Moviegoers sent a distressing message to Hollywood studios over the long Memorial Day weekend.
The weekend take at the box office hit a 30-year low as offerings such as “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” and “Garfield” landed with a thud.
This bodes ill for the summer movie season, which is top-heavy this year with sequels and prequels. One industry analyst predicts summer ticket sales could be as much as 25% below last year’s roughly $4 billion total.
Don’t blame moviegoers. Their massive turnout for “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” — “Barbenheimer,” as they came to be dubbed — demonstrated that there’s an audience for theatrical showings, but people want to see original stories.
If Hollywood got the message, it doesn’t seem to have registered.
This summer there are precious few tentpole movies that fall into the original-story camp. Instead, moviegoers will be treated to sequels to “Bad Boys,” “Inside Out,” “A Quiet Place,” “Despicable Me” and others.
While these titles will undoubtedly find audiences, many people might wait to see them on streaming services rather than plunk down big bucks to see them in theaters. A family of four can easily spend close to $100 on a single film (including snacks).
Movie studios are still getting back on track after last year’s Hollywood strikes, which perhaps helps explain the dearth of original fare.
But that doesn’t explain why the clear lessons of “Barbenheimer” were seemingly lost on studio execs, and why the industry seems more focused than ever on playing it safe and recycling past winners.
Streaming is delivering gut punches to the entertainment business, just as the internet kicked the you-know-what out of newspapers.
If Hollywood wants people to primarily stream movies, fine. They’re doing a good job of ushering in such an era.
If, on the other hand, studios want to keep theatrical distribution alive, they need to listen to what their customers are saying.
And what they’re saying is that the same old thing isn’t worth the price.
