Hollywood Movies Come Back in 2021, But Will It Last?

Goodbye, 2021.

A year ago we reported about the "strong" opening of the movie Wonder Woman 1984. That movie received much praise and made about $17 million on its opening weekend. Sounds small for a Hollywood production, right? But in January 2021, it was considered quite a hit.

So much was still closed.

Twelve months later, the new coronavirus continues to create big problems for moviemaking, live theater and much more in the world of arts and culture. But, the industry also saw major recovery in 2021.

Experts say the future looks good, especially for film and live music.

The success of the Marvel¹ Universe film Spider-Man: No Way Home is a hopeful sign, says Associated Press entertainment reporter Lindsey Bahr.

The latest in the Spiderman series, the movie was just released December 17. Theatergoers around the world have since spent a total of more than $1 billion dollars to see the film.

"The movie theater is probably going to come roaring back because we have a lot of really, really massive² movies," Bahr said, naming projects including Avatar 2; Top Gun 2 and Black Panther 2.

"Hollywood is certainly delivering their big guns or are planning to in 2022," she added.

Experts also expect live music shows to be very popular this year.

Steve Baltin is a podcaster and arts reporter for Forbes magazine. He said the two most interesting tours, or series of performances, of 2022 will be from music groups Rage Against the Machine and My Chemical Romance³.

Rage Against the Machine had planned to tour in 2020 but postponed⁴ the shows because of the pandemic. Now the band is set to launch the tour in the spring of 2022 starting in El Paso, Texas.

But the public's interest in My Chemical Romance's tour is surprising, Baltin said. He compared the two bands.

"They (Rage Against the Machine) were already headlining festivals and arenas⁶. My Chemical Romance never reached that point. They sold out 70,000 tickets in L.A.," he said.

But Baltin suggests spending your money on another performance for a better experience.

"If there's one show in 2022 that you would like, sell a kidney⁷ to be at, it's Elton John's final North American show at Dodger⁸ Stadium, in November of 2022. So, when you see something like that, that is just one of those shows that 25, 50 years from now, you're going to tell everybody you were at," he said.

The #EltonFarewellTour is to open in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 22.

Of course, as the Omicron version of the new coronavirus continues to spread, film and music fans can only wait and hope the "show will go on" in the new year.

Words in This Story

deliver –n. to provide or produce something that you said you would

festival –n. a special time or event when people gather to celebrate something

arena⁵ –n. a building for sports and other forms of entertainment that has a large central area surrounded by seats

1 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

2 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。

3 romance   

n.恋爱关系，浪漫气氛，爱情小说，传奇

参考例句：

• She wrote a romance about an artist's life in Tokyo.她写了一个关于一位艺术家在东京生活的浪漫故事。
• They tried to rekindle the flames of romance.他们试图重燃爱火。

4 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

5 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

6 arenas   

表演场地( arena的名词复数 )； 竞技场； 活动或斗争的场所或场面； 圆形运动场

参考例句：

• Demolition derbies are large-scale automobile rodeos that take place in big arenas. 撞车比赛指的是在很大的竞技场上举行的大型汽车驾驶技术表演。
• Are there areas of privacy in the most public of arenas? 在绝大部分公开的场合中存在需要保护隐私的领域吗？

7 kidney   

n.肾，腰子，类型

参考例句：

• Several of the patients had received kidney transplant.病人中有几位已接受了肾移植手术。
• The operation to transplant a kidney is now fairly routine.肾脏移植手术如今已相当常见。

8 dodger   

n.躲避者；躲闪者；广告单

参考例句：

• They are tax dodgers who hide their interest earnings.他们是隐瞒利息收入的逃税者。
• Make sure she pays her share she's a bit of a dodger.她自己的一份一定要她付清--她可是有点能赖就赖。