I don’t think I’m really overstating it here. I mean c’mon. We’ve already had two of the largest science fiction (and yes, I consider comic book movies to be science fiction) movies this year. Black Panther, Deadpool 2 and Infinity War have all broken records. Deadpool 2 broke the opening day record for an R-Rated movie. And, as someone who’s seen it, it damn-well deserves that. The same thing goes for Black Panther and all of its records.
However, as big as Deadpool and Black Panther are, Infinity War is following in the footsteps of Thanos himself by crushing ALL THE RECORDS. I mean, there’s opening weekend, pre-ticket sales… Well, I won’t go on about that. You can get the full list of all the records that Avengers: Infinity War tied, broke and destroyed at ScreenRant.
Of course, these films have all but eclipsed and overshadowed those that have already come out, including A Quiet Place (amazing horror flick, but still scifi), Ready Player One, Pacific Rim, Annihilation, A Wrinkle in Time and several others. Some of these did really well, others not so much (looking at you Maze Runner: Death Cure).
And, while we may already have our biggest ass-kickers already out of the way, we’re still far from done. That’s not really fair, though. To be honest, we still have the latest installment from Disney’s other supermassive franchise: Star Wars. Yep, this coming weekend, Solo: A Star Wars Story hits the theaters. Now personally, I haven’t been as excited for this as I was the other three recent Star Wars flicks. However, from the latest trailers, I think it’s looking to be better than I expected. I seriously doubt it will even come remotely close to Infinity War’s new record collection, but let that mislead you on our favorite hyperspace smuggler’s star power. Heck, even in the trailer he says… “I’ve got a really good feeling about this.”
Marvel also has another piece in its cinematic universe puzzle coming in Antman and the Wasp. As the action-adventure comic-book version of Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Antman is arguably one of the smallest (haha, see what I did there) pieces in the MCU. His appearance in Civil War was fun and humorous, but his lack of appearance in Infinity War felt odd to most fans, as far as I’ve seen.
As they say in the infomercials, “But wait! There’s more.” Two scifi classics have their latest installments out this year too. The Predator and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom are both due out in the coming months, with JW in June and the clicky-breathing interplanetary hunter coming back to Earth in September. But, guys…guys… there’s so much more. I mean: Alita: Battle Angel, Aquaman, Venom, Rampage, Mortal Engines, Upgrade, Fahrenheit 451 and more.
Granted, most of the “And more”s are low-budget flicks with tiny distribution destined for the Redbox machine. Even some of the bigger budget flicks will probably get there sooner rather than later (looking at you Bumblebee: The Movie (Yes, THAT Bumblebee)). That just means I don’t have to spend $12-$14 per ticket to go see them, though. With that said, no, I won’t be renting Bumblebee.
I really think we have to thank Disney in large part for this renaissance of science fiction adventure. If it weren’t for their cohesive storytelling in the Marvel movies and their resurrection of the Star Wars franchise from the sinking bogs of the prequels, I’m not sure we’d be here today. Hollywood likes to think that movies compete with each other, and I suppose on opening weekends they do, but overall I’m happy to consume as much as you throw at me. So long as it’s good.
Personally, I’ve been lucky this year. I’ve actually been able to catch some of these blockbusters on opening weekends. It’s not a luxury I’m used to, but I’ll take it, you know? In all honesty, though… I credit the local theater having reserved seating, recliners and a bar for that one though. The rum and coke might be small, but it’s really nice to have during those opening credits.