failures at the summer box office and alarming strike at the studios

There is a feeling of deep crisis in hollywood. The disastrous result at the box office of Memorial Day Weekend –the long weekend that traditionally marks the beginning of the summer season in the United States– has only aggravated the feeling that the traditional business model may be running out. The emergence of platforms streamingadded to the historic strike of actors and screenwriters, the scourge of inflation, the hangover of the pandemic and the difficulty of studios in finding titles that attract audiences to movie theaters has set off alarms in the mecca of cinema.

It is not surprising. The numbers are worrying. With almost half of the year elapsed, the 2,581 million euros received nationwide predict a result well below the 8,290 million with which 2023 closed. In May alone, the decrease was 29% compared to the previous year; and in April, 52.2%. The total income of the four days of the long weekend at the end of May did not exceed 119 million, 37% less than in 2023 and the worst result since the summer of 1995when it debuted casper. It has already rained.

It is true that the strike of actors and scriptwriters – the first combined strike between both unions for 50 years – has affected the number of new titles and the strength of the proposals in 2024, and has forced the postponement of major premieres of brands like Marvel and DC until next year. But experts believe that the crisis goes further. “People are not being given enough reasons to return to movie theaters, and that is a problem”assures EL MUNDO Kevin Klowdendirector of the economic analysis center Milken Institute. “There is more and more fear among studios to bet on certain films, such as those with medium budgets that were the ones that perform best at the box office. The disconnection with the public is evident.”

Klowden maintains that Hollywood ‘not sure how to make money right now’confused after the disembarkation of the streaming. “Before they had several sources of income, starting with cinemas and continuing with the sale of cable television rights or the sales of DVDs or Blue Ray, but now all that is disappearing with new technologies,” he explains. “Netflix, Amazon or Apple don’t care about the results at the box office, and they are precisely the ones who are making the films that we used to go to see in theaters.”

For now, only titles like Kung Fu Panda 4, Godzilla and Kong: The New Empire or the second part of Dune have managed to save the furniture in 2024. The rest have been films with mediocre performance at the box office or notorious fiascos, such as Madame web, the superhero film starring Dakota Johnson that ended up at $100 million despite having cost almost the same. EITHER Furiousthe last installment of the saga Mad Max with the Argentine Anya Taylor-Joy as the main attraction. In that case the blow has been impressive: 128 million received against a budget of 173.

The years of the big cows seem to be light years away, when Disney easily dominated the box office and its titles broke the barrier of 1,000 million grossed in a matter of days. In 2019 alone, the last year before the pandemic shattered the model, nine films managed to reach those 1 billion, with Avengers: Endgame threatening the throne of Avatar as the highest grossing film in history. At the moment, no film has come even close to achieving it in 2024. The 714 million Dune They are the most notable thing of the year.

Zach Snyderdirector of blockbusters like 300, Justice League either Batman vs Superman, he doesn’t see it as dark. He maintains that the good times will return. “I don’t think it’s something to worry about. We are in a kind of slump, but there are great titles to be released and I think people are waiting for something to arrive that interests them to return to the cinema,” he explains to EL MUNDO. “It’s really up to us to do something brilliant to get people back to the cinemas because the experience is worth it, the collective feeling of being in a theater. Everyone knows it. It’s there. You just have to know how to exploit it.”

Christopher Seanactor and protagonist of the Netflix animated film Ultraman Rising, confesses that only nine years ago he slept in his truck because he couldn’t afford to pay rent in Hollywood. Today life smiles at her in the workplace, but she knows that there are many colleagues suffering more than ever to get a job in the industry. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment in the sector had not reached such a low level in 30 yearswith major studios announcing layoffs like disney, Warner Brothers either Paramount Global. Pixar was the last to pull the scissors a few weeks ago, with a 14% cut in its workforce due to the low volume of productions. A sense of panic prevails among those who have not been able to recover a sustainable work rhythm after the strike.

“It’s a very different world with the streaming and after the strike,” analyzes Sean. “Everyone is more comfortable at home and it remains to be seen if the digital era ends up destroying the cinema experience in theaters. I hope not, because The cultural and nostalgia component that it brings is incomparable.. Cinema and stories to tell there will always be. “The thing about movie theaters is not so clear.”

Klowden believes the box office will recover in the second half of the year. “Last year already happened with Barbie and Oppenheimer“, he remembers. “I suppose Hollywood will see a way to make money again, but at the moment it is at a crossroads.” The feminist allegory of the blonde doll grossed 636 million dollars in the United States, and another 1.3 billion worldwide, numbers that earned it recognition as the highest-grossing film at the Golden Globes. Its nuclear rival amounted to more than 830 million worldwide. It remains to be seen if that was a sign of recovery or a mere mirage. well the second.