Board 8 > So Ben Affleck says the future of the box office is spectacle

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redrocket
01/12/22 9:49:04 AM
#1:


based event movies, like the MCU.

Hes not mad or bitter. Hes just acknowledging that the audience for adult oriented drama has migrated to streaming.

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ScepterOfLove
01/12/22 10:16:35 AM
#2:


People have been saying this for years and it seems inevitable. The pandemic just fast forwarded things by like a decade
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TomNook
01/12/22 10:23:21 AM
#3:


A generation of children that never grew up because the world made things easy, so they prefer super hero films over mature dramas? I am shocked!

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swordz9
01/12/22 10:24:27 AM
#4:


Not surprising really. Streaming is way too huge and only the really safe movies draw in massive crowds and money.
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DoomTheGyarados
01/12/22 10:25:04 AM
#5:


TomNook posted...
A generation of children that never grew up because the world made things easy, so they prefer super hero films over mature dramas? I am shocked!

What a strange take

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paulg235
01/12/22 10:25:05 AM
#6:


Hasn't spectacle based event movies always been the big thing for box office for Cinema (at least in modern Cinema), more so in recent decades obivously? Yes, Cinematic Universes are obviously the big thing now, but it wasn't as if superheroes and other action blockbusters weren't dominating the box office for some time before then. It helps that the technology has caught up over time for more convincing effects.

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redrocket
01/12/22 10:37:42 AM
#7:


paulg235 posted...
Hasn't spectacle based event movies always been the big thing for box office for Cinema (at least in modern Cinema), more so in recent decades obivously? Yes, Cinematic Universes are obviously the big thing now, but it wasn't as if superheroes and other action blockbusters weren't dominating the box office for some time before then. It helps that the technology has caught up over time for more convincing effects.

Yes, but even into the early 2000s regular comedies and dramas could also earn big bucks in theaters too.


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Seanchan
01/12/22 10:37:55 AM
#8:


I have to wonder when the last time even 5 of the top 10 for the year, in terms of box office gross, were "mature adult dramas".

Sure, in recent years it's easy to think about the MCU, Harry Potter, LotR, Fast and Furious, etc. But even going back to the 80s and 90s, the biggest films were still "spectacles" like Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Back to the Future, etc. The scope of spectacle has changed but it's still the draw to go watch on the biggest screen and sound system.

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HeroDelTiempo17
01/12/22 11:00:52 AM
#9:


Titanic? Inception? Maybe that's a stretch but that's off the top of my head and I'm not a big movie guy.

There have been blockbusters for a while, and they've always involved spectacle, but the types of blockbusters have been shifting.

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Raka_Putra
01/12/22 11:01:20 AM
#10:


Wasn't Gone With the Wind a box office success? That's not that long ago.

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KingButz
01/12/22 11:04:28 AM
#11:


Well there's very little advantage to watching most movies in the cinema. My home theatre is good enough that the experience of watching something like Minari is just as good, if not better, at home.

Watching a thrill-ride type movie is slightly more appealing on the big screen.

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Mac Arrowny
01/12/22 11:06:52 AM
#12:


Seanchan posted...
I have to wonder when the last time even 5 of the top 10 for the year, in terms of box office gross, were "mature adult dramas".

Sure, in recent years it's easy to think about the MCU, Harry Potter, LotR, Fast and Furious, etc. But even going back to the 80s and 90s, the biggest films were still "spectacles" like Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Back to the Future, etc. The scope of spectacle has changed but it's still the draw to go watch on the biggest screen and sound system.

It's not about being at the top - it's more being able to earn a lot of money while also being a drama. Stuff like The Blind Side, A Beautiful Mind, Argo, and Lincoln made a ton of money. There haven't been as many examples of that sort of thing recently.

KingButz posted...
Well there's very little advantage to watching most movies in the cinema. My home theatre is good enough that the experience of watching something like Minari is just as good, if not better, at home.

Yup, that's what Affleck said.

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swordz9
01/12/22 11:09:24 AM
#13:


KingButz posted...
Well there's very little advantage to watching most movies in the cinema. My home theatre is good enough that the experience of watching something like Minari is just as good, if not better, at home.

Watching a thrill-ride type movie is slightly more appealing on the big screen.

This is true as well and even without a theater setup and speakers the experience at home still has a lot of advantages today. Movie theater viewing is nice, but lets be real the prices are outdated when streaming the movie is cheaper or close to the same price.

At home you have access to any food or drinks you might want/need without it costing $20~ for a soda and popcorn, you can pause the movie if you ever need to for anything and you dont ever have to deal with dumb people ruining the experience like you sometimes do at the theater.
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charmander6000
01/12/22 11:14:06 AM
#14:


We were already heading towards that direction and the pandemic sped things up.

There are few reasons to watch a movie in a theater over streaming it at home. One of those reasons is to watch it with other people and get their live reactions (like a sporting event), but that only applies to a subset of genres.

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Lightning Strikes
01/12/22 11:25:06 AM
#15:


Bohemian Rhapsody was an adult drama and made nearly $900 million in 2018. Also Inception is a spectacle film. The truth is although spectacle dominated the highest reaches of the box office for years, right up until the pandemic there were loads of highly successful cinema release adult dramas that were not spectacle films. A Star is Born, Knives Out, Green Book, Parasite, Bohemian Rhapsody, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, Ford v Ferrari, Little Women all made bank and released in the last three and bit years, along with others I didnt mention. It is only since the pandemic started that this has stopped, though even then House of Gucci is an exception (and neither it nor Bohemian Rhapsody are any good). So while it is true that adult dramas are struggling that is actually quite recent and not necessarily final. The issue is older audiences staying away for now.

With that said, streaming has made a lot of these films much more accessible than they were before. Dont Look Up is on track to become Netflixs biggest ever film and is getting billion dollar grosser viewership numbers. The Power of the Dog got the equivalent of about 13 million complete views when it launched on Netflix and I really doubt it gets that with a cinema-only release. Even a small film like The Lost Daughter got huge numbers on Netflix it never would in the cinema. So these films are doing better on streaming.

Its a shame though, the cinematic experience is a great and not replicable for most at home. Instead of all streaming aside from a very limited release I would like to see wide releases in cinemas for films launching on streaming. That would require cinema chains to be on board though and well, after the pandemic maybe theyll change their minds I hope.

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FFDragon
01/12/22 11:25:20 AM
#16:


charmander6000 posted...
and get their live reactions

But not having to deal with those goobers is the number one reason for home viewing though.

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LeonhartFour
01/12/22 11:26:03 AM
#17:


the MCU (and Star Wars) is the only reason I started going back to theaters in the first place

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charmander6000
01/12/22 12:06:18 PM
#18:


FFDragon posted...
But not having to deal with those goobers is the number one reason for home viewing though.

I mean, the same can be said about watching sports at home, but a lot of people like the atmosphere.

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Johnbobb
01/12/22 12:29:36 PM
#19:


TomNook posted...
A generation of children that never grew up because the world made things easy, so they prefer super hero films over mature dramas? I am shocked!
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/4/0/AAE_ZMAAAZYE.jpg

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skullbone
01/12/22 12:31:53 PM
#20:


Also those spectacle movies permeate so many other aspects of pop culture that you need to see them early to avoid feeling left out or left behind. I mean it's been almost a month and I'm still seeing Spider-Man posts and memes daily.

I think the crowd that's mainly watching mature dramas are okay with waiting a few months to watch those movies at home.

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Kenri
01/12/22 12:45:57 PM
#21:


TomNook posted...
A generation of children that never grew up because the world made things easy, so they prefer super hero films over mature dramas? I am shocked!
Lmao, please tell me this is a joke like I assumed originally

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SwiftyDC
01/12/22 1:23:57 PM
#22:


There's room for both. Though I am a person that considers movie theatre viewing a form of therapy.

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Yesmar_
01/12/22 1:27:30 PM
#23:


Kenri posted...
Lmao, please tell me this is a joke like I assumed originally

The truth hurts. It's not just people that grew up on this though. Everyone has started to develop babytastes for culture, since with so much access to media, people would prefer to settle for something familiar than to take a chance on something that might be great, because something that might be great also has a risk of being bad. And with so much to read/watch/play/listen to, nobody wants to waste time on something they might not like, or which, (and this is an absolute cardinal sin these days) might be boring. There used to be a time when people would go see a movie like Rain Man "just to see what everyone is talking about," but people these days seem to resent that idea and treat the presence of critics/awards/etc. as a personal attack.

Are great home theaters still increasing though? I thought the trend over the past several years, among young people at least, has been to ditch the TV and watch everything on your phone/laptop.

Edit: Another reason adult dramas have collapsed is because word of mouth has collapsed. Conversation is so fractured and angry these days that no one trusts anyone else. Everyone is assumed to have an agenda (not just political), so why bother paying attention to such things for something like seeing a movie which requires effort to go out and do?

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Mac Arrowny
01/12/22 2:18:41 PM
#24:


Yesmar_ posted...
Are great home theaters still increasing though? I thought the trend over the past several years, among young people at least, has been to ditch the TV and watch everything on your phone/laptop.

Wow, how out of touch can you be?

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pjbasis
01/12/22 2:23:30 PM
#25:


Smart TVs are kinda doing the job of being a good streaming device and home theater.

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Kenri
01/12/22 2:43:02 PM
#26:


Yesmar_ posted...
The truth hurts. It's not just people that grew up on this though. Everyone has started to develop babytastes for culture, since with so much access to media, people would prefer to settle for something familiar than to take a chance on something that might be great, because something that might be great also has a risk of being bad. And with so much to read/watch/play/listen to, nobody wants to waste time on something they might not like, or which, (and this is an absolute cardinal sin these days) might be boring. There used to be a time when people would go see a movie like Rain Man "just to see what everyone is talking about," but people these days seem to resent that idea and treat the presence of critics/awards/etc. as a personal attack.

Are great home theaters still increasing though? I thought the trend over the past several years, among young people at least, has been to ditch the TV and watch everything on your phone/laptop.

Edit: Another reason adult dramas have collapsed is because word of mouth has collapsed. Conversation is so fractured and angry these days that no one trusts anyone else. Everyone is assumed to have an agenda (not just political), so why bother paying attention to such things for something like seeing a movie which requires effort to go out and do?
This whole post sounds insanely out of touch. What world do you exist in where word of mouth has collapsed, nobody sees movies/etc "just to know what everyone's talking about", and nobody takes chances on anything new? All of those things are as true now as they ever have been, if not much more so. You can't go 5 seconds on the internet without hearing about the current flavor of the week that's new and different and omg, you gotta watch it!!! Fewer people going to movie theaters is a completely separate issue.

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Cybat
01/12/22 5:48:39 PM
#27:


Yesmar_ posted...
Edit: Another reason adult dramas have collapsed is because word of mouth has collapsed. Conversation is so fractured and angry these days that no one trusts anyone else. Everyone is assumed to have an agenda (not just political), so why bother paying attention to such things for something like seeing a movie which requires effort to go out and do?

Wow I thought I had seen every variation of the PC/cancel culture complaints but this is just completely insane. Do you really think no person anywhere has coworkers or acquaintances that they talk about TV shows and movies with?

edit: I realized my initial reaction proved your premise a little bit but I'm leaving it. I still maintain that the conclusion is insane.

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Paratroopa1
01/12/22 5:51:36 PM
#28:


There's nothing more childish than thinking that liking dour dramas is what makes you a proper adult
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LeonhartFour
01/12/22 5:59:43 PM
#29:


Paratroopa1 posted...
There's nothing more childish than thinking that liking dour dramas is what makes you a proper adult

it's like thinking playing M rated games means you're a more mature person

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MyMainAccount
01/12/22 6:03:52 PM
#30:


There's noting more puzzling than essentially saying "Why are those stupid manchikdren angry at me when I say things? Don't those stupid fucks know that discussion without personal attacks is better?"

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StealThisSheen
01/12/22 6:06:05 PM
#31:


LeonhartFour posted...
it's like thinking playing M rated games means you're a more mature person

Excuse you sir, I play all of the Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto which means I am a super macho, mature, sexy man. That's how it works.

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Paratroopa1
01/12/22 6:09:27 PM
#32:


conversation is just so fractured nowadays! it must be all of the people whose tastes I don't agree with
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BarbaricAvatar
01/12/22 6:14:33 PM
#33:


He's not wrong, i don't bother going to the cinema unless it's for something that will be an experience both visually and aurally. No point seeing Pride & Prejudice on a big screen; you don't go to theme parks to ride the "traffic on the way to work" simulation.

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MrGreenonion
01/12/22 7:02:22 PM
#34:


HeroDelTiempo17 posted...
Titanic? Inception? Maybe that's a stretch but that's off the top of my head and I'm not a big movie guy.

There have been blockbusters for a while, and they've always involved spectacle, but the types of blockbusters have been shifting.
Titanic and Inception were both spectacles

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red13n
01/12/22 7:22:06 PM
#35:


Yesmar_ posted...
Edit: Another reason adult dramas have collapsed is because word of mouth has collapsed.

What the fuck kind of a take is this. Word of mouth is literally stronger than it has ever been in history.

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banananor
01/12/22 7:23:00 PM
#36:


MyMainAccount posted...
There's noting more puzzling than essentially saying "Why are those stupid manchikdren angry at me when I say things? Don't those stupid fucks know that discussion without personal attacks is better?"
gonna save this to use later

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HeroDelTiempo17
01/12/22 7:37:20 PM
#37:


MrGreenonion posted...
Titanic and Inception were both spectacles

I literally said that in my post and noted Inception was probably a stretch. Nolan's stuff relies on some drama but it's still very actiony.

My point was that Titanic was a blockbuster mature adult drama spectacle. I would not put that in the same boat (lol) as "spectacle-based event movies like the MCU." I mean, someone jokingly brought up Gone With the Wind which was also a spectacle for its time! It seems to me that the conversation immediately shifted towards genre and what movies are allowed to be spectacle blockbusters these days.

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davidponte
01/12/22 7:43:03 PM
#38:


I'm in a weird spot where I only ever took the time to watch big spectacles, and then got burnt out of watching big spectacles because there were so many of them, and now I just watch nothing.

I watched two movies from start to finish in 2021, and only one of them came out in 2021.

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banananor
01/12/22 8:39:46 PM
#39:


yeah, i can complain about the direction of mass consumerism all i want

but the big secret is that i've never been a mass consumer, so the companies don't care what i think or do

i've never watched movies in theaters unless somewhat dragged me to something. i used moviepass for a couple of months, but that was just a ridiculous deal

i am a little concerned what the internet will do once it figures out i'm not a worthy advertising target aside from very specific things

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MrGreenonion
01/12/22 8:43:42 PM
#40:


I kinda feel like not only is spectacle the main reason to go to the theater these days, but also that theaters are the worst way to watch serious adult drama. Especially because nobody knows how to do sound mixing anymore so dialogue is always quiet and mumbly and I really need to be able to turn on subtitles and back things up.

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Seginustemple
01/12/22 8:49:10 PM
#41:


I've been enjoying niche movies in empty theaters for a while now, feel like I gotta take advantage as long as I can before the option dies completely

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Maniac64
01/12/22 8:50:59 PM
#42:


MrGreenonion posted...
Especially because nobody knows how to do sound mixing anymore so dialogue is always quiet and mumbly and I really need to be able to turn on subtitles and back things up.
This so much

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Yesmar_
01/13/22 12:57:56 AM
#43:


Paratroopa1 posted...
There's nothing more childish than thinking that liking dour dramas is what makes you a proper adult

Adult =/= dour. That association is exactly what I am opposed to.

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Llarian
01/18/22 2:45:18 PM
#44:


MrGreenonion posted...
Especially because nobody knows how to do sound mixing anymore so dialogue is always quiet and mumbly and I really need to be able to turn on subtitles and back things up.
Maniac64 posted...
This so much
This and its cousin, the soaring soundtrack that consistently overtakes the dialogue.

I love going to the theatre and I also love "boring", dialogue-heavy, character-based films. Who needs plot? Not me. Gimme 12 Angry Men any day of the week over something so action-packed I can't even reasonably follow what's happening.

Of course, the theatre isn't the center of the community that it used to be decades ago, when you'd watch newsreels before the Feature Presentation. The world's changed a lot. When theatres become totally obsolete, I feel like I'll be one of the only ones who'll miss them.

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