April 12th, 2021

This week on Movie Night Masters it's time to lay down some bets for 2021: Which movie is the next big thing, hot on the heels of Godzilla vs. Kong? Will anyone move up into May for a big swing at the box-office pie (looking at you Ghostbusters Afterlife). There are movies slated for April and May that will bring the crowds in but the slate is still a little limited. We will look at the locks and toss out some wishlist picks to bump up after being moved aside in 2020.
Heading back to theatres, although some of us have been lucky enough to keep our toe in that water thanks to a variety of options, it is clear that the appetite for options and fun, entertaining blockbusters is as big as ever. Given the past year, one could even argue that now more than ever (and in the next six months as more people get vaccinated) the demand could grow even more. Theatres aren't dead but the product being sold has to improve, right alongside the experience of going out. Maybe it is a creative night of curating movies and the experience or subscription models, VIP access to @WB movies for @hbomax subscribers.
Tossing the opinions out into the void of the Internet - Is there really anything else to do - to start wrapping up The Next Big One week. Two holdover from 2020 and the mouse house's replacement May movie.
A Quiet Place II and Spiral head to theaters in hopes of scares, jumps and continuations of hits being the driver of executives crossing their fingers that audiences will want to go for a ride in a creepy vehicle. For me, I think AQII lands really well with audiences and Spiral is a mild success at best. Although the involvement of Chris Rock is intriguing but are wide audiences looking for a grim, bloody ride from the book of Saw? I could quickly be proven wrong here when simple supply meets demand from new release starved audiences.
Cruella takes the place of Black Widow - now that would be an interesting addition to The Avengers. With nice looking trailers and a huge void at theatres for families as it will already be 2+ months since Raya and the Last Dragon, Cruella rides the supply and demand wave to possibly being the biggest next one up.