Well, it’s autumn – the season when movie studios roll out intelligent, thought-provoking films featuring marquee stars in challenging roles. Movies like this are often referred to as “prestige projects,” but they’re more commonly remembered as box office bombs.
Everyone may talk about the award-bait films once the Oscar nominations are announced, though relatively few people actually pay to go see them. But why? Are we, as a nation, so dumbed down culturally that we can’t bring ourselves to fork over $10.50 unless a film is based on a theme park ride or features robots who punch each other? Maybe, but there are several other reasons why low-budget films with big-name stars no longer draw us to the theater in droves:
1.) The American public doesn’t pay to see actors. Johnny Depp recently drew fire for suggesting that his latest film, The Rum Diary, failed at the box office because the average American is too stupid to understand it. This coming from a man who’s earned upwards of $25 million a movie for playing a drunken pirate in a succession of increasingly terrible blockbusters. What Depp fails to grasp is that it’s not actors, or directors, or even plots that pack people into theaters. If I could say exactly what does sell tickets I’d be earning 9 figures as a studio head, rather than subsisting on a steady diet of Ramen noodles and canned beer. But I do know that big-name stars aren’t much of a factor when the average American is deciding what movies are worth the price of admission.
This weekend marks the release of J. Edgar, a film in which Leonardo DiCaprio (the world’s highest-paid actor) tests his dramatic muscle in the kind of decades-spanning biopic award season is made for. It will likely get trounced at the box office by Puss In Boots, now in its second week of release. Why? Because…
2.) People want to see their ticket money spent on effects, not salaries. Maybe you wanna see the latest installment in the Transformers franchise and that new Sundance favorite about the girl who falls in love with a balloon or some sh!t, but you only have the bankroll for one movie this weekend. Of those flicks – one is only worth seeing on the big screen, the other will look just fine on your laptop. So unless you’re trying to impress the hipster you just started dating, you’re probably gonna pay for Optimus Prime and download the balloon lover. Speaking of who you choose to take to the theater with you, another factor currently influencing box office numbers is the fact that…
3.) Folks are short on time, so family movies are king. This one should be fairly obvious to anyone who has kids or has ever tried to make plans with someone who has kids. People are working more and enjoying less leisure time than they did a few decades ago. For many busy moms and dads in the mood for a movie, the only options are: shell out for a babysitter, or, for the same price, earn some parental brownie points by bringing the kids along. Thus, rated-R is out, and CGI Happy Meal toys are in. It’s the reason so many adult-oriented jokes are finding their way into kids’ movies, as well as the reason that Pixar is currently one of the most profitable imprints in the business. But for every Toy Story 3, there’s a Mars Needs Moms. Animation isn’t a guarantee of a big opening weekend. For that you need…
4.) Event Releases: The Last Sure Thing in Movies. Films based on hugely popular source material are pretty much the only guaranteed hits and, in some cases, their releases are full-blown global cultural events. The Twilight, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings franchises are obvious examples, and the major studios would give anything to duplicate that kind of success every weekend. The problem is, bestselling book series are few and far between, and a popular novel often doesn’t make it to the screen for several years. But when a publishing phenomenon is finally adapted, the result is box office magic: fans line up outside theaters for midnight showings, no-name actors become massive stars (Pattinson, anyone?) and revenue records are shattered. So rest assured, studios are hoping for some major fireworks from the upcoming Hunger Games and Girl With the Dragon Tattoo adaptations. The bigwigs need to appeal to the American public somehow and, ironically, they’ve found that the answer is books. Maybe we’re not so stupid after all, eh, Mr. Depp?
