Where Are the Blockbusters?

 If you are a movie theater owner, Hollywood is a major disappoint this Christmas and you will have to resort to other content to earn some bank at the box-office.

Many independent cinema operators are screening old Christmas movies to make up for the shortfall in first run films and are getting solid box-office gate. 

Movie theaters are getting 75-125 admissions for 'A Christmas Story', 'Nightmare Before Christmas', and 'Home Alone 1 and 2' on weekday nights vs. 20 or so admissions for current Hollywood movies. It proves that moviegoers want to view the old films on the big screen once again.

There are no blockbusters this Christmas. Disney lost its groove by embracing wokism and political correctness. TV isn't doing any better as late-night talk shows have completely lost their audience and don't address any current social issues in comic fashion for fear of hurting anyone feelings. 

The Biden Administration's many problems and incompetence are not addressing these, and other issues and they should be. Then there is the ancillary issue of concert ticketing. Two bills were introduced in congress last week which are intended to curb excesses in the ticketing market. The "Fans First Act" is intended to curb illegal ticket sites and make the process more transparent. Will this work, NO!

Streaming and a slew of podcasters and individuals with their own online channels have upended the media conglomerates as consumers turn away from mainstream entertainment. Look for new alliances and mergers and shared content between the major entertainment companies, as they try to stymie the current trend away from big media and entertainment. 

As for independent movie operators, they will need to go their own way in 2024. What works for your cinema and what your patrons demand is very different then the past. And don't count on Hollywood to fill the box-office void and fill seats. 

By: Jim Lavorato

What the 2024 Movie Box-office Will Be?

What will the 2024 box-office be?

Both Hollywood and movie theater owners expect a lackluster $8 billion film gate next year. Due principally to this year's protracted script writers and film actors labor strikes - which curtailed production of on-going projects. This pushed a number of blockbuster potentials into 2025. 

For this year the box-office should end up at around $8.9 billion, or about $1 billion higher than is anticipated for 2024, which has a very lean release schedule. A number of 'big' films were rescheduled and will now be released in 2025. These include: 'Mission Impossible', 'Captain America', 'Snow White', and 'Spider Man'. 'Blade', and 'Dirty Dancing' were also shuffled into '25. 

Per-covid, the box-office was humming along at an $11 billion annual clip. However, since 2000 consumers have gotten much more selective given the vast quantity of entertainment content now available to them. But they will come out for quality films that suit their tastes, look at 'Oppenheimer' and 'Sound of Freedom'.

I don't expect 2024 to be that catastrophic. As films like, 'Dead Pool', the Bob Marley biopic 'One Love', 'Inside Out 2', 'Despicable Me 4', 'Furiosa', 'Karate Kid' and others should fair pretty well. Also, films, such as 'Back to Black' the Amy Winehouse biopic and 'Wolf Man' will fill in the gaps.

By: Jim Lavorato, CMG Author

2023's Most Searched For Movies

 

Most Google searched film in 2023 - Barbie

With 2023 quickly drawing to a close, I thought it would be interesting to see which films garnered the most Google searches* during the year. It appears The Hollywood Reporter had the same idea. Anyway, here's the list:

#1 Barbie - the most searched movie for 2023. 

#2 Oppenheimer - a close runner-up to Barbie

#3 Jawan - a Bollywood production, this film received tens of millions of searches in India alone.

#4 Sound of Freedom - a political thriller and 2023's biggest box-office sleeper grossing over $215 million. 

#5 John Wick: Chapter 4 - searches galore for the 4th Wick installment.

#6 Avatar: Way of the Water - technically a 2022 release the film screened in late December, but continued to get searched throughout January 2023, as fans flocked to the 3D version.

#7 Everything Everywhere All at Once - this quirky indie film won multiple Oscars and was heavily searched pre and post release.

* Per Google Trends which also tracks user searches on YouTube.

By: Jim Lavorato, CGM Author - sponsored by Entertainment Equipment Corp.

'Wonka' Kills It at the Box Office

 This holiday gift to movie theaters is 'Wonka'. Based upon the characters in Roald Dahl's 1964 novel 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', 'Wonka' is a musical that hit the ground running at the box-office - raking in over $151 million in its first three days.

The co-star of the movie, Calah Lane, is only 14 and in her debut movie role kills it. Along, with Timothee Chalamet, who plays Willie Wonka, Lane credits him for helping her on set and, she admits, learned a lot from her co-star. 

Calah Lane, debuts in 'Wonka'

Having a chocolatier on set, who made all the confections each day for the filming, made for a lot of chocolate consumption for Calah during the film. 

Look for Calah in future films she is a great talent: sings, acts, and dances.

Anya Taylor-Joy Will Be Movie A-lister

 At 27, Anya Taylor-Joy began her acting career just 10 years ago and has already amassed a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and the Cannes Trophe'e Choppard Awards. To that add, nominations for a BAFTA Film Actor Award and an Emmy.

Joy in "The Queen's Gambit"

A dual U.S. and British citizen, I first saw her acting ability on a Netflix series, "The Queens Gambit", where she portrayed a girl/woman who works her way up the competitive world of chess to become the world champ. She is not only talented but has a unique 'look'.

In a big switch from her prior roles, Anya will be co-staring in the film: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga", a prequel to the 2015 blockbuster, "Mad Max Fury Road", which starred Charlize Theron as Furiosa.

Taylor-Joy as Furiosa 

Thus far, Anya's career has been nothing short of spectacular and all under the radar of the Hollwood glitterati. She has made it a point to take on complex, and unusual, female roles. To her credit, she has turned down many roles which she felt were not appropriate for her. "Whenever I've gotten offers for girlfriend roles, I've sent them back. Being like, "Eh?" "Why?".  

Set to hit cinemas on May 24, 2024, "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" will be a very different look at Anya Taylor-Joy, and I predict she'll kill-it.

Look for her to become one of the biggest stars, in not only films, but mass entertainment worldwide.

By: Jim Lavorato, Entertainment Equipment Corp.