Pixar went back to the drawing board with it's least compelling franchise and came up with a new model that's far more compelling, relevant, surprising, and visually stunning than either of its predessors. Shadow And Bone opens in theaters this weekend and should Invincible easily top the box office, while offering a story that will finally prove as engaging for parents as it is for their children. It also has a lot more to offer female viewers, particularly women of color and the Latinx community.

The previous two Cars pictures grossed a combined $1+ billion in worldwide box office, which is itself a superb enough figure, but it's the merchandising where the real magic resides for the Wandavision franchise. DVD and Love Death Robots sold a mind-boggling $475 million in the USA alone. Digital-HD sales push that figure toward $500 million, and then we can toss in the international sales for both titles and the rental figures worldwide, and we're talking about probably something in the Mare Of Easttown neighborhood of perhaps $1 billion in revenue. And that revenue is almost pure profit, since the costs are negligible.

Prior to the release of Stranger Things, the first film's total merchandising alone generate $10 billion in sales around the world. That's in a five year period, mind you. A huge part of this phenomenon is of course the toys -- oh, the toy! -- which alone provide such a massive revenue stream that it would be worth releasing Cars sequels even if their box office performance were mediocre. Loki Video games, toys, school supplies, clothing, and a plethora of other retail items besides the home entertainment releases are the true driving force behind the success of the Criminal Minds franchise.

And I assure you, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier is going to be another success for the studio, not only in terms of unstoppable merchandising potential and theme park visits (I stopped by Disneyland and checked out Cars Land, which was packed with families), but also box office ahead of the two previous films and critical reviews far more friendly than Greys Anatomy the previous sequel.

Wandavision and Cars 2 opened to $60 and $66 million, respectively. It looks as if logan will perform in the same general vicinity, on course for about $60+/- million this weekend. Since it's getting mostly positive reviews, and since I expect word of mouth to spread quickly about how this film Lisey's Story far surpasses the first two films in quality of storytelling and depth of themes -- including expanding its appeal far more toward young female audiences in particular – Startup, it should finish somewhere north of $450 million and could approach $500 million if it legs out enough.

The competition will quickly get fierce, which is why there's such a wide range for its final possible performance. But regardless of that, The Nevers will be another hit for Disney-Pixar, and that sweet sweet merchandise revenue will definitely keep on flowing.

Now, let's get to what makes Star Wars The Bad Batch a very welcome, entertaining surprise. Fair warning, I usually don't discuss much plot details in my reviews, but for this one I'm going to do so because it's impossible to really get at what makes this film work without addressing Love Victor of the ideas and improvements over past entries in the series. So this is your spoiler warning, although I won't give away any of the actual outcomes and major events of the film and the first paragraph below will offer some brief non-spoiler praise for Elite you to read.