Whether or not Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga should have performed better or was an inevitable “online fandom doesn’t equal audience interest” misfire, such a film shouldn’t have been expected to hold up theatrical — alongside The Garfield Movie — almost by itself. That’s the crux of the chat amid a historically grim Memorial Day weekend box office session.
All four of us discuss the reasons to be pessimistic or optimistic about the short-term future of theatrical, whether “survive until 25” is plausible and the ways in which Netflix essentially cheated (like getting positive media huzzahs in May of 2017 for allegedly greenlighting a Rianna/Lupita Nyong’o jewel thief movie that they never had any intention of making) with venture capitalist money to disrupt the studio system which led to industry-wide ruin.
We also discussed the complicated economic and cultural variables surrounding early PVOD release for theatrical titles, the possible positives and the likely negatives, while once again asking why Hollywood seems to make movies on a certain scale, only aimed at one or two quadrants, none of whom are young people who need to be “trained” to become regular moviegoers.
In terms of the written word…
Ryan Scott and I wrote dueling but not entirely contradictory articles about the perils and promises of PVOD. Scott offered up another “Tales from the Box Office,” this time about the 45th anniversary of Alien. Oh, and if you missed it last week, Ryan also offered up a number-cruncher on how many movies every American moviegoer, on average, would have to see per year to keep theaters relatively healthy. Spoiler, it’s less than you’d think.
Lisa joined The Cultress this past week. The first three articles discussed the 2004 live-action Garfield movie, the weird circumstance in late 2014 when horror was in a very real commercial slump (sound familiar?) and an article about how A24 seems to be dumping its 2024 documentaries.
Jeremy Fuster’s TheWrapPro articles this week concern, as of this writing, his related thoughts about why this weekend’s Memorial Day weekend box office was such a shitshow. And if you missed it last week, here’s his interview with USC’s Dr. Stacy L. Smith over how Hollywood’s current diversity/inclusivity take-backs are not in anyone’s best commercial interest.
As always, if you like what you’re hearing, do the usual thing of liking, sharing, commenting and *smashing* (using a cartoon mallet) that subscribe button with every justified ounce of strength and passion.
Jeremy Fuster - https://www.thewrap.com/author/jeremy-fuster/
Lisa Laman - https://lisalaman.wixstudio.io/lisaportfolio
Ryan C. Scott - https://www.slashfilm.com/author/ryanscott/
Ep: 17: Audiences Say 'Furi-No!-Sa,' But Monday Moviegoers Love 'Garfield'