Netflix’s The Old Guard keeps summer blockbuster alive

It’s been a weird summer for movies. Between the end of April and July, it was supposed to be dominated by the superheroes of Marvel and DC, the exaggerated action of Fast and Furious franchise and the inscrutable drama of Christopher Nolan Beginning, but the closings of theaters due to the pandemic stopped all that. But amid this cinematic stalemate, a breath of fresh air burst for anyone looking for a classic Hollywood summer box office hit: The old guard. It’s the right popcorn movie we’ve been missing.

The old guard, released on Netflix, tick each box for a summer hit. The story of a group of immortal warriors doing good over the centuries is drawn from the pages of a popular comic book series. The cast, directed by Mad Max: Fury Road and Atomic blonde Star Charlize Theron (and a refreshingly diverse group of co-stars) are timeless heroes fighting for humanity for millennia, promising incredible action from the jump. It’s a fast-paced adventure filled with thrilling sights and peppered with action scenes from Theron and her friends hitting the nefarious thugs, practically a prerequisite for modern success. And let’s not forget the evil big pharmaceutical company that wants to harness the powers of the immortal for profit, a story that could have been drawn from a X Men movie.

Their such a summer action movie it’s easy to imagine a world where The old guard It fights for a top spot at the box office, instead of Netflix’s streaming charts. It’s not just a good, fun movie rated at a curve compared to the dearth of new releases, it’s a great action movie, period.

The old guard However, it was not the only major film to debut this weekend outside of theaters.

Maybe you were hungry for a romantic comedy and turned to Hulu’s smart whip Palm springs, a new twist on the Groundhog Day stage with a couple of charismatic clues. Or maybe you wanted a more serious drama, in which case you could have put Apple TV Plus’ Greyhound.

Image: Hulu

It’s no coincidence that these streaming movies start to look a lot like summer blockbusters – some of them were just for that. Greyhound It was originally released in theaters before the pandemic hit, and Sony sold the rights to Apple to try to save its investment. Palm springs He also made his way to the big screen, until Hulu bought the rights as the most expensive movie ever bought at Sundance. AND The old guard Although it’s almost always slated as a Netflix exclusive, it was produced by Skydance Media, the same successful factory behind a list of items to please popcorn, including the recent one. Mission Impossible, Jack reacherand Terminator Films.

The pandemic and the subsequent closure of theaters have created a perfect storm for the success of the broadcast. Almost everyone is trapped inside, and most of the movies with the highest box-office potential are trapped in a strange limbo – they’re too big to dismiss with an internet release, so the only move is to keep pushing them into the future nebula where things are “back to normal”. That leaves an audience hungry for Hollywood shows like The old guard and Unlike closed theaters, Netflix is ​​always open for business.

In that void, movies like The old guard they don’t just keep the spirit of summer blockbuster alive. At a time when going to a theater with a crowd of people seems impossible to imagine, it’s proof that traditional movies could not only survive if they skip theaters, but could even prosper with a home premiere. It’s too early to say what the new normal will look like when all the dust settles, but the balance between theatrical releases and broadcast titles will be very different every time theaters reopen.

This last weekend is probably the closest we will get to a “normal” summer weekend in a multiplex in 2020. And it’s possibly a glimpse into what the future holds for major movies as the pandemic continues to change. the way we relate to institutions like cinema. theaters and streaming services alike. But in a year with nowhere to go, The old guard It’s the summer blockbuster that might not depend on a movie theater at all.