This is your weekly digest for recent film industry news that caught my attention for the week of 07.13.2026.
This Past Weekend In New Movies
The live-action remake of Moana was supposed to be Disney’s big cash cow of the latest weekend, adding to the financial success of Toy Story 5. Unfortunately for Disney, and somewhat to my surprise, Moana opened to a little under a hundred million worldwide. That puts it on track to severely underperform Disney’s hopes that it could replicate what Moana 2 did two years ago when that film grossed over a billion dollars. Is this a sign of live-action remake fatigue? The signs are mixed, given that the live-action Lilo & Stitch and How To Train Your Dragon remakes made plenty of bank last year. My personal take is that remaking a film that was released just ten years ago, and only two years after the less well-received sequel, made the nostalgia bait for Gen Z audiences ineffective this time around. The film received negative reviews from critics, earning just 34% on Rotten Tomatoes and a lowly 41 on Metacritic. Audiences ended up much more positive but still more divided. Casual moviegoers gave it a 91% on the Popcornmeter and an A- CinemaScore, but among sites with more cinephile-heavy user bases it managed only an okay-ish 3.3 on Letterboxd and a lowly 5.9 on IMDb. I side more with the critics here, and you can read my C+ review of the film.
Another major release this past weekend was Evil Dead Burn, and it also failed to hit that nostalgia high at the box office. The film opened to underperforming numbers and struggled to reach the respectable opening weekend that its predecessor, Evil Dead Rise, enjoyed. The movie received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, earning a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 55 on Metacritic. The verdict from audiences was more positive, but not by much, as it scored an 82% on the Popcornmeter, a 3.5 on Letterboxd, a 6.8 on IMDb, and a B CinemaScore. Mixed is probably the best way to describe how I felt about this one, and you can read my C+ review of the first film in the franchise that left me wanting more. With Evil Dead Wrath up next, Warner Brothers is going to have some concerns if audiences are starting to tune this franchise out.
Meanwhile, The Invite finally opened wide after technically releasing two weeks ago, and we can finally take a look at some audience scores. They are pretty damn good so far. The film holds an 89% on the Popcornmeter, a 4.1 on Letterboxd, and a 7.9 on IMDb. The critical scores are holding strong as well, with a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 82 on Metacritic. I had my trepidations going in, but this turned out to be the funniest film of the year for me so far and a contender to land among my favorites of the year. You can read my A- review of the film.
I also wanted to quickly highlight a newly released movie from this past weekend that wasn’t on my radar last week in the zany comedy Gail Daughtry And The Celebrity Sex Pass. Critics gave it solid-if-unspectacular reviews, with a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 66 on Metacritic. Audiences seem to be in roughly the same camp, as it currently holds a 3.3 on Letterboxd and a 6.8 on IMDb. I’m planning to catch this one sooner rather than later, though I am a bit concerned. The premise, an engaged woman looking to have a one-night stand with Jon Hamm as revenge for her fiancé getting to use his celebrity sex pass, combined with my recent run-ins with Zoey Deutch performances in movies like this, makes me think I may not vibe with it. Still, we’ll see.
This Next Weekend In New Movies
The biggest, and really the only, movie of note releasing this upcoming weekend is The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to Oppenheimer that might arguably be the objective film event of the year. The film is tracking to make major bank at the box office and has already received rave first reactions. I’ll be catching it at a press screening on the evening this digest is published. It’s my second most anticipated film of the year, behind only Godzilla Minus Zero. Barring a major surprise, The Odyssey should dominate the box office for at least the next two weeks, as it will have a lock on IMAX screens and there are no major releases arriving the weekend after its debut.
Recent Film Industry News That Caught My Attention
The Toronto International Film Festival revealed this past week that Sian Heder’s follow-up to the Best Picture winning CODA, Being Huemann, will serve as the festival’s opening night film. I’ve had it as a bubble contender in my recent Oscar projections, but this is a bit of a red flag for me in its awards chances. Opening night films at TIFF don’t tend to receive much awards love, with The Boy And The Heron in 2023 being one of the rare exceptions after going on to win Animated Feature. We also learned that TIFF will host the world premiere of Prima Facie, which could be a major acting Oscar vehicle for Cynthia Erivo. With TIFF now officially beginning its slate rollout, it’s another reminder that the first stage of awards season campaigning is right around the corner.
Warner Brothers is employing an interesting strategy with its two biggest awards contenders. The studio held major trailer reveal events for both Dune: Part Three and Digger, with the former receiving a large-scale IMAX event followed by a Q&A that was streamed worldwide. Meanwhile, the Digger trailer was unveiled on the big screen for critics and influencers in Los Angeles, with Tom Cruise in attendance. It’s a fascinating approach to building hype around both films and making sure nobody forgets about Warner Brothers’ horses in the race during The Odyssey week.
Speaking of awards season strategies, Focus Features made a major acquisition by picking up Elsinore, the Andrew Scott-starring film about Scottish actor Ian Charleson’s revered performance as Hamlet during the final weeks of his life as he was dying from AIDS. The film has reportedly been testing through the roof, and Scott has increasingly been discussed as Tom Cruise’s biggest threat in the Best Actor race. Focus acquiring Elsinore on top of already having Sense And Sensibility makes me wonder about the odds of Obsession making it into Best Picture. If these two fall festival titles break big, they could easily become a higher priority for the studio than the horror film it never originally planned to campaign as a major contender.
Meanwhile, Neon made waves by announcing its acquisition of Artificial, Luca Guadagnino’s film about AI and tech billionaires. Interestingly, the studio is not planning a major festival run for the film. There has been speculation about a secret New York Film Festival premiere, but regardless, this news, combined with whispers that some studios are feeling more mixed and less confident about the movie than Neon, continues to leave me skeptical about whether it’s the awards contender that some believe it is.
What Else Is On My Mind
We are coming up on the semifinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted by the North American countries. As I stated before, I’m not going to be performative and pretend to be a huge Soccer fan or act like I’m deeply invested in who wins this thing. That said, I was at a buddy’s house this past weekend, and he had the Quarterfinal matches on. The people at the small party he was hosting were pretty invested, and I even ended up sticking around to watch the entire Argentina versus Switzerland match.
I also found myself in the unusual position of rooting against my own country. The United States struck a clearly corrupt deal with FIFA to get a suspended player reinstated right before its Quarterfinal match against Belgium, and I got a huge kick out of watching the Belgians pull off the upset. We absolutely cheated, and we absolutely deserved to lose. As I’ve said before, I’m not much for patriotism these days, which probably made it easier for me to enjoy Belgium knocking us out. Regardless, blatant cheating and corruption like that will always make me instantly turn against a team.
