https://deadline.com/2022/05/box-office-doctor-strange-2-fir…
It’s funny — NFLX has hit an inflection point in terms of subscriber growth slowing; and now, is the Marvel CU in danger of an inflection point?
The above analysis discusses something I didn’t realize was going on - word of mouth on “Strange” is not great. If the global box office hits $1 billion, it might not go too much further (that’s just my read, not necessarily that of the Deadline author, but I base it on what was being said)
There is an interesting anecdote about a cousin Vinny’s remarks on the movie (cousin to the author), a Marvel fanatic who is warning friends not to see the picture.
Has anyone seen this film? What did you think? What’s going on here?
As mentioned in the article, there could be some effect of the collapsed window, as in many might be waiting for it on D+.
However, one might think the domestic take would be higher than it is right now if the film were really good.
Nevertheless, models change, and if box-office has to take a hit to promote D+, then in certain instances, that might be okay.
Of course, probably the better benefit would be with physical release and that higher margin; obviously D+ has to be scaled up so we need synergy there, but I hope DIS doesn’t forget the Blu-ray market and digital rental transactions and physical rentals (via Redbox and wherever else).
Quite frankly, I think the ups-and-downs of the box office are simply what happens. We’re going to always have movies do better or worse than others that preceded. And I think box office behaviors are still in flux during the pandemic. Granted, one can roll their eyes and simply point to the “Spider-Man” film from December - film? how about phenomenon! — and criticize Feig and company for “Strange.” However, now that we are in a post-“Avengers” world (until they come back, I suppose), shareholders simply have to accept that there will be different grosses…what we really want to see is proper spending on talent, budget restraint, and storytelling excellence…along with more tentpole IP releases to increase odds of success (to that end, once Ford gets one more performance of “Jones” out of his system – and hey, I am looking forward to it - it is time to start looking forward to a new “Jones” actor and new films/merchandise from that world, maybe even spin-offs, and maybe even a remake of “Raiders”, perhaps as a D+ series if not a proper film).