For a franchise that was DOA when its first trailer arrived, it’s amazing that Sonic has become such a dominant franchise that it’s now beating Hollywood juggernaut, Disney, at the box office. And not just beating it. Destroying it. Sonic 3 took in 62 million dollars this weekend whereas The Liong King prequel, Mufasa, took in a measly 35 million dollars.
It’s not just a boon for Paramount’s video game star turned movie star, it’s a likely goodbye wave to Disney’s “live-action” adaptations. Between the underperforming Little Mermaid, the failure of Mufasa, and the impending failure of Snow White, which is rumored to have cost 300 million dollars to fix all its various issues, the unexpected cash cow that is live-action adaptations is now kaput.
It’s a footnote, albeit a big one, since Disney’s Marvel franchise is no longer a guaranteed money-maker. They needed this other pipeline of profit to ward off all these new Marvel bombs that were imploding. But now that the curiosity factor is dead, the live-action adaptations have to stand on their own. And it doesn’t look like they’re able to.
Luckily, Disney still has the best catalog of films in the business and, therefore, they can churn out animated sequels that always do well. Disney *does* have two of the top five movies of the year with Inside Out 2 and Moana 2. They also have Deadpool and Wolverine, although that one comes with context since it’s not a Disney-generated movie.
Speaking of superhero films, there is no studio more dependent on the success of a superhero movie than Warner Brothers is with James Gunn’s Superman. The trailer for the new film (and the rebooted DC franchise) just came out last week and, I have to say, it is amazing.
James Gunn knows that there has to be a balance in order for emotion to connect. Because if it’s all emotion all the time, then there’s nothing to contrast that emotion with. It’s like a roller coaster that only goes down. Technically, that should be fun but the whole reason that the “down” works is because the roller coaster ever-so-slowly brings you UP beforehand. You must feel that slow suspense of the “up” in order to truly enjoy the “down.”
You also have to take risks in today’s movie marketplace to stand out. This has always been the case. But in 2024, it’s even more so, since movies aren’t just competing with other movies. They’re competing with 300 million dollar TV shows. They’re competing with the internet. They’re competing with Twitch and video games and New Jersey drones and Mr. Beast.
If you give out the same ole same ole in 2024, you’re just not going to get people talking. So for James Gunn to include a SUPER DOG in his Superman movie is insane when you think about it in a vacuum. They didn’t even try that in the original Superman movies, which came out during the height of 80s cheese. We live in a way more cynical world where the inclusion of a dog with a cape in a superhero movie could lead to a laughingstock meme that dominates the internet for the next 20 years.
And yet the “Superdog saves Superman” moment in the new Superman trailer is the most talked about thing of the Christmas season. Everyone is in love with Krypto. Including me!
The Superman trailer was good enough that I now think it could be the biggest movie of 2025. Yes, it needs to beat Avatar to do so. But it’s got a chance.
Speaking of emotion, I finally saw The Wild Robot and thought it was tremendous. One of the reasons this movie works so well is that it leans into this concept of contrast. A robot does not fit into nature. They are two opposite things. That’s what makes their combination so intriguing. Therefore, before a single plot beat has occurred, we’re already intrigued.
And the writer, Chris Sanders, leans into this idea when creating Roz’s (the robot’s) flaw. Roz is only able to think in terms of her programming. The movie is about her learning to think with her heart.
Writers get lost in this concept of character arcs. They make them more complicated than they need to be when, often, the simplistic ones are the ones that work. Character thinks logically. Character learns to think emotionally.
It really is an excellent movie and worth checking out.
But if The Wild Robot feels too juvenile for you, you’ll want to check out the most un-juvenile movie of the year, Conclave. It’s free if you have Peacock. Conclave is the best-plotted movie I’ve seen in 2024.
If you haven’t seen it, it follows the aftermath of the pope dying. A new pope for the Catholic Church must be chosen quickly, which means that all of the cardinals must hunker down and vote. If the vote isn’t supported by two-thirds of the cardinals, they have to go back to square one and try again.
The story follows Cardinal Lawrence, who’s one of the few cardinals who has no aspirations of becoming pope. He’s more of a “fixer” within the church. He’s the guy who talks to everybody and tries to get them on the same page.
So what does “best-plotted” mean seeing as ‘plotting’ is a vague term?
What it means is that the plot keeps advancing at a good pace and in interesting ways. You can write a script where the plot barely advances at all. You run into this with slow-burn thrillers, for example (think 2017’s “It Comes At Night”). You can write a script where the plot *does* advance but does so in uninteresting ways. For example, I can reveal that my female lead character is pregnant, which is advancing the plot, but does that pregnancy make the movie better? If not, it’s not good plotting.
Good plotting is when you keep advancing the plot – usually every 10-12 pages – in ways that add context and excitement to the story that wasn’t present before the plot beat arrived.
For example, one of the plot beats we learn about 25 pages into the screenplay is that Lawrence is losing his faith. He’s questioning his belief in God. Then, about 15 pages later, when the first votes come in, we learn that Lawrence is one of the favorites to become pope.
Do you see how the first plot beat, which was interesting in and of itself, works in tandem with the second plot beat? A cardinal who’s losing his faith is problematic. But a cardinal who’s losing his faith and is at risk of becoming the biggest religious figure in the world? That’s catastrophic. Which is what makes the plotting-combo so good.
Conclave does a great job of these plot advancements coming from the internal (the characters) as well as the external (the outside world). This is a late-movie spoiler so look away if you plan on seeing the film, but a later plot beat has a terrorist bombing outside the Sistine Chapel. It’s one more obstacle the Cardinals have to deal with.
The movie also does a good job employing today’s screenwriting theme, which is CONTRAST. The Catholic Church props up morality and peace and kindness. Yet the politicking that comes with voting in a a new pope is built on backstabbing and ambition and greed.
Both Conclave and The Wild Robot will end up on my Top Ten of the Year list, which I’ll publish tomorrow. I have one last movie I want to see before making the list. That would be The Brutalist, which looks like it’s going to be Anora’s main competition for a Best Movie Oscar. It’s 3 hours long, though. I’m hoping that won’t deter me when I wake up tomorrow. :)
