Don Shanahan
Many regular people make New Year’s resolutions, but I think larger entities, such as filmmakers and studio moguls, need to make them as well. For the fifth consecutive year, I bring my film critic credentials to the editorial side and have fun holding the movie industry accountable for areas that need improvement. As always, some resolutions (good job, Superman) come true, while others never get fulfilled (bringing back the tight 90-minute film). Welcome to 2026, the powers-that-be of the movie industry! Here are your requested resolutions for improvement.
PREPARE FOR THE BIG PURCHASE
There are many financial and bureaucratic hoops, hurdles, and red tape before it’s official, but folks need to prepare for the Netflix purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery. I know I used this editorial space recently to postulate some positive potential outcomes of the deal. Those are pie-in-the-sky dreams, meaning we need to be ready for the more worrisome or negative possibilities as well. Those topics include job cuts, lower wages, rising subscription costs, anti-trust concerns over monopoly control, and the uncertain future of theatrical releases. It’s all on the table, good and bad. If you don’t like it enough, the only place we, general citizens, can hit them is their wallet. Good luck with your future boycott.
USE DIAMOND HANDS TO HOLD ONTO THEATRICAL WINDOWS
Coming off the notion of boycotts, this is another difficult resolution to ask. Wallets can be weapons in both directions. Folks can withhold their hard-earned money that supports big business, or they can give their money to support the arts they love. Knowing that, it’s on the studios to make their customers happy. I know the post-COVID era box office numbers aren’t the best, but they are rebounding more each year. There’s money to be made leaving movies in theaters. Movie moguls, you control the shrinking theatrical windows. You can grant longer lifespans. 17 days is pathetic. You can do better than that.
ONE HIT DOWN, A UNIVERSE TO GO
Going back to Warner Bros., part of the potential prizes is their intellectual properties, like Harry Potter and DC Comics. Thanks to James Gunn and his Superman reboot, the portfolio is bullish with an optimistic future. The well-received blockbuster performed well at the box office and kick-started the new universe. Even better, it helped bury the incessant and toxic Snyder Bros. For Gunn, it’s one hit down and a universe to go. Supergirl is next. Keep up the good work. If I may place a side bet of sorts with these resolutions, I’m betting we get a Bruce Wayne/Batman casting in 2026. That will be a crucial hire and the next jewel in the fresh crown. I’m rooting for The Housemaid’s Brendan Sklenar, but that’s just me.
BRING BACK THE AUDIO COMMENTARY TRACKS
This New Year’s resolution is a selfish one after contributing several disc reviews for the last several years on Film Obsessive’s “Off the Shelf” series. During the boom of the DVD format, one of the most unique features was the presence of watch-along audio commentary tracks from actors, production team members, historians, and directors. They were stumps for interesting behind-the-scenes stories that revealed curtain-peeling filmmaking secrets. Those conversations were a novelty that we took for granted when DVD moved to Blu-ray and now to 4K-UHD. However, since things have become increasingly streaming and digital, physical media is in a big slump as more public stores have stopped shelving them. There are some great and dedicated labels like Shout, Kino Lorber, Vinegar Syndrome, Criteron, and more that keep physical media alive, but the big studios are getting lazy when they really have no excuse. For example, on the recent Superman release, James Gunn’s commentary was a digital-only feature and not present on any of the discs. While I’m happy it’s thoughtfully available to the digital crowd, don’t take those off where they used to be. What’s worse, is that, overall, fewer and fewer director or actor commentaries are even being made at all. So, to the home entertainment wings at the studios, please bring back the audio commentary tracks. Throw us movie geeks the old bones we used to love.
LET RYAN COOGLER DO WHATEVER HE WANTS
Dipping into the Warner Bros. pond once again, I consider Ryan Coogler’s Sinners to be the movie event of the year. The film transcended music, history, film genres, production craft, and representation greater than anything else from 2025. Sure, One Battle After Another (another WB success) will probably leapfrog Sinners for the top Oscar prizes, but that should not discount Ryan Coogler’s achievement and proven bankability. The combined critical approval and box office success should grant Ryan Coogler all the cachet in the world. Also, keep an eye on the example set by the deal Coogler negotiated with Warner Bros. to regain full ownership of Sinners in 2050, including all future licensing, royalties, and sequels. That level of compromise merged with creative control is a game-changer that could start a new trend. Either way, let that man do whatever he wants. Black Panther 3, a potential X-Files reboot, and Disney are lucky to have him and his clout.
IT’S DENIS VILLENEUVE’S TURN
On the topic of Oscars and whose turn it is to get some proper recognition and hardware, let’s take this year and look to next year. If this 2025 awards season looks to be heading where it’s tracking, Paul Thomas Anderson is finally going to win the big one for One Battle After Another after 28 years and 11 (yes, 11!) prior nominations. That’s a Susan Lucci-level drought. Cinephiles will say it’s for the wrong movie in his resume and cite his past studs like Boogie Nights, Phantom Thread, or There Will Be Blood, but it won’t matter once he gets the golden validation. If this year is his turn, 2026 deserves to be Denis Villeneuve’s turn. As long as Denis can deliver a knockout trilogy capper with Dune: Part Three—and that’s a big promise to make—the Academy has been kind to epic series finales. Just ask Peter Jackson. I know Christopher Nolan and The Odyssey loom large as serious competition on paper, but he just got his trophies for Oppenheimer. We’re also getting new movies in 2026 from Steven Spielberg, Greta Gerwig, Jordan Peele, Robert Eggers, Emerald Fennell, and Sam Raimi, but they can wait. Inhale the spice and call Denis’s name next year.
DON’T OVERANALYZE TEASERS AND TRAILERS
Two of the biggest upcoming hitters of 2026, Avengers: Doomsday and The Odyssey, have had their first teasers and trailers dropped for the internet masses and online water coolers. Naturally, the over-analyzation has begun. I get there’s clickbait traffic to be had with trailer breakdowns and early prognostication. We at Film Obsessive occasionally participate in that content with our “Trailer of the Week” pieces. Still, can we do less of it, or even stop? Injecting months upon months of silly and mostly unsubstantiated hype is the quickest way I know to ruin the final movie experience. You know you’re going to see those two movies and plenty of others. Do you really need to be sold on them anymore? Practice some patience, and let the movie come to you.
GIVE NE ZHA 2 ITS FLOWERS
Speaking of marketing hype, Disney would love to tell you that they have the two biggest box office hits of 2025 in Zootopia 2 and Lilo and Stitch. Those two have done very well domestically. Worldwide gross is another story. Both Disney hits were nearly doubled by the $2.1 billion worldwide gross of the Chinese animated sequel Ne Zha 2. A score that large deserves its flowers. While Ne Zha 2 only made $23 million stateside, that shouldn’t discourage more international hits from getting their chances to be discovered by new audiences on this side of the Pacific. There’s buried treasure there, big studios. Go find it and bring it here.
UNLEASH TOM CRUISE
After just short of 30 years, the Mission: Impossible era ended for Tom Cruise. He served up the biggest bangs he could with Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Adding to that success, Cruise was awarded an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement, something that had always eluded him in the competitive acting and producing categories (Magnolia was his best shot). That said, Cruise is now free to stop chasing stunts and trophies. It’s time to reintroduce and unleash Tom Cruise, The Actor. It’s been too long since he’s taken a big swing as a thespian. I hope he embraces his 63 years of age and morphs into one of his old mentors, Paul Newman, with a new phase to his career. His first shot comes in Digger, the newest film from the decorated The Revenant and Birdman director Alejandro González Iñárritu. If anyone can untap the old Cruise, it’s him.
PUT A MORATORIUM ON DISNEY RE-IMAGININGS
Hey, Mouse House! Remaking a movie that’s several decades old is one thing. Chances are, it has had a lengthy legacy and might even have dated elements. Stuff like that is ripe for a new coat of paint. I get it from a business standpoint. There’s a “why not both” mentality to multiplying IP-driven money with a second moneymaker. On the contrary, remaking a movie that is barely one decade old is way, way, way too soon. Folks, I don’t want to sound like a steady internet meme, but, “Mom,” we have Moana at home, and it’s called Moana. There’s nothing wrong with the one we already have. Disney used to be good at moratoriums that created self-imposed scarcity and time limits, all in the name of “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Let’s make a new rule, Disney. You need to wait not 10, not 20, and not even 30 years before one of your gaudy live-action “re-imaginings.” You need to wait 50 years. That’s a proper timespan for a true legacy and audience shift. Anything less is silly and greedy.
