Ok, after much hemming and hawing, we are just going to go ahead and have a boxoffice contest for winter. With the recent success of Shang-Chi ($94 mil Labor Day weekend), it appears moviegoers are somewhat returning to theaters and Hollywood is -- at least for now -- ready to actually release significant films into theaters once again.

But, here is the caveat... if you pick a film that gets moved off our schedule then that is just your loss. You will not get a re-pick. There are certainly some films that have moved around a lot and would seem to be more likely to move again than other films. Top Gun: Maverick (which seemed like it might be a part of our contest a few weeks ago) is now on its 7th different release date (currently May 27th of 2022). Venom 2 and No Time to Die have each had like 4 or 5 release dates. It feels like some studios are quicker to move films than others. Disney and Warner have been pretty firm in their dates. Maybe that makes a Disney/Warner release a little more attractive. I dunno, you each need to decide.

Anyway, for folks who have not done this before, you are attempting to pick the 5 films that will generate the most domestic (not international!!) boxoffice during the winter season. We are defining the season as October 1 (I want us to have a chance to pick Venom) to Feb 28th. You can pick any film released in that time frame. Yes, that is a long time, but it will give you a lot of interesting films to pick from. We will determine the winner based on boxoffice receipts from October 1 through March 27th. If we have not formally declared the winners before March 27th, the contest will end at that time. Please make sure you pick 5 movies. You will get no extra credit for picking only 4 and you will be disqualified if you pick 6.

Here is the list of top contenders, ordered by release date:
Venom: Let There Be Carnage - Oct 1
James Bond: No Time to Die - Oct 8
Dune - Oct 22
Eternals - Nov 5
Ghostbusters: Afterlife - Nov 19
Encanto - Nov 24
Spider-man: No Way Home - Dec 17
Sing 2 - Dec 22
Matrix: Resurrections - Dec 22
Morbius - Jan 28
Uncharted - Feb 18

I know that is fewer films than usual, but it feels like those are the top contenders. However, in addition to those films, you should feel free to go "off the board" and select "other." This would mean that if any other film cracks the top 5, then you would be a winner. You need not name the film you are picking for "other." That is a change from past years but one that I think is worth making this time around. Here are some of the films that could be good "other" contenders:
The Many Saints of Newark - Oct 1
Halloween Kills - Oct 15
King Richard - Nov 19
House of Gucci - Nov 24
West Side Story - Dec 10
The King's Man - Dec 22
Moonfall - Feb 4

You must turn in your vote via the poll at the top of this thread by Wed Sept 29. I urge folks to post their picks and the rationale behind them as well. We always have a fun discussion. Happy voting!!

-Jason "I really hope we do not look back on this in a couple months and say, 'wow, only 4 of those films got released' but it is entirely possible" Evans