Doing What Only a 'Spider-Man' Can

Pardon the delay, but it was worth the wait. I won’t spend too much time on a recap, since it’s pretty much what you’d expect. Somehow, Chrissi Michael returned, and the occasion was Will Gluck’s attempt to replicate his lightning-in-a-bottle magic of Sony’s ‘Anyone But You’ with Universal’s (very) high-concept One Night Only. Alas, watching Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell cosplay Much Ado About Nothing seems to have been more appealing than watching Monica Barbaro and Callem Turner try to find love and romance in the time of The Handmaid’s Tale. Yes, there is much discussion about how One Night Only was both a movie we don’t need right now and failed to impress compared to titles like Amazon’s Off Campus, Netflix’s Voicemails from Isabelle, Magnolia’s I Want Your Sex, and A24’s The Invite. On the plus side, Universal’s The Odyssey is now Chris Nolan’s biggest global grosser ever, while Sony’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day is legging out closer to Ant-Man and the Wasp than Black Widow. Will each of us open the show by picking our favorite moments from a Spider-Man movie? Well, to quote everyone’s favorite deleted scene from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, isn’t that the question of the day?Oh, and we have thrown our Box Office Podcast hats into the ring for contention to be among the onstage panels chosen for next year’s SXSW Film Festival. SXSW chooses which panels actually make it to the festival based on which ones get the most online support. So, please do click on this link to go to our SXSW PanelPicker page and give us a heart. Hopefully we’ll be able to bring some of that “Rango magic” and/or “Beatrice at Dinner whimsy” to Austin, TX, at SXSW 2027 next March! If selected, I, Scott Mendelson, promise to go full Silver Shamrock!Recommended Reading/Listening… * Scott Mendelson discussed the “coincidental” timing of Netflix’s announcement that its Charlie Vs. the Chocolate Factory would be going to theaters next year amid a slew of underwhelming debuts for its summer slate of original movies.* Jeremy Fuster discusses the possible civil war (of words, natch) among theater chains and exhibitors over whether to support (or even condone) David Ellison’s attempt to buy Warner Bros. barely a year after his Skydance bought Paramount.* Lisa Laman dug into what films performed best in August of 2006.* Ryan Scott’s kinda-sorta “Tales from the Box Office” discussed how Hell or High Water turned Taylor Sheridan into a bankable name and, eventually, maybe the most powerful showrunner of the streaming era.* Max Deering offers a gameplay preview of Wych Elm Games’ upcoming horror video game Silver Pines. * Chrissi Michael offers a slightly skewed take on the whole “let people enjoy this” discourse, including a dozen or so of her most prized (my words, not hers) “comfort watch” movies.If you like what you hear…Please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected].* Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News* Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap* Lisa Laman - Land of the Nerds, Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Autostraddle* Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm, Fangoria and Inverse* Max Deering - Fangoria and Action For Everyone* Chrissi Michael - c(ine)m(a) studies Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe