Bad Start Of Summer Movies 2024

[Marcel Birgelen]

Here's the picture I get, summarizing the current situation. It looks like the universe conspired against the exhibition industry for whatever reasons:

• First and foremost, the movies that currently hit the main-stream cinemas simply aren't good enough to entice people to see them there. Formulaic, run-of-the-mill "content" has lots of people bored to death and has watered down many of the biggest intellectual properties out there.
• The short theatrical window is killing any incentive for people to go see those movies anyway. They're not good enough for the extra hassle and cost.
• The short theatrical window also causes people to see movies as something of low value. They can watch those movies wherever and whenever they want, with zero efforts involved.
• Lack of consistent advertising combined with a short theatrical window only conspires to worsen the situation, as people are less aware of those movies and word of mouth doesn't have the time necessary to make a big impact.
• Strict licensing requirements by most big studios force exhibitors to exclusively commit to movies for weeks on end, which often locks up bad performing movies on the biggest (or only) screen and greatly limits the diversity of movies that could be shown, especially for exhibitors with low screen counts.
• While alternative content could be a relief for the situation, the awareness of the availability of this content is low, combined with low advertising budgets tied to those kind of releases and the strict licensing requirements of current main-stream fare, often blocks exhibitors from trying to experiment with this kind of content.
• Lots of other distractions take up people's busy schedules those days, all competing for the same time and money.
• The current, post-pandemic economic situation in many places around the world, where inflation is a major factor, isn't helping either.

Did I forget something?

This reminds me of a board game we once played, aptly named Robinson Crusoe. I remember it having little of the romance of being stranded on a deserted island, but more of the practical horror of the situation, as the entire ordeal felt as a never-ending string of worse things happening to you. And yeah, I still consider myself to be an optimist.

[Lyle Romer]

In general, the biggest factors are:

#1, as others have said, the theatrical window is way too short. If somebody happens to be busy with things in the first two weeks of a release they may as well just wait for a home release.

number 2 nothing really compelling to see. We used to see movies at least once a month in theatres. The last movie we went to see was Oppenheimer in 15/70 IMAX. It's not an economic issue. I have a bunch of Regal gift cards that I bought at a discount in 2019. We want to use them but have trouble finding titles that we feel are worth the time to go see. We don't even watch when things are on streaming unless they happen to be on a channel or service we subscribe to and we are bored or are looking for something to watch while exercising.

However, even if number 2 is fixed, the exhibition industry can't possibly get back to what it was in 2019 unless the exclusive window goes back to 90 days minimum. If one of the production companies had the balls to commit to the strategy, they would find that they will end up with more profit if they went back to a one year window combined with desirable titles. It would motivate a lot more people to see it in the theatre where they get a large percentage of a high ticket price, give the movies legs again AND it would boost the value of the home release because it will be anticipated instead of everything just being out there so soon.

They don't need to spend a ton of money remarketing like when the home release revenue was largely from sales of physical media. Most of the marketing for the home release can be covered within their own streaming platforms.

[Bobby Henderson]

What's with the forum changing a word in someone's sentence to red type saying "Film-Tech Cinema Systems?" The word, whatever it is, is being changed into a hyperlink back to the forum's main page.

Anyway, I believe we can thank the Wall Street bean counter types of people controlling the studios for the bland, anti-original content they keep pushing into movie theaters. If they're going to spend $100 million or more on a 2 hour movie production they sure can't take any chances on it being based on a new unproven story idea. These people only want to sell people the same old familiar shit and charge even more money for it. With the private equity ideology sweeping through the business world I figure the problem of infinite movie remakes is only going to get worse.

Media companies appear somewhat more willing to take chances dramatically on TV-based shows. The budgets aren't as big and the story doesn't have to fit in a single 2 hour footprint. They're also trying to push their streaming services, so they need original hits as "anchors" to attract subscribers. Note: they're not trying to attract/keep subscribers by using Hollywood movies as bait. No, it's TV shows that they're selling. Those longer form shows get visual placement priority in the app.

In the 1960's Hollywood studios were forced to radically change the kinds of movies they were producing. People were tired of movies that looked like someone set up a static camera and filmed a stage play. By the time the 1970's arrived the movies became a lot more creative and edgy. Back then movies didn't have a lot of competition either. Premium cable movie TV networks didn't exist yet. Neither did the home video industry and all the other distractions that followed.

Today Hollywood studios face a tougher challenge at giving movies a "refresh." They can't do it by pushing more sex and/or violence into the shows due to the MPAA's restrictions. Besides, people can easily see NC-17 level simulated sex and violence on any streaming service. And there is plenty of free, hardcore porn available to see online. All the movie studios can do is just make better movies and try to figure out some way to get people into theaters to see them.

Where do the teenagers go on dates now? I used to get a pretty good crowd of teens most weekends and now I don't see many (or any) for most movies. At all. My crowd, such as it is, seems to be 30-and-up now.

I don't know what teens prefer do for dating activities these days. The traditional dinner and movie night out thing costs too much for too many of them. There isn't a lot of other choices for out-of-home entertainment. So many are just staying at home and "living" through their digital devices, being celibate as a result. In-person friendships are way down too. The isolation can't be good for developing and/or maintaining social skills.

[Ryan Gallagher]

What's with the forum changing a word in someone's sentence to red type saying "Film-Tech Cinema Systems?" The word, whatever it is, is being changed into a hyperlink back to the forum's main page.

It's a quirk of the BBS system allowing some HTML code. the hash sign is reserved for creating anchor links to other content on the page or perhaps with vBullitin links to other nodes elsewhere on the site.

I just say "No. X" instead. ;-)

[Ryan Gallagher]

I don't know what teens prefer do for dating activities these days. The traditional dinner and movie night out thing costs too much for too many of them. There isn't a lot of other choices for out-of-home entertainment. So many are just staying at home and "living" through their digital devices, being celibate as a result. In-person friendships are way down too. The isolation can't be good for developing and/or maintaining social skills.

Yeah I dunno either, but as far as consuming content, the kids are smart. They know how to do watch parties on discord with their friends, play video games with a party line com system, etc etc. Skills if they didn't already have in abundance, the pandemic lock-down taught them to rely on it. If cinemas still served communities (like walking or biking distance), and weren't burdened with in-your-face level of pre-roll advertising, the current youth might actually warm up to them again. But at least in the US, most cinemas are a drive. And i'm not sure we are still in an era where parents trust their teens (or the people around them) enough to be dropped off and picked up after a movie?

It's weird cause I think they are averse to more traditional forms of advertising, it becomes a turn off, but as a generation probably consume more content that could be considered advertising than ever. (sponsored influencer content on a myriad of platforms etc).

There is only so much entertainment budget in a family, and paying for everyone to have a contemporary smart phone and a handful of streaming platforms probably consumes it for many. Teens would rather save their allowance for a new graphics card than pay their own way at cinemas.

[Mike Blakesley]

What do we have now? The queue in a streaming app. That's a bottomless abyss where movies that are still new go to die.

That's why I usually use the word "flush" when it comes to home video. "They're flushing that one next week." Once it hits home video it's just another turd in the bowl. It doesn't stand out anymore, it just circles the drain and is soon gone.

[Marcel Birgelen]

What's with the forum changing a word in someone's sentence to red type saying "Film-Tech Cinema Systems?" The word, whatever it is, is being changed into a hyperlink back to the forum's main page.

See what happens when you don't come here often enough Bobby? If you're seeing that, you're not a part of the FOE: the Fellowship of Enlightment. Others would call what you've experienced a glitch, but in reality, it's a safety precaution, because your untrained, uninformed eyes couldn't handle the truth... So, start tuning your tinfoil hat to the correct frequency, DO learn that secret handshake and ask one of the Forum Elders to be initiated. Once you're ready they'll give you THE SIGN. (Sorry to disappoint you here, it's a white Rabbit, due to lack of funding and originality. We got that from Hollywood, just like most of the rest of the story. So follow it (the White Rabbit) and you know the rest from the movie, use that as your guidance (because imagine someone writing some actual documentation). Simple, isn't it?

Ah, and ignore Ryan and his far too logical explanation of what's happening here, he's from a parallel reality, just a byproduct of the fabric of reality trying to heal itself.

And no, I didn't take any drugs, thank for asking... Yes, I'm from the Netherlands, but contrary to popular belief, they aren't legal here...

[Bobby Henderson]

That's why I usually use the word "flush" when it comes to home video. "They're flushing that one next week." Once it hits home video it's just another turd in the bowl. It doesn't stand out anymore, it just circles the drain and is soon gone.

I really miss retail stores that specialized in selling movies, music and books -such as the big Hastings store we had here in Lawton. They rented movies on top of selling all the stuff I mentioned. I could easily spend an hour in there browsing. I'd often run into other friends there.

There is a big difference between browsing through physical media products in a retail store versus looking at a bunch of thumbnail images on a web page. Whether it's in a theater lobby or in a retail movie sales/rental store the advertising was a lot bigger and better there than it is now, all tiny, on a computer screen.

[Marcel Birgelen]

There is a big difference between browsing through physical media products in a retail store versus looking at a bunch of thumbnail images on a web page. Whether it's in a theater lobby or in a retail movie sales/rental store the advertising was a lot bigger and better there than it is now, all tiny, on a computer screen.

Well, the interesting thing is that today's on-line experience, especially for this kind of content, doesn't need to be small thumbnails. You can watch trailers in HD, you can listen to high quality examples of music. Something that sounded like science fiction 30 years ago... yet something is different. I guess the lack of something physical automatically reduces the intrinsic value of something. It's difficult to me to adhere the same value to some digital files on a harddrive versus a disc of something in my hands. I guess that's why they've been selling this kind of stuff in much bigger boxes than necessary over the years. I still remember when software and games came in big, often pretty ornate cardboard boxes. I still have a giant Adobe Master Collection box somewhere and while cleaning up last year, I decided to remove the dust from my original Monkey Island and Monkey Island II boxes...

I recently revisited the record store I used to visit as a teenager. I bought many records there and to my amazement, it was still operating. I spent about a hour and a half strolling through stuff and it felt like I've been missing out for years. I bought five used 4K BluRays for a few Euros each... better try to get a physical copy of something, before those disappear entirely.

[Lyle Romer]

I really miss retail stores that specialized in selling movies, music and books -such as the big Hastings store we had here in Lawton. They rented movies on top of selling all the stuff I mentioned. I could easily spend an hour in there browsing. I'd often run into other friends there.

There is a big difference between browsing through physical media products in a retail store versus looking at a bunch of thumbnail images on a web page. Whether it's in a theater lobby or in a retail movie sales/rental store the advertising was a lot bigger and better there than it is now, all tiny, on a computer screen.

Agree 100%. While it is more convenient and easier to buy online it is not really entertaining anymore to buy entertainment. This goes for movies, music and books. Unfortunately, the retail experience takes up a lot of space which makes brick and mortar stores have a difficult time being price competitive with online retailers. The huge big box retailers like Walmart can offset the space inefficiency because they can use the stores as warehouses.

[Bobby Henderson]

The online buying, downloading and streaming has given various forms of recorded entertainment a very cheap feel. Unless I order something physical like a Blu-ray disc or music CD I still feel like I don't own anything. Some business people want it that way too; they want to make everybody rent everything. Get the customers stuck with re-occurring fees. People can tolerate only so much of that shit.

Retail packaging of movies and music used to be great. Decades ago Vinyl LPs might have goodies inside, such as a poster. I loved the packaging for the 2-disc DVD of Fight Club. That was a high water mark for home video. Things have gone downhill in the 20 plus years since.

I didn't like buying music or movies from stores inside shopping malls. Too often the stores would be charging full MSRP or higher to help cover their ridiculously high rents. But they might have been able to actually move a lot more product if they had priced things more competitively.

Stand-alone stores selling books, movies and music seemed better equipped to offer price discounts. But they could do only so much. Walmart and Amazon helped kill off all those dedicated stores. Now movies and music on physical media is threatened.

It's difficult to me to adhere the same value to some digital files on a harddrive versus a disc of something in my hands. I guess that's why they've been selling this kind of stuff in much bigger boxes than necessary over the years. I still remember when software and games came in big, often pretty ornate cardboard boxes. I still have a giant Adobe Master Collection box somewhere and while cleaning up last year, I decided to remove the dust from my original Monkey Island and Monkey Island II boxes...

I've been using Adobe Creative Cloud for over 10 years now (geez!). But I still have some old retail software boxes. I have a retail bundle box of Illustrator 4 and Photoshop 2.5; the installers were on 3.5" floppy discs. I have a CS4 Production Premium box that is ridiculously big, due to all the printed manuals inside. The CS5.5 Master Collection box I have is smaller; it was an upgrade box with no printed manuals, just DVD install discs.

I think some of the boxes were made needlessly big to fight shoplifting. With much faster Internet speeds and far fewer retail stores the printed manuals and big box packages went bye bye.