That’s assuming it doesn’t underwhelm like some DC Comics adaptations, like this weekend’s animated “DC League of Super-Pets” (Warners). It’s #1 this weekend, but with a less-than-stellar $23 million. By comparison, that’s less than a quarter of the opening gross for “Minions: The Rise of Gru;” another animated Universal title, last spring’s “The Bad Guys,” cost $90 million less and opened to $1 million more. Animated superheroes can be gold mines — “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (Sony) had a domestic total of $190 million — but animation has been uneven all summer....

On the Marvel slate, the delays include Mahershala Ali-led “Blade” film being pushed back by nearly a full year, from November 23, 2023 to September 6, 2024. The new release date announcement comes shortly after the film’s production went on hold until early next year after director Bassam Tariq exited the film in September. The project currently does not yet have a director attached. The other delayed Marvel films include the untitled third “Deadpool” film, which will see star Ryan Reynolds joined by Hugh Jackman, who reprises his role as Wolverine for the first time since the “X-Men” film and character rights were reacquired by Marvel Studios....

The best feature noms went to “Raya,” (from “Big Hero Six” Oscar-winning director Don Hall), “Encanto” (from Byron Howard and Clark Spencer, the Oscar-winning director and producer of “Zootopia”), “Luca,” “The Mitchells” (from “Spider-Verse” Oscar-winning producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller), and Illumination’s “Sing 2.” The competitive studio race for best feature could go Disney’s way or “The Mitchells’” (winner of the NYFCC animated feature award). The race for best independent feature, meanwhile, was led by GKids’ “Belle,” the metaverse “Beauty and the Beast”-inspired musical from director Mamoru Hosoda; Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Oscar-buzzy, Afghan refugee animated documentary, “Flee” (which captured a total of four noms); “Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko” (from STUDIO 4oC and GKids); “Pompo the Cinephile” (from CLAP Animation Studio and GKids); and “The Summit of the Gods” (from Netflix)....

Hollywood waits to hear the fate of the next James Bond movie (is the UK ready for a wide opening in November?), Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic “Dune” (December 18; it did some reshoots, but should be finished in time), and Paul Greengrass’ Tom Hanks Christmas movie “News of the World,” which has been compared to Oscar-contender “True Grit.” And then there’s Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch.” The high-profile Searchlight title was noticeably absent from Disney’s latest announcement of releases postponed until 2021....

“Earwig and the Witch” is directed by Goro Miyazaki, son of Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, and marks the studio’s first feature fully rendered with CG animation. The decision to pass on the studio’s famous hand-drawn style has made “Earwig” a polarizing title, but the Cannes Film Festival did give the title its seal approval by naming it part of the 2020 official selection earlier this year. The English-language dub is set to feature the voices of Oscar nominee Richard E....

“We are thrilled to premiere Daniels’ latest work, which is fantastically inventive, entertaining, emotionally grounded, and crammed with the exceptional creativity that makes their projects so satisfying,” said Janet Pierson, Director of SXSW Film, in a statement. “Audiences are going to have their minds blown by this extraordinary feat of filmmaking.” Kwan and Scheinert, known collectively as Daniels, dominated buzz at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival with their feature directorial debut “Swiss Army Man....

That’s not a new challenge to Hanks, who famously spent a full act of Robert Zemeckis’ “Cast Away” interacting only with a volleyball he cheekily named Wilson (the role earned the actor his fifth Best Actor nomination). During a recent press conference for the film, due out on the streaming service later this week, Hanks said his experience acting opposite a dog and robot was full of vitality. For one thing, Goodyear played by an actual canine named Seamus....