THE ROUNDUP WITH JEFF STOCKTON (SEASON 36 ROUND 6)

 

FLETCH

This was never going to be an easy assignment. When you remake—or more accurately, re-adapt—Fletch, you're immediately inviting comparisons to Chevy Chase. And honestly, trying to beat Chevy Chase at being Chevy Chase is a losing proposition. Glen Powell wisely doesn't even try. Instead, Powell creates his own version of Irwin Fletcher. The sarcasm is still there. The confidence is still there. The charm is still there. But it feels like a different man inhabiting the character rather than someone doing an impression.

A lot of the credit also belongs to Chad Taylor and Richard Linklater. They understood that audiences weren't looking for Fletch Lives all over again. The bones of Gregory McDonald's story remain familiar, but the tone shifts enough to justify the new adaptation. It respects the Chevy Chase version without becoming trapped by it. That's a difficult balancing act. They pulled it off.

ASSASSIN'S CREED: ETERNAL

This is the Assassin's Creed movie fans have been waiting nearly two decades for.

The first LRF attempt, Assassin's Creed: The New Order, largely ignored the games and invented its own mythology. The Michael Fassbender film made a similar mistake by treating the franchise like generic historical science fiction instead of embracing what players actually loved. 

Roy Horne finally understood the assignment. Instead of inventing another disconnected protagonist, he leans into characters, locations, and historical settings that fans already had emotional investment in. Better yet, he doesn't simply photocopy one game's plot. By combining elements from multiple eras and multiple games, Assassin's Creed: Eternal feels both familiar and unpredictable. That's exactly how adaptations should work. Honor the source material without becoming imprisoned by it.

And yes... after seeing this one, I'm genuinely looking forward to the sequel Roy Horne recently teased on the board.

DARKNESS

One of my favorite things to see in LRF is a modestly budgeted movie unexpectedly breaking through. You don't need a $200 million budget to become one of the season's success stories. Darkness proves that.

The biggest reason it works commercially is Maika Monroe. The entire film rests squarely on her shoulders, and she delivers exactly the kind of performance it needed. Without her, I'm not convinced audiences connect with the material nearly as much.

The movie itself has flaws—and we'll get there—but seeing a sci-fi/suspense film turn a healthy profit instead of getting buried by larger productions is always encouraging. These are the kinds of wins that help diversify a slate.

DARKNESS

Yes... I'm putting it in both columns. Because while I respect what the movie accomplished financially, I found the film itself to be... okay. Not great.

Outside of Maika Monroe's excellent performance, I kept waiting for the story to fully capitalize on its premise, and it never quite did. The concept had enough potential to become something genuinely unsettling, but the screenplay seemed content exploring only part of what was possible. 

And perhaps my biggest disappointment? This never really felt like an Osgood Perkins movie. Perkins has developed such a distinct identity as a filmmaker—patient, unnerving, deeply atmospheric—that I expected something with a stronger personality. Instead, Darkness often felt surprisingly conventional. Competently made? Absolutely. But if you'd removed Perkins' name from the credits, I'm not sure I would've guessed he directed it. That's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just disappointing when you know what he's capable of.

PROFITS

Yes... Every movie this round made money. That's great. Unfortunately, accounting doesn't reset every three films.

The reality is that Season 36 still finds itself well behind pace because of the massive losses accumulated earlier in the year. One profitable round helps stop the bleeding, but it doesn't erase the wounds.

And when I look ahead at the remaining schedule, I'm struggling to identify the cavalry. Sure, The Hulk 3 looks like an obvious blockbuster waiting to happen. Beyond that? I don't see many guaranteed home runs. There isn't a Batman. There isn't a James Bond. There isn't a Superman. The back half of the season feels filled with movies that could succeed rather than movies that almost certainly will.

That makes me nervous.