With school starting again, the summer is, unfortunately, over. However, the summer of ‘23 was filled with some memorable highlights that are most definitely one for the books.
I think it is safe to say that this past summer topped the 2022 Top Gun: Maverick sensation. From the Taylor Swift Eras Tour, to the long awaited Barbie movie, this summer was filled with constant forms of entertainment.
“Summer of Swift”
Starting off with a bang, Taylor Swift brought us into summer with anticipation and excitement. On May 5, right before summer began, Swift announced that she would be releasing her 3rd re-recorded, “Taylor’s Version”, album. This time, Swifties would be able to hear the long-awaited version of Speak Now on July 7. Barely a month later, at the closing concert of the U.S. leg of her Eras Tour on August 9, Swift announced another Taylor’s Version album to come. After many debates between the Swifties over what would be the next re-recorded album to come, Taylor announced that 1989 TV will be released on October 27.
Not only was Swift releasing and working on upcoming albums, she was also continuing on with performances in the United States and even announced more U.S. dates to come in 2024. Just recently, she also announced that there will be a movie documenting the U.S. leg of the Eras Tour. Although the documentation was announced August 31 and is coming to theaters on October 13, the pre-sale of the tickets has already earned $26 million. I think it is fair to say that this summer was truly the “Summer of Swift”.
Queen Bey’s Renaissance Tour
Taylor was not the only sensational artist on tour this summer. Beyoncé came back to the tour scene after her 5 year hiatus with her Renaissance World Tour that is in support of her seventh studio album, Renaissance. Her last tour was with her husband, Jay-Z, in 2018, however, she hasn’t gone on a solo tour since her Formation World Tour in 2016, which followed the release of her sixth studio album, Lemonade. Despite this, “Queen Bey” is back and breaking records. According to “Fox KTVU”, “Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance World Tour’ has become the highest-grossing tour by a woman artist in history– at more than $461 million”. Cheers to the women running the music industry this summer!
Honorable Mentions
I think it’s important to mention that Lana Del Rey is also making her comeback to live performances. This summer she was the headliner for multiple music festivals, the most notable festival being Lollapalooza in Chicago from August 3-6. She is also going back on tour following the release of her ninth studio album, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. And as an ode to our childhood, I feel that it is important to mention that the Jonas Brothers are back on tour again and are coming to both Raleigh, NC and Charlotte, NC and also Columbia, SC.
Barbenheimer
On July 21, people around the world flocked to the cinemas to see 2 movies; Barbie and Oppenheimer. Both movies are star-studded and created much anticipation with their marketing campaigns, although more marketing was done for Barbie. However, there was a problem. Barbie’s runtime is almost 2 hours and Oppenheimer’s is exactly 3 hours. I, like most people, was having the internal debate on which movie to see first and on the day that they both came out. The solution….“Barbenheimer”. This cultural phenomenon took over the internet for the weekend of July 21, and honestly the weeks following. If you don’t know what “Barbenheimer” means, it is the combination of the names of the 2 major blockbuster movies Barbie and Oppenheimer. The suggestion encompassed in the name “Barbenheimer” is to see both movies in a day: a double feature. Seems so obvious for those conflicted on which to see, right? I guess until it became a cultural phenomenon, not many were down to dedicate a whole day to sitting in a theater.
I feel that it is important that I take a moment to dedicate a portion of this article solely to the Barbie movie. The marketing campaign of this movie was legendary. I mean what movie has ever invited the Duolingo bird to their world premiere!? Or puts Ryan Gosling in a fluffy, tie dye, “I am Kenough” sweatshirt?? Only in Greta Gerwig’s masterpiece of a film. I actually found myself saying that throughout the entirety of watching the movie. In addition, the message of the whole film felt super inspiring and uplifting. It was light-hearted and funny, but also managed to invoke so much emotion, especially during America Ferrera’s speech about women.
Movie Mentions
Barbie and Oppenheimer were not the only major, star studded blockbusters to come out this summer. June and early July saw the release of Spider Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, The Flash, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One. The release of these, and other major movies is said to have saved the theaters after the disruption of 2020.
Writer’s Strike
On May 2 of this year, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to protest studios’ unfair labor contracts. The WGA is demanding an increased, fixed residual pay and a viewership-based residual pay to reward successful shows. However, both of these requests were denied by the AMPTP. The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) have also demonstrated their support of the WGA and their demands and have joined the strike against the AMPTP. In support of the writers and actors strike, the creation, filming, and release of many award shows, movies, and television shows have been suspended.
Review
There truly never was a dull moment this summer. So many big artists came back onto the scene and “hit the road” to bring live performances to fans. In addition, almost every week, a new blockbuster movie was released in theaters, and there are still so many more films to come. However, despite the excitement and anticipation that audiences feel about these released and upcoming films, there is still an ongoing fight for fair wages for the writers. Overall, this summer was truly one of the most memorable summers for the class of 2024.
Sources:
Writer’s strike source:
Barbenheimer photo:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.moviemaker.com%2Fbarbenheimer-barbie-or-oppenheimer-first%2F&psig=AOvVaw2ZBF9z26CWbJPoo-9Dipk_&ust=1694271010608000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CA8QjhxqFwoTCKj9osGhm4EDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD
