Scott Mendelson | Substack: The Outside Scoop

- 173 minutes - Rated R for “violence and some language” - Opening July 17 via Universal Pictures - Written and directed by Christopher Nolan - Produced by Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan - Cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema - Edited by Jennifer Lame - Music by Ludwig Göransson - Production companies: Universal Pictures and Syncopy - Starring: Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Himesh Patel, John Leguizamo, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong’o, Elliot Page, Samantha...

- 107 minutes/Rated R (for… take a wild guess) - Directed by Sébastien Vaniček - Written by Sébastien Vaniček and Florent Bernard - Produced by Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi - Starring: Souheila Yacoub, Tandi Wright, Hunter Doohan, Luciane Buchanan, Erroll Shand, and Maude Davey - Cinematography by Philip Lozano - Edited by Maxime Caro - Music by Xavier Caux, Douglas Cavanna and Double Danger - From New Line Cinema, Screen Gems, Ghost House Pictures - Opening July 10 via Warner Bros.

Along with the expected size, scope and scale thus far delivered in Denis Vilaneuve’s first two entries, especially the middle chapter in 2024, the second trailer for Dune Part Three offers at least a few hints of some of the… odder twists and turns found in Dune: Messiah and (especially) the later Frank Herbert novels. Beyond that, the last movie already offered its big twist, namely that Paul Attredies would be less Harry Potter and more Anakin Skywalker.

- 115 minutes - Rated PG - Directed by Thomas Kail - Written by Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller - Produced by Dwayne Johnson, Beau Flynn, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia and Lin-Manuel Miranda - Starring: Catherine Laga’aia, Dwayne Johnson, Rena Owen, John Tui, Frankie Adams and Jemaine Clement - Cinematography by Óscar Faura - Edited by Melanie Oliver - Music by Mark Mancina - Companies: Walt Disney, Seven Bucks, Flynn Picture Co. and 500 Broadway Productions - Opening July 10 via Walt Disney...

Well, the good news is that Universal’s Minions & Monsters spent another July 4 holiday, as was the case for this franchise in 2013, 2017, 2022 and 2024, reigning as the top movie of the weekend. And to be fair, 2010’s Despicable Me and 2015’s Minions opened after the Independence Day holiday frame. The bad news is that the picture only opened with $36.4 million in North America over the Fri-Sun frame amid a mere $61.44 million Wed-Sun launch.

Out of the ruins, out of the wreckage… Can’t make the same mistake this time. It’s not 2016 anymore. If there’s any specific lesson to take from the shockingly poor opening weekend for WB and DC Studios’ Supergirl, it’s that. The second DC Studios movie earned $18 million on Friday, including $7.8 million in pre-weekend preview grosses, for what could very well be an under-$40 million domestic debut.

- 107 minutes - rated PG-13 - Directed by Craig Gillespie - Written by Ana Nogueira - Produced by James Gunn and Peter Safran - Starring Milly Alcock, Eve Ridley, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jason Momoa, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham - Edited by Tatiana S. Riegel and Fred Raskin - Music by Claudia Sarne - DC Studios, Troll Court Entertainment, Safran Company - Opening June 26, via Warner Bros. Pictures Supergirl most reminded me of watching Renfield after Invisible Man.

In today’s delayed but decisive Friday box office punditry… Toy Story 5 should open to roughly $170 million in North America and around $320 million worldwide We should have the second-biggest “weekend 25” domestic total ever. A trio of holdovers whose combined debuts were not remotely “dope.” Obsession (now about $200 million in North America and $300 million globally)can’t stop/won’t stop. Disclosure Day takes a tumble.

20 years of false hope and false starts… After tumbling 70% in North America and 66% overseas in its second weekend, it looks like Masters of the Universe will end its brisk box office sprint with around $60-$65 million domestically and roughly $110-$120 million worldwide. That’s on a budget of (at least) $170 million.

- 102 minutes - Rated PG (but… c’mon, it’s a G in spirit) - Directed by Andrew Stanton - Produced by Lindsey Collins, Jessica Choi - Written by Andrew Stanton, Kenna Harris - Starring: Joan Cusack, Tim Allen, Tom Hanks, Greta Lee, Scarlett Spears, Mykal-Michelle Harris - Cinematography by Matt Aspbury, JC Kalache - Edited by Jennifer Jew - Music by Randy Newman - A Pixar Animation Studios production - Opening June 19 via Walt Disney Studios I could be a troll and say that Toy Story 5 is the...