The Box Office Podcast

Pardon the tardiness for this one, I made a losing bet with myself that I’d have time to put this one out amid the week spent in Las Vegas at CinemaCon. Action For Everyone podcast host Mike Scott joins us to discuss Jason Statham’s latest commercial triumph as well as the cultural circumstances that have changed so that the kids no longer go up for “cool movies for cool kids” flicks like Death of a Unicorn. All parties discuss how Snow White’s implosion will impact Disney’s run of live-action remakes.

Kristen Acuna, formerly of Business Insider, a longtime entertainment/business journalist and a comparative Disney expert, drops by to discuss what went terribly wrong with the fairest of them all. But just because most of the chat concerns Snow White doesn’t mean we’re going to let David Zaslav off the hook for emphasizing a ruthless “It’s called show business, not show friends.” mentality and then blowing $50 million on a film like The Alto Knights that wouldn’t have been a hit even back when he was young enough to be a desired demographic.

Everything is terrible, and everyone is hurting. That’s the general sentiment as longtime film critic, podcaster and friend-of-Scott Mendelson (don’t hold that last one against him)Aaron Neuwirth guest-stars to try and bring some light into the darkness of an unusually bleak weekend at the domestic box office. Hollywood is (finally?) offering more small-scale studio programmers, but audiences are less willing than ever to see them.

How much blame falls on the audience for not showing up? How much is about, as Jeremy Fuster reminds us, films like Black Bag just seem close enough to the spy shows like Black Doves and Slow Horses that audiences can watch at home? How much of this is merely the fact that, as Lisa Laman notes, too many of these films are R-rated “romantic comedies… with carnage” genre hybrids?

Still, some optimism is offered amid hopes that too few family films will allow Snow White and Minecraft to (comparatively) over-index before a summer filled with more “just an interesting movie that could catch on” counterprogramming than we’ve had since 2019. Anyway, the news is grim, but the episode is not. As they all say, we laugh so as not to cry.

In terms of the written word…

Scott Mendelson dug into how and why The Electric State’s initial viewership was so stunningly low compared to other Netflix biggies (and not-so-biggies).

Lisa Laman asked why a decent movie about the Stonewall riots has yet to be made.Jeremy Fuster offers another deep-dive update into the ongoing attempts to revitalize California’s in-state film and television production ecosystem. Ryan Scott’s latest “Tales from the Box Office” details the tenth anniversary of Cinderella, which offered a novel concept: What if these live-action remakes of Disney animated films were… good?Aaron Neuwirth just started a semi-weekly podcast series with Terence Johnson titled 2 Black Guys Talk Godzilla. The first episode, of course, discusses the 1954 classic, and it’s frankly good enough that I’d listen on the regular, even if they weren’t friends of mine. It looks like I have an excuse to watch Godzilla Raids Again for the first time over the next week or two.

As always, if you like what you hear, like, share, comment, and smash that subscribe button with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you want to bother us and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or offer ideas for bonus episodes, ping us at [email protected].

Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck NewsJeremy Fuster - TheWrapLisa Laman - Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Cultress, Comic Book and AutostraddleRyan C. Scott - SlashFilm and FangoriaAaron Neuwirth - The Code is Zeek

There wasn’t all that much to discuss this weekend beyond the circumstances of Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17 opening with just $19 million in North America. But since we have a whole show to fill, Brandon Peters (veteran podcaster and film pundit and longtime friend of Scott Mendelson) stopped in to sort through the carnage. Among other topics are…- Robert Pattinson’s limited drawing power- The challenges of getting moviegoers to take a chance on a movie at the theatrical level that isn’t pre-sold, pre-digested or based on something they liked- A COVID-era pattern of Warner Bros. being expected to “save” the box office with films like Tenet and In the Heights that were never supposed to be all-consuming mega-tentpoles- Nostalgia for late 2010/early 2011 successful studio programmers like Lincoln Lawyer, Source Code, The Town and The Social Network- Big Oscar bumps for Anora and No Other Land- And More!

Since there really isn’t much box office news to discuss, we spent the entire show discussing the Oscar season that just ended.

Lisa Laman explained the commercial realities that helped make Anora the lowest-earning Best Picture winner since The Hurt Locker in 2010. Jeremy Fuster argued that it was more important for the Academy Awards to honor the “best” movies of the year even at the cost of remaining a top-tier pop culture event. Scott Mendelson noted Anora’s place alongside a slew of pre-COVID pictures like Parasite, Joker, Knives Out and Hustlers which acknowledged that income inequality was more structural than just “Bernie Madoff =bad!”

All of us agreed that A) it’s consumers’ responsibility to sample the honored films, but B) it’s partially due to corporate consolidation (especially among studios that have tentpole-level leverage) alongside an overall decline in available screens that makes the difference between a Birdman that earns $41 million and an Anora that earns $15 million in North America. We also discussed which Best Picture winners qualified as genuinely “anti-establishment” while we agreed that A) Conan O’Brien was a pretty damn solid host and B) the James Bond tribute as essentially a eulogy.

Oh, and Jeremy gets angry (and we always like him when he’s angry) about perhaps the laziest post-telecast “take” of the season.

Brandon Katz of The Observer and Parrot Analytics serves as our special “fourth participant” with whom we discuss how badly Marvel has messed up (or been undermined by corporate overlords) in the post-Avengers: Endgame transition to Disney+ television, why The Monkey is performing well outside of comparisons to breakouts like Longlegs and M3GAN and whether Amazon MGM Studios will unnecessarily interfere with the established James Bond formula or dilute the brand through streaming offshoots.

Scott Mendelson, Jeremy Fuster and Lisa Laman pontificate on why a $101 million Friday-Monday debut isn’t great news for Captain America: Brave New World and could be terrible news for the theatrical industry, which is banking on the MCU tentpole to deadlift the entire first quarter. Concurrently, longtime LA journalist vet and before-it-was-cool geek culture expert Luke Y. Thompson is our special guest in a conversation discussing the give-and-take of politically-minded tentpoles, how disingenuous politically-minded operators exploited the genuine (explanation is not justification) anger over the diversification of stereotypically niche fandoms and whether Marvel’s current mixed track record is a natural evolution or more execution-driven.

In terms of the written word…

Scott Mendelson tipped his hat to Disney for doing the smart and right thing in moving Pixar’s Elio away from the June 13 opening day it previously shared with DreamWorks’ live-action How to Train Your Dragon remake.

Jeremy Fuster dove into the work being done amid and for the artistic community in beginning to rebuild areas devastated by last month’s wildfires.

Lisa Laman offered a quick study guide as to those pesky Serpent Society folks who show up in Captain America 4.

Ryan Scott’s latest “Tales from the Box Office” notes the 30th anniversary of Disney’s Heavyweights.

Luke Y. Thompson used the momentary online outrage over Terrifier director Damien Leone’s online declaration that Terrifier movies are apolitical (even if they aren’t necessarily secular) to pontificate about the complicated notions of being apolitical, at least in your personal relationships and your professional life, in an inherently political time.

As always, if you like what you hear, like, share, comment, and smash (using a cartoon mallet) that subscribe button with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you want to bother us and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or offer ideas for bonus episodes, ping us at [email protected].

Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck NewsJeremy Fuster - TheWrapLisa Laman - The Dallas Observer, Looper, Cultress, Comic Book and AutostraddleRyan C. Scott - SlashFilm and FangoriaLuke Y. Thompson - ill LYTeracy and /Film.

This weekend, we will discuss a disappointing Super Bowl weekend in North America (RIP Heart Eyes and Love Hurts), why Companion struggled to find post-debut momentum, and the consistently strong performance of Ne Zha 2 in China. Additionally, we spent the second half of the show answering a few listener emails, so keep those coming.

This weekend’s episode goes to the Dog(s), Man. Jeremy Fuster couldn’t make it, but Lisa Laman and Scott Mendelson welcome Kenny Miles to this week’s episode to discuss both the new releases (Companion and Dog Man) in a general sense and share his experiences and opinions related to his work as a CinemaScore pollster. We all agree that actually polling folks walking out of the movie on opening night is a better word-of-mouth measurement tool than opt-in online user polls that, of course, can be gamed and skewed for one reason or another. Also, we discuss the many positives of Dog Man’s strong domestic debut (yay for another DreamWorks franchise based on a comparatively lesser-known kid-lit series) and whether New Line and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Companion underwhelmed due to poor marketing or just being a more challenging concept.

The actual box office news is comparatively light, so this somewhat became an accidental three-part episode.

In the first act, Scott Mendelson, Lisa Laman and this week’s special guest star (Chrissi Michael, natch) discussed the ups and downs of the top ten and the various ways in which younger viewers ingest pop culture.

The second act, during which Jeremy Fuster pops in a bit late but not too late (think when you show up 25 minutes after the listed showtime at an AMC theater and Nicole Kidman is still proselytizing), features more conventional box office punditry.

And the third act, if you will, of the week’s conversation centers around Oscar punditry — and the many ways in which distributors and exhibitors could attempt to better cajole folks to actually show up to see the nominated films in theaters.

As noted above, this episode’s guest is one Chrissi Michael, a content strategist who has long obsessed with the box office and who has recently started writing again on a newly formed substack. Spoiler: She almost instantly went from “I have no idea who this is” to “Oh s**t, I either need to hire her or destroy her.”