After Relentlessly Bashing Trump All Summer, Hollywood Gets Just Deserts From Middle America
Hollywood just got served by Middle America. Just got verbally abused by the silent majority. Just got a wakeup call much bigger and more severe than what the NFL got.
For if American’s can agree on one thing is we all work too much. We all work too hard for too little money.
And when we want to unwind and spend money on entertainment that last thing we want to hear is real world problems like politics.
But there goes Hollywood ignoring the people, preaching to the liberal choir, making themselves feel important, and literally killing the golden goose.
According to Market Watch, after relentlessly bashing Trump all summer the box office numbers for the critical summer season and in.
And they are bad. Beyond bad actually, they are terrifying.
Hollywood is getting crushed, and like Kathy Griffin, is having to go overseas to recoup their investments and most aren’t even doing that.
Summer duds like “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” “Baywatch” and “Snatched” got crushed domestically and barely got by overseas.
Tom Cruise, one if the most bankable stars working, had a new movie out called “American Made,” and it failed miserably.
Blade Runner 2049” was supposed to be a hit. It missed, costing the studio untold millions.
CNN Money has an even more shocking report.
The AMC (AMC) theater chain saw its stock sink more than 25% in August citing slow ticket sales.
Regal Entertainment (RGC) reported to Wall Street that it would miss earnings and saw a huge drop in share price. Imax (IMAX) announced it was cutting almost 15% of its employees.
Ouch. Share this if you agree that Hollywood better clean up its act before it gets in too deep.
Interesting!
According to Market Watch:Hollywood’s box office failures go beyond Rotten Tomatoes ratings!
“Blade Runner 2049” was supposed to be a hit.
The film, one of the most anticipated of the year, seemed to have all the necessary ingredients with two popular leading men and an original that has gained cult status since its release in 1982. But it has not been the box office hit the industry hoped for, despite being showered with rave reviews.
Studios blamed the dismal box office performance of a number of big-budget blockbuster films this summer on negative reviews from critics and Rotten Tomatoes.
The film review aggregator, owned by Comcast Corp.-owned CMCSA, +0.87% Fandango, has been in the spotlight ever since. Last week legendary director Martin Scorsese wrote a guest column in the Hollywood Reporter criticizing Rotten Tomatoes and its impact.
But if well-reviewed films are also struggling commercially, can Rotten Tomatoes really be to blame?
ComScore media analyst Paul Dergarabedian says a straight line can’t be drawn from bad reviews to poor box office results.
“To have this myopic view is crazy,” he said. “If that were true; if a bad review killed the film, then conversely a good review should boost box office revenue. What I’ve learned is that there are a multitude of factors.”
Ahead of its release, “Blade Runner 2049” was outselling the likes of “The Martian” and “Gravity.” Both films opened above $50 million and went on to gross more than $200 million at the domestic box office.“Blade Runner 2049” has been adored by critics, earning an 89% Rotten Tomatoes rating. To receive an overall good rating on the site, a film has to have at least a 60% rating.It has been called a masterpiece, and the industry was banking on it being a hit. The film, according to analysts at Box Office Pro, was expected to open with $54 million in receipts.
But the film has underperformed expectations, earning $32.5 million in its debut for distributor Warner Bros. TWX, -0.36% on a production budget of $150 million. So far it’s racked up a total $158.0 million, helped by its $95.6 million international draw.
“Blade Runner 2049’s” $61.0 million in revenue through two weekends pales in comparison with “The Martian’s” $108.7 million draw and the $122.3 million “Gravity” pulled in in a similar time period.
“There have been a string of movies with good Rotten Tomatoes scores where that hasn’t been helpful in terms box office,” Dergarabedian said. “It’s much more complicated than that. You have to consider the timing of the film, and the marketing, and how that marketing landed with audiences.”
During the summer, films like “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” “Baywatch” and “Snatched” were harshly received by critics, and had to rely on overseas ticket sales for success.
Megan Colligan, head of marketing and distribution at Viacom Inc.-ownedVIAB, +0.64% Paramount, told the Hollywood Reporter that “reviews really hurt” the studio’s film “Baywatch.”
“It’s a brand that maybe relied on a positive critical reaction more than we recognized,” she said.“Baywatch” was slapped with a 19% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and brought in just $58.1 million domestically on a budget of $69 million. “Dead Men Tell No Tales” had a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 29% and earned $172.6 million in the U.S. on a $230 million production budget, and “Snatched” made $45.9 million on a $42 million budget after being branded with a 36% rating.
“We think critical opinion is very important, but what’s important to remember is our focus is on the fans,” Rotten Tomatoes Vice President Jeff Voris told MarketWatch. “Fans and critics don’t always agree. That’s why we make information available to fans so they can make up their minds.”
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