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Timothy May's avatar

Because I'm an idiot, I saw every wide release in 2022 and the real problem I see is the studios taking whole months off from releasing any major titles. Between Bullet Train and Black Adam, there were no studio movies aimed at a wide audience. A couple horror titles like Barbarian and Smile and arthouse movies that should have platformed like 3,000 Years of Longing. When commercial movies like Glass Onion, Prey, and Turning Red are dumped on a streaming service during otherwise barren times like those at the box office, you're training general audiences to not even check their local listings.

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James K.'s avatar

I think people are missing something in the OH GOD THE BOX OFFICE DISASTER takes: we're in a particularly Heavens Gatey era right now, for some reason.

Why was Babylon given 100 million and then (apparently) does everything it can during the first reel to dare people to leave the theater?

Why is Spielberg making movies that recreate his childhood? I liked West Side Story a lot and I *loved* The Fabelmans but neither are broadly commercial compared to his past hits

Why is Nightmare Alley 150 minutes long and grotesquely gore-filled?

Why is Tar 160 minutes long as a character study?

Banshees of Inishirin is terrific but it's far less commercial than In Bruges and 3BB

These movies would be unlikely to be hits in ANY era.

Basically, we're living in a world where there are...

-big giant IP blockbusters which are succeeding

-directors being given blank checks for personal, esoteric, off-putting movies that are not connecting with audiences

-Middle of the road movies like Where the Crawdads Sing and Bullet Train that no one writes about.

Why is no one focusing on point 3? Crawdads made 80m on 24m. Black Phone and Violent Night did fine. But oh no, the 60-on-RT, punishingly long, divisive, nonsensical-trailer Babylon failed!! Well yeah, so did Heavens Gate.

We don't need more Tars to save theaters (and Tar will be in my Top 5). We need some Beverly Hills Cops

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