Summer of 2021: The Hope for the Return of the Blockbuster
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
It’s another brief insight today, but it’s something I’ve been feeling seeing some of these shifts within the entertainment industry in this summer of 2021. Vaccinations are making their rounds, and public places are slowly filling up again. Furthermore, the blockbusters due last year and the ones slated for 2021 are coming out at once, so there are quite a few mega films that can help bring some economic flow back into film (Spiral and A Quiet Place II are two of the recent releases, and there are many other franchises due soon). As a cinephile attached mostly to less conventional works, I’ve typically spoken against these mega films and what they have done to independent and international cinema, but I’m happy that there are these glimmers of hope at all, with the pandemic having gone on this stupidly long. COVID-19 is still going, but there is a light at the end of this tunnel finally (and hopefully it’s that of a projector).
So, obviously, films with big box office draws are a blatant benefit for movie houses and the industry as a whole. Today, I would rather bring up something else in short. What are some of these films that are coming out? Mostly franchise related works, and that’s fine too. Marvel is finally getting back on its cinematic track (its streaming television series didn’t really slow down too much). I despise the Fast and the Furious series, but there can be a truce between the action franchise and myself during this rebuild phase. These are all fine and dandy, but I’m more interested in what works like In The Heights can inspire. A number of publications are bringing up Hollywood musicals again because of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s latest triumph, and there’s something nice about this. Sure, La La Land was also a tribute to the musicals of yesteryear, but there’s something about In The Heights being a part of the blockbuster season (and not solely the film festival and awards season like the former) that makes me feel good right now.
Another recent film comes to mind: The Mitchells vs. The Machines. Here is a family film that’s unique and well made that was meant to be in a theatre. Maybe this urgency to get back into theatres, the build up of major productions, and a hint of original genre films (well, In The Heights is based on Miranda’s previous musical conception, but it’s original enough) will result in what my gut feeling is telling me: a new wave of blockbusters that could truly help us. In the way that New Hollywood works were changing the movie going experience fifty years ago, we’re in much need for a revitalization now. You can argue we’ve had some theatre-going shifts since, and that’s true: the latest, to me, being the 3-D craze Avatar spawned. However, I don’t mean gimmicks or temporary occurrences. We need the content to be different. Having franchises is okay, but the exhaustion is evident (despite the hiatus we’ve had and the thankfulness we may feel for theatres opening back up). If something like In The Heights or The Mitchells vs. The Machines are an indication of something, it’s that there can be a breath of fresh air back in mainstream cinema, and the movie going experience.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.