I’m kind of surprised it was considered a flop, it was just as good as Fury Road. It even did a little bit better job at filling out the world and solidifying the characters than FR. It was actually more than just one long chase (as cool as that is) but still had plenty of action and vehicle antics etc. Critic and audience scores are also high.
I think it’s maybe more a reflection of the cinema landscape as a whole or something. Theaters aren’t dead, but I do think they peaked maybe in terms of the insanely inflated box office numbers that have set unrealistic industry expectations for “success”.
I agree with this. I pass by a theater regularly and my spouse and I just haven’t seen any need to go. Personally, I blame their marketing teams. All the trailers are the same, they either give away the whole story or they don’t tell us anything about the story. It’s all action scenes, they all blend together, and just blech. So I don’t go to the theater anymore.
Then the theaters are gross now, people are rude, staff have just given up, it’s not a fun experience for me anymore. Even Dune 2 I just waited until it was out and watched it at home, and had a much better experience.
So I agree, theaters aren’t dead, but they have fallen into a rut of corporate complacency and aren’t trying hard enough to get out of it.
I personally think three things have driven the degradation in the movie theaters
The lack of competition with theatres as monopolies have formed. This has allowed the average theatre to degrade in quality.
Most major “blockbuster” style movies are designed for the international market. Lots of long action sequences with little dialogue. Simple character development and plots for easier translation. They are all pretty boring.
And last, the improvements and price reduction of TV’s and home sound systems. Combined with the fast release of movies onto streaming platforms or pirate sites.
So what exactly is are theaters selling anymore? A shitty service for a shitty product that is better consumed at home.
Bingo. And now that they bought Alamo drafthouse even the good theaters are slipping away.
Fully agree, I have an OLED at home, a good sound system, a giant couch, and I can make a lot more popcorn for pennies compared to them. I’m very happy waiting for something and watching it later.
It feels like they started doing this a decade or two ago and it has been pissing me off ever since. If you have a thriller, don’t show climatic moments from the second half. Ever. If it’s a horror, don’t show the monster.
But otherwise I don’t really see the need to go to the movies except for the few per year I’m excited for. The rest I can stream on my OLED TV.
I do early matinees and avoid a lot of the worst aspects of the theater experience. Far fewer people, tickets are like $6 and when you get out you still have the rest of the day.
I did make an exception for Dune to see it in iMax and it was worth it, though that might just be lucking out with a decent crowd where people are respectful of eachother’s experience. The baseline of respect people have for strangers hasn’t fully bounced back since the pandemic, sadly.
retrospectology@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I’m kind of surprised it was considered a flop, it was just as good as Fury Road. It even did a little bit better job at filling out the world and solidifying the characters than FR. It was actually more than just one long chase (as cool as that is) but still had plenty of action and vehicle antics etc. Critic and audience scores are also high.
I think it’s maybe more a reflection of the cinema landscape as a whole or something. Theaters aren’t dead, but I do think they peaked maybe in terms of the insanely inflated box office numbers that have set unrealistic industry expectations for “success”.
scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 3 months ago
I agree with this. I pass by a theater regularly and my spouse and I just haven’t seen any need to go. Personally, I blame their marketing teams. All the trailers are the same, they either give away the whole story or they don’t tell us anything about the story. It’s all action scenes, they all blend together, and just blech. So I don’t go to the theater anymore.
Then the theaters are gross now, people are rude, staff have just given up, it’s not a fun experience for me anymore. Even Dune 2 I just waited until it was out and watched it at home, and had a much better experience.
So I agree, theaters aren’t dead, but they have fallen into a rut of corporate complacency and aren’t trying hard enough to get out of it.
The_v@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I personally think three things have driven the degradation in the movie theaters
The lack of competition with theatres as monopolies have formed. This has allowed the average theatre to degrade in quality.
Most major “blockbuster” style movies are designed for the international market. Lots of long action sequences with little dialogue. Simple character development and plots for easier translation. They are all pretty boring.
And last, the improvements and price reduction of TV’s and home sound systems. Combined with the fast release of movies onto streaming platforms or pirate sites.
So what exactly is are theaters selling anymore? A shitty service for a shitty product that is better consumed at home.
scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 3 months ago
Bingo. And now that they bought Alamo drafthouse even the good theaters are slipping away.
Fully agree, I have an OLED at home, a good sound system, a giant couch, and I can make a lot more popcorn for pennies compared to them. I’m very happy waiting for something and watching it later.
Neato@ttrpg.network 3 months ago
It feels like they started doing this a decade or two ago and it has been pissing me off ever since. If you have a thriller, don’t show climatic moments from the second half. Ever. If it’s a horror, don’t show the monster.
But otherwise I don’t really see the need to go to the movies except for the few per year I’m excited for. The rest I can stream on my OLED TV.
scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 3 months ago
The story you can’t miss with a huge twist at the end
Oh great! I love twists when I know they’re coming! It wouldn’t be fun if I didn’t know it was coming!
Then they are shocked when I don’t see the point in spending my money on it
retrospectology@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I do early matinees and avoid a lot of the worst aspects of the theater experience. Far fewer people, tickets are like $6 and when you get out you still have the rest of the day.
I did make an exception for Dune to see it in iMax and it was worth it, though that might just be lucking out with a decent crowd where people are respectful of eachother’s experience. The baseline of respect people have for strangers hasn’t fully bounced back since the pandemic, sadly.
sploosh@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Flopping is a matter of revenue, not quality.
HonkTonkWoman@lemm.ee 3 months ago
Another big factor was the Memorial Day weekend. Traditionally, movies released over the 3 day weekend haven’t fared well at the box office.
Specifically, this year, the whole Memorial Day weekend crapped the bed & pulled in the lowest revenue in decades. Dan Murell has a great breakdown on this, if it’s of interest.
Garfield picked up steam in its second weekend, but Furiosa just didn’t have the legs.
Which sucks, because it’s a very enjoyable film.