Walt Disney and Lucasfilm
Apparently tired of letting 20th Century Fox cause all of the release date musical chairs chaos, Walt Disney rearranged the entire summer schedule (and royally screwed up my predictions for the biggest grossers of each month) by shifting the global release, now including North America, of Avengers: Infinity War to April 27 instead of May 4. We’ve already seen Amy Schumer’s I Feel Pretty move to April 20. I am expecting Dwayne Johnson’s Rampage, currently set by Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc. for April 20, to move somewhere farther away from Infinity War. But shifting the summer kick-off giant to late April also turns the month of May into a mano-a-mano competition between Deadpool 2 (May 18) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (May 25).
This all started when Fox moved their untitled Deadpool sequel (which I’m hoping actually ends up being titled Untitled Deadpool Sequel) from June 3 to May 18. At the time, it was considered a potential “blood in the water” move against the troubled Star Wars Story. In retrospect, it may be an interesting battle between two big flicks that have some surface-level similarities. Both are spin-offs featuring fan-favorite characters from a huge and expansive fantasy universe. Both feature lovable rogues who, to varying degrees, are more anti-heroes than conventional heroes. And both are, to varying degrees, having to balance selling themselves as something different from the norm and something comforting to fans of their respective genre or franchise.
That’s not to say Solo and Deadpool 2 are the same movies. In terms of giving to spin-off to a guy who was a lead anyway, Solo is closer to the X-Men Origins: Wolverine than to Deadpool. At least part of the decision to replace Phil Lord and Chris Miller with Ron Howard was apparently rooted in the desire to have a movie that was a more straight-faced fantasy adventure (an action movie with comedy, as opposed to a comedy with action). Deadpool 2 will play around with genre tropes and break the fourth wall on a semi-regular basis. The Star Wars Story is an all-ages PG-13 adventure while Deadpool 2 is an R-rated action comedy aimed at older kids and adults.
If these big date changes had been in place on New Year’s Day when I did my annual “biggest grossers of each month” post, the predictions would have looked very different. For one thing, The Nun would be the clear frontrunner in September, all due respect to Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish’s Night School. If I were forced to predict which big May release would be the top grosser, what exactly would my pick have been? That’s a tough one. Before we even try to guestimate this, we should note that Deadpool 2 is a lot cheaper than Solo, meaning the former can gross a lot less than the latter, especially if it’s well-received, and still be considered an equivalent success.
Solo is (presumably) a family-friendly action comedy while Deadpool 2 is an adults-only action comedy. The Ryan Reynolds sequel is riding on the goodwill of a previous $783 million-grossing installment and the Han Solo prequel will have to overcome distrust due to the behind-the-scenes melodrama and the arguable cynicism of the core concept. Solo will be the consensus pick for large groups of age-varying moviegoers, but Deadpool 2 will have the benefit of the doubt. Quality matters, especially if Solo works better than anticipated or Deadpool 2 plays like a warmed-over comedy sequel. I’m curious when Disney will drop the embargo for Solo (presuming it doesn’t screen at CinemaCon), as they have thus far held Star Wars movies close to the vest.
Alien: Covenant notwithstanding, the weekend before Memorial Day weekend is one of the best slots to open a big movie, as seen by four Shrek movies, three Star Wars prequels and the likes of The Matrix Reloaded, Mad Max: Fury Road and Star Trek Into Darkness. Memorial Day weekend may look good on paper, it’s a terribly frontloaded frame, although Universal's Fast and Furious 6 and Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales did earn nearly $800 million worldwide in the slot in the last few years. We could be in a situation where both Solo and Deadpool 2 earn around $700m worldwide, but the former ends up on the defensive while the latter is heralded as an unmitigated success.
However fair that might be (reshoot-related budgets aside, anything over $600 million is a solid single for Solo, especially if it’s good), we should also note that Solo is just one of Disney’s very big 2018 releases alongside Incredibles 2, Wreck-It Ralph 2, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War while Deadpool 2 is Fox’s biggest shot in 2018 unless Alita: Battle Angel goes bonkers over Christmas. Neither of them will get much of a boost from China (Deadpool may not play there and Star Wars isn’t a thing in China). If backed into a corner, I’d crown Solo because betting against Star Wars is about as smart as betting against Marvel, but this could go either way.
Avengers: Infinity War shifting to late April leaves more money on the table for both Deadpool 2 and Solo, which may be part of the point (especially if Disney does end up buying Fox). So now it’s just a matter of seeing what else transpires (like Rampage theoretically moving to April 13 against Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare) and which of the two big May single character spin-off action comedies will fare best here and abroad. Or maybe this is a “whoever wins, we win” situation for fans and genre nerds. But it should be fun to watch, especially if both movies are fun to watch. What say you? Will can the Merc with the Mouth win the month or will Star Wars reign supreme yet again?
KOMPAS.com - Avengers: Infinity War menjadi film yang paling ditunggu menggemar Marvel Cinematic Universe tahun ini. Sejak 2017 lalu, teaser film ini sudah beredar dan menjadi pembicaraan hangat.
Awalnya, Avengers: Infinity War direncanakan bakal menghiasi bioskop dunia mulai tanggal 4 Mei. Namun, kabar terbaru menyebutkan bahwa tanggal tayang Infinity War dimajukan menjadi 27 April 2018. Seminggu lebih awal dari jadwal semula.
Menurut sang sutradara, Anthony dan Joe Russo, penayangan yang dilakukan lebih awal ini bisa mengurangi bocoran cerita. Sebab, Infinity War bisa dibilang sebagai kunci dari serial marvel selanjutnya sekaligus acuan untuk sekuel Avengers keempat.
Sama seperti Avengers sebelumnya, film ini menampilkan hampir seluruh jagoan super Marvel yang pernah muncul. Jika pada seri sebelumnya Avenger hanya memunculkan 10 tokoh, maka kali ini jumlahnya akan bertambah.
Pada Avengers sebelumnya, Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr), Captain Amerika (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawk Eye (Jeremy Renner), Thor (Chris Hemsworth),Vision (Paul Bettany), Falcon(Sam Wilson), Scarlet Witch(Elizabeth Olsen), dan Hulk(Mark Rufallo) dimunculkan.
Baca juga : Intip Kekuatan Baru Para Jagoan Super dalam Avengers: Infinity War
Namun, dalam serial ke tiganya akan muncul tokoh tambahan seperti Black Panther, Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Wong (Benedict Wong), Valkrye (Tessa Thompson), dan kelompok Guardian of The Galaxy.
Bahkan sejumlah tokoh yang pernah muncul sebagai tokoh antagonis seperti Loki (Tom Hiddleston) dalam film Thor dan The Avenger pertama dan serta Bucky (Sebastian Stan) dalam film Captain America ikut ambil tempat.
Dalam Avengers: Infinity War yang diputar tahun ini, para superhero Marvel akan berhadapan dengan tokoh jahat bernama Thanos (Josh Brolin). Ia digambarkan sebagai salah satu penguasa galaksi yang berambisi untuk menguasai semesta.
Namun, untuk mencapai tujuan tersebut, Thanos harus mengumpulkan enam buah batu yang memiliki kekuatan unik. Dalam semesta Marvel, batu tersebut disebut infinity stone.
Sejumlah infinity Stone sendiri tampak muncul di film Marvel sebelumnya. Antara lain power stone yang muncul pada film Guardian Of The Galaxy pertama, space stones atau tesseract yang muncul di film Avenger dan Thor, reality stone atau aether yang kini dipegang oleh kolektor dalam serial Guardian of The Galaxy, mind stone yang terdapat di kening Vision, dan time stone atau eye of agamotto yang ada di film Doctor Strange.
Baca juga : Trailer Avengers: Infinity War, Mind Stone Milik Vision Dirampas
Sedangkan batu terakhir, soul stone belum diketahui keberadaannya. Namun, sejumlah penggemar berasumsi bahwa batu ini berada di Wakanda. Bersamaan dengan vibranium yang jatuh ke wilayah tersebut ratusan tahun lalu.
Nama Thanos sendiri sebelumnya beberapa kali disebut dalam film Guardian of The Galaxy. Sebab, dua tokoh yang ada dalam film itu yakni Gamora (Zoe Saldana) dan Nebula (Karen Gillan) punya hubungan langsung dengan sang antagonis.
Yesterday, Marvel Studios suddenly revealed that the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War would have an earlier release date in North America than originally intended. Both of the previous Avengers movies had early May releases, but Infinity War will buck that trend by releasing on April 27, around the world.
In North America, filmgoers have always had to avoid spoilers for a full week, since the films tend to release earlier in the UK. However, the release date switch wasn’t just well received by fans for the same day release; many pointed out how it was a sign of Marvel Studios’ current power. The studio has always had a tendency to dominate whatever month they stake their claim in, but has never released a film earlier than intended. In fact, to the chagrin of many, Marvel has delayed films in the past: Thor Ragnarok, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel have all been pushed back, so this is a more than welcome change.
RELATED: Why Marvel Moved Up Infinity War’s Release Date
But best of all, the announcement was presented in the silliest and best of ways. There was no grandiose trailer or new poster that revealed the changed date. It just came from a Twitter conversation involving Robert Downey Jr. and the Marvel Studios account.
Really.
Marvel’s next film is destined to be a more serious story than most of its previous releases, and the marketing has reflected that. The somber version of the Avengers theme playing over various actors reciting Nick Fury’s short, but iconic speech about the titular heroes from the first film made it clear — this is a big movie with bigger stakes. Last month’s Super Bowl ad gave us the thundering statement of “An entire universe. Once and for all,” with Tony Stark not so subtly declaring, “It’s all been leading to this.” The 30-second commercial isn’t subtle in what it’s representing, and it’s a given that Marvel will be beating that drum for the next month and a half until the film releases. It’s all the more refreshing, then, to see the marketing team have fun with this announcement.
On some level, it’s hard to deny that Infinity War is nothing but a 2+ hour, $200 million victory lap, not unlike the original Avengers film was in 2012. It would be hard to fault anyone for believing that this was all a tad arrogant or insufferable, but at the same time, why shouldn’t Marvel Studios be celebrating? It’s hit every goal it’s wanted to hit, with not a single concrete failure to date. Through ten years and nearly two dozen movies, Marvel has cemented itself as the cinematic universe to beat, and none of its imitators — the DCEU, Sony’s Amazing Spider-Man Cinematic Universe, Universal’s Dark Universe, Paramount’s Transformers Universe, Saban’s Power Rangers Universe — have come close to touching it. Whatever criticisms can be lobbed at the Marvel film franchise (and there are many ), it cannot be denied that a massive film like Infinity War is something that it’s largely earned the right to do.
The initial reveal of Infinity War in 2015 was met with widespread applause from the audience after seeing Thanos wield the Infinity Gauntlet for the first time. Since then, fans across the globe have been champing at the bit, eager to finally see the mad titan lock up with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and thanks to Marvel’s latest piece of marketing genius, this time, we’ll all be able to experience it together.
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