2026 Summer Blockbuster Pool Preview

As always, I’m just listing the contenders here (or at least movies I couldn’t resist saying something about). Let’s get on with it!!! 

May 1

The Devil Wears Prada 2

Our normal MCU “First Film of Summer” has been replaced by a 20th Anniversary sequel to a fashion movie. This could be this year’s Top Gun: Maverick and have just as many One Republic songs.  

Animal Farm

So, faith-based company Angel Studies paid for Gollum (Andy Serkis) to direct an animated family-film version of the dystopian Animal Farm story by atheist George Orwell. I just wanted to type all that out to see if it made as much sense as I thought.  

May 8 

Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D)

Seems like Billie has something Taylor and Beyonce didn’t with their concert movies… James Cameron directing! If it doesn’t look like I could just reach out and touch those Birds of a Feather, I’m going to want my money back. 

Mortal Kombat II

Maybe they should make video game movies like the old games themselves. Every few minutes you have to put another quarter in to “Continue.” I wonder how many quarters I’d put into this film before I’m like, “I’m good. On to the next one.” 

The Sheep Detectives

I mean, is this like Babe meets Agatha Christie?! I might have to do an AMC Private Theater Rental for just me. I’M SO EXCITED!!!

May 15

In The Grey

If there’s anything better than a Guy Ritchie movie, it’s one that’s had its release delayed for two years. Count me in.

  

Is God Is

Two sisters go on a revenge spree after their abusive father. Go get ‘em, ladies. 

May 22

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

Sorry, everyone. I don’t care if Grogu’s been his name since Season 2. He’ll always be Baby Yoda to me. Deal with it!

I Love Boosters

The latest Boots Riley film is a crime comedy with a killer cast. And I love Booster Clubs too… Oh wait, it might not really be about parent groups that follow their kids activities a little TOO closely. 

May 29

The Breadwinner

Nate Bargatze has been the biggest comic in the world the last five years and it’s actually surprising it’s taken him this long to try and make a movie. Will the fans show-up for a family comedy in the theaters or will they settle for 10-second soundbites on their phones? 

June 5

Masters of the Universe

I understand it takes money to make money, but do they really think spending $200 million on a He-Man movie is the best way to make money? They’re going to need a lot more than the Power of Greyskul to pull this off.  

Scary Movie 6

Calling this #6 has to be part of the joke, right? There can’t have been a whole five other Scary Movies, can there?

June 12

Disclosure Day

Spielberg is back in touch with the little green men. He’s about the same age Ridley Scott was when he made The Martian, so I’m hoping Steven can pull off the same type of entertaining, intelligent sci-fi magic… Please!

Stop! That! Train!

A Rupaul-produced action disaster comedy that looks like the second coming of the not classic The Big Bus from 1976?! I approve this message.  

June 19

Toy Story 5

Woody and Buzz face their toughest challenge yet… Making movies after they already seemed like they were done two movies ago.

The Death of Robin Hood

Hugh Jackman plays an aging Robin Hood about to take a final bow with his final bow. English is a dumb language.

June 26

Supergirl

Milly Alcook takes on the mantle of the superest girl in the universe. Will lightning strike twice to make this as super as last year’s Superman? 

Jackass: Best and Last

Why do I get the feeling that this will neither be the “best” or “last” Jackass film?

July 1

Minions & Monsters

Have the Minions movies been getting better while the Despicable Me films have been getting worse? It hardly matters as these yellow guys always have a way of making green. 

July 10

Moana (Live-Action)

This move looks about as Live-Action as The Lion King remake. Disney scored big with the Lilo & Stitch nostalgia 20 years after the first… Has 10 years been enough for nostalgia to work for Moana?  

Evil Dead Burn

It’s like they combined Bruce Campbell’s two most known things… Evil Dead and Burn Notice. Maybe, someday, Burn Notice can get the streaming comeback it deserves like Suits. 

July 17

The Odyssey

At least we know one person in Hollywood still has a library card. Christopher Nolan follows up Oppenheimer with one of the oldest stories ever told. It’s also Matt Damon’s third time working with Nolan… Is he his new Michael Caine?!

Cut Off

Jonah Hill’s directing a movie with he and Kristen Wiig as rich siblings cut off from their parents. Hmm, I wonder how they came-up with the title?

July 31

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Tom Holland’s back in a world that’s forgotten who he is… Oh wait, they’ve just forgotten who Peter Parker is. We still know Tom as Zendaya’s boyfriend. 

August

We’ll just call it there. Nothing in August really looks like it’s going to be a contender.

2025 Holiday Blockbuster Pool - Final Report!!!

 The holiday lights are down, the Patriots are back in an AFC Title Game, and Monday was MLK Day, so at long last the 2025 Holiday Blockbuster Pool has come to an end!

The three-way battle for the top was must-watch TV (strange phrase for the metaphor) while the “hanging on for dear life” of the bottom two films was anything but riveting. 

Let’s give a “So Long, Farewell, Until We Stream Again” to the films that didn’t in 2025 before celebrating the true Top 5 of the Holiday Blockbuster Pool.

The “Tubi” Section:

- The anime film Scarlet got scared of being too much in the red and got delayed till February. 

- Ella McCay had more cast members than people who saw it.  

- Is This Thing On? might as well have been named Did This Even Come Out? 

- The Whole Bloody Kill Bill was killed by indifference.

- Sisu 2 might’ve been the only film I saw twice this season, but when even Bradley Cooper can’t make a hit, a mute, old-man, Finnish killing machine isn’t going to cut it either.   

The “Paramount+” Section:

- Sing Song Blue was just blue. When even my wife is over Hugh Jackman, I don’t even know how to make sense of the world anymore. 

- The Running Man ran in circles only to stand still.

- Now You See Me, Now You Don’t should’ve focused more on being seen. 

- Sadly, too many people said my Anaconda don’t want none. 

- Even the search party didn’t come back from The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants. 

- David defeated Goliath and got the girl, but didn’t win the pool. 

- To be fair, Marty Supreme becoming the biggest movie about ping-pong since Forest Gump is nothing to sneeze at.  

- Predator: Badlands was bad (as in good… it’s an 80’s thing) enough to hold the #5 spot in the pool until the bitter end… But the end is now. Nice try, guys!

And now, it’s finally here… The Top Five Films of the 2025 Holiday Blockbuster Pool!!!

#5. The Housemaid - $108.9 million

Wow. Well done, you. To be fair, I saw this movie for the same reasons a lot of people did (No, not the Sydney Sweeney sex scenes… that was just a perk). Avatar seemed too long, Marty seemed too serious, and I just wanted a dumb movie to pass the time with… and this fit the bill! Kudos to all for creating a counter-programming flick that did its job and reminding me of good ole 90’s thrillers that I can enjoy and then never think about again. Ladies and gentlemen, The Housemaid! 

#4. Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 - $127.6 million

It’s a FNaF World and we’re all just living in it. There may not be a bigger gap between the Tomatometer and the Popcornmeter scores than the 16% vs 84% rankings, but just let the people be happy. No one’s going to confuse these films with Oppenheimer and no one is trying to. Besides, it’s another hit for Josh Hutcherson: Team Peeta 4 Life! I can buy my own damn flowers, Liam Hemsworth! 

 

#3. Wicked For Good - $342.6 million

A lot of people wondered if Part Two could live up to Wicked Part One and the reality is that it couldn’t. The new songs didn’t click and the padding to bloat the second act didn’t add to anything. Maybe they could’ve trimmed here and there to squeeze these two parts into a single 3 ½ hour movie, yet that single “great” film likely wouldn’t have grossed over the $800 million these two films made combined. Maybe it’s the classic Hollywood story: they made the right business decision to the detriment of the art… and they’d happily do it again :)   

  

#2. Avatar: Fire & Ash - $368.1 million

While I wonder if James Cameron will ever just make a “regular” film again (self-contained, goes from Point A to Point B, “only” costs $200 million instead of $500 to make, etc.), it has to sting Disney that folks are already tuning out the Avatar movies after one comeback movie. Even globally, this movie has made a BILLION less than Avatar 2 by this point. My son read an interview back when The Way of Water came out that Avatar 4 is where the series really goes next level. It might have to to get the masses back to Pandora.       

#1. Zootopia 2 - $394.1 million

No matter how many times I’ve called this film Zoolander 2, I appreciate that everyone around me knows what I’m talking about because everyone knows no one’s ever talked about Zoolander 2. It’s like the Fight Club of sequels. Regardless, let’s celebrate an unnecessary sequel that’s still a good time topping the charts. Much like Inside Out 2, Zootopia 2 wasn’t the movie anyone asked for, but it was the film we needed. If the “blah” and “meh” Wicked and Avatar had won the pool, it takes some of the fun out of it. So, let’s hear it for the 2025 Holiday Blockbuster Pool winner… Sing us out, Gazelle!

‘Avatar’ More Ash Than Fire? - Weeks 6-8

 The final films have descended at the box-office and descended may be the right words. Some movies aren’t as “hot” as they expected to be this winter season. 

Avatar: Fire and Ash had a lackluster $89.1 million debut weekend. Almost $45 million less than Avatar: The Way of Water began. That wasn’t necessarily a red flag, as the Avatar films have traditionally been more of a smaller start and continually strength over the long-haul performance. Still, the smaller the start, the less strength there is to build from.

Its second weekend dropped only 29%, which is great. Avatar 3 is now at $216 million after the long Christmas weekend. Obviously, still behind where Avatar 2 was, but still with an outside chance of catching the earlier November hits if it can keep momentum and, more importantly,  keep charging those premium 3D glasses ticket prices. 

The real winner of December has been Zootopia 2 which has been THE family hit of the holiday season even though it’s already been out since Thanksgiving. Weekends of $16 million and $20 million over the school break have pushed this film to $321 million so far and it could catch Wicked: For Good by this weekend. 

Speaking of Wicked: For Good, it may finally be showing its box-office strength is not as “unlimited” as Elphaba and Glinda. Sitting at $331.6 million so far, it looks like a final of $340 million might be where gravity sets in. 

Outside of the heavy-hitters, it’s hard to make much sense of the other films and where they may land. 

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is at $118 million and doesn’t have many quarters left to play in the arcade. 

Predator: Badlands is the gate-keeper at #5 with $90 million and daring other films to pass it. 

Looking at what’s left, I’m not sure if any film can do that. David’s at $49.5 million. The Housemaid is at $46 million. SpongeBob is at $38 million. Marty Supreme is at $28 million. Anaconda’s at $23 million. Sing Song Blue is at $11 million. Ella McCay may be the biggest bomb of the year as a major studio release with only $3.8 million total… TOTAL!

So, honestly, out of that crew, I have no idea. Marty and David could have more groundswell in the coming weeks. And, to be fair to The Housemaid, it only dropped 20% from its first to second weekend, so maybe some buzz and more time for people to find the film could help it keep afloat longer than expected. 

This is where we are people and it may be where we stay… or everything could change. Gulp.   

The Top Five If Today Was MLK Day:

#1. Wicked: For Good - $331.7 million 

#2. Zootopia 2 - $321.2 million 

#3. Avatar: Fire & Ash - $216.9 million

#4. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 - $119 million

#5. Predator: Badlands - $90.1 million

‘Five Nights’ Wakes Up Sleepy December Weekend - Week 5

The weekend after Thanksgiving is typically a leftover meal with no new movies. As a result, crowds are down and even the “hits” take a hefty fall as nothing is compelling them to rush out to the theaters. I’m “Thankful” this year a studio and a movie took a chance to change that narrative and, more importantly, it worked out. 

Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 kicked-off the month with a $64 million opening which was the biggest post-Thanksgiving opening ever. That's a strong opening for any film, but especially for a horror film in December. That’s probably more money than Chuck E. Cheese made over the weekend. 

Truth be told, though, it’s still $16 million less than the first Freddy opened with two years ago, so this may be less of a money-maker than the first money-grab. Still, without a lot of direct competition this upcoming weekend, Freddy could be collecting a lot more cash in the weeks ahead. 

In other news, Zootopia 2 had a great five-day debut of $158.8 million over the Thanksgiving weekend. Folks were ready for another trip to the city even if Ed Sheeran’s new song was no match for the original Sia/Shakira banger “Try Everything.” Reviews and fans approved and continued coming back for $43.4 million second weekend. The Hopps and Wilde combo have tag-teamed a $220.9 million total so far. 

Wicked: For Good had a phenomenal debut with $147 million over its first three days. The musical has been able to hold its voice the last two weekends and is now at $297.6 million. The only sour note is the first Wicked was at $325.5 million by this point, so For Good may good, but the first Wicked was great. 

This weekend offers a lot of “who knows” as new releases and, as a result, probably all of them will fare poorly. Look for more nights at Freddy's!  

The Top Five If Today Was MLK Day:

#1. Wicked: For Good - $297.6 million 

#2. Zootopia 2 - $220.9 million 

#3. Predator: Badlands - $88.3 million 

#4. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 - $64 million

#5. Now You See Me, Now You Don’t - $55.3 million

Running Man Trips & Now You See Me Kinda Does - Week 2

Wow, it just took the second week of the pool for the Holiday Season to lose a little of its spice. Two new films opened, yet one seemed more set-up for success. Its trailer had been playing ad nauseum for months and had the look of being a big blockbuster. The other seemed like an Apple+ movie that someone forgot was an actual theatrical release. Instead, the should’ve-been streamer beat-out the marketing blitz. Whoops.

Now You See Me, Now You Don’t opened to middling $21 million but that was enough to be #1 at the box-office this week. That opening is almost the same as Now You See Me 2’s debut in 2016 which went on to a $65 million total. 

While, the series managed to make Isla Fisher reappear along with her replacement Lizzy Caplin, the biggest heist was Rosamand Pike stealing every scene she was in. Sadly, my wife thought it was a bug and not a feature that Rosamund’s accent was all over the place. I had to mansplain to her that that’s just what South African accents sound like. Anyone who watched Lethal Weapon 2 growing-up would agree.   

On the other side of the theater, people couldn’t run away more if they tried from The Running Man. For a $100 million-plus budgeted film to debut with $16.5 million is a sad sign. 

Did the 21st Century not want a remake of a film they probably didn’t know about? Did fans from the 20th Century reject a non-Arnie-esque version (Three dashes in one word? I’m either rocking this or overdoing it… yup, definitely the first one). Even the 2012 snoozefest, Colin Ferrel remake of Total Recall opened better with $25 million. 

If only Glenn Powell had uttered the same amazing line from the original Running Man (“Here is Sub-Zero, now plain zero!”), then this film would’ve opened with $2000 million, no question.

Meanwhile, all the good buzz in the world couldn’t stop Predator: Badlands from tripping on its own fangs. Dropping 68% from its first week (normal is 40%-50%), the Week 2 take of $12.7 million didn’t inspire much long-term confidence. There is a general “Who Know” about the fourth and fifth spots of this Holiday Blockbuster Pool, but a two-week total of $66 million and a likely less than $100 million stay in theaters isn’t what poolers who picked it were hoping for.  

There may be other films opening this weekend, though there is only one film that matters. Wicked For Good is set to be the biggest 2025 opening since Lilo & Stitch’s $146 million start. Could it even touch Minecraft’s $162 million debut? I’m just glad it’s 20 minutes shorter so I have a better chance to get through in one sitting. My bladder has certainly not been changed for good with all these long movie run times! 

    

The Top Five If Today Was MLK Day:

#1. Predator: Badlands - $66 million 

#2. Now You See Me, Now You Don’t - $21 million

#3. The Running Man - $16.5 million

#4. n/a

#5. n/a

Predator: Badlands Not So Bad - Week 1

It’s happening!!! The 2025 Holiday Blockbuster Pool is here and it actually started with a film that wasn’t DOA on arrival. Phew. 

Predator: Badlands opened with $40 million and the studio was quick to point out that this was the largest opening ever for a Predator movie. It’s also the largest opening ever for a Badlands movie. Where was the press release about that?

The reality is that despite numerous reboots and rebrands, the Predator brand hasn’t exactly been box-office gold since Arnie and Carl Weathers’ classic arm-wrestle high-five. Alien vs. Predator opened to $38 million in 2004, almost the same as Predator: Badlands, and you can bet movie tickets cost a heck of a lot less back then than today’s boujee prices. 

Still, $40 million is fine. Alien: Romulus opened around that last year and finished with $105 million total. This year, that might be a Top Five number. It’s better than last year’s Red One $32 million start and the competition is literally a ping-pong playing Timothée Chalamet movie. Time will tell. 

Amazingly, there’s another Schwarzenegger re-do, The Running Man, that’s coming out this week to try and knock Predator: Badlands off its perch. Where did all this Arnold nostalgia come from and why didn’t it lead to James Cameron making some new True Lies films? I’d rather see more of those films than more of The Sullys, airing 8pm Wednesdays on ABC this Spring… as long as you don’t have YouTubeTV. 

    

The Top Five If Today Was MLK Day:

#1. Predator: Badlands - $40 million 

#2. n/a

#3. n/a

#4. n/a

#5. n/a

 

*****

Extra Bonus Section

 

As per the Week 1 tradition here are my esteemed, extremely well thought-out and perpetually doomed to fail 2025 Holiday Blockbuster prognostications. Remember, I’m the guy who thought Strange World and Lightyear were going to save Disney. Genius!

So here’s what I really think will happen...

#1. Avatar: Fire & Ash - It’s sad that I feel like these films have become as meaningless to me as Transformers films, but not everything has to be about me. I still have Sisu 2 to look forward too! Instead, I think folks will flock to this because (I hope) they like it or because they feel like they have to to have a say about it. The last film made $575 million by MLK Weekend and I feel this will have a little less fanfare, so I went with $525 million for my guesstimate.       

#2. Wicked For Good - The last one made $475 million and I think this will be a little less green. Maybe not as many repeated viewings and sing-along editions.          

 

#3. Zootopia 2 - For me, this was the last of the “sure things.” The first one made about $350 million and even if this is less, it’s gotta be more than what #4 and #5 make.   

 

#4. The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants - Yup, this one even caught me by complete surprise. We just were never a SpongeBob family (no offense!), yet when I saw the box-office totals for 2015’s Sponge on the Run movie was $165 million, more than my jaw hit the floor. If there’s an audience for this film, they’ve got the whole holiday break to find it. 

#5. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 - The first made $137 million and I feel this will hit pretty much the same way. In Josh Hutcherson I trust. Team Peeta 4 Life! 

Good luck, everyone!