Hiya!

So, I recently went to go see a movie over the weekend. Specifically, I went to see Verity because I needed to review something horror themed for Spooktober. Well, it turns out it wasn’t a horror movie. It’s an erotic thriller so it’s disqualified. Still, I did notice how empty the theater was when I did see Verity. Remember, this was the weekend so I was expecting the cinemas to be full as evidenced by how many people were lining up for Avengers: Endgame Encore. I don’t have any plans to see it as I’m with my colleague on this site when he said the added end credits scenes doesn’t make it worth it to see it again. It does look like I’m in the minority as, like I said, there are still people willing to pay money to see it… again.

This did get me thinking about how the general public just loves to hate on Hollywood whenever they make a sequel or make a new film about some nostalgic property. They say Hollywood doesn’t have any new ideas and the big studios just keep going back to the well. Well, here’s the thing they are half-right. Hollywood does indeed love revisiting what made them a lot of money before in the hopes slapping on a new coat of paint on what was old will make them even more money again. What I disagree with is the people complaining about this shouldn’t complain when they themselves don’t bother seeing when they do put out something new.

Now, I won’t make Verity an example as, from what I’ve researched, critics are absolutely panning it (but audiences have been more kind to it). So, there is a reason as to why some may be avoid it. However, this doesn’t explain why a movie like Forgotten Island, an animated movie which has earned high praise from both critics and general audiences alike, is pretty much floundering in the box office. Now, I haven’t seen it because I don’t like the character designs used in Forgotten Island; that’s a personal preference. What I don’t get is why there aren’t more people going to see it since you would think good word-of-mouth would’ve got more people to plop their butts in theater seats to see it. It’s just not happening.

There’s also Digger, another original film starring super A-lister Tom Cruise as the titular character. You would expect by simply slapping Tom Cruise’s name on the movie there would be more turnout for Digger. Like with Forgotten Island, it’s just not happening. In fact, it seems worse for Digger as, over the weekend, it only made a measly $20 million worldwide! Considering the film has an estimated budget of $140 million, Digger is tracking to be one of the worst box office bombs in recent memory!

So, what’s happening really? Is all that bluster about wanting new ideas from Hollywood is just from people who don’t really want new ideas but it’s just the cool thing to say? I mean, here are a couple of movies based on a fresh idea! Why aren’t people seeing it then? I mean, I can’t believe the moviegoers who complain about wanting something new aren’t watching it because they want to see Avengers: Endgame Encore instead, a movie they’ve already seen, right?

I will be fair and say some of the blame should be put on Hollywood as well as they’re not really marketing their non-recycled products hard enough. The only real reason why I knew about Verity is because the trailer popped onto my YouTube homepage. If it didn’t, I probably would be blissfully aware it even exists. When it came to Digger, I came to know about it because I saw it was showing in another cinema when I went to see Verity. It’s very weird how a movie starring Tom Cruise can get so little marketing I didn’t even know I could even see it!

However, I still believe a lot of the blame still falls on movie audiences and their fickle tastes. The problem with new ideas is its new. When something is new, it’s untested. When something is untested, people would rather let other people take the risk of testing it out first. There’s also the problem of how a lot of these new ideas can be hard to digest. Forgotten Island is all about Filipino myths and folklore. Not exactly mainstream stuff, you know. So, there is already going to be a barrier for non-Filipino audiences to care about it. Verity is based on a book and that in itself can be an issue if you haven’t even heard of the book. Finally, there’s Digger and, from what I’ve learned about it, it’s a very dense film, filled with a lot of wacky and weird concepts, which is why the people who have seen it are divided on if it’s any good or not.

Probably the weirdest thing about demanding Hollywood to give them movies based on new ideas is they don’t actually need Hollywood for that. Earlier this year, there were 2 movies which got the cinemas packed to the rafters. Those movies would be Backrooms and Obsession. These movies weren’t designed to be big blockbusters. They didn’t get A-listers to star in them but it did make a big star out of Obsession’s Inde Navarette.

So, it is possible to draw in people to see something new. The question is why does it seem like Backrooms and Obsession seem to be the exception rather than the normal? Well, they’re both horror themed films so there’s that… but Verity is kind of horror themed as well. So that can’t be the answer. What is probably the answer is they’re low-budget films. Backrooms only had a budget of $10 million but clocked in at $400 million in ticket sales. Obsession was even more impressive as it had a budget of less than $1 million but earned around $519 million worldwide! That’s a lot of moolah indeed!

In the end, I do think moviegoers aren’t exactly hypocrites for wanting Hollywood to produce new material. The thing is, I don’t think moviegoers should be complaining to Hollywood specifically as they don’t seem to know what kind of new material moviegoers actually want. The ones who do know are the people making these low-budget films. So, Hollywood should let them. Let these people make the movies they want and let them have their vision come to life. Give them the money to do so even but don’t interfere with that vision. At this moment in time, Hollywood may as well stop with the big budget new ideas since they don’t work. They should just step aside and let the newcomers with the big ideas do them instead.

Byee!

Do you still believe moviegoers want something fresh and new? Let me know in the comments section below!