Hollywood has once again continued its streak of swings and massive misses, as the previous weekend’s box office take is down a stunning 32% from one year ago—bad news for an industry that is another year removed from COVID hysteria and fear of theaters. In all, last weekend, the box office grossed $64 million dollars. That was from across the board and not just one picture.
The biggest film of the week was “Bob Marley: One Love.” Despite being critically panned, the biopic on the reggae legend has performed well since its release. Perhaps the most concerning returns from the weekend involved the utter failure of the newest Sony Marvel movie, “Madame Web.” The film dropped an unheard-of 64 percent a week after opening to shockingly low numbers.
The film only earned $5.6 million dollars in its second week, dropping behind an Asian anime movie called “Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba -To the Hashira Training. The reviews and box office numbers are so bad for Madame Web that a planned franchise has already been scrapped, and the entire Sony Spiderman universe may be in jeopardy. Deadline said about the movie: “Let’s not put lipstick on this. If you’re going to make a superhero movie going forward, really focus on it in development and hire solid directors. The theatrical business can’t afford cookie-cutter any more.”
It is estimated that, with promotional costs, Sony/Marvel put $150 million into the female-led flick and could lose over $100 million for their efforts. Year to date, the box office is down 21 percent compared to last year and 45 percent compared to the COVID-19 year of 2020. One would think box office numbers would rise along with moviegoers confidence that they are safe from COVID-19 at the theater, but it has in fact, been the opposite.
Considering the number of studios cranking out features, the issue must be the content. Faith-based films like “The Sound of Freedom” and ‘Ordinary Angels” performed well or exceeded expectations relative to the cost of making them. Most of Hollywood can’t make the same claim. It appears viewers are tired of woke themes and rampant virtue signaling at the movies. Folks aren’t showing up for woke content. The latest Cohen Brothers movie is clear evidence.
Ethan Coen and his wife did a film called “Drive Away Dolls,” which has received lukewarm critical reviews and chilly audience reactions. Despite the appearance of Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal, it appears the storyline of a lesbian road trip was more than folks wanted to see, even with two hot male names attached. “RelishMix” noted about the movie, “Though the appearances of Pedro Pascal and Matt Damon are exciting fans, some are bemoaning that their roles are likely small and being overly used to promote the film. Many compared the film to ‘Dumb and Dumber but with females’, while some argued that the film is derivative, saying ‘Even though it’s new, I feel like I’ve already seen this movie.’”
Stale ideas are as bad as forced diversity and woke themes, and folks are done spending their money to be lectured. One Hollywood insider said about Madame Web: “We’re not going to see another Madame Web movie for another decade-plus. It failed. Sony tried to make a movie that was a different type of superhero movie.” Perhaps the industry will learn from the debacle.
Most likely, the industry won’t course correct but rather double down. Hollywood believes it knows what is best for America and what Americans want to see. Despite results that prove they don’t, outside of a few exceptions, Hollywood is likely to continue churning out stale duds no one wants to see.
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