Story by Logan Tromp, Opinion Columnist
Why have there been so many box office bombs in the past few years? With big titles like Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Flash, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania falling short at least $100 million from their budget, one has to wonder what is going in theaters? The amount of films to surpass $1 billion has been steadily declining in the past 10 years. Barbie and The Super Mario Bros. Movie were the only films in 2023 to achieve this with Oppenheimer coming very close. That is a stark difference from the 9 different films in 2019 that exceeded the $1 billion mark.
What could be causing this steep decline? A variety of factors are at play when it comes to a movie’s success in cinema. A good movie may do poorly, and a bad movie may do extremely well, yet good movies will generally do better than bad movies. It takes a team to create a successful movie as everyone has to do their part well. The marketing team has to market the movie effectively to the right target demographic, the studio has to be efficient with their budget by not overspending on actors, CGI, and reshoots. Most importantly, the story has to be a meaningful one, something that people are willing to take time out of their day to go see.
While much of the biggest flops have been caused by a variety of the factors stated above, the plots of these films often are the most influential factor that is holding it back. A major problem with the majority of films that are being released is that they are recycled IP from studios that are hoping to milk their previous franchises for as much as they can. One can view this in the past three Star Wars films that received severe audience criticism. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is another prime example of this. Harrison Ford is in his eighties, yet he is running around like he is twenty again. Studios are afraid of losing money, so they side with what they believe is a safe option but forfeit originality and ultimately profits in most cases.
Movie studios need to start focusing on quality over quantity, especially Marvel, and writers need to write unique stories that are worth being told on the big screen. When push comes to shove, a great movie will be recognized despite what obstacles it may face. Time will tell if studios, directors, and writers will learn from their mistakes or if this year will be, yet again, full of flops.
The Saint 