15 Predictions For Next Summer's Biggest Movies
10. Fast 8 Is The Worst Entry Since The Fourth...But The Summer's Most Successful Movie
The Prediction: Audience and critical goodwill isn't quite so strong after a string of three surprisingly strong Fast and the Furious movies, and now that the Paul Walker farewell is done with, expect the law of diminishing returns to kick in somewhat...at least in terms of reviews.
It'll get mixed notices, but still blow up the box office and end up as next summer's highest-grossing movie, likely pulling in around $1.1-1.2 billion worldwide.
Why It Might Not Happen: The unlikely success of the Fast franchise could easily continue with its latest installment, which boasts the promising additions of Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren alongside rock solid director F. Gary Gray, so the critics may not turn on it just yet.
While it's fair to say that Paul Walker's death contributed significantly to Furious 7 pulling in a monstrous $1.516 billion worldwide, don't forget that these films are basically superhero movies at this point, and with their multi-cultural cast and globe-trotting action, appeal to a huge array of audiences.
The odds of this one cracking less than $1 billion are very low, and without an Avengers, Star Wars or Jurassic Park movie to go up against, it's probably got a clear run to dominate the summer.