Don't Stop Me Now Unless I'm Planning On Seeing Bohemian Rhapsody

Walk Hard so successfully and hysterically skewered the music biopic back in December 2007 that one would hope that it inspired the makes of future music biopics to show more creativity in how they presented the lives of famous musicians. Sadly, that Jake Kasdan directorial effort ended up as a box office misfire in its initial theatrical release before becoming a cult classic and that means, aside from occasional far better than expected entries like Straight Outta Compton or Love & Mercy, music biopics have mostly stayed the same in the last decade or so. This trend extends to Bohemian Rhapsody, a music biopic of Freddie Mercury and the band Queen that falls prey to the worst elements that can crop up in these music biopics while also finding time to inject its own unique flaws into the proceedings.

Apocalypse Was An Unstoppable Foe For The Newest X-Men Movie, But For All The Wrong Reasons

MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR X-MEN: APOCALYPSE AND ALL OF THE X-MEN MOVIES FOLLOW

Lots and lots of things went awry in this past summer's X-Men: Apocalypse, which just came out on Blu-Ray this past Tuesday and re-ignited my brain with memories of all of that features failings. Too many extraneous characters to count (Quicksilver, Psylocke and Rose Byrne's character had nothing to contribute) and tepid action scenes that looked so cheap and fake they wouldn't pass muster in a particularly poor episode of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Some movies that go off the rails feel like they could have been salvaged at one point or another, but honestly, X-Men: Apocalypse doomed itself the moment the current creative team behind these X-Men films decided to tackle the titular antagonist.

X-Men: Apocalypse Review

As the clouds loomed overhead, Erik Lensherr, A.K.A. Magneto (Michael Fassbender), took in the sights of his surroundings, an area he had not inhabited for so very long. This was Auschwitz, where he and his parents had been separated four decades ago. All of the memories of the pain come flooding into his body, the emotional turmoil that had eliminated any remaining affections he had carried for the human race. Standing amongst the ruins of where his entire life had been shattered by forces far more evil than any comic book supervillain, a weary Erik took in every sight, every sound of this domain. Standing directly behind him in this emotional moment are (among others) Olivia Munn in basically a purple swimsuit and Oscar Isaac splattered in blue paint.

Summer 2016 Box Office Predictions (Part One)

How is it already summertime? Doesn't it feel like just yesterday that we were celebrating the ushering in of a new year? Now, we're on the cusp of another summer moviegoing season, one full of big-budget blockbusters, potential indie sleeper hits and a movie where Kevin Spacey turns into a cat via the power of a mystical Christopher Walken. This week, I'll be predicting the Summer 2016 box office in two separate parts. Today, I'll be looking at my predictions for what will be the ten highest grossing movies of the summer and on Thursday I'll be taking a sprawling look at potential sleeper hits, box office question marks and potential box office misfires.

Today, let's look at the ten movies I think will amass the largest domestic cumes at the box office. Let's start out with....


1. Captain America: Civil War
Will Civil War play like a Captain America follow-up or an Avengers sequel? That is the big question, and I have a hunch it'll land somewhere in between the two, though closer to an Avengers movie. The last Captain America movie, The Winter Soldier, grossed $259.7 million, while the most recent Avengers movie, Age Of Ultron, made $459 million last summer. There's about $200 million separating the two, and thanks to extremely strong early reviews, as well as the fact that the film will be introducing high-profile superheroes like Black Panther and Spider-Man, it does feel like this one could go the distance and become the biggest movie of summer 2016.

Total Gross: $400 million

2. Finding Dory
After 13 years, Finding Nemo has solidified a place in pop culture as one of the most beloved family movies of this century. People love this motion picture and a sequel centered on scene-stealer Dory sounds like a recipe for guaranteed box office success. This one won't improve on its predecessors domestic gross as dramatically as fellow PIXAR sequel Toy Story 3 did to Toy Story 2 (there was 71% increase from TS2 to TS3), but expect this one to handily become the biggest movie of the summer and the fourth movie ever from PIXAR to hit $300 million in the US.

Total Gross: $380 million

3. Suicide Squad
Now that Batman v. Superman hasn't quite lived up to its box office expectations, what does that mean for future DC Extended Universe motion pictures? Well, the good news for Suicide Squad is that not only does it appear to be very much separate from that Zack Snyder critical dud (though Ben Affleck will be cameoing in the movie as Batman), but the super eye-catching and popular trailers for it went out prior to the more mixed reception conjured up by BvS. If the marketing continues to be as noteworthy as those first two trailers (which actually have more views on YouTube than BvS, believe it or not), look for this one to become the second-straight movie in the DCEU to gross $300 million domestically.

Total Gross: $310 million

4. Jason Bourne
It's kind of surprising, three-and-a-half months out from this movie's release, that Universal hasn't done more marketing for Jason Bourne yet (we've only gotten a Super Bowl TV spot and a solitary poster), but to be fair,  does this movie really need any marketing? Seriously, this one's basically an excuse to print money. After a nine year long absence, Jason Bourne is back on the big screen, played by Matt Damon who's fresh off his Oscar-nominated turn in the box office smash The Martian. Yeah, this one seems like a recipe for box office success.

Total Gross: $260 million

5. The Secret Life Of Pets
Illumination Entertainment should continue their hot streak with their newest animated movie, which combines a prime Summertime release date, a roster of A-list actors (namely Kevin Hart whose social media presence should go a long way to help this movie in the realm of marketing) and a simple premise (what do pets do when you're not around?) that, if my Facebook feed full of my friends sharing the various trailers for this release, is already striking a chord with audiences.

Total Gross: $245 million

6. X-Men: Apocalypse
This ninth X-Men movie lacks the big hook of X-Men: Days Of Future Past where the old and new cast members of the franchise got to meet for the first time, but luckily that 2014 major mutant motion picture got a great reception from critics and audiences alike, paving the way for demand for more X-Men titles. The film has been performing strongly on social media too, and as long as it doesn't get disastrous level of critical and audience reception on par with BvS, this should be the second big X-Men hit for 20th Century Fox in 2016.

Total Gross: $220 million

7. Independence Day: Resurgence
And here is one of the bigger question marks of the summer. Back in 1996, Independence Day was a box office phenomenon, grossing over $300 million at the domestic box office alone. Since then, the films retained a lower profile than other 90's blockbusters like Jurassic Park and Titanic and it's hard to see if the film is really eliciting a lot of nostalgia or interest with its early trailer, though it should be noted that individuals polled on high-profile movie ticket website Fandango chose the film as their second most anticipated feature of summer. It doesn't help that it lacks a big A-list actor that can invigorate interest, like how Chris Pratt, fresh off his memorable lead turn in Guardians Of The Galaxy, made Jurassic World all the more enticing. Here, the first movie's star, Will Smith, has been ditched and Liam Hemsworth is the most high-profile of the new additions to the cast. Perhaps it'll end up outdoing the original in a similar manner to how much Jurassic World improved on Jurassic Park just last summer, but for now I'll say there's a steady decrease this go-around

Total Gross: $210 million

8. Central Intelligence
Yep, this is my one "bold" box office prediction, the one that is 95% likely to get some egg on my face come Labor Day. But something tells me I might avoid having my face decked out in yolk this go-around, since Central Intelligence does seem to have all the makings of a sleeper box office hit. Kevin Hart and Dwyane Johnson are two big names in their own right, combining them is bound to garner some attention regardless of the project. Early trailers have been filled with noteworthy jokes that have gone insanely well whenever they play at my movie screenings (some people were gasping for air after the flashback to a portly teenage Dwayne Johnson belting out a tune in the shower). Perhaps this one does end up under-performing like recent Kevin Hart titles such as Ride Along 2 and The Wedding Ringer, but considering the thus far uber-successful marketing and the fact that its got no other comedies to compete with for three weeks (meaning it'll be the only comedy in the marketplace over the lucrative 4th of July holiday), this one may just go the distance at the box office.

Total Gross: $175 million

9. Alice Through The Looking Glass
In the six years since Alice In Wonderland, it doesn't feel like there's been much clamor for another installment, though this is one of those American blockbusters that's looking to make most of its cash overseas (the first one made $690 million internationally and that was without being released in China). This one is being released into a crowded marketplace for family movies that'll include The Angry Birds Movie and the newest Ninja Turtles film, which means it won't stick around for long at the box office. Still, that first one made over $330 million domestically, so unless Johnny Depp has really burned every single bridge in the possible in the last six years, I can't see this sequel losing much more than 50% from the first movie. Fun fact; this would make Alice Through The Looking Glass the first Johnny Depp movie to hit $100 million domestically in five years (his cameo in Into The Woods in 2014 excepted).

Total Gross: $170 million

10. Star Trek Beyond
If there's any summer blockbuster that could really benefit from a release date change, it's Star Trek Beyond. Coming off the more lukewarm reception of Star Trek Into Darkness, the goodwill generated by the 2009 reboot of Star Trek has been mightily depleted. Smushing the newest Star Trek adventure in-between new Ghostbusters, Bourne and DC Comics films feels like a poor idea and delaying it until October (where sci-fi films The Martian and Gravity excelled at the box office) would be a better choice in my book, but whatever. Even with intense competition, this one should still narrowly become one of the ten biggest movies of the summer, though it'll suffer a mighty 25+% drop from its predecessor domestically

Total Gross: $165 million

For Part Two of this piece, click here.

The End May Be Near, But The New X-Men: Apocalypse Trailer Is Already Here!

This summer, the X-Men face their greatest challenge yet...trying to get out of Deadpool's shadow. After the levity-driven Deadpool, will audiences gear up for a more somber X-Men adventure? I'd say probably (Days Of Future Past and First Class had plenty of light-hearted moments after all) but it is a good thing to keep in mind. Even after Deadpool's record-shattering box office, 20th Century Fox isn't adjusting the marketing of X-Men: Apocalypse to include more jokes or anything like that, instead continuing the more reserved tone of the teaser with this new trailer that you can watch below.

Llewyn Davis And Steve Jobs Prepare To Destroy The World In First Trailer For X-Men: Apocalypse

That very first X-Men movie from 2000 has some pretty glaring problems, namely in how none of the titular heroes get very much development. In an age where each of the Avengers or Guardians can leave their mark on audiences in their ensemble films, the issue of characters like Storm, Cyclops and Jean Grey getting nothing of note to do becomes all the more noticeable. But there's no denying Hugh Jackman aces it as Wolverine, while Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen as Xavier and Magneto are even better.

First Photo Of X-Men Villain Apocalypse Has Arrived!!

Entertainment Weekly has a long and proud tradition of wonderful covers that introduce new movie characters to audiences (remember those wonderful Terminator: Genisys portraits?). That tradition is kept alive this week with their newest cover, which introduces newest bad guy Apocalypse. Being played by Llewyn Davis, er, Oscar Isaac, he'll be the newest foe the X-Men have to face next summer, and you can see the first photo of him below!

Storm, Cyclops And Storm Have Been Cast In X-Men: Apocalypse!!

I was watching a stage production of Oklahoma! last night, so as one can imagine, I had my cellular device turned off during the play. An hour and a half into the story, intermission commenced, and I turned on my phone and amusingly discovered that a massive casting announcement had been unveiled just since I turned off my phone. That casting announcement, as you have likely guessed, is none other than the confirmation of who will be playing Cyclops, Jean Grey and Storm in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Oscar Isaac Cast As Villain Apocalypse In Next X-Men Movie!

If you told me back in early January when I saw Inside Llewyn Davis that Oscar Isaac would have been cast in two of the biggest franchises by the end of the year, I'd have said you were crazy. But the actor has fared well indeed by winding up in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and now has been cast as the major antagonist Apocalypse in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Bryan Singer Will Return To Direct The Merry Mutants In X-Men: Apocalypse

I was a huge fan of X-Men: Days of Future Past, and have been eagerly awaiting the next X-Men feature which arrives in 2016. The forthcoming film, entitled X-Men: Apocalypse, doesn't have concrete plot details yet, but it seems it will primarily involve the characters from the X-Men: First Class films. Now a director has been placed in charge of the upcoming X-Men film, a very familiar name to those as invested in the franchise as I am.