Scarlett Johansson has a movie coming out later this summer, Lucy, and it looks pretty cool. It was originally slated to come out on August 8th, which made a lot of sense. The movie looks entertaining, if not actually good, and those kinds of softy action films usually do pretty well in the slightly less competitive month of August. However, Guardians of the Galaxy is opening on August 1st. So what, you say? Well, no matter what domestic disputes they may be having, Marvel is still sh*tty scary and no one wants a piece of their action. Guardians is expected to carry strong in its second week, a scary proposition for a comparatively “small” film like Lucy.
So Lucy moved up, to July 25th. Why am I pinning the blame on Guardians and not, say, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which also opens on August 8th? Because TMNT is clearly being marketed to children. I’ve heard there’s a debate going on whether or not to try to cut it down to a PG rating to further target the kiddie market. The fact that TMNT is even considering that move means that they, too, are scared of Guardians and don’t want to directly challenge its market share.
Tracking for August releases isn’t available yet, but the data is compiling and Guardians has been gathering a lot of steam based on positive trailer reactions and growing awareness of nutball characters like Rocket Raccoon and Groot. And also growing awareness of Chris Pratt. He’s going to be huge. Have I mentioned that lately? Chris Pratt is going to be huge. And Lucy stands a better chance facing off against The Rock’s Hercules in July than staring down Chris Pratt and the Guardians in August.
