{"id":603589,"date":"2024-01-05T16:05:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-05T13:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/box-office-existential-crisis-ahead-as-hollywood-rethinks-what-makes-a-hit\/"},"modified":"2024-01-05T16:05:00","modified_gmt":"2024-01-05T13:05:00","slug":"box-office-existential-crisis-ahead-as-hollywood-rethinks-what-makes-a-hit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/box-office-existential-crisis-ahead-as-hollywood-rethinks-what-makes-a-hit\/","title":{"rendered":"#Box Office: Existential Crisis Ahead As Hollywood Rethinks What Makes a Hit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n One out of every five moviegoers has vanished since the pandemic, according to research compiled by one Hollywood studio. Whether they\u2019ll ever return to see a film on the big screen is anyone\u2019s guess \u2014 and, if they do, when.<\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s an alarming stat that offers some explanation as to why the box office turned on its head in 2023, leaving the film industry bewildered and befuddled. Superhero fare \u2014 the genre that helped prop up the business for well over a decade \u2014 no longer got a free pass as megabudget pics bombed, including The Flash<\/em> and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom<\/em>, both from DC, and Marvel Studios\u2019 The Marvels<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n \u201cAudiences\u2019 tastes are changing, and it feels like they want more challenging fare,\u201d says chief Comscore box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian.<\/p>\n

\n The existential crisis settled in for the long term when a pair of fresh, original summer movies<\/a> \u2014 Barbie<\/em> and Oppenheimer<\/em> \u2014 outwitted everyone and transformed into the cultural phenomenon known as Barbenheimer. While Barbie<\/em> is based on known IP, there were no guarantees that filmmaker Greta Gerwig\u2019s fresh and irreverent take would work. Barbie<\/em> is the first female-led, live-action movie to top the yearly global and domestic box office chart in modern times, with more than $1.44\u00a0billion in worldwide ticket sales, while Christopher Nolan\u2019s Oppenheimer<\/em> ranks third on the year\u2019s top global earners with $952\u00a0million, a record for a biopic.\u00a0The two movies made up nearly 10 percent of all domestic ticket sales, and nearly 29 percent of the top ten grossing films, according to Comscore.<\/p>\n

\n Around the same time as Barbenheimer, the conservative-skewing movie Sound of Freedom <\/em>took off at the box office with virtually no warning and did more business domestically \u2014 $184.2\u00a0million \u2014 than tried-and-true franchise installments Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny <\/em>($174.5\u00a0million) and Mission: Impossible \u2014 Dead Reckoning, Part One<\/em> ($172\u00a0million). And in mid-October, Taylor Swift became another box office unicorn when her concert pic, The Eras Tour<\/em>, grossed $179.6\u00a0million domestically and $250.3\u00a0million globally against a minuscule $15\u00a0million budget. Moreover, she bypassed Hollywood studios and instead asked AMC Theatres to distribute the film.<\/p>\n

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\"Top<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n The family marketplace also remained incredibly fragile post-pandemic, particularly for original animated fare, such as Disney\u2019s Wish<\/em> or Migration<\/em>, from Illumination and Disney. The Super Mario Bros. Movie<\/em>, based on the beloved video game<\/a>, was a major exception to the animation downturn. Superhero fatigue and animation woes leave a void that no one is quite sure how to fill. <\/p>\n

\n \u201cEverything is so lopsided,\u201d says Wall Street analyst Rich Greenfield of LightShed Ventures. \u201cThe number of big-budget movies in 2023 that didn\u2019t make money felt like an all-time high. Consumer interest in moviegoing has been permanently altered. The question is, can theaters survive another horrific year?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Notes a top studio executive: \u201cWe are definitely going through an evolution, and we can\u2019t just keep cranking out the same old franchise fare. We have to do better. The ways we did things for decades don\u2019t work anymore; now you have to hit the bull\u2019s-eye or get close to it. And a lot of that has to do with the abundance of streaming product. When there\u2019s a multitude of options for audiences to watch at home, there had better be a special reason to go to the theater.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Some Wall Street analysts are confident the box office can weather the year\u2019s changes, as well as a potentially tough 2024 with a lean release calendar because of strike-related delays. \u201cWe do believe the industry can overcome its near-term hurdles and should be well positioned for improved results in 2025-26,\u201d says Eric Handler of Roth MKM Partners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n Observers also note that domestic revenue was ultimately able to cross $9\u00a0billion in 2023 for the first time since the pandemic thanks to a diverse Christmas menu and better-than-expected performances from films including The Color Purple<\/em>, Wonka<\/em> and The Boys in the Boat<\/em>. The tally isn\u2019t entirely official yet, but Comscore is estimating a domestic haul of $9.05\u00a0billion, a 21\u00a0percent gain over 2022. However, that\u2019s still down roughly 21\u00a0percent from 2019, the last year before the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe sure bets are no longer sure bets,\u201d says Dergarabedian. \u201cWe\u2019re living in a parallel universe.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Asteroid<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>

Asteroid City<\/span><\/p>\n

Courtesy of Pop\/87 Productions\/Focus Features<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n The traditional platform release for art house pics is once again showing signs of life \u2014 but with a twist.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"Specialty<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n In the heyday of the indie film boom, a platform release could allow a film to grow its footprint in cinemas over the course of many months without having to spend a fortune on advertising. Such a run usually begins in New York and Los Angeles; if a film is lucky, it will end up playing nationwide. But the traditional platform release was decimated by the pandemic \u2014 nor did streaming help.<\/p>\n

\n And yet the tactic is back, with a twist. After sending Wes Anderson<\/em>\u2019s new movie to the Cannes Film Festival in May, Focus chose to release Asteroid City <\/em>in six theaters in mid-June. The film scored an opening weekend average of $132,111 \u2014 the best showing since La La Land <\/em>seven years earlier (this factoid made for many a headline). The next weekend, Focus expanded Asteroid City<\/em> nationwide, or into more than 1,620 locations, in part because Focus wanted the title to be fresh in the minds of consumers when becoming available to rent on premium VOD after only three weeks.<\/p>\n

\n A24, Searchlight and Neon are just a few of the other indie distributors playing around with a similar hybrid platform model whereby they go wide fairly quickly after starting off in only a handful of cinemas. For A24, it worked with Priscilla<\/em>, while The Holdovers <\/em>has done nicely by Focus. <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe one that brought back a lot of confidence for me was Asteroid City because it showed you can still do a movie like this theatrically,\u201d says Focus chief of distribution Lisa Bunnell. \u201cWe are seeing a stronger marketplace now for specialty film, and I think you\u2019re starting to get younger folks coming to the movies to see specialty film. It\u2019s not just the established art crowd showing up now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n MGM\/Amazon theatrical distribution chief Kevin Wilson concurs. His 2023 slate included such platform releases as Saltburn<\/em> and Bottoms<\/em> (he\u2019s also handling the specialty pic The Boys in the Boat<\/em>, which did far better than expected when opening nationwide over Christmas). \u201cI do think the adult audience is starting to come back to theaters in earnest. And I also think there\u2019s a young cinephile audience out there that\u2019s paying attention to movies like Saltburn<\/em> or Poor Things<\/em> [Searchlight] or Bottoms<\/em>. It\u2019s exciting to get this young audience excited about going to the movies for smaller films.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n After seven years, the Mouse House was dethroned by the Donna\u00a0Langley-led studio in a close race for total receipts<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"global<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n Universal\u2019s film empire is taking a bow after placing No.\u00a01 in market share at the 2023 global box office, a feat no studio has been able to pull off since Disney rose to dominance in 2016.<\/p>\n

\n The 24 movies released by Universal generated an estimated $4.91\u00a0billion in worldwide ticket sales, compared to an estimated $4.83\u00a0billion from the 17 titles released by Disney in what made for a relatively close race both in North America and at the foreign box office. Warner Bros. \u2014 home of Barbie<\/em>, the year\u2019s top earner with $1.44\u00a0billion in worldwide ticket sales \u2014 was No.\u00a03 in global market share with $3.84\u00a0billion, including $1.43\u00a0billion domestically and $2.4\u00a0billion overseas. Sony came in No.\u00a04 with $2.09\u00a0billion globally, including an early domestic estimate of $1.01\u00a0billion and $1.08 overseas.<\/p>\n

\n The transfer of power is a big win for Donna Langley, who is chairman of NBCUniversal Studio Group and chief content officer. She is known for her close ties to top filmmakers, and had the necessary skills and standing to lure Christopher Nolan into the Universal fold when he grew dissatisfied with Warners after it announced plans to release its 2021 slate day-and-date on streaming. From 2016 to 2022, Disney placed first in global market share (it lost the domestic race to Sony in 2020, the year of the COVID-19 box office collapse). Universal hasn\u2019t ranked No.\u00a01 on a global basis since 2015, when its revenue reached $6.9\u00a0billion, but has consistently ranked high up on the marketshare chart. \u201cIn 2023, Universal once again found success at the box office with our eclectic slate of films,\u201d says Jim Orr, president of domestic distribution.<\/p>\n

\n Ceding the crown to Universal caps a difficult year for Disney, one in which Marvel and its animation studios stumbled badly. \u201cBeing the No.\u00a01 studio\u00a0globally for seven consecutive years out of the last eight is pretty remarkable by any measure and is something of which we are all incredibly proud,\u201d Disney chief of global distribution Tony Chambers says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n Elsewhere, Lionsgate had a notable milestone to celebrate in that its movies generated north of $1 billion in global ticket sales for the first time in five years thanks to the successful runs of John Wick: Chapter 4<\/em>, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes<\/em> and the latest Saw<\/em> franchise, among other titles. John Wick<\/em> was a standout in particular, earning $440.1 million worldwide and north of $187 million domestically, the ninth-best showing of the year.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe good news<\/a> is that if the audience feels like there\u2019s something fresh or exciting, they still love seeing movies in movie theaters,\u201d says Lionsgate Motion Picture Group vice chair Adam Fogelson. \u201cThere are definitely genres that are more challenged now than they have ever been, and that\u2019s an issue. Whether a short-term trend or a long-term reality, it\u2019s definitely going to require everyone to be hypervigilant about what we decide to make and at what price point.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n A vesrion of this story app<\/a>eared in the Jan. 4 issue of\u00a0The Hollywood Reporter\u00a0magazine.\u00a0Click here to subscribe<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One out of every five moviegoers has vanished since the pandemic, according to research compiled by one Hollywood studio. Whether they\u2019ll ever return to see a film on the big screen is anyone\u2019s guess \u2014 and, if they do, when. It\u2019s an alarming stat that offers some explanation as to why the box office turned…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":603590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/1rep_boxoffice_MAIN-H-2024.jpg?w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[1542],"class_list":["post-603589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-box-office"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}