There’s a couple problems with making these films. First, those highbrow films aren’t really that good. They’re no better than lots of independent films that end up going right to streaming. Although, some of those low budget indies are actually good. They’re just missing that certain something (sometimes it’s money, sometimes experience, maybe something else) that makes them great. Second, they tend to be subjects that only attract a small number of people who are interested, and, only a portion of them will show up. Third, there aren’t all that many truly great films being made.
Take 2000. You had a sort of artsy film like “Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?” A damned good film in “Remember The Titans”. And then blockbusters, like Gladiator, X-Men, and Castaway. There were more than plenty to get people to the theaters. Nowadays, there aren’t many of those really good movies nor blockbusters
Highbrow Films Aimed at Winning Oscars Are Losing Audiences
A year ago, Hollywood watched in despair as Oscar-oriented films like “Licorice Pizza” and “Nightmare Alley” flatlined at the box office. The day seemed to have finally arrived when prestige films were no longer viable in theaters and streaming had forever altered cinema.
But studios held out hope, deciding that November 2022 would give a more accurate reading of the marketplace. By then, the coronavirus would not be such a complicating factor. This fall would be a “last stand,” as some put it, a chance to show that more than superheroes and sequels could succeed.
One after another, films for grown-ups have failed to find an audience big enough to justify their cost. “Armageddon Time” cost roughly $30 million to make and market and collected $1.9 million at the North American box office. “Tár” cost at least $35 million, including marketing; ticket sales total $5.3 million. Universal spent around $55 million to make and market “She Said,” which also took in $5.3 million. “Devotion” cost well over $100 million and has generated $14 million in ticket sales.
What is going on?
The problem is not quality; reviews have been exceptional. Rather, “people have grown comfortable watching these movies at home,” said David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter on box office numbers.
The NY Times article actually avoids the main problem: they are mostly not making films that people really care about. Even small ones for limited audiences. And they tend to over-add their messages to them, so, they are no longer fun. Godzilla is one of the greatest monster movies of all time, and it was certainly a message about the dangers of nuclear weapons testing. It was subtle, using a platform of “damn, that was a fun and great movie.” Nowadays they’re as subtle as a punch to the nads.
This is about more than money. Hollywood sees the shift as an affront to its identity. Film power players have long clung to the fantasy that the cultural world revolves around them, as if it were 1940. But that delusion is hard to sustain when their lone measuring stick — bodies in seats — reveals that the masses can’t be bothered to come watch the films that they prize most. Hollywood equates this with cultural irrelevancy.
Without the really great films, you won’t be able to do the artsy films. How many are willing to pay to see a lot of what are supposed to be blockbusters? I think people are tired of the constant superhero films. That’s about all we get. That’s not to say there aren’t some really good ones. There are. A goodly chunk seem to be on streaming. But, many of those do not have that certain something to make them memorable. Something you’d watch again and again. That you’d buy on DVD or download. Those which are supposed to be blockbusters, such as Black Adam, just aren’t that good. John Nolte makes a good point
The pattern of failure here is not just woketardery. If you look at the stunning failure of Lady Ghostbusters, Bros., In the Heights, and Woke Side Story, and the underperformance of Wakanda Forever, what you have here is one box office failure after another (I could name a dozen more) that is selling itself as a story about identity rather than character. (snip)
The world didn’t spend $5 billion to see Johnny Depp prance around as a pirate in one excellent, one okay, and three pretty bad movies because he’s white. The attraction was Captain Jack Sparrow, one of the most enjoyable characters created in the last 20 years.
There’s many an actor or actress that seem more like themselves than diving into a character. If you saw a Peter Sellers film, you saw him fall into a character. If you see Dwayne Johnson, it’s just “The Rock being The Rock”, as one review for Jungle Cruise mentioned. Ryan Reynolds is going the same way.
Ask 10 different specialty film executives to explain the box office, and you will get 10 different answers. There have been too many dramas in theaters lately, resulting in cannibalization; there have been too few, leaving audiences to look for options on streaming services. Everyone has been busy watching the World Cup on television. No, it’s television dramas like “The Crown” that have undercut these films.
Too many dramas with Woke, with Race, with Sexual Orientation, ones that patronize the audience, that are written in a way that people just lose the flow of the movie. The few horror in theaters, seem to be retreads. Or just bad. Halloween Ends? Terrible. Where’s the great science fiction? Yes, streaming is affecting the box office. With streaming, they can often do longer shows, rather than several multi-hour movies, and delve deep. Without streaming, would something like Amazon’s “Forever War” done well in the theaters? Probably so.
Others continue to advocate patience. Gross pointed out that “The Fabelmans” will roll into more theaters over the next month, hoping to capitalize on awards buzz — it is a front-runner for the 2023 best picture Oscar — and the end-of-year holidays. Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon,” a drug-and-sex-induced fever dream about early Hollywood, is scheduled for wide release Dec. 23.
“I think movies are going to come back,” Spielberg recently told The New York Times. “I really do.”
Does anyone even know what Babylon is about, if they’ve seen the commercials? I don’t. If I have to get on the ‘net to look it up, your advertising is a fail, so, why would I go? And it sounds rather dumb. A film-maker doing an indulgence film. And will probably crash and burn. I love films. I can look up and see a shelf with dozens of DVDs. And a cabinet with maybe a hundred more. And another which has more, along with a bunch of VHS tapes. And a box in the attic with lots more VHS. I used to go to the actual theater 5-10 times a year. There’s nothing these days that would get me in there. There’s a few released for streaming that would if they were theater only releases. Not that many, though.
Just make better movies. Look at the latest Top Gun. Simply meant to entertain. Was the original Friday the 13th a great film? No. It was good. It was damned fun. Entertaining. Something people could watch many times. That’s what’s being missed. It doesn’t matter if the reviewers and a small number of people think a movie has “quality.” It matters if the money paying audience wants to see, goes to see it, enjoys themselves, and tells their friends to see it.
Read: Hollywood Seems Surprised That Highbrow Films Meant To Win Oscars Don’t Do Well »
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