Hollywood Fearing Worst Box Office Summer in a Decade

[Megalith]

The bean counters at Hollywood are about to have a bad season, if projections are accurate: the industry is expected to lose $450 million this summer, from $4.45 billion to $4 billion, the worst in a decade. Studio heads are quick to blame the fact that most of the flicks coming out will be sequels or remakes, but some argue that increasing quality and availability of streaming content is another factor. I think that Hollywood has just forgotten to make good movies—and who the heck is greenlighting all of these ridiculously expensive but risky movies like King Arthur when they could just make some good profit on an original drama or horror film that is light on the effects?

…the latest box-office predictions state the first weekend of May through to early September takings will be down five to 10 percent on last year. While seemingly a relatively small percentage, for the entire cinema industry it could be quite disastrous. The publication states how many executives are worried there are just too many sequels and franchises overflowing the market. “Some of the tent poles are just not as strong this year,” 20th Century Fox head of domestic distribution Chris Aronson says. “Pirates of the Caribbean? It's the fifth one. Transformers? It’s the fifth one.” Fox has just released their sixth instalment in the Alien franchise — Alien: Covenant — and are releasing the third in the rebooted Planet of the Apes series, War for the Planet of the Apes.

 

[grtitan]

I dont mind sequels and franchises,if they are good.

What i hate is the insane prices plus the horrible experience of going out to the movies.

I would love a legal way of watching the new releases at home, with the option to pause and rewind, if possible.

Meanwhile, i wait for a BR or Netflix release.

 

[Jim Kim]

Making movies like Guardians of the Galaxy V2 they deserve to have a bad season.

 

[Jailer]

I dont mind sequels and franchises,if they are good.

What i hate is the insane prices plus the horrible experience of going out to the movies.

I would love a legal way of watching the new releases at home, with the option to pause and rewind, if possible.

Meanwhile, i wait for a BR or Netflix release.

This. Add to it that home theater gear is at such a high quality level that it provides a BETTER experience than the theater in most cases all things considered.

 

[Calavaro]

Movies are cookie cutter, stencil, dried cardboard, junk.

They follow the same formula every time: Intro, some success, failure, running/panic, resolution, ending. And it always centers on 3 characters. Protagonist, antagonist, and protagonists friend/love interest/dog. The rest are discardable items and cannon fodder.

It seems Hollywood has reduced movies to going from cut scene to cut scene. Rarely do we see character development, surprises or even a slight deviation from the formula.
Then add some idiot director that adds explosions with plenty of gasoline, sex that doesn't fit the movie (but you need tits right?) and blood.

The worst offender for these types of movies is Legendary Films. Such garbage.

 

[Derangel]

Outside of the Marvel movies is there even anything worth getting excited about this summer? I've heard barely about most of the summer releases this year. Every one is looking towards next year already.

 

[GotNoRice]

I don't believe that it's a content issue. Going to the movies vs. watching the movie at home is like taking the bus vs. driving my own car. The idea of having to go to a theater to have a good viewing experience is a relic of decades past, and the pros are now easily outweighed by the cons. They try to force it by having that 6 month delay before the movie is watchable at home, but even with that, it's worth it to wait those 6 months in my opinion.

The more that they try to force this obsolete business model on us, the more money they are going to lose.

 

[scojer]

Hey look, voting with your wallet does work!

 

[HeadRusch]

The Blade Runner trailer made me want to get up and go to the movie theater right now.......the last film that made me want to do that was Watchmen. Not even Prometheus (which I loved, KMA) got me back into a public movie theater, and Covenant certainly won't.....

 

[Deleted member 245375]

Hollywood, here's your answer: STOP MAKING SHITTY NEW MOVIES AND STOP MAKING SHITTY REBOOTS THAT NOBODY GIVES A FLYING FUCK ABOUT.

There, and I won't even charge you the nominal $1.2 million consulting fee either.

 

[GotNoRice]

STOP MAKING SHITTY REBOOTS THAT NOBODY GIVES A FLYING FUCK ABOUT.

I was mostly happy to ignore the shitty movies that I don't care about, but it's funny how even a shitty reboot can destroy the movie landscape. Take Ghostbusters for example. That reboot totally bombed in the theater and that should have been a pretty clear message, but now EVERY single time you see "Ghostbusters" on TV it is the new shit movie, as if the old movie simply no longer exists anymore. Now there will be an entire generation of kids where Ghostbusters will be "that bad movie with those 4 annoying women in it".

 

[NIVO]

im with alot of you here. Cant stand the high prices. Dealing with complete toolbags and the baggage. Enjoy the movies at home I can pause if I have to use the bathroom. Fix any sort of snack i wish and stretch out to comfortable position. The movies themselves for me lately is TOO MUCH CGI. I swear im the only one who likes special effects like what was in Jason and the Argonauts and the brilliance of Ray Harryhausen. Make some movies like that for this generation of films and keep it alive please. Screw the people with 2 minute attention spans, make us a film of "Epic" proportion like you did in the 40-60's. I mean really, are any movies made any more that could be considered "classics" 20 years from now? Stop the shovelware

 

[gxp500]

Those darn pirates, ruining everything!

 

[Mad Maxx]

Hollywood is suffering for the same reasons as live sporting events. The in-home experience has gotten far better and less expensive than going to movie theaters and sports arenas. Why contend with traffic, weather, crowds, obscenely over-priced tickets, concessions, etc., when you can watch a 65" 4K screen and eat/drink whatever you want in the comfort of your own home?

 

[Trimlock]

And here I thought this was the only season I wanted to actually go see movies.

 

[NKD]

Making movies like Guardians of the Galaxy V2 they deserve to have a bad season.

There is always that one person. Are you just mad because you wanted to hold on to the first and most precious Guardians of the Galaxy? What the heck was so wrong with the version 2? I enjoyed the heck out of it.

 

[GotNoRice]

TOO MUCH CGI

I agree, and I feel like it's not just the amount of CGI, but the CGI itself and what they do with it. Like in the movie Jurassic World, the Dinosaurs had WAY too much personality. You'd think the people who did the CGI had just spent weeks watching dinosaur cartoons or something, and couldn't handle the the idea of a dinosaur that didn't show off human-style emotions via their facial expressions and actions. Amazing how the Dinosaurs in Jurassic Park ~25 years ago actually looked more real because they didn't feel the need to give them human-like personalities and instead portrayed them as actual wild animals.

 

[NKD]

Hollywood is suffering for the same reasons as live sporting events. The in-home experience has gotten far better and less expensive than going to movie theaters and sports arenas. Why contend with traffic, weather, crowds, obscenely over-priced tickets, concessions, etc., when you can watch a 65" 4K screen and eat/drink whatever you want in the comfort of your own home?

Bull shit. If its a good movie I would not wait for it to come out on blu-ray. I don't care, you may have gotten used to 65" 4k as a replacement of movie theater not me! Oh and I got top of the line samsung 4k HDR tv. You can not beat the experience of the crowd, sitting in reserved seats and popcorn and having good time with family on a big screen. Yea there is nothing cool about that, roll eyes.

 

[Trimlock]

There is always that one person. Are you just mad because you wanted to hold on to the first and most precious Guardians of the Galaxy? What the heck was so wrong with the version 2? I enjoyed the heck out of it.

I liked it better than the first one.

 

[Krenum]

....Because all the movies I've see coming out are garbage, hell more than half of them are stupid comic book movies and look awful or live action Disney rehashed nonsense. Dunkirk & Blade Runner are the only two I'm looking forward to....

 

[NKD]

....Because all the movies I've see coming out are garbage, hell more than half of them are stupid comic book movies and look awful or live action Disney rehashed nonsense. Dunkirk & Blade Runner are the only two I'm looking forward to....

I could partially agree with this. I am very selective on movies I go watch. When I see the trailers I am like oh gonna watch that in the theater when others oh I'll wait for this, lol.

 

[sleepeeg3]

Hollywood is suffering for the same reasons as live sporting events. The in-home experience has gotten far better and less expensive than going to movie theaters and sports arenas. Why contend with traffic, weather, crowds, obscenely over-priced tickets, concessions, etc., when you can watch a 65" 4K screen and eat/drink whatever you want in the comfort of your own home?

Partially true. They're mainly suffering, because they stopped bothering with decent scripts or actors and just tried to pull people in the theater with expensive special effects. It's an arms race of special effects that will end up with movies always going straight to video.

...and I'm tired of seeing the same actors in every movie! (JLaw, Chris Pratt or Ryan Gosling, etc.) Some of them can't act for crap (Gosling). I'm pretty convinced Jennifer Lawrence has no soul.

 

[GotNoRice]

You can not beat the experience of the crowd

Is this meant to be sarcastic?

 

[Mad Maxx]

Bull shit. If its a good movie I would not wait for it to come out on blu-ray. I don't care, you may have gotten used to 65" 4k as a replacement of movie theater not me! Oh and I got top of the line samsung 4k HDR tv. You can not beat the experience of the crowd, sitting in reserved seats and popcorn and having good time with family on a big screen. Yea there is nothing cool about that, roll eyes.

Lucky for you that market research has proven a consistent and sustained decline in movie and sports attendance (ask Roger Goodell if he's worried about it). There will be more empty seats to choose from for you to enjoy the crowd, popcorn, and your family. Have fun!

Here's how you do roll eyes on [H]...

 

[Krenum]

You can not beat the experience of the crowd, sitting in reserved seats and popcorn and having good time with family on a big screen. Yea there is nothing cool about that, roll eyes.

It was fun when I was a kid & didn't know any better or care. But now that I'm grown up, I realize that people annoy the shit out of me.

 

[Trimlock]

Partially true. They're mainly suffering, because they stopped bothering with decent scripts or actors and just tried to pull people in the theater with expensive special effects. It's an arms race of special effects that will end up with movies always going straight to video.

...and I'm tired of seeing the same actors in every movie! (JLaw, Chris Pratt or Ryan Gosling, etc.) Some of them can't act for crap.

The thing with the special effects wars is its pretty much over as all CGI companies now have essentially the same capability. Its transitioned into who can direct a mostly CGI movie.

I still think the best movies utilizes the most props, costume/make ups and local scenery as much as possible.

 

[NKD]

Is this meant to be sarcastic?

Yea lol. I never tend to go on day one release unless I have seats reserved for it. Never waited in a line, however people tend to like it for a weird reason. I think crowd part was exaggerated, I mean is he complaining about theater being packed? lol. There are way better theaters now, I can almost find one in every city of within driving distance with reserved seating.

 

[ChadD]

My wife and daughter went to Guardians last weekend. Movie was fine... not the best movie ever but enjoyable. What I didn't enjoy was spending almost $100 bucks for 2 hours or less of entertainment, a bag of cold popcorn... and a watered down drink that we shared cause damn man I wasn't going to spend $120.

They wonder why people limit themselves to a few movies a year at most. For one movie they charged me almost as much as Netflix costs me for the year.... and after typing that out I'm wondering how bad I really need to go to showings of the 2-3 other movies I might care to see this year.

 

[Trimlock]

Lucky for you that market research has proven a consistent and sustained decline in movie and sports attendance (ask Roger Goodell if he's worried about it). There will be more empty seats to choose from for you to enjoy the crowd, popcorn, and your family. Have fun!

The experience of going to a live game versus watching at home is pretty different. At home its much easier to follow the game, its also much cheaper and convenient. But the experience of going to a live game is fairly drastic.

Last year in the NFL they had contributed lower than average ticket sales due to lack of variety with the big market teams. Don't forget, viewer ship also took a big hit, it was a fairly boring year in the NFL. The biggest news was how some backup QB wouldn't stand for the national anthem.

 

[NKD]

It was fun when I was a kid & didn't know any better or care. But now that I'm grown up, I realize that people annoy the shit out of me.

May be you just get annoyed easy. I got a kick ass theater next to me, or may be every one is nice here. I highly doubt that but I think you don't do it cuz you don't want to. For me if its a good movie I would rather watch in theater, and I mean a good one. One I go to is 10 mins away from me and has reclined seating and you reserve your seat! You must get annoyed easily or you live in new york where everyone tries to sit in any seat and don't know shit is reserved.

 

[NKD]

My wife and daughter went to Guardians last weekend. Movie was fine... not the best movie ever but enjoyable. What I didn't enjoy was spending almost $100 bucks for 2 hours or less of entertainment, a bag of cold popcorn... and a watered down drink that we shared cause damn man I wasn't going to spend $120.

They wonder why people limit themselves to a few movies a year at most. For one movie they charged me almost as much as Netflix costs me for the year.... and after typing that out I'm wondering how bad I really need to go to showings of the 2-3 other movies I might care to see this year.

Hmmm. For me it was like 70. Tickets for the most part. Get a large popcorn and 3 drinks it was like 30 bucks. Wasn't hundred for me. But we normally get one large drink unless we have our son. I don't eat much in theater. I would rather sneak in taco bell. But that's the fun part. We go to must watch movie, shit we couldn't even find the time to watch Fate of the Furious. Just went to watch Guardian and next one is Mummy!

 

[Mad Maxx]

Yea lol. I never tend to go on day one release unless I have seats reserved for it. Never waited in a line, however people tend to like it for a weird reason. I think crowd part was exaggerated, I mean is he complaining about theater being packed? lol. There are way better theaters now, I can almost find one in every city of within driving distance with reserved seating.

I guess you missed the part where I also cited traffic, overpriced tickets/concessions... And some of us don't care to spend time with our families.

 

[ChadD]

Hmmm. For me it was like 70. Tickets for the most part. Get a large popcorn and 3 drinks it was like 30 bucks. Wasn't hundred for me.

I live in Canada perhaps I should have said $100 CND... which is $72.91 US this afternoon.

 

[Trimlock]

Hmmm. For me it was like 70. Tickets for the most part. Get a large popcorn and 3 drinks it was like 30 bucks. Wasn't hundred for me. But we normally get one large drink unless we have our son. I don't eat much in theater. I would rather sneak in taco bell. But that's the fun part. We go to must watch movie, shit we couldn't even find the time to watch Fate of the Furious. Just went to watch Guardian and next one is Mummy!

Went to a Regal Cinema, $28 for me and kids and another $25 for 3 small drinks and a large popcorn. I wanted to watch it in the RPX theater but then I realized the movie isn't really about the action experience so I did standard.

 

[GotNoRice]

I don't understand the "spending time with your family" perk when talking about going out to a movie. Does the time spent with your family watching TV at home not count also? Is that somehow not authentic vs time spent at some random theater where you can't even talk with your family during the movie?

 

[NKD]

I guess you missed the part where I also cited traffic, overpriced tickets/concessions... And some of us don't care to spend time with our families.

LoL okay! I guess you don't care about anything that you can't avoid. Traffic (nope), Everything is overpriced and well to me there is nothing like outing with my wife and kid. So all power to you!

 

[Krenum]

May be you just get annoyed easy. I got a kick ass theater next to me, or may be every one is nice here. I highly doubt that but I think you don't do it cuz you don't want to. For me if its a good movie I would rather watch in theater, and I mean a good one. One I go to is 10 mins away from me and has reclined seating and you reserve your seat! You must get annoyed easily or you live in new york where everyone tries to sit in any seat and don't know shit is reserved.

Yeah we have those here too. Its nice I guess. But I'm a cheap ass & 70 bucks to see a movie is absolutely ridiculous. Especially because that popcorn and soda cost about 2 bucks for the movie theater to make, but I'm no one to tell you how to spend your hard earned money.

 

[NKD]

I don't understand the "spending time with your family" perk when talking about going out to a movie. Does the time spent with your family watching TV at home not count also? Is that somehow not authentic vs time spent at some random theater where you can't even talk with your family during the movie?

Yea you are right you don't get it! Watching Tv and movie in theater is same thing? Cool to me it matters, to you it don't. Not all humans are the same! I have met more people that do it than don't. You are not one of them. Cool!

 

[NKD]

Yeah we have those here too. Its nice I guess. But I'm a cheap ass & 70 bucks to see a movie is absolutely ridiculous, but I'm no one to tell you how to spend your hard earned money.

When you are married, your opinion alone doesn't matter shit! You know what I mean, lol! But honestly we are taking about once every few months. Or 3 months. So I don't mind spending 100 once in three months if it makes her happy. lol

 

[Jim Kim]

Movie Theatre:

People coughing, people sniffling, people talking, people smelling, people texting, people crunching popcorn, people crinkling food wrappers, people slurping drinks, people's germs, shared restrooms, people's leftover trash, people's heads obstructing the view of the movie screen, people getting up and walking around.

Food and drink is expensive.

Can't pause. Can't rewind. Can't stop and play at a later time. Can't rewatch without paying again. Can't enable subtitles. Can't adjust the volume. Can't adjust the screen. Can't change seating point of view, or screen angle. Can't cuddle with a loved one.

Home Theatre:

None of the above problems.

above quote/edited from bluesnews forums, thanks BobBob