A fall movie season (like everything else) in flux

NEW YORK – Filmmaker Cary Fukunaga has been waiting much than a twelvemonth and a fractional for the biggest movie of his career, the James Bond movie “No Time to Die,” to get successful theaters. It has been a unusual and surreal wait. Months earlier the much-delayed movie is adjacent released connected Oct. 8, the film’s taxable song, by Billie Eilish, has already won a Grammy.

“I had a imagination past nighttime wherever Sam Mendes was there,” Fukunaga said successful a caller interview, referring to the manager of the erstwhile 2 Bond movies. “We were connected abrogation connected immoderate frozen lake. He was done with Bond films. And helium was like, ‘Oh, you finished one. Now you get a break.’ Then we started, like, h2o skiing connected a frozen lake.”

“It was a weird dream,” says Fukunaga.

The autumn movie play — usually a reliable bushed and cozy autumn comfortableness — is this year, similar overmuch of the past 18 months, a small disorienting. On the mode are movies erstwhile planned to unfastened arsenic acold backmost arsenic April 2020, similar “No Time to Die,” summertime movies that anticipation to find amended conditions successful autumn, and films that person been changeable and edited during the pandemic.

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What has coalesced is simply a movie mishmash — thing overmuch much robust than past fall’s cobbled together, mostly virtual autumn movie season — a play that stretched each the mode to the Oscars successful April. But the caller emergence successful COVID-19 cases owed to the delta variant has added caller uncertainty to a clip Hollywood had erstwhile hoped would beryllium nearing normality.

“Everything is fluid, and everything volition enactment fluid,” says Tom Rothman, president and main enforcement of Sony Pictures. “It’s the antithesis of the mode it utilized to be. In the aged days, you planted your emblem and you didn’t determination for hellhole oregon precocious water. Now, there’s a large premium connected being precise flexible and nimble.”

The unpredictability of the conditions is universally shared but acutely felt astatine studios similar Sony that adjacent done the pandemic person remained mostly committed to exclusive theatrical releases. While Disney (with Disney+) and Warner Bros. (with HBO Max) person sought to hedge their bets and boost subscribers to their streaming services with day-and-date releases successful 2021, Sony, Universal, Paramount and MGM (home to Bond) — with assorted windowing strategies — person mostly stuck to theater-first plans.

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In each the movies coming this autumn — among them “The Last Duel" (Oct. 15), “Dune” (Oct. 22), “Eternals” (Nov. 5), “House of Gucci” (Nov. 24) —nothing whitethorn beryllium rather arsenic tense arsenic the ever-unfolding play astir old-fashioned, butts-in-the-seats moviegoing. Citing the delta-driven surge, Paramount has uprooted from the season, booting “Top Gun: Maverick” to adjacent year. But connected the heels of immoderate promising box-office performances, galore of the fall’s apical movies and starring Oscar hopefuls are lone doubling down connected theatrical, and the taste interaction that comes with it. Even if it’s a gamble.

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“We person a batch of inventory. You don’t privation to support pushing each of the films,” says Rothman. "At a definite point, you person to go.”

After gathering assurance successful moviegoing implicit the summer, delta has sapped immoderate of Hollywood’s momentum. The National Research Group had recorded much than 80% of moviegoers were comfy going to theaters successful July. But that fig dipped to 67% past month.

Yet summer’s past large movie, Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” gave the autumn a large assistance with an estimated $90 cardinal successful summons income implicit the four-day Labor Day play — 1 of the champion performances of the pandemic. Notably, it was lone playing successful theaters.

Even earlier each the numbers were in, Rothman and Sony moved up the merchandise of “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” the sequel to its $856 cardinal superhero hit, by 2 weeks to Oct. 1. It kicks disconnected Sony’s slate including Jason Reitman's “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” (Nov. 19), Denzel Washington's “A Journal for Jordan” (Dec. 10) and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (Dec. 17).

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No workplace is betting rather arsenic large connected movie theaters this autumn arsenic Sony. The workplace lacks a large streaming level but has signed lucrative pacts with Netflix and Disney to watercourse films aft theatrical release. Discussing the disappointing results of day-and-date movies similar Warner Bros.' “The Suicide Squad” versus a theater-first deed similar Disney's “Free Guy,” Rothman precocious touted the explanation: “It's the window, stupid."

"There is nary economical exemplary to — ne'er caput marque a nett — to interruption adjacent connected the assets themselves without a windowed universe. It doesn’t exist," says Rothman.

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That statement — what movies unfastened wherever and erstwhile — is definite to stay unsettled successful the coming months, and astir apt good beyond. Warner Bros. has pledged to instrumentality to exclusive theatrical releases, for 45 days, adjacent year. But small this autumn — including the movie calendar — is simply a definite thing.

“Until the pandemic is genuinely down us, I don’t deliberation that you tin prognosticate astir what the aboriginal of cinema is going to be," says Rothman. "It’s inactive connected exigency footing close now.”

So Hollywood’s summertime successful limbo volition agelong into the fall. But much than immoderate erstwhile constituent successful the pandemic, a full batch of movies are lined up. The Venice and Telluride movie festivals person kindled buzz for a wide array of upcoming films, including Jane Campion's lauded Netflix play “The Power of the Dog” (Nov. 17), with Benedict Cumberbatch. The Oscar contention could person immoderate large prima power, too. Among the aboriginal standouts: Kristen Stewart arsenic Princess Diana successful “Spencer” (Nov. 5) and Will Smith arsenic Richard Williams, begetter of Venus and Serena, successful “King Richard" (Nov. 19).

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In “The Eyes of Tammy Faye," Jessica Chastain transforms into the infamous televangelist. Searchlight Pictures volition merchandise it Sept. 17 successful theaters.

“We similar that communal experience, particularly aft a twelvemonth and a fractional of being starved of it. It doesn’t mean streaming is going away. It’s present to stay," says Chastain, who besides stars successful the HBO miniseries “Scenes from a Marriage.” “In my mind, I conscionable spot the manufacture arsenic expanding.”

Just however galore films person been released during the pandemic is often underestimated. But adjacent with a fewer high-profile departures, the upcoming play is crowded. Apple has Joel Coen's “The Tragedy of Macbeth," with Denzel Washington. Amazon has the philharmonic adaptation “Everybody's Talking About Jamie” (Sept. 17). New movies are connected pat from world-class filmmakers similar Paul Thomas Anderson, Guillermo del Toro ("Nightmare Alley," Dec. 3), Pedro Almodóvar ( "Parallel Mothers," Dec. 24), Asghar Farhadi ("A Hero," Jan. 7) and Paolo Sorrentino ( "The Hand of God," Nov. 24).

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There's besides a feast of docs including Julie Cohen and Betsy West's Julia Child representation “Julia” (not yet dated); Liz Garbus' “Becoming Cousteau" (Oct. 22); Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin's “The Rescue” (October), astir the 2018 Thai cave rescue; and, fittingly, a representation of 1 of the pandemic's astir ubiquitous faces, infectious illness adept Dr. Anthony Fauci, successful John Hoffman and Janet Tobias' “Fauci" (Sept. 10).

Netflix volition merchandise 3 twelve films betwixt present and Christmas — including Maggie Gyllenhaal‘s directorial debut “The Lost Daughter” (Dec. 17); the Western “The Harder They Fall” (Nov. 3), with Jonathan Majors and Idris Elba; Lin-Manuel Miranda's directorial debut “Tick, Tick ... Boom!”; and Antoine Fuqua's “The Guilty" (Sept. 24), a single-setting transgression thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal arsenic a demoted constabulary serviceman taking 911 calls.

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Just earlier accumulation began earlier this year, Fuqua came successful adjacent interaction with idiosyncratic who tested affirmative for the coronavirus. To support region from his formed and crew, helium directed the movie from a van parked extracurricular the set.

“It’s a unusual satellite we’re successful astatine the moment, and it wears connected each of america rather a bit," says Fuqua. “But I effort to enactment positive. That’s wherefore ‘The Guilty’ happened. I bash deliberation there’s a work for each of america to forge ahead, not wallow successful the concern that we’re in, and find caller ways to bash it.”

Hopefully, the agelong hold of a fig of films that person been waiting successful the wings for much than a twelvemonth — including Steven Spielberg's “West Side Story" (Dec. 10), Wes Anderson's “The French Dispatch” (Oct. 22) and, yes, “No Time to Die” — volition soon yet beryllium over.

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“What I haven’t gotten connected this 1 is the restitution of anyone other seeing the movie and saying ‘I hated it’ oregon ‘I similar it,’ says Fukunaga. "That’s the portion you’re waiting for. Some radical are going to similar it. Some radical aren’t going to similar it. But you inactive privation to perceive it. Even if you don’t privation to perceive it, you privation to perceive it."

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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle connected Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

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