'Avengers,' Deadpool' And 'Solo' Top Fandango's Summer Movie Survey

By Shivam Sharma Last updated Apr 20, 2018

‘Avengers: Infinity War’

I’m only about six hours late on this, but Fandango released another one of their periodic surveys for our perusal. This time, it’s the summer movie season. So sayeth their survey of 4,500 online users, the most anticipated movie of the summer is Teen Titans GO to the M… I’m kidding, it’s obviously Avengers: Infinity War. But beyond that painfully obvious result, let’s see if there is anything else to discern from the survey.

Most Anticipated 2018 Summer Blockbuster:

Avengers: Infinity War (April 27)
Deadpool 2 (May 18)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (May 25)
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (June 22)
The Incredibles 2 (June 15)
Ocean’s 8 (June 8)
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (July 20)
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (July 27)
Sicario: Day of the Soldado (June 29)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 6)

At a glance, this looks like a safe bet for the whole “ten biggest films of the summer” thing, save for maybe swapping Sony’s Sicario: Day of the Soldado for Universal/Comcast Corp.’s Skyscraper. In terms of order, I’d still be surprised if it’s not a glorified three-way race (especially worldwide) between Walt Disney’s Avengers, Universal’s Jurassic World and Disney’s The Incredibles 2, with Disney’s Solo and Fox’s Deadpool 2 playing spoilers. Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc.’s Ocean’s 8 is sure to be a relative biggie thanks to the cast (Sandra Bullock is still huge when she makes a commercial picture), and Universal’s Mamma Mia 2 is a sequel to a flick that made $609 million (more than Iron Man) in the summer of 2008. For me the big question is whether Paramount/Viacom Inc.’s Mission: Impossible Fallout plays like an M:I movie (under-$700 million worldwide) or goes a little bonkers and plays like a new-wave 007 flick (think Spectre‘s $880m worldwide cume despite being… not great).

Most Anticipated Summer Family Film:

The Incredibles 2 (June 15)
Disney’s Christopher Robin (August 3)
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (July 13)
Show Dogs (May 18)
Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (July 27)

What the hell is Show Dogs and why is it ranked above Teen Titans Go! to the Movies? Okay fine, it’s essentially a dog version of Miss Congeniality from the man who directed Beverly Hills Chihuahua, so I guess Deadpool 2 has some competition. Hotel Transylvania 3 is the third chapter in a surprisingly good animated franchise, and it’ll probably be (by default) the second-biggest animated movie of the season if not the year. Christopher Robin will be interesting as it could be a cynical cash-in or it could be like Pete’s Dragon and make us all cry for 105 minutes. And if you monsters let Teen Titans bomb, I will never forgive you. Unless it’s as underwhelming as the Powerpuff Girls movie from 2002, in which case I totally understand.

Fan Favorite Actress:

Sandra Bullock (Ocean’s 8)
Scarlett Johansson (Avengers: Infinity War)
Emilia Clarke (Solo: A Star Wars Story)
Zoe Saldana (Avengers: Infinity War)
Melissa McCarthy (Life of the Party)

Once again, Sandra Bullock is one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, Our Brand is Crisis (the decade’s most politically prescient movie) notwithstanding. McCarthy has two movies out this year, but Life of the Party is the more conventional comic vehicle as opposed to the more dramatic Can You Ever Forgive Me?. I’m sure Life of the Party will earn mixed-negative reviews and earn solid box office, only to be followed by a deluge of “How Melissa McCarthy’s career can be saved!” think pieces. Clarke got in presumably due to the Game of Thrones fan base.

Fan Favorite Actor:

Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool 2)
Chris Pratt (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Avengers: Infinity War)
Denzel Washington (The Equalizer 2)
Robert Downey, Jr. (Avengers: Infinity War)
Chris Evans (Avengers: Infinity War)

Ryan Reynolds is a good actor and (by all accounts) a decent human being, but I am amused that he has been voted “fan favorite actor” considering he has had zero luck drawing folks into theaters outside of the Deadpool franchise. Heck, I might argue that all of these guys, save for Denzel Washington, won due to the characters they play as opposed to any ingrained movie star value. Pratt’s a coin toss on that account, but it’s not like Evans, Downey Jr. or Reynolds have had much luck outside of their iconic franchises. Now that’s as much about Hollywood as it exists today (IP > star power), but I digress.

Rising Female Movie Star

Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Solo: A Star Wars Story)
Lily James (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again)
Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp)
Awkwafina (Ocean’s 8, Crazy Rich Asians)

Lily James has been around for at least three years and has one star-vehicle $500 million+ hit to her credit, so of course she plays “the girl” in Baby Driver and is considered a “rising star” due to her turn as “young Meryl Streep” in Mama Mia. Beetz is aces on Atlanta, and she scores solid laughs in the Deadpool 2 marketing thus far, while the other three women also arguably fit the bill under “due for bigger things.”

Rising Male Movie Star

Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story)
Justice Smith (Solo: A Star Wars Story)
Ashton Sanders (The Equalizer 2)
Lakeith Stanfield (Sorry to Bother You)
Josh Hamilton (Eighth Grade)

Again, Lakeith Stanfield has been “rising” at least since Short Term 12 five years ago, but I digress. Ehrenreich was terrific in Beautiful Creatures and Hail, Caesar, so it will be interesting how he performs essentially doing a riff on a famous actor’s most famous character.

Most Anticipated Live-Action Comedy

The Spy Who Dumped Me (August 3)
Crazy Rich Asians (August 17)
Book Club (May 18)
Tag (June 15)
Life of the Party (May 11)

No surprises here, except that Crazy Rich Asians, which doesn’t even have a trailer yet (coming Monday), is making itself known for obvious reasons. There are actually a decent number of studio comedies this summer, so hopefully more than just one or two of them will qualify as modest hits. I’m still annoyed that you all ignored Rough Night and Snatched last summer, but I’ll try not to be bitter.

Fan Pick for Summer Sleeper

Crazy Rich Asians (August 17)
Sorry to Bother You (July 6)
Blindspotting (July 27)
Eighth Grade (July 13)
Hereditary (June 8)

Again, I’m avoiding info about Hereditary at all costs, and Sorry to Bother You would be thrilled with Dope-level ($16 million domestic) business this summer as it opens against The First Purge and Ant-Man and the Wasp. Eighth Grade feels like one of those “more written about than seen” indies, but we’ll see. And yeah, don’t be shocked if Crazy Rich Asians (starring Constance Wu and based on a popular best-seller) becomes a non-surprising breakout late summer hit. It may not be as “big” as Girls Trip, but it may break out for similar “event movie for certain demos” reasons and it’ll be cheap enough that it doesn’t have to break records to break even.

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