Is it November? WHat the heck is going? Oscar season has begun waaaaay too early for all of us entertainment writers. But it’s good news for the movie going audience!

First we had “Baby Driver” and “The Big Sick” and “The Beguiled.” When do we ever get three terrific indie films in summer? But they were all “B” movies. (Get it?)

Then came “Dunkirk.” A masterpiece in July. A potential Best Picture winner, not just nominee. “Dunkirk” made a very strong $50.5 million this weekend, too. It’s a box office hit. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Now comes Kathryn Bigelow’s “Detroit,” written by her collaborator Mark Boal. They received Oscars for “The Hurt Locker” and kudos galore for “Zero Dark Thirty.”

“Detroit” was just screened for newspaper critics and has scored a 100 on Rotten Tomatoes. The rest of us will see it today and Wednesday. By then “Detroit” should be at 200!

This is the first release as a distributor from Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Films. In a few short years, Annapurna has racked up a bunch of quality hits that other studios — like The Weinstein Company and Fox–released. Now they’re on their own, and their first out of the gate seems like a winner.

Todd McCarthy writes in The Hollywood Reporter: “Intense and physically powerful in the way it conveys its atrocious events, the film nonetheless remains short on complexity, as if it were enough simply to provoke and outrage the audience. It’s a grim tale with no catharsis.”

Owen Gleiberman says in Variety: “…this is no comforting drama of social protest. It’s closer to a hair-trigger historical nightmare, one you can’t tear yourself away from.”

“Detroit” is based on an incident that took place during the 1967 riots (exactly 50 years ago). Some of the characterizations are fictional to create characters, but the historical facts of the riots are documented. I’m glad to hear Boal made the great R&B group The Dramatics a centerpiece of the story. (The soundtrack looks amazing.) I hope the group members were paid. Four years after the riots, the Dramatics signed to Stax/Volt Records and had two monster hits heard today all the time: “In the Rain” and “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get.” The latter might have been an alternative title for this sure to be controversial film.

It looks like the honeymoon isn’t over. Sources say Joe Manganiello has persuaded his wife, Sofia Vergara, to make a movie with him. The pair will star in “Stano,” about a young rising star ball player with the Yankees who lands himself in prison for a terrible accident.

When Stano gets out of prison after 17 years of being behind bars and trying to stay alive, he returns to society and the love of his life– Vergara.

It’s the first time the Modern Family star and the True Blood star have made a live action movie together. The only problem for Vergara is that she’ll be shooting Modern Family at the same time. But something tells me after 10 years, Sofia will get the sitcom to shoot around her.

I’m all in for “Justice League,” coming this fall. It does look like Joss Whedon has fixed up Zack Snyder’s original blueprint– this seems eons better than “Batman vs. Superman.” There’s a lot more bounce here in these clips. Ezra Miller as The Flash is going to be a relief. Maybe they got it all right this time. My heart is always with DC Comics. (Sorry Marvel fans!)

BOOM! That’s the sound of Luc Besson’s “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.” US Weekend total is $17 million, not even a multiple of Friday’s $6 million. Costing at least $225 million, “Valerian” is a domestic dud.

The only hope for STX Films on the most expensive indie film ever made is people in non English speaking countries not caring about the story or dialogue. This often the case, and dud films– see “The Mummy” — can find audiences who just want the visual flash.

“Valerian” will have to count on China, Russia, South Korea, and other out of the way locales to bail them out.

Meanwhile, “Dunkirk” did a spectacular $50.5 million for the weekend assuring Warner Bros. of a $100 million run–plus plus since they’ll probably re-release when awards season begins in December. Nicely done!

John Heard made a huge splash in 1977. He co-starred in Joan Micklin Silver’s “Between the Lines.” Two years later he and Mary Beth Hurt starred in Silver’s “Chilly Scenes of Winter.” So it’s funny that he’s being remembered today for the “Home Alone” movies. He was going to be the big romantic comedy star following George Segal. Eventually his career took other turns– “Cutter’s Way” with Jeff Bridges is another of his finest. But before Hollywood swallowed him up, these are the films I think of when I think of John Heard. RIP. PS Someone should really organize Silver’s movies into a proper collection.

Warner Bros. and Chris Nolan can rest easy. “Dunkirk” made $19.8 million last night, aiming for a $55 million weekend. They’ve got a hit, and it’s poised for awards season.

The studio and the director were concerned a few nights ago at the movie’s New York premiere that they have a decent weekend. But frankly, there was no question of it. “Dunkirk” is already hailed as a masterpiece. Nolan, his below the line crew, and actor Mark Rylance are all headed for Oscar nominations.

For mid summer, we’ve got “Baby Driver,” and few other scattered potential nominees, and all of “Dunkirk.” That’s not so bad.

More box office to come…

PS Warner Bros. marketing and publicity are cooking on a high flame. After the “Wonder Woman” campaign and this one, they deserve a week at the beach!