The weekend is down 48% from 2019 and 1/3 from 2014 because the non-tentpole films that helped October thrive a decade ago are no longer theatrically viable.
Honestly, for a brief period, I thought 2024 would have a chance to catch up or even beat 2023's $9B domestic gross. From Bad Boys: Ride or Die to at least Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the box office was on a winning streak and surpassing 2023 (which would've been impossible to think of after Memorial Day weekend) seemed to be plausible given the strength of the summer releases.
Unless Wicked and Gladiator II become another Barbenheimer-level event and Moana 2 plays exactly like Inside Out 2, that plausible outcome is now almost dead and it's all thanks to Joker: Folie à Deux bombing as badly as it did. For all the talk about how Warner Bros. is gonna lose a lot of money on Joker 2 (though those discussions should take place), I think the conversation should really be more about "what happens when a tentpole that is widely expected to make lots of money, flops."
That's a much more important question to ask, because it redirects the focus on the biggest loser in all this, theaters. I think it was Jeremy who said on the podcast episode two weeks ago that theaters aren't gonna suffer so much as a result of Joker 2 bombing. He's right, but even if they won't, it should still be a massive wake-up call for them and the studios to realize that the theatrical marketplace cannot hinge on one tentpole doing "as expected" business.
For all of the times that it works, Joker 2 is possibly the best example of it not working and because of that, everyone suffers for it.
Honestly, for a brief period, I thought 2024 would have a chance to catch up or even beat 2023's $9B domestic gross. From Bad Boys: Ride or Die to at least Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the box office was on a winning streak and surpassing 2023 (which would've been impossible to think of after Memorial Day weekend) seemed to be plausible given the strength of the summer releases.
Unless Wicked and Gladiator II become another Barbenheimer-level event and Moana 2 plays exactly like Inside Out 2, that plausible outcome is now almost dead and it's all thanks to Joker: Folie à Deux bombing as badly as it did. For all the talk about how Warner Bros. is gonna lose a lot of money on Joker 2 (though those discussions should take place), I think the conversation should really be more about "what happens when a tentpole that is widely expected to make lots of money, flops."
That's a much more important question to ask, because it redirects the focus on the biggest loser in all this, theaters. I think it was Jeremy who said on the podcast episode two weeks ago that theaters aren't gonna suffer so much as a result of Joker 2 bombing. He's right, but even if they won't, it should still be a massive wake-up call for them and the studios to realize that the theatrical marketplace cannot hinge on one tentpole doing "as expected" business.
For all of the times that it works, Joker 2 is possibly the best example of it not working and because of that, everyone suffers for it.
Nothing exciting, jyst pointing out that we adore The Book Of Life in this house.