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The tragedies begin on August 15, where Universal has thrown “Nobody 2” with Bob Odenkirk, the sequel to the 2021 surprise double down the line, to whither before PVOD and your next cross-country flight. Lionsgate also has “Americana” with Sydney Sweeney and Paul Walter Hauser, ready to be forgotten on the same date. Focus is going wide with Ethan Coen‘s second prestige b-movie play, “Honey Don’t!” on August 22 after a very weak Cannes response (yep, the release date clocks). That’s a strange date overall as it also includes the long awaited release of Ron Howard’s not-cheap “Eden,” which has already opened overseas, and the limited debuts of two very good films: the fantastic “Lurker,” which MUBI should have opened earlier in the summer, and NEON’s “Splitsville,” featuring another great Dakota Johnson turn, which earled pretty good reviews out of Cannes that should get a better reception stateside. The 29th not only has “The Roses,” but Darren Aronofsky’s “Caught Stealing” with Austin Butler, Matt Smith, Regina King, Bad Bunny, and Zoë Kravitz, among others (how is this not a TIFF debut, fall release? Is it that bad?) and the independent unrated release of “The Toxic Avenger” remake featuring Peter Dinklage which has the best trailer of the wide releases on that date. Greenwich Entertainment will also drop the highly appreciated Sundance drama “Love, Brooklyn” with André Holland and Nicole Beharie on the same date. Sure looks like a lot of movies are getting dumped to us. Who concurs?
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