Yes, it’s a little odd to spend the majority of our conversation discussing a movie that barely topped $2 million over the Fri-Mon Labor Day box office, but them’s the breaks. After all, when Hollywood’s biggest new release is a 50th anniversary reissue of Jaws, well… we can only salute Weapons so many times.

Anyway, Luke Y. Thompson and Michelle Kisner, both affirmed B-movie experts, offer their thoughts on the extent to which this specific (comparatively kinder and/or gentler) Toxie makes sense in terms of the property and what’s popular in 2025.

Yes, there is some chatter about the shark movie — and how a handful of very successful rereleases tie into a desire for tangible experiences and the kids’ genuine interest in movie theaters *because* it gets them off of their smart phones for 2-3 hours.

We briefly wonder out loud whether Austin Butler is slowly building his brand as an old-school (smaller budgets, fewer expectations, etc.) butts-in-seats leading man, and lightly debate whether The Roses is “thing good” (a remake that isn’t selling itself as a remake) or “thing bad” (still a remake that went out as a Searchlight flick instead of as a 20th Century Studios release).

And, yes, we again note the “Occam’s Razor” notion of the box office being below even last summer (especially for in-season newbies) because there aren’t enough movies and too many of those films are IP-for-IP’s sake revamps aimed at folks my age. When Netflix is getting KPop Demon Hunters and movie theaters are getting This is Spinal Tap II, well, that’s your problem right there.

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