Coming soon to theaters near you

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Today is Friday, October 14th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Paul Butler.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: a preview of what you can expect in theaters this fall and winter. Here’s arts and media editor Collin Garbarino.

COLLIN GARBARINO: Movie theaters usually experience a little lull between the summer blockbusters and the holiday season, but this year it’s worse than usual. The last three months have seen paltry box office sales. There just hasn’t been much worth watching.

But Hollywood hopes the crowds start coming back to see a slate of high-profile films featuring familiar faces and familiar stories.

Georgia: Let’s talk gameplan. As much as this will pain us both, we have to call a truce to make this work.

David: We have to be in lock step.

Georgia: No meanness.

David: Arguing.

Georgia: We speak as one.

David: Exactly right.

Next weekend Ticket to Paradise opens. And Universal Pictures hopes it will scratch our itch for nostalgia. Rom-com veterans George Clooney and Julia Roberts play a divorced couple who join forces to convince their daughter to abandon her plans to marry what they see as an ill-suited match.

Georgia: When do we start?

David: Right after we see Lily. We tell her the wedding is off and bring her home.

Georgia: You know whenever we say don’t to Lily, she just hears do. I say we go in, 100 percent there for her, in all ways. Just supportive and loving, and that’s how we trick her into dumping Mr. Seaweed.

David: That’s interesting. Now, I’m thinking about a Trojan Horse sort of thing. We make her think we’re okay with the wedding, and once we’re in, we get her to end it herself.

Georgia: That’s literally what I just said.

David: I don’t remember anything about a Trojan Horse.

And no movie season would be complete without at least a couple of superhero films, right?

Also opening next weekend is DC comics, Black Adam.

Dr. Fate: Black Adam. What have your powers ever given to you? Nothing but heartache.

Black Adam stars Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam—a five-thousand-year-old Egyptian with almost limitless superpowers. He’s also a little cranky.

The movie also introduces the Justice Society of America, and we’ll see Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate. Black Adam is usually an enemy of the comic book hero Shazam, who got his own movie in 2019. But don’t expect to see the two superhumans duke it out anytime soon. DC wants to let Johnson do his thing a while before making a crossover film.

Black Adam: Now I kneel before no one.

If anything can pull the box office out of its slump, it will be audiences’ returning to the African nation of Wakanda on November 11th for Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

The original movie is No. 6 in all-time domestic box-office revenue. It starred Chadwick Boseman as Prince T’Challa, the Black Panther. But Boseman died of colon cancer in 2020. Marvel decided not to recast the role of T’Challa, instead letting the character die with Boseman. In an interview on the Tonight Show Boseman’s co-star Letitia Wright talks about what it was like to make the sequel without him.

Letitia Wright: I feel, for me, it’s a beautiful contribution to Chadwick’s legacy. I feel like it’s a love letter to him. I know every day that I went on set, I focused my energy on—on each scene to dedicate it to him. I wanted to dedicate excellence to this film so that he could be proud.

Besides exploring the aftermath of T’Challa’s death, Wakanda Forever will introduce the antihero Namor, the Sub-Mariner and his kingdom under the sea.

Also next month, Disney releases its new animated feature Strange World.

The movie follows the adventures of a father, son, and grandfather who brave the perils of a colorful, yet dangerous, land of beauty and weirdness.

President: Our entire world is in grave danger. I need you to come with me on an expedition.

Searcher Clade: I’m not my father. He was the explorer.

President: I know you were just a kid when he went missing, but now you’re all we got.

It’s nice the movie’s not a sequel or reboot of something we’ve seen before. But families will likely want to steer clear of Strange World. This movie will feature Disney’s first openly gay teen romance. Earlier this summer Lightyear tanked at the box office after word got out it featured a lesbian kiss. We’ll wait and see if Strange World experiences similar results.

And speaking of strange worlds, Avatar: The Way of Water debuts December 16th.

The original Avatar came out way back in 2009, and it still holds the record for worldwide box office revenue at almost three billion dollars. This sequel was supposed to show up in 2014, but director James Cameron kept delaying the film until he could get it just right. Supposedly, we’re supposed to get an Avatar movie every two years until 2028. I won’t hold my breath.

Speaker: I Know one thing. Wherever we go… This family… Is our fortress.

So far, the biggest movie of 2022 has been Top Gun: Maverick. And if you’re looking for more aerial action, you might be interested in Devotion which arrives in theaters November 23rd. It’s based on a true story about two naval aviators during the Korean War. One’s black, and one’s white.

Tom Hudner: What do you want me to do?

Brown: Just be my wingman.

Hollywood’s banking on fantastic superpowers to bring back the box office, but I’m looking forward to this real story about men of courage who exemplified what loyalty looks like when you never leave your wingman.

I’m Collin Garbarino.

BUTLER: If you’d like to get more reviews and entertainment news from Collin, you can subscribe to his weekly newsletter called Muse at wng.org/newsletters.

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