© 2024 Texas Public Radio
Real. Reliable. Texas Public Radio.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Blockbuster No-Shows: Why Did So Many Summer Movies Flop?

Movie goers purchase tickets at an AMC movie theater in Arcadia, California on August 2, 2017. 
AMC Entertainment Holdings, the world's largest movie theater owner, announced a "shocking" expectation for second-quarter losses, with stocks diving by 25 percent August 2nd amid a weak box office.
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images
Movie goers purchase tickets at an AMC movie theater in Arcadia, California on August 2, 2017. AMC Entertainment Holdings, the world's largest movie theater owner, announced a "shocking" expectation for second-quarter losses, with stocks diving by 25 percent August 2nd amid a weak box office.

This was a rough summer for moviegoers. Low-rated flops like “The Dark Tower” and “Baywatch” did little to attract viewers, according to box office sales. Memorial Day, usually one of the biggest movie release dates of the year, had its weakest showing in almost two decades.

Hollywood might argue it wasn’t easy on its end, either. Some producers say review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes can now make or break movies’ bottom line.

GUESTS

Daniel Loria, Executive director and chief strategist at the trade publication Box Office Media

Brooks Barnes, Covers Hollywood and the film industry for the New York Times

Ann Hornaday, Movie critic, The Washington Post; author of “Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies”; @annhornaday

For more, visit http://the1a.org.

© 2017 WAMU 88.5 – American University Radio.

Copyright 2020 WAMU 88.5. To see more, visit WAMU 88.5.