By Samantha Sidi ’16, Arts and Entertainment Editor

This past summer, there were so many highly anticipated movies that were released; some lived up to the pressure while others did not. Here is a description of buzz-worthy movies.

The Fault in Our Stars was a movie with a genuine fan base that accepted and praised the adaptation for its ability to stay true to the book and the characters. Courtney Cooperman ’16, a self-proclaimed The Fault in Our Stars fanatic, described the film as, “a hit movie that didn’t change the character of the story for commercial success. It had the same wit and emotion.” She was one of the many fans who counted down the days until the premiere because of the compelling story that the movie portrayed. In the opening weekend, The Fault in Our Stars was the number one ranked movie in the United States and grossed over $48,000,000. This was considerably greater than another popular novel-movie adaptation, The Giver, which only grossed to $12,000,000 the opening weekend.

The Giver had a star packed cast with notable names such as Meryl Streep and Katie Holmes; however, the on-screen adaption did not explore the complex themes from the book. The movie instead glorified the struggle between Jonas and the government and depicted the scenes with more action instead of the substance from the novel. The Giver did not attract wide audiences and so far only has grossed $41,000,000 with a $25,000,000 production costs, thus proving how unfaithful movie adaptations will not be successful.

Not all movies this past summer were adaptations of novels; some like the sequel to 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street, is a revival of the 1980’s television series 21 Jump Street. This comedy starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum was packed with jokes that kept the entire theater laughing. Some people, such as junior Adam Branovan, believe that “22 Jump Street was even better than the first movie.” 22 Jump Street was also the number one movie its opening weekend by grossing over $57,000,000.

These were just three movies that premiered this past summer; however, there were certainly others that caught the world’s attention. The Newark Academy community weighed in on their favorite movies from this past summer, Mr. Stourton said that his favorite movie was Guardians of the Galaxy; whereas, Ms. Galvin and Ms. Duszak were excited to watch Wish You Were Here. Overall, there were multiple movies out this past summer that the Newark Academy community talked about.