There wasn’t all that much to discuss this weekend beyond the circumstances of Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17 opening with just $19 million in North America. But since we have a whole show to fill, Brandon Peters (veteran podcaster and film pundit and longtime friend of Scott Mendelson) stopped in to sort through the carnage. Among other topics are…- Robert Pattinson’s limited drawing power- The challenges of getting moviegoers to take a chance on a movie at the theatrical level that isn’t pre-sold, pre-digested or based on something they liked- A COVID-era pattern of Warner Bros. being expected to “save” the box office with films like Tenet and In the Heights that were never supposed to be all-consuming mega-tentpoles- Nostalgia for late 2010/early 2011 successful studio programmers like Lincoln Lawyer, Source Code, The Town and The Social Network- Big Oscar bumps for Anora and No Other Land- And More!

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