According to recent reports, the domestic box office has shrunk by approximately 22 percent compared to last year. Box Office Mojo indicates that the 2024 domestic box office sits at just under $2 billion as of April 26, whereas the same year-to-date figure in 2023 was over $2.5 billion.
So far, 2024 is perpetuating a lackluster post-pandemic trend where the box office figures fail to live up to pre-pandemic earnings in 2019. From the perspective of the ever-evolving business landscape in entertainment, many have argued that direct-to-consumer streaming services have made a significant dent in box-office attendance. Pandemic lockdowns would have certainly exacerbated this trend.
Alongside this argument, conservatives have slammed the latest Hollywood offerings for pushing a woke agenda in new films, ranging from forced diversity in casting to LGBTQ themes and other highly politicized messages. Ultimately, many consumers feel that new films are getting worse yearly.
According to Breitbart’s John Nolte: “But this year is shaping up to be a full-blown catastrophe, and despite what the sycophants in the entertainment media tell you, it has nothing to do with the strike or the pandemic or weather or marketing or anything other than what the science tells us: people are falling out of love with the movies. People are rejecting the movies. After some seven years of woke garbage, gay sex, grooming, DEI, and the politicization of absolutely everything, by a margin of 2-to-1, Normal People say the movies are worse today than in past decades.”
Furthermore, powerful Disney, Nelson Peltz, recently criticized the entertainment giant for the woke narrative it pushes in its shows and movies, particularly in the Marvel universe. “People go to watch a movie or a show to be entertained,” Peltz said. “They don’t go to get a message.” He continued, “Why do I have to have a Marvel that’s all women?” he added. “Not that I have anything against women, but why do I have to do that?”
However, it appears that many media executives, such as Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger, are refusing to back down from incorporating woke themes into their entertainment offerings. Iger recently noted that, while entertaining its audience is the top priority, the company is still seeking to reach more diverse audiences.
“I’ve been preaching this for a long time at the company before I left and since I came back that our No. 1 goal is to entertain. I think, like, the term woke is thrown around rather liberally, no pun intended in that regard. I think a lot of people don’t even understand really what it means,” Iger said. “The bottom line is that infusing messaging as a sort of No. 1 priority in our films and TV shows is not what we’re up to. They need to be entertaining.”
However he added that they are seeking to be more diverse in their reach, stating, “And on one hand, in order to do that, the stories you tell have to really reflect the audience that you’re trying to reach. But that audience, because they are so diverse, really first and foremost, they want to be entertained.”
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