And what about the horror thriller “The Invisible Man,” one of the most mercilessly tense films I've seen in the last decade? It was released just before the shutdown and grossed $144 million worldwide, an astonishing figure for a mid-budget genre film whose biggest star was Elisabeth Moss. Who knows how much it would have made if it had been released six months earlier or two years later? What I do know is that if they brought it to theaters again, she would see it again and bring friends.
Among films that never or barely opened in theaters, Spike Lee's Vietnam epic “Da 5 Bloods,” about old war buddies who return to the jungle in search of buried treasure, felt huge even on the TV screen. a laptop with headphones that provided sound. I imagine it would feel absolutely gigantic in a decent-sized movie theater (it didn't get many screenings, except as part of Netflix's bid for awards that the film unfortunately didn't win). Max Barbakow's “Palm Springs” Groundhog Day-type comic parable, starring Andy Samberg, is another that looks and moves like a real movie and would work very well in the right setting. “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” is another film I would like to see return to theaters. Netflix gave it its usual perfunctory release and then pulled it. I saw it at a local multiplex and thought it played very well in large format. It did so well in a short window that I think the streamer left money on the table by not allowing a longer stay.
As for the box office, two epic musicals from that period, John M. Chu's adaptation “In the Heights” and Steven Spielberg's version of “West Side Story,” were essentially trying to win a race with their ankles tied. Musicals are a tough sell even without a plague. The theatrical footprints of these films were drastically reduced by Covid-19 fears, which reduced overall attendance and did not produce a genuine hit until the release of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” in December 2021 forced the viewers to return to theaters again. to feel like they were part of another live-action MCU event (possibly the last really important one after “Endgame”). I put on a mask and went to see both films at (sparsely attended) screenings and loved them, especially “West Side Story,” one of Spielberg's best-directed films, which is really saying something.
There are so many movies from the early period of the pandemic that could and possibly should return to theaters. I've listed a few here. What are yours?
