https://www.cbr.com/summer-movies-flopping/
The 2023 summer movie season hasn't been the success studios had hoped. From The Flash to Fast X, here's why so many movies are flopping this summer.
The #1 reason is that the scripts they are using (if they are even using one) SUCK.
shareIncluding expensive tickets and recession. If your salary get less worth and tickets raise, you won't go to a movie you can watch within 6 months for half the price on your home tv.
shareAnd don't forget that the budgets for this year's summer movies was waaay too high.
They cost upwards of 300m and that's NOT including the marketing budget.
Almost all the big ones needed close to, if not more than a billion just to make profits
They really need to bring movie budgets under control. Just the thought of a movie needing close on a billion to break even is insane.
shareYes. And also, I genuinely don't get most of them as well. Like Indiana Jones did NOT need to be a 300m dollar movie.
Mario Bros & Across the Spiderverse cost 100m each. The Pixar movie, Elemental cost 200m. They literally made 2 films with that budget
I would bet most of these movies were not greenlit with these crazy budgets, they all suffered due to COVID delays and then all the protocols that had to be implemented in order to resume.
shareI don't think some of these budgets are true massive blowout budgets.
e.g. I read the Fast X supposed huge budget included costs associated with COVID delays, etc plus they had included the affects of recent rapid inflation. Of course that's notwithstanding the fact that they also burned money firing the original director and sitting on their asses for a few weeks
Seems to me a bit like when Superman Returns had to take the hit budget-wise for the Superman Lives production costs, including Nic Cage's salary.
Maybe the likes of Flash and Indiana Jones are similarly being hit for those COVID / inflationary costs as well...
Good point about the COVID costs.
shareI don't think that's a factor at all. Besides the fact that several of the films are actually quite good, bad scripts have never mattered when it comes to ticket sales. Terrible films often succeed at the box office, while truly exceptional films rarely do.
shareIts because movies are bad and looks like people finally got tired of all those endless franchises sequels. Give us something original.
1. I’m still surprised that FLASH bombed this hard. I thought it would do better and it wasnt as bad and lifeless like those BvS, Justice League movies. I guess people were not that much into Flash as character and Ezra Miller was not interesting in that role for people. They really did miscast him. He is just not likeable and pretty enough to lead movie to 200 millions. His attempt at comedy were pathetic and cringe, Not one joke landed the way writers intended to.
And they rally should have hire Henry Cavil for Superman role instead of that boring no-name Supergirl actress. There were no big names in Flash.
2. Every single person knew Indiana Jones wold flop the moment they announced it. As absolutely no one asked for that sequel. But they did it anyway and lost money. Idiots.
3. Every Fast and Mission Impossible movie now looks the same as the last one. Because too many sequels and writers run out of ideas. Thats why people finally stopped caring to see them. Goof luck with "second parts" for MI and Fast movies. They will gross even less than these flops.
4. "Shortened Streaming Release Windows". Yes. Back in a days I would go to watch movie to theater because I knew that it will be "on DVD" only in 4 months. Now I know I can watch that movie on TV screen in like 3 weeks so why bother going to cinema?
5. Studios really should stop giving to movie 250-300 millions budgets. Its insane. You will never get those money back. Stop paying actors so much money. Like in Fast X you know that 150 millions probably went to the salary for actors as they have like 10-15 main characters now and so many famous faces and all demanded millions for their appearances. And stop spending so much on promotion.
Stop paying actors so much money.
This is the most funny thing. And I truly wonder why no one picks up this subject.
Reality is that there are 160 000 actors out there. But only few thousands "made it". Maybe like 4-5% of them. They got lucky to get into popular tv show or become movie star/celebrity. And THEY GET ALL THE MONEY. Like 10-20 millions per movie role or 500 000 per episode of tv show. Then THEY GET THOSE RESIDUALS.
While other 95% get zero. They are being payed minimum salary and whine how poor they are now. And no one in that stupid SAG wants to admit with it and demand studios to make it even. "Even" would be when studios will stop paying so much money to one actor and pay those money to writers and other actors.
If movie has a budget of 100 millions and 20 millions is being payed to Lead Actor and 10 millions to Famous Director then its only 70 millions is left for the budget. On those money they have to shoot movie itself and pay money to 2 000 people who work on it. Of course they will pay less to everyone else because that one movie star took all the money. If those 20 millions would not be payed to ONE ACTOR then you can count how much more raise would everyone else get. Like 10 000 more.
This is what those actors should fight with. Its same with popular tv shows. They have a budget of some 5 millions per episode but all lead actors want huge money. One get 500k, other one get 300k, another one gets 200k. And most shows have a cast of 7-10 people so their salaries alone take more then half the budget. Then everyone else get payed 5 000 dollars. And show looks cheap because money left were not enough.
The biggest problem in Hollywood is those inequality between salaries. No one should be payed 200-500k per episode of tv show and 5-20 millions per role. When that will stop - producers will have the money to raise salaries to writers and supporting actors.
This is why its so funny when famous actors show up at the strike. Not realizing THEY are the problem.
This is why its so funny when famous actors show up at the strike. Not realizing THEY are the problem.
Its almost funny like all those protestors created created this made up villain in their heads, some faceless Owner Of The Studio and Streaming Service. Who in their imagination is so greedy that he takes all the millions into his own pocket and now they fight him so he would give money to them.
While in reality all those money movie earned is going into studio budget to finance other movies. And they have tons of movies that bring them only losses. Like they have budget 20-30 millions and then get 2 millions at the box-office. Streaming studio must finance more and more own projects. They probably barely have any money not to go bankrupt.
They cant just take money and give away. Streaming then will increase subscription. Studios budgets will go so high that they will not have money. Which will force them to stop producing shows and movies and they will focus on blockbusters that will bring some money. They would top doing low budget movies and all those actors and writers will sit without work at all.
SAG and WGA really should have fight the real problem - huge salaries for few actors who get all the money while others get nothing. No actor should get more then 1 million dollars per year. None of them earned it and deserve. If they want to be millionaires - promote brands and earn more additional money. But not from studios.
For the protestors studio heads are the villains. Because it is not the major actors decide who get paid how much, they can ask, but it is the studio heads made the decisions.
So I think they picked their villains rightly.
They will achieve nothing. Budgets are over the roof now, we see those insane 250-300 millions budgets for movies. If they will make studios pay everyone else more money - budgets would have to increase even more. They would just go bankrupt.
Streamings will just die. They would have to make people pay 20-40 dollars per month and people will not do that and stremings will close.
Again - all of them will just make less shows and movies and all those protestors will have even less job a year.
Without addressing the REAL PROBLEM - thy will not find solution. And that is - few main actors get half the budget of episode and movie. They should be payed less.
Second - too many actors. Everyone wants to move to LA and get those easy money. They all join SAG then want pensions and other stuff. But only few achieve great success. Others just get few small supporting roles twice a year, then whine how they dont get payed as much as they thought they would.
'There were no big names in Flash.'
Michael Keaton is a big name. People don't have to be familiar with his Batman to know that. And Ben Affleck was very visible in the trailers.
Michael Keaton is a 71 year old grandpa that was famous 30 years ago. He is not the Movie Star that 18-35 years old would rush to see in cinema. Being "known in press" and inside showbiz is not the same as having people come to see you in movies.
Ben Affleck is a 50 year old dude whose glory days are behind him and who is no known to lead movies that would get 200 millions at the box office. Not to mention everyone knew that he would have a cameo in this movie and will not lead it.
Overall it looks like all comic book fan-boys actually came to see this movie as they would go to watch every comicbook movie. And it was not enough because ordinary movie goers didnt come.
You said there were no big names. Regardless of their ages or when they were at their peak, they're still big - and current - names.
And Keaton is far from just being "known in press" and inside showbiz.
Looks like you dont realize the difference. Big Name for box-office grosses is not the one you constantly see in tabloids or movie press. Its the one movie goers look at at want to see them on screen in such numbers that movie would get 200 millions at the boxoffice.
71- years old Michael Keaton is not the one.
There are actors with Name Recognition and there are Movie Stars.
Lindsy Lohan has Name Recognition. But no one will go to see her movie specially for her. Kardashians are mega famous. But no one will go to see her movie specially for them.
They thought that character Flash itself was popular enough for people to wanting to see it. But it wasnt. Fan boys came, ordinary people didnt. There was nothing interesting for them in it. They watched trailer and didnt cared about Flash, Ezra Miller and Michael Keaton.
While Aquaman and Wonder Woman 1 had some interesting premise, looked fun and people went to see it. And actors who played them looked pretty and charismatic. While Ezra Miller didnt.
Looks like you should have been a bit more specific with your interpretation of 'big name'.
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This is the worst year of movies I can remember in a long damn time. I think the best thing that came out was that stupid ass D&D movie. Wall to wall turkeys.
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