Posted on 11/02/2025 8:56:50 AM PST by Red Badger
The film industry’s troubles show no sign of easing. Domestic box office revenue for October 2025 came in at roughly $425 million, marking the worst performance in 27 years outside of the pandemic era, per Comscore data. This dismal figure falls well below even the unadjusted $385.2 million from October 1997, a time before blockbuster franchises dominated screens.
Major releases failed to draw crowds. Disney’s *Tron: Ares*, with a reported net cost of $220 million, opened to just $33.2 million domestically and has scraped together only $65.1 million in the U.S., contributing to an estimated $132 million loss. Globally, it limped to $125.4 million, far short of expectations for a high-profile sci-fi sequel.
Similarly, Dwayne Johnson’s *The Smashing Machine* debuted with a meager $5.8 million opening weekend, ending its domestic run around $11 million and hovering near $20 million worldwide despite being boosted by excellent critical reviews. These flops join a string of underperformers that left theaters empty.
Beyond the ticket sales slump, the sector faces massive job erosion. Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics figures reveal staggering losses, with over 42,000 positions vanishing in the past two years—about a third of the workforce.
“FilmLA … reported that on-location production was down 22% in the first quarter of 2025,” adding to the pain from prior strikes and economic shifts. Studios have begun pulling back from California, citing high costs and regulatory burdens under far-left leadership. Despite a deep hatred by most in Hollywood toward anything “conservative,” they’re learning to love lower taxes and lighter regulations in red states like Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas.
Audience fatigue with heavy-handed messaging plays a role in the downturn. Pushback against ideological content has grown, as viewers seek entertainment free from lectures. The poor box office numbers come at a time when the film industry as a whole seems to be in decline. Yet some insiders whisper that this erosion serves deeper agendas, allowing tech giants to step in and reshape storytelling on their terms.
Enter artificial intelligence as a looming disruptor. OpenAI unveiled Sora 2 in September, an advanced video generator capable of rendering complex scenes from text prompts.
“Just last month, OpenAI released Sora 2, an AI video generator that could make much of the film production process unnecessary,” said a Hollywood film editor who asked not to be named. “To say we’re concerned is an understatement.”
This tool, now available via app in the U.S. and beyond, raises questions about who controls the narratives when machines handle creation. Critics in Japan, including reps from Bandai Namco and Studio Ghibli, have already demanded OpenAI halt unauthorized training on their IPs, hinting at broader battles over intellectual property in an AI-driven future.
If trends hold, traditional Hollywood may fade further, replaced by algorithms that prioritize efficiency over human creativity. Families and everyday moviegoers deserve stories that resonate with real life, not agendas or automated output. The industry’s path forward demands a return to what once made films great: genuine talent and crowd-pleasing tales.
We stopped a couple coming out of our local theater and asked what they watched and was it any good.
They had just watched the Keanu Reeves comedy “Good Fortune” about a ‘well-meaning but inept angel’ and they said it was hilarious......
“It’s for the greater good.”
tired of seeing ‘the rock’ in every single movie. If he’s in it i’m not watching it.
“The Greater Good!”
Tropic Thunder?
“Audience fatigue with heavy-handed messaging plays a role”
They are blaming the audience. The audience can take the messaging. They/we’ve been dealing with it and ignoring it for decades. We still want Trum in office.
The problem is this- the story line is not there. The formula, the template, protagonist vs villain. It is gone
No one wants to go to the movie just to ignore messaging. They will go see a story and ignore hollywoods input
The Springsteen thing. Hollywood will not look at it for what it is. It’s making less than $20 million here and overseas combined. It won’t go above that for word of mouth. Is has lost a lot of millions cost way over $100 million to make
This movie has no story that anyone doesn’t know already and the subject is all about messaging
Hollywood will not accept that Trump won. That its audience chose building up the US not tearing it down. Springsteen was overseas last year criticizing on stage the US
No.
One also wonders where has Hollywood been getting funded since their crappy movies with no audience has never bothered them before
This past month though, I have to say, there is nothing to watch. Nothing
I did see the Lorenz Hart pic. ‘Blue Moon’
It was out for three days, because the film industry abhors a good story
It is brilliant. Ethan Hawke is Lorenz Hart. It was captivating. People don’t know the writers behind these great songs. Googling “Everything Happens to Me”, you would think Chet Baker wrote it. He didn’t
People don’t know Rodgers and Hammerstein, much less Rodgers and Hart
If they did they would know more about America’s greatness.
“When’s your birthday?”
“22nd of February.”
“What year?”
“Every year!”
“GET OUT!”
Did you see the “Truth Seekers” on Amazon? Mostly Nick Frost, but some pretty funny stuff. Malcom McDowell is Nick Frost’s father.
Another Hollydud movie? What’s there to like?
Its an unnecessary industry.
Ivory handled buggy whips might be nice but it isnt really a global commercial industry anymore.
IPs are worthless, they need to understand that they are just pissing away money.
You and many of the others have stories/universes inside yourselves that are every bit as good as the Marvel catalog or Star Trek/Wars.
Those that can prompt with the most imagination will create new movies that will be distributed world wide and no one will have to go to a theater at all or wait for it.
I could release my series online and be a number one “box office” crushing movie producer on March 8th, 2038 for an unprecedented length of 15 minutes from 14:09-14:24 generating $3 billion from my kitchen table. AI can do it all for virtually nothing and in no time.
The entire past movie production and consumption paradigm has already been destroyed. Its headless but they are still trying to revive a twitching corpse.
“Never go full retard.”
One Battle After Another, Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Sean Penn, and Benicio del Toro
“Hey, let’s make a movie with ARs and stuff, the low brows will love it.”
>Throw in a lot of wokeness too ...
Once again, the dogs don’t like the food.
Looking Up
This last week he recommended Preston Sturges 1944 screwball comedy "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" which I thoroughly enjoyed. It stars Betty Hutton William Demarest (coincidentally, I have been watching William Demarest in Season 6 of "Tales of Wells Fargo").
I really enjoy movies with good plots, great acting, good story-arcs and themes, and (especially) long scenes without quick cuts. Modern movies with the constantly flashing quick cuts where the camera is on a subject always less than one second are extremely off-putting.
One Battle After Another” has grossed approximately $141.9 million worldwide, but it is projected to lose around $100 million due to its high production and marketing costs. Despite its earnings, the film has struggled to break even, requiring about $300 million to do so.
Variety The Numbers
I may go see Guillermo Del Toro's, "Frankenstein," as it's supposed to stay very true to Mary Shelley's novel, and IMHO, is likely to be an apt, albeit unwitting warning for when AI escapes the control of its creators.
Add Walter Brennan, too. He’d make any scene better.
That’s why they used to call it “Laundrywood.” It was an industry made to clean dirty money.
Not just the (c)Rock, but Dave Bautista, too. I was intrigued when I heard they were going to remake, "Highlander," but lost all interest when I heard Bautista was cast to play the Kurgan.
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