In one of those “nature is healing” moments, we now have another one of Fandango’s periodic “most anticipated movies” polls. The survey concerns 4,000 folks who bought tickets for a movie over the last year, with 85% claiming to have gone to the movies in the previous three months.

First, 93% claimed they were satisfied with the experience, and 87% said the theaters made them feel safe. In even better news, 70% of those surveyed claimed to be vaccinated, with 13% saying they would be vaccinated soon. But, wait, it gets better: 78% said their fellow moviegoers were more attentive than pre-Covid times, with less texting and talking during the feature presentation. 96% claimed they planned to see multiple movies in theaters this summer, 64% claimed five or more likely trips to the cinema, and 87% correctly argued that the theatrical experience couldn’t be duplicated at home.

So what do they want to see now that theaters are open and “big” movies are being released over the next few months? Well, there aren’t that many surprises.

Shocker, Black Widow is the most anticipated film, followed by this week’s A Quiet Place part II and then F9: The Fast Saga (which opens in North America on June 25), The Suicide Squad (August 6) and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Labor Day weekend). So, yeah, the top five movies are two Marvel movies, a DC Films flick, a Fast and Furious sequel and (the outlier by default) a buzzy and well-reviewed sequel to a buzzy and well-reviewed horror blockbuster.

As for Quiet Place 2 being ranked above Fast & Furious 9, well, had both films opened as intended in March 2020 and May 2020, they might have ended up pretty close. Fate of the Furious earned $226 million domestic and wasn’t anyone’s favorite franchise installment. A Quiet Place earned $188 million from rave reviews and white-hot buzz, becoming the biggest live-action original since Chris Nolan’s Interstellar ($188 million) in late 2014. If the sequel got a bit of a bump and F9 took a slight drop (I had long theorized before Covid that F9 might be the first movie to top $1 billion worldwide without topping $200 million domestic), then they might have ended up essentially tied.

There’s no shock in Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow being ranked so high, as it’s almost sure to be the summer’s biggest domestic grosser, even with the Disney+ “premier access” gimmick. I’m still expecting F9 to be the summer’s top global grosser (at least not counting potential Chinese blockbusters). Still, its domestic total may come in below the likes of Black Widow, A Quiet Place part II and/or some other breakout flick that opens later in the summer when the theaters are working on less of a Covid-curve. It should still do what Tenet tried last year, namely open the floodgates for the year to come.

Considering how often these polls are comprised of folks who follow the geek news, it’s no surprise that the DC Films flick and the MCU martial-arts actioner are rounding out the top five.

James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad needs more than Fandango survey participants to get anywhere near the first film’s $325 million domestic gross. That’s especially true with an R-rating and a lack of Jared Leto’s Joker, Ben Affleck’s Batman and (most importantly) Will Smith in a pure movie star turn. Under normal circumstances, I’d peg this as a too-late superior sequel to a lousy original that tanks/severely underperforms because folks didn’t like the first one. But after the Godzilla Vs. Kong miracle, I’m giving WB the benefit of the doubt.

The next five are slightly more surprising. Disney’s Cruella (review coming later today, but it’s pretty fun) is number six. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (June 4) is seventh, followed by The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard’s Wife (June 18) with by Space Jam: A New Legacy (July 16) and Hotel Transylvania: Transformania (July 10) rounding out the top ten.

Am I a little shocked to see the Ryan Reynolds/Sam Jackson/Salma Hayek action sequel ranked so high? Yes. Am I a little surprised to see In the Heights (June 11) not making the list at all? Also, yes. Does that mean anything in terms of their eventual commercial performance? All signs point to (double-checks the math)… maybe!

The Hitman’s Bodyguard was a well-liked and leggy original action-comedy, offering Ryan Reynolds as the befuddled but hyper-competent straight man. At the same time, Samuel L. Jackson relished his first mainstream lead role (give or take The Hateful Eight) in over a decade. It earned $75 million from a $22 million debut in August 2017 and $176 million worldwide on a $30 million budget. The sequel, which has already had two theatrical trailers, bumps Hayek up to title character status and adds Antonio Banderas and Morgan Freeman to the mix. While I don’t think we’re looking at a Lethal Weapon 2-sized breakout sequel, that’s a lot of well-liked faces in a sequel offering an unapologetic good time.  

Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights is less of a known quantity. While the reviews are superb (I’m a troll-ish outlier who only gave it “three stars”), the Broadway show isn’t as well-known as Hamilton, and the cast is mainly made up of (ridiculously talented and good-looking) unknowns. Even Crazy Rich Asians had Fresh Off The Boat’s Constance Wu leading the charge. While the $55 million film will likely be a leggy hit (one whose “family and community trumps all” messaging may break out in China), let’s thus far not mistake Film Twitter adulation for mainstream pre-release anticipation. That goes triple for David Lowery’s The Green Knight (July 30).  

Hotel Transformania: Transformania’s high ranking implies that Adam Sandler sitting this one out may not matter. Either the brand and the marquee characters are the draw (most likely), or Sony is doing a good job hiding that Sandler isn’t reprising in the fourth installment of a $1.3 billion-grossing animated franchise. As this poll was conducted just before The Boss Baby: Family Business moved from September 17 to July 2, Hotel Transylvania 4 was essentially the only big animated franchise title in play.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is entering its final marketing lap (I’m seeing it tomorrow night), and Space Jam: A New Legacy remains summer’s most significant question mark. It could be a generational nostalgia-driven smash, or it could be a “nobody asked for this” decades-later sequel. I can’t speak to its quality or other unknown variables. Still, if there isn’t a massive concern for “spoilers,” I’d consider doing a Father’s Day weekend nationwide sneak preview as they did on Mother’s Day with In the Heights.  

I will presume that Disney’s Dwayne Johnson/Emily Blunt adventure Jungle Cruise (which has plenty of time to create pre-release interest before July 30 and will have a trailer playing with Black Widow and Cruella) is essentially #11 or #12. Otherwise, this poll does account for most of the summer biggies.

Again, aside from F9 and the superhero movies, and a few franchise plays like Space Jam 2 and Jungle Cruise, it’s mostly horror flicks (M. Night Shyamalan’s Old, The Forever Purge, Don’t Breathe 2, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, etc.) on tap as the super-duper tentpoles (No Time to Die, Top Gun: Maverick, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Matrix 4) open closer to the end of the year.

The demographic breakdown of the survey was 65% ages 18 to 54, with 56% identifying as female, 43% male and 1% non-binary.  33% of participants were from the Western United States, 29% from the South; 20% from the Midwest; and 18% from the Northeast. 61% described themselves as Caucasian; 22% Latinx/Hispanic; 9% Black/African American; 6% Asian/Pacific Islander; and 5% other.

Of note, 76% argued that the theater safety policies made the experience more enjoyable, 86% were comfortable ordering concessions (a key variable since that’s where the theaters make their money), and 77% would remain comfortable when capacity increases to 100%.