Summer saved the movie industry
Summer of 2018 has saved our industry. 2017 looked like the end of an era for Hollywood and movie theatres, with attendance falling to its lowest level in many years. THAT day had finally arrived, and just like VHS, DVD and Blockbuster — it was ending abruptly.
People no longer were going to the movies, or so it seemed. Oh, what a difference not only a year can make, but what a dramatic difference quality programming can make! Guess what? “If you build it … they will come” applies to not just having aliens in the movies. Build a better mousetrap, or rather make a better movie — and people will beat a path to your door.
Certainly, a lot of very successful sequels helped to fill the seats, starting with “Avengers: Infinity Wars” followed by “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” “The Incredibles 2,” “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again!” and “Mission Impossible Fallout,” to name a few.
Warner Brothers struck gold with two unlikely films, first with “The Meg” (originally destined to be a gimmicky B movie, it has done remarkably well) and then with “Crazy Rich Asians” (now with a soon-to-be released television series spinoff ). The horror genre got some fresh life with the likes of “Hereditary” and “A Quiet Place” — two very original and haunting tales that performed well at the box office.
However, not everything Hollywood touched was golden. The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) is normally box office gold, but both of his summer films fizzled financially. Though entertaining, both “Rampage” and “Skyscraper” failed to achieve the $100-million marker that often defines success. And the Star Wars universe “suffered” a setback with “Solo: A Star Wars Story” (which I enjoyed). I personally would hardly call $260 million a failure, but it paled in comparison with other titles from the franchise. Let’s just say it “underperformed” for a major Disney-funded title.
Where I feel Hollywood consistently misses the mark during summertime is with family/children fare. There simply are not enough good animated films to go around. By the end of summer, parents are climbing the walls — you can only see “Hotel Transylvania” and “Sherlock Gnomes” so many times!
I shudder to think that summer is all but gone — I am not at all ready to bid farewell. See you at the movie theatre! Please feel free to contact me with your comments or feedback — even an idea for an article — len@moviemill.com.