{"id":1117949,"date":"2021-12-14T13:14:31","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T18:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1117949"},"modified":"2021-12-14T13:14:34","modified_gmt":"2021-12-14T18:14:34","slug":"spielberg-flops-abysmal-west-side-story-opening-weekend-blamed-on-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/spielberg-flops-abysmal-west-side-story-opening-weekend-blamed-on-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Spielberg Flops: Abysmal \u2018West Side Story\u2019 Opening Weekend Blamed On COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fspielberg-flops-abysmal-west-side-story-opening-weekend-blamed-on-covid-19%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1117949&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Hollywood execs are scratching their heads trying to figure out what went wrong.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Steven Spielberg, arguably the most famous and accomplished film director in the world, has a massive flop on his hands despite an aggressive advertising campaign. \u201cWest Side Story\u201d pulled in a measly $10.5 million on opening weekend. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2021\/film\/news\/west-side-story-box-office-steven-spielberg-1235131598\/\">Variety<\/a>, the film would need to generate $300 million in revenue just to break even.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s probably not one single explanation for what made \u201cWest Side Story\u201d such a massive flop. But various outlets have begun posting theories about what happened, and they\u2019re quick to blame COVID-19 for the lack of viewership.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe biggest obstacle facing \u2018West Side Story\u2019 is \u2014 and will continue to be \u2014 convincing older audiences to go to theaters,\u201d the Variety writer explained. \u201cAlong with families, it\u2019s the main demographic that hasn\u2019t returned in full force since the pandemic, particularly at a time when a new COVID variant has emerged.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The writer goes on to explain how the musical typically has an audience that skews older, and this demographic is the least likely to be returning to in-person events like going to movie theaters. Plus, unlike some other new releases, \u201cWest Side Story\u201d lacks a concurrent streaming component and is solely relying on theater ticket sales for revenue.<\/p>\n<p>Despite lackluster ticket sales so far, senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian told Variety he\u2019s optimistic that \u201cWest Side Story\u201d could eventually turn a profit. \u201cThey\u2019re chasing an audience that doesn\u2019t rush out opening weekend,\u201d Dergarabedian said. \u201cYou have to look at longterm playability. That will really tell the real story of the box office for \u2018West Side Story.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf it got universally bad reviews, it would be game over,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut I wouldn\u2019t write off \u2018West Side Story; given the quality and time of year. I think it could do well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rotten Tomatoes rated \u201cWest Side Story\u201d 93% fresh while the audience score is a commendable 95% with a 4.3 out of 5 average rating. But that\u2019s still not enough to save it from being a financial disaster.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Some people have a different take on the whole debacle. <\/p>\n<p>Kyle Smith from National Review <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/corner\/why-west-side-story-flopped-on-opening-weekend\/\">called<\/a> the story, \u201can extremely dated property \u2014 corny, maudlin, contrived, phony\u201d despite Spielberg\u2019s attempts to update it. He also pointed out that the lead actors are mostly unknown to the target audience, which makes going to see the movie less of a draw. The film stars 20-year-old actress Rachel Zegler as Maria and Ansel Elgort as Tony.<\/p>\n<p>Smith agrees that the demographic who would enjoy \u201cWest Side Story\u201d most is the least likely to see movies in theaters.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>And finally, Spielberg made an effort to modernize the story that could be unappealing to some would-be watchers. The new \u201cWest Side Story\u201d introduces a transgender character called Anybodys, who is played by nonbinary actor Iris Menas. This inclusion led to the movie being banned in certain Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia, NBC News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/nbc-out\/out-pop-culture\/west-side-story-banned-parts-mideast-transgender-character-rcna7901\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\">member<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hollywood execs are scratching their heads trying to figure out what went wrong.\u00a0Steven Spielberg, arguably the most famous and accomplished film director in the world, has a massive flop on his hands despite an aggressive advertising campaign. \u201cWest Side Story\u201d pulled in a measly $10.5 million on opening weekend. According to Variety, the film would need to generate $300 million in revenue just to break even.\u00a0There\u2019s probably not one single explanation for what made \u201cWest Side Story\u201d such a massive flop. But various outlets have begun posting theories about what happened, and they\u2019re quick to blame COVID-19 for the lack of viewership.\u201cThe biggest obstacle facing \u2018West Side Story\u2019 is \u2014 and will continue to be \u2014 convincing older audiences to go to theaters,\u201d the Variety writer explained. \u201cAlong with families, it\u2019s the main demographic that hasn\u2019t returned in full force since the pandemic, particularly at a time when a new COVID variant has emerged.\u201dThe writer goes on to explain how the musical typically has an audience that skews older, and this demographic is the least likely to be returning to in-person events like going to movie theaters. Plus, unlike some other new releases, \u201cWest Side Story\u201d lacks a concurrent streaming component and is solely relying on theater ticket sales for revenue.Despite lackluster ticket sales so far, senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian told Variety he\u2019s optimistic that \u201cWest Side Story\u201d could eventually turn a profit. \u201cThey\u2019re chasing an audience that doesn\u2019t rush out opening weekend,\u201d Dergarabedian said. \u201cYou have to look at longterm playability. That will really tell the real story of the box office for \u2018West Side Story.\u2019\u201d\u201cIf it got universally bad reviews, it would be game over,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut I wouldn\u2019t write off \u2018West Side Story; given the quality and time of year. I think it could do well.\u201dRotten Tomatoes rated \u201cWest Side Story\u201d 93% fresh while the audience score is a commendable 95% with a 4.3 out of 5 average rating. But that\u2019s still not enough to save it from being a financial disaster.\u00a0Some people have a different take on the whole debacle. Kyle Smith from National Review called the story, \u201can extremely dated property \u2014 corny, maudlin, contrived, phony\u201d despite Spielberg\u2019s attempts to update it. He also pointed out that the lead actors are mostly unknown to the target audience, which makes going to see the movie less of a draw. The film stars 20-year-old actress Rachel Zegler as Maria and Ansel Elgort as Tony.Smith agrees that the demographic who would enjoy \u201cWest Side Story\u201d most is the least likely to see movies in theaters.\u00a0And finally, Spielberg made an effort to modernize the story that could be unappealing to some would-be watchers. The new \u201cWest Side Story\u201d introduces a transgender character called Anybodys, who is played by nonbinary actor Iris Menas. This inclusion led to the movie being banned in certain Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia, NBC News reported.The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":345,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1117949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/345"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1117949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1117949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1117949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1117949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}