![]() ![]() One of the biggest movie success stories of the year, Top Gun: Maverick, took seven months to arrive on its studio’s streamer (Paramount+), which didn’t stop it from immediately becoming the service’s No. Disney recently saw its former CEO Bob Iger return to his post, replacing his successor, Bob Chapek, partly over concerns that its streamer, Disney+, had lost $1.5 billion in a financial quarter. But for movies, there doesn’t appear to be much profit in the current approach-HBO Max is cutting back its film and TV offerings after a bold 2021 strategy put movies online the same day they debuted in theaters, a tactic it swerved away from in 2022. Throughout the pandemic, many studios have pivoted to streaming both as part of a mad scramble to catch up to Netflix and as a way to get more eyeballs on their own projects during an unsettled moment. There will be failures, yes, but Hollywood must finally recognize that the overall health of theatrical exhibition is of paramount concern. No more muddled hybrid releases, no slow and modest rollouts, and certainly nothing like Netflix’s baffling compromise with Glass Onion, which played on 696 screens for just a week around Thanksgiving and then vanished until it debuted online in time for Christmas. The solution, now that 2023 is upon us, is simple: Put new releases exclusively in theaters and give them a real chance to succeed with paying moviegoers. This is far short of the usual net cast by one of the most enduring names in filmmaking, and it underlines the total lack of confidence studios have had in grown-up fare of late. ![]() The most egregious move was perhaps Universal’s decision to not give a wide theatrical release to The Fabelmans, a new Spielberg film with Oscar buzz as a result, it’s made only $14 million since its November 11 release, and the most theaters it ever played in was 1,149 (a wide release tends to hover between 3,000 and 4,000). The success of releases such as Top Gun: Maverick, superhero blockbusters, non-sequels, and original films was galvanizing, calming fears that theaters would never rebound amid a rise in streaming options.īut then I watched Hollywood have one of the strangest autumns imaginable, a mostly self-inflicted series of wounds that led to speculation that the movie market for adults was in trouble. Although that’s still below the 2019 number of 1.2 billion tickets, we’re seeing an unmistakably positive trend line. In 2020, movie theaters sold roughly 216 million tickets in 2021, that number rose to 492 million, and last year, it shot up to 813 million. Last year was, on the whole, a positive one for the movie-theater industry, a period of further improvement as the world continued to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects. Was there anything to see? Something the whole family, not just rowdy teenagers, might enjoy? Anything geared toward grown-up viewers? And then, with an air of horror, they would realize that only two movies along those lines were out- Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans and Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion-but that, on one of the year’s busiest weeks for multiplexes, neither was in wide release. Read more: Best TV Shows to Watch on HBO Max Best HBO Max originals and blockbustersĪt time of writing, these films all score around 65 or higher on Metacritic.Every Thanksgiving weekend, once the holiday itself has passed and people are looking for things to do for the rest of the break, I get texts from friends seeking movie recommendations: What’s worth seeing in theaters right now? In 2022, that query became more of a plea. It illuminates the life and genius of the prolific artist. Moonage Daydream (2022): Documentary about David Bowie.It pulls back the curtain on the singer-songwriter's deeply personal way of creating music. Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed (2023): Documentary about Jason Isbell.A Nascar driver's (Ferrell) turbo-charged lifestyle hits an unexpected speed bump. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006): Comedy starring Will Ferrell.Lucy (Johansson) is accidentally caught in a dark deal and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic. Lucy (2014): Thriller starring Scarlett Johansson.It's both a creature-feature thrill ride and a poignant human drama. The Host (2006): South Korean monster film directed by Bong Joon-ho.Eleven-year-old Coraline discovers a hidden door to a fantasy version of her life. Coraline (2009): Stop-motion animated film directed by Henry Selick.
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