Checking In on the 'Avengers' and 'Batman' Sequels, Plus James Bond, Mission: Impossible & Charlie’s Angels

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Over the weekend, I binged HBO’s new docuseries Neighbors from creators/directors Harrison Fishman and Dylan Redford and their fellow EPs Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein.

The six-episode series follows disputes between neighbors in various parts of the country, and while some are funnier than others, the most interesting, by far, is the season finale, which follows a 71-year-old man who insists on exercising in his driveway while wearing nothing but a tiny yellow Speedo.

Naturally, his neighbors can’t stand him and think he’s creepy — especially the neighbors who have kids — so he decides to visit a nudist colony and see what that way of life is all about. There, he meets a young woman looking for a sugar daddy to fund her music career.

This episode is must-watch television, and it made me think that a feature about a nude community would be fascinating and potentially lucrative. If it happened to be based on this 30-minute episode of television, I wouldn’t complain, as it’s as good an entry point as any. You’d just have to find older actors brave enough to show some skin, but they’re out there! Emma Thompson and Kathy Bates both dared to disrobe after age 50…

Meanwhile, in Box Office Land, analysts tried to spin Wuthering Heights ($37 million domestic) and Crime 101 ($17.7 million) as withering disappointments, but I think both represent decent hauls for these movies.

Wuthering Heights has limited appeal to men, and it’s based on an ancient novel by Emily Brontë. It’s also been done 30 times before. I’d say this is a pretty solid number for a director whose prior films, Promising Young Woman and Saltburn, grossed $6.5 million and 11.5 millon domestic in total.

Plus, when you consider that Margot Robbie‘s last big-screen romance, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, bombed spectacularly, this is a solid debut, even though I feel like Jacob Elordi’s fanbase is the most responsible for its success.

I’d also look at Chris Hemsworth’s track record and call Crime 101’s opening pretty solid for an original movie. It’s not Hemsworth’s problem that Amazon spent too much money on the film, which should’ve cost $45 million, or $60 million tops. OK, $75 million if you’re feeling bullish. But $93 million? That’s insane! It’s simply too much for this kind of thing… but the film’s performance is nothing to sneeze at, as there are alternate realities where it opens to more like $10-12 million, like Amazon’s recent Chris Pratt movie, Mercy.

The real story at the box office this weekend was the .9% drop for Sam Raimi’s survival thriller Send Help, which is the best movie I’ve seen all year (remember, Pillion is a 2025 release in my book). I can’t wait to see what Rachel McAdams does next, because the offers should be pouring in…

Tonight, I come bearing gifts — updates on the Avengers and Batman sequels, plus the search for James Bond, the future of the Mission: Impossible franchise, and Sony’s latest Charlie’s Angels movie.

I also pay tribute to the legendary Robert Duvall, who died on Monday at 95, and weigh in on this year’s lackluster Indie Spirit Awards.

There are also items about Netflix’s live-action riff on Scooby-Doo, Bill Hader’s follow-up to Barry, Daniel Kaluuya’s new A24 movie, Anderson Cooper’s exit from 60 Minutes, and the acquisition of Channing Tatum’s Sundance winner. Plus, a look at the trailer for Nicolas Cage’s Spider-Noir series, which debuts in May on Prime Video.

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