Fall Box Office Brings Hype to Theatres

Hillside Theater in Delafield where local audiences have been piling in to attend fall showings.

Hillside Theater in Delafield where local audiences have been piling in to attend fall showings.

As it is now officially fall, there is an abundance of noteworthy events for students. Football games, Homecoming, and now, the final stretch of cinema blockbusters is well on its way.

The horror genre tends to dominate the box office on the month of October  and in November, Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange and Warner Bros. Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, will be going into theaters with the highest levels of anticipation (both at 99% of fans on Rotten Tomatoes interested respectively).

This past weekend at the box office, the Clint Eastwood directed film, Sully, based on the 2009 “Miracle on the Hudson” emergency plane landing, won over its second consecutive number one box office spot with a weekend gross of $21.6 million (boxofficemojo.com.)

Trailing in second was Lionsgate’s Blair Witch with a distant take in of 9.5 million for its opening weekend run. Sully has its critical praise to thank as that is a contributing factor in attracting audiences (score of 82% approval on Rotten Tomatoes) whereas Blair Witch acquired mediocre approval from only 36% of critics. Let it also be noted that Sully opened to September’s 5th best all-time opening weekend.

This past weekend, Arrowhead senior Jack Vento caught a showing of Sully and he says, “Tom Hanks did a very good job in his portrayal of Captain Sullenberger. I thought going into this movie it was going to be like Captain Phillips in the sense that it was going to spend most of the duration showing the actual event that took place, but it really wasn’t like that at all. The whole movie took place after the emergency plane landing incident and the story surrounded the court case concerning the crash. There was a trial held because there were simulators conducted showing that the plane could have made it to LaGuardia airport in New York, meaning the landing on the Hudson river would not have been necessary. During the trial was when they would show flashbacks to the Miracle on the Hudson event, so the incident was only shown in the past tense. What ended up happening was Sully testified by saying the simulators didn’t take into account human error and several other variables. When they edited the simulator to match Sully’s testimony, it showed the plane crashing at LaGuardia, so Sully didn’t end up receiving a guilty verdict.”

As for the upcoming films this fall, one of the two major standouts in Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange. Following 2016’s highest grossing film, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange is the next installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe an updated plot synopsis was released this past week.

“Before he met the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange (Cumberbatch) was an unlikable and egotistical neurosurgeon. Everything changes when a car accident limits Strange’s use of his hands, sending him on a maddening quest for a miracle cure. This origin story introduces the magical and mystical realms of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”

Jeremy Mason, a senior, says Doctor Strange is the film he is looking most forward to this fall.

“Benedict Cumberbatch is a really good actor so I think that he will do a really good job in this movie. I’m a fan of the MCU and all the trailers I saw for it looked good,” Mason says.

Vento also said Doctor Strange was highest on his fall anticipation list: “This movie is going to be really different from all the other MCU movies, and any other superhero movie for that matter, and the incorporation of legit magic being implemented in the MCU will really come off as an interesting aspect. Not to mention, the producers and other executives working on the film are promoting revolutionizing visual FX in the movie.”

While there are those looking forward to Marvel’s next film, there are still those who aren’t looking forward to any movies this fall. “I don’t know what I’d say my highest anticipated movie is; I don’t really know of any that standout to me this year,” says Arrowhead student Ian Priest.

“I don’t really go to many movies and I have no idea of any coming out soon anyway,” Sam Evert, an Arrowhead senior said.