You're gonna be so old when the last 'Avatar' movie hits theaters

Disney shuffled its release calendar, giving Marvel, 'Star Wars' and 'Avatar' movies new release dates. PLUS: Warner Bros. wants Christopher Nolan back, and 'What We Do in the Shadows' gets a trailer.

I can’t tell if this was a quick week or a slow week. Tuesday felt like Wednesday, but now it’s Friday. Let’s jump into a new edition of Popculturology.

Two major movies are hitting theaters this weekend. After years of delays, The Flash finally opens while Pixar will try to recapture its critical and box office magic with Elemental. I’m not going to be seeing either of these films in theaters. I’m really not interested in rewarding Warner Bros.’ continued embrace of Ezra Miller with my money (and pretty much every cameo and credit scene has already shown up online). As for Elemental, it looks like a retread of what the studio has already done. A bit of Inside Out, a touch of Soul, a dash of Zootopia borrowed from Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Tracking for The Flash and Elemental isn’t great. Between that and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s continued box office strength, I wouldn’t be surprised if Across the Spider-Verse not only jumps back over Transformers: Rise of the Beasts but beats Elemental in the process.

What’s up with orcas these days? Trashing ships, working together, hanging out in unprecedentedly large groups? Look, I’ll be honest with you: I’m on Team Orca. Whatever they’re up to, they probably have their reasons.

Speaking of the ocean, Popculturology will be taking a few vacations of its own. After the Friday, June 23 edition hits your inboxes in two weeks, I’m going to take a break until the Friday, July 7 edition.

There’s still time before that break, though, and you won’t want to miss any of the upcoming editions of Popculturology. For $5 a month or $50 a year, this subscription brings you the two weekly editions of the newsletter plus Deep SNL Thoughts and The Box Office Report.

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• Feature Presentation: Disney shuffles calendar

• The News: Warner Bros. wants Nolan back, Mangold talks Star Wars

• Trailer Watch: What We Do in the Shadows, Elio

• What to Watch: The Righteous Gemstones

• Odds and Ends: Bill Hader and Seth Meyers chat

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Disney shuffles calendar

Disney shook up its entire upcoming release calendar this week. Marvel Studios, Star Wars, Avatar — new release dates for everyone!

Why the massive shakeup?

The studios’ unwillingness to strike a deal with the WGA has kept the writers’ strike going, meaning certain projects never got past the scripting phase while other projects have had to halt filming. (Just wait until the actors go on strike too.) Upon his return to Disney, former and current CEO Bob Iger expressed a desire to have more time between Marvel Cinematic Universe projects. And films like Avatar just need more time than budgeted to complete the expansive special effects work.

Let’s dig into all the changes.