{"id":2022166,"date":"2023-09-05T13:09:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T17:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/numbers-are-in-barbenheimer-lifts-summer-box-office-but-not-enough-to-save-movie-industry\/"},"modified":"2023-09-05T13:12:48","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T17:12:48","slug":"numbers-are-in-barbenheimer-lifts-summer-box-office-but-not-enough-to-save-movie-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/numbers-are-in-barbenheimer-lifts-summer-box-office-but-not-enough-to-save-movie-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Barbenheimer&#8217; Boosts Summer Box Office, Fails to Rescue Movie Industry"},"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\">20<\/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%2Fnumbers-are-in-barbenheimer-lifts-summer-box-office-but-not-enough-to-save-movie-industry%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=2022166&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--><h2>Numbers \u2062Are In: &#8216;Barbenheimer&#8217; Lifts Summer Box Office \u200dbut Not Enough to Save Movie Industry<\/h2>\n<p>Well, here\u2019s a shocker: A pseudo-event involving\u200d two wildly disparate movies that happened to be opening on the same date \u200ccouldn\u2019t \u200dsave Hollywood from another \u2064summer \u200dof lackluster sequels and woke-tastic programming.<\/p>\n<p>Although, if you were to look at the raw numbers, you might be misled.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2023\/09\/02\/barbenheimer-mirage-barbie-oppenheimer-summer-box-office\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Axios<\/a> reported Saturday\u2063 that the industry has seen $6.5\u2063 billion\u2063 in \u2064domestic ticket sales. \u2064According to industry publication <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2023\/08\/summer-2023-box-office-barbie-oppenheimer-strike-1235532620\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Deadline<\/a>, $4 billion \u200cof that came during the traditional summer moviegoing months.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The year-to-date total is up 25\u200c percent over 2022; while pandemic restrictions have eased and more people feel comfortable going back to the theater, last year was still within the return-to-normalcy window. Looking \u2062at those numbers, you might think that Hollywood execs would\u200c be more thrilled than if they woke up tomorrow \u200cmorning and it turned out #MeToo was all just a dream, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-harvey-weinsten-gets-16-years-prison-amounts-likely-life-sentence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Harvey \u200bWeinstein<\/a> was still powerless and in prison.<\/p>\n<p>However, there\u2019s one dreadful neologism that should explain why the summer movie results are\u200b still terrible while sounding terrific: \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/two-hour-dud-disneys-newest-dumpster-fire-shredded-critics-cast-boycotts-premiere\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Barbenheimer<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>As Axios noted, without the box-office overperformance of\u2063 two heavily hyped unlikely successes released on the same \u200cday \u2014 the\u2064 Skittles-hued political landmine \u2064\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/woke-barbies-worldwide-box-office-conquest-comes-screeching-halt-middle-east-officials-crack\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Barbie<\/a>\u201d and the reflective Christopher Nolan biopic \u201cOppenheimer\u201d \u2014 \u201cthe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/is-lightyear-suffering-from-tim-allen-same-sex-kiss-controversies\/\" title=\"Is \u201cLightyear\u201d Suffering From Tim Allen, Same-Sex Kiss Controversies?\">summer box office<\/a> is a horror show.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/disney-gets-nuked-barbie-oppenheimer-setting-woke-giant-another-flop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Those two films<\/a>, which have grossed roughly $900 million in North America, represent 22\u2062 percent of the box-office take this summer, Deadline reported. Without those two anchors, the \u2064summer was a sea of disappointments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPricey misfires included\u2064 \u2018The Flash\u2019 \u200b($268 million worldwide) \u200band \u2018Indiana Jones\u2019 ($381 \u2063million). Even Tom Cruise \u2064couldn\u2019t deliver as \u2018Mission:\u2062 Impossible \u2013 Dead Reckoning Part 1\u2032 pulled\u200c in $552 million, the series\u2019 lowest since \u2018Mission: Impossible III\u2019 in 2006,\u201d Axios noted.<\/p>\n<p>And then, after Americans were marked safe from \u2064the \u201cBarbenheimer\u201d pseudo-event, the rising tide didn\u2019t lift all ships. Most of the late summer releases fizzled, too \u2014 most \u2064notably the\u200d DC Comics film \u201cBlue Beetle,\u201d which took home just $84 million in two weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Not\u200d that this \u200cis a surprise \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/warner-bros-shouldnt-celebrate-barbie-just-yet-next-woke-film-projected-lose-200m\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">estimates in \u200cJuly<\/a> had \u201cBlue Beetle\u201d losing up to $200 million at the box office \u200dand needing at least $250 million in receipts to turn a profit.\u2063 It was a sobering reminder that the overperformance of \u201cBarbie\u201d and \u2063\u201cOppenheimer\u201d can\u2019t wallpaper over \u200cthose \u201cpricey misfires.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A good number of those bombs, it\u2019s worth \u2062noting,\u200c were dripping with\u2063 a slathered-on coat of wokeness. For instance, \u201cBlue Beetle\u201d was marketed as the\u200d first major superhero film to feature a Latino lead.<\/p>\n<p>In an approving review for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/blue-beetle-movie-review-2023\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">RogerEbert.com<\/a>, Robert Daniels noted with some degree of approval that\u200b the villain played\u2063 by Susan Sarandon\u2062 \u201cis hardly configured; it doesn\u2019t take much guessing to know they\u2019re a metaphor for the\u2064 past and present ills of white-American imperialism\u201d \u2063and that the \u2062film\u2019s \u201cpolitical invocations, such \u2064as an \u200callusion to the School of\u200c the Americas \u2064(a major topic \u2064to cover in a big-budget film) and a harrowing scene of a raid upon the \u200dReyes\u200b home, while overwrought in its use of slow\u2062 motion, humanizes \u2064endangered emigrant families, are daring subplots to\u200d add.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Well, that dare didn\u2019t quite pay off, now, did it?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Flash,\u201d meanwhile, was the\u200b first superhero film with a\u200b star who identified in real life (not the film\u2019s universe) as nonbinary, using \u201cthey\u201d\/\u201dthem\u201d pronouns. Actor Ezra \u200dMiller\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/dcs-woke-disaster-disgraced-non-binary-star-couldnt-even-saved-batman\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">myriad legal\u200b struggles<\/a> (also in real life)\u2063 \u2014 combined with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/numbers-are-in-barbenheimer-lifts-summer-box-office-but-not-enough-to-save-movie-industry\/\" title=\"'Barbenheimer' Boosts Summer Box Office, Fails to Rescue Movie Industry\">convoluted plot involving time travel<\/a> and two different versions of Batman and \u200dSuperman, among other weirdnesses \u2014 kept audiences away from\u2063 the cinema for that one.<\/p>\n<p>Pixar\u2019s woke tale \u200d\u201cElemental\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/disney-never-learns-another-expensive-woke-animated-film-studio-flops-hard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">also flopped<\/a> (sample \u200breview: \u201cWhen\u200d a significant part of the conflict in\u200b a cartoon about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/disney-never-learns-another-expensive-woke-animated-film-from-studio-flops-hard\/\" title=\"Disney's Expensive, Woke Animated Film Flops Again\">talking elemental beings turns<\/a> on urban infrastructure problems, building code violations, and city bureaucracy, something has gone off the rails\u201d), as did the latest Disney\u2062 live-action remake that existed for \u2062no reason but to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/son-original-snow-white-director-eviscerates-disney-woke-remake-insulting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">racially swap the lead<\/a>: \u201cThe Little Mermaid,\u201d with Halle Bailey as Ariel, came in under $300 million, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/news\/box-office\/summer-2023-box-office-4-billion-weird-1234898638\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IndieWire<\/a> \u2014 not enough to recoup\u200b costs for an expensive production.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also worth noting that non-woke films also flopped. \u201cFast X\u201d \u2014 which, I\u2019m assuming from my desultory knowledge of\u200c \u201cFast\u2062 and\u2062 Furious\u201d iterations, includes lots of loud CGI cars doing impossible things and innumerable invocations of the word \u201cfamily,\u201d not really \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Democracy\u2064 Now!<\/a>\u201d territory \u2014 underperformed, as did \u201cTransformers:\u2064 Rise of the Beast\u201d and \u201cGuardians of the Galaxy Vol.\u200d 3.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The last one was Disney-produced, so perhaps the politically inclined could blame it on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/sick-disney-director-admits-created-show-sex-scenes-children\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">that company\u2019s image problems<\/a>. \u201cFast X\u201d was\u2063 put out by Universal and \u201cTransformers\u201d by Paramount, however, \u2063so that excuse \u200cdoesn\u2019t hold for those duds.<\/p>\n<p>But, perhaps the surest sign the times are \u2062a-changin\u2019 in Hollywood \u2063was the biggest positive surprise of the summer, at least\u2063 from \u200ca purely monetary standpoint: \u201cSound of Freedom,\u201d the independently produced\u200c drama about child sex-trafficking, grossed over $180 million and was \u200da\u200b shock blockbuster \u2014 in spite of a hue and cry from the liberal media, which \u2062declared it a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/media-attacking-sound-freedom-1-thing-common-adoration-netflixs-sick-cuties\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">QAnon dog whistle<\/a>, \u200dinter alia.<\/p>\n<p>And then there\u2019s the storm on the horizon: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/studios-wait-hollywood-strike-writers-losing-apartments\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the writers\/actors strike<\/a> that has paralyzed Hollywood and \u2064almost all non-independent productions. \u201cThe spring\u2063 movies will wind up becoming \u200cthe summer movies next year,\u201d one insider told Deadline, a prediction the outlet said was laden \u201cwith doom and gloom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, is it wokeness, sequelitis or changed post-pandemic movie habits\u200d that contributed to non-\u201cBarbenheimer\u201d disappointments?<\/p>\n<p>Yes, yes and yes, probably.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s difficult to point to a single cause other than the fact Hollywood is\u200b an ossified agitprop machine that still believes that if it churns it out, you have\u200d to watch it,\u2064 no matter how much it costs or whether it conflicts with your worldview. Everyone else is seeing it, so why aren\u2019t you? You\u2019re going to \u200cmiss\u200d out on the discussion. Don\u2019t be the one who isn\u2019t talking about [insert blockbuster here]. Don\u2019t you want to be up on\u200b pop culture?<\/p>\n<p>Well, as it turns out, no. People <strong>aren\u2019t<\/strong> seeing everything pushed in our faces anymore, and Hollywood\u2019s grandiose budgets and\u2063 inattention to half of America\u2019s sociopolitical and religious beliefs suddenly\u200d seem unsustainable.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, they never were sustainable\u200d in the first place, and they can\u2019t just\u200b pull a \u201cBarbenheimer\u201d \u200cevery year to make up the \u2064difference.<\/p>\n<p>(\u201cComing as soon as we resolve this pesky strike: \u2018Feynken,\u2019 the same-day release of a biopic \u200cof quirky,\u200b bongo-playing Manhattan Project physicist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mit-just-proves-science-attack-radical-progressives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Richard Feynman<\/a>, and the \u2018Barbie\u2019 sequel \u2018Ken!&#8217;\u201d Yeah, I don\u2019t see that working again, either.)<\/p>\n<p>Ah well. This all couldn\u2019t have happened to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/jimmy-kimmel-says-hospitals-turn-away-unvaccinated-tell-rest-peace\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a better \u200dbunch\u200c of people<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The post\u200d <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/numbers-barbenheimer-lifts-summer-box-office-not-enough-save-movie-industry\/\">Numbers Are In: &#8216;Barbenheimer&#8217; Lifts Summer Box Office but Not Enough to Save Movie Industry<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\">The Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s a surprise: Hollywood&#8217;s attempt to create a buzz with two different movies opening on the same day couldn&#8217;t rescue them from a disappointing summer filled with uninspiring sequels and politically charged content. However, if you only consider the numbers, you might be deceived. According to Axios, the industry has generated $6.5 billion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":663,"featured_media":2022167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2022166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2022166","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\/663"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2022166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2022166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2022167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2022166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2022166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2022166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}