New Jack City: Summer 2014 Movies Fizzle at the Box office

Many moons from now when we look back to the movie summer of 2014, we’ll still be asking ourselves, WHAT HAPPENED?

However, the answer is really quite simple. As a wise man so brilliantly put it:

“IF PEOPLE DON’T WANT TO SEE IT, THERE’S NO STOPPING THEM.”

It goes without saying that the movie industry—primarily the exhibition side—has just come off one of the most blistering summer seasons in ages.

Depending on who you believe, the domestic, hot weather box office from May through Labor Day was down some 20 to 25% from the summer of 2013.

Not a single film hit the magic $300 million domestic breakthrough.

Even more worrisome, according to BoxOffice Mojo, the 2013 to 2014 drop was the largest summer decline in more than 30 years.

Studios and film distributors weren’t hurt as badly since many of their 2014 domestic disappointments performed beyond expectations around the globe.

This summer’s underwhelming top 10 by estimated domestic ticket sales: 

# 1—“GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY”—$280.5 million

# 2—“TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION”—$244.4 million

# 3—“MALEFICENT”—$238.7 million

# 4—“X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST”—$233.7 million

# 5—“DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES”—$205.5 million

# 6—“THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2”—$203 million

# 7—“GODZILLA”—$201 million

# 8—“21 JUMP STREET”—$190.3 million

# 9—“HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2”—$173.5 million

# 10-“NEIGHBORS”—$150.1 million

I know this may sound like a PR spin but everything I’ve seen slated for the pipeline for the summer of 2015 looks like a complete reversal of box office fortunes.

I’ll go beyond the summer and predict a banner movie year for all 2015

Every industry has its ebbs and flows. And they are very hard to predict some two years our BEFORE a film finally makes it to the big screen.

But former veteran 20th Century-Fox Chairman and C.E.O. Tom Rothman, who ran the studio until 2013, probably put it best.

In industry insider Anne Thompson’s current book ‘The $11 Billion Year,’ Rothman is quoted as follows:

“Movies struggled….because they were essentially, all the same and the audience was bored. No longer can an audience be pounded into attendance by dint of spending.

“Now, exactly because of how much great work there is on television, films have to raise the bar, to be more original, more complex, more imaginative, more daring. And that is hard because of the huge cost/risk involved, and cost often has an inverse relationship with creativity.

“But I am fervently optimistic. We can make films for less, sell them for less, and push creative boundaries more. And when we do, the audience will set the DVR, go out of the house, and come to the theaters. As long as we don’t underestimate them, they will reward us.”

Well said, Mr. Rothman.