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.
Normal people would firmly grasp the obvious, but we are not talking about normal people are we.
Does my heart good to read of Pedowood failures.
“What is the typical per-person out-of-pocket for a movie and popcorn? $20?”
more like $30/person, so $60 minimum for a couple, plus the time to drive to, park, and drive back ... and depending upon where one lives, the issue of uncivilized theater patrons ...
I find their promos disgusting
TUMBLINDICE IS A PROVED ANTI-SEMITIC LIAR!
In his post #12 here:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/4350054/posts?page=12#12
He asserts,
“89 US congress members have dual Israeli-American citizenship.”
That is false. There has never been a single Israeli American dual citizen congress member. I have repeatedly proved that. He cannot prove a single dual citizen Israeli-American congress person.
He may not have known that he was repeating an anti-Semitic lie, but I brought that to his attention in my #s 13, 15, 23, 26, 27 and several others.
Separately, in FReepmail and in the clear twice, I gave him the following opportunity to correct himself:
*****
Since you seem to not be reading or are ignoring FReepmail, here it is in the clear:
Please retract your #12 publicly and in stream to correct the record. That information is now known by you and me to be false.
That’s the simple, easy and gentlemanly thing to do. It corrects the record so that known misinformation is not further propagated.
The less pleasant option is for you to stick by your original post #12 as truth. That will not go well. I will bring to everyone’s attention your sticking with the lie.
You and I haven’t had any run-ins over the years. I don’t have you on my radar as a bad guy.
But I’m not going to let a lie stand. Please take care of it in a gentlemanly fashion, and we’ll move on.
Please confirm receipt.
*****
So, tumblindice now surely knows that he repeated an anti-Semitic lie, is unwilling to correct the lie, and prefers to let his lie stand as truth.
As we should know those we are dealing with at FreeRepbulic, let it be known that:
TUMBLINDICE IS A PROVED ANTI-SEMITIC LIAR!
And I like movies at home $8 worth (maybe $12 for an "Avatar"), but certainly not for more. (I think that Humphrey Bogart has a future in these newfangled "talkies"!)
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