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Highbrow movies being hyped for Oscar nominations are failing at the box office, with ticket sales running tens of millions of dollars below their budgets.
While superhero and action movies continue to draw large audiences, the serious and often downbeat movies that directors hope will sweep top awards are failing to catch on.
Critics have blamed factors like the rise of streaming services and the fallout from covid for the flops.
Armageddon Time had a budget of around $30 million, but only made $1.9 million at the US box office, reports an analysis of Oscar hopefuls by the New York Times.
The coming-of-age film is “a story about the strength of family and the generational quest for the American Dream.”
The Fabelmans, from legendary director Steven Spielberg, had a pre-market budget of $40 million, but only grossed $5.7 million.
Armageddon Time had a budget of around $30 million, but only made $1.9 million at the US box office.
Tar had ticket sales of $5.3 million, less than a fifth of the $35 million it cost to manufacture and market.
She Said cost Universal $55 million, but only took $5.3 million.
Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans also flopped, despite its legendary creator. The film had a pre-release budget of $40 million, but only grossed $5.7 million.
The highest grossing move of the year was Top Gun: Maverick, which grossed $717,748,136.
The highest grossing move of the year was Top Gun: Maverick, which grossed $717,748,136.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ranks third on the 2022 box office chart with $393,671,128
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness took home $411,331,607, proving that audiences will continue to flock to theaters for superhero movies
It was followed by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which took in $411,331,607.
In third place is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever with $393,671,128.
Film historian Jeanine Basinger told the New York Times: ‘People like to call it ‘escape,’ but that’s not really what it is.
Usually Steven Spielberg can be trusted to create a Hollywood hit, but his latest film The Fabelmans has failed to recoup anything close to its $40 million budget.
It’s entertainment. It can be a serious topic, by the way. But when movies are too introspective, like a lot of these Oscars right now, audiences forget.
Give us a laugh or two there! When I think about going out to see the squalor and degradation and racism and all the other things that are wrong with our lives, I’m too depressed to put on my coat.
Film consultant David A. Gross told the NYT that “people have felt comfortable watching these movies at home.”
The failure of movie theaters to recover post-Covid was highlighted when this year marked one of the worst Thanksgiving weekends ever after a meager supply of new releases failed to attract mainstream audiences.
Overall box office numbers for the three-day weekend came in at just $95 million, a sharp decline from pre-pandemic years. In 2018 and 2019, the box office grossed $261 million and $181 million, respectively.
The last time a Thanksgiving weekend generated so little revenue was in 1994, when ticket prices averaged $4.08.
Comscore senior analyst Paul Dergarabedian told CNN the COVID-19 pandemic can once again be blamed for the paltry numbers.
She Said cost Universal $55 million, but only took $5.3 million at the box office.
She Said cost Universal $55 million, but only took $5.3 million at the box office.
“The impact of the pandemic, both in terms of production disruption and release schedule changes, has left the table pretty light on movie tickets,” he explained.
“This is probably a temporary change and the result of challenging market dynamics over the last two and a half years,” he added. “Thanksgiving will once again be one of the biggest movie weeks of the year.”