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[brap]

Hmm yeah I wonder why movies aren't doing so hot these days.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
Heading into the new year, box office analysts were bullish that 2019 would beat, or at least match, the record-breaking success of last season. Followups to “Avengers,” “Secret Life of Pets” and “Godzilla” combined with reboots of storied franchises such as “Men in Black” and “Shaft” would elevate ticket sales to new heights, theater owners and studio executives predicted. Alas, it was not to be.
Sure, everyone showed up to “Avengers: Endgame” to bid goodbye to Iron Man, but many of those other sequels sputtered out. They were derivative, shoddily constructed, and poorly reviewed. Midway through summer, things are looking decidedly bleak. Ticket sales are pacing 7% behind last year’s popcorn season, according to Comscore, putting the year as a whole nearly 10% below the same frame in 2018.


“When you put all your eggs in the sequel basket this is what happens,” said Jeff Bock, an analyst with Exhibitor Relations. ” Most of these movies feel like they came off of an assembly line. They’re not diving any deeper into the story. They’re not upping the ante. They’re not moving the needle as far as moviegoers are concerned.”

Much of the blame has been pinned on franchise fatigue, the age-old diagnosis that stems from audiences growing tired of movies with endless Roman numerals tacked on the end. But that’s not entirely the case. People will still show up for franchise fare. “Toy Story 4” has cracked the $500 million mark, “John Wick 3” is the highest-grossing entry in the action series, and “Spider-Man: Far From Home” is poised to dominate the July 4th box office. Moreover, sequels, reboots and spinoffs soared at the box office last summer as revenues for “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Incredibles 2” and “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” set the stage for a new benchmark in North America. People don’t hate sequels. They avoid bad movies.

Summer Box Office Meltdown: Why the Movie Business Is Running Scared

Midway through summer, things at the box office are looking decidedly bleak.

variety.com

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

I think MiB and Shaft had “Box Office Letdown” written all over them.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Godzilla KotM

 

[DKehoe]

Wait, that Shaft movie already came out?

 

[Petrae]

I can’t help but to laugh out loud at the jerks in the comments flipping out over the Endgame spoiler. The film has been in theaters for two fucking months. If you’re reading an article about movies on a website about movies but haven’t been to the movies? Yeah, too bad.

As to the article itself? No shit. The movies just haven’t been good enough, in general, to justify the exorbitant cost to see them in theaters. Concession prices are through the roof, in addition to the gradually rising cost of admission. And, with Moviepass being dead, most of the theater chain-specific alternatives are comparatively pricey.

It’s cheaper and more convenient to wait for that movie to hit streaming services or Redbox. You can eat what you want, do what you want during the movie, and only deal with the distractions you create.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

when not reaching the record box office you made last year is "running scared". yeah this is shareholders crying that their giant profit margins are only growing at light speed when they should be growing at ludicrous speed.

Only Disney has reaped big profits while its rivals falter. The studio has fielded the four biggest movies of the year so far and controls nearly 40% of the Stateside market share. It has made nearly seven times as much as Sony or Paramount, almost triple what Universal has racked up, and more than double what Warner Bros., its next closest rival, has generated. Now that Disney controls Fox, and with it the keys to hit series such as “Avatar” and “Deadpool,” it looms even larger over the movie business. However, Fox’s film studio hasn’t proved to be as profitable as some had hoped. The studio’s first major summer release, “Dark Phoenix,” was an unmitigated disaster, one that leaves the X-Men in series need of a reboot.

so one of the key films held up as evidence of "box office meltdown" is "Dark Phoenix", a film put out by Fox. Disney owns Fox and "has reaped big profits" while controlling "nearly 40% of the Stateside market share". yeah it's too bad they only control 40% of the market share. really sad stuff. /s

 

[brap]

It’s cheaper and more convenient to wait for that movie to hit streaming services or Redbox. You can eat what you want, do what you want during the movie, and only deal with the distractions you create.

Plus you can watch naked and not have to deal with other people.

 

[cryptoadam]

Noticed this. Seems there have been many bombas this year. Even Toy Story 4 touted in this article opened lower than the original what like 20 years ago? And if you take out Disney movies I bet it gets worse all around. Basically Disney and international markets are carrying the film studios.

Crappy movies, sequel fatigue, and going woke has wrecked the box office.

 

[sol_bad]

I think MiB and Shaft had “Box Office Letdown” written all over them.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Godzilla KotM

Shaft was released straight to Netflix over here in Philippine's land.
lol

 

[ClanOfNone]

I hardly ever go to the actual theater anymore, Spider-Man put my butt in the seat the last two times.
I wanted to see Homecoming mainly to see Keaton as Vulture, and ended up really liking it. Took the kids, under protest nonetheless, to see Into the Spiderverse when that came out, and all three of us loved it.
Will see Far From Home cause Mysterio and I like Holland's Spidey. Guess I've got a thing for Spider Man.

Weird cause the only other Marvel movie I've watched in theaters was the 1st Iron Man.

 

[RiccochetJ]

The way ticket prices are, going to the theater has to be an event like the Avengers. I'm lucky to have an Alamo Drafthouse in my city and the AMC theaters have completely renovated where you can kick back and recline. It's an awesome experience. At the same time, you can rack up $30 - $40 easily and so the movie has to be worth it. Rotten Tomatoes and other sites like it are invaluable for me to decide which movie I'm going to allow myself to have the 5 star treatment.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

Wait, that Shaft movie already came out?

According to a thread on here from yesterday it’s even on Netflix outside of the US

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Didn't John Wick make bank? Doesn't every single cape shit also make bank?

 

[DESTROYA]

Didn't John Wick make bank? Doesn't every single cape shit also make bank?

John Wick 3 made more money than the first 2 combined.

 

[Hulk_Smash]

I can’t help but to laugh out loud at the jerks in the comments flipping out over the Endgame spoiler. The film has been in theaters for two fucking months. If you’re reading an article about movies on a website about movies but haven’t been to the movies? Yeah, too bad.

As to the article itself? No shit. The movies just haven’t been good enough, in general, to justify the exorbitant cost to see them in theaters. Concession prices are through the roof, in addition to the gradually rising cost of admission. And, with Moviepass being dead, most of the theater chain-specific alternatives are comparatively pricey.

It’s cheaper and more convenient to wait for that movie to hit streaming services or Redbox. You can eat what you want, do what you want during the movie, and only deal with the distractions you create.

$4.50 for a small coke when I went to see John Wick 3. People wonder why I have no qualms about sneaking food into the theater.

 

[J-Roderton]

I just wait for stuff to drop on DVD most of the time these days. If I do go to theater it’s going to be at my usual with $5 tickets.

 

[brap]

I just wait for stuff to drop on DVD most of the time these days. If I do go to theater it’s going to be at my usual with $5 tickets.

>watching stuff on DVD in the year of our lord 2019
You are my enemy.

 

[Deleted member 738976]

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

Wtf, that article literally SPOILED Endgame for me

 

[haxan7]

Too many wannabe blockbusters would be my take. Can only feed people the same movie for so long.

 

[Generic]

Moreover, sequels, reboots and spinoffs soared at the box office last summer as revenues for “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Incredibles 2” and “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” set the stage for a new benchmark in North America. People don’t hate sequels. They avoid bad movies.

It's funny how the author implies The Incredibles 2 was good. One of the worst sequels ever made in movie history.
The argument that people will only watch good movies is bollocks since most successful movies are mediocre and there are a lot of good movies that fail in box office.

when not reaching the record box office you made last year is "running scared". yeah this is shareholders crying that their giant profit margins are only growing at light speed when they should be growing at ludicrous speed.

so one of the key films held up as evidence of "box office meltdown" is "Dark Phoenix", a film put out by Fox. Disney owns Fox and "has reaped big profits" while controlling "nearly 40% of the Stateside market share". yeah it's too bad they only control 40% of the market share. really sad stuff. /s

Movie journalists pander a lot to Disney.

 

[womfalcs3]

It's not franchise fatigue. It's bad sequels. Good sequels or reboots did well.

 

[ndreamer]

I just wait for stuff to drop on DVD most of the time these days. If I do go to theater it’s going to be at my usual with $5 tickets.

Only $2.30 near us, we have been going every few weeks.
Popcorn and drinks are the killer though.

 

[Javthusiast]

I rarely go to the cinema. Have enough shit to watch from home.

 

[hariseldon]

Tbh there's very little out that I want to watch, I'm having a very hard time finding films I want to watch. So instead me and my wife will pick something from the 500 films on my Plex server. I like going to the cinema for films worthy of it, the expense is a bit much these days, but if the film's good enough I'm happy to pony up. The problem is that right now few films are worth it.

 

[GV82]

1999 my local independent cinema already had to shut down in January/Feb of that year, due to the mid to late 90’s being bad for business, apart from the odd hit.

Years later I saw the owner post on Face Book that if he attempted to stay open just until the end of 1999 to see how things went, then he probably wouldn’t have gone out of business.

Some big UK releases in 1999

The Matrix
The Mummy
Phantom Menace
6th Sense
Toy Story 2
Austin Powers 2
South Park
Bugs life
American Pie
Eyes Wide Shut
Blair Witch
The World is Not Enough
Notting Hill
She’s all that


Etc, so yeah his cinema would have made enough that year and the following years to stay in business, especially with the big Comicbook movie boom, he just misjudged it, I really feel bad for him.

20 years later in 2019 I couldn’t imagine the Box office struggling again, but there we go.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Did Godzilla bomb?

 

[Sub_Level]

A few years ago I figured the MCU movie shit would die down.

But something worse happened: they became the only movies worth going to the theatre for.

 

[Dusk Soldier]

Wtf, that article literally SPOILED Endgame for me

What are you doing on the Internet if you're worried about Endgame spoilers?

 

[slugbahr]

What are you doing on the Internet if you're worried about Endgame spoilers?

The search for porn cannot be paused for the sake of avoiding movie spoilers.

 

[WinterIsComing]

I can’t help but to laugh out loud at the jerks in the comments flipping out over the Endgame spoiler.

I try to avoid them but don't really care if I get hit, so this doesn't bother me. I've been away from anything Avengers/MCU related in the past 2 months, other than that didn't take any precautions, and this was the 1st endgame spoiler that came my way.

 

[nush]

I can’t help but to laugh out loud at the jerks in the comments flipping out over the Endgame spoiler. The film has been in theaters for two fucking months. If you’re reading an article about movies on a website about movies but haven’t been to the movies? Yeah, too bad.

It’s cheaper and more convenient to wait for that movie to hit streaming services or Redbox. You can eat what you want, do what you want during the movie, and only deal with the distractions you create.

Shits on spolierphobes, yet understands why they might not have seen a movie yet.

 

[Generic]

It's not franchise fatigue. It's bad sequels. Good sequels or reboots did well.

How was The Incredibles 2 successful then?

 

[MetalAlien]

 

[Javthusiast]

The search for porn cannot be paused for the sake of avoiding movie spoilers.

This is true definition of being cultured.

 

[Generic]

A few years ago I figured the MCU movie shit would die down.

But something worse happened: they became the only movies worth going to the theatre for.

This series was good 7 years ago but then they decided to remake The Avengers with every Marvel movie.

 

[Javthusiast]

I pretty much only go to the movies nowadays for some big mcu event films, mission impossible, james bond, fast and the furious and the ocasional one off blockbuster like mad max fury road.

The days of me spending money on horror films, or comedies in the theather are long gone. I can watch them on streaming services later from the comfort of my home and for way less. They are just not ''cinematic'' enough to see on the big screen.

 

[DoctorEkkoUK]

Also, is it just me or have movie theatres been gradually making the volume of the adverts and trailers before the films louder and louder. I feel like I've been flashbanged by the time the movie starts

 

[Nymphae]

Also, is it just me or have movie theatres been gradually making the volume of the adverts and trailers before the films louder and louder. I feel like I've been flashbanged by the time the movie starts

I can't tell if it's just me getting older and crankier, but I've noticed this every time I go to the theatre in the past couple years as well. I don't understand why things need to be so loud in general, I can't stand concerts because they take it so far beyond being loud enough for everyone at the venue to hear, I think that should literally be illegal, it's causing hearing damage to many people I'm sure. Yeah you can wear earplugs that help, but why not just keep the volume at a level that is loud enough to be loud, but not crossing the line into physical damage.

 

[slugbahr]

Also, is it just me or have movie theatres been gradually making the volume of the adverts and trailers before the films louder and louder. I feel like I've been flashbanged by the time the movie starts

I can't tell if it's just me getting older and crankier, but I've noticed this every time I go to the theatre in the past couple years as well. I don't understand why things need to be so loud in general, I can't stand concerts because they take it so far beyond being loud enough for everyone at the venue to hear, I think that should literally be illegal, it's causing hearing damage to many people I'm sure. Yeah you can wear earplugs that help, but why not just keep the volume at a level that is loud enough to be loud, but not crossing the line into physical damage.

 

[Nymphae]

I've been hearing that since I was in my early teens. I'm just cranky lol.

 

[Teletraan1]

I am more impressed with my AV setup at home than the theater. Image quality on my TV is better than sitting in a theater. Sound is a wash since I have an ATMOS setup. Plus I don't have to put up with the smelly BO person in my proximity or the mentally handicapable kid sitting directly behind me murmuring in my ear through the entire film like I did the last time I went to see something.

 

[Gargus]

Between high ticket prices, theaters near me never really doing anything about obnoxious customers, high concession prices (I have to have popcorn and a drink in a theater), the time and energy it takes to drive to a theater and so on makes it hard for me to go to one. Considering i can get a month of Netflix with the dvd/blu ray option for 2 discs at a time including new releases for the price of 1 trip to a theater i have a hard time justifying it. Especially when I am tired of sequels, remakes or just tiresome movies.

I haven't been to a theater once this year. Only 3 movies are going to bring me out in 2019. Once upon a time in Hollywood, midsommar (wife's birthday movie and she is dying to see it), and three from hell.

 

[Potato Chip PRO]

I haven't been to the theater in a very long time.... And since you have to choose where you sit now when you pay for the ticket.. That pissed me off even more.

 

[Nymphae]

And since you have to choose where you sit now when you pay for the ticket.. That pissed me off even more.

Guaranteed seating is a weird thing to be mad about, that's literally the best thing that's happened to theatres in my lifetime. I don't go often anymore, but it's really nice to buy tickets online ahead of time, and then be able to walk in at the absolute last second, or even late, and still have my perfect center seat.

 

[Birdo]

I stopped going when tickets hit £10 where I live.

I remember when they were £3...........

 

[Nymphae]

Fuck feeding the Hollywood machine. Last night I bought $30 worth of DVDs from the $5 bin at Walmart, already had more enjoyment than the past couple years of theatre outings.

 

[Tesseract]

some theaters are too loud, i'll walk out if i suspect damage is being done

fuck that shit, i'd rather wait for the 4k release and set the levels on my phones from home

 

[Potato Chip PRO]

Guaranteed seating is a weird thing to be mad about, that's literally the best thing that's happened to theatres in my lifetime. I don't go often anymore, but it's really nice to buy tickets online ahead of time, and then be able to walk in at the absolute last second, or even late, and still have my perfect center seat.

The problem with guaranteed seating in my area is that its always full and the only seats available are the very first row of seats. Like how TF can anyone watch a movie like that? One other thing is I never really liked sitting next to anyone ;_;

 

[CeroFrio996]

The movies just haven’t been good enough, in general, to justify the exorbitant cost to see them in theaters.

The problem for me is the risk of wasting my time. I have some pretty cheap local theaters and I just dont buy the soda and popcorn. But wasting 2-3 hours on a bad movie just isn't a risk I feel like taking, so I only really go to the movies I'm really excited about, like Far From Home

 

[NickFire]

I bet Lion King helps the overall 2019 ticket sales. And regardless of overall sales, there have been some good movies. Avengers and Spider Man are the tops so far IMO. A little disappointed with the horror genre (Pet Semetary especially), but there's a couple I want to see and haven't gotten around to yet.