OT: Hollywood's franchise approach may be dying
I'm a big movie buff and a recent article outlining Spielberg's prediction from a few years ago that Hollywood's over-reliance on franchises would result in a future box-office implosion seems to be trending true. There isn't overwhelming data, but some early cracks in the franchise foundation are peeking.
MI: Dead Reckoning hauled in only ~$50M opening despite a $290M budget BEFORE marketing.
Compare this to Oppenheimer (obviously not a franchise) which is projected to be a $50M open on a $100M budget.
Other franchise releases:
Fast X did $129M domestically compared to $175M for the previous installment, F9.
The last two Marvel installments...
Ant Man & The Wasp: Quantumania underperformed at ~$470M in its theatrical run, and is one of the few Marvel films that didn't break $500M. It also failed to build on momentum from it's first two installments, which were $519M and $620M, respectively.
Guardians Vol.3 was an exception - performed well bringing in $843M on a $250M budget. Guardians is also a more popular franchise and was the eagerly anticipated reinstatement of James Gunn to his director role.
I'm not sure where y'all are at with movies these days but I've been fiending for a compelling and original story. While I mostly like the MCU I'll admit the Disney+ releases and changing of the guard from Endgame have diluted the series quality for me. Endgame felt like the last truly mind-blowing franchise experience for me, I've been mostly disappointed since, with a few exceptions (e.g. Top Gun: Maverick was good).
I just want to see fresh talent not in their 40s and new IP that isn't spinoff.
Until Hollywood decides to take more risks on projects that might actually be interesting, I highly recommend the Extraction series on Netflix.
The more recent Marvel ones have. Not all for sure, but they definitely have. I didn't finish my initial thought on the Transformers movie, due to multi-tasking, to say that the story itself was rough but I enjoyed that it was a simple movie that you could just sit and enjoy (Even if Mirage was annoying). I don't even think it was a Michael Bay one. I loved the first movie. I haven't seen Mission Impossible. I would say that the movies that have lately been more successful have been ones that have stayed out of the media for their agendas. Maverick and Mario are perfect examples. Those are also mostly new idea movies. Yes, Maverick was a franchise, but the last movie in the franchise was 36 years ago, so I don't think that qualifies in the same bucket as Marvel/SW/Fast etc...
Mostly, the movie market feels bland with occasional high points, and a bunch of those bland movies aren't made for entertainment.
As China has heavy investment in Hollywood, many movies are made in Shanghai now. It'll be interesting how the strikes shakes out. Many associates not actors will be hurt.
I haven't bothered to sit down and watch a full length film in quite a while. Usually find something on youtube (there is good content if you look for it).
most genres have been done to death, it's hard to come up with something new that doesn't suck. The success of the Marvel comic book movies (some of which were genuinely good) ruined other movies because they tried to turn movies that shouldn't have had the Marvel feel, and tried to make them Marvel (I'm looking at you, Disney Star Wars).
Add to that I can watch almost anything on a large screen at home there isn't much incentive to go to a theatre right now, IMO.
I'm looking forward to Oppenheimer, but I may wait till it hits a streaming service to watch it.
THANK EFFING GOD! I've been to two movies in ten years, Straight Outta Compton on opening weekend and Bohemian Rhapsody on opening weekend. I've never seen a Batman movie, Star Wars, any Marvel movie, only one Mission Impossible, walked out of the second and the same goes for most other blockbusters and franchises.
A few of my favorite movies ever, Good Will Hunting, The Breakfast Club, Swingers, Rocky, early Tarantino stuff like Reservoir Dogs, True Romance and Pulp Fiction and of course, GREASE, the only movie I went to the theater twice to see. I will admit, the only reason I did this is because I was an 8-10 kid that was absolutely in love with Olivia Newton John, well, that and the music of course.
Dark Knight is great cinema. Heath Ledger is extraordinary in it. What a way to go out.
Remember that Hollywood Accounting will make it seem like ANY movie lost money.
a shift to streaming has made this even easier.
Add in real-life The Producers shenanigans, and Hollywood’s penchant for making movies just to test whether audiences like or dislike an actor (you cannot convince me that Suicide Squad - the first one - wasn’t an attempt to make Cara Delivigne and Jai Courtney into THINGS) and there’s plenty of reasons to make a movie other than ticket sales.
I bet digital streaming and back-catalogue sales of ALL Marvel movies spikes every time a new Marvel movie is released. That’s profit which doesn’t get attributed to the new movie…but is very real for the people getting paid…
You can beat a dead horse, but if that dead horse leads you to water and you keep beating it, then you might have an even deader horse.
I have an 85" TV and surround sound and I still love going to the movies. I love the screen size, audio, and watching along with others who are interested in it. Luckily I have the means to afford the tickets and concessions. I just wish there were better movies to see overall.
Good. Franchises and comic book superhero stuff sucks.
Ant Man & The Wasp: Quantumania underperformed at ~$470M in its theatrical run, and is one of the few Marvel films that didn't break $500M. It also failed to build on momentum from it's first two installments, which were $519M and $620M, respectively.
The fact that humans spent $470M on a Ant man sequel called Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania just absolutely blows my mind. "Honey I shrunk the super hero Part 2" but a lot less fun? Come on people.
Also when making a movie with that title wtf are your expectations? Two drunk frat kids go to see it to sober up? Maybe? Its silly that half a billion is the disappointment and not the actual making of the movie itself.
Burn, Baby, Burn
How everyone is not itching to see Oppenheimer on IMAX is beyond me.