Kim Masters and John Horn of the Los Angeles Times discuss what it means when a big Hollywood blockbuster flops. Compared to last year's summer box office, revenue is down over 6%, and because movies cost much more to make, the losses are much greater. For example, the Lone Ranger cost around $400 million, including marketing.
John says there are three lessons to be learned from this summer's box office:
- If trying to build a franchise, studios shouldn't gamble so much on the first film. See how it does first before spending the big bucks.
- Release dates are too competitive and need to be rethought.
- Studios should bet on lesser known directors who make genre films on smaller budgets. An example is James Wan who directed this summer's The Conjuring.