Sony is following in the footsteps of 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers’ film division and skipping San Diego Comic-Con International this year. Sony is dropping one of the most anticipated movies of the year next week, ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home‘ (co-produced with Disney) but it doesn’t look like the studio will be taking advantage of this huge assemblage to plug its upcoming projects, some of which could probably use the boost.
One film that probably doesn’t need the help is this winter’s ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ sequel, which appears to be named ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’. ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ is the highest-grossing theatrical movie ever from Sony. Then again, it will be going head-to-head with ‘Star Wars: Skywalker Rises’, so repeat success may not be guaranteed.
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Another film that doesn’t really need help is Quentin Tarantino’s most star-studded project ever, ‘Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood’, which opens the weekend after SDCC.
But ‘Zombieland 2: Double Tap’, ‘Charlie’s Angels’, ‘The Grudge’, ‘Bloodshot’, ‘Fantasy Island’, and next year’s Spider-Verse flick, ‘Morbius’ could probably benefit from the extra publicity. Of course, there is the possibility that the studio wasn’t able to put anything together in time to promote them.
‘Zombieland’ has grown into a cult classic over the years, but it’s been 10 years since the first movie, so an SDCC presence could have helped rekindle interest for ‘Double Tap’ which opens on October 18. The studio just dropped the trailer for ‘Charlie’s Angels’ (and, it looks like a lot of fun!), but this and ‘Fantasy Island’ are based on shows from the 1970s-80s that many people have never seen. And while the 2000 ‘Charlie’s Angels’ theatrical film, directed by McG was a hit, its sequel, ‘Full Throttle’ bombed and left a bad taste in the mouths of the public. But that was almost two decades ago. Many young people have probably never even seen THOSE.
‘The Grudge’ is a reboot of an older horror franchise. Sometimes that works. Sometimes it doesn’t. This would have been a good opportunity to remind people why they should care. ‘Bloodshot’ stars Vin Diesel, but as has been demonstrated numerous times in the past, he isn’t enough to sell a movie. ‘Bloodshot’ might be another comic book movie, but like ‘Hellboy’ isn’t from DC or Marvel, so… this one needs all the help it can get.
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‘Morbius’ doesn’t open until next July, but just because this is inspired by a character from the ‘Spider-Man’ comics doesn’t mean that it’s going to do as well as ‘Venom’ last year. Just for starters, in terms of comic book popularity, Morbius the Living Vampire is no Venom.
But presumably, Sony had its reasons. And there’s always next year! Are you bummed that there won’t be a presence at SDCC for any of these projects?
Source: Deadline
