“It’s really hard out there for an original movie,” he said, urging everyone who liked the Universal Pictures release to “scream it from the rooftops” and on social media.
“Drop” opened this weekend to an estimated $7.5 million domestically, one of two new movies based on fresh ideas that fizzled at the box office. The other was Disney’s “The Amateur,” a spy thriller adapted from a little-known 1981 book, which opened to an estimated $15 million.
After years of gripes from average moviegoers and Hollywood insiders alike about the seemingly nonstop barrage of sequels, spin offs and adaptations of comic books and toys, the film industry placed more bets on original ideas.
The results have been ugly.
Nearly every movie released by a major studio in the past year based on an original script or a little-known book has been a box-office disappointment. Before this weekend’s flops were Warner Bros. Discovery’s “Mickey 17” and “The Alto Knights,” Paramount’s “Novocaine,” Apple’s “Fly Me to the Moon,” Amazon’s “Red One,” and the independently financed “Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1” and “Megalopolis.”
If Hollywood wants to succeed in today's landscape of lowering box office revenues then it needs to invest in several original low budget movies that employ lesser-known actors. While not all will be winners I'm sure those that surpass expectations would more than make up for the cost of producing so many films. Maybe they should also have less meddling by producers who constantly demand expensive reshoots.
would people show up for these? honestly, going to the cinema is expensive as hell and often not even that good. In days when people have 65' (or larger) 4k TVs with an Atmos soundbar what is the benefit of going to the cinema? Sure, cinemas often have better quality picture and sound, but not always, I've experienced my fair share of bad theaters.
Living outside the US, it also means that I only get subtitled screenings instead of dubbed ones for large blockbusters, which is very annoying.
If find myself in a bit of a paradox. I want more diverse movies to be made, but honestly I doubt I would go to the cinema to watch them when I can do it more comfortably at home.
In the before times, we used to go to an independent movie theater. It had living room seating - big comfy chairs, waiter service for food and drinks before the show, no minors. Then they decided to try and go public, and AMC did a hostile takeover and they went to shit.
Now the only time I go to a theater, it's the local art house single screen showing limited release and indy films.