Why shouldn’t Hollywood celebrate the downfall of superhero movies?

release Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom It capped the worst year for superhero movies in more than two decades. In 2023 only Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 And Spider-Man: Through the Spider-Verse It was successful. Everything else, from Shazam! The wrath of the gods to the light, Blue beetleAnd Wonderseither managed to lose a lot of money or failed completely at the box office.

The superhero movie “Armageddon” has long been predicted by Hollywood stars, including Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and even Jodie Foster, to name a few. As told by the Associated Press in 2015, Spielberg said: “We were around when the West died, and there will be a time when superhero movies go the way of the West. That doesn’t mean there won’t be another occasion when the West returns and a superhero movie returns one day. I’m just saying that these cycles have a limited time in popular culture.

If Spielberg is right, and the collapse of superhero movies has finally arrived, this is no time for Hollywood to celebrate. And we’ll tell you why.

Superhero movies have kept theaters alive for the past 20 years

Via Variety, Spielberg told Tom Cruise in 2023 that he “saved Hollywood’s ass and probably saved theatrical distribution” thanks to the film’s success. Top Gun: Maverick. This completely ignores the reality of it Spider-Man: No way home Bring more people back to theaters in 2021 with one of Marvel’s biggest hits ever.

Since 2008, Marvel Studios has released 33 films (including Spider-Man: No way home) which collectively grossed $29.8 billion worldwide. This is a race like no other and not even matched by Star Wars or James Bond. And this doesn’t take into account Warner Bros. DC movies with Batman and Superman, standalone superhero movies, or even Spider-Man movies before Sony’s MCU and current animated features.

Superhero movies have been the safest bet in Hollywood for the past two decades. There were some failures along the way, but the theatrical system would have sunk long ago without them.

Action movies are also in free fall at the box office

In case you haven’t noticed, superhero movies aren’t the only ones suffering in 2023. Big-budget action movies like Cruise’s Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1Vin Diesel Fast xAnd even Harrison Ford Indiana Jones and the Connection of Destiny It came in well below expectations and finished in the red. If three Hollywood bigwigs can’t bring people to theaters and cover the expenses for their movies, it suggests there’s a bigger problem at hand.

People are tired of seeing the same old thing in theaters. The action movies of 2023 made the same mistake as superhero movies: they took the audience for granted. Studios assumed that fans would show up regardless of whether they were satisfied with the quality of the sequels or spinoffs. No one expects action movies to go the way of the West. Just because superhero movies are doing poorly, it doesn’t mean fans are rushing back to traditional action movies. If anything, it suggests that moviegoers are becoming more selective about what they see.

Barbie, Mario and Taylor Swift were the superheroes of 2023

There have been a few films this year that have been as successful as superhero movies, including… Barbie, Super Mario Bros movie, Taylor Swift: Tour for the AgesAnd even Christopher Nolan Oppenheimer. These films showed that audiences would still come back to theaters to see a great movie, but Hollywood would be hard-pressed to get a Barbie or Mario sequel that could replicate that response.

The thing that made superhero movies so valuable was that those movies were ripe for sequels and spinoffs. The major studios may have relied too heavily on superheroes and shared universes, but Marvel has made it look easy for a long time.

Looking ahead to 2024, there are only two big comic book movies on the horizon: Deadpool 3 And Joker: Folie à Deux. If these films can’t make it, Hollywood may soon regret helping superhero movies die early because there’s nothing that can easily replace them in the movie ecosystem.

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