Here in Chicago, it's beginning to get consistently cold. We've got that drab, gray thing going on that will be the default status until, roughly, March. We're getting to the point where "Do I have to?" is the only reasonable response to being asked to go outside. The entire area has some kind of head or sinus cold and is thinking only about getting through the winter, when the promise of spring (and a new world champion Chicago Cubs season) returns.
The movie industry is also beginning to turn its attention the coming year. While it finishes out 2016 with a bevy of high-profile releases, many of those will expand to more theaters come January. And the ultimate goal for many of this month's releases is awards consideration in the coming year. We're also at the point of the year where the premiere lineup for next month's Sundance Film Festival has been released and studios and distributors will be flocking to Utah to find their next batch of acclaimed movies.
The general audience has also begun looking forward to 2017, but the focus is less on the prestige releases and more on the big-budget franchise movies that sell a lot of popcorn and action figures—the kind of movies that are based on existing properties and feature chiseled abs, swords, superhero hijinks and above-the-title actors bringing your favorite childhood characters to life.
Marketing technologies firm Amobee put together a list of next year's most-anticipated movies based on the volume of online content being created by the audience.
Here's the top 10: