Scott Mendelson

Theaters finally have something to be thankful for: This weekend's lineup set a new Thanksgiving record with around $427 million in North America for the five days.

The long green tail of ‘Wicked'/‘Moana 2' helped break more box office records this weekend, proving that the public was still primed and ready to fill seats the week after Thanksgiving. Too bad the studios lack the courage to give them something big to see.

WBD's Middle Earth prequel toon plays closer to 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' than 'Into the Spider-Verse.' Sony's final (?) "SSU" entry makes 'Snake Eyes' look good.

When Hollywood can earn box office fortune and Academy Awards glory from the same franchise-friendly blockbusters they were always going to release, there's even less incentive to distribute the kind of smaller prestige films that now mostly exist for awards season consideration.

Remember - Just because audiences flocked to 'Venom' or 'Into the Spider-Verse' doesn't mean they'll want to see 'Morbius' or 'Transformers One'

Barry Jenkins' visually spectacular prequel is closer in spirit to Disney's "better than they need to be" mid-2010s tentpoles than their recent nostalgia-chasing rehashes.

Action and fan service take priority—Keanu Reeves' Shadow brings the thunder—over quirky character comedy in Sega and Paramount's busy, big-scale and overly frantic video game sequel.

'Superman Returns' and 'Man of Steel' had spectacular teasers and trailers, yet they stumbled commercially amid underwhelming word of mouth. Can James Gunn succeed where Bryan Singer and Zack Snyder failed?

'Sonic the Hedgehog 3' should be a bonafide instant smash, but the commercial narrative for Barry Jenkins' 'Lion King' prequel may take a week or two to take shape.

Paramount's sequel is a well-liked follow-up in a new(er) franchise, while Disney's prequel origin story is a corporate-mandated follow-up to a circumstantial, nostalgia-targeted blockbuster.