Success stories like Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey have Canadians excited about going to the movies again.DUANE COLE/The Globe and Mail
On Thursday, Sept. 3, film editor Barry Hertz answered reader questions on the resurgence of big movies this summer and what to expect ahead of the Toronto International Film Festival.
Success stories like Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey, the once-shelved Coyote vs. Acme and the surprise indie horror success Obsession have Canadians excited about going to the movies again.
Readers asked about the best films of the year so far, the excitement around Imax and the success of Canadian movies.
Success at the theatre and beyond
Was this summer actually better than the past few years for movie theatres? Or are we just seeing stronger hype for certain movies?
Hertz: The numbers don’t lie: this was a standout summer. The season delivered US$4.6-billion at the worldwide box office, which makes it the second-biggest summer ever (not adjusted for inflation). The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day helped immensely, but there were a lot of surprises, too, including Obsession.
What lessons can the film industry learn from the success of this summer? How can we keep people coming back to theatres?
Hertz: I think you have to promise them a mixture of things. Not just sequels and reboots, but also grand spectacle like Nolan’s The Odyssey, which relied upon word of mouth that you NEEDED to see it in a certain format, which drove a sense of FOMO. Plus adult-driven, critically respected fare like The Invite. Variety is key. And keep making Spider-Man films, I suppose, as people seem to really like those.
Inde Navarrette stars as Nikki in the indie hit Obsession.Focus Features/Supplied
What are the prospects for smaller, indie films in a world of blockbusters and big Hollywood sequels? How do they compete for distribution and audiences in the theatres?
Hertz: It’s incredibly challenging, no doubt. It’s not like every year produces a sensation like Obsession, which was made for under $1-million and now has more than $500-million in box office receipts. Indie films need to play the word-of-mouth virality game, and simply try to break through. Fresh original voices always help, but so does a crazy hook. Or a built-in audience that’s been fostered online, as we’ve seen with Backrooms and Iron Lung.
After all the excitement about The Odyssey, should more filmmakers be shooting in Imax?
Hertz: I’d love to see more filmmakers shooting with Imax cameras, but only if it really serves their story and set pieces. Don’t do it just for the sake of doing it – have a plan and execute it. And right now, there are only so many filmmakers who seem able to do that – Nolan, certainly, Coogler, Villeneuve. Do I want to see a Marvel movie in real-deal Imax? Depends who’s directing it.
The Odyssey breathes new life into Imax Corp.
Will the spotlight on Imax as a result of The Odyssey’s 70mm format ultimately help Imax or hurt it by speeding up competing luxe screen offerings?
Hertz: It can only help, but then again Imax can only grow so big, so fast. In terms of theatres, I’m sure there’s great movement. But Imax film cameras and film projectors are more complicated to manufacture. It’s overall a win-win for Imax.
What’s the point of filming the movie in a format like Imax that only an extremely tiny percentage of people will ever get to experience, even among those who want to?
Hertz: I guess it’s a question of, “Why not?” Not everyone will get to experience it, but for those who can, it’s a huge draw. So long as it doesn’t interfere with everyone else’s enjoyment of the film, which doesn’t seem to at all be the case with Nolan’s film.
Film editor Barry Hertz says the studio gave Coyote vs. Acme a big publicity push by shelving it for years.The Associated Press
This year’s movie lineup
Do you think Coyote vs. Acme would have received the attention it did if it was just released normally, without the drama with its studio? And do you think the other films shelved by WB (Batgirl, Scooby) will ever see the light of day?
Hertz: I think the film wouldn’t have performed nearly as well if it was just released as a straight WB title. The studio unintentionally gave it a huge spotlight by trying to write it off completely. That said, I don’t think we’ll see Batgirl or Scooby any time soon, especially as the latter film still had a good deal of postproduction work to take care of.
What was your personal favourite movie that came out this year (so far)?
Hertz: Without thinking too deeply about it, I’m going to say The Odyssey. From a technical and narrative and purely visceral level, it’s been unsurpassed.
Were there any Canadian highlights from the past few months? How has our homegrown industry fared this year?
Hertz: There’s been some great homegrown success, as I detailed earlier this year. But according to Telefilm, Canadian films at the domestic box office for Q2 kept the pace, with English-language Canadian films earning $5.8M so far this year – that might not seem like a lot, but it’s a 177.6 per cent increase from same period in ’25. Driven by Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie and Undertone in Q1, Little Lorraine and Mile End Kicks in Q2.
Were there any movies this summer you thought were promising but ended up falling short?
Hertz: A good deal didn’t make the cut for me. I was disappointed with Spielberg’s Disclosure Day. It’s not that I was expecting great things from Masters of the Universe, but it consistently showed just enough promise at the edges to ultimately be a let-down. Mortal Kombat II, I should’ve know better given the first film, but I thought Karl Urban could elevate it (he couldn’t). I’m a big Statham fan, but Mutiny left me cold. I miraculously avoided Supergirl, Moana, Scary Movie and a few others. Just lucky timing in my vacation calendar.
Many films at this year's Toronto International Film Festival are already set to hit Canadian theatres in the next few months.Chris Pizzello/The Associated Press
TIFF lookahead
Are there any movies coming up at TIFF that I should look forward to seeing in theatres in the fall?
Hertz: So many! While a good number of films come into TIFF without distribution secured, meaning that they could take a long while to make it to general-release theatres (if they ever do), there are many that are coming to the festival with fall-release plans already secured. The most enticing prospects among this crop include: Wild Horse Nine with John Malkovich, I Play Rocky (which tells the making of Stallone’s breakthrough), the Palme d’Or-winning drama Fjord, the Mahershala Ali crime thriller Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother and Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love, his follow-up to 2018’s Burning.
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I’m an occasional attendee of TIFF, but every showing I tried getting tickets to was either already sold out or prohibitively expensive. Is it not for us anymore?
Hertz: Almost as long as TIFF has been called TIFF (and not its previous moniker, The Festival of Festivals), there have been – legitimate – criticisms of its access and cost. This is partly the ramifications of inflation, and what it costs to go bigger and bigger every year, as TIFF has mostly done in its evolution. Is it for regular people? I’m unsure. In ways small, yes. In ways large, more complicated. I will say that the “people’s festival” nickname it’s been given is more regarding how it’s the only large-scale festival of its stature that actually makes its films available to the general public. You simply cannot buy a ticket at Cannes, or Venice. It’s all industry. But is TIFF doing its part for the city that supports it? It’s a tricky question.