I haven't done an update post, where I write updates for a bunch of previous posts all at once, since 2021! We're definitely due for one of these. If you're unfamiliar with this feature, I address multiple posts in the same entry because I don't have enough to say about each of them individually to warrant separate entries for each one.
Are the Midbudget Films Coming Back? - A little over a year ago, before all the summer tentpoles started crashing, I wrote up a post on the modest success of films like "M3GAN," "Cocaine Bear," and "Knock at the Cabin," speculating that the studios might be turning their attention back toward the midbudget film. And so far, so good. There's been a lot of talk of "improving ROI" lately, with the studios getting more budget conscious. The box office has been pretty quiet over the past few months, but there has been a steady stream of smaller films like "Anyone But You" and "Bob Marley: One Love" making money at the box office. The streamers also noticed that titles that get theatrical releases first tend to do better on their services, so we're seeing more theatrical premieres for small films.
A Short Ramble About Twitter - Nothing has changed. Elon Musk has essentially turned the platform into an alt-right coddling cesspool and hasn't suffered any real consequences for it. I mean, it's now worth a lot less than Musk paid for it, advertisers fled, lawsuits are ongoing, and the user experience is awful, but Twitter is still chugging along with plenty of activity. Alternatives like Mastodon and Threads never got off the ground. Bluesky, which I've joined, would be a decent alternative if more people were using it. However, there hasn't been enough momentum to get people to switch. There are too many users whose livelihoods are still tied to Twitter. The one positive development is Twitter's implementation of the "Community Notes" feature to combat misinformation. This has led to some hilarious examples of Twitter users being called out for their nonsense, including Elon Musk himself. No, I'm never going to call it "X." That is a terrible name.
Regime Change at Warner Bros. - Well, everybody hates David Zaslav now. Despite his cost-cutting making Max profitable, and a couple of wins at the box office, the WBD stock has been tanking and there is a ton of terrible press still floating around because of the decision to write "Coyote vs. Acme" and several other finished projects off for tax purposes. Despite massive outcry and promises to consider selling "Coyote vs. Acme" to another distributor, it looks like we're never going to see Wile E. Coyote have his day in court. The wildest part of this story is that James Gunn, currently running the new cinematic DC universe for WB, is a producer and writer on the film. If WB can do this to him, they can do this to anybody.
Investor Calls, Fandomes, and Tudums - Thanks to the 2023 strikes, we haven't had a decent fan event in a while, and I've definitely been feeling it. The level of hype for everything in the pipeline feels significantly reduced, especially the superhero media that was such a major driver of the box office for so long. Part of the reason is that the studios don't have as much to promote, with so many projects delayed and left in limbo. Another is that the superhero bubble burst, and everyone is trying to proceed more carefully. However, it still strikes me as a little sad that everyone had to find out the new cast of the "Fantastic Four" from a tweet instead of a proper event. I'm looking forward to the next batch of summer conventions.
Collapsing the Window - We're still seeing very short theatrical windows for films that don't perform well, such as "Lisa Frankenstein" and "The Book of Clarence," which both hit VOD less than a month after they were released in theaters. Bigger titles like "The Marvels" show up after nine or ten weeks. However, there are always exceptions. I skipped seeing "The Boy and the Heron" and "Godzilla Minus One" in theaters over the holidays, and I regret it now.
Finishing "The Nevers" - Finally, it's been over a year since the last six episodes of "The Nevers" dropped on Tubi, and they're still not available for purchase, can't be viewed on any other platform, and you still can't watch them on demand. Tubi is still only airing them on a linear channel at seemingly random times. Good grief.
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