Wonder Woman 1984 2020
A theoretical billion-dollar tentpole caught between a weak theatrical market and Warner Bros.' push to make HBO Max matter. Amanda guesses a PVOD/HBO Max combo; Sean bets on HBO Max outright.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Top Five · Interview
The Fate of ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ and Top-Five Gambling Movies
November 17, 2020/ 107 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · David Hill
Sean and Amanda handicap Warner Bros.' options for 'Wonder Woman 1984' as HBO Max's shaky launch drags on, David Hill of the new Ringer podcast 'Gamblers' joins for three competing top-five gambling-movie lists, and Christopher Landon talks 'Freaky' and a decade-plus inside Blumhouse.
26 films across 5 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
The Fate of ‘Wonder Woman 1984’theaters, PVOD, or HBO Max
Tenet 2020
The cautionary tale: under $60 million domestic, the reason Warner Bros. is gun-shy about a straight theatrical release.
Wonder Woman 2017
The original, three and a half years earlier, made over $800 million worldwide, and it's that anticipation this sequel is supposedly cashing in on.
No Time to Die 2021
The other tentpole stuck in the same Christmas-date standoff; Amanda doubts MGM has the money to send it to streaming.
Bird Box 2018
Amanda's evidence that a movie doesn't need to be good to pull 100 million pandemic-bored viewers, though it was free with a Netflix subscription, unlike a $30 to $50 PVOD rental.
David Hill's Top Five Gambling Moviesranked best to worst
Let It Ride 1989
No. 1: his pick for the purest gambling movie: no addicts, no violence, just a guy on an unstoppable hot streak at the track.
The Color of Money 1986
No. 2: Paul Newman had Walter Tevis write the sequel novel just so he could take another swing at the role that didn't win him an Oscar the first time.
The Sting 1973
No. 3: says the con is based on linguist David Maurer's book 'The Big Con,' and Paul Newman's card-handling shots are actually magician Dai Vernon's hands.
Guys and Dolls 1955
No. 4: the Damon Runyon adaptation he calls the source of every stylized gambler-speak movie that followed, including Mamet's.
White Men Can't Jump 1992
No. 5: a deliberate curveball, his argument that hustling for cash on a playground counts as gambling too.
Amanda's Top Five Gambling Moviesranked best to worst
Ocean's Eleven 2001
No. 1: the remake; she admits the gambling is mostly window dressing around a heist, which breaks half of Dave's rules.
Uncut Gems 2019
No. 2: the anxiety of it, not the mechanics, is what sticks with her; two hours of Adam Sandler is as close as she wants to get to knowing what gambling feels like.
Casino Royale 2006
No. 3: pre-empts the poker nitpicking from Sean and Dave; more interested in what the table stakes do for Bond's character than the cards themselves.
The Hustler 1961
No. 4: Paul Newman as, in her words, the patron saint of movie gamblers.
Indecent Proposal 1993
No. 5: technically a Vegas movie; she calls out a Janet Maslin review's headline as the whole plot in one line.
Sean's Top Five Gambling Moviesranked best to worst
Rounders 1998
No. 1: credits it with getting him hooked on poker in the first place, and for a hero who's undone by pride rather than addiction or bad luck.
California Split 1974
No. 2: Altman's George Segal/Elliott Gould two-hander; he's convinced Mississippi Grind lifted its structure beat for beat.
Hard Eight 1997
No. 3: Paul Thomas Anderson's debut, for showing the lifer gambler's downside instead of the winner's arc.
House of Games 1987
No. 4: Mamet's directorial debut; a con-artist movie more than a gambling one, per Dave, but he loves the Ricky Jay poker scene regardless.
The Hustler 1961
No. 5: his own separate pick of the same film Amanda ranked fourth, which he says should have been higher.
Christopher Landon on ‘Freaky’
Christopher Landon on
Freaky 2020
His writing partner Michael Kennedy pitched it as 'Freaky Friday' meets 'Friday the 13th' under the working title 'Killer Body'; Landon renamed it on the spot. Vince Vaughn was the only actor he considered.
Christopher Landon on
Happy Death Day 2017
Sat on a shelf for nearly a decade under earlier titles before Landon revived it; it greenlit over one weekend.
Christopher Landon on
Psycho 1960
The first horror movie he remembers seeing, sneaking into his parents' room at age four; the reveal at the end made him scream.
Christopher Landon on
Another Day in Paradise 1998
His first produced screenplay, written for Larry Clark, from his self-described emo, edgy-teenager phase.
Christopher Landon on
Paranormal Activity 2 2010
His entry point into the Blumhouse/Jason Blum relationship; he had to fill in as director for a day mid-shoot after an on-set emergency.
Christopher Landon on
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones 2014
The spinoff Blumhouse finally let him direct after years of writing the franchise from the sidelines.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing SkyfallHamiltonMulanThe Fast and the FuriousMoneyballMy Fair Lady10 Things I Hate About YouHow to Lose a Guy in 10 DaysThe GriftersMississippi GrindThe GamblerThe Cincinnati KidMaverickButch Cassidy and the Sundance KidFunny FarmScouts Guide to the Zombie ApocalypseParanormal Activity 3Paranormal Activity 4
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV The MandalorianGame of ThronesThe Queen's Gambit
Podcasts GamblersAttack of the Queer Wolf
Ads Boar's HeadFanDuelCarvanaFIFA World Cup Launch Edition