We’re halfway through the summer and here’s a previously unthinkable proclamation: The movies are back, baby!
The big screen’s obituary has been written so many times — even by the people who make films. TV, everybody long thought, was supposed to be the victorious usurper.
When “The Sopranos” and “The Wire” were airing on HBO (Home Box Office, lest we forget) in the aughts, viewers said, “Wow, the acting and writing are just as good as in any prestige movie.”
Of the series “Game of Thrones” and “Lost,” they cooed, “Man, the cinematography and special effects rival the blockbusters I could pay $15 to see at the cinema.”
And after COVID hit and theaters closed, streaming appeared to be the obvious way of the future. Big companies such as Disney, Apple and Warner Bros. bet that audiences would never leave their couch again. Theatrical was over. The inevitable migration was complete.
Oops. That has turned out to be a hugely expensive unforced error.
Because in 2026 the movies have returned to their previous cultural dominance, while poor TV’s relevance has hit rock bottom.
Underestimated younger generations are mobbing the multiplex, and the box office is on track to hit $10 billion for the first time since 2019.
And that’s not just owed to Christopher Nolan’s gargantuan “The Odyssey,” which has grossed a staggering $346 million in its first week of release — 54% ahead of “Oppenheimer” at the same point.
Yes, the Matt Damon mythology epic is top dog in terms of buzz. But this year, there has been a steady and varied offering of box-office hits: Dramas and comedies, biopics and animated family fare, originals and IP, science fiction and period romance, Davids and Goliaths.
Movies — creative and smart ones — are making money again and have wrestled back the conversation.
There is an unshakable feeling that you’re the odd man out if you miss “Obsession,” the $750,000 independent horror flick directed by a 26-year-old that’s grossed $443 million.
Everybody was talking about the mind-blowing twist of “The Drama” ($132 million) with Zendaya and Robert Pattinson.
Critics spewed venom at “Michael,” the Michael Jackson biopic, but it sold $1 billion worth of tickets — the most ever for that genre. Controversy is exciting, too.
There are other winners: Emerald Fennell’s sexy and much-debated “Wuthering Heights” ($241 million), the out-of-nowhere space-exploration phenom “Project Hail Mary” ($683 million) and A24’s Gen. Z game-changer “Backrooms” ($387 million).
That list has something for everyone.
You know what doesn’t anymore? TV. What exactly is on TV — network, cable, streaming, whatever — that’s making waves, riling people up or getting them to cancel their evening plans?
Practically nothing. Peak TV is a hazy memory. Ninety-eight percent of the inventory is background noise at best.
There are relative successes, of course, but none are enormous or breaking through into the wider consciousness.
The most popular network series is “Tracker” on CBS. Who cares?
There’s Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” followup “Dutton Ranch,” which is so huge no one ever mentions it. “The Pitt” has scratched the audience’s itch by reverting back to “ER” and “24.” And, for the pinky-out set, there was Ryan Murphy’s miniseries “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.” So lovely and so over.
“House of the Dragon” gets strong numbers for HBO, though not nearly on the level of the final seasons of “Game of Thrones.” And it’s hardly a talker, perhaps because the whole story’s outcome is a Google search away.
When the Emmy nominations dropped earlier this month, the world cared about them even less than usual. Which is awfully hard to do. The best dramas are “Your Friends & Neighbors,” “Paradise” and “The Diplomat”?
One of the hottest shows of the year, “Heated Rivalry,” wasn’t nominated because no American company played a part in making it.
Think about that. One of the biggest new series of the year was a low-budget gay hockey romance from Canada.
For a while, it seemed like cheaper reality TV was going to take the reins. Yet the number of unscripted shows on air has dropped by a third since 2022, according to Luminate, and is continuing to fall precipitously. There’s another dying trend.
By comparison, the next five months of movies are a shining beacon of hope.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” which will gross a guaranteed $1 billion plus, hits theaters next weekend. And “Dune: Part Three” and “Avengers: Doomsday” open on the very same day in December.
And it’s not all franchise tentpoles.There’s work by major-draw auteurs. Films from Alejandro Iñárritu (“The Revenant”), Martin McDonagh (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) and Zach Cregger (“Weapons”) are coming in the fall.
Heck, even DC Studios’ psychological horror attempt “Clayface” looks pretty good.
Five years ago, Nicole Kidman got poked fun at for her dreamy, viral AMC ad that played in front of the chain’s movies.
“We come to his place for magic,” went her optimistic opening line.
She was right.
Meanwhile, we come to TV for news and sports.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
