Growing up in Westchester, California it was normal to regularly see Kleig lights sweeping the sky announcing the premier of a new movie. They are rarely seen these days as the parade of stars arriving is now pretty much the purview of the major Award shows not individual films.
Movies have a calendar. January through March serves the purpose of getting the last of the possible income from the big holiday films that were before sending them off to pay to rent or buy streaming. They are also the realm of straight to streaming/network movie, pretty much the throwaway flicks just to fill time with something/anything new. April through June is when the first of the heavy hitters before the summer blockbusters appear. These days, I like to give a heads up for upcoming movies that have caught my “plan to see in a theater” interest with trailers where available. First up is Baz Luhrman’s documentary “Elvis in Concert”. It looks to make a big splash in IMAX
After leading off with Elvis, there is only one performer bio that could compete for music is “Michael” starring his nephew Jafar as Michael Jackson.
May brings a bit of fun with an all star cast in Emma Thompson and Hugh Jackman. No music just a shepherd who reads mysteries to his sheep who then must use what he taught them in order to solve his murder.
You know there has to be at least one sequel in the mix. Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci return in The Devil Wears Prada 2, in theaters May 1.
June brings two major films before we get inundated with the summer stabs at multi-million dollar status. These two may break the mold in that they have the heft and star power to turn in to possible Oscar contenders later in the year.
Spielberg returns to his science fiction roots on June 12. If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? This summer, the truth belongs to seven billion people. We are coming close to … Disclosure Day.
And finally for the first half of 2026, we have a less than sympathetic view of Robin Hood and what may be Hugh Jackman’s second film that looks as if it might return him to Oscar contender status since he came so close with Les Miserables.
There you have my films on the radar. Are there ones I’ve missed that you hope to see?
