Snow gently dusts the eastern coast. The birds remain dormant. Outside, I hear my new heating unit burst to life as the outdoor thermometer displays numbers below freezing. The warm glow of my TV projects an image of John McClane as he bellows that immortal catchphrase. “Yippie kay yay, Motherfucker”. Nope, it sure doesn’t feel like Spring to me.
The weather says winter, yet the studios are already feeding us a sweaty blockbuster frenzy; the kind that usually plays at the idles of Memorial Day all the way through to Labor Day. Yet, we’re only in March!
This is the time when maybe one — or even two — movies are thrown at us with high hopes and massive budgets. I did some research on boxofficemojo.com and learned that many top-tier B-movies had a March debut. There was Lethal Weapon (1987), The Matrix (1999), 300 (2005). All of these films were originals that were strategically placed in the Spring to find a free weekend that was devoid of competition. Apparently, word got out.
Now March seems to be the new May. With movies like Jack the Giant Slayer, GI Joe 2, Oz the Great and Powerful, The Croods, Olympus Has Fallen, it’s an impossibly stacked non-Summer month. It’s all due to the successes of recent films like Alice in Wonderland and The Hunger Games that revealed one single week of Spring Break can put Summer-sized butts in theaters. Now, the month has become so congested that already movies hoping to beat the summer rush are still feeling the sting of tight competition such as Jack the Giant Slayer, which is already being decreed this year’s John Carter (another March release).
Since movie studios are becoming more dependent on blockbusters, there’s fewer months to squeeze in the sheer girth of their money-chasers. So months that were once cinematic dying grounds are now being pegged as boxoffice potential. With March already becoming full, we’re already seeing other dry months pegged as slots for potential hits, such as Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April!) and Robocop (February!!).
The trend points to the end of the Summer blockbuster. It makes sense. My own fair state, NC, has a disjointed schooling system where children are either provided five months of Summer Break — or just two hours. Their schedules are no longer fully aligned. Kids will see films in the hot of one month OR the dire cold of another. Even with Summer, Thanksgiving and Christmas remaining prime movie-going seasons, there’s a lust for slam-bang action that remains during any given Friday evening when work and/or school has all but weighed us down.
Frankly, I’m glad to see that movies are no longer being pegged by the four seasons. In fact, films like last year’s Moonrise Kingdom and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel did well in the midst of blockbuster season. So March is the new May; a precursor of the fun to be had whenever the Northern Hemisphere actually does decide to get warm. Movie theaters have always been a cheap entertainment (compared to most). They also have awesome heating and air conditioning. Both are equally refreshing during an evening with Bond.
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