The One Lesson Hollywood Hasn’t Learned
What do 'Megalopolis,' 'Horizon' and 'Joker Folie a Deux' have in common?
No one’s smiling over “Joker: Folie a Deux” this weekend.
The anticipated sequel got crushed by critics and fans alike and will make just $47 million in its opening frame.
The 2019 original generated $96 million in its first weekend en route to a U.S./international split of $335 million/$743 million, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.
The musical sequel will be lucky to break $80 million domestically given the tepid opening and tortured word of mouth – witness that “D” CinemaScore.
Mild spoilers ahead.
You have to hand it to director/co-writer Todd Phillips. He didn’t follow the sequel blueprint. He held it up high and lit it on fire, Arthur Fleck-style.
No super heroic stunts. Musical numbers aplenty. Few shout-outs to the source material. Heck, Harley Quinn’s character, played by Lady Gaga, goes by “Lee” throughout the film. The film gleefully breaks DC Comics canon.
Is it any surprise FanBoy Nation stayed home?
Phillips’ resume (“Joker,” the “Hangover” franchise) earned him the right to have creative freedom.
Still, how on earth did Warner Bros. justify a reported $200 million budget? The first movie set the studio back just $55 million, a reasonable price by modern standards. (A shrewd indie director could have made the movie for far less, but still).
It’s a similar story with two other 2024 commercial duds.
“Megalopolis,” a fascinating think piece from Francis Ford Coppola, is even more anti-commercial than “Folie a Deux.” It, too, cost north of $100 million and may be lucky to break $15 million at U.S. theaters.
Director Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga – Part One” cost $100 million. It, too, underperformed at the box office, shuttling initial plans to release the second of a planned four-part “Saga” in theaters. The film earned $32 million domestically.
We want our best and brightest storytellers to swing for the fences now more than ever. We’re marinating in sequels, remakes, reboots and re-imaginings. It’s rare to see films that offer original yarns.
And that’s partly our fault.
Look at 2024’s top-grossing movies so far. Zero original stories. You have to scan down to the no. 11 slot, “It Ends with Us,” to find a film that hasn’t been told before on screen.
Filmmakers like Phillips, Coppola and Costner should tell their stories their way.
There’s a caveat to both “Megalopolis” and “Horizon.” In both cases the auteurs dug into their own pockets to defray the exorbitant budgets. Coppola shouldered the mother lode of his budget. Costner’s contributions are both murky – he kept changing the amount in press interviews – but considerable.
Phillips likely didn’t so much as open his wallet to help make “Folie a Deux.”
The legacy of these commercial duds is considerable. What studio will take a similar chance on a risky project moving forward? Will artists think twice before investing in their own visions?
If anything, executives will seek out even safer bets in 2025 and beyond.
In a way, we’re already there. “Skibidi Toilet: The Movie.”
Had Phillips, Coppola and Costner done all they could to reduce the budgets in question, their commercial failures would have hurt them, and Hollywood, much less.
The Western is the one I’d be most likely to want to see, but honestly, I just can’t force myself to undergo the trauma associated with going to the theaters any more.
The price tag is ridiculous even though my wife and I prefer the earlier “matinee” showings. Other moviegoers are rude and inconsiderate and the theaters are typically in “malls” which in our area are basically thug hangouts on life support with one or two open stores (if any) and a bunch of empty space. I’m armed whenever I go out in public, but my personal evaluation of successful self-defense is to never have to employ it…one of the major tenets of such is avoidance of places where the risks of needing to do so are high…
All of that added together means that even were I to think that a move might be worthwhile to see on the big screen, I typically find myself employing that time doing things like mowing the lawn or changing the tie-rod ends on my truck.
I honestly can’t see how the theaters can stay afloat in this environment and I foresee them going the way of Blockbuster video rental stores in the fairly near future.
I saw Monster Summer and White Bird this weekend. Both excellent films I recommend. Both had modest budgets – filled with strong performances from new and established actors.
Horizon while overlong (and with just a dash of modern politics) was enjoyable, with good performances and editing even if self -indulgent. I left wanting to see the second part.
Megalopolis is a bad mashup of Romeo+Juliet and a daytime soap… It wants to be Chinatown or Motherless Brooklyn or Atlas Shrugged, but a big dash of bad writing, nonsensical writing, poor casting and expecting Shai L to carry the dramatic weight that was too much for any actor. It sets a new low for trainwrecks.
I will probably skip Joker 2 (do I need to watch prison r-pe )… Which Is ironic since a regular reviewer on this site is one of the few singing it’s praises!
I understand from a maket-standpoint covering the big releases, I really appreciate when you cover films that represent conservative values and celebrate rather than tear down our American culture and values.
Back in the late 80’s I worked at a video rental store. I used to order the scifi/fantasy/horror titles for the manager since she wasn’t familiar with those titles. It was a wonderful time as small studios were popping up all over to make these imaginative low-budget titles. Full Moon was at its height. What they knew was how to control costs. They knew most rental stores would buy at least one copy so they already had an idea how much income would come in. Make the movie for less and you profit. Simple system that worked.
Now we got studios shelling out for full seasons at 100+ million with the chance of failure high. No one does pilots anymore. And remember these old shows did a lot more episodes for less. Star Trek TNG did 26 episodes a season!
I agree completely with your assertion that movie goers need to go see original ideas instead of sequels and reboots. Hollywood is a business, and it’s going to follow the money.
Maybe the lesson to be learned here is to find a way to tell original stories on more reasonable budgets. You should be able to make a western for under $20 million, I would think.