"Star Wars: The Force Awakens." What a disappointment, right? It ONLY scored $2 billion worldwide, still trailing "Titanic" and "Avatar" and well short of my pre-release "all of the money" prediction, and it was ONLY a really good movie that reminded audiences of why they loved the original trilogy in the first place, not the greatest cinematic achievement in the history of the medium. Bummer.
I know what you're thinking: Time to tear the thing down and reboot! There's obviously no potential here! More like "The Force Smothers Itself In The Crib," amirite?!
Well, apparently Disney is bafflingly still going forward with this new trilogy, and they released the production announcement trailer this morning to prove it. Risky move, guys!
(spoiler alert for the seven people who haven't seen "The Force Awakens" yet)
Pfft, that didn't fill me with excitement or enthusiasm for the next film. Nope, that barely five seconds of actual film footage didn't already make me irrationally regret I live in 2016 and not 2017 at all. I'm just going to watch it 34 more times this afternoon to make sure, though.
"Episode VIII" comes out Dec. 15, 2017, with all of the characters new and old you loved in the latest movie – well, minus THAT character – and extremely talented writer-director Rian Johnson ("Looper") taking the helm from J.J. Abrams. I give it a less than 50/50 chance of breaking even. Go back to making "The Lone Ranger" movies, Disney. Now that's where the money's at.
As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.
When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.
