Moviegoers to Hollywood: It better be good
NEW YORK (AP) — As Hollywood girds for a low-key Fourth of July box office weekend and watches its summer season dip 15 percent below last year's, an even more worrisome trend has taken shape:
Disney's acclaimed sequel "Finding Dory" passed $300 million domestically after just 12 days of release — a pace that could make it the highest grossing animated film of all time.
[...] for films that aren't "the movie to see," moviegoers are increasingly staying home.
Will Smith (who knows something about box-office success) told attendees last week at Cannes Lions, the annual advertising festival, that the movie business has shifted.
"Back in the '80s and '90s you had a piece of crap movie you put a trailer with a lot of explosions and it was Wednesday before people knew your movie was (expletive)," said Smith.
Dismal reviews and disappointed fans have often — though certainly not always — meant trouble at the box office.
Though few ever went to "Independence Day" expecting the next "Citizen Kane," Fox took the unusual step of largely hiding "Resurgence" from the press and critics prior to release.
Not only have the alternatives on television grown more enticing, higher ticket prices have put more pressure on movie choice.
Civil War, owns exactly a 90 percent rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a 90 percent rating from audiences.