Streaming conglomerates like Netflix and Amazon Prime have changed the way that the general public consumes media. Recent low box office sales for movie theaters are the most obvious testament to this phenomenon; people are not going to movie theaters as often as they used to due to the prices, the convenience of alternative viewing mediums and most notably, the pandemic.
However, the month of October seems as though it might generate greater box office revenue. The latest installment of the James Bond franchise, No Time to Die, was released Oct. 8 and generated $56 million in box office revenue on its opening weekend. Despite falling short of its predicted opening weekend revenue, it is still the highest-grossing pandemic-era film in an opening weekend by tens of millions of dollars. Between No Time to Die and these following three films set to release soon, October 2021 may be something of a comeback month for theatrical releases.
Last Night in Soho
Director Edgar Wright is known for a variety of films, particularly comedies, such as Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World; however, Wright’s latest project looks like it will take a departure from his previous work. In Last Night in Soho, a young woman named Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) has dreams about a 1960s nightclub singer named Sandy (Anya Taylor-Joy). Eloise finds herself living inside of Sandy’s body at times, and experiences the glamour of 1960s London vicariously through her. A descent into horror ensues, and Eloise realizes that Sandy is to be killed. Life in the 1960s is not the fun and glamorous adventure that she anticipated.
Wright was inspired by his own experiences for this venture, claiming that he relates to the main character, as he is “afflicted with nostalgia for a decade [he] didn’t live in.” It is a cautionary tale of sorts; the reality of the past that humans linger upon for so many years is usually much darker than we could ever comprehend. It is his first effort within the genre of psychological horror, leaving fans of his previous work with much to anticipate. Last Night in Soho stars Thomasin McKenzie and Anya-Taylor Joy and is set to release in theaters nationwide on Oct. 29.
dune
Based on the 1965 novel by Frank Herbert, Dune is Dennis Villeneuve’s latest science fiction venture, with the director coming off the previous successes of Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival. Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet), an heir to a noble family in the very distant future where human minds perform the same functions as computers by using a variety of things (mainly psychoactive drugs). The most powerful of these drugs is harvested on a planet called Arrakis, also known as Dune, where power is transferred to the Atreides family and Paul is tasked with helping the people of Arrakis defeat a mortal enemy. It is a complex story that involves a powerful order who manipulates bloodlines, feudal rule and a young teenage boy with an ego and a great deal of responsibility.
Dune stars Timothee Chalamet and is supported by an ensemble cast including Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson and Josh Brolin. It is a much more intricate storyline than one would expect from an average science-fiction story, and the novel has a dedicated fanbase whose high standards have made Villeneuve’s work cut out for him. Originally set to come out in October 2020, Dune’s release has been anxiously awaited for a year now. The film has been met with positive reviews so far, and on Oct. 22, American audiences will be able to see it in theaters and contribute to this public response.
The French Dispatch
Fans of Wes Anderson have patiently awaited the release of the director’s tenth film, titled The French Dispatch, for approximately two years. As a result of the pandemic, this film suffered a similar fate to that of Dune, as it was initially set to premiere in July 2020 and experienced multiple delays. Finally, this month audiences will get to experience the film’s release in theaters. The film is an anthology with three stories centered around the foreign French bureau of a newspaper in a town in Kansas. The three interconnected stories depict an incarcerated artist who finds success through a fellow inmate, a group of students who begin an uprising and a police commissioner whose son is kidnapped.
The film features an all-star cast of Wes Anderson veterans like Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Saoirse Ronan, alongside newcomers such as Timothee Chalamet, Jeffrey Wright and Benecio del Toro. Anderson’s inspiration for The French Dispatch was his devotion towards the publication The New Yorker; in fact, he claims to have almost every copy of every issue dating back to the 1940s. In this film, Anderson’s passion for journalism and storytelling will be fully realized in the stylish manner that he is so well-known for, particularly in films like The Grand Budapest Hotel and Moonrise Kingdom. The French Dispatch is set to reach theaters nationwide on Oct. 22.
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