Some of the highlights of the upcoming film calendar are the numerous musicals coming to the screen: the Warner Bros film starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga “Joker: madness for two” (Oct. 4), Netflix’s melodious crime drama “Emilia Perez” (in limited release Nov. 1), Universal’s adaptation of the Broadway musical “Wicked” (November 22), Netflix's princess quest “Spellbound” (November 22), Disney's animated film “Moana 2” (November 27) and a CGI prequel, “Mufasa: The Lion King” (December 20).
And this long list doesn’t even include the music-related films that are trending now on the fall film festival circuit and could still get release dates in the coming months: Pablo Larraín’s Maria Callas biopic “María,” starring Angelina Jolie, Joshua Oppenheimer’s apocalyptic feature “The End,” Anderson .Paak’s South Korea-set “K-Pops” and Rebel Wilson’s directorial debut “The Deb.”
It’s rare for a three-month period to offer so much volume and variety in the musical genre: animated adventures and live-action titles, family-friendly content and more daring, offbeat challenges. Only one is an adaptation of a well-known stage show. (Well, technically, half a stage show, since “Wicked” is an adaptation of a well-known stage show.) It will be divided into two deliveries and the photographs were published a year apart).
Ariana Grande plays Glinda in Universal's “Wicked.”
(Universal Photos)
What’s behind this year’s song-and-dance avalanche? Just as 2002’s “Chicago” became a hit after the 9/11 attacks and 2016’s “La La Land” served as a balm after Trump’s election victory, this format has been particularly popular during or after unprecedented times. In terms of our current landscape (e.g., a global pandemic, a national recession, a pivotal presidential election), this year’s offerings could offer viewers the on-screen resolutions they crave.
“It's no surprise that when we're going through times of social and economic adversity, and it seems like we've fractured beyond repair, the musical can step in with a utopian message of hope and resilience,” says Desirée J. García, associate professor at Dartmouth College and author of “The Musical Movie”. “It is a genre that has lent itself to the purpose of uniting and overcoming any type of division and conflict that exists.”
But just because characters suddenly sing lyrics doesn't mean their stories are all escapist entertainment. “Movies like 'Gold Diggers of 1933' that were a response to the Great Depression, or 'Fiddler on the Roof' “The Cabaret musicals, which premiered in the 1970s, really spoke to the dark side of humanity,” Garcia adds. “These musicals were a real commentary on what the world had become and reflected society in a very real way. And it is precisely the cynicism and disillusionment of those times that the musical has historically contributed to.”
Mufasa, Eshe and Taka, voiced by Aaron Pierre, Thandiwe Newton and Kelvin Harrison Jr., respectively, in Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King.”
(Disney)
Even in the midst of the uncertainty of The current cinematic eraMusicals can still be big hits at the box office. “The Little Mermaid” and “Wonka” were among the highest-grossing films of 2023, with “Wish” and “Trolls Band Together” also grossing more than $200 million worldwide.
“Musicals have the potential to become blockbusters because they tend to appeal to a large number of families,” says Kevin Goetz, founder and chief executive of Screen Engine/ASI, a market research and data analytics firm. Goetz told The Times that while films previously aimed to appeal to all four quadrants (male and female audiences and over and under 25), titles today must appeal to a majority of eight octants: boys, girls, moms, dads, teenage boys, teenage girls, men without parents and women without parents.
“You have a huge success when you appeal to six or seven of those octants,” he says, citing “Wonka,” which grossed $632 million worldwide.'Wonka' was quite charming And because it was released during the holiday season (the perfect time of year for family movies), it became the perfect engagement movie: “Someone in my family really wants to see this, it looks funny enough, I’ll go see it with them.” It was enough to draw in voters from all eight demographics, and as a result, it did extraordinarily well.
Tilda Swinton and Michael Shannon in the apocalyptic musical film “The End.”
(Felix Dickinson/NEON)
Like “Wonka” and “The Little Mermaid” The four musicals scheduled for theatrical release later this year “aren’t huge artistic departures, nothing too bold or unusual,” says Karie Bible, a film historian and box office analyst at Exhibitor Relations. “I don’t think they’re huge risks, simply because they’re all Based on beloved intellectual propertyso they already have a built-in audience.”
The fact that the season’s two relatively original musicals — “Emilia Perez,” the gender-bending Mexican crime film that won the jury prize and best actress awards at Cannes earlier this year, and “Spellbound,” an animated fantasy with an all-star cast and songs by “Tangled” duo Alan Menken and Glenn Slater — are premiering on Netflix makes a certain amount of sense. “They can be very successful on streaming because these platforms have the ability to surgically find the people who will be interested,” Goetz says.
Netflix’s “Spellbound” features original songs by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater.
(Skydance/Netflix animation)
Musical or not, the barrier to conquer the theatre audience It’s still higher than ever. “The world has changed, and what’s happening in moviegoing right now is you’re seeing more people going to a movie theater, but they’re seeing a lot fewer movies,” Goetz says. “If you’re asking people to leave their homes to go to a movie theater and spend upwards of $70 on tickets, concessions and parking for a family of four, you better have an offer that’s meaningful enough that it’s one of the few movies they see a year.”
“The movies that have It has already exceeded expectations this year – including 'Deadpool and Wolverine' 'Tornadoes' and 'It all ends with us' — are real events for their target audiences, things that people rush to the theater to see. Some of these movie musicals, to me, are real events, and there's a huge opportunity to find the right one.”
