One of the would-be saviors of cinema
The COVID-19 pandemic is long over. But movies -- despite repeated comments that certain movies would save cinema -- are still hurting.
I'm old enough to remember when some Bond fans said No Time to Die was "saving cinema." Maybe in the U.K., but not in the U.S. The 25th James Bond film did fine in the U.S., almost $161 million. But it was only No. 007 in the U.S. for calendar 2021. Some protest, "What about COVID?" The first six also dealt with COVID. The No. 1 2021 movie was Spider-Man: No Way Home at almost $805 million (U.S.), $1.1 billion (global).
In 2022, Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise's sequel to a long-ago hit, was an enormous success, with almost $719 million in the U.S. and almost $1.5 billion worldwide. At a public event, director Steven Spielberg told Cruise, "You saved Hollywood's ass." There are various videos of this exchange, including THIS ONE.
In 2023, Cruise's luck ran out. Mission: Impossible Dead Recocking Part One generated U.S. box office of $172.1 million and a worldwide take of $395.4 million. Nice, but below its previous installment, Mission: Impossible Deadfall (more than $220 million, U.S., almost $792 million globally).
Whatever "secret sauce" Cruise had, it didn't carry over into 2023. The next M:I installment (originally set for 2024) got delayed to 2025. The top global box office movies were Barbie and Oppenheimer.
In 2024? May is supposed to be the start of the "summer" movie season when big blockbusters reach theaters.
In the U.S., for the May 3-5 weekend, the No. 1 film was The Fall Guy at just under $28 million. For the May 10-12 weekend, the top film is Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes at an estimated $58.5 million.
Not small numbers, to be sure. But once upon a time (especially before the pandemic), figures came in at $100 million and above.
Despite the heralded saviors of cinema, it hasn't been saved yet.
Movies are a mess and for many reasons. Netflix upended things with streaming. Studios, including Disney (which spent more than $70 billion to buy 20th Century Fox), Paramount and whoever owns Warner Bros. this week, have been chasing Netflix. Why rush out to a theater when you can see a movie soon on streaming? At least that's something cinema is having to deal with.
Going back to the start of this article: When the James Bond franchise finally gets around to Bond 26, the entertainment world will be much different. MGM, one of the business partners of Eon Productions, is now owned by Amazon, which has a major streaming service.
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