The 2026 Summer Movie Preview "Boom or Bust" Game

Summary

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The Big Picture — 2026 Summer Movie Preview: "Boom or Bust" Game

Host: Sean Fennessey
Guest/Co-host: Amanda Dobbins (with Daniel Goldhaber as featured interview)
Date: April 14, 2026

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Episode Overview

Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins deliver their annual deep-dive preview of the summer movie slate using their signature "Boom or Bust" game, pitting Metacritic and domestic box office predictions head-to-head for every major theatrical release from late April through August 2026. The episode blends wry industry analysis with playful competitive banter, setting the stage for the summer’s biggest (and most unpredictable) movie stories — from highly-anticipated legacy sequels to bold original debuts. Later, director Daniel Goldhaber joins Sean for a fascinating interview about his new "Faces of Death" remake, exploring topics of digital violence, media saturation, and social influence.

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Main Sections

1. Podcast Banter & Housekeeping
2. State of the Movie Business (CinemaCon, Box Office Trends)
3. Boom or Bust Summer Preview Game
4. Featured Interview: Daniel Goldhaber (Faces of Death)
5. Final Reflections & Notable Moments

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1. Podcast Banter & Housekeeping

• Sean and Amanda acknowledge their upcoming 900th episode and invite listener mailbag questions via email and voicemail, ribbing each other about generational tech habits (“Call, call an elder...I’m never gonna listen to a seven-minute voice note” – Amanda, [01:33]).
• Lighthearted discussion of scheduling, failed social plans, and Amanda’s "boomer" tendencies sets the conversational, self-aware tone.

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2. State of the Movie Business

• Sean and Amanda recap the box office: "Super Mario Galaxy" maintains its dominance, while both "Project Hail Mary" and "The Drama" show staying power. They note encouraging signs for "grown-up movies with real movie stars" ([04:01]).
• Anticipation for CinemaCon: Potential industry optimism after a turbulent era, but looming existential threats (studio mergers, last year’s Warner Bros. drama) remain fresh in their minds.
• Reflection on legacy: The difference in studio fortunes, the rising significance of “adult-oriented” hits, and the consolidation of release calendars.

Quote:
"It's interesting that a couple of grown-up movies with real movie stars and real ideas are thriving in this environment. I find it very promising."
— Sean, [05:32]

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3. Boom or Bust: 2026 Summer Movie Preview Game

Game Structure & Rules

• Objective: Predict each film’s Metacritic score and domestic box office; closest guess wins points.
• Scoring:
  • Metacritic: +1 if within 5 points, +5 for exact.
  • Box Office: +1 if within $50m, +5 if within $10m, +10 if within $5m, +20 for exact.
  • Streaming-only releases excluded ("Put your movies in movie theaters!").

Sample Highlights & Predictions

Note: Due to the podcast’s rapid-fire format and length, only the first several film discussions and prominent banter segments are captured with detailed quotes and timestamps.

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A. Early Preview—The Big Titles and Signature Sean & Amanda Banter

Devil Wears Prada 2

• Amanda: $210m box office, 68 Metacritic
• Sean: $184m box office, 57 Metacritic

On Amanda’s high hopes:
"I'm going big...if it's not good, I will be the most hurt of anyone." — Amanda, [14:49]
"More than Meryl Streep?" — Sean, [15:12]

Metacritic roundtable:
"You think that's high?... There is a potential for a downgrade in quality." — Sean, [16:00]

• Context: Sean notes the original did $124m (2006 dollars) and has become a "proper franchise" with cultural longevity. Both probe the challenge of critical reception for legacy sequels and shifting reviewing cultures.

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Hokum (Horror from Damian McCarthy)

• Sean: $18m box office, 78 Metacritic
• Amanda: $10m box office, 62 Metacritic

"There's a thing with the horror movies this summer where every two weeks one of the studios is putting out a horror movie. They're all searching for the next Jordan Peele..." — Sean, [20:57]

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Sheep Detectives

• Amanda: $8m box office, 63 Metacritic
• Sean: $51m box office, 63 Metacritic

"Who's going to go see this?" — Amanda, [22:25]
"Respectfully, I think this one is going to do okay. I think old people are going to be into this." — Sean, [22:30]

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Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft – The Tour Live

• Sean: $42m box office, 71 Metacritic
• Amanda: $160m box office, 65 Metacritic

"I went ERAS tour and then revised down. But like, the children, they love Billie Eilish." — Amanda, [24:38]
"You believe in Big Jim [Cameron]? If I have learned one thing, it is do not underestimate Big Jim." — Amanda, [25:15]

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Mortal Kombat 2

• Amanda: $60m box office, 46 Metacritic
• Sean: $137m box office, 44 Metacritic

[Playful confusion over Mortal Kombat lore and Amanda’s arcade nostalgia.]

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B. The Game in Action: Meta-Discussion & Strategy

• Amanda reflects on her research methodology: "I pretty much went by distributor and then type of movie and looked at all the comps and went in there and... the smaller movies, I was a bit generous. It's the way the box office is now" ([33:01]).
• Sean pokes fun: “I probably went a little bit over on too many things, including this one.”

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C. Mid-slate Standouts

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

• Sean: $275m
• Amanda: $421m

"The streets are in tears...been waiting seven long years for a new Star Wars film." — Sean, [37:09]

On cross-media fatigue:
"Marvel has struggled...not everybody is up on the TV show, and that sometimes limits the audience." — Sean, [38:35]

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Toy Story 5

• Amanda: $503m, 78 Metacritic
• Sean: $401m, 89 Metacritic

"Inside Out 2 was such a banger...the breakdown of the kids of it all and what we have seen about kids movies with recognizable IP—built in, they're doing well." — Amanda, [56:11]

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[More predictions continue: major sequels, horror breakouts, comedies, Oscar hopefuls—every wide release through August]

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D. Honorable Quotes & Banter throughout

• “The number of times I almost texted you just being like, what the fuck is wrong with you? Like, why?” — Amanda, [06:27] (on Sean’s scoring systems)
• “Would you not describe this as the great communication of our times? This is the portal...” — Sean, [11:24]
• “Is Brendan Fraser a bigger draw than Russell Crowe right now? Probably not, but maybe.” — Sean, [41:23]
• “Do Minions drink Negronis? I think the answer is yes.” — Amanda, [62:52]
• "I'm probably going over on my small movies and under on my big movies. That's something I'm learning." — Sean, [81:15]

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4. Featured Interview: Daniel Goldhaber (Faces of Death)

Daniel Goldhaber joins Sean for a fascinating 45-minute interview focused on:

Faces of Death: Modernizing a ‘Cursed Object’

• Personal Backstory:
  Goldhaber didn’t see “Faces of Death” as a kid; his first encounter was being asked to remake it. The project’s generational resonance:

“Everyone has such a tactile and evocative way of describing their first time. But for me, my first real encounter... was getting an email from my agent in 2019...” — Daniel, [90:46]

• Cultural Commentary:
  On the shift from forbidden media to algorithmic saturation—

“Faces of Death is everywhere now. After we saw the movie, we realized that we had seen Faces of Death—just like clips of it on Rotten.com or eBaum's World...it was totally decontextualized from this original movie." — Daniel, [91:34]

• Content Moderation as Backstory:
  Goldhaber draws from real experience working as an early 2010s social media moderator (“they just hire friends to camp on the feed, watch everything...try to take down especially the child porn as quickly as possible” – [93:10]).

• Media Violence, Censorship, and Corporate Control:
  The movie reflects on, “very few corporations that essentially control the vast majority of human speech...you know, the people that are adjudicating what is and is not going onto our phones are ultimately employees at a company that has its own goals and ambitions.” — Daniel, [97:15]

• Process & Collaboration:
  Goldhaber details his writing dynamic with Issa Mazzei (“drafts back and forth—she’ll do a first draft, I’ll do a big revision, and eventually you’re just doing line edits…” — [99:15])

• Meta-Narrative & Self-Awareness:
  Goldhaber discusses how the act of remaking "Faces of Death" is inherently about IP and commodification. The new film is self-reflexive:

“...the movie is about somebody remaking Faces of Death and trying to squeeze value out of this IP for his own personal gain.” ([97:52])

• Violence, Media, & Alienation:

"Arthur is in many ways just a literalization of that. He's somebody who is actually very rationally looking at the system that has been set out in front of him and say, how can I feel like I matter?" — Daniel, [104:09]

Making Art in the Studio System

• Pipeline vs. Smuggle:
  Conversation shifts to how "Pipeline" was direct activist art (“stick up”) and "Faces of Death" is a subtler (smuggled) critique of corporate culture and media violence.

• Model-driven Risks & Studio Dynamics
  Daniel offers insight into the risk-averse, data-driven mentality in contemporary Hollywood:

"Now it’s like, all of this stuff has to be somehow proven out and derived and in a way that the model likes...if the movie doesn’t work, everybody goes, 'hey, the model said it was okay, it wasn’t my fault.'" — [130:36]

Goldhaber’s Reflections

• On movies' limits to inspire direct action:

“I don’t think movies...get people to go out and do stuff. I don’t think that’s how movies operate anymore.” — [119:21]

• On meme culture and the language of cinema:

“I’m definitely aware now when I'm making a movie, I'm like, this image, this shot—I hope that could be a good meme.” — [124:51]

Last Great Thing Daniel Saw

• Daniel cites the Wachowskis’ Speed Racer as a recent personal all-timer:

“Plays like gangbusters. It still plays like a movie from the future. It's amazing." — [137:58]

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5. Final Reflections & Banter

• Amanda and Sean riff about who “won” the game, their approach to high/low predictions, and Amanda’s faith in the Billie Eilish movie as a dark horse hit.
• Amanda: “Are you ready for the amount of clothes you have to talk about in Devil Wears Prada 2?” — [90:09]
• Parting thoughts on the difficulty of planning amidst marketing-driven, uncertain studio strategies, and the importance of meeting movies “where they are.”
• Sean wraps: “That’s what I do. I listen. I listen to women and men.” — [90:12]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [04:01] – State of the box office and CinemaCon preview
• [12:00] – Game rules and scoring explained
• [14:15] – Devil Wears Prada 2 predictions and cultural analysis
• [22:25] – Sheep Detectives debate
• [24:38] – Billie Eilish concert film/James Cameron banter
• [37:09] – Star Wars: Mandalorian and Grogu predictions
• [56:02] – Toy Story 5 precedent and analysis
• [90:46] – Daniel Goldhaber interview begins
• [91:34] – The experience of Faces of Death as cultural artifact
• [124:51] – Discussion of memes and the changing language of cinema

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Summary Wrap-up

This high-energy, high-insider episode is a must-listen for anyone invested in the summer movie season, critical trends, and the business of Hollywood. It’s as much a state-of-the-industry conversation as a playful competition, buoyed by Amanda and Sean’s inimitable rapport and highlighted by Goldhaber’s smart, searching reflections on the uneasy marriage of art, media, and commerce in 2026.

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Notable Quotes Recap

• “Put your movies in movie theaters. If you do, you’ll be a part of this game. If you don’t, you’re not.” — Sean, [12:03]
• “If I have learned one thing, it is do not underestimate Big Jim [Cameron].” — Amanda, [25:15]
• "The model said it was okay, it wasn't my fault." — Daniel Goldhaber, [130:36]
• "I listen. I listen to women and men." — Sean, [90:12]

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For further details, see individual film segments throughout the transcript.

Transcript

[Sean Fennesee]

I'm Sean Fennesee.

[Amanda Davins]

I'm Amanda Davins and this is the

[Sean Fennesee]

Big Picture Egg Conversation show about to summer. Today on the show, we're previewing the summer movie slate with another one of my Little Games. Later in the show, I'll be joined by Daniel Goldhaber. He is the co writer and director of Faces of Death, the new super smart, super nasty rebo of the 1978 cult horror Curio. Danny was last on the show talking about his second feature, how to Blow Up a Pipeline, which was one of the best movies of 2022. A great thinker about movies and media, an excellent discussion. Listen to it after our chat here. Programming reminder. Amanda, we are just a week away from our 900th episode.

[Amanda Davins]

I mean, don't jinx it, but yes, yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

Unless something fiery and terrible happens in the next six and a half days to celebrate, we're going to do a mailbag. You can email us at what?

[Amanda Davins]

Bigpickmailbagmail.com you can email us.

[Sean Fennesee]

However, you can also call us. You can call us. The number is 323-488-3241. And you can leave a voicemail. We've done this before. It went very well last time.

[Amanda Davins]

It was very normal.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yes.

[Amanda Davins]

And we encourage you to be creative, but let's be real. I want to bring the younger generation in. There's a difference between a voicemail and a voice note.

[Sean Fennesee]

That's right.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah. Okay. So if you don't know, if you don't know, call, call an elder. One is one's shorter, one's to the point, and then one is seven minutes that I'm never gonna listen to whether I know you or not. So voicemail. We'd love to hear from you.

[Sean Fennesee]

I've never sent a voice note.

[Amanda Davins]

I have a couple times because I felt like someone had sent me a voice note and then I was like, I gotta, you know, But I've like, I'm terrible. It's really the most boomer in me. I don't know how to do it. I send it to the wrong person.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's just, I assure you, it's not the most boomer thing about you. Anyhow, if you want to talk at us and have us respond to you, you can call us. Once again, that number is 323-488-3241. We will send a reminder about that later this week, too. We got to get into our show now. Before we do that, some movie news and then we'll chat. This episode is brought to you by the Autograph Journey credit card from Wells Fargo the Autograph Journey credit card from Wells Fargo is built for travel. You can earn rewards wherever you book your favorite hotel site your go to airline and more. You get five times points with hotels, four times with airlines, three times on restaurants and other travel and one point on other purchases. Whether it's a big vacation or a quick getaway from booking your stay to that first meal when you arrive, you're turning your trips into rewards with the Autograph Journey credit card from Wells Fargo. Learn more@wells fargo.com autographjourney Terms apply. Last night you spent two hours deciding what to wear to the party this morning. It'll take you two minutes to list it on Depop and make your money back. Just grab your phone, snap a few photos and we'll take care of the rest. The sheer dress and platform heels you'll never wear again. There's a birthday girl searching for them right now. Your one and done look is about to pay for your next night out

[Amanda Davins]

or at least the ride home.

[Sean Fennesee]

Your style can make you cash. Start selling on Depop, where taste recognizes taste. Not a ton of movie news out there.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Take a look at the box office you were gallivanting over the weekend.

[Amanda Davins]

I did.

[Sean Fennesee]

Traveling the world.

[Amanda Davins]

I did. Where I was traveling the state of California. I had a lovely time. Thank you to the people of Berkeley.

[Sean Fennesee]

So did you go to the movies several times this weekend as well?

[Amanda Davins]

No, I just.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. You didn't see what was happening?

[Amanda Davins]

I did go on Thursday afternoon to a solo screening of youf, Me and Tuscany. Who is the only person there.

[Sean Fennesee]

I was supposed to see it this weekend. Couldn't go.

[Amanda Davins]

You skipped that.

[Sean Fennesee]

And we're not discussing the film today. We will discuss it in a future episode. I was also quite busy this weekend. Super Mario Galaxy still on top. Unsurprising. I just wanted to talk quickly about Project Hail Mary and the drama. The holds were very strong for these movies.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

And Project Hail Mary is heading towards like 600, $700 million zone. And the drama is heading towards like 100, maybe $150 million zone. I know we've talked about it three weeks in a row. This is just awesome. This is good news.

[Amanda Davins]

Very pro.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's kind of interesting to be heading into CinemaCon. We're both headed there later tonight, which is the annual trade federation meeting of various movie theater owners and the movie studios who present their wares to those groups. And I think that it's going to be like a positive vibe for a change in those Rooms, I think. What do you think?

[Amanda Davins]

I hope so. And I think that there is enough this summer, as we'll discuss, to look forward to that. The indications are good. You know, there's some other sky falling in news, you know, that's never far away from us.

[Sean Fennesee]

Well, there's a giant merger that seems to threaten the entire totality of the business. I wonder how that will be addressed this week.

[Amanda Davins]

I will say at this time last year we were getting ready to go to the Warner Brothers presentation and Mike and Pam were in the balance under fire. And we, I remember we were sitting through that presentation being like, well, this is pretty awkward. And then Warner Brothers ran the table.

[Sean Fennesee]

They did.

[Amanda Davins]

So, you know, maybe, maybe it'll be good news. Maybe. Maybe what we learn can be positive.

[Sean Fennesee]

I think last year Cinemacon, was it a week before Sinners was released?

[Amanda Davins]

I think so.

[Sean Fennesee]

And then they went on that incredible run throughout the rest of the year. I don't know if any studio will have that kind of 20, 26. But anyway, just interesting that a couple of grown up movies with real movie stars and real ideas are thriving in this environment right now. I find it very promising. And so we're gonna do the summer movie preview game, the Boomer Bust game, which we did last year, which I thought was a fun experiment, but I kind of fucked up the rules a little bit, I think. Or maybe more specifically the scoring. That was the thing that seemed confusing and obtuse to both you and I think many of the people at home. So I've refined it. Do you remember what we did last year? Have you looked at what we're doing this year?

[Amanda Davins]

I did look at what we're doing this year.

[Sean Fennesee]

Does it make more sense to you?

[Amanda Davins]

No, it's still. It's just like I feel trapped in the confines of your mind. And as I was preparing for this diligently last night before I went to bed, I once again got angry at the experience of spending too long in that particular prison.

[Sean Fennesee]

But it's full of wonderful couches.

[Amanda Davins]

The number of times that I almost texted you just being like, what the fuck is wrong with you? Like, why? Like why? You know, And I'm guessing the Metacritic numbers because this is how we do the game, right? We are going to project both the box office domestic and the Metacritic score for these movies.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Correct.

[Amanda Davins]

And what we learned last year when doing our exercise, at least with respect to the Metacritic, is that it's actually a pretty narrow window and it is sort of just like throwing numbers at a, you know, throwing darts At a point.

[Sean Fennesee]

We did fairly well on the Metacritic scores last year.

[Amanda Davins]

Well, that's true, because it's not that wide.

[Sean Fennesee]

Which indicates something to me, interesting about the middleness of film criticism. Because I didn't want to use the Rotten Tomatoes score because I find that it's very inflated and it's very inaccurate. And there are a lot of people that participate in that score. Metacritic is much more stringent about what the sources are and how they identify the score. But very rarely these days do you see a film get zero stars. A zero out of 100. You know, also on Metacritic, you very rarely see. I shouldn't say rarely, but you don't often see 100 out of 100.

[Amanda Davins]

No.

[Sean Fennesee]

So everything tends to sit between like 48 and 84.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

And so.

[Amanda Davins]

But.

[Sean Fennesee]

So I've changed the scoring a little bit to reflect that. Likewise with the box office. So shall I describe.

[Amanda Davins]

Go ahead.

[Sean Fennesee]

What I've done. Okay. Just like, just work with me here. Just be my partner.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Okay.

[Amanda Davins]

I did this. I prepared. I'm here, I'm ready. I've got thoughts. At some point it did just become me, like thinking of numbers that sounded nice in my head. Me too.

[Sean Fennesee]

Did you do any research into previous scores and franchises?

[Amanda Davins]

Not really so much. Metacritic scores. I want Metacritic. I was just all vibes and then box office. I did research.

[Sean Fennesee]

I mean, the reason we're doing this is so that we can talk about all the movies that are coming out for the next three months. That's the idea of the game. It's not really to be right about it. Cause I don't know how you can be right about this. I never would have guessed that the drama was heading towards $138 million worldwide. That's wonderful. It's nice to be surprised. Here's the scoring. The margin of difference between your guesses and the final data points determines your score for the film. The highest total score wins. So you get one point if your guess falls between within five points of the Metacritic prediction in any direction. Okay. So if you guess 68 and a film comes in at 63, you get a point. Got it?

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Five points if you get your guess exactly right.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

I don't remember how many we got exactly right last time. It might have been zero. This is a little bit difficult. Hence the number of points you get. You get one point if you are within $50 million of the box office prediction. So you're going to get a lot of points here because a lot of these films are very small. So we're going to get within this is just to kind of boost the point total. However, you will get five points if you are within $10 million. You will get 10 points if you are within $5 million. Do you think there should be a bonus if you hit it? Exactly.

[Amanda Davins]

Sure.

[Sean Fennesee]

What would that bonus be?

[Amanda Davins]

20 points.

[Sean Fennesee]

20 points for an exact right guess. I like it. You guys listening in the booth there? Absolutely. You'll be tallying all these totals?

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah. Is the booth ready? Because this is. This is your math project.

[Sean Fennesee]

Well, the good thing for me here is that I don't really need to lock into this until like two months from now. So right now I'm just kind of enjoying the. We did do a check in, I believe in July last year. Just to see how things were going.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah, but that's just gonna be like a really shitty Sunday night at 10:30 for you guys. When you're just there like with your. Did they even teach you long division in your school?

[Sean Fennesee]

Oh, come on, Amanda.

[Amanda Davins]

I don't know.

[Sean Fennesee]

What are you talking about?

[Amanda Davins]

Do you guys know cursive?

[Sean Fennesee]

Yes.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

Long division. Why would they not learn that?

[Amanda Davins]

Aren't they? Because computers can do it all.

[Sean Fennesee]

He's 25.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Do you think I'm 12?

[Amanda Davins]

I don't know. Listen, there were way too many AI signs in the. In the Bay Area. That's all I have to say. That's my feedback.

[Sean Fennesee]

That's unsurprising. So anyway, whoever gets the highest point total is the winner of the game. The winner. What does the winner get? A lovely steak dinner. But the twist is.

[Amanda Davins]

Do you know how many either reorganizations of your closet. Your DVD closet and. Or Blu Ray. Fine, whatever I like to call it. DVDs to annoy you and. Or like fancy dinners. You have promised me and I've gotten none of them. Haven't been to Dunsmore. When did you earn a fancy. We haven't been to.

[Sean Fennesee]

When are we going to Dunsborne?

[Amanda Davins]

I don't know. I haven't been to Dunsmore. I haven't rearranged the closet.

[Sean Fennesee]

Well, look, the closet thing. The closet thing, that's on you. You want to make some time on my schedule. I'm available. I haven't left my home.

[Amanda Davins]

No, you are not. And that is the scheduling with you. When I don't have to for professional purposes.

[Sean Fennesee]

I know.

[Amanda Davins]

Is I don't wanna ever do anything about. You think what scheduling is about? I just.

[Sean Fennesee]

Cause I'm just doing a lot of stuff. I'm a busy person and you're Also

[Amanda Davins]

such a great communicator, you know, so it really makes the planning so much easier.

[Sean Fennesee]

Would you not describe this as the great communication of our times? This is the portal through which right

[Amanda Davins]

now is when I'm remembering that some event just, like, disappeared off our calendar with, like, no explanation. And you're not. You just canceled it. And I'm like, well, what happened? We can talk about that later. But this is how I'm.

[Sean Fennesee]

Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah, there we go.

[Sean Fennesee]

No, I did send a note.

[Amanda Davins]

You sent a note that it was happening, but not that it was not happening.

[Sean Fennesee]

That's not correct. Check your email.

[Amanda Davins]

No, I didn't get it.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's a great podcast. Anyway, so we were gonna have a very important meeting together.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay. Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

And now that meeting has been rescheduled.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

And we will discuss it. Not on the podcast.

[Amanda Davins]

All right.

[Sean Fennesee]

One other thing about this game before we start playing it. Streaming movies are not eligible. Here's my note to the studios at home. Put your movies in movie theaters. If you do, you'll be a part of this game. If you don't, you're not. So movies like, here's a handful of bigger streaming movies that we know are coming. So Netflix has swapped and Remarkably Bright Creatures, Amazon has Jack Ryan, Ghost War, and the Dink is on Apple. That's a comedy. We won't be discussing those films. They will have Metacritic scores. They will not have box office totals. Anything you want to say? You think it's going to be a good summer? You indicated that. You think it's going to be a healthy summer at the box office, quality wise?

[Amanda Davins]

I'm. I'm open. I've got a couple of. Of high Metacritic scores. And I think that without spoiling any of my predictions, I think the overlap between box office and quality, or I guess that, like the meeting the center of the Venn diagram is going to be a little closer this year than it has a couple years prior. Which feels nice, right? Wouldn't it?

[Sean Fennesee]

If it happens. I mean, obviously, the Odyssey kind of stands alone in terms of. And that is definitively what you're describing, I think. How many more we have beyond that, I'm quite curious to see.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

How many good movies will make more than $100 million? And good, obviously, being subjective from our

[Amanda Davins]

point of view, I guess not that many when I look at it. But that's okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

Um, I'm hopeful.

[Amanda Davins]

Maybe. Yeah, maybe one or two more.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. Should we begin?

[Amanda Davins]

Let's. We have a lot of films. It's you didn't.

[Sean Fennesee]

You didn't skim anything that I think is either going to be in wide release with a strong release from a boutique studio, or is an awards player I put into the mix here. Okay, so, you know, every studio movie is here. Most of the indies are here that I expect to get wide release. We're going to start with the big one. We're going to start with the real summer kickoff. Summer kickoff used to be Memorial Day. Now it's usually last week of April, first week of May. That film, of course, is the devil wears Prada 2. I ask you, what is your box office prediction? Remember, domestic?

[Amanda Davins]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

And what is your Metacritic score? Guess.

[Amanda Davins]

Just to. Just to start things with a bang in this exercise and also to be positive and to put my hopes and my beliefs and my projections on one page together. I'm going big. Okay, so the Devil wears Prada 2 is apparently tracking at 66 million for the first weekend. So that's good.

[Sean Fennesee]

That's very good.

[Amanda Davins]

So I'm gonna go with 210 domestic.

[Sean Fennesee]

Interesting. Now that's a good guess. Yeah, it's a big guess.

[Amanda Davins]

As I said, I'm going big. I'm taking the over, as it were. I am, I guess, a little bit in a cheerleader aspect of this, even though I have not seen the movie. And if it's not good, I will be the most hurt of anyone.

[Sean Fennesee]

Of anyone.

[Amanda Davins]

Of anyone.

[Sean Fennesee]

More than Meryl Streep.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah, Meryl's fight.

[Sean Fennesee]

David Frankel.

[Amanda Davins]

Meryl is.

[Sean Fennesee]

Or Anne Hathaway or Emily Blunt or Stanley Tucci.

[Amanda Davins]

No, I think they'll all be fine. Maybe Aline Bosch McKenna, who's the writer of the previous, will also be a little disappointed. Everybody else is just on their global press tour.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay, so just for context, the previous film made $124 million in 2006.

[Amanda Davins]

Correct.

[Sean Fennesee]

Inflation has been skyrocketing since then. Also, this movie, as you pointed out, as Bill Simmons has pointed out, has become a big deal in that 20 years. It has become a proper franchise, oft rewatched. I went a little bit below you in that. But before I share mine, what is your metacritic guess?

[Amanda Davins]

68.

[Sean Fennesee]

68. Now that, to me, is high.

[Amanda Davins]

You think so?

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

The previous film got a 62. Well, and there is. There is a potential for a downgrade in quality here. I think the. I think the critics are suspicious of this one.

[Amanda Davins]

I don't know how much I trust a Metacritic aggregation score of, like, pre2010 movies. Just because the. Not that anyone was doing anything Wrong. But it's just because like movie reviewing culture was so different in 2006 that what even counts and the type of criticism and everything.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah.

[Amanda Davins]

I don't know if I think it's like a one to one.

[Sean Fennesee]

I think there's something to that for sure. I think there was also something with this film where it was perceived as like 13 dresses, you know, that it was kind of flimsy. 27 dresses or 13 going on 27 dresses.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes. Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Got it. Nailed it. As you can see. I love those films.

[Amanda Davins]

Sure.

[Sean Fennesee]

I think it was discounted in a way and so that might have spoken to the first wave of criticism.

[Amanda Davins]

That being said, are the discounters in the room with us right now, Sean?

[Sean Fennesee]

I was not reviewing films at that time, so I can't really say I'm going into this film with an open mind. I have to revisit the original.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Because I have only seen it a couple of times, I guess. 184 million domestic.

[Amanda Davins]

So I think that's good. The two triangulation points I used for this, which are in no way exact, were Thunderbolts, which was the same weekend in May.

[Sean Fennesee]

Sure. And both films are about trauma and lower grade franchises.

[Amanda Davins]

So sorry to thunderbolt asterisks. Whatever's going on there. What's it called now?

[Sean Fennesee]

Avengers.

[Amanda Davins]

Sure. Yeah. Congratulations to all of you. And that was around 180 domestic, I believe. And then I looked at Twisters, which is a legacyquel that is different and obviously an action movie, but also bringing in a similar generation of movie viewers. And that was much higher. I think that's like high two hundreds to seventy. 280. So I went in the middle.

[Sean Fennesee]

I mean you just described two movies that are high action spectacle. And now I think for a lot of female audiences this is high action spectacle.

[Amanda Davins]

And I do think it's a different type of high action. But you know, even the Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep, like, you know, global press experience, like all of the tie ins, it is a different type of movie and it's a different audience, which I think could actually be a positive. But it's big. This is what even is a computer,

[Sean Fennesee]

like a female led. I mean, I guess anyone but you and the housemaid are probably the two closest in terms of like what audience they're shooting for.

[Amanda Davins]

I guess so. I mean, I think they're shooting for the Barbie audience, but they. It's obviously not that big. And I'm like, let's not, let's not be crazy. But even the rollout and the way that they have been, you know, doing the, like, the fashion and the costumes and the.

[Sean Fennesee]

Do you think the Devil Wears Prada too Appeals to like 11 year old girls?

[Amanda Davins]

No. So that's why this is, you know, 200 million. Why I'm going big with 200 million instead of 600 million.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Right.

[Amanda Davins]

You know, like it's. I know it's a much smaller audience, but that phenomenon and that audience of a. That concoction of like a female audience that doesn't normally go to the movies for an event in this way, my

[Sean Fennesee]

Metacritic guess is 57.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

Just because sequels tend to come in behind originals and I looked at the original, I didn't do that for every single film that was in a franchise. But in this case, I don't know. I think there's a little bit of skepticism based on some of the glossiness of the trailers.

[Amanda Davins]

Right. Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Which I don't think are bad per

[Amanda Davins]

se, but I've stopped watching them. I would just like to see the film.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay, understood. So that's our first film. We only have 78 more to go. We probably won't spend that much time on all the other movies that we talk about here. The next film on our list is called Hokum. It is a new horror movie directed by Damian McCarthy. Neon is releasing it. It stars Adam Scott. It's about a man, I think, who gets trapped in a scary Irish hotel. Okay. Which is kind of what it was like for you preparing for this episode.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes. You go first.

[Sean Fennesee]

My box office guess was 18 million.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

My metacritic guess is 78.

[Amanda Davins]

Wow.

[Sean Fennesee]

Now, Damian McCarthy has released two films that are available on Shudder that are very acclaimed. However, since I wrote down 78, I saw a couple letter ox reviews that were not very kind to this movie.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

I haven't seen it yet. A bunch of these movies we'll talk about, I have seen. This is one I just haven't gotten out to a screening yet. I was just banking on my previous experience with the Damian McCarthy oeuvre to determine this number. So what do you got?

[Amanda Davins]

I bounced around on this box office, which is just anywhere from, I think the 8 to $14 million range, and I landed at 10.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. Seems reasonable.

[Amanda Davins]

So 10 million and I have a metacritic of 62.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. There's a thing with the horror movies this summer where every two weeks one of the studios is putting out a horror movie. So they've kind of caught on to the wave that has been going on in the last eight to 12 years. So you know, we've got Lee Cronin's the Mummy coming out this Friday. We just had Faces of Death last weekend. On May 1, we've got Hokum on May 15, we've got Obsession, which we will get to on May 29. We've got backrooms.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

And most of these movies are coming from relatively new filmmakers and they're trying to, you know. Who's the next Filippo Brothers? Who's the next Zach Kreger? Who's the next Jordan Peele? There's this attempt to filter these people up. I don't know if Damian McCarthy's gonna get there, but I'm looking forward to the film. Okay. The next film on our list is called the Sheep Detectives.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Which is a new film from Amazon, mgm, about some detectives who are sheep.

[Amanda Davins]

That's right.

[Sean Fennesee]

That is quite literally what the film is.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes. It also stars Hugh Jackman and my beloved Emma Thompson.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yes. And a myriad of young stars.

[Amanda Davins]

So this is. It's a cozy mystery, and it's an adaptation of a cozy mystery book. The comps for this have all been direct to streaming, so, like, literally every single one of them. So there's no real number. And that also did inflect my guess, which is an 8 million box office total. Total.

[Sean Fennesee]

No.

[Amanda Davins]

Who's going to go see this?

[Sean Fennesee]

Respectfully, I think this was going to do okay.

[Amanda Davins]

You do?

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah. Because I think old people are going to be into this.

[Amanda Davins]

I know, but if. Even if you look at, like, all of the recent old people movies, they're not. What's your guess?

[Sean Fennesee]

$51 million.

[Amanda Davins]

That's. That's absolutely insane.

[Sean Fennesee]

I don't know.

[Amanda Davins]

It's like Song Song Blue.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's talking animals only and A mystery

[Amanda Davins]

only did 39 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

No, I know Blue is a hard

[Amanda Davins]

to watch melodrama, but that is sold as Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson singing Neil diamond songs at you in sparkly.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's a talking animal movie. I would guess that we probably. Probably land somewhere between us. I would guess, given this conversation, maybe we land at 27 million.

[Amanda Davins]

Maybe.

[Sean Fennesee]

I mean, look at all the people in this movie. Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Keltzen, Emma Thompson, Molly Gordon, Bryan Cranston, Nicholas Braun, Brett Goldstein, Regina Hall, Hong Chow. Like, those are all voices.

[Amanda Davins]

I'm a fan of all of those people.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay, but.

[Amanda Davins]

And I am also familiar with the cozy mystery genre. And, like, it just needs. Why is this not being released on Amazon?

[Sean Fennesee]

Well, because they're making a push towards

[Amanda Davins]

theatrical and they're trying to get money on this And I understand that project Hail Mary worked. And I don't know if this one is going to Sheep.

[Sean Fennesee]

You like them Indifferent. Okay. Metacritic score. What did you guess?

[Amanda Davins]

63.

[Sean Fennesee]

I also guessed 63.

[Amanda Davins]

There we go.

[Sean Fennesee]

How wonderful. Okay, the next film. I have no idea what to do with this movie. It is Billie Eilish. Hit me hard and soft dash. The Tor live. Not the tor comma, live. The Tor live is the name of it. The Tor live. I have some questions about the grammatical choices in this film's title.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah, we need a copy. Corner with Craig Gaines.

[Sean Fennesee]

This film is directed by Billie Eilish and James Cameron. Yeah, James Cameron, who has never made a film that has made less than $50 million, I think.

[Amanda Davins]

Right.

[Sean Fennesee]

I think

[Amanda Davins]

maybe Piranha too, I was going to say. I don't know what was going there with the 80s 90s early releases. Okay, I. It's your turn.

[Sean Fennesee]

I guessed 42 million.

[Amanda Davins]

Oh, I went really big.

[Sean Fennesee]

You did.

[Amanda Davins]

I went 160 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

I. You could be right. I don't fucking know.

[Amanda Davins]

I mean, I went ERAS tour and then revised down. But like people, the children, they love Billie Eilish.

[Sean Fennesee]

Do they know this is happening, though?

[Amanda Davins]

I have. I have seen a lot of trailers for this on YouTube while getting my nails done.

[Sean Fennesee]

I guess the movie is 3D, right?

[Amanda Davins]

But it doesn't.

[Sean Fennesee]

Does it have. It doesn't have IMAX screens, does it? Because it's coming out the same day as Mortal Kombat 2, which we'll get to.

[Amanda Davins]

I don't know. What do you think Big Jim's up to in terms of 160 million? Well, the eras tour made 180 million people. Really?

[Sean Fennesee]

But Billie Eilish is no Taylor Swift when it comes to.

[Amanda Davins]

But still, she has more Oscars.

[Sean Fennesee]

You believe in Big Jim? You really believe.

[Amanda Davins]

If I have learned one thing, it is do not underestimate Big Jim. And if I have learned another thing, it is that Jack and Lucas's generation will give Billie Eilish her flowers at the expense of Dua Lipa whenever they need to.

[Sean Fennesee]

Two people I know who love Billie Eilish are my wife, who is not in Jack, or Lucas's generation, and my daughter, who is not in Jack and Lucas generation.

[Amanda Davins]

There you go. I'm surrounded.

[Sean Fennesee]

There's no chance that Eileen brings Alice to see this movie. No chance.

[Amanda Davins]

You don't know.

[Sean Fennesee]

She doesn't know it exists.

[Amanda Davins]

Will you be in Cannes?

[Sean Fennesee]

Not yet.

[Amanda Davins]

Oh, okay. Because I was going to say there's going to be time to fill.

[Sean Fennesee]

Maybe I'll take them.

[Amanda Davins]

There you go.

[Sean Fennesee]

There'll be a family outing and I'll contribute to that 160. Okay. I don't see that happening. But you know what? We're doing this because maybe it lands somewhere in the middle. Maybe it exceeds 160. That seems very hard for me to believe because of the number of films that are coming out in this month, but we'll see. My Metacritic guess is 71 minus 65. Okay. James Cameron. A lot of the reviews of this will be. Yeah. And it will be like, a little bit more fandom oriented. Like, the critics who raised their hand to take this one on are probably not doing it because they hate Billie Eilish.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

So we'll see what happens there. Okay. Mortal Kombat 2. Did you see the first Mortal Kombat?

[Amanda Davins]

No, I didn't.

[Sean Fennesee]

I think you were on leave for that film.

[Amanda Davins]

No. It's 2021, right?

[Sean Fennesee]

Yes.

[Amanda Davins]

So I.

[Sean Fennesee]

No, you just skipped it.

[Amanda Davins]

I just skipped it. It was pandemic. I was pregnant for a lot of 2021, so.

[Sean Fennesee]

And also I was also pregnant, respectfully, with the future of Mortal Kombat.

[Amanda Davins]

For sure. Yeah. Respectfully. This is not. I did occasionally play a Mortal Kombat arcade game at the beach where we went to the snack bar.

[Sean Fennesee]

Had a monster. That's your character of choice.

[Amanda Davins]

Well, I don't. I didn't know their names.

[Sean Fennesee]

You have Scorpion energy.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay, thank you.

[Sean Fennesee]

Do you know about Scorpion?

[Amanda Davins]

No.

[Sean Fennesee]

He has the yellow fighting costume. He wears a mask. He throws like a. Some sort of demonic hook tail at people.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay. Like a scorpion's tail.

[Sean Fennesee]

Like a scorpion's tail. And he says, get over here. And he pulls you towards them and then he does something very violent. You know, about how you conclude a battle in Mortal Kombat with a fatality?

[Amanda Davins]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

You can kill them, slice off their head, explode them. Any number of brutal mutilations.

[Amanda Davins]

Who are you in Mortal Kombat?

[Sean Fennesee]

Good question.

[Amanda Davins]

Did you ever dress up as a Mortal Kombat?

[Sean Fennesee]

Perhaps a mysterious figure who is able to channel the power of lightning. Okay, I think I'm getting that right. Is that accurate? Thank you. Yeah. Lucas gave me a huge thumbs up there. Yeah.

[Amanda Davins]

All right.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

The movie. This Mortal Kombat 2 movie, which was supposed to come out last year and is now coming out in the May window, is projected to make a lot of money. Karl Urban is the star. He plays the Johnny Cage character. Okay, what's your guess?

[Amanda Davins]

I just wrote down a number. 60 million. I don't know.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. I wrote down 137 number. Okay, so you think that Billie Eilish is going to dominate Mortal Kombat 2?

[Amanda Davins]

Yes, I do.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. I don't think that's the case, but I could be wrong. What's your metacritic guess?

[Amanda Davins]

46?

[Sean Fennesee]

44, I guess.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

I don't think this is gonna be a critical darling. I do think it might gratify the people who were disappointed by the first Mortal Kombat movie, which was like the origin story of the Mortal Kombat tournament. Instead of being just a series of guys saying, get over here.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Which I enjoyed. Yes. Thank you, Jack. Okay. May 15th. Yeah, we have a handful of movies. The first one is. Is God is now. This is also a new film from Amazon, mgm. It's directed by Alicia Harris. It stars Vivica A. Fox, Janelle Monae, Eric Alexander, Sterling K. Brown. It's about two sisters who go on a quest for revenge against their father. What'd you guess?

[Amanda Davins]

I think it's your turn.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's my turn, I guess. 12 million box office, 74 million Metacritic.

[Amanda Davins]

Wow. 74 not million.

[Sean Fennesee]

74 million positive reviews.

[Amanda Davins]

I guessed 11 million box office.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay, well, close.

[Amanda Davins]

And then 57 Metacritic.

[Sean Fennesee]

They showed us a teaser of this last year.

[Amanda Davins]

Do you remember it? Yeah, I do.

[Sean Fennesee]

It seemed like a very kind of like outsized, exploitation Y, like Kill Bill style movie about two sisters who will stop at nothing to destroy their enemy. It's definitely my flavor of movie. Haven't seen the movie yet, so it's a little hard to say, but does seem like a challenging movie to drop right in the middle of May.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

Obsession. May 15th. I've just seen this movie. I really enjoyed it.

[Amanda Davins]

Good.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's your turn to guess.

[Amanda Davins]

I wrote down 15 million.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

I wrote down 42.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

I think.

[Amanda Davins]

You think this is the one that's going to happen?

[Sean Fennesee]

It has a chance to break out.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's directed by a guy named Curry Barker. It played at Tiff last year. It's about a young man, I don't know what age he is, somewhere between 18 and 24, who is in love, infatuated with a close friend of his. And he wishes upon a special item for her to be obsessed with him. His wish comes true and that wish has tremendous consequences. Real classic. Monkey Paw kind of a movie. Thought it was very effective. Metacritic score is 69.

[Amanda Davins]

66 is what I have.

[Sean Fennesee]

Pretty close.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Kind of curious what you think about this movie. I think you might find it a little bit frustrating, but I had a grand old time with it.

[Amanda Davins]

That's great. I know that there is going to be one horror movie that is your long legs or your weapons. And I was like trying to. But I don't know if I picked which of them will be. It does really feel like everyone's throwing spaghetti at the wall and one of them will be the breakout.

[Sean Fennesee]

There's a lot in this here.

[Amanda Davins]

I couldn't suss it out.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay, let's suss out in the gray.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

This is the new. This is the 387th film from Guy Ritchie. All made in the last two years. Stacked cast, Henry Cavill, Ayuza Gonzalez, Jake Gyllenhaal, Rossam and Pike. It's about a covert team of elite operatives getting up to some stuff.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah, like the other 12 movies.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

Something he's interested in thematically. Sort of like Scorsese with gangsters or Celine Sciamma with the female identity in the modern times. But just for operatives hanging out doing stuff, that's what Guy Ritchie does.

[Amanda Davins]

I am also interested in that premise. It is the execution that sometimes comes short.

[Sean Fennesee]

This movie doesn't feel real to me.

[Amanda Davins]

No. What did you write down for box office?

[Sean Fennesee]

37 million?

[Amanda Davins]

I wrote down 18. It's possible, but I think it's because I looked at the last three to four Guy Ritchie's and one of them did break 30 and the rest were between 15 and 20.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. There was like the League of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes. I fell asleep during that.

[Sean Fennesee]

That was one, I think. I actually.

[Amanda Davins]

I was pregnant and I laid down on. This was before they redid the Regal Cinema closest to us. And I just was on several.

[Sean Fennesee]

That's very rude to Guy Ritchie.

[Amanda Davins]

Well, the movie was rude to me.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay, fair enough. Amanda, I'm very curious because last year we're kind of having the inverse of last year where last year you were consistently saying bigger box office numbers than Sean and this year it seems the exact opposite. I'm curious if there's anything in the case of Billie Eilish. Yeah, that is true. I was just curious if there's anything that informed that thinking. If you were looking back at last year's doc, if there's something you think that's different about this year's slate.

[Amanda Davins]

No, I was looking back at last year's box office and I. I mean I. And 2024 and I pretty much went by distributor and then type of movie and looked at all the comps and went in there and. And often with the smaller movies was a bit generous. So I, you know, like for every. That's. It's the way the box office is now. Right. Like for every $500 million though, I don't even think we got a $500 million last year.

[Sean Fennesee]

Um, maybe one.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah. In the summer there are a lot of movies that. I mean, Eddington made $10 million last year, you know.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yes. And yet it grows every day.

[Amanda Davins]

Listen. And a lot of the movies that we loved are under 15.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yeah, you're right.

[Sean Fennesee]

That we did not get a $500 million movie. Lilo and Stitch made 423 million.

[Amanda Davins]

So I think especially with all of the small movies where like the non event, I was sort of unimaginative. I really am in the 15 to 20 million range for a lot of them.

[Sean Fennesee]

I think that's wise. I probably went a little bit over on too many things, including this one. I went 37.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

Just. Cause it's like Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill blowing stuff up.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

To me there's like a. There's a bar there. But I could be wrong.

[Amanda Davins]

One of them did. Maybe the League of Gentlemen was in the 30s, but I think the covenant was low 18.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah, that was low CR. And I saw that together, holding hands, thinking about the future of our country.

[Amanda Davins]

I mean, I think that's beautiful.

[Sean Fennesee]

What's your metacritic guess here?

[Amanda Davins]

37.

[Sean Fennesee]

I said 52. Okay, we'll see. I love Boosters Boots, Riley's new film, his first feature since Sorry to Bother your, which was, I think eight or nine years ago. This film comes out May 22nd. It stars our beloved Keke Palmer. I guessed 18 million.

[Amanda Davins]

19 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

Interesting. I guessed 81. Metacritic score.

[Amanda Davins]

Oh, good. That's high.

[Sean Fennesee]

It had good reviews out of South By.

[Amanda Davins]

I'm excited to see it. I'm guessing 64.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay.

[Amanda Davins]

Just because it's. It's about the fashion world sort of, right?

[Sean Fennesee]

Yes, sort of. Yes.

[Amanda Davins]

And I just. And it seems in the same way that you think that critics are going to be resistant to the Devil Wears Prada too. You know, people don't take that seriously.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's a good point. What was. Sorry to bother your's Metacritic score. I'll look it up right now. I'll look that up quickly. I'm quite curious. All right. The next film is a movie called Passenger, which was recently dated into this spot. Andre Ovredal, who is a Norwegian director who's made some horror movies in recent years, including the Last Voyage of the Demeter and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Here's the premise of this New movie which stars a bunch of people I've not heard of and Melissa Leo. A few weeks into their Van life adventure, a young couple witnesses a horrific accident that leaves the driver dead. Soon they're being pursued by a demonic stalker who's impossible to outrun and follows them wherever they go. This movie kind of popped up out of nowhere. I haven't seen a trailer. It's coming out in a month.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah?

[Sean Fennesee]

What's your guess? 9 million IRA said 12.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

Metacritic, 52, 34.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

Now, Alvredal got really good reviews for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, or pretty good reviews, I should say. Much less so for Voyage of the Demeter. Do you remember what that was?

[Amanda Davins]

No, but I read about it last night and have since forgotten.

[Sean Fennesee]

It was the first chapter of Bran Stoker's Dracula.

[Amanda Davins]

Oh, right. Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Anyway, the next film is a big one.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's Star the Mandalorian and Grogu. It comes out on May 22, Memorial Day weekend. And, I mean, the streets are in tears. I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe this film is coming to us. I've been waiting seven long years for a new Star wars film. They're saying, right. And through those tears, they're feeling redeemed, they're feeling seen, they're feeling understood, they're feeling a sense of deliverance, because they love Star wars and they love Star wars in the cinema.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

And I predict $275 million for this movie domestically.

[Amanda Davins]

Wow, that's so low.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yes.

[Amanda Davins]

Because you think that all of your cohort will be mad, and I don't think they'll be mad. Chris Ryan's of the world.

[Sean Fennesee]

I think.

[Amanda Davins]

Here's the thing. Everyone's like, oh, Chris Ryan's not going to see Mandalorian Grogu. Yes, he is with my child. So there are a lot of people

[Sean Fennesee]

who are going to sound like a threat.

[Amanda Davins]

Well, you know, I. I haven't bought the tickets yet, but I probably need to lock those down. I know that there's resistance. I know that. Among the, you know, the community.

[Sean Fennesee]

What community?

[Amanda Davins]

Of. Of people who are older than five who are really, really into Star Wars.

[Sean Fennesee]

Have you ever wished Anyone, may the 4th be with you on May 4th?

[Amanda Davins]

I have not. And in this month when you were saying that, I was like, is today May 4th?

[Sean Fennesee]

No, I'm making some plans for the week of May 4th with my family.

[Amanda Davins]

That's nice. That's beautiful. I. Listen, Star wars is big in our house. Both children can now say Grogu or Grogo.

[Sean Fennesee]

Sweet.

[Amanda Davins]

So I. I just went with Lilo and Stitch numbers, so I'm going 424. 21 is actually what I wrote down because I found myself not wanting any more round numbers.

[Sean Fennesee]

My only concern here, my primary concern here is that this is committing a sin that Marvel has struggled with, which is that they have made something that is connected to a TV show and that not everybody is up on the TV show, and that that sometimes limits the audience for who decides to go out to see a movie like this. Now, it is the first Star wars movie in forever. I may be making a huge mistake, and it may be a $700 million movie domestically, but I'm not so sure. I have my doubts. What's your Metacritic score for this movie?

[Amanda Davins]

48.

[Sean Fennesee]

I have 52.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

Jon Favreau directed this. He's directed many movies that people like.

[Amanda Davins]

People like Sigourney Weaver. They like Grogu.

[Sean Fennesee]

I don't think Sigourney Weaver's going to be, like, in a lot of the movie.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay. You know, don't tell us that.

[Sean Fennesee]

She should play her Na' Vi character. Kiri. Is that her name in this film? That would be interesting. Could we cross over Griffin and David?

[Amanda Davins]

Explaining Sigourney Weaver's character journey in the Avatar films on Blank Check was very special to me.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah, well, it's like the ninth time they've done it, though, so it's not as though it was novel.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

Your Metacritic score was 48.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

So you think this is gonna work?

[Amanda Davins]

I think box office wise, financially, yes. I mean, I. Listen, I have a skewed perspective, which is like two tiny men in my house yelling, grogu, Grogu, Grogu. But I'm not, you know, I. It's Star Wars.

[Sean Fennesee]

What is that?

[Amanda Davins]

We haven't talked about it.

[Sean Fennesee]

Really?

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah. But I wouldn't say that we talk a lot about Star wars in our adult life.

[Sean Fennesee]

Oh, that's something that my relationship has that yours doesn't. Okay. May 29th. Pressure. This is the new World War II film.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

This is about the meteorologist who determined the correct day to launch D Day. Yeah, that's the premise.

[Amanda Davins]

Are they releasing it on D Day or like a week before?

[Sean Fennesee]

Around that time?

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah, yeah, they're getting there. You know, doing the soft release and

[Sean Fennesee]

then maybe early access screening for influencers. How Many World War II influencers do you think there are? That's kind of a lane for me I could lean into in the second half of my life. Just a Guy who knows a lot about that stuff, but maybe only in a very narrow way. I only know about how Belgium worked during World War II.

[Amanda Davins]

Do you know a lot about Belgium?

[Sean Fennesee]

I don't generally, but I could learn.

[Amanda Davins]

Do you speak Flemish?

[Sean Fennesee]

I don't, no. No, not even.

[Amanda Davins]

That would be incredible if you knew all Lenin's full Russian name and spoke Flemish. You know?

[Sean Fennesee]

Nope, I don't know Flemish, unfortunately. What's your prediction on Pressure?

[Amanda Davins]

I looked up the box office for Nuremberg, which was $14 million, so that is what I'm predicting.

[Sean Fennesee]

I wrote 27 million just because it's a summer release.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay. And you think all the old people are just like, well, it stays light later so I can drive to the theater.

[Sean Fennesee]

Honestly? Yes. Is Brendan Fraser a bigger draw than Russell Crowe right now? Probably not, but maybe. Also, what's more appealing, D Day or the Nuremberg trials? As an idea, I would say the Great Attack. More so than the aftermath trial.

[Amanda Davins]

Sure. But Meteorology? Movie or courtroom drama?

[Sean Fennesee]

But see, that's 1989 talking. Okay, I'm talking about. Meteorology is big now.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

You've been to weather.com, you looked at those apps?

[Amanda Davins]

No, I've. I've moved on to Weather Underground. Because AI hasn't ruined it. Because it uses your local weather station as a.

[Sean Fennesee]

You mean you're part of the revolutionary force that is looking to upend American power structures?

[Amanda Davins]

Well, I think. No, I. I wish.

[Sean Fennesee]

What is Weather Underground?

[Amanda Davins]

It's. It's an app. Am I saying it?

[Sean Fennesee]

They named an app after the Weather Underground. That can't be right.

[Amanda Davins]

Well, I guess it's Wonderground, which I couldn't really say outside, so I was, you know, ascribing to. I can't say out loud. So I was ascribing to them politics or leadership that perhaps they don't have.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah.

[Amanda Davins]

Wonderground.

[Sean Fennesee]

Wonderground. Not Underground.

[Amanda Davins]

Wonder. No.

[Sean Fennesee]

Did you say Wonderground?

[Amanda Davins]

No, I said Weather Underground because saying Wonderground out loud is really stupid.

[Sean Fennesee]

What is happening?

[Amanda Davins]

Because Weather Underground, you know, has. Has my respect.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's like, have you seen my new social media app, Military Junta?

[Amanda Davins]

Okay. Anyway, Wonderground uses local stations, so AI Because AI has ruined the traditional weather apps, as, you know.

[Sean Fennesee]

Metacritic score for pressure,

[Amanda Davins]

61.

[Sean Fennesee]

That's exactly what I guessed.

[Amanda Davins]

There we go.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's very funny. The Breadwinner. This is the debut lead feature film from the highly successful comedian Nate Bargazzi, a comedian whose work I've enjoyed over the years. The movie comes out May 29th. What's your box office prediction 35 million. I wrote down 52, which feels like a reach because the film to me does not look good. However, Nate Bargazzi, straight up selling out stadiums.

[Amanda Davins]

Exactly.

[Sean Fennesee]

He is huge.

[Amanda Davins]

But there is not. I even looked for recent comps of comedians making that which has not happened

[Sean Fennesee]

in the movies, doesn't happen as often.

[Amanda Davins]

It does not happen.

[Sean Fennesee]

It has to be one of the sure fire things we can expect at

[Amanda Davins]

the movies, you know, And I was like. I looked up the last movie that John Mulaney was in was like the Chip and Dale movie Rescue Rangers. Rescue Rangers, which he voiced, which did not make 35 million. So I just. I just wrote a number down.

[Sean Fennesee]

I feel like he's making a bid for like the Kevin James corner. And Kevin James was in an Angel Studios movie this year, I think, called Solo Mio, which I think made like $27 million. It did pretty good business. So, like, there is definitely an audience for this kind of thing. This is a family comedy about a man whose wife, I think, wins something on Shark Tank and so she has to leave for like a month and he has to take care of, I think, three daughters and their home. While their home is under construction, things go terribly awry.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

My Metacritic score is 27.

[Amanda Davins]

Wow. Mine is. Well, this seems too high now. 48 is what I'll say.

[Sean Fennesee]

May 29th. Tuner. New thriller from Daniel Rohr. Mm. The film stars Leo Woodall and Dustin Hoffman. It's a movie about a piano tuner who becomes entrenched in a world of crime. Box office. I'm going 9 million.

[Amanda Davins]

Oh, I went bigger on this one.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay.

[Amanda Davins]

I guess the Leo Woodall of it all. And there are some other people, and I feel like I've been hearing about this.

[Sean Fennesee]

Havana Rose Lu is in it.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah. I went 28 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

I hope that happens. Having seen the movie, I think it's hard. It's an indie studio. It's Black Bears putting it out. It's gonna be a little more challenging to get in front of people. They've had some troubles. Yes. But it's a really good movie, so I hope people check it out.

[Amanda Davins]

I picked this as the one that would go relatively viral as far as these movies go.

[Sean Fennesee]

I hope so. Metacritic score, I guess 74.

[Amanda Davins]

That's exactly what I have.

[Sean Fennesee]

Wow. We've matched on a lot of these. I think three Metacritic scores so far. Okay. May 29th. Backrooms.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah, I did finally see this trailer.

[Sean Fennesee]

What'd you think about it?

[Amanda Davins]

Well, again, it's one that I saw as a YouTube ad. At the nails salon. And it, on YouTube with those specs, really just looked like a YouTube movie.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. So I have not watched the YouTube video that this is based on that Kane Parsons made when he was a teenager. I think I'm gonna watch it beforehand. It's very popular. It went viral. And it does look similar to the way that the film looks, but the film is obviously shot with different cameras and it has movie stars in it like Renata Rheinzva and Chiwichala Ejufor. So I'm really looking forward to this. There's just something in my gut that tells me that this is the one in terms of the horror movie.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah. Because I think that there's a very young audience that is very tapped into this. It's also an A24 film. I think it's been marketed very well thus far. What's your guess on the box office for this?

[Amanda Davins]

So I did 16 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. I guessed 67 million.

[Amanda Davins]

That is like, that would be a 24's what, third biggest movie ever?

[Sean Fennesee]

Probably fourth or fifth.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay. I mean, if you think that's where it's gonna go.

[Sean Fennesee]

I got a feeling. Okay. I just got a gut feeling about it. I could be wrong. I think it's kind of a weird time too, because how is that audience being served? You know, you've got the Star wars movie, which is kind of playing a little younger. And so you've got this two week, three week period after Mortal Kombat 2, where that just seems like a big fit for them. And then after that, we'll get right into what are going to be the June 5th movies. And I think they're all a little soft.

[Amanda Davins]

How did you.

[Sean Fennesee]

67 million domestic would be a 24's fourth biggest film behind Civil War at 68 and right above Uncut Gems at 50.

[Amanda Davins]

Wow. All right.

[Sean Fennesee]

Just a. Just, Just a guess. My Metacritic guess is 82 minus 61. So you're not a believer in this movie. Good to know.

[Amanda Davins]

I mean, what is interesting about it is that I only saw it in its natural habitat, which is a YouTube ad, and I was like, oh, I don't know. But maybe it'll be great on film

[Sean Fennesee]

and maybe haven't seen it. Just want something like this to be good. June 5th. Masters of the Universe.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yeah.

[Amanda Davins]

How you doing? How you feeling?

[Sean Fennesee]

I've got some concerns. Yeah, I've got some real concerns. You know, Travis Knight's made a lot of good movies. He made the Bumblebee film you recently referenced.

[Amanda Davins]

Right.

[Sean Fennesee]

He made many stop Motion animation films for his studio, Laika. I think he's super talented. The son of Phil Knight, the Nike founder. Yes, I guessed $88 million for the last 90 million. We're very close now. This, I think, would be considered a

[Amanda Davins]

disappointment based on what I know about the budget and your reactions in the room at last year's CinemaCon.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yeah.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

I have been told that the trailer is not properly communicating the tone of the film, which is a little bit more of a comedy, and that they're given real like, this man must pick up this sword to rule the land. Which is of course, in the text of he Man. But even the he man cartoon, which I adored as a five year old, had a real camp quality to it. And if they don't hit the camp on this, I'm going to be worried. Also, Jared Leto not doing the Skeletor voice. I don't know if you're familiar with the Skeletor voice, but he plays the villain in this movie. There's a very specific Skeletor voice.

[Amanda Davins]

Do it now.

[Sean Fennesee]

I really couldn't if I tried. It's in a register I can't reach.

[Amanda Davins]

High or low?

[Sean Fennesee]

High.

[Amanda Davins]

Oh, so it's sort of like he's

[Sean Fennesee]

like a maniacal, annoying.

[Amanda Davins]

He's like the skinnamarrank like, hello, Charles.

[Sean Fennesee]

Not quite, but you're not that far off. Okay, what's your Metacritic guess on this?

[Amanda Davins]

My Metacritic guess is 49. Don't even know what Skeletor is.

[Sean Fennesee]

You haven't seen Skinamarink?

[Amanda Davins]

No.

[Sean Fennesee]

Will you see Masters of the Universe

[Amanda Davins]

if you invite me?

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay, we'll see about that.

[Amanda Davins]

But you won't because you're like, I have to have a safe space for this to talk about my feelings about he Man.

[Sean Fennesee]

That is what I said.

[Amanda Davins]

Do you think Nox would like it?

[Sean Fennesee]

I do.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay, you guys can go.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. Actually, that would be fun. Unless it's terrible and then Knox has to see me sob in a theater as my childhood is destroyed. My Metacritic guess is 55. Okay, next film. June 5th. Power Ballad.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

This movie debuted at south by Southwest. I just saw it this weekend.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

It was Okay. I don't want to spoil my review.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

New film from John Carney. Of course. A musical. It's got a cool premise. Premise is there is a never quite made it singer songwriter played by Paul Rudd who has moved to Ireland. He has a family there. He's playing an American man and he performs in a wedding cover band in Ireland and does weddings and one night randomly at a wedding A huge pop star who's a former boy band member who's played in the film by Nick Jonas shows up to perform with the band. They strike up a connection and the Paul Rudd character shares a song that he has written with the pop star. And months go by and then all of a sudden that song that he shared with him, he hears on the radio and it's being performed by the boy band kid who's having a huge comeback with this song. And then the film is about the guy's quest to get credit, get acknowledgement for something that he couldn't get throughout his career as kind of a never was. I guess 26 million for box office.

[Amanda Davins]

I guess 16 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

I think maybe you might be more right than I am. Well, we'll see. Lionsgate film. Metacritic, I guess 71, 74. Okay. John Carney usually does pretty good. Yeah, this was no once is what I'll say.

[Amanda Davins]

K Pop Demon Hunters, Haja Boy's breakfast Meal and Hunt Trick's meal have just dropped at McDonald's. They're calling this a battle for the fans. What do you say to that, Rumi?

[Sean Fennesee]

It's not a battle.

[Amanda Davins]

So glad the Saja boys could take

[Daniel Goldhaber]

breakfast and give our meal the rest of the day. It is an honor to share.

[Sean Fennesee]

No, it's our honor. It is our larger honor.

[Amanda Davins]

No, really, stop. You can really feel the respect in this battle. Pick a meal to pick a side.

[Sean Fennesee]

Ba da ba ba ba. And participate in McDonald's while supplies last June 5th. Again, scary movie. This is either the sixth or the seventh scary movie film. How many of them have you seen?

[Amanda Davins]

The first.

[Sean Fennesee]

That's it.

[Amanda Davins]

So one.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. Did you enjoy it? Yeah. Okay. I love the scary movie movies. I guessed $84 million for this movie because this is a built in brand that hasn't been around in a while. I kind of compare it to Final Destination Bloodlines with the like, oh, I forgot how fun it is to see these movies in movie theaters. Yeah, I could be wrong about that.

[Amanda Davins]

That's smart. I went 52 million, which is lower. But yeah, that seems reasonable. Disastrous. Yeah, that seems reasonable that people who are excited to go see it will go see it.

[Sean Fennesee]

One thing in this movie's favor I think is just that, like everybody came back. Anna Faris came back. Regina hall came back. All the people who are known for these movies came back. So we'll see metacritic, I guess. 52, 54. Okay. We're pretty close on that one. June 12th. Disclosure Day.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

Steven Spielberg's new film.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

Shrouded in secrecy. This is a hard one.

[Amanda Davins]

I went back and forth.

[Sean Fennesee]

Really hard one.

[Amanda Davins]

Because it's an original, but it is sci fi. Spielberg has been not on a huge box office streak the last 10 years, but also he's Steven Spielberg. Many movie stars, but they have to keep the reveal. It's sort of a marketing challenge just in terms of what is in the movie and what you can tell people. So I went. I wish I could remember the math and the triangulation I used. I did 165.

[Sean Fennesee]

Ooh, that's big.

[Amanda Davins]

I went big.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay.

[Amanda Davins]

I thought that because as Jack observed and kind of you're doing the math, the smaller things are going to be small. And I think the bigger things will get at least some attention. I mean, you know, 165 is still like, I'm projecting it lower than Devil Wears Prada 2.

[Sean Fennesee]

Right. No. And I think wisely I went 121.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

The thing is, I do think that the film can play overseas as much as here. I mean, Ready Player One only made 137 million and that was pre branded IP.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

So I looked at that and thought about that a little bit.

[Amanda Davins]

But Ready Player One even at the time. Well, first of all, it doesn't have any of the movie stars and there's a difference between aliens and robots and whatever is going on over there. And it also had a little bit of built in backlash, I think.

[Sean Fennesee]

It did. It wasn't very well reviewed.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Although I did enjoy it at the time and I think, I think I might have even written about it. This is very much like a much more serious state of affairs. And I think if the film is able to really tap into the anxiety of UAPs, then they'll be able to really do some business.

[Amanda Davins]

And to your. Your good friend Stephen, our third chair, is just out there being like, I believe in aliens. You know, he's like, he's. He's doing it.

[Sean Fennesee]

Knows how to sell. He's working, I guess 74 for Metacritic.

[Amanda Davins]

I guessed 83.

[Sean Fennesee]

I would guess we're gonna end up somewhere in the middle of that. Okay. This is a challenging genre to nail if you're not like Denis Villeneuve right now in terms of the critics.

[Amanda Davins]

He is Steven Spielberg. And the last few, I think I'm

[Sean Fennesee]

undershooting to protect myself.

[Amanda Davins]

I think that's fine. The last few Spielberg movies have been critically beloved.

[Sean Fennesee]

True. Especially west side Story at Fabelman's. Yeah, Fabelman's did very well too. This is, it's more of A swing in a big genre like this. But we'll see the next film. There's only the one thing that is in this movie's favor, is that everybody cleared out for it. There's only one other movie coming out on June 12th. It's called Stop that Train.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's a comedy starring RuPaul, directed by Adam Shankman. I guess 16 million.

[Amanda Davins]

I guess 3 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. You could be right. It's counter programming, obviously. I didn't even watch the trailer for this yet. Just came out last week. I guessed a 43 for Metacritic.

[Amanda Davins]

I guessed 47. So there we are.

[Sean Fennesee]

Next film is Toy Story 5.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

The Toy Story films have been very consistent at the box office. Did you look at the history at all?

[Amanda Davins]

I did. A lot of money.

[Sean Fennesee]

This film comes out June 19th. I guessed $401 million.

[Amanda Davins]

I guessed 503 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

Has the Toy Story movie crossed 500 before?

[Amanda Davins]

Domestically, no. But Inside Out 2 was such a banger. Like, it was over 600 million. And I think just the breakdown of the kids of it all and what we have seen about kids movies with recognizable IP built in, they're doing well. So I kind of. I rounded up slightly from lilo and Stitch and Minecraft and some other stuff.

[Sean Fennesee]

You might be right. This might be huge.

[Amanda Davins]

It's also just iPad, the villain. Really smart.

[Sean Fennesee]

I agree. It looks good. My daughter's really pumped about it. My Metacritic guess is 89.

[Amanda Davins]

Mine's. Wow. Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

That's pretty much in the median of the Toy Story films. They're all kind of between 86, 84 and 92. I remember the first Toy Story film, one of the best reviewed movies of all time.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I know that Toy Story 3 is Tarantino's number one. Yeah. I want 78, which is not bad, but interesting.

[Sean Fennesee]

That would be a low for the Toy Story movies. You know, a lot riding on that movie for the health of this summer. Actually, if it's like a two and a half billion dollar movie, I don't. What did Inside Out 2 get to? Did it get to 2 billion?

[Amanda Davins]

No, I think it was like 1.4.6 or something.

[Sean Fennesee]

Be very curious to see how many legs, how the legs are on that movie. Okay. And the next movie is the Death of Robin Hood on June 19th.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

This is a revisionist portrait of the Bandit, the English bandit Robin Hood, starring Hugh Jackman and Jody Comer.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Also an A24 film. I guess 26 million.

[Amanda Davins]

I guess 12 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

That wouldn't be good.

[Amanda Davins]

No, but you know, There are the A24 experiments that work and there are the ones that do not. And I. I don't know.

[Sean Fennesee]

This comes from Michael Sarnoski, who directed Pig and a quiet place, day one. I like those films, I guess. 66.

[Amanda Davins]

Metacritic 64. Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

Girls like Girls, which is a new coming of age dramedy from Focus, is coming out June 19th. We'll see probably a little bit more about it at Cinemacon shortly. I guessed 9 million.

[Amanda Davins]

I guessed 5 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

Metacritic score 78.

[Amanda Davins]

58.

[Sean Fennesee]

Damn. Not feeling it. Well, is it because it has girls in it?

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah, it's because it's only girls. Glad you know.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's tough. Hayley Kylko is the director of this film. All right, now, these are tricky. These next two. Two movies on June 26th. Oh, did I forget one? I think I forgot one.

[Amanda Davins]

What did you forget?

[Sean Fennesee]

I think I forgot the invite.

[Amanda Davins]

Oh, you did forget the invite.

[Sean Fennesee]

Let's add the invite as well, because we have three movies coming on June 26th.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

Let's just add that, and in real time, we're going to be able to guess what we think the scores in the box office are. Let's start with Supergirl. While you're thinking about the invite. Supergirl, new DCU movie directed by Craig Gillespie, starring Millie Alcock. Is that her name? Yes, from House of the Dragon.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

The titular girl. That is super. Got some worries about this movie myself. Yeah, I guess 159 million.

[Amanda Davins]

I guess 190. Because I think that once again, I just looked at what thunderbolts made and there was maybe another. Even I can't remember my other comp. I don't know. It's the one word title where it is in the title. Something very recognizable. Superman. Supergirl. It's. It's good marketing.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay.

[Amanda Davins]

There's a dog. People like the dog.

[Sean Fennesee]

Got some concerns.

[Amanda Davins]

Your daughter's really excited.

[Sean Fennesee]

This movie looks very violent. Well, I'm not sure if I want to put her in this because we've been watching the live action Spider man movies.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

The Tom Holland ones.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

And they do have violence in them, but they do have a cartoon quality. This had like a she's shooting lasers out of her eyes at 1000 robots kind of energy that even the Star wars films don't really glance at. So I'm a little worried about that.

[Amanda Davins]

But she knows about it.

[Sean Fennesee]

She does. She said. Who is that? That's my friend. Metacritic score of 50 53. Okay. Jackass 5.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Now, the Jackass films have done very well at the box office surprisingly well and very sturdy. The most recent film actually did very good business. There's not as much pre release hype for this movie right now. I'm wondering if it will be one of the centerpiece things we see from Paramount at Cinemacon later this week.

[Amanda Davins]

What'd you guess, 60 million?

[Sean Fennesee]

I guess 81 million.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay. I mean we're not that far away.

[Sean Fennesee]

You never know.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Metacritic 56.

[Amanda Davins]

But that's their review, not mine, right?

[Sean Fennesee]

I guess 64. Greatly looking forward to this movie. One of my favorite franchises in act of moviedom. Let's talk about the invite. You haven't watched the trailer. This is the four hander about two couples who come together for some sort of interesting evening.

[Amanda Davins]

Right.

[Sean Fennesee]

A24 picked it up out of Sundance. Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Edward Norton, Penelope Cruz. Box office. I'll say 34.

[Amanda Davins]

I was gonna go 44.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay.

[Amanda Davins]

34 is 36 was materialists.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. And I think it'll kind of in that zone.

[Amanda Davins]

Be in that zone. But I'm looking at the last year's 44 to 48 range were Downton Abbey, Paddington in Peru, Mickey 17 and regretting you. Which I, you know, all in my own way. I had lovely times at the cinema for all of those and I was. But sort of the. If you're interested, you'll, you know, you'll go to the movies. So. And I think people are interested in the invite.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah, I'm interested to see it myself. Metacritic, I'm guessing 79.

[Amanda Davins]

76.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. Minions and Monsters, your most anticipated movie of the summer.

[Amanda Davins]

Right now, before we leave, do you think I'll get to take a picture with a Minion this week?

[Sean Fennesee]

100% do.

[Amanda Davins]

Will it only be 100?

[Sean Fennesee]

Thousands of Universal employees waiting to help you.

[Amanda Davins]

Which one?

[Sean Fennesee]

I don't know what their name is.

[Amanda Davins]

The Goggles? The Overalls. Which one's Bob?

[Sean Fennesee]

You mean Kevin? Stewart and Bob, who apparently are not even going to be in this movie. What are we doing? What? Is that true?

[Amanda Davins]

Wow. Where are they?

[Sean Fennesee]

I don't know.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

That's what I've heard.

[Sean Fennesee]

I don't know if that's confirmed. I thought I saw them in the trailer. Did they not in the trailer? I don't think so.

[Amanda Davins]

They do all look somewhat alike.

[Sean Fennesee]

They do do. That's Minions racist.

[Amanda Davins]

Do Minions drink Negronis? I think the answer is yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

You're going to find out shortly. According to R Letterbox, Bob Stewart and Kevin will not be the main characters.

[Amanda Davins]

Well, that's different than not being in it.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah. That is true. But isn't they're the main draw? The thing you gotta remember about this movie is there are Minions, but there are also monsters. Right. So what's gonna be the balance? Will there be more monsters than Minions? We don't know.

[Amanda Davins]

But what if it's about the monster inside of every minion?

[Sean Fennesee]

Good point. It's a metaphor for trauma. The Minions trauma. I feel so monstrous, even though I'm a springy yellow pill shaped creature. 352 million 350. Wow. Yeah. Now that's close. Yeah, that's really close. Metacritic, 61.

[Amanda Davins]

54 again, their score, not mine.

[Sean Fennesee]

To me, the bloom's off the rose on the Minions franchise. Okay. Don't care. Not of note to me. Gentle Minions.

[Amanda Davins]

That's in the past movie about making movies. And this is a movie about creature features. It is where you and Negronis and Screwball.

[Sean Fennesee]

It is trying to make Negronis a part of this.

[Amanda Davins]

Well, I really. When I was at the film for the absolutely execrable Super Mario Bros. Galaxy, I once again was treated to this trailer. And I'm pretty sure they were drinking a Negroni in one of the Minions were drinking a Negroni in a sort of like Musso and Frank's type bar, like a banquette. And if you look at the cocktail and the glass choice, it looks like a Negroni. I mean, it could be an Old Fashioned. It's not a martini.

[Sean Fennesee]

I've never.

[Amanda Davins]

It's not a margarita.

[Sean Fennesee]

I've never heard of such wish casting in my life. Then my minions drink Negronis.

[Amanda Davins]

I was just there engaging with cinema. You know, I meet the films where they are.

[Sean Fennesee]

We gotta get through the rest of these movies. Okay, so couple big ones coming up. The first one is Young Washington.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Which comes to us from angel Studios on July 3rd. Trying to get that Independence Day dough. This new film stars Ben Kingsley, Andy Serkis and William Franklin Miller as George Washington. It's the story of George Washington as a young man. What'd you guess?

[Amanda Davins]

I'm going 15 million? Because the angel, with the exception of not the Sound and the Fury. What was that? What's the big one called? The Sound and Furious novel by William Faulkner.

[Sean Fennesee]

Sound of Freedom.

[Amanda Davins]

The Sound of Freedom is an Angel Studios breakout movie. But otherwise you gotta have Jesus in the mix for those. Those movies to really pop.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yep.

[Amanda Davins]

And this is, you know, this is about Washington. George Washington. So I only did 15 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

I did 19 million. Close 44. Metacritic 39. Okay, let's talk about Moana.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

Comes out July 10th it's a live action remake of the beloved Disney classic moana. I guessed $412 million.

[Amanda Davins]

I guess 410.

[Sean Fennesee]

Wow.

[Amanda Davins]

There we go.

[Sean Fennesee]

Perhaps we're spending too much time together talking about movies. Metacritic score 53. I have 39.

[Amanda Davins]

Wow.

[Sean Fennesee]

I think people are very mad about this. Okay, it doesn't matter to 7 year olds. I think they're going to be just fine.

[Amanda Davins]

When you say people, once again, are the people in the room with us right now?

[Sean Fennesee]

Oh, I don't know. The reviews on that trailer are bad. They're very bad. The movie looks bad. We don't need it. I'm sick of the live action thing. I think it's going to do fine business. It does feel a little bit like Lilo and Stitch. I am genuinely curious to know if they change anything from the original Moana, which is, like, maybe not a perfect movie, but is pretty damn good. So it just feels too soon. It just feels like that movie just happened, like, 10 years ago. Why are we. Anyway. Okay. Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass. New movie from David Wayne of Wet Hot American Summer Film and many other great comedies. The state TV show comes out July 10th. Starring Zoe Deutch. Box office. I said 6 million.

[Amanda Davins]

9 million.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

Metacritic 58.

[Amanda Davins]

71. I think it looks charming.

[Sean Fennesee]

I saw it. It was okay. Okay. The Odyssey.

[Amanda Davins]

Peach it.

[Sean Fennesee]

Sorry to say, I love David Wayne. I'm a big fan of his the Odyssey. Biggest movie of the summer.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Comes out July 17th. This is a new film from Christopher Nolan adapting Homer. What's Homer's last name?

[Amanda Davins]

He's like Madonna. He's one name only.

[Sean Fennesee]

Let's see. I guessed. What did you guess?

[Amanda Davins]

I did 350 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

I guessed 412.

[Amanda Davins]

Wow.

[Sean Fennesee]

Which is really high.

[Amanda Davins]

I mean, that's great. So Oppenheimer was 330, and that was with most of the premium screens.

[Sean Fennesee]

But not all of them.

[Amanda Davins]

But not all of them. You're right.

[Sean Fennesee]

And there's no one coming for this movie for two full weeks.

[Amanda Davins]

That's true. It is also still. Well, you know, Oppenheimer was about American history and American Prometheus and the bomb

[Sean Fennesee]

and, you know, it's an epic action film.

[Amanda Davins]

Sure, that's true. Swords and sandals.

[Sean Fennesee]

In theory. And it's got more. Way more stars.

[Amanda Davins]

I like it. It would be fun if it were 412 now.

[Sean Fennesee]

That would be a huge accomplishment. Because if a movie like this makes $400 million domestically, it's making. Is it making $2 billion worldwide? I don't know. It's possible.

[Amanda Davins]

That would be wonderful.

[Sean Fennesee]

I'm so interested. What's your metacritic guess?

[Amanda Davins]

83.

[Sean Fennesee]

I guessed 88.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay. Wow.

[Sean Fennesee]

I feel like the tide has just fully shifted with him. Not just with me, but with many people.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

No, I think so.

[Amanda Davins]

I mean 83 is high.

[Sean Fennesee]

It is high. It is high. I'm really interested to know if this is like a Oscar contender or not or if it's just a spectacle film. July 17th cutoff. This is a new comedy starring Jonah Hill and Kristen Wiig about two rich kids who are cut off from their parents wealth that I've heard good things about. Dangerous date. To put this movie on though, opposite the odyssey. I guess 47 million.

[Amanda Davins]

I guess 28 million seems. But I'm looking forward to it. Me too.

[Sean Fennesee]

Metacritic score 59 66. July 24th, my birthday movie. Evil Dead Burn. This is the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Sixth Evil Dead movie. Okay, last one. I loved Evil Dead Rise. Directed by the guy who's got the Mummy movie coming out this week, Lee Cronin, new director on this one, Sebastian Vanicek. Pretty sturdy franchise, the last few of them. I guess 67 million.

[Amanda Davins]

I guessed 60 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. Metacritic 64.

[Amanda Davins]

63.

[Sean Fennesee]

Damn, we're getting too good at this. Brand new day. Yeah, we talked about the trailer. It's coming out July 31st, your birthday film. Tom Holland, Zendaya, the whole gang is back. Yeah, we got Bernthal in as the Punisher. We got Michael Mando in as Scorpion. Yeah, we got a whole bunch of other villains. I think Tombstone's in this one.

[Amanda Davins]

So do you remember how much Spiderweigh no Way Home made domestically?

[Sean Fennesee]

I'm gonna guess it was like 630. 700.

[Amanda Davins]

$814 million domestic.

[Sean Fennesee]

Wow. And it was like 1.9 total. Yeah, yeah, I remember the total.

[Amanda Davins]

And that was December 2021.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yes, but it had a superpower that this movie does not have.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah, that's true.

[Sean Fennesee]

And it brought the movies back, right?

[Amanda Davins]

Yes, totally. Well, actually Top Gun Maverick did, but that's fine.

[Sean Fennesee]

They did it together.

[Amanda Davins]

That's really beautiful. I'm sure that that is what David Ellison would say.

[Sean Fennesee]

What's your guess?

[Amanda Davins]

I did go big on this, but not HC what did I put down? This seems crazy, but I wrote it down. 580.

[Sean Fennesee]

So I have 527.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

Could be under. I think I'm just accounting for the Odyssey. That the Odyssey is the movie that's like you have to go see this in a movie theater. Spider man, of course, has a built in audience and is huge. 527 would be a huge hit. No Way Home was like. That was like a quasar. That was very unusual. We'll see. We'll see what happens. Metacritic. I said 62.

[Amanda Davins]

I said 51.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Damn.

[Sean Fennesee]

You think it's going to take some hits?

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah. You know, they've already reached the pinnacle. We were all very, very generous about no Way Home, which was very charming. And now they got to keep going and no one remembers anybody, like, okay, understandable.

[Sean Fennesee]

Did you see the film Fall? We're entering August, by the way, which is when things get a little dicier.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah, I did not see the film Fall. I read about it last night.

[Sean Fennesee]

It was a film about two women who climb a giant tower, and then maybe. Or maybe they don't fall.

[Amanda Davins]

Are you afraid of heights?

[Sean Fennesee]

Nope.

[Amanda Davins]

Not at all.

[Sean Fennesee]

Nope.

[Amanda Davins]

I am afraid of heights.

[Sean Fennesee]

So you should check out Fall.

[Amanda Davins]

Nice.

[Sean Fennesee]

Really tap into your cerebral cortex.

[Amanda Davins]

Thank you.

[Sean Fennesee]

Fall was fine.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

This is called Fall two.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's a sequel to Fall.

[Amanda Davins]

They just go back up the tower.

[Sean Fennesee]

I think it's two new people.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay. Oh, no.

[Sean Fennesee]

I don't know what they're going up this time.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

This was like an abandoned electrical tower in the middle of the desert. To not do that seemed like something you wouldn't want to climb.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

This film, who knows what they'll climb? Maybe they'll climb Jacob Elordi. The box office, I guess 29 million.

[Amanda Davins]

Oh, I guess 7 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

That's possible. I don't know. Metacritic 53.

[Amanda Davins]

41.

[Sean Fennesee]

Also on August 7th. Many movies on August 7th. Ice Cream Man.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

This is Eli Roth's new horror movie about an ice cream man. Yeah, I guess 17 million.

[Amanda Davins]

I guessed 9 million bought.

[Sean Fennesee]

Metacritic 36.

[Amanda Davins]

34.

[Sean Fennesee]

Damn, you're down on Eli Roth. Thanksgiving was actually a hit.

[Amanda Davins]

I just. The Metacritic was very easy. You go look at Eli Ross, director of Metacritic, where they're not fans.

[Sean Fennesee]

He's not beloved critically. I'm a fan of his movies. One Night Only.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

Now, I just booked a vacation, so I'm not gonna be here for this episode. This might be a solo Amanda pod.

[Amanda Davins]

No, I think this is also when my vacation is.

[Sean Fennesee]

No, yours is the next two weeks.

[Amanda Davins]

Oh, interesting.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay.

[Amanda Davins]

Oh, great.

[Sean Fennesee]

This is written and directed by Will Goddard.

[Amanda Davins]

I know. I'm very excited.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's his first film since Anyone but yout. And of course, he's made Easy A. And a number of other quality films.

[Amanda Davins]

Callum Turner and Monica Barbara.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yes. And it's a rom com. It's a romantic dramedy about two strangers try to fall in love on the one night a year when premarital sex is legal.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah, they filmed in Manhattan. Incredible supporting cast here including Molly Ringwald, Levar Burton, Maya Hawke, Julia Fox, Esti Heim Ziwe and King Princess.

[Sean Fennesee]

What's your guess?

[Amanda Davins]

What is my guess? My guess is not at the levels of anyone but you. So 38 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

I guessed 76.

[Amanda Davins]

You did? You think it's gonna. I would love for it to be a thing.

[Sean Fennesee]

There's been a Colleen Hoover movie in this zone the last couple years, I think. Obviously anyone but you was a winter release. But Calan Turner and Monica Barbara are not nearly as famous. But there's not really a lot of movies for women in the entire month of July. And it's gonna feel like a little bit of a desert. And I think this movie could fill that in. Okay. Super Troopers 3. Oh my. Metacritic is 61.

[Amanda Davins]

Where is mine? 52.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. Super Troopers 3.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

Beloved franchise I haven't made. I think I had Jay Chandrashaker on the show in like 2017 when Super Troopers 2 came out. Really fun conversation. He came into the studio. I guessed 48. For this.

[Amanda Davins]

I guessed 22.

[Sean Fennesee]

Metacritic 52, 47. Okay, here's a sticky wicket. Yeah, some hope dicting going on here for me on this one.

[Amanda Davins]

Mine too. This is I think my last high number. Well, not totally, but yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

The end of Oak Street. New David Robert Mitchell film.

[Amanda Davins]

And I don't remember why it's this high. I mean, I know why, but I can't remember what my comps were.

[Sean Fennesee]

Comes out August 14th. Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor star in a Twilight Zone esque fantastical story of a suburban community that undergoes some dramatic changes. Apparently. I guessed 81 million.

[Amanda Davins]

Oh, mine's way higher.

[Sean Fennesee]

Really?

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah, I guessed 131.

[Sean Fennesee]

Well, that would just be a home run if this movie did 131.

[Amanda Davins]

I kind of. I don't remember why. I think I wish I could.

[Sean Fennesee]

Damn, what a summer for anime.

[Amanda Davins]

I guess I put it. I guess you know what it was. I remember what it was. I put this in the weapons slot.

[Sean Fennesee]

I mean, it is in the weapons slot.

[Amanda Davins]

It is the same weapon slot. And we were all like, wow, what's happening?

[Sean Fennesee]

Visionary, auteur.

[Amanda Davins]

And so, you know, by this point, people who are going to see the Odyssey will have seen the Odyssey.

[Sean Fennesee]

This really feels like it is entirely dependent on pre release hype. If they get people to see it a month early and are like this movie, I think that Actually will help it the same way it helped weapons.

[Amanda Davins]

I don't know. My metacritic is 71, I guess.

[Sean Fennesee]

73.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

Paw Patrol, the dino movie.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

This is either the second or the 900th Paw Patrol film. I don't know the answer and I don't want to know.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah, I was going to ask. So how are the dinos involved with do the Dinos join Paw Patrol?

[Sean Fennesee]

This is a prequel to the end of Oak street.

[Amanda Davins]

Box office 42 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

I guess 59. Okay, maybe a little high. Metacritic, 39.

[Amanda Davins]

29.

[Sean Fennesee]

The rivals of Amzia King. This is a very interesting movie that I'm very eager to see. It premiered, I believe, at south by 2025 and is also coming out from Black Bear. It's directed by Andrew Patterson, who made a little movie during COVID called the Vast of Night.

[Amanda Davins]

And you guys would not stop talking about it, Chris.

[Sean Fennesee]

And I love that movie. This movie stars Matthew McConaughey. It seems like a very hard sell. I've had it described to me as a very odd movie, but I was such a big fan of the Vast of the night. I guessed 6 million for the box office.

[Amanda Davins]

I guessed 11 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

Sounds good.

[Amanda Davins]

But, you know, we're not that far away.

[Sean Fennesee]

Metacritic 68. I guess 84.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

It got really nice reviews. There's even some people who think it's possibly on the outskirts of the Oscar race. I don't know. I haven't seen it. I don't know. Next film. We're getting down to the end of August here. Insidious, the Bleeding.

[Amanda Davins]

But we have like 18 more movies.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes. I wrote down 38 million 57. Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

I guess the 54. Metacritic, 44 Insidious movies are solid.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah. But this is sort of a restart, right?

[Sean Fennesee]

Is it?

[Amanda Davins]

I think Patrick Wilson is not in this film.

[Sean Fennesee]

I think that's right. These worlds are bleeding.

[Amanda Davins]

That's a downgrade for me.

[Sean Fennesee]

Is the bleeding world our world?

[Amanda Davins]

I don't. You know, I know that Patrick Wilson directed the last one, right? He did, but I confess, I didn't see it.

[Sean Fennesee]

A trio of stalkers infiltrate a quiet suburb and force a new family into the astral plane. Hate when that happens. Where they uncover a terrifying truth. The Further is bleeding into the real world. Okay. I guess we'll have to look into that. The next film is Mutiny. I'd like to speak about this briefly.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

I watched the trailer for this film. It's the new Jason Statham movie. It looks fucking awesome. It's about Jason Statham getting stuck on a Boat. And having to kill everyone on the boat.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

It used Step Into a World by KRS1 as its music in the trailer. You know, there's like two Jason Statham movies a year.

[Amanda Davins]

That's true.

[Sean Fennesee]

Most of them are not really very interesting or useful. I got a feeling about this one. I'm not saying it's gonn to be

[Amanda Davins]

a huge hit, but you're excited. This is Beekeeper land for you. I don't think it will be as absurd than Beekeeper.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah, I don't think it will have the political trenchancy of.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Is that a word?

[Amanda Davins]

Well, also, remember the cold open of Beekeeper and the online scam. It's just absolutely ripping.

[Sean Fennesee]

It totally rocked. This movie is from Jean Francois Richet, the French director of Plane and the Messreen movies starring Vincent Cassel. So he's a good director. I don't know. I just got a vibe. Watch it after this. It's got style. It's got a great look. Statham, you know, punching people in the throat. Something I enjoy.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay, what's your prediction?

[Sean Fennesee]

38 million?

[Amanda Davins]

29 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. Metacritic? 58.

[Amanda Davins]

42.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay.

[Amanda Davins]

But again, their score, not ours.

[Sean Fennesee]

That's right. Spa weekend, August 21st.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

This is a new film. It's a comedy starring Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher, Anna Faris and Michelle Buteau. There's about four gals who go for a spa weekend.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

You know what happens after that? I have no idea.

[Amanda Davins]

They get into some hijinks and probably some fights.

[Sean Fennesee]

Also kind of girls. Trippy.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Comes to us from John Lucas and Scott Moore. What do you think?

[Amanda Davins]

8 million?

[Sean Fennesee]

I guess 41 million.

[Amanda Davins]

Wow.

[Sean Fennesee]

This is in the bad mom zone.

[Amanda Davins]

Sure, but Bad Moms now would just go straight to streaming. I mean, this is just a very classic. Like, I can watch that at home.

[Sean Fennesee]

You might be right.

[Amanda Davins]

I'm sorry about that. And some of that is just because of the demo that it is. It is recreating.

[Sean Fennesee]

So you're saying that because you hate women?

[Amanda Davins]

Yes. And spas. Do you like spas?

[Sean Fennesee]

Kind of don't have an opinion.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Seems like a lot of money for something that disappears quickly.

[Amanda Davins]

I. I don't really like them. It's not how I would, like, choose to spend a day, even if the resources were given to me. It's just. It's forced patience. It's kind of like, you know, meditation. I can't really go there. Yeah, I can't. I can't turn it off that way. I invented that.

[Sean Fennesee]

That's interesting. We should explore that.

[Amanda Davins]

Well, I Don't think we need to explore it. I think we explored on every episode of this podcast. And it's just that me not really wanting to deal with this shit. But. Yeah, I don't know. I'm not. I'm not good at that type of lounging.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay. It's like lounging by the beach where I have a book to read and then I can go swimming. Perfect. But where you're just supposed to sit there peacefully without any stimuli. It's not me.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. Thanks for sharing those feelings. Cliffhanger August 28th. This film is coming. Wait, can we get your Metacritic score for spa weekend? I'm sorry about that.

[Amanda Davins]

39.

[Sean Fennesee]

53. So cliffhanger is coming to us from Row K, which has been under some.

[Amanda Davins]

So is it.

[Sean Fennesee]

So it may not be coming out. And we could take it off the board if we think we're not going to see it. A remake of the Sylvester Stallone action classic starring Lily James. And when I think Sly Stallone, I think Lily James. I'm guessing 27 million.

[Amanda Davins]

I'm guessing 14.

[Sean Fennesee]

I guess it's at least got the cliffhanger. I'm probably going over on my small movies and under on my big movies. That's something I'm learning. Metacritic score 54.

[Amanda Davins]

33.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. Coyote versus Acme. This is the film that was sacrificed at the altar of big Warner brothers.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah, well, of their taxes.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yes, the altar of their taxes, which is an altar we all share. I am gonna say this is a new Looney Tunes movie. There hasn't been one in some time. I'm gonna say $36 million.

[Amanda Davins]

Oh, that's great. I'm saying 10 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

You're probably right.

[Amanda Davins]

Well, this is. So it's now Catch Up Entertainment. Exactly. And they have not released a lot of giant movies.

[Sean Fennesee]

They've never released a movie with the Looney Tunes in it.

[Amanda Davins]

Oh, that's true.

[Sean Fennesee]

Or maybe they have. Maybe they. Was that actually that Porky Pig and Daffy Duck movie? The animated movie that came out from ketchup? It may have been actually ketchup Entertainment.

[Amanda Davins]

I looked at this last time. I'm pulling it up right now. Did they get both of them the Day the Earth blew up?

[Sean Fennesee]

Yes, yes. Okay. They did get them.

[Amanda Davins]

That was them.

[Sean Fennesee]

And they have this movie, too. Right.

[Amanda Davins]

And it grossed a 8.9 million in the United States.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay, so interesting. Well, we'll see what happens there. A couple more movies to go.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Wait, did we get your Metacritic score for that? 78.

[Amanda Davins]

72.

[Sean Fennesee]

Ridley Scott's the Dog stars.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

This is. Is it Callum Turner, action movie.

[Amanda Davins]

It's Jacobi.

[Sean Fennesee]

Jordi.

[Amanda Davins]

How dare you, Jacob.

[Sean Fennesee]

Sheesh. Who's the female lead? I feel ill prepared. Margaret Qualley. Interesting. And Josh Brolin, Guy Pearce and Benedict Wong. This comes to us from Mark L. Smith, who wrote the Revenant and shot by Eric Messerschmitt. David Fincher, cinematographer. It's a movie that is set in the aftermath of a catastrophic flu virus. A post apocalyptic thriller. What do you got?

[Amanda Davins]

I'm probably going too high here, but it is a Ridley Scott movie, albeit one that. That was delayed. 85 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

I went 61. Yeah, I think I'm just being cautious for some reason.

[Amanda Davins]

No, I think that's smart. I think Napoleon was around 60 million, but that was still sort of COVID y. And you wonder if the. The Elordi and the Ridley Scott of it all will pick up. Pick up some juice.

[Sean Fennesee]

It would help this show.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes, if it works for film to be good.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Because it would do a lot towards two young stars. Obviously. Ridley, Somebody we really enjoy despite, you know, not always hitting it.

[Amanda Davins]

That's true. It would be.

[Sean Fennesee]

We gotta do an episode before we go to fall film festivals, you know.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

Don't want it to be just cavernous out here.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

I'm guessing a 70 on Metacritic.

[Amanda Davins]

I'm guessing 53.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Damn.

[Amanda Davins]

Well, it's late. It's late Ridley. You know, it's late Ridley. I love him, but he. He fast forwards through things.

[Sean Fennesee]

Very true. August 28th. We also have Finding Emily.

[Amanda Davins]

We do.

[Sean Fennesee]

Finding Emily is basically like a teen dramedy. When a lovesick musician is given the wrong number for his dream girl. He teams up with a driven psychology student to find her. Together they spark a hilarious campus wide frenzy. Angori Rice and Spike. Fern lassine and Ella McKay. I guessed.

[Amanda Davins]

Oh, right.

[Sean Fennesee]

9 million.

[Amanda Davins]

I guessed 4 million.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Okay.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

That a critic score.

[Amanda Davins]

61.

[Sean Fennesee]

72.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay.

[Sean Fennesee]

And then idiots is coming on August 28th, formerly titled the shitheads. Debuted at Sundance. New film for Macon Blair. Heard this is really fun.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Dave Franco stars in it alongside O' Shea Jackson. Yes. Really, really good trailer. I guessed 8 million.

[Amanda Davins]

I guessed 7 million.

[Sean Fennesee]

69 Metacritic score. Just. Just for the jokes.

[Amanda Davins]

53. Because the jokes only get you so far.

[Sean Fennesee]

Who do you think won this? That's every movie coming out this summer. Can I. Can I add one quick I put at the bottom of the doc. Oh, yeah. Honorary Cliff Booth guess. Rumored. August. It's very.

[Amanda Davins]

No, it's not. It's not. Do you Know where that is being released? First of all? Netflix. So even though it will get a limited release, would it be.

[Sean Fennesee]

They probably won't track the box office?

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah, Number two, Venice Film Festival, baby.

[Sean Fennesee]

Is that confirmed?

[Amanda Davins]

No, but it's confirmed in my soon to be booked plane ticket.

[Sean Fennesee]

We could guess what we think that movie would have made if a different studio released it. Okay, well, there will be no way to check against it. But just as a thought exercise, in

[Amanda Davins]

Hollywood domestic box office, what was it like?

[Sean Fennesee]

350?

[Amanda Davins]

Let's see, domestic was 142.

[Sean Fennesee]

Oh, am I thinking worldwide?

[Amanda Davins]

What was the worldwide?

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah.

[Amanda Davins]

And worldwide was 377.

[Sean Fennesee]

377. Okay. I would guess that it would have made 107 domestic if Warner Brothers were releasing it. Or Sony, which released Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. 95.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay. And we'll never know the answer. Metacritic score.

[Amanda Davins]

73.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah, I was gonna say 78.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah. But only because people are too sour about David Fincher.

[Sean Fennesee]

So I saw the man on Saturday night. I went to Mr. Fincher. Yes. I went to a screening of Zodiac at the Academy Museum and there was an interview before the film played with Fincher, conducted by Bong Joon Ho. Because the movie was screened as part of a series of inspirations for Bong. And he talked to Fincher for 30 minutes or so, 35 minutes. And it was fascinating. Bong director Bong just fanned out the whole time.

[Amanda Davins]

Love it.

[Sean Fennesee]

Real Chris Farley show vibes in a very charming way. And Fincher was incredibly withholding.

[Amanda Davins]

That's my guy.

[Sean Fennesee]

And, you know, he had some answers that went into great depth about the making of Zodiac. And there were many times, I mean, at least three questions. I think he gave a total of like 12 word answers with a real shit eating grin on his face. I found it very charming and funny. I do think some people are probably a little bit frustrated by his unwillingness. Mostly because I think Bong was experiencing something I've felt many times while interviewing directors, which is you want to ask about an idea in the movie, say, I feel like thematically this indicates this. For example, in Zodiac, there's this passage of time in the final third of the movie where the San Francisco Chronicle offices, they shift a kind of color tone from yellow in the late 60s, early 70s, to blue in the late 70s in particular. There are three huge columns, pillars in the middle of the office that are painted yellow in the first half and then the back half are blue. Bong located this fact and asked him directly about it and said, is this supposed to indicate something about our feelings about the characters, the murder, the movie? A precise question. Yeah. What he was looking for in that answer. And Fincher was just like, yeah, that was the idea of Don Burt, who's a genius, the production designer. And, yeah, we just thought, you know, that's what it would look like, just like real life. Just like not giving you anything on the metaphorical insinuations of a creative decision. And I felt seen.

[Amanda Davins]

That's really beautiful.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah, it was great. Fincher seems like he's doing well.

[Amanda Davins]

Thought a lot about him this weekend when I was in the Bay Area.

[Sean Fennesee]

Berkeley, of course, his old stomping ground.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah. I guess he's who I think of most when I'm. When I'm up there.

[Sean Fennesee]

He seemed to be having a very fun time not giving anybody anything.

[Amanda Davins]

I know. That is what he does.

[Sean Fennesee]

Very admirable.

[Amanda Davins]

That's what I love about him.

[Sean Fennesee]

Something unfortunately I'm not able to do in my walk of life. Well, this was fun. You think you won?

[Amanda Davins]

I have no idea. I guess you kind of kept to a median, and I kept to big and little.

[Sean Fennesee]

The only one that I think is. Is quite large as Billie Eilish. That you guessed. Everything else feels totally in play. If I'm wrong about Billie Eilish. That'll be great. I currently don't even have it on the discussion plan for the show, but maybe we should.

[Amanda Davins]

I mean, I guess I'll go see it. Learn about Billie Eilish. There's one song I like.

[Sean Fennesee]

Bad guy.

[Amanda Davins]

No, I like Lunch.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

Don't know that one. I have nothing against Billie Eilish.

[Amanda Davins]

Just haven't spent too much time. She and I have the same J. Crew shirt that we wear from time to time. She looks great in it.

[Sean Fennesee]

Sounds like we should wrap this episode up.

[Amanda Davins]

Um.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Let's go.

[Amanda Davins]

Are you ready? Are you ready for the amount of clothes you have to talk about in Devil Wears Prada, too?

[Sean Fennesee]

I'm ready to listen to you say things.

[Amanda Davins]

Okay, good. Thank you. That's all. That's all I ask.

[Sean Fennesee]

And that's what I do. I listen. I listen to women and men.

[Amanda Davins]

Sure. Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

And let's listen to this conversation with Daniel Goldhaber right now, Almost three years later. Daniel Goldhaber back on the show. Okay, Danny. So when I. I was a teenager, went to a sleepover, and they had Faces of Death on vhs. And we watched it, and we believed it to be true. We believed it to be the most vile, and yet Accessible in video stores, product imaginable. I assume you had a similar experience, but maybe you did not.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

I did not. Okay. I was talking to a friend earlier today, and they were talking about how there are few things that are kind of like the JFK assassination, where everybody knows where they were when. And Faces of Death is kind kind of one of those things which I think is kind of funny. Like, everyone has such a tactile and evocative way of describing their first time. But for me, my first real encounter with Faces of Death was getting an email from my agent in 2019 saying, Legendary has acquired the rights to do Faces of Death. And there was an exec there named John Silk who I really liked, and he was interested in talking to me and Issa about it. And so we're like, we went and watched Faces of Death.

[Sean Fennesee]

Was this because they had seen Cam and they just thought this is the kind of person who would get what this material is?

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yeah, well, John had, I think, identified as kind of a, like, you know, what do you do with Faces of Death? I think John had identified the exact thing that, like, Faces of Death is everywhere now. And that was, you know, Issa and I's experience, generationally, is that after we saw the movie, we realized that we had seen Faces of Death just like clips of it on rotten.com or ebaum's world or whatever. Like, it. We remembered it, but it was totally decontextualized from this original movie. And so for us and for John, that was an immediate point of connection, of being like, okay, there's something here at this thing that used to be this cursed object that was really hard to get ahold of, all of a sudden is accessible by basically anyone in the world 24 hours a day. That feels like a pretty profound shift in our relationship to violence in media, our relationship to media in general. And so that was very much a starting point for talking about the movie. And then, you know, I had worked for a summer as a content moderator, very somewhat informally, but for some friends who had a startup. And I had always thought that that would make for, like, just a great character, somebody who kind of, like, you know, they're seeing stuff you're not supposed to see. And so I thought that that would make for, like, a really good, you know, way into this subject matter. And then once we kind of decided of combined the two of those, we were off to the races.

[Sean Fennesee]

Can you tell me a little bit about that time as a content moderator? And so, like, what did you see and maybe even explicitly what it was that you had to do.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

So basically, in this particular case, this was in the early 2010s, I had some friends who had a social media startup that was, like, just getting off the ground. And at the time, I don't know how true this is today, there was a thing where it's like, okay, a new social media app goes up on the App Store. People who, like, you know, the kind of dregs of the Internet know there's no robust moderation department here. There's no, you know, pipeline to law enforcement that's been set up. And so they just start, you know, using it to, like, share child porn and, you know, snuff tape. And I think that, you know, this was something that the people that ran the company were a little like, oh, weren't entirely anticipating that. And so basically, they just, like, hired friends of theirs, just camp on the feed, watch everything that was coming in, and then just, like, try to take down especially, like, the child porn as quickly as possible. And again, it was a small app, and so it was like, not. It was a very different kind of, like, moderation than what we see in the movie. And then this kind of, like, you know, very corporatized moderation that you have now that often is even just like a smokescreen for companies to kind of, you know, enact censorship of speech that they want or to otherwise kind of try to protect their liability when it comes to what's on their platform. But, you know, and the first few times you're doing this, some of the stuff you see you're really deeply affected by. And then at a certain point, you stop feeling the effect of it, Even if that doesn't mean that you're not still on some level being affected by it, you, at the very least, kind of just adjust. And. Yeah, so I only did that for, like, a summer. It was a virtual job. It was nothing. I needed money.

[Sean Fennesee]

One of the ideas that I really like in your movie is this very thin line between what we are allowed to let titillate us and what we are not allowed to let titillate us. And this idea of a person whose job it is to kind of enforce, I guess, that kind of that ethical gray line, and also that a movie like Faces of Death, your movie, is doing the same thing, which is it is a discrete slasher with, like, insincere hardcore violence, which we know is, like, something we're allowed to enjoy in these defined buckets.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Right.

[Sean Fennesee]

I'm curious, like, how you thought about blending what the original project was doing with where we are now and what we're allowed to be excited about in a movie in 2026.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yeah. I mean, I think for me, it's like that's also like, the whole thing. Maybe, like, one of the best ways I can talk about that is, like, for us, the kind of cornerstone movie that we were looking at is Peter Bogdanovich's Targets, which I think is one of the greatest movies of the 1960s. But it was very similarly. Corman had this Boris Karloff movie that didn't totally work, and he had a few extra days on Boris Karloff's schedule and went to Bogdanovich and was like, if you do the Corman formula, I'll let you do whatever you want. And then Bogdanovich turned that into this unbelievable meditation on alienation and media and the suburbs and violence. And when I watched Target's kind of research for this, I kind of realized, like, you know, it was part of what really strengthened this kind of, like, dual perspective narrative we have. But also it was like one of these things of. That's kind of a weird assignment. Like, I have this kind of these elements for a movie, and, I don't know, do something with it. And it's not dissimilar from how it felt kind of having a company be like, we've acquired the remake rights to Faces of Death because we understand that there is value in this ip, but this is not a movie that needs to or should necessarily exist. And I think that that's something that the movie is ultimately reflecting on at its core is like, why remake Faces of Death? Because the movie is about somebody remaking Faces of Death and trying to squeeze value out of this IP for his own personal gain. And I think that, you know, ultimately, I think for. From my perspective, the movie more than anything, is about the kind of just, like, idea of what has happened now that our media has become centralized in these giant corporations. You know, there are very, very few corporations that essentially control the vast majority of human speech. You know, not even just public speech, but even the way that we. We communicate with each other. And it's ultimately these companies that are the ones setting the parameters for what we are and are not allowed to say what we are and are not allowed to see. Just how easy it is for them to adjust an algorithm and bury a movie, because they might find some of the ideas in it unpalatable, which is something that we definitely dealt with with Pipeline, you know. And so I think that that's the thing is, like, you know, the movie very much starts with this of, like, kind of getting the audience to think about the fact that, like, the people that are adjudicating what is and is not going on to our phones are ultimately employees at a. At a company that has its own goals and ambitions. And that I think that relationship applies to all of the media that we see.

[Sean Fennesee]

I'm curious how you and Issa work together. So this is the third film in a row that you've written together, right?

[Daniel Goldhaber]

No, Issa wrote cam, so she was not a.

[Sean Fennesee]

Of the story.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

So we did the story. She was a producer on Pipeline, so she came. She was a creative producer on the movie, along with myself and Ariella, two other producers, too, who made the film. But the three of us kind of developed the material, and then this one we co wrote.

[Sean Fennesee]

So I know that a lot of her personal experience went into cam, but how do you guys. Right now, I always ask duo writing teams, are you back to back, typewriter to typewriter? How are you kicking ideas around in this world? Because you do have this raw material of the original film, which you've managed to work into this project, but then you're also creating a whole world of characters that were not previously there before.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yeah, I mean, it's always. It's just a lot of conversation ultimately, like, when we get into the writing process, like, it generally is passing drafts back and forth. You know, she'll do a first draft, I'll do a big revision, and then eventually it gets to the point where, like, you're just doing line edits, and then you're just kind of, you know, that's when you're in the room together, usually, you know, like on set or the night after a shoot. And then I think, you know, obviously Issa is a, you know, a co filmmaker on the movies, and that writing process extends all the way through production, through post, through the marketing, you know, in terms of not just coming up with lines on set, but, you know, other ideas, you know, costumes and performance. And, you know, I think you only benefit from that and in the case of this, because we're kind of conceptualizing what the movie is from the ground up together. You know, it's great to have somebody who is able to kind of really have their eye on the prize of what movie are we trying to make? Well, I can, you know, have the benefit of going. Getting lost in the weeds of, you know, just the logistics and minutiae of pulling it all off and always have somebody I can turn to to kind of be like, hey, Are we on track?

[Sean Fennesee]

You know, when you finally got a chance to watch the original, what were your, like, what did you make of it? Especially being at the age you're at now and what you'd heard about it and how you'd consume pieces of it over the years.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

I can't say I thought it was a good movie, but it's an interesting movie. And I think that what I find so interesting about the film is also like, there's a lot of mondo horror, there's a lot of fake snuff film, there's a lot of gross out movies. This came at a moment where there was plenty of kind of cursed horror stuff to choose from. Why this one? I think that's one of the most interesting questions around Faces. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that it doesn't feel like a movie anybody would make on purpose. It feels like it just appeared on vhs. And I think that's one of the questions that our movie is asking too is when I was doing my content moderation job, the most disturbing thing that I honestly felt about the footage was this question of like, who's posting this stuff? Like, yeah, the content's bad, but I'm way more frightened about the person on the other end of this. And I think that that is, you know, very similar with the original Faces of Death in the sense that you feel like a truly deranged and like diseased minded because it's like these horrifying images and it's like jaunty music, you know, and like, just like some of the, like, like the monkey is so macabre and like, and like it's, it's goofy, but that only weirdly makes it more disturbing because it's presented so straightforwardly. And I interviewed the director of the movie before doing this, you know, had a long conversation with him and you know, as he told it to me because, because there's a director that's credited that was not the real director. He was like the writer and the collaborator who essentially like took the public credit for the film, but the actual guy that made it made nature documentaries for abc. And he had a big documentary production company and he was approached by a group of investors who were like, we want to make Mondo Death. And he was like, that sounds like a weird art project. And he didn't want to be credited because he didn't want it to like, you know, disrupt his actual day job. But he approached it to something where he's like, I can't really lose Here, I'm just gonna have fun with this. And so, like, you know, he was like, yeah, what if I put jaunty music in? Like, that's, like, fucked up and weird. But, like, the combination of all those elements really does leave it feeling like it's something that, you know, no human hand, like, would ever make.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's so interesting, though. Cause that perfectly echoes probably some of the content that you experienced in moderation, where people are submitting material anonymously. And then also what the kill in the film's doing, which is operating in a kind of shadow. And it's so different from the act of public creation. Especially historically, promoting a movie through a corporate studio system where you kind of have to put your name on it.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

And that friction between those two ideas is really, really fun.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Exactly. No, and I mean, it's. One of the interesting things about Arthur as a character, to me, is that he's. He's chasing something, but he's not chasing any version of fame that we really understand, because his name isn't on it, his face isn't on it. And yet it's so clear that what he cares about is kind of, like, what he's getting out of it. And I think, for me, one of the fundamental ideas of the film is that we live in an intention economy. And, you know, in that we've said, the more attention that you have, the more value you have. And simultaneously, we've gone and said, do you know how to generate a lot of attention very quickly? Go commit an asset. Mass violence. And so we've set the incentive structure up for young people that, like, very literally, it's like, if you commit an act of mass violence, you have a lot of value as a person, you know, or at the very least, your name does. Your reputation, does your. Go down in history. And you see the way that, you know, people talk about this stuff on message boards, you know, where they talk about, like, high scores for kill counts, you know, and then those conversations also generate attention. And so, for me, Arthur is in many ways, just a literalization of that. He's somebody who is actually very rationally looking at the system that has been set out in front of him and say, how can I feel like I matter? How can I feel like I exist? How can I feel seen? And you see where he lives, and you kind of get a sense for how kind of totally isolated and alienated this guy is. And on some level, it's like you're like, yes, this. What he's doing, kind of.

[Sean Fennesee]

It.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

It makes Sense. It's awful, but it's. There's a logic to it. And that I think, is a logic that is, again, something that has been systemically given to us by media companies.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah. It's fascinating because I know you finished this film some time ago, but our hero, Balthazar and the drama and your film coming out effectively within a week of each other is also fascinating because they're all kind of. They're not about the same thing, but they're located in the same vibe of how can people say, how can people be seen through something cruel and dangerous and violent? Tell me about making a slasher movie, because one of the things I love about Pipeline is just use a pure heist model mentality to demonstrate something socially, politically different. But in the execution of it, it seemed like you had some real standards that you were trying to follow. How did you think about this? Because there were thousands and thousands of slashers. Yeah.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

I think it's interesting because in all honesty, I never really thought of it as a slasher movie because it's not real, really. Right, you don't. The slasher movie doesn't introduce you to the slasher on minute 15. And you're not spending about half the movie with him. Genuinely. The model was whatever Targets is. It's a thriller and there's a Silence of the Lambsy kind of cat mouseness to it. That was always the conception. And then. Then it's just a movie that then has a handful of slasher set pieces in them. Right. And those were very consciously supposed to kind of be riffs on old classics. Because I think there's this fun thing about Arthur which is like, he's very clearly an extremely media literate person. And so people are like, oh, I love this stocking on his head. It reminds me of Tom Noonan and Manhunter. Yes. It also reminds me. Reminds Arthur of Tom Noonan and Manhunter. You know, like he's aware of the kind of homage and illusion that he himself is engaging in.

[Sean Fennesee]

Seems like he's only an agglomeration of his influences, really.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Exactly, exactly. And so I think that.

[Sean Fennesee]

Which is how a lot of people, like communicate their personality on social media as well, which is another thing I like about the movie.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

And so. But you get this. There's this moment I really love where, you know, should I get fine grained about the movie? Yeah, sure, I guess. It's out at this point where Margot is hiding in the garage from Arthur and Arthur walks in. There's this like really amazingly just tense moment where, you know, she's hiding. Does he see or does he not? And it's kind of unclear if he sees her or not. And then he walks out. And then she runs out and then she's like about to jump the fence and then all of a sudden he's back in the garage door, goes up and he shoots at her. And there's this really great question of like, does he know? Is he actually chasing for himself a greater slasher? Does he want to jump, scare her?

[Sean Fennesee]

Yes. To just shoot her in that moment would have been boring if he spotted her.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yeah, exactly. And he's not in it to win necessarily like that. He's in it for the narrative. And so I think that there's something about the way that I wanted it to be a slasher movie that also is like, is performative in itself in a certain way, you know, and without. I never really wanted the movie to be self aware and meta, but I wanted Arthur to be someone who is so completely seeing his existence through this performative lens that even he is kind of seeing the movie that he is experiencing and living was kind of part of the goal.

[Sean Fennesee]

Is it Dacre? Montgomery Dacre. Dacre. So just amazing performance. And it's hard to do this because of what you're saying, which is there are a lot of sort of reference points, but I do feel like he makes something that feels also like a singular person in its own disturbing way. Had you guys talk about the character, how did his performance shake out the way that it did?

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yeah, I mean, Dacre's an incredible actor and just I think in general, an incredible collaborator. Both he and Barbie are. And with Dagre, when I first met with him for the film, I'd met with him for Pipeline, which hadn't ended up really being a fit, but I really liked him. And we met for this and he got on the zoom and he was like, I have to play this role. I've never felt more passionate about a role. And he's like, I grew up, I have severe ocd. I was also a super alienated, bullied kid. He's like. But I had had this problem where I cannot. I could not sleep for 10 years under the covers of my bed because if I felt even a crease in the bed sheet, it would keep me up all night. So I slept on top of the covers for 10 years. And he goes, I really relate to Arthur. I feel like, you know, I see this guy's aversion with blood. I see his like, compulsion to do things that even hurt himself. And he's like, I really. And everyone else I'd met with had kind of been talking about this other guy they'd seen in the media. But Dacre was like, this is how I'm Arthur. And I think for me, as a starting point of a collaboration, that's a great place to start because as you're then building the character from the inside out, everything is coming from something that's profoundly honest to the actor. And so for Dacre, he has a real obsession with textures and fabrics. And I think because that was the starting point of his connection to Arthur, that became the starting point for, you know, the entire thing. So a lot of what was originally scripted changed dramatically, especially just in the details of how this was rendered based on what felt the best to Dacre. Like, we would go in for fittings for his character, and for him it was all about kind of like literally the skin tight suit and the way that felt on his body. And like, it was more important to him that the fabric of the clothing felt better than maybe even like, like the look or the fit. And that's the thing is like, okay, then I'm trying to back that into an aesthetic that works for the film. But I also know I can see it in the fitting. He's like, rubbing the way he rubs himself. He's doing that because he's finding that part of the character in the fitting. So the stocking over his head, that wasn't in the script. That was something that he wanted to do. That's something that Dacre felt spoke to him about, kind of like the way that Arthur would want to access that kind of performance. And then for me, I'm like, oh, that's also like Manhunter. And then, you know, we're bringing that in. And so it's a lot of just kind of a back and forth with, I think, you know, hearing how he's personally engaging with this and then finding a way to just make that work for the movie. But I think maybe one of the other funny things that I can share is I was about six months into the edit of the film, and we were going back through some take or something. I heard me give a direction to Dacre and then I heard Dacre do the take. And I went, I called Dacre, I said, dacre, are you doing my voice? When Arthur's directing? And he goes, did you just figure that out?

[Sean Fennesee]

It's pretty good, yeah. Okay. I have a theory that all of your films are about young people trying to utilize the media to seize control.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

I think they're about young people who feel driven nuts by the world that they live in and are trying to do something to change it, to break free of it. And they're ultimately kind of trapped by the fact that ultimately, even if they have essentially what becomes a personally redemptive act of violence. You know, I. I always felt the ending of Pipeline was a little misread because you see comments of people like. And all they do is post a TikTok. It's like, yeah, because ultimately you've done the thing. How do you communicate it? Oh, you're right back. You're right back where you started. And there's something.

[Sean Fennesee]

Oh, interesting, but that's slightly more cynical.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

I think it's just realistic. I think that this is the problem, is that we're at the point where there is so little free media and communication. We don't have alt weeklies. We don't really have zines. We don't have underground newspapers. We don't. We don't congregate in public, especially in the US Nearly as much as we used to. You know, and I think that. That, like, you're seeing the effects of that, which is that even when revolutionary acts take place, telling the story of them and finding a way to tell that story in a way that actually brings people together around a movement, around a progressive idea is harder than ever before, because with a push of a button, you can completely disrupt how that storytelling is actually disseminated to people. And this is, I think, the most clearly communicated at the end of Faces. Right. It's that in order to prove that there's a sadistic serial killer who's murdering people on the loose and making snuff films and posting them online, she's gotta make a snuff film.

[Sean Fennesee]

Gotta post about it. Yeah.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

And then she's gotta post about it. And because everybody in the movie has kind of told her that's the only thing that we'll take as truth is, once we see it on the Internet,

[Sean Fennesee]

do you feel as helpless and as stuck going back to where you started as the characters in the movies?

[Daniel Goldhaber]

I feel totally trapped by social media. I grew up on the Internet. I grew up as a very alienated person, but also I think I've built a life in which I'm very reliant on. I live between Berlin, New York, Louisiana. I work in film and media. It ends up being a very effective way to keep in touch with a very large group of people that I work with and that I care about. And it's also an important vehicle for me to broadcast about my work. But it's also, like, it consumes my life, and I can feel it sapping and stealing the minutes from me, and I don't know how to escape it, because I don't really know. It's like, I work in film, right? Like, how do I. Like, there are people that aren't online, you know, but then even some of the people you think aren't on Instagram, like, they have finsta, you know.

[Sean Fennesee]

Oh, yeah.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Or they're paying attention.

[Sean Fennesee]

I have learned at the highest levels that this is true. Yes.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yes. Because, like, this. You mean to tell me that, like, you know, some big actor doesn't want to know, like, what the skinny is on them?

[Sean Fennesee]

Like, no, they definitely do.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

And so it's like, yeah, I'm like, how do I belong to a culture that is so online? And then at the same time, like, there's so many parts of the online culture I don't understand. Like, something like iron lung kind of like.

[Sean Fennesee]

I thought that was so exciting.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

It's so exciting. It's also like. It's like, it indicts, like, absolutely every element of, like, how Hollywood thinks it should be working.

[Sean Fennesee]

That was exactly where I wanted to take this conversation, too, because, you know, you're working as an independent filmmaker. You're making movies now that are pretty actively kind of poking the bear and trying to say, like, how close to the edge of, like. Like, radical leftist point of view can I get into a mainstream experience? Into an AMC movie theater, which is a really. I really admire that as a mission creatively, but I also think that there's, like, kind of an inherent anxiety around that too, where, like, how far can you push it and how big can you get and how successful can you be and what do you ultimately want for yourself out of all of those things?

[Daniel Goldhaber]

I think I. You know, it's interesting with faces finally coming out, and I think just like the movie finally seeing the light of day, getting a pretty. I think the reception that I think it should get, which, like, some people, like, really love it and champion it. A lot of people are like, this movie shouldn't exist. And I'm like, yes, I agree with you that this is probably true. Think about that. Like, you know.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yep.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

But it's. It's. I think that, like, I'm very happy to be trying to continue to just prove out that this work can be entertaining and theatrical and fun. And, like, ultimately, even though there's, like, I think some radical ideas in the work, like that's very rarely what we're thinking about on the day. Like, I'm thinking about, like, how do I make a fun movie? How do I. How do I. I stage the scene in a nice way and how do I just keep the audience's engagement? And that's ultimately. I think, for me, it's just very hard to wanna make a piece of entertainment for the sake of making a piece of entertainment. I only get excited when I feel like I'm doing, hopefully, something new in terms of cinematic form, something new in terms of narrative form and something new in terms of thematic form. And. And generally speaking, the new thematic stuff that I'm interested in is leftist. And so there are obviously ideas I care about. But I think. Yeah, in all honesty, I had, I think, hoped that. It's not like that. I hoped that Pipeline would get people to go blow up pipelines, but I had hoped that it would maybe have served as a little bit more. We got, like, so much press and, like, you know, national security bulletins. And I'd hoped it would, like, at the very least, maybe engender, like, a bigger conversation about, you know, just tactics and what's working and what's not working and, you know, how we should think about organizing differently potentially. And what I saw was like, a lot of people watched the movie and were like, I watched the movie, and that's my catharsis, and that's fine. I have to meet the audience where they're at, you know, And I'm like, okay, that's interesting. Like, I don't think movies. I think there was a time that movies were gonna, like, get people to go out and do stuff. I don't think that's how movies operate anymore.

[Sean Fennesee]

But that's. That ideas in your mood. I mean, there's the refraction element of, like, I said something out loud. And so I have done my duty, you know, I've done my Starship Troopers moment, you know, and it's like, did you though. You know, you consumed something?

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Exactly.

[Sean Fennesee]

And then you went home.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

And. And so I think, for me, I'm also trying to get. I'm more interested, I think. And this is something that we started with Faces that I will be digging into more and more. I. I think I'm actually becoming a little more interested in, like. Instead of trying to, like, spur people to action or spur people to change, it's. It's more about, like, getting them to understand more. Using film as, like, a way to be, like, this is how the world is working, working. And if you can kind of like peek under the hood and look at the little watch gears running. You're like, oh, that's what this is doing to me. Just an idea. And again, this is a little bit a design idea in Faces of Death that when you're texting somebody, when you're doing email. That's a video game. That's a video game. It has little notifications, it has things you have to check off. It's like I had this revelation during the pandemic when I was just in my computer, I was playing, playing Zelda Breath of the Wild, and a new email notification popped up on my computer and I was like, wait, I also have, like, I have a task to do over here and I have a task to over here. And like, I actually am having the exact same feeling.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah, the endorphin rush.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Exactly. From both of these things.

[Sean Fennesee]

Ooh, something new.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

New quest and new email. Same thing. And I'm like, oh, my God, like, everything is a video game right now. Right. But like, no one's thinking about it that way. No one's seeing it that way. No, no one's experiencing that reality. Or like, because. Because there's also, like, there's no good video game criticism, all sorts of stuff like that. So it's like, for me, I'm like, okay, how can I get an audience to like, start thinking or feeling or like perceiving these kind of ways that, like, systems are being built around us in ways that like, at the very least will allow them to reflect on their experience differently. You know, even just thinking about the fact that like, that an attention economy does really kind of engender somebody wanting to commit mass murder is like, that's the argument of the movie. And I think if somebody walks away from the film being like, oh, that's interesting. I think that there's a tremendous amount that could be extrapolated from that that, you know, would hopefully be productive for that individual.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah, I think there's also something interesting about that, which I don't think is quite true for Pipeline, which is that I think a lot of people will also see the movie and be like, cool serial killer movie. And then stop thinking about it.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yes.

[Sean Fennesee]

Which is a, you know, that's an unusual opportunity that I think filmmakers have that very few other artists have where you're sort of like, I have all of these thematic load bearing ideas that I bring to my project, but I have to accept and probably even know clearly at the head of time that, like, it is also a product and that people will receive it in different ways, too. Like, your intent can't be confirmed.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

I think that at the same time, one of the beautiful things about being a filmmaker is I think that sometimes movies operate on people five years after the fact. You know, there's a movie that for no good reason, you can't shake, but it lodged itself in your brain like a thorn. And I think that, you know, and, like, that's obviously true of Faces of Death for a lot of people for no good reason. That movie is this thing. But it is. And who kind of knows why and who kind of knows what that means? And I think that, you know, we also know that, like, our images will now more than ever become decontextualized from our movies. Like, the ways in which, you know, you see, like, the White House posting fan cams of war films is like. That's a real, total shift in terms of, like, just one way I put it is up until 10 years ago, we never as humans used images to communicate directly, one on one with each other. You know, people would make images and then show them, and then that would be something that was experienced. But now, if I want to communicate an idea to you, I can send you a gif. I can send you a GIF of a movie. So now all of a sudden, like, the, like, legacy of, like, you know, cinematic imagery has become language.

[Sean Fennesee]

There's also something else that is a consequence of that, which is the extraction of language from communication, which is a whole lottlefish.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yeah, yeah. But I think that that's the point is that it's like, okay, so that's language now. And that also is a complete change in terms of. I'm definitely aware now when I'm making a movie, I'm like, this image, this shot. I hope, hope that could be a good meme.

[Sean Fennesee]

Do you think that?

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yeah, yeah, of course.

[Sean Fennesee]

Do you think a lot of filmmakers think that way now?

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yeah, I think anyone who's online, and I think they might pretend that they're not. But it's like, how that's. I know that's how I'm going to live in the cultural imagination at this point. That's how my work is going to live on. Like, it used to be like, oh, you got a great quotable line. Now it's like, no, you have something that, like, communicates a very specific feeling and emotion and aesthetic in a way that, like, actually language feels like it can't totally capture. And, like, you've done that and you've brought a cultural moment around it. And now it's being used as language. And that's cool. That's interesting.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah. Well, there was a thing previously when we didn't think about communicating in this way, and I love how you've circled this. That was about the primacy of the shot that had to be something grand or epic or physically difficult to achieve. And now it is about the image, like the still or the locked, moving gif. And that is different too. And that, I think, pretty dramatically changes our cinematic expectations of what we think is good, what we think is memorable, what we think has value. And so the idea of someone like you saying, I'm gonna try to make one of these, or at least I think this could be one of those things, is really fascinating.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

I'm never approaching being like, ah, yes, this is like. And this is the meme moment. But it's like, maybe I'm on set and I see something and I'm like, oh, I can see how this could be used and captured that way linguistically. Because that's just. That's how my mind has become wired.

[Sean Fennesee]

It's fascinating. So, as I alluded to, we spoke three years ago. You said, I'm just about to start doing Faces of Death. And that's a long time has gone by since then. If you would have asked me a year ago, will I ever see this movie, I probably would have said no, just based on how I know things. Work, work. What happened? How did you get here? Like, maybe we can close with that.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think that this is a project that Issa and I initially pitched in 2019. And just for context, when we were putting together our idea and we were trying to figure out which platform does this take place on? This Instagram? Is it YouTube in terms of not literally, but spiritually, Issa was like, have you ever heard of TikTok? And I go, no. What's TikTok? And she introduced me to TikTok. And I think, you know, she immediately had this vision of, like, with what TikTok is, with how it works, like, the kind of phenomenon that we're talking about in the movie becomes, like, much more plausible. And so we built around TikTok and then, you know, we pitched, we got the job, we closed our deal, like, March 10, 2020. So then Covid hit and by the time we finished the script and we were, like, thinking about making the movie, like, the business had completely changed. And Legendary, which was kind of trying to get into the low budget genre game that started to make a little bit less sense and, you know, but they still had some projects that they were passionate about, but we couldn't really figure out a path with Faces. And then I used that moment to go make Pipelines. I kind of used Faces as like a cudgel to get Pipeline together. So I guess how I put my cast together. And then I finished Pipeline, then all of a sudden I had Heat and they were like, great, let's go make Faces. And then the writers strike happened two thirds of the way through our shoot, which was very challenging. And we were writing as we were shooting, and that caused some issues. And then even getting into the post production process, we had to hiatus for long periods of time because I wasn't allowed to do writing work on the film and Issa wasn't allowed to do writing work on the film. You can't work with the actors on anything because you can't record adr. So, like, that just made that whole experience very complicated. And then I think by the time the movie was done, I think it became very clear that, like, as you said, it is a movie that's poking the bear in a number of ways in the kind of extremity of its content, but also in the fact that, like, it is very explicitly kind of calling out corporate media culture for also trying to kind of like, own our nostalgia, our childhood, wring every last drop out of it. It's a weird question, like, why remake Faces of Death? And I think it's an interesting prompt, but it's one that ultimately we are kind of like, you know, pointing the finger back and being like, yes, why make Faces of Death? And that's not exactly the kind of thing that I think, you know, the big studios are gonna be excited about releasing. I think know that at least the head of marketing for one major studio said that he thought the movie was morally despicable. And so I think that, you know, because a lot of Legendary's business, you know, like the way that company is structured is they put movies out through the studio system. When it became clear that that was not really going to be a viable path for the movie, when I think that we hoped it would be, then it was about, okay, now we have to kind of figure out where this lives in the market and the marketplace. And that just. That just took time because it was. It was a shift for them and a shift for, you know, how the movie was kind of initially built. And then even once we had found IFC as a partner, you know, because that conversation with IFC started a year ago, you know, so it just like once we even figured out, okay, this is making a place to do the movie, just building out the deal and figuring out how to put the movie out, you know, just, just, just took, took, took time.

[Sean Fennesee]

Do you think you'll try to make another movie that could be released by a major studio?

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yeah, absolutely. I'm working on one right now.

[Sean Fennesee]

So what were your takeaways from going through that particular process with this movie?

[Daniel Goldhaber]

I think, you know, I, I've actually been trying a different, different process with the way I've been working with studios. I think it's like studios, everybody is just trying to value the movie and everybody has their ideas about what is going to get an audience to go see a film, tell their friends to go see it, all of that. And as William Goldman famously said, nobody actually knows anything about that. And I think that what I've witnessed is that, that as more and more of a private equity mentality moves into Hollywood, there's more and more of a push to kind of like get rid of the old. I in my gut as a producer, as a studio head, I just got a good feeling about this. I know enough about the culture, I know enough about the zeitgeist. Let's go make this movie. That's how it used to work. And now it's like, no, no, no, no, no. All of this stuff has to be somehow proven out and derived and in a way that the model likes. And part of that is so that if the movie doesn't work, everybody goes, hey, the model said it was okay, it wasn't my fault. And so I think for me, I

[Sean Fennesee]

have a whole jag about how the death of the Hollywood studio executive, which used to be a villainously perceived character in the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, but now that person has been transformed into the de risk analysis monster that you're describing, which is actually in many cases significantly more insidious because I

[Daniel Goldhaber]

think there's some incredible execs I've worked with, like John Silkett, legendary who hired us, you know, Alex Garcia over there, like, you know, help with like, really brilliant people, you know, but they're, they're, they're often, sometimes I think the executive class in Hollywood right now is by and large, like they just have a fraction of the power that they used to have. You know, it. And so I think that for me, it's really about seeing the ways in which I did not understand the valuation mechanisms of pipeline, of faces, of death, and knowing a lot more of the questions to ask from Like a very early on part of the process, like, you know, very exactly. Like, what, what are the set pieces you need? What do they look like? Whether it's in horror, whether it's in something else, you know, understanding, like ahead of time, like, where is the value add cast for you? How are we, you know, I have a project I'm working on where like, you know, I, I think figuring out even just the age range with a studio partner of like, you know, here's what we would want. Where does that leave, like what our possible talent pool would be. So then I can actually like go and build a great story around something that I know makes sense for my partner's valuation incentive structure, you know, because like I can. Like, you're always working with like a limited set of things as a filmmaker in, in the studio system. You're always kind of working with like what you have. And so I'm kind of just trying to figure out like, okay, what, what do they care about? And then how can I make that a movie that I really also 100% want to make? And again, that's what everybody's been doing. But I think that as every financier and buyer and distributor becomes more and more boutique, everybody has their own cast list, everybody has their own idea of what set pieces matter. Some directive will come down where somebody's like, we did a case study and jump scares aren't working anymore. And then that company will be like, well, we're not into jump scare game anymore. But then another company will like not have gotten that memo and they still feel like the jump scare ride is the thing that matters. And you're trying to take this project out to marketplace and people are making decisions based on whatever market research they've done. This is a very different kind of situation. And so trying to really find partners very early on and then ask a lot of questions and build something from the ground up with them. So I feel like there's a studio buy in in on every single major decision and that's all essentially documented.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah, it's really interesting. You have to be an anthropologist and a data scientist in order to be a director now.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yeah, but that's filmmaking and art making is always a reflection of the time. You know, I think for me, I had a big revelation. I took a Renaissance art class in college that I rarely showed up for. But I, I just like there was this thing where you kept showing these great paintings of the Western canon and then you realize that it's all spawn con for the church and the king. It's like the entirety of what we think of as Shakespeare was spawn con for Queen Elizabeth.

[Sean Fennesee]

Who can afford to pay these artists to make something?

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Exactly. And they're trying to figure out, how do I do? There's. There's this amazing painting, Las Meninas by Velasquez. And like, this was like learning about this painting and it's like, oh, this is like, this is like a super critical painting of the court. Like, this is a painting where he's like, he's like really like giving the middle finger to the court and to the king and you know, and then. But like he paid for it, you know. And so it's like I was like, okay, this is just the game. This has been the game since the beginning of time. It's always going to be the game. You've always had to figure stuff out about art that has nothing to do with art, especially if you're working in any sort of a bigger commercial system. And then hopefully that experience feeds back into the work.

[Sean Fennesee]

Yeah. As I've been thinking about your movies, I did feel there was something really interesting and convulsive about Pipeline that I liked because it felt like more of a stick up and less of a smuggle. And I think that your other movies are kind of smuggles. And there's a difference in kind of like, like how you can't get away with a lot of stick ups. You know, it's like you might get shot and a smuggle is a different venture.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

You know, it's funny though, because I think that I really do feel like Faces of Death is. Is a bit of both, but I think is working inside of a genre that I think is just the, the ways that you are fulfilling those genre expectations are inherently kind of like. Like, they're big, but they're very expected. There's lots of tropes that you kind of end up following. So it ends up feeling like it's more in one lane. But again, what I feel really proud about with Faces is like, I do hope that the movie is also in many ways a reflection on those tropes, on those tropes as they're deployed in kind of a big, you know, studio horror IP film. And that, you know, there is this question of, like, why is this a structure that we kind of keep returning to and obsessing over? And so I'm hoping it's doing both. But I also know at the end of the day, I also just want people to go have fun and enjoy the ride.

[Sean Fennesee]

Okay, Danny, we end every episode of the show by asking filmmakers what's the last great thing they have seen. I follow you on letterboxd. You're login frequently.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Yes, I honestly, a real all timer top 10 for me is the Wachowskis Speed Racer, which I think is a movie that has still not gotten its due. And I think it's a movie that it came at such a strange moment where digital tech was just getting good and the Wachowskis were like, what if we did everything that we could even think of and you watch this movie and there's shots that still don't have names that I've seen nowhere else. And I saw a 4K restoration of that at Beyond Fest, my first time seeing it in a cinema. And it's incredible. Plays like gangbusters. It still plays like a movie from the future. It's amazing. And for those people who haven't seen it, I highly recommend seeking it out. It's a really, really, really special film that I think works on every single level.

[Sean Fennesee]

Great recommendation. Congrats. Thank you so much on the new film. Thanks for coming back.

[Daniel Goldhaber]

Thank you.

[Sean Fennesee]

Thanks to Daniel Goldhaber. Thanks to our producer Jack Sanders for his work on this episode. Thanks to our production support from Lucas Kavanaugh. I mentioned we're heading to Vegas. I'm getting in the car in one hour. How long is it going to take me to get there?

[Amanda Davins]

I don't know. You've alleged that you'll be able to be there for dinner and drinks before Cinemacon starts.

[Sean Fennesee]

I hope so. That's my plan.

[Amanda Davins]

Yeah.

[Sean Fennesee]

I've got to see the Sony presentation at 6:30 as well.

[Amanda Davins]

Yes. With all respect to Zach Kreger, I will be having family dinner before I fly into Las Vegas here. No, no. Family dinner.

[Sean Fennesee]

I see.

[Amanda Davins]

With I, I dine with boys. So boy dinner. Yeah, boy dinner. I will be having three boys, boy dinner. We'll have a great dinner and then I will meet you in Las Vegas.

[Sean Fennesee]

Sounds good. See you then. And we'll see you back on the Big Picture at the end of this week where we'll be joined by Matt Bellany and Craig Horlbeck to talk about Cinemacon.